We Measure The World

Germany has committed to generating 80% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, as outlined in the Climate Action Act. However, the ideal locations for wind and solar farms are in the north, while the industrial centers that require power are in the south. To save space, protect cables from weather damage, and preserve aesthetics, Germany chooses to bury the cables wherever possible. So, how do you safely transport utility-scale energy 700 km underground? Varying types of soil and seasonal changes in soil moisture can impact the ability to safely do this without damaging cables or harming the ecosystem. In this episode, Kai-Julian Hendler and Christoph Verschaffel-Drefke discuss the geotechnical challenges of this ambitious project.

Traditionally, models of tree water consumption rely on evapotranspiration —a process describing the movement of water through the soil, plant, and atmosphere—as an indirect measure. However, these models may lack critical components, leading to inaccuracies in prediction. In this episode, we are joined by Lauren Tucker, a PhD candidate at Idaho State University, who discusses her team's groundbreaking research on how different tree species store moisture deep within their heartwood for long-term retention.

The cover crop and crop rotation options used by agriculturalists across the country don’t work among the dryland farming practices of the plains of Wyoming. Wheat farmers — many of whom operate without well rights — are lucky to get a profitable crop every 2-3 years as their fields lie fallow for the interim to allow the soil recover. In this episode, we talk to G.A. Harris Fellowship recipient Alex Fox, who joined a study that took lessons from natural prairie systems and studied the impacts of planting Kernza®, the first ever domesticated perennial grain crop.

The world of essential oils isn’t inherently sustainable and rarely ethically sourced. The workers and the land itself are often treated with little respect in the name of short-term profitability. Katie Anselmi, master's student at Colorado Mesa University, got the opportunity to visit Fairoil farms in Kenya and work with the farmers that are trying to change that as they produce the oils used by doTERRA, a popular essential oil company. The farmers were battling inconsistent yield and had reached out to Katie’s advisor, Dr. Neil Hansen for help. In this episode, Katie discusses what they discovered on their trip to Kenya.

In 2017, Hurricane Maria ravaged the island of Puerto Rico, with category 5 winds topping out at 174 mph (282 km/h). In this mountainous nation with the 9th highest road density in the world, thousands of landslides wreaked havoc on the large number of rural communities that became cut off from supplies and travel. Dr. Stephen Hughes, a professor in the Department of Geology at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, has turned this catastrophe into a lesson by harnessing before and after data to develop a landslide susceptibility map with resolution down to every 5 m. Join us as we discuss with him the process of developing landslide prediction across the entire island nation.

Measuring the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum across Australia comes in a wide variety of applications thanks to the wildly differing landscapes. No one knows more about the far reaches of these scientific efforts than Dr. Michael Forster, the founder of Implexx Sense and Director at Edaphic Scientific and a senior adjunct research fellow at Griffith University in Queensland. In this episode, we talk with Michael about everything from plans for an underwater cable to transmit power to Singapore across more than 2000 miles of seabed, environmentally friendly mining practices, and the fate of endangered frogs and birds.

Slope stability is unpredictable — or is it? The risk of landslides threatens roads, rails, homes, and lives. Being able to forecast where and when slopes will fail means giving communities the power to keep infrastructure and people safe. In this episode, we talk with civil engineer Dr. Ning Lu about his experience studying slope stability. Learn about the breakthrough slope stability predictive formula he helped develop in this episode of We Measure the World.

Advancements in irrigation, pest management, and other grower concerns are useless if they are never adopted. How do you gain the trust and by-in from growers to test new techniques and technologies on a large enough scale to prove viability? In this episode, we talk to agronomist Saul Alarcon about his success working with some of the largest tomato-production networks and how he has helped keep his grower partners remain at the cutting edge of water conservation, pest and weed control, and everything else that feeds into optimal crop production. For more information on measurements that make precision farming possible, visit metergroup.com

Colorado’s Saving Tomorrow’s Agricultural Resources (STAR) program provides a voluntary way for farmers and ranchers to assess their conservation efforts and impact on soil health. Creating a large-scale agroecosystem management comes with many funding and logistical tribulations. In this podcast, we talk to the founders of this program, Drs. Jim Ippolito and Steve Blecker, about what impacts soil health, how it’s measured, and the hope of a nationwide soil health rating scale.

Should you be measuring water content or water potential? Like all good scientific questions, the answer is, “It depends.” In some applications, water content measurements will tell you everything you need to know, in others, water potential will get to the root of the issue. Still others require measuring both. So how do you make sure you’re making the measurements you need? In this episode, METER research scientist, Leo Rivera and METER’s ecology and plant physiology specialist, Chris Chambers discuss what you need to know to choose the right measurements.

Champions of water potential, Drs. Kim Novick and Jessica Guo, team up to discuss the vital role water potential measurement plays in both plant and soil sciences and the work they are doing to establish the first-of-its-kind nationwide water potential network. Join their discussion to understand how a communal knowledge of these measurements could impact what we know about climate change and ecology as a whole.

The only thing certain in crop science is change. The varietal of wheat that stood strong against disease, rallied from extreme temperatures, and survived the water conditions of five years ago is not the variety that will be the most successful five years in the future. In this episode Dr. Arron Carter, professor and OA. Vogel Endowed Chair of wheat breeding and genetics at Washington State University, discusses the 10-year process that thousands of varietals of wheat go through to determine the best wheat products each year in the ever-changing climate conditions.