5-year-old Field Assistant for Soil Sampling

By Jessica Ernakovich

At the first weekly lab meeting of the semester, I asked everyone for summer highlights. Many had traveled abroad this summer for one reason or another, so those highlights were pretty self-explanatory. I too almost shared my summer highlight as a great two weeks in the field in Sweden, where I was exploring new collaborations and opportunities to study the effects of warming on permafrost thaw and Arctic biogeochemistry.

But, that wasn’t my highlight. This was!

Taking my 5-year old son, Clark, with me in the field at our local field site was the highlight of my summer. Even more, listening to my undergraduate student (thanks, Sam McNeil) explain science to my son was a highlight.

My 5-Year Old, Clark, slathered with sunscreen and ready to work.

Clark had been dying to know what a day in the field looks like. He begged to come along to the Arctic, but this didn’t pan out. So, when our local sampling got scheduled at the same time as a daycare closure, we decided that he would join me. We spent the day sampling local agricultural soils for our work exploring the effect of management on microbial diversity in New England. (Thanks to Dr. Jessica Mackay for coordinating and leading this effort, and to the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station for funding!) It was much easier than arranging a big field campaign with Clark, because we could be close to the car and he could run around the field site (a flat hayfield) without safety concerns. But, we both still got the experience of doing fieldwork together.

Of course, we had ups and downs that day. To me, the major pros were:

• Clark got to see what I do every day;
• Clark had lots of questions about soils, and it was fun to hear Sam explore the answers with him;
• This actually solved a real problem of daycare being closed, and I still got all of the sampling I needed to do that day done. 

And the cons:

• There were meltdowns and some pouting (it was 95F!), although they were brief and easily solved with diversions;
• While we started completely safe from sun and ticks, this devolved into nakedness (Clark only!) so we relied on a very thorough tick check for safety;
• I was definitely distracted. It took more mental energy to make sure the sampling was done correctly, and our sampling was roughly 10% slower with Clark than on days without him.

But, we ended the day with a race to pick up the flags. And the meltdowns and slower work pace were all worth it when I saw Clark racing Sam (who is graciously letting the 5-year old win) to pick up every flag. Clark was having fun, and he was part of our team. And now he is a passionate advocate of the importance of soils, and that is a great payoff.

When I do this again, I will prepare for success a bit differently. We brought toy trucks as his activity this go around. Both Clark and I thought this made sense since I’d be digging in the soil. Next time, I plan to design an activity relating to the fieldwork so that Clark gets really engaged. For example, I might have him do a drawing of the site, record weather data, sieve the soil, or match it with color charts. It’s not that I’d expect my son to produce useable data, but it was clear that the more that he felt an integral part of the project—rather than a bystander playing with his trucks—the happier he was. And who knows what breakthroughs might come from the random insights of a child? Would I take Clark to the field again? Absolutely. I’ll need another summer highlight! But, would I be ready to take him to my Arctic field station? Not yet. But, if he gets really good at the color chart over the next few summers of local sampling, then who knows—I’ll have to take him!