Born and raised in North Dakota, Meyer completed his undergraduate studies at Dickinson State University where he completed his B.S. in Environmental Science with a chemistry and earth science emphasis. Meyer is a former student of ISU soil science alum, Dr. Eric Brevik, who developed Meyer’s educational background primarily within the natural earth sciences. Meyer’s graduate work at North Dakota State University under a former NRCS Soil Survey field scientist, Dr. David Hopkins, led Meyer to his primary research focuses in the realm of the Pedology. He has had extensive field experience in glaciated prairie landscapes, with applications in both traditional soil survey and modern digital soil mapping techniques.
As we pursue the goal to support a global population of over 9 billion people by 2050, the mandate for sustainable production of food, fuel, and fiber resources requires enhanced knowledge of the spatial and temporal scales that explain phenomenon of the soil system. Soil maps and the soil survey are the primary resources we use to document, monitor, and evaluate our soil resource to make vital interpretations and management decisions.
The modern soil geographer must conduct their research based on fundamental scientific principles coupled with a comprehensive background in the historic and modern characteristics of the soil landscape. This foundation is complemented by a firm grasp on the shovel, dexterity on the keyboard, and a three-dimensional perspective. Today’s soil scientist is fluent in the languages of programming, database science, and multivariate analysis. With these tools, the future holds great promise for modeling and mapping the soil continuum at larger scales than ever before.
On a final note: The world is not constrained by a Gaussian distribution. We must strive to make non-parametric predictions to explain scale-phenomena that extends beyond the confines of the research site while minimizing the deviation from the truth.
Favorite Quote: “It takes a genius to undertake the analysis of the obvious.” – Alfred North Whitehead – Science and the Modern World, 1925
