When Rebecca Lybrand ’07 was tasked with making soil and climate science a relatable and interesting topic to audiences within and outside the scientific community, she decided to put her interdisciplinary skills to work. In short order, she produced an engaging YouTube video that chronicles her day as a soil scientist. Lybrand’s 18-minute video, Soil, Not Dirt, gives viewers of all ages a first-hand look at the complexities of soil and its importance to plants, animals, and humans and highlights the unique aspects of her career.
Lybrand, a Whittier biology major, earned her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona where she now works. In Soil, Not Dirt, she recounts the experiences that helped her choose her career, noting her admiration for Whittier biology and chemistry professors, her affinity for scientific discussions and experimentation, her love of the outdoors, and her dislike of business attire. The video follows Lybrand, casually dressed in jeans and hiking boots, as she treks to her research sites in the Sonoran desert.
Her video is part of a Climate Assessment of the Southwest fellowship, a program focused on expanding science education accessibility and improving communication skills among scientists. Lybrand aims to get the word out about soils (not dirt) and underscore the importance of science communication to undergraduate students.
Originally appeared in the Fall 2015 issue of The Rock
