Phil Kay grew up just south of Brisbane in the Redlands shire, a major farming region named after the Ferrosol soil which is prevalent in the area. He fondly recalls the excitement of the Redlands strawberry festival—an annual event to promote the local strawberries and raise vital funds for the community.
Inspired by the farming community that surrounded his childhood stomping grounds, Phil left school at 15 to pursue a career in cooking.
“After working for more than 25 years as a qualified chef in both Australia and overseas, I felt the need to escape the relentless demands of the hospitality industry and opted for a career change,” Phil said.
It was his love of good food, vegetable gardening and a thirst for knowledge that led Phil to study agriculture at university.
“If you can’t eat it, I’m not interested in growing it! I’m interested in responsible and sustainable food production, and I wanted to better understand how our agricultural practices can help us achieve this,” he said.
“I also love trying to solve the challenges that come with gardening and producing food. Why does this work, but more importantly, what’s going wrong? Problem solving really excites me as it always helps to expand my knowledge.”
Phil completed years 11 and 12 at UQ College before starting a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science at the University of Queensland. It was during this time that he discovered a passion for research, which led him to take on the challenge of a Soil CRC PhD at the University of Tasmania.
“I thought that with knowledge in soil health and my passion for growing horticultural crops, I could potentially be of use to projects in global south countries, to aid with their food production systems,” Phil said.
“It was my research into these issues during my undergrad degree that really led me to decide that a PhD in soil health was the correct path for me.”
Phil’s PhD thesis explored the potential for the utilisation of microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) as real-time soil health indicators.
“The main aim of my research was to support the development of the Soil CRC’s QUOLL® e-nose—an electronic nose for measuring soil gas emissions—by assessing the feasibility of the e-nose monitoring soil health by using the MVOCs as an indicator of soil health,” Phil explained.
“This was extremely challenging. We needed to establish if there was a relationship between the microbial communities and the MVOCs being detected, and if there were any related patterns that could be useful for future detection by the e-nose.
To test this, Phil and the research team used both a controlled experiment with 2 very different soil types, and an uncontrolled field-based experiment with all of the variables associated with a commercial farming environment.
“In the first, controlled, experiment we found that the levels of MVOCs were related to changing moisture levels and that the MVOC emissions were characterised by 2 distinct patterns across both soil types.
“We identified a subset of MVOCs that could be used for future monitoring of soil response to water stress. We also identified that changes in both bacterial and fungal communities were related to the changing moisture levels and that the changes in MVOC concentrations and the changes in the communities are also related. It must be stressed that this is evidence of correlation and not causation,” Phil said.
In the second, uncontrolled, field experiment, the research team found that although the MVOC data was less strongly linked to treatment effects than in the controlled environment, the correlations between the microbial communities, the MVOCs and treatment effects were all correlated.
“The 2 distinct patterns discovered in the controlled experiment were also evident in the field setting. We also found an inverse relationship between hydrocarbons and alcohols, when hydrocarbon levels were high, alcohol levels were low and vice versa.
“What this means is that we have found enough evidence to show that an e-nose is viable for the detection of MVOCs as a real-time soil health indicator. This will enable farmers to be able to monitor the health of their soil in terms of water stress on a ‘now’ basis rather than waiting weeks or months for results from conventional methods of determining soil health,” Phil said.
“I must stress however that there is a long way to go with the development of the sensors capable of this detection as well as much more research involving many more soil types and environments, but I believe that my research paves the way for others to follow.
“I hope this research opens up a whole new field focusing on microbial VOCs and their potential benefits to the agricultural sector.”
Reflecting on his PhD journey, Phil said the most enjoyable experience was meeting with his fellow Soil CRC candidates, researchers and stakeholders.
“Whether it was a quick chat over lunch, or a more substantial discussion on a Soil CRC field trip, or at the conference dinner, the knowledge I have gained from everyone is immeasurable.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my supervisory team, as their help and support really got me over the line to submission. It has also been an honour to meet and work with other ‘soil nerds’, particularly Dr Richard Doyle and Dr Marcus Hardie from the Soil CRC and University of Tasmania—their contributions will never be forgotten.”
With his thesis submitted, Phil is having some well-earned time off to play “proper football” and continue learning random facts to unleash on his trivia rivals, ahead of writing journal papers on his thesis.
After that, he is keen to work overseas in a global south nation, helping with research on their food production systems, but is also open to research opportunities at home in Australia.
“I have ideas of what might happen next, but my journey in life thus far has been to see where the opportunities take me and to be open for an adventure.”