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February 2022
"To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” 
- Mahatma Gandhi
Welcome to the Signals in the Soil newsletter from Montana State University.

We will use this e-newsletter to share news and information about the SitS project in Montana. If you have an item to share or a question, please contact the MSU Science Math Resource Center, outreach partner for the MSU SitS project. Feel free to share this newsletter with friends and colleagues, or you may unsubscribe at any time.
Free MSU workshop for teachers: tomorrow, Feb. 26
Diving Into Data for teachers: Register by 7pm Feb. 25
The MSU Science Math Resource Center, outreach partner for the Signals in the Soils project, is hosting a free workshop for K-12 teachers on Saturday, Feb. 26 called Diving Into Data. Teachers will learn to incorporate authentic datasets into their classroom. Free. OPI renewal units are included. Door prizes, too!
  • Register here by 7pm on Friday, Feb. 25.
  • If you are unable to make this workshop but would like to be notified of future educator PD opportunities, please email smrc@montana.edu
SitS team members visit Fergus High School
On Nov. 10, 2021, SitS team members Sale Rhodes (left in photo) and Daniel Collins traveled to Fergus High School in Lewistown to share content from the Signals in the Soil project with high school students in teacher Tim Nefzger’s classes. Nefzger first connected with the SitS project in May 2021 when he participated in a focus group for central Montana teachers. Middle and high school teachers in the group expressed enthusiasm for connecting their students with the SitS project and the MSU researchers involved. They also noted several ways in which the SitS research connects to their current curricula.

At Fergus High, Daniel and Sale visited a physics class, a chemistry class and an applied engineering class. In all three, they designed and led students through a hands-on experiment that simulated the movement of water through soil. Students measured and graphed conductivity and reactivity; and Sale and Daniel shared information about their own STEM career pathways.

Their presentation covered several aspects of SitS, from sensor development and modeling to plant growth, fertilizer and nitrate toxicity.

“Students showed lots of interest in the application of these tools,” said Sale, “particularly students whose families are involved in farming and ranching.” Sale noted that great questions and ideas came from non-agriculture students, as well, leading to discussions about septic contamination and water quality in drinking water wells.

Daniel said that students also asked probing questions about sensors, including how they apply to precision agriculture; how many sensors are needed to gather reliable data; and even ethical questions such as who is allowed to make decisions based on the data that is gathered?

Daniel and Sale will work with the SitS team to transform resources from the Lewistown visit into educational content that can be used by all students and teachers. Read more about Sale and Daniel below.
New educational resource
Our YouTube video is now live! Learn about the Signals in the Soils project and how we are helping farmers find ways to apply fertilizers that maintain high yields, save on application costs and reduce the chances of nitrate pollution in water resources. You'll discover how soil with pores of dramatically different sizes and structures may cause differences in how water flows through the soil and learn about our quest to develop an instrument that can detect nitrate concentration in soil water in real time.
Meet our PhD students
Sale Rhodes,
Land Resources and Environmental Sciences
Sale Rhodes is a first-year PhD student in Dr. Stephanie Ewing’s soil biogeochemistry lab at MSU-Bozeman. Her work on reactive transport of nitrate in soils intersects her passions for water quality and agriculture.

The SitS project’s potential to improve monitoring of land management and its influence on downstream human health motivates Sale’s enthusiasm for investigating soil physics and biogeochemistry, as well as community outreach and engagement.
Daniel Collins,
Mechanical Engineering
Daniel Collins is a Graduate Research Assistant at MSU. Daniel received his bachelor’s degree from MSU in Mechanical Engineering and has since begun to pursue a Ph.D. in M.E. with a focus in Microsystem Integration. His multidisciplinary work involves the physical design of sensors, the chemical make-up of specialized sensing elements, and the electrical connection to automated controls. As a member of the SitS team, Daniel is determined to improve efficiency of nitrogen-based fertilizer use by applying innovative solutions to real-world problems.
About Signals in the Soil from the National Science Foundation & USDA-NIFA
MSU’s Signals in the Soil (SitS) team has their eye on understanding nutrient cycling and water movement in agricultural soils. The SitS team will design, produce, and implement novel nitrate sensors to observe real-time soil processes. These buried sensors will transmit data electronically, and the team will develop a computer model to interpret the resulting signals. The product of this work will inform farm management to optimize fertilizer applications and crop rotations, protect water quality, and support sustainable cereal production in rain-fed systems of the Northern Great Plains.The SitS team is also implementing activities that support STEM education and participation in rural Montana.
 
Funding for the project is provided by The National Science Foundation in partnership with USDA-NIFA. Their Signals in the Soil program fosters collaboration among the two partner agencies and the researchers they support. The agencies combine resources and funding for the most innovative and high-impact projects that advance sensor systems and modeling to understand dynamic soil processes. Learn more about Signals in the Soil on the NSF website.
 
Principal Investigator: Stephanie Ewing
Co-Principal Investigators: Robert Payn, Ann Marie Reinhold, Stephan Warnat
This newsletter is brought to you by the MSU Signals in the Soil team and their outreach partner, MSU Science Math Resource Center, with support from the National Science Foundation, USDA-NIFA and Montana NSF EPSCoR. This material is based upon work supported in part by the National Science Foundation Award 2034430. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.