Soil-Plant Root Interactions in a Changing Environment

Learn more about this course:

What will I learn?

You will gain an understanding of the importance of soil-plant root interactions in supporting plant production and health together with their important roles in nutrient cycling and the mitigation of climate change. You will also explore how harnessing and supporting these important interactions can help with issues such as food security and environmental sustainability. The course will provide you with a state-of-the-art modelling tool to investigate the benefits of certain plant-soil interactions. In essence, this course on soil-root interactions will equip you with the knowledge to begin to tackle real-world problems related to plant production, sustainability, and environmental protection.

How will I learn?

This course will be taught by a mix of directed online learning including practical sessions, and self-study of the subject and for assessments. It will be delivered online via our virtual learning environment, Moodle. The directed online learning for the first two sections, ‘Introductory material’ and ‘Fundamentals: Root-scale soil processes’ will be materials based on established research, covering important content from textbooks in the suggested reading. The later section will be accompanied by practical learning via a Jupyter Notebook containing a root-soil model with hands-on learning and exercises representative of problems that you might encounter as researcher. The 3 final sections, ‘How do roots change the soil?’, ‘How does soil change the plant?’ and ‘Environmental change’ will be case-study based learning where we explore research papers, or small collections of important researcher papers interpreting (and being critical of) the evidence for the proposed plant-soil interactions and their impact at the global scale. Here we will zoom on certain mechanisms so will not cover all the important plant-soil mechanisms in such detail. However, the critical analysis learnt during these sections, as well as the introductory material and reference list will give the learners the tools to do deeper dives into other mechanisms as part of the independent learning.

How will I be assessed?

You will be required to do two assessments to complete this course:

1. Record a 15-minute presentation on the strength of current research evidence of a plant-soil interaction of your choice not covered in the learning materials.
2. Write a project proposal where an experiment or model is designed to assess the effect of a plant-soil interaction. Discuss how the results might affect our understanding global or landscape scale problems. This must be a different plant-soil interaction than that covered in the first assessment.

By the end of the course what will I be able to do?

On completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Critique scientific literature on plant-soil interactions.
• Justify the link between small scale plant-soil interactions and global challenges at the ecosystem and agricultural scale.
• Design an experiment or model to evaluate the root-scale relationship between plants and soil in terms of nutrients (in particular, nitrogen and phosphorus), water, and carbon considering how these interactions could be harnessed to combat global challenges.

How long does the course last for and how much time will I need to spend on it each week?

Course duration:

• The course is self-paced, allowing you to progress at your own speed.
• You have 52 weeks from the time of enrolment to complete the course.

Typical completion time: The course is generally designed to be completed in 12 weeks.

Weekly time commitment: To complete a course in 12 weeks, expect to spend approximately 3 hours per week on directed online learning activities and at least one day per week dedicated to independent learning and assessment work.

Why is SRUC a good place to study this micro-credential?

• The course has been designed and delivered by experienced practitioners in plant and soil biology in relation to horticulture, agriculture, forestry and conservation.
• Our courses offer engaging and experiential online learning incorporating skills and knowledge that you can use in your personal or professional growth.
• Courses are designed to support learners in their individual endeavours to contribute to pressing global issues such as climate change, food security, and biodiversity conservation.

Who will be teaching me?

Dr Daniel Fletcher

Dan is a research fellow in SRUC’s Rural Economy Environment and Society (REES) department specialising in sustainable ecosystems and is currently collaborating in research projects across the globe.  Dan currently supports MSc learners in their dissertation projects and supports the Soils and Sustainability MSc overseas field trip with their erosion modelling project.

Dan is an expert in rhizosphere science, particularly focused on the role of root exudates in nutrient acquisition and drought tolerance. He is also interested in the role root symbioses for nutrient and water uptake. In his research Dan has used cutting edge experimental methods and models to investigate root-soil processes.

Dan is passionate about learners gaining real world knowledge, experience, and skills that can help them progress in academia and industry.  His sessions are engaging, and he enjoys nothing more than learner curiosity and ‘stupid’ questions.