Zoom into Soil: The Benefits of Natural Processes

In this webinar, Sarah George, BSSS Outreach Committee Member, and Olivia Azevedo, PhD student at the University of Stirling and Forest Research, discuss the benefits of natural processes in relation to soils.

Sarah George will be speaking about ‘Knepp Soils and their role in natural regeneration’. She is an ecologist and safari guide at the Knepp Rewilding Project. Sarah has degrees in Countryside Management and Ecology and also a Research Masters in Ecology where she focussed on soils. She has a lifelong love of horses and have worked with them in traditional, conservation grazing and rewilding set ups and has also worked with lots of other livestock. As such, this makes her involvement at Knepp much about the large herbivores, their impact on the soils and of course, the vegetation in between. She also lectures and writes land management courses at school, college and university levels, and is involved in assessing land and wildlife qualifications for a UK examining board.

Olivia Azevedo will be speaking on Long-Term Effects of Woodland Creation on Soil Structure and the Fate of Carbon. She is a PhD student at the University of Stirling and Forest Research, exploring temperate forest soil interactions, emphasizing the influence of woodland creation on soil properties, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem dynamics amidst climate change mitigation efforts. Her research investigates the long-term impacts of woodland establishment on soil structure and carbon distribution across aggregate class sizes in temperate forests. This study is significant in the current discourse on climate change as it elucidates the pivotal role of woodlands in carbon sequestration and soil health maintenance.