Georgia Reed: ‘Digging into the Australian National Soil Archive’

Georgia will introduce the Australian National Soil Archive of over one hundred thousand samples, outline its history and significance, and discuss how archived soil collections contribute to contemporary research.

Abstract

What is a soil archive, and why do we preserve soil samples for the future?

The Australian National Soil Archive contains over one hundred thousand soil samples collected over the past 100 years from tens of thousands of sites across Australia, providing a unique record of our soils. The archive supports diverse research applications, including monitoring long-term soil change, developing new analytical approaches, and understanding environmental change through time.

In this presentation, Georgia will introduce the Australian National Soil Archive, outline its history and significance, and discuss how archived soil collections contribute to contemporary research. She will also highlight several historically significant soil survey collections associated with famous Antarctic explorers, that have recently been rediscovered and archived, creating new opportunities for future scientific investigation.

Biography

Georgia is the Collection Manager of the Australian National Soil Archive at CSIRO, where she oversees the management and preservation of nationally significant soil specimens and associated data. She ensures these valuable resources remain accessible for current and future research. Her background in archaeological sciences and museum and heritage studies supports her work in collection management and the curation, preservation, and long-term stewardship of a scientific collection.

Booking Link – https://www.trybooking.com/DRCGY

One-hour talks are held at 12.30 pm every Thursday from February to November. We welcome donations by gold coins, notes, or electronically. The Friends use donations to support Gardens’ programs and development and thank all those who have donated.

Please note: unless otherwise indicated, talks are in the ANBG Theatrette.

It is a good idea to reserve a seat at the talks that you wish to attend; several talks are booked out very quickly. Bookings can be made about 30 days in advance until Wednesday night before the talk.

The Friends of the ANBG thank the speakers who volunteer their time and talents to further the knowledge of all attending events in the Gardens. Some summaries or PowerPoint presentations of Thursday talks are available to Friends at the ANBG Library. Please direct queries about the talks to the Thursday Talks Team: email talks@friendsanbg.org.au