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Skye Wills

Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Research Soil Scientist, USDA-ARS, Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, New Mexico  88003-0003
Adjunct Faculty, Department of ??, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

My research interests center on the use of geospatial techniques to understand and predict the relationships between land use, landscape features, and soil properties.  I am interested in both dedicated pedology research, focusing on detailed evaluation of individual soil pedons, and geospatial research where soil properties are one component of the features across a landscape.  Pedology and geomorphology are at the interface between the sciences of ecology, meteorology, hydrology, and geography.  I would like to use the specific skills of a pedologist (understanding the interrelationships of biogeochemical properties and their distribution) to improve the understanding of landscape and geomorphological processes.  I would also like to explore practical applications of geomorphology and pedology such as septic system siting and functional landscape designs.

As a part of the new soil survey, the Natural Resources Conservation Service will be gathering information about human impacts on soil. Data collection procedures are currently under development. The goal is to develop dynamic soil property sampling guidelines specific to management systems or vegetative communities and their associated groups of similar soils in the US. The sampling recommendations will be used by field soil scientists to capture functionally important differences across multiple scales between 1) land uses and 2) management systems or plant communities within particular land uses.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

1. Wills, S.A., B.A. Needelman, and R.R. Weil. Carbon distribution in restored and reference marshes at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science. In press.
2. Wills, S.A., C.L. Burras, and J.A. Sandor. 2007. Prediction of soil organic carbon content using field and laboratory measurements of soil color. Soil Science Society of America Journal 71:380-388. [Also written up in New York Times, March 20, 2007 Science Section F Pg 3 Column 1.]

   Additional Publications

3. McMichael, J., L. Burras, and S. Wills. 2007. Understanding pasture quality, soil quality, and soil organic carbon content relationships in south central Iowa. Proceedings of the National Conference on Grazing Lands.
4. C. Lee Burras, Julie M. Mcglaulin, Skye A. Wills, Mide Barker, and E. Charles Brummer. 2005. Soil Carbon and Quality in Seymour and Clarinda Soil Map Units, Chariton Valley, IA. Prepared for Chariton Valley RC&D. Chariton Valley Biomass Project #DE-FC36-96GO10148.