The new year has started well for CCRI’s PhD student Kamilla Skaalsveen with the publication of her first article as a result of her research. Kamilla was lead author on the article, which was also the first publication for 2019 for the Countryside and Community Research Institute.
With contributions from Julie Ingram (CCRI) and Lucy Clarke (University of Gloucestershire – Geography), both of whom are Kamilla’s supervisors, the article reviewed existing literature on the effects of farming practices such as ‘no-till’, cover crops or crop residues on water quality and retention in soils. The article examined previous recent studies since 2000 and focussed on north-west Europe.

Kamilla is approaching the 3rd year of her interdisciplinary PhD which is assessing the effects of different farming practices on water-related soil functions. Recently Kamilla has been travelling around the UK interviewing farmers about their farming practices. This has allowed her to explore the country during her travels as she is originally from Norway and previously worked in the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) with whom the CCRI has a number of collaborations.
The full title of Kamilla’s paper is ‘The effect of no-till farming on the soil functions of water purification and retention in north-western Europe: A literature review’, is published in ‘Soil and Tillage Research’ and can be accessed via the following link:
Kamilla Skaalsveen, Julie Ingram, Lucy E. Clarke, (2019) The effect of no-till farming on the soil functions of water purification and retention in north-western Europe: A literature review, Soil and Tillage Research, Volume 189, Pages 98-109.