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NEWS AND MEDIA COVERAGE

  1. BBC Podcast. Interview with Dr Keith Shepherd on One Planet series “From the Ground Up”.
    [January 2008]. Will Grant reports from Costa Rica on an ambitious scheme to protect rainforest by forgiving national debt. How effective are these schemes?
  2. East African agri-researchers take to Infra Red Spectroscopy for soil analysis
    [December 2007]. Agricultural researchers in East Africa have adopted Infra Red Spectroscopy to analyse a given sample of soil and instantly tell its quality.
  3. Points of view from New Agriculturist
    [September 2007]. New Agriculturist presents opinions on the state of our soils and the challenges ahead if the earth beneath our feet is to get the attention it deserves from farmers, researchers and policy-makers.
  4. Feature Article in the Australian Journal of Soil Research - Volume 45 Number 2, 2007
    [March 2007]. An article on "The prediction of soil carbon fractions using mid-infrared-partial least square analysis" has been chosen as a "Feature Article" in the Australian Journal of Soil Research.
  5. Infra - Red Spectroscopy, 2007 - Lead Article of the Year
    [February 2007] An article with an overview of the infrared (IR) spectroscopy methods developed and applied by Keith Shepherd, Markus Walsh is the lead article for the year in the 2007 volume of Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy.
  6. Measuring the Desert
    [November 2006] New method to measure land degradation, developed by the World Agroforestry Centre, maps degraded lands in the Sahel.
  7. ICRAF at the COP/MOP 2 and COP 12 to the UNFCCC
    [November 2006] “Keith Shepherd, ICRAF, explained that lack of accurate, cost-effective methods for measuring and monitoring carbon stocks over large areas has been a major impediment to smallholder carbon development projects. He highlighted a range of new tools to overcome this bottleneck.
  8. Interview with the Frontiers in Ecology - an Ecological Society of America Journal.
    [August 2006] “The future isn’t about conventional soil tests, the future is developing whole new approaches to diagnostics”, says ICRAF scientist Keith Shepherd.
  9. Low-cost infrared device may save farmers millions
    [NAIROBI - 3 July 2006] Scientists at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Gigiri, in cooperation with private sector researchers at Analytical Spectral Devices of the United States and a German company, Bruker Optik, have developed a new technology that uses infrared light to assess soils for various parameters.
  10. The future is infrared
    [1 July 2006] According to Dr Keith Shepherd at the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) "Over twenty years, land degradation can mean the difference between productive land, and land that becomes like stone."
  11. Infrared scanners promise affordable soil health checks.
    [NAIROBI - 15 June 2006] Researchers have described how a piece of laboratory equipment ordinarily used to test the composition of drugs could transform knowledge of African soils and help poor farmers manage their land.
  12. 'Desertification - protecting areas at risk'.
    Click to Listen[June 2006] Radio Interview - WRENmedia AGFAX radio pack (http://www.agfax.net/), June 2006 edition. Track featuring an interview with Dr Keith Shepherd on 'Desertification - protecting areas at risk'. Full transcript
  13. PanAfrica: Infrared Scanners Promise Affordable Soil Health Checks.
    ... is faster, more reliable and cheaper than conventional ways of analysing soil, said Keith Shepherd, chief soil scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF...
  14. The soils lab in a suitcase.
    A technique previously used by the pharmaceutical industry to ensure quality control in medicines is taking off as a tool that is set to radically transform soil mapping in Africa and beyond.
  15. CGIAR Scientists Deploy Infra-Red Scanners in Fight Against Hunger: Five Developing Countries to Test New Crop-Boosting Technique.
    In a part of the world where millions of farmers still rely on hand tools to prepare the soil, CGIAR researchers are about to introduce a new technology that could set the stage for major increases in African food production.
  16. ICRAF equips Mali national labs with infrared technology for soil analysis
    World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) successfully installed a multipurpose infrared spectrometer in Mali in a rudimentary laboratory based at the Institut d'Economie Rural (IER), Sotuba.
  17. Analytical Spectral Devices
    Rockefeller Foundation investments, through the World Agroforestry Centre, in rapid large area assessment of soil quality and organic resource quality using the FieldSpec® Vis/NIR full-range spectrometer for rapid characterization of soils receives praise!
  18. International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation
    Spectroscopy and dynamic GIS modelling of earth surface processes for nature conservation - Refresher course (completed).
  19. ICRAF Invests in Unique Bruker Solution for Soil Analysis. Laboratory Marketing Spectrum 24: (3): 54 (2005).
  20. Transformation Quaterly - Shining light on soil deficiencies: ICRAF breakthrough to improve agricultural productivity in Africa.
    At 17 years of age, most young people have no idea what to pursue for a career. But Dr Keith Shepherd was sure that soil science was it for him after reading the book The World of the Soil. “I was amazed by the sheer number and diversity of organisms in the soil.”> More...
  21. Film from the Award Winning Journey to Planet Earth Series  ‘Seas of Grass’
    Soil spectroscopy work on Lake Victoria Basin featured in Journey to Planet Earth series film ‘Seas of Grass’, shown on PBS. Screenscope Inc, Washington DC . Seas of Grass. Film from the Award Winning Journey to Planet Earth Series, hosted and narrated byAcademy Award winner Matt Damon. The series is produced by Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Marilyn and Hal Weiner in associationwith Screenscope, Inc. and South Carolina ETV and has been aired on PBS.  Seas of Grass (2003) focuses on the current state ofgrasslands, which are the natural vegetation of nearly one-third of the world's land surface. The Kenya portion of the film features the project’s work on assessment of soil erosion in Lake Victoria.
  22. National Geographic Channel
    Hot Science Africa.  Documentary film (2002) aired on the National Geographic Channel, featuring the project’s work on use of field spectroscopy for assessing land degradation in the Lake Victoria Basin.
  23. International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation
    Modern sensor technology has the potential to revolutionise field soil survey - Both remote and near sensors can be used.
  24. University of East Anglia
    Assessment of Land Degradation by Remote Sensing 
  25. Science Magazine
    Portait of an Invader. Science Volume 286, Number 5445, Issue of 26 Nov 1999, p. 1675.
  26. Panafrica News Agency
    Scientist move to save Lake Victoria from Drying. December 11, 2000
  27. Cornel University
    "Infrared Technology for Diagnostic Testing of Soil and Plant Health Supporting the African Green Revolution," Keith Shepherd, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), June 3, 11 a.m., 135 Emerson Hall.
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