Research interests
About Thomas
Thomas is a soil scientist and enthusiast. After completing an environmental science degree he chose soils as a career. During his MSc on Management of Soil Fertility (University of Reading/England) he came across the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan and subsequently characterised the soils of Bhutan as part of his PhD at the University of Munich/Germany.
In his professional career, Thomas worked in teaching, research, administration, and consulting. Besides in ‘classical’ soil science, Thomas has experience in adapting forestry to climate change (with the German forestry sector), GIS and geotechnology (for Christchurch City Council and Aurecon), global land degradation and sustainable land management (for ISRIC – World Soil Information, the Netherlands).
While working for ISRIC, Thomas led the project for the organisation’s new corporate website (www.isric.org). And he particularly enjoyed being involved in stakeholder-based decision-making on soil and land-related topics.
Thomas joined Landcare Research’s Soils & Landscapes team in 2017. His role as a pedologist involves building bridges between traditional and novel approaches in soil science, e.g. by soil resource mapping and evaluation, contributing to Landcare’s Soils Portal, facilitating data entry to the National Soils Database, and reaching out to existing and potential users of NZ soils data.
Through his work he also hopes to share his enthusiasm for the amazing matter underfoot, and the importance of kaitiakitanga to keep the soil healthy and alive.
Research interests
- Soil classification
- Soil mapping and evaluation
- Soils as indicators for landscape and climate history
- Participatory decision-making on land resources
Professional affiliations
- New Zealand Society of Soil Science
Recent publications
- Bai Z.G., Caspari T., Ruiperez Gonzalez M., Batjes N.H., Mäder P., Bünemann E.K., de Goede R., Brussaard L., Xu M., Ferreira C.S.S., Reintam E., Fan H., Mihelič R., Glavan M., Tóth Z. (2018): Effects of agricultural management practices on soil quality indicators: A review of long-term experiments for Europe and China. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 265, 1–7.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2018.05.028
- Caspari T., van Lynden G.W.J., Bai Z.G. (2015): Land Degradation Neutrality: an evaluation of methods. Report commissioned by German Federal Environment Agency (UBA); 57 p.
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/378/publikationen/texte_62_2015_land_degradation_neutrality_0.pdf
- Bai Z.G., Caspari T., van Lynden G.W.J., Mantel S., Wolters S. (2015): Measures for Preventing, Mitigating and Remediating Soil Threats in Europe; RECARE Project Report 9; 152 p.
http://wiki.reformrivers.eu/images/a/ab/RECARE_2015_MeasuresOnSoilThreatsReview.pdf
- Caspari T., Alexander S., ten Brink B., Laestadius L. (2014): Review of the Global Assessments of Land and Ecosystem Degradation and their Relevance in Achieving the Land-based Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Technical report commissioned by the Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UN-CBD).
http://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/cop/cop-12/information/cop-12-inf-18-en.pdf
- Caspari T., van Lynden G.W.J., Bai Z.G., Mantel S., Bachmann F., Schwilch G. (2014): Participatory identification of measures to combat soil threats in Europe. RECARE technical report, ISRIC-World Soil Information, Wageningen.
http://www.isric.org/sites/default/files/Guideline_RECARE_SH_Workshop_1_20141110.pdf
- Hümann M., Schüler G., Müller C., Schneider R., Johst M., Caspari T. (2011): Identification of runoff processes - The impact of different forest types and soil properties on runoff formation and floods. Journal of Hydrology 409: 637-649.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169411006329
Qualifications
Munich Germany
PhD Science of Nature
2005
Reading (England)
M.Sc Soil Fertility
2000
Weihenstephan-Triesdorf (Germany)
BSc Environmental Science
1999