Soil science is undergoing a renaissance of sorts in academic circles, but a stronger connection between academia and practitioners should be forged.
That’s the view of University of Saskatchewan soil sciences professor Dan Pennock, who spoke at the Alberta Soil Science Workshop in Lethbridge Feb. 20.
Though the general public may take soil for granted, there has been a marked increase, particularly since 1995, in the number of scientific papers published about soil, said Pennock.
Most of them come from researchers who are not in soil science departments. Soil research is also important to other disciplines, including engineering, forestry, genetics and bacteriology.
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“There’s lots of good evidence of an increasing interest and activity in soil science,” said Pennock.
More university students are being instructed in the field, but few choose it as a major and go on to graduate and post-graduate work.
Numbers are higher in Western Canada than in the rest of North America, Pennock said.
Most soil scientists are employed to either optimize yields in agriculture and forestry or minimize harm from natural resource extraction.
He said a stronger interaction between academics and practicing soil scientists would improve prospects for student numbers, viable career choices and useful soil science work in the field.
Information from a recent European soil science event suggested the discipline will shift to an emphasis on food security and away from environmental protection.
“This is a big problem for European soil science departments —they detached themselves from agriculture a long time ago and really have very little connection now … with agronomy or agricultural activity.”
Soil science and food security have a much stronger connection in Canada, Pennock said, as evidenced by the Global Institute for Food Security recently established at the U of S.
“Overall, I think, yes indeed, food security is going to be a very dominant theme in the future. Soil science departments or sub-departments in Western Canada are really well positioned, I think, to participate in that.”
Pennock had four suggestions on how to develop a stronger interaction between academics and professional soil scientists:
- Involve practitioners in post-secondary curricula.
- Participate in career fairs and career development.
- Encourage private sector funding for research and ensure it is peer reviewed.
- Provide more opportunities for students to “get their hands dirty” while learning soil science.
