Test Kits, Road Trips, and Paradigm Shifts: Musings From John Doran's Chauffeur.

There are few people who have committed their careers to the protection and enhancement of soil health, and fewer still who have extended their research to directly serve land managers throughout the world.  Dr. John Doran is one of those special people.  Over a period of four years, I was fortunate to serve as Dr. Doran’s unofficial ‘chauffeur’ while concurrently working towards a Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska.  My role as chauffeur related to Dr. Doran’s work to develop user-friendly, in-field soil quality assessments for land managers, which – with much time, input, and effort – culminated with the creation of the Soil Quality Test Kit (SQTK).  Evaluation of the SQTK was done throughout the U.S. Great Plains and Corn Belt on working farms, USDA-NRCS offices, and ARS research stations, often more than a day’s drive from the University of Nebraska campus.  These ‘road trips’ with Dr. Doran served to not only better inform our research team on necessary refinements to the SQTK, but deepened my appreciation of the responsibility placed on agricultural scientists to actively engage with and respond to land managers to best serve their needs.  This presentation will review experiences shared with Dr. Doran during my time as his chauffeur (and student).  Experiences on organic farms – where the SQTK was frequently tested – will be highlighted.