Dr Daniel Evans

Areas of expertise

• Soil
• Sustainable Land Systems

Background

Dan is a Lecturer in Soil Formation at Cranfield University. He leads both fundamental and applied research on soil formation and the parent materials from which soil is formed. His work focuses on the interactions between parent materials and soils, how soil parent materials support soil ecosystem services, and the natural and anthropogenic threats to the parent material zone. He also studies how soil formation can be accelerated, such as the manufacturing of new soils for urban green infrastructure.

Dan's passion for soils research germinated in 2012 when he studied mobile debris lobes in Alaska during a Royal Geographical Society Scholarship. Following his return, he obtained a first-class degree in Physical Geography at the Royal Holloway, with prize-winning research on root architecture and soil erodibility. During his PhD at Lancaster University, he conducted the first isotopic measurements of UK arable soil formation, and the first globally-relevant estimates of soil lifespans.

Dan is the Early Career Scientist representative for the European Geoscience Union, representing >20,000 Early Career Scientists from more than 20 geoscience disciplines across the Union. Previously, he was former ECS Representative for the Union's Soil System Science division and the National ECS Officer for the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS). In 2019, he co-hosted HRH The Duke of Gloucester at the BSSS ECR conference, and later was awarded the Society's inaugural 'Outstanding Contribution to Soil Science' prize. He's an Associate Editor for the European Journal of Soil Science, and the Chair of the journal's first ECR Editorial Board. In addition, Dan is a member of multiple EU Soil Observatory working groups including soil erosion, soil pollution, and organic carbon. His contributions internationally were recognized with the EGU's 2024 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Early Career Science.

Dan's also passionate about science communication. He was the inaugural speaker at the first Royal Holloway TEDx conference and has given public lectures at the Royal Geographical Society, the UK Climate Emergency network, and the Science Futures stage at Glastonbury Festival. His research has featured across international media outlets including The Conversation, Our World in Data, the US Agribusiness Report, BBC Radio 4's Farming Today, Sky News, and Farmer's Weekly. He has been an invited contributor in public-facing news and feature articles (e.g. BBC Future Planet), as well as industry magazines (e.g. ProLandscaper).

Dan is Course Director for the UK's first Level 7 Soil Scientist Apprenticeship and MSc in Soil Science. See more details below.

Embedded at the heart of his research are key values such as EDI, responsible research, and research integrity. Previously, he has co-chaired a Short Course on Promoting Diversity in Geosciences, inviting Asmeret Berhe (Director of Science, U.S. Department of Energy) to highlight how early career scientists can improve diversity. He is also a signatory of the 'Our Pledge as Soil Scientists' to cultivate diverse and equal soil science communities, remove barriers, and promote equity of access to research.

Research opportunities

Dan leads both fundamental and applied research focusing on soil formation, and the parent materials from which soil is formed. His research programme comprises three core components:

Interactions between parent materials and soils: How do the biological, chemical, and physical properties of parent materials differ from those of soil? What processes take place across the boundary between soils and underlying parent materials? To what extent can parent materials support the delivery of soil ecosystem services?

Threats to soil parent materials: To what extent is the stock, health, and functioning of soil parent material at threat from local perturbations and global grand challenges? How resilient are soil parent materials to these perturbations? How can we protect soil parent materials to safeguard tomorrow's soils?

Bioengineering soil parent materials to accelerate soil formation: Can we identify smart, efficient, and next-generation techniques to bioengineer soil parent materials to enhance rates of soil formation? Can plants be used to accelerate soil formation and thicken soil profiles? How can we form a functioning soil 'from scratch' in urban spaces?

Current activities

§ 2024 | Delivering the first soils-focussed educational listening benches | Participatory Research Fund

§ 2024 | Pollution pathways from source to soil to saprolite | GCRF

§ 2023 | Using X-rays to study how roots penetrate through soil parent materials | BBSRC Food DTP

§ 2023 | Developing UAV-RADAR for soil erosion & soil moisture assessment | Douglas Bomford Trust

§ 2022 | Enhancing the Resilience of Manufactured Soils for Urban Green Infrastructure | NERC

§ 2022 | Contaminants in saprolite: an overlooked hotspot of environmental concern | NERC CENTA 2

§ 2022 | Petrogenic carbon at the soil-bedrock interface | Royal Society International Exchange Grant

§ 2022 | Cultivating Urban Resilience from Soil | NERC Discipline Hopping

§ 2022 | Working with industry to co-develop a new soils-focused training course | HEIF

§ 2021 | Integrating environmental, spatial, and social data to assign food supply chain functions | STFC

§ 2021 | Stabilizing Carbon at the Rock-Soil interface | David S Jenkinson Fellowship

§ 2021 | Modelling, optimizing, and identifying novel sites for urban food production | STFC Sandpit

§ 2021 | The Role of Saprolite in Stabilizing Organic Carbon in Degraded Soils | eLTER-PLUS Scheme

§ 2020 | Global Challenges Research Fund | Cranfield University

§ 2020 | Soil Formation Rates Review and Scoping Study | Welsh Government

§ 2020 | 75th Anniversary Research Fellowship | Cranfield University

Publications

• Articles in journals
• Conference papers
• Books