1. SKILLSBiochemistryMolecular microbiologyAstrochemistry/astrobiologyGeochemistryBiogeochemistryGeomicrobiologyKnowledge sharingOpen access / open scienceOpen source hardware

2. What the Soil Food Web does Organisms do the work in soil and compost - make nutrients plant-available build soil structure suppress diseases and pests Organisms are fed and supported by plantsthrough root exudates and dead plant material Protozoa, nematodes, earthworms and micro-arthropodseat bacteria and fungi to releasenutrients in plant-available formsnothing 3. MICROBES AND SOIL FORMATION 3.4.1 Living Organisms Bacteria - "A teaspoon of productive soil generally contains between 100 million and 1 billion bacteria. That is as much as two cows per acre." - Elaine R. Ingham, NRCS 1. Decomposers 2. Mutualists - nitrogen-fixers 3. Pathogens 4. Chemoautotrophs (orlithotrophs) 4. SOIL FERTILITY Bacteria can transform minerals Bacteria can degrade organic matter Many reactions possible CHO CO2 + H2O SO4SH2S NO3N2 NH3 N2 NH3 NO3 5. SOIL BACTERIA Different bacteria work together eg NH3 + NO3 N2 CH3 CH4 (need other bacteriaproducing H) Potential for cleaning CH3-Br 6. RELEVANCE OF ASTROBIOLOGY More bacteria remain to be discovered Astrobiology can provide insight in processesat the interface living non living New leads for processes useful foragriculture New leads for environment cleaning 7. SHARING KNOWLEDGE Agriculture networks of knowledge CIARD, GFAR, AIMS, CGIAR 8. EXAMPLE OF TOP-DOWN APROACH 9. SHARING KNOWLEDGEWhat we want:bottom-up networks of practitioners, farmers,students, citzen scientistsUse for example iHUB (kenya)Use contacts of open science for developmentgroupUse contacts from Open Knowledge globalnetwork 10. SHARING KNOWLEDGEHOW? 11. ACCESS TO THE INTERNET FAST GROWING 12. DEVELOPING WORLD CATCHING UP 65% of the people who get onto the internet todaycome from emerging markets (mainly using wireless) Meanwhile, only 24% of the people in emergingmarkets are online. That means that whether the West realizes it or not,the internet focus has already shifted, the ripples ofthis are only now being felt. 13. TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY:AGRICULTURAL METHODS Easy to follow methods Local production organic fertilizers Local sources Low-cost materials Easy measurements In short RockinSoils 14. TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY:MEASURING TOOLS Open Source Hardware OSH Key technology 3D PrintingLow cost spectrometer, microscope, pH meter,conductivity, test tubes, containers and more 15. OPEN SOURCE HARDWAREJust as the power of the open-source design paradigm has driven downthe cost of software to the point that it is accessible to most people, the riseof open-source hardware is poised to drive down the cost of doingexperimental science to expand access to everyone You can download designs from Thingiverse or another repository (e.g. grabcad, github.com,3Dhacker.com, appropedia.org, etc.) 16. OPEN-SOURCE COLORIMETER in environmental science, colorimeters are used to monitor the levels of nitrates,phosphates,metals and other compounds present in effluent entering the naturalenvironment 17. PUBLIC LABORATORY (HTTP://PUBLICLABORATORY.ORG/HOME)The initial versions of the Public Laboratory spectrometers were made by crudelytaping a small black paper case and a slice of D VD -R to the back of an AndroidphoneNow using the powerful tool of open-source 3-D printing, you can printa superior version of the Public Laboratory spectrometer (v3.0) 18. OPEN SOURCE SPECTROMETER 19. 3-D PRINTABLE OPEN-SOURCE MICROSCOPEWITH SMARTPHONE 20. 3D PRINTED EQUIPMENTLaser cut test tube racksA) assembled rackB) Pattern for cuttingBut also possiblePCR apparatus 21. SOLAR CELLS 22. HACKTERIA.ORGThere are a growing number of organizations devoted to producing O S H forscience. One such group is Hackteria.org, which was designed as acommunityplatform to encourage the collaboration of scientists, hackers and artists tocombine their expertises 23. HACKTERIA CONNECTION MAP 24. OPENSCIDEV MEETING CAPETOWN