Julia Cooper

I am a soil scientist with a passion for evidence-based approaches to maintaining soil health. Organic matter management is key to soil health and throughout my career I have studied carbon and nitrogen cycling in agricultural systems. I am interested in using our understanding of the fundamental biological processes that happen in agricultural soils to design cropping systems where C and N cycle to optimize crop production and health and minimize environmental impacts.

Since joining ORC in 2023 I have been involved in a range of projects that relate to this theme. The Living Mulches project seeks to address a real challenge in organic and conventional arable systems: how to develop systems with reduced or no-tillage, without relying on herbicides. In LiveSeeding we are testing wheat and bean varieties with organic farmers that are adapted to non-synthetic sources of nutrients. The Feed the Soil project explores novel ways of managing organic wastes to supply nutrients to crops and build soil health. And the Rapid Evidence Assessment on regenerative agriculture project built a picture of the many challenges facing regenerative farmers in the UK so that future research and knowledge exchange activities can be focused on these major barriers. 

All of the work I do at ORC is participatory with farmers involved in co-designing the research and solutions to their challenges. This has proven to be effective and incredibly rewarding.