MO DIRT - Missourians Doing Impact Research Together - A project to examine the soil-climate interface with citizen scientists

The Missouri Transect project, recently funded by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR program, uses different scientific approaches to study and predict the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity and native... [ view full abstract ]

The Missouri Transect project, recently funded by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR program, uses different scientific approaches to study and predict the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity and native flora in Missouri, and how stakeholder communities are likely to be affected by and respond to the challenges of changing climate. Important components of The Missouri Transect are public education and outreach efforts. MO DIRT - Missourians Doing Impact Research Together, is a new citizen science initiative that will crowdsource the collection of data on soil health and reciprocal soil-climate interactions across the state. Soils store vast amounts of organic carbon and the CO2 flux from soils to the atmosphere (soil respiration) is one of the largest fluxes in the global carbon cycle. Changes in climate due to an increase of CO2 in the atmosphere are expected to be influenced by changes in soil respiration. Missouri citizens, including K-12 students, equipped with training, guidelines, and soil quality test kits, will collect and electronically record relevant data to contribute to the overall research efforts. All participants can experience science-based enrichment activities to gain knowledge on the physical, chemical and biological properties of soil and better understand that healthy soils are living, breathing entities. MO DIRT data will be analyzed, validated, and used to compliment data on climate and plant performance produced by meteorologists, plant biologists, and computer scientists at Missouri Transect institutions to provide a more complete picture of the current and future impact of climate change on the natural resources of the state of Missouri.