• Question: what is the best thing you have made

    Asked by anon-176334 to Jenny, Stephen, Paul on 20 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Stephen MacKenzie

      Stephen MacKenzie answered on 20 Jun 2018:

      Hi Jack, One of the things I have made (as part of a team) in the past which was pretty neat is a toolkit which enables farmers to formulate diets for their animals with the specific goal of minimising the environmental impact of feeding them. I am now working on creating an online toolkit to help city food initiatives such as community gardens and canteens to communicate the hidden impacts that they have on food systems in cities around the world.

    • Photo: Paul Newell Price

      Paul Newell Price answered on 21 Jun 2018:

      Best thing I’ve made for work or outside work?
      The best thing for my research work was the rainfall simulator I used to study soil erosion in the High Atlas mountains in southern Morocco. Over 95% of our food is grown in soil (or based on soil to grow grass..) so it’s pretty important we don’t lose it through erosion or degrade it through compaction or overcultivating and losing the organic matter, which is like the fuel that drives the engine of the soil: our food production platform.
      Anyway, the challenge with the rainfall simulator was to get it to work at 2,000 metres above sea level in the High Atlas mountains. It took a few adjustments and getting it out there was also a challenge; I drove from Derby and then had Moroccan customs to deal with at the border……

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