Field, Lab, Earth

"Controlled Freezing Studies as a Corollary Selection Method for Winterhardiness in Perennial Flax (Linum spp.)" with Neil Anderson, Professor & Interim Department Head at the Department of Horticultural Science, University of Minnesota Flax is an important crop worldwide for its many uses, but as with all plants, its global use is limited by the conditions in which it can grow. Enter Neil Anderso...

This time, we take a break from our regularly scheduled programming for a brief interview and sample episode from our sister podcast, Decode 6. Contact us at podcast@sciencesocieties.org or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our...

Episode Title: Humor in the Classroom with Dr. Andrés Varhola Show notes: " "His lectures were like watching a show on Netflix": A success story of laugh tracks in prerecorded undergraduate lessons" with Dr. Andrés Varhola. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, teachers had to rapidly adapt to new, fully online teaching environments. For Andrés, who had a naturally humorous teaching style, he needed to...

"Relationships between roots, the stay-green phenotype, and agronomic performance in barley and wheat grown in semi-arid conditions" with Dr. Maryse Bourgault and Jessica Williams. Roots are an important factor in drought-resistance as they are the primary way by which plants uptake the water they need to survive. However, measuring roots can be a difficult, time-consuming, and destructive process...

"Cost-effective, high-throughput phenotyping system for 3D reconstruction of fruit form" with Dr. Mitchell Feldmann Various research and breeding programs study phenotypical traits—or traits that can be discerned via the five senses—to evaluate the quality of their target crops. However, getting data on these traits, often via human-made measurements, can be time-consuming, subjective, and inaccur...

"How do pinching and plant density affect industrial hemp produced for cannabinoids in open field conditions?" with Dr. Josh Freeman. Industrial hemp has only recently been re-introduced in American production systems. Therefore, there's a lot to learn about how to best produce this versatile crop in American climates. This episode of the Field, Lab, Earth podcast, Josh discusses his work testing...

"Root Water Uptake of Biofuel Crops Revealed by Coupled Electrical Resistivity and Soil Water Content Measurements" with Dr. Alexandria Kuhl Biofuel crops can be used to create fuel from renewable plant materials. Corn is the most common example, but as research progresses, scientists are looking to expand their biofuel crop pool to include woody perennials and ornamental grasses. These plants hav...

"Greenhouse gas mitigation strategies and opportunities for agriculture" with Dr. Hoyoung Kwon Agriculture and food systems can be strong contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and, in turn, climate change. However, in the midst of this reality, there are also abundant opportunities to improve our systems, reduce emissions, and move towards a more sustainable future…so long as we can ident...

"Assessment of Kernel Characteristics to Predict Popping Performance in Grain Sorghum" with Kent Mitchell Popping sorghum is a niche alternative to popcorn, with no large hulls, a neutral flavor, and smaller kernels. While the tasty snack is growing in popularity, much remains to be learned about the practices that can produce the best popping product. This episode, Mitchell discusses his research...

It's Halloween, which means its spooky time. Throughout history, humans have battled some pretty scary pests, from aphids to spider mites, white flies and more. This episode, Vikram Baliga of the Planthropology podcast walks us through some of the scary adaptations these pests have that have made them so effective and progress we've made in fighting back the hordes. Tune in to learn: How plants de...

"'VT Sweet': A vegetable soybean cultivar for commercial edamame production in the Mid-Atlantic U.S." with Dr. Bo Zhang Edamame, or edible soybean, is a popular snack. However, due to a lack of US specific soybean varieties, domestic production hasn't been able to keep up with consumer demand. In this episode, Bo discusses her work breeding varieties that are better suited to US growing conditions...

The World Food Prize was established by Dr. Norman Borlaug and is the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in agriculture. This year's winner is Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, whose extensive work in crop modeling, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and activism is helping to prepare the world to combat the effects of climate change. In this episode, Cynthia discusses her work as a crop modeler, her work with fa...

"The Clean Water Act and Biosolids: A 45-Year Chronological Review of Biosolids Land Application Research in Colorado" with Dr. Jim Ippolito Biosolids are the human waste products that are managed and produced by wastewater treatment plants. While many simply flush and forget their waste, biosolids can have a variety of advantageous environmental impacts when applied at proper rates and locations....

"Proactive Approach to Minimize Lithium Pollution" with Dr. Alex Chow Lithium is a chemical element that has recently gained much attention for its use in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and electronics. However, with recycling and re-use programs still in their infancy, there is a growing concern about potential lithium pollution. This episode, as part of our two-part miniseries on t...

"Poultry manureshed management: Opportunities and challenges for a vertically integrated industry" with Dr. Ray Bryant Poultry farms are often heavily concentrated in certain areas of the country. This can lead to excessive amounts of nutrient-rich poultry manure in manuresheds with no easy way to return it to the fields that need it. This episode, Ray discusses recent research into how big these...

"Seeding depth effects on elongation, emergence, and early development of California rice cultivars" with Dr. Alex Ceseski. In California, several compounding factors make it difficult for farmers to protect their crops from weeds and algae using traditional weed control methods. Dr. Alex Ceseski and his team and working to fix that. By exploring the viability of drill-seeding in California rice p...

It's our blooper reel! Our podcast is turning four this year. As a birthday treat, enjoy bloopers from our last orbit around the sun. Want to get us a birthday treat in return? Rate and review us on your favorite podcast app or platform. Contact us at podcast@sciencesocieties.org or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more cont...

"Redesigning traditional weed management practices in faba bean fields to optimize food-feed production in the smallholder system" with Peter Thorne. Researchers work hard to develop best practices and recommendations for farmers. However, cultural practices may affect how farmers do or are able to implement these recommendations on their farms. This episode, Peter discusses his work bridging the...

There are multiple tools for farmers to work with when deciding Nitrogen recommendation rates. All of them operate on the spectrum between mechanistic and empirical approaches. In this episode of the Field, Lab, Earth podcast, Drs. Brian Arnall, Josh McGrath, and Wade Thomason discuss the key differences between these approaches, how they interact with accuracy and precision, how they intertwine w...

"The Potential to Breed a Low-Protein Maize for Protein-Restricted Diets" with Matthew Woore, Dr. Sherry Flint-Garcia, and Dr. Jim Holland Phenylketonuria is a metabolic disorder which results in a need for a strict low-protein diet. This restricts the intake of corn and many corn-based foods. This episode, Smitty, Sherry, and Jim discuss their work developing a low-protein corn variety so that in...

In 2008, NASA launched their Phoenix Lander to take measurements on Mars. This episode, Drs. Doug Cobos and Colin Campbell talk about their experiences working with NASA and the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), what they were measuring, and what their data can tell us about Mars. Tune in to learn: The challenges involved in creating sensors for extraterrestrial environments What measurements NASA wanted...

"Urban food forests in the American Southwest" with Dr. James Allen. Food forests are multi-level polycultures where fruit and nut trees, vegetables, shade trees, mushrooms, aquatic plants, and more can all exist in the same urban or rural space. They're known to have many benefits, both environmentally and socially; however, in more arid climates like the American Southwest, there are a few hurdl...

"Agroforestry at the Landscape Level" with Dr. Sarah Lovell Agroforestry is where trees are grown alongside other crops or livestock. It's an extremely flexible practice that can be adapted to both urban and rural environments and at a variety of scales. In this episode, Dr. Sarah Lovell discusses the various uses and forms of agroforestry, how agroforestry can benefit both farmers and their surro...

"Current understanding of subsurface transport of micro- and nanoplastics in soil" with Yingxue Yu. Microplastics can come from all kinds of sources, including broken down bottles, face and body scrubs, plastic bags, tire tracks, agricultural mulch films, sewage waste, and more. However, for as ubiquitous as these plastics can be, there's still much to be learned about how they move through our so...

Nitrogen is an important nutrient for corn which, when applied as a fertilizer, can increase yields. However, too much nitrogen can lead to negative impacts on human health, water quality, plant health, and the environment. This episode, Carrie discusses her work testing nitrogen rate recommendation tools and how we can best balance profitability, plant health, and the environment. Tune in to lear...