Scientists from the Lancaster Environment Centre are revealing the vital role played by the soil under your feet and are exploring what makes us, and creepy crawlies, love British woodlands during a month where researchers share their passion and expertise.

Campus in the City, five weeks of family friendly activities, launches on Saturday 2 March when Lancaster University takes over a shop in St Nicholas Arcade in Lancaster City Centre. The aim is to generate conversation, inspire interest in research, learn something new and have fun.

Soils in the City

For the first time this year soil scientists from the Soil-Value project, funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council, are taking part. They'll be focusing on three important things soils do for us - storing carbon, absorbing water and producing food.

“Soils are often overlooked, people just don’t realise how vital they are, for instance soils hold three times as much carbon as the atmosphere,” says Dr Victoria Janes-Bassett, who is researching how changing land use could increase our soils ability to store carbon and help tackle climate change.

In ‘How much carbon is in your garden’, scientists will use a soils map of Lancaster and Morecambe, alongside information provided by visitors about their own garden, to work out the answer to this question.

“We’ll then compare their garden’s capacity to store carbon to the carbon emissions of other activities such as a train journey from Lancaster to London or a flight to Paris,” said Roisin O’Riordan, a PhD researcher who is investigating the impact of urbanisation on soil and its ability to store carbon.

“We’ll also have our ‘slow the flow’ demonstrator to show how soil acts like a sponge by absorbing water helping to protect us from flooding, and how covering it with an impenetrable layer can cause our homes to flood.”

Finally a Soils Supermarket will enable people to explore how common food items found in every home impact on the soil they grow in. Soils sessions happen on 2, 13 and 15 March.

Sex & Bugs & Rock ‘n Roll

On March 2 and 23, ecologists will be hosting a Sex & Bugs & Rock ’n Roll roadshow, which features at Glastonbury Festival as well in previous years’ Campus in the City.

The focus this year will be on the hidden wonders of woodlands: visitors will be able to discover their inner woodland creature, find out about UK mushrooms while testing their sense of smell, and play the popular Poo Game (only plastic poo involved) to identify animals from what they leave behind. Ecologists will be on hand for a friendly chat about anything from dung beetles to conservation to climate change, and visitors will also be able to contribute to research in a fun way by creating their ideal woodland in a game that will help researchers find out why people love woodlands.

Science Hunters - exploring coral reefs through Minecraft

Finally, the Science Hunters team will be back using the popular computer game Minecraft to explore the underwater world of coral reefs and to find out how science is being used to stop the decline of these important threatened habitats. They’ll also bring along some real coral samples for visitors to hold and examine.

• Soils sessions take place on 2, 13 and 15 March
• Sex & Bugs & Rock ’n Roll sessions take place on 2 and 23 March
• Science Hunters sessions take place on the 29 and 30 March

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