Author: arlene-mc-grath

Hi! My name is Arlene Mc Grath and I am currently a Masters student of AgriBioscience at the National University of Ireland Galway. Working on deciphering mechanisms of nutrient recovery by plants from AD digestate to reduce carbon footprint on farms.

Week 2

This week I communicated with Galina in a skype meeting with regards to the experimental design of the project. We discussed the parameters that were necessary to assess. Galina assisted in drawing up a field plot design. Participated in a meeting with Charles, Galina and the class with regards to the MSc Agribioscience programme.

I continued with the literature review – covered the final part on the current regulation in Ireland on fertilizers and covered soil nutrient deprivation along with anaerobic digestion process and set out a plan for the difference between organic and inorganic fertilizers. I communicated with Galina with regards to training next week for sample analysis. Communicated with Charles, Galina and Tom with regards the experimental design. Updated the field plot design to incorporate the size of the trailing shoe spreader that will be used for the project. I designed a survey to assess from different farmers the amount of both digestate and chemical fertilizer that was used in the previous year and also the soil types of each farm.P

Week 1

This week has been the start of my research project placement as part of my Masters in Agribioscience at NUIG. The week has been filled with tremendous amounts of reading and writing: the beginning of a research trial. For my project I will be working with Tom Larkin of H and L Environmental in conjunction with JHG Analytical in deciphering mechanisms of nutrient recovery by plants from AD digestate to reduce carbon footprint on farms. The aim for my this week was to get a fundamental start on my literature review for my research project proposal. So far I have looked at current regulations in Ireland on the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers and also soil nutrient deprivation. For the week coming I hope to continue further literature research into how nutrient management plans are assessed, the difference between organic and inorganic fertilizers and also to layout and experimental design for my field trial.