31 Aug Dr Oliver Knox – Soil Your Undies Recognition
UNE Associate Professor Oliver Knox is the man of the hour, having received his second major award in just two weeks!
UNE Associate Professor Oliver Knox is the man of the hour, having received his second major award in just two weeks!
After winning the Cotton Seed Distributors Researcher of the Year in early August, he is also the recipient of Landcare Australia’s coveted 2022 General Jeffery Soil Health Award.
“There are currently people travelling to space in pursuit of mankind’s dreams, but there are some of us still on the planet protecting our soils and our future,” he said after receiving the award.
“I’ll be using this award to continue to promote the importance of our soils and everyone’s role in maintaining the health of this magical, but limited resource.”
‘Soil Your Undies’ is a fun and engaging citizen science campaign run by Dr Knox and CottonInfo, along with UNE Discovery and UNE SMART Farms, that explores soil health and allows participants to share their experiences.
For the challenge, 300 participants in 2021 received a pair of 100% white cotton undies to bury in topsoil for two months. After this time, the undies are retrieved, photographed and the level of decomposition recorded. If the undies have decomposed significantly, there is good biological activity. This indicates healthy soil! These same soil organisms that break down the cotton can break down plant materials in much the same way.
A huge thanks to all our UNE Discovery friends who participated in the project and ‘soiled your undies’ for science in 2021. Congratulations Dr Knox!
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