Stanford Soils Specialist Slated as Second USU Water Initiative Speaker

Utah State University’s Water Initiative is hosting its second fall seminar with a presentation by David Robinson, professor of geophysics from Stanford University. Robinson will discuss “Exploring Soils and Ecohydrological Structure in Vulnerable Ecosystems Using Geophysical Imaging.”

The seminar is Tuesday, Oct. 9, at 3:30 p.m. in the Engineering building, room 101, on the USU campus. All seminars are free and open to the public.

 

“Through their control over resources in drylands, soils play a fundamental role in determining the structure, function and diversity of terrestrial ecosystems,” Robinson said.

 

Robinson believes there is an important ecological need for quantitative subsurface data that links soils, water and plant community structure to understand the changing world. During his presentation he will discuss pressing ecohydrological questions affecting the western United States, including the contribution of subsurface properties to forest die-back in such species as pinyon pine and quaking aspen.

 

“The role of soil resources, nutrients or soil moisture is not fully understood,” Robinson said. “Soil texture patterns and the location of subsurface flow paths undoubtedly contribute to plant community structure, and understanding soil-water-vegetation links in an ecosystem are important for understanding plant community structure and emergent behavior.”

 

Robinson’s talk will address several ecohydrological studies from the western United States and a hydrological process study from Cambodia, using geophysical imaging to map spatial patterns of subsurface properties.

 

Robinson is a research scientist at Stanford University who focuses on the application of geophysical methods to ecohydrological research. His contributions to soil and water research have been recognized with awards that include the Soil Physics Early Career Award in 2005 and the Soil & Water Management & Conservation Early Career Award in 2006.

Robinson has worked at Israel’s Volcanic Center for Agricultural Research, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Salinity Laboratory in Riverside, Calif., and as a research assistant professor at USU. Robinson received a bachelor’s in soils and the environment with sedimentary geology from Reading University in the United Kingdom. His doctorate, from the Institute of Hydrology at University of Ulster in the United Kingdom, focused on soil water content determination using electrical sensors. 

The USU Water Initiative is an interdisciplinary collaboration of the university’s Utah Water Research Laboratory and the colleges of Agriculture, Business, Engineering, Natural Resources, Science and Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Established in 2003, the initiative fosters collegial sharing of water-related research and ideas throughout campus and the community.

Parking for the seminars is available in the university parking terraces at 850 E. 700 North and 700 E. 600 North. The USU campus is served by Logan Transit District Routes 1 and 4, with a bus stop at the Veterinary Science building on 700 North.

 

The next lecture, by Ray Huffaker from Washington State University’s School of Economic Sciences, is Oct. 30.

 

For more information, visit USU’s Water Initiative Web site.