"Irrigation, agriculture, climate change: how are our soils doing?" will be the theme of the next Science Bar.

[Press release] - Published on May 14, 2025 in Press Room, Science-Society

On Thursday, May 22, at 8:30 p.m., the University of Montpellier is organizing a new edition of the Science Bar, as part of its "Science With and For Society" (SAPS) label. On this occasion, three researchers will discuss the topic of soil health: Alain Brauman, ecologist and research director at IRD, Mickael Hedde, ecologist and research director at INRAE, and Thierry Ruf, agronomist, geographer, and emeritus research director at IRD.

The Science Bar has become one of Montpellier's flagship scientific culture events, offering a monthly participatory and citizen-led debate on all aspects of science from January to June. Throughout the season, scientists are invited to engage in a dialogue where their knowledge and practices are shared, but can also be discussed. The season is co-produced by the scientific culture departments of the University of Montpellier and its partners: INRAE, INSERM, IRD, and Radio Aviva. This evening event will be translated into sign language.

A Science Bar dedicated to soil health

Whether loose, dry, sloping, or paved, soil is most often perceived in our daily lives as a simple surface: the ground we walk on, and a valuable resource to possess. Upon further reflection, we arrive at the idea of substrate: it is in the soil that the plants we eat and use every day take root.

However, soil is not just a resource, it is an environment, just like water, for example: it has a complex composition, subject to chemical phenomena, and is home to many living organisms, from microscopic bacteria to mammals weighing several kilograms. There is a whole world living beneath our feet. Soil health depends on multiple parameters, both internal and external. Some are internal, such as its composition, and others are external, such as climate or pressures exerted by human activities.

Pedology, the study of soils, examines this environment and takes it as its subject of study. Scientists study the composition of soil layers, irrigation, agriculture, fauna and flora, fungi, etc., and give us a better understanding of this environment on which life on our planet is absolutely dependent.

To discuss this topic, three multidisciplinary experts will answer questions from the audience:

Alain BRAUMAN: soil ecologist, research director at IRD and president of the French Association for Soil Studies (AFES). His research focuses on the impact of agricultural practices on soil biofunctioning (soil health) at the Eco&Sols laboratory (Eco&Sols – INRAE, IRD, Institut Agro Montpellier, and CIRAD).
Mickael HEDDE: ecologist and research director at INRAE. His research focuses on the ecology of soil organisms at the Eco&Sols laboratory (Eco&Sols – INRAE, IRD, Institut Agro Montpellier, and CIRAD).
Thierry RUF: Emeritus Research Director at IRD. He is an agronomist and geographer in the "Environmental Knowledge and Societies" laboratory (SENS – IRD, CIRAD, and Paul-Valéry-Montpellier University). He leads a professional group on social water management.