Dr. Samantha Grover

Samantha Grover is a soil scientist, connector, and creator, seeking sustainable solutions to social ecological challenges by combining technical innovation with deep stakeholder engagement. She leads the Soil-Atmosphere-Anthroposphere Lab at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University), whose research explores the interconnections between food, climate change, and people. Grover collaborates with farmers, NGOs, industry, government, and other researchers around the world to more sustainably manage landscapes, with a focus on high carbon systems such as peatlands, regenerative agriculture, and composting. As a soil scientist, she applies techniques from soil physics, soil chemistry, and soil microbiology with micrometeorology to explore the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Grover further collaborates with economists, social scientists, policy analysts, as well as other biological and physical scientists, to generate whole-of-system knowledge. During the current United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, Grover aspires to make nationally and internationally significant contributions to reversing climate change and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

RCC Research Project: Pete Who? Collaborative Reimagining of Peatland Restoration in the Global South

Selected publications:

• with Tessa D. Toumbourou, Virni Budi Arifanti, Kushartati Budiningsih, Nafila Izazaya Idrus, Sri Lestari, Dony Rachmanadi, Niken Sakuntaladewi, et al. “Identifying a Shared Vision for Peatland Restoration: Adapting the Delphi Method to Enhance Collaboration.” Mires and Peat 30 (2024). https://www.doi.org/10.19189/MaP.2023.OMB.Sc.2009692. 
• with Sarah Treby. “Carbon Emissions from Australian Sphagnum Peatlands Increase with Feral Horse (Equus Caballus) Presence.” Journal of Environmental Management 347 (December 2023): 119034. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119034.
• with Jessica A. Rowland, Jessica C. Walsh, Matthew Beitzel, Renee Brawata, Daniel Brown, Linden Chalmers, Lisa Evans, et al. “Setting Research Priorities for Effective Management of a Threatened Ecosystem: Australian Alpine and Subalpine Peatland.” Conservation Science and Practice 5, no 3. (February 2023): e12891. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12891. 
• with Christina Birnbaum, Jennifer Wood, Erik Lilleskov, Louis James Lamit, James Shannon, and Matthew Brewer. “Degradation Reduces Microbial Richness and Alters Microbial Functions in an Australian Peatland.” Microbial Ecology 85 (2023): 875–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-022-02071-z. 
• with Andrea Rawluk, Anna Sanders, Tri Wira Yuwati, Dony Rachmanadi, N. Izazaya, Nina Yulianti, Niken Sakuntaladewi, et al. “Finding Common Ground: Developing a Shared Understanding of Tropical Peatswamp Forest Restoration and Fires Across Culture, Language, and Discipline.” International Forestry Review 24, no. 3 (September 2022): 426–40. https://doi.org/10.1505/146554822835941922. 
• with Melissa Haeffner, Fern Hames, Margaret M. Barbour, Jessica M. Reeves, and Ghislaine Platell. “Expanding Collaborative Autoethnography into the World of Natural Science for Transdisciplinary Teams.” One Earth 5, no. 2 (February 2022): 157–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2022.01.002.