We are the largest group of soil scientists in the UK, with expertise spanning basic soil physics, chemistry and biology; to soil management and conservation; to soil informatics and resource evaluation. We have world-class facilities for soil research and teaching, and are home to national and international soil datasets.
Our expertise covers the following sub-disciplines:
Soil systems science
- Soil biogeochemistry – Prof Guy Kirk, Dr Rob Simmons, Dr Ruben Sakrabani
- Soil physics – Prof Wilfred Otten, Prof Jane Rickson
- Soil biology and ecology – Prof Jim Harris, Dr Nick Girkin, Dr Mark Pawlett, Dr Alice Johnston
- Atmospheric emissions – Prof Neil Harris, Dr Michelle Cain, Dr Nick Girkin
- Modelling soil processes – Prof Guy Kirk, Prof Wilfred Otten, Prof Ron Corstanje
Soil, crop and water management
- Soil management and conservation – Prof Jane Rickson, Dr Rob Simmons, Dr Lynda Deeks
- Soil water management – Prof Jerry Knox, Prof Tim Hess
- Crop and catchment scale management – Prof Ian Holman, Dr Paul Burgess
Soil informatics
- Pedology – Dr Jack Hannam
- Pedometrics and geospatial data – Prof Ron Corstanje, Dr Abdou Khouakhi
- Earth observation – Dr Toby Waine, Dr Dan Simms
- Life cycle assessment – Dr Adrian Williams
- Environmental informatics – Prof Steve Hallett
Our doctoral training centres
Example projects
- Soil carbon
- Root-soil interactions
- Using roots to bio-engineer soil
- Urban BESS (Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Sustainability)
- Modelling national-scale changes in soils
Working with us
We have a broad base of collaborators in other universities and research institutes in the UK and internationally, as well as in industry and government. We are always keen to expand this base.
Our facilities
We have world-class facilities for soil research. These include two of the four UK Government-sponsored Agri-tech Centres: Agri-Epi (Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre) and CHaP (Crop Health and Protection), with over £13 million of new infrastructure since 2017; the Wolfson Field Laboratory for studies of soil carbon and gas emissions; and one of the UKCRIC Urban Observatories. We are the UK National Reference Centre for soil, and hold national and international soil reference data and samples in the Land Information System (LandIS) and the World Soil Survey and Archive Catalogue (WOSSAC). We also host the NERC Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM).
Clients and partners
We work with a range of partner organisations, including:
- BBSRC
- NERC
- Innovate UK
- Various industry partners
