Support Soil Research and Teaching at Berkeley
The students that inspire and do much of this research are supported by funds from a variety of sources outside of the university. Here are some ways that your support could enhance the educational and research productivity of soils at Berkeley.
Please call (510-643-7890) or email (earthy@berkeley.edu) me for any questions you might have about what we are doing, what is on the horizon, and how you might help and become involved. Please directly contribute, if you wish,
EQUIPMENT FOR FIELD INSTRUCTION: In the past decade, lab instrumentation has been minaturized and made suitable for the field. It is now possible for students to perform high resolution on-site chemical analyses of soils, rocks, water, and atmospheric trace gases that are in the soil environment. There are limited funds for instructional equipment at Berkeley. Each of these items is in the $50K range, but can benefit undergraduate and graduate students in a number of courses, such as Soil Formation, Soil Science Summer Field Class (see photo below, student using a portable XRF in the 2015 Soil Science Summer Field Course), Introductory Soil Science, Soil Physics, and Soil Chemistry - as well in classes in related programs.
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UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SUPPORT: I have had many undergraduate students from the complete spectrum of backgrounds ask to work in our lab. I have tried to accomodate as many as we can, and these interactions result in benefits to the students as well as to me. However, to do so requires financial support to provide funds for their projects, and some salary for their efforts (since many students are from economically challenged backgrounds). Typical year long costs are about $3 to $4K.
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GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS: The cost of graduate student support has increased by several fold in the past 10 years, along with increased costs of living for students. Attracting the best and most talented students to Berkeley is expensive. Individual years of student support are $30K, and an endowed fellowship in Soil Science is $500K. These can be directed to projects of special interest.
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FIELD RESEARCH SUPPORT: The projects listed on the previous page all require significant support for travel, laboratory work, and associated expenses for software, supplies, and publication costs. A usual foreign travel budget for a 2-3 week field trip (for 4 people) is in the $10 - 15K range. Research grants are now highly competive, making individual donor support an important avenue for continuing Berkeley's research.
