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Episode 38: Growing essential oils the sustainable way

In this episode, Katie Anselmi discusses how Kenyan farmers are battling inconsistent yield.

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Episode 37: Detecting natural gas seepage from pipelines

Join us as we discuss Dr. Kate Smits' work on pipelines, landmine detection, and the intersection of engineering solutions to environmental problems with the complexity of humanity.

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Episode 36: The 70,000-landslide storm

Join us as we discuss with Dr. Stephen Hughes the process of developing landslide prediction across the entire island nation.

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Episode 35: The human burden on urban soils

Ecosystem services—the physical processes performed by soils within an ecosystem—are well-known in agricultural settings, but how do we define and measure them in urban settings?

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Episode 34: Bushfires, The Great Barrier Reef, and White-Bellied Frogs

Measuring the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum across Australia comes in a wide variety of applications thanks to the wildly differing landscapes.

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Episode 33: Combating arsenic in groundwater and rice

Mason Stahl, associate professor at Union College, is using machine learning and direct sampling to help mitigate dangerous levels of arsenic in our food.

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Episode 32: How to predict landslides

Slope stability is unpredictable — or is it?

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Episode 31: The fight against soil and nutrient loss

Achieving water balance isn’t easy, but it is critical.

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Episode 30: The transformative power of precision farming

Advancements in irrigation, pest management, and other grower concerns are useless if they are never adopted.

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Episode 29: The effect of insects on infiltration

Every 17 years cicadas emerge from the earth to mate, leaving thousands of holes peppering the landscape.

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Episode 28: Quantifying statewide soil health

Creating a large-scale agroecosystem management comes with many funding and logistical tribulations

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Episode 27: The battle for earth: cattle vs. solar

Discussions around land use for cattle grazing versus solar panels have valiant proponents on both sides, but some question the debate altogether. Why can’t land be used for both raising cattle and renewable energy sources such as wind or solar?

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Episode 26: Choosing between water content and water potential

Should you be measuring water content or water potential? Like all good scientific questions, the answer is, “It depends.” 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.

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Episode 25: Dissolving the boundaries between specializations

25 years ago Drs John Norman and Gaylon Campbell co-authored An Introduction to Environmental Biophysics. Their ability to work across disciplinary lines brought new understanding to countless scientists and taught us how to conduct better research through collaboration.

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Episode 24: Building a national water potential network

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.

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Episode 23: The power of soil health in sustainable agriculture

Dr. Dedrick Davis is an Assistant Professor in Soil Physics at Alabama A&M University. He obtained his PhD in Soil Science and Environmental Science from Iowa State University,and his teaching expertise is in soil physics and soil hydrology.

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Episode 22: Breeding the most elite winter wheat

Dr. Arron Carter, professor and O.A. Vogel Endowed Chair of Wheat Breeding and Genetics at Washington State University, discusses breeding improved wheat varieties for cropping systems in Washington state that incorporate diverse rotations and environments.

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Episode 21: Understanding the language of plants

Natalie Aguirre, a PhD candidate and plant physiology and chemical ecology researcher at Texas A&M University, dives into her research on pathogen infection, water stress, and how plants communicate and defend themselves.

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Episode 20: The impact of seasonal vegetation on coastal dune storm recovery

Pete Tereszkiewicz, Ph.D. candidate at the University of South Carolina, explains how wind, water, sediment interactions, and seasonal vegetation affect beach dune creation, deformation, and erosion.

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Episode 19: How researchers fight dust storms & desertification

New Mexico State Climatologist Dr. David DuBois discusses the latest in climate observation and air quality research.

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Episode 18: Busting vineyard water management myths

In vineyards, too much water can be as bad as too little. Jaclyn Fiola, hydropedologist at Virginia Tech, shares her research on the influence of soil and precipitation in U.S. Mid-Atlantic vineyards.

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Episode 17: The science behind growing food in space

Dr. Bruce Bugbee discusses his space farming research and what we earthlings can learn from space farming techniques.

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Episode 16: Why overwatering invites disease and removes critical nutrients

Dr. Colin Campbell discusses his collaborative research efforts controlling water on potato farms in southern Idaho where he and other researchers discovered that combining measurements helped them better understand the impacts of management and the interplay between variables like evapotranspiration and soil water.

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Episode 15: How land use impacts hydrology in Texas shrink-swell clays

METER research scientist, Leo Rivera, discusses the ups and downs of his hydrology research in the shrink-swell clays of Texas, why the collapse of a video store got him interested in hydrology, how he got caught on camera by google maps, the interesting development story behind the SATURO infiltrometer, and more.

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Episode 14: Why we live or die by soil health

Dr. Cristine Morgan, one of the US’s premier soil scientists and Chief Scientific Officer at the Soil Health Institute shares her views on why soil health is so critical to our society.

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Episode 13: Are floods and droughts really unpredictable?

Kevin Hyde, manager of the Montana Mesonet, discusses his views on predicting and mitigating the effects of flood and drought and how to build a robust weather network with high-quality data.

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Episode 12: The day it snowed radiation on Iitate village

What really happened the day radiation snowed on Iitate village near Fukushima? Why were the ecological consequences even more far reaching than people realized?

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Episode 11: How to meet changing water demands in a growing population

Dr. Neil Hansen, professor of environmental science at BYU, discusses challenges we face trying to meet changing water demands in a growing population.

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Episode 10: Less irrigation: Is it always better for the environment?

Dr. Bryan Hopkins shares his latest experimental results using the newest techniques in water management for both turf and row crops.

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Episode 9: Pioneers of environmental measurement

What was the life of a scientist like before modern environmental measurement techniques? Pretty much like the Wild West. Find out what it was like to practice science on the cutting edge.

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Episode 8: Ranching, wildfires, & global sustainability

Dr. Richard Gill discusses his global research projects including climate change on the Wasatch Plateau, ranch sustainability in Colorado, reef studies in Samoa, and wildfires in the Mojave Desert.

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Episode 7: Ticking time bomb—Climate change in Antarctica

Dr. Marco Bittelli, soil physics wizard, talks about his exciting research projects in Italy and Antarctica. Plus, he shares insights on cutting-edge measurement methods, climate change, jazz guitar music, and more.

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Episode 6: Helping growers bridge the technology gap

Dalyn McCauley, Oregon State University researcher and G.A. Harris Fellow, discusses her research on crop-damaging weather events and how scientists can help growers implement changes that will improve their quality and yield.

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Episode 5: The fascinating backstory: ATMOS 41/ClimaVUE 50 weather station

Stories, challenges, bloopers, and successes behind the development of the ATMOS 41/ClimaVUE™50 weather station: a METER/Campbell Scientific collaboration

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Episode 4: How to be field ready

Veteran scientist and author Sara Vero talks about her upcoming book Fieldwork Ready and how to make sure you're ready for any surprise your field experiment throws at you.

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Episode 3: Making measurements on Mars

Dr. Doug Cobos discusses challenges his team faced measuring water content and thermal properties on Mars, how NOT to burn down a NASA building, and much, much more….

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Episode 2: How to be a vagabond and other life lessons

Meet the rest of the scientists behind We Measure the World. Learn who they are, their past adventures, and what they ponder when they’re not building instruments that measure the universe.

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Episode 1: Water moccasins and other great scientist adventures

Meet the scientists behind We Measure the World. Learn who they are, their past adventures, and what they ponder when they’re not building instruments that measure the universe.

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