Meet Mark Kimsey

Hooray! NW Forest Soils Council has a website again! One of the main purposes of this blog is to meet NW Forest Soils people. In our first installment, we'll meet our outgoing council president, Mark Kimsey.

What is your title and where do you work?

Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences at the University of Idaho, Moscow.

What made you interested in soil?

Believe it or not: soil taxonomy. I was taking a sophomore Introduction to Soils course from Dr. Denny Naylor at the University of Idaho and the topic of taxonomic classification just lit my fire, which led to a MS degree in soil science!

What is the most urgent policy decision/scientific research/or project related to soils that you would like to see accomplished?

Actually the one thing related to soil that I would like to see more than a policy decision or research project, would be for those who work in forestry to come to a deeper appreciation and understanding of the soil environment. We can shape policy and conduct lots of cool research or projects, but at the end of the day, the only way we can really make a difference is to impart this appreciation to the hearts and minds of those working so closely with the soil.

If you could have a machine that produced $100 dollars for life*, how much would you be willing to pay for it?

$1! Since there is no time frame in regard to how many $100 dollars this machine could produce, I must assume that it only produces $100 over its life. So, given compound interest, I would be wiser to invest my money is something that would give considerably more than $100 over its lifetime!

*Note from Hilary Browning, who wrote the questions: This was a typo and was supposed to say $100/day for life. But Mark ran with it (and provided some pretty solid financial advice!)