Dr Pierre Roudier

Dr. Pierre Roudier is a soil scientist, proximal and remote sensing specialist, and spatial modeller at Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research in Palmerston North. Pierre studied agriculture at Montpellier SupAgro, in France, and holds a MSc in Information Technologies Applied to Agriculture and Environment, and a PhD in applied remote sensing.

His main area of research is pedometrics, the use of quantitative methods for the study of soil distribution and genesis. He is passionate about developing innovative approaches that leverage the recent advances in machine learning and soil sensing, so to provide quantitative soil information to a wide range of soil stakeholders.

Pierre also has a keen interest in Antarctic soils, where he applies pedometrics so map some of the key chemical properties of soil found in the ice-free areas of the continent. He has been part of four successive field events across the Ross Sea Region.

Regardless of the application or the scale, Pierre believes that mapping its main properties is the first step towards protecting our precious soil resource – and its sustainable management.

Pierre has been involved in IUSS activities since 2011. He is a Advisory Board member of the Commission 1.5 on Pedometrics, a vice-chair of the Global Soil Mapping Working Group, and a regular member of several other Working Groups, including Soil Information Standards and Proximal Soil Sensing.

Pierre has a passion for science communication, and believe it is our duty, as soil scientists, to carry the voice for our soils. He tweets about his research at @pierreroudier, and was a regular host of RNZ’s Nights science segment talking about soils and soil science. In 2015 he received Landcare Research’s Distinguished Service Award for his science communication efforts.

Aside from the research he leads at Manaaki Whenua, Pierre also holds a Principal Investigator position with Te Pūnaha Matatini, a Centre of Research Excellence on complex systems and networks hosted by the University of Auckland.

Aside from work, Pierre is most happy outdoors, and can be found kite surfing when it’s windy, or mountain biking if it’s not.