Brendan O’Neill | Faculty Spotlight
Date: February 19, 2021
With his start in the Kentucky countryside, Dr. O’Neill takes a historical and creative approach to studying the soil microbiome in all its complexity. When he’s not conducting research or cooking to please his toddler daughter’s taste buds, you can find him eating popcorn, cross country skiing, or engrossed in a novel.
Where did you grow up and how did you become interested in soil microbiology?
I was born and raised in Kentucky, outside of Lexington. We didn’t really have a farm but we always had chickens and a couple cows and a giant garden. We were also surrounded by tobacco farmers. I think maybe what’s notable about that is that it’s a very small farm culture with cooperative work. This small, close-knit community had a strong influence on my interest in agriculture and farming in general.
What is your food systems research about?
A lot of what underlies what I do is thinking about the soil ecosystem and how nutrients cycle through soils, and how microbes specifically drive those processes. Those are fundamental concepts and questions that I’m always drawing on.
I have just gotten into some work thinking about the impact of solar panels on the landscape. Michigan in the coming years will have hundreds of square miles of solar installed. As we transition to renewable energy sources, that could impact a lot of land use, including farmland, and the impact on our soils is an interesting question, and whether we can use soils underneath them in interesting ways for habitat or even farming.
I’ve also tried to apply some basic concepts of soil ecology into how we manage soils through soil testing. These tests can have a pretty strong influence on farmers’ decisions, so I think about how to redesign tests or understand how things like testing and technical advice can be changed to fit a more sustainable framework. This could influence how we think about water contamination or land use and how we conceptualize what’s important for managing soil.
I’m also working on an interesting project in the Andes right now that is focused on using nutrients in environments where soil nutrients are really constrained. In these regions, for example, they have limited access to inputs, and I’m thinking about how to accelerate the composting process that will return nutrients to the soil.
As scientists, we’re often thinking about breaking systems down and picking them apart, but often the most exciting part for me is the synthesis once you find out something new. This is what is exciting about something like the SFSI. You can see how things connect. It can be thrilling to think about big complex systems and how they fit together.
What do you think about the recent push for carbon farming?
Soils have a tremendous capacity to absorb carbon and potentially offset a lot of greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, some offset like this is basically built into climate agreements now. The key part that’s missing is the policy part, so if that can be brought along that’s great. In general, I think people are really waking up to the idea that land use is critical, and globally it is a large portion of our greenhouse gas footprint, higher than even the electricity sector at this point so it’s pretty influential.
Are there any books, documentaries or podcasts that you’ve listened to or read recently?
I love history so I’m a fan of Jill Lepore. I just started a book by Lewis Thomas, Fragile Species, who is a nature writer, a physician by training but also a poet. Definitely being a Kentuckian, Wendell Berry has had a big influence on me. When I was a university student I read a lot of E.O. Wilson. I haven’t read him in a while and I’ve come to think about his writing in different ways, but as an early student, his work introduced a lot of new ideas. At one point, I really got into Latin American literature – I love authors like Carlos Fuentes. A good documentary that came to mind is Look and See, again a Wendell Berry resource. For something a little lighter I would recommend a very enjoyable food system movie called The Milagro Beanfield War. It’s a lot of fun, I think it was made by Robert Redford quite a long time ago, but it’s based on a great book by John Nichols and it’s really brought to life in the movie.
How do you like to spend your time when you’re not researching/teaching/working?
My wife and I have a 16 month old daughter, so being a parent consumes a great deal of my free time…and if there’s one major activity that consumes the time with her, it would be food. She’s a major part of the way I think about food right now, as she experiences (and rejects) new food. She actually eats a huge amount of broccoli, she loves carrots, and the other day we were shocked when she just just took down a bunch of brussel sprouts.
Whether it’s hiking or cross country skiing, that’s something I seek out and enjoy whenever I get a chance. My favorite trails back home in Kentucky are around the Red River Gorge, which are embedded in my childhood memory.
Do you have a particularly strong food memory?
Growing up, in the summer we would always just pick and eat fresh out of the garden. I realize, now, that when I eat fresh sweet corn or squash that there’s part of my brain that’s always comparing it back to that.
Do you have any advice for students wanting to go into food systems careers?
I think number one is paying close attention to the ideas and experiences that you are passionate about, keeping tabs on the pulse of what really drives you. It could be research, it could be teaching, it could be working closely with certain types of people, or it could be soils or conservation or energy or equality. Sometimes there’s so much going on that you can lose track, but really identifying what makes you passionate is important. There’s so much complexity in these systems and the food system. I think, in some ways, the antidote to that is finding ways to be creative. This way you can address some of the rigidity that comes with thinking about policies or things that are hard to change. Reading things that are not necessarily directly related to your field, whether it’s history or a great novel, is a good way to expand your mind a little bit and exercise your imagination.
Brendan O’Neill is a Research Scientist at the School for Environment and Sustainability.
