CeRDI staff member wins prestigious national award in soil science

20 December 2017

Dr Nathan Robinson, senior research fellow at Federation University’s Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation (CeRDI), has received the prestigious 2017 CG Stephens award from Soil Science Australia. The award is granted to the best PhD for soil science across Australia.

Nathan completed his PhD at Federation University in 2016, conducting research focused on digital soil mapping. Entitled “Assessing productive soil-landscapes in Victoria using digital soil mapping” Nathan’s research, together with his collaborations with other scientists on the project, is considered revolutionary for its digital organisation of soil mapping for Victoria. It has also been showcased with the wider soils and agriculture industries for its breadth and contribution to digital data.

Nathan joined the CeRDI team in late 2017 after working for the Victorian government for 18 years in soil and landscape analysis.  Nathan’s role in CeRDI is closely linked to his PhD. He is currently working with CeRDI researchers, including one of his PhD supervisors, Assoc Prof Peter Dahlhaus, in the area of Soil Science and is conducting research on advancements to spatial analysis to better understand the links between soil and the agricultural production systems.