You are researching pesticides in Irish agricultural soils, why is soil so central to your study?
When a pesticide is sprayed on a field, some may get into the air and some into the soil. Then the physical and chemical properties of the soil affect how long that pesticide remains there and how quickly it may move into rivers and lakes and be transported elsewhere.
Soil is the middleman. But at the moment there is little information regarding pesticide residues in the soil here in Ireland, even though more than 60 per cent of the Irish land mass is used for agricultural processes. That’s a gap in knowledge that I want to help to fill with my PhD.
How are you gathering information?
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I have been collecting soil cores from fields in different parts of Ireland, to a depth of 15cm. I collect the samples just after pesticide has been sprayed and then also a week later. This top 15cm is where most of pesticide will be retained.
Obviously I can’t just jump into a field and start collecting samples, so a big part of the project has been to work with farmers who want to be involved. I am very impressed with how the farmers want to minimise the potential downside of pesticides for the environment.
How did you become interested in soil in the first place?
That’s a long story! I am an analytical chemist and I grew up in Sabah in Malaysia – it is one of the States in the Borneo Islands. For my master’s research I looked at the properties of natural rainforest soils in Sabah versus soil in neighbouring land that was used for palm plantations.
I was looking at the chemistry of ecological processes and I became fascinated with the changes in soil. When my master’s finished, I wanted to continue to work with soil, so I came to study with Dr Blánaid White in Dublin City University and with Dr James (Jim) Carolan in Maynooth University. With Blánaid, I am looking at the chemistry of soils and pesticides and, with Jim, I am looking at biological changes in the soil.
You recently won the Tell it Straight speaking competition in DCU – does communication come naturally to you?
I am interested in communicating with people so they are aware of what I am doing and why it is important that I am doing it, and I think that comes naturally to some extent. But I have also been working at it – for the last few years I have been putting myself forward for talks and sharpening those skills. What I have learned is that it the most important aspect is what the audience retains after I have finished talking. That’s what matters.
What experience have you found most rewarding from your PhD so far?
I think it is the sampling trips to collect soil around Ireland. It brought me to places I would not otherwise go, and I got to see the inner heart of the Irish countryside, which is an amazing landscape.
What do you do to take a break?
I love working out and playing sport. I was an athlete back home in Malaysia and when I came here I wanted to try something new, so I started playing Australian rules football, which gave me the opportunity to meet lots of people.
I’ve also taken part in karate competitions in Ireland and I am a badminton umpire too. And I love sea swimming – when the research is difficult I head out for a sea swim. There is nothing like cold water hitting you to reset the mind.
