AUGUST 2025

Field Study Pitfalls

Jennifer Trask, Principal & Manager, Field Studies

When one has been in the business of designing, installing, executing, and reporting agricultural and environmental field studies for over two decades, like I have, you’ll have learned a thing or two about how to head off pitfalls and shortcomings. The collective experience and knowledge of my team have saved my clients a lot of time and money over the years, surpassing the competition. This month, I want to share some of the biggest pitfalls my colleagues and I see facing the field study industry today, in hopes that you can avoid the frustrations they cause with your next study.

Conducting field studies—those glorious days outside in every imaginable weather pattern—is a delicate balance between purpose-driven scientific design and execution costs. At Waterborne, our goal is a scientifically credible and supportive study that meets client and regulatory requirements, all the while being reasonable in cost. We work under the Fair³motto: fair to the client, fair to the company, and fair to the employee. In the past, our approach has been mostly straightforward, but 2025 has brought new, unprecedented variables into our study environment. We’re up to the challenge!

One may ask, what do we see as the biggest impacts to solid, scientifically accurate, and actionable field study results today? Well, some are obvious, while others have us scratching our heads. All should be warning signs to management that a study's design may have complicated or incomplete data that could affect future study processes and introduce additional risk. Some of these may include...

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Adapting Environmental Modeling and Forecasting to Predict Climate Change’s Unpredictable Impacts

Martha Gerig, PhD

As our climate continues to shift, environmental modeling and forecasting are rising to the forefront as indispensable scientific tools. In today’s unpredictable world, these models have become lifelines that help scientists anticipate risks, protect ecosystems, and make informed management decisions in an era of unprecedented change. Their ability to anticipate with sound, actionable data has elevated them out of the lab setting and onto the world’s stage, where they advise communities, researchers, and policymakers alike.

What led to this change? In a nutshell, climate change. It is amplifying the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, hurricanes, and heatwaves, often with devastating results. Modeling allows us to simulate future conditions and forecast the likelihood and magnitude of these events. By doing so, emergency managers can prepare evacuation plans, farmers can adjust planting strategies, and cities can strengthen green infrastructure before disasters strike.

At its core, forecasting helps communities prepare for uncertainty. Farmers using seasonal forecasts can decide what and when to plant. Environmental forecasts are critical for...

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World Volcano Day Highlights Volcanoes' Impact on our World

World Volcano Day, observed each year on August 30th, highlights the enormous role volcanoes play in shaping Earth’s environment. Beyond their destructive power, eruptions influence climate, ecosystems, and even human livelihoods. When Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, it released millions of tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, cooling global temperatures by nearly 1°C for over a year. Volcanic soils remain among the most fertile on the planet, sustaining agriculture in regions from Indonesia to Central America. At the same time, geothermal systems powered by volcanic activity provide clean, renewable energy in countries like Iceland, Kenya, and the Philippines.

As the world grapples with climate change, volcanoes serve as reminders of how sensitive Earth’s atmosphere is to sudden changes in carbon and aerosols. Studying their effects helps scientists better understand both natural and human-driven shifts in climate. On World Volcano Day, the focus extends beyond eruptions themselves to the lasting environmental impact of volcanoes—building ecosystems, shaping climates, and influencing life on Earth long after the lava cools.

Waterborne Names Week 3&4 Winners in Employee Photo Contest

Each summer, we hold our Annual Employee Photo Contest. Last month, we showed you our weeks 1&2 winners. This time, we'll show week 3 & 4. Week 3's winner for the Technology category, Martha Gerig submitted a photo of a biostimulant application at the Missouri Soybean Association's Farm for Soy Innovation. The photo features Waterborne's Tim Giffard holding Waterborne's DJI Mavic 3 drone and Martha Gerig (5'4", for scale) lying next to Kelton Cheline's (Kbob Custom Applications) applicator drone while the two were working under Waterborne's USDA-NRCS-funded DABS (Drone Applied BioStimulant) project.

Pollinators stole the spotlight in Week 4—and with good reason. The photos were so impressive that we ended up with a rare three-way tie for first place:

Paul Glaum's striking close-up of Apis mellifera (the European honeybee), captured right in his neighborhood.
Nathaniel Arringdale's ruby-throated hummingbirds in action. These small but mighty birds play a vital role in pollination across the eastern U.S.
Martha Gerig's Honeybees returning to a hive on a family farm in northern Illinois. This hive is maintained by Martha Gerig’s father, who is affectionately known as "Stan the Bee Man."

Waterborne Recaps ACS 2025

Waterborne was well-represented at this year's ACS Fall 2025, held in Washington, D.C. August 17th-21st. So much went on at this year's conference that we asked three members of our team to give a recap:

Amy Ritter: "There were quite a few presentations on automation including use of AI, machine learning, and web tools. Andy Jacobson (Waterborne) presented on a web tool that will make it easier for the farmer to determine the mitigation points needed for his field. Russ Krueger (Waterborne) had instrumentation in the field that made collecting easier, less shipping costs to a lab and reduced time to wait for the lab to analyze the samples. We also co-authored a presentation using machine learning to enhance the comprehension of whether the field-scale pond PWC estimated exposure concentrations in conjunction with monitoring data can improve the estimation of pesticide water exposure values, give specific watershed conditions. There was a presentation from Bayer in the “Pesticide Regulation, Global Trade: US Leadership in Food Security” session on how digital tools can streamline regulatory processes. I suspect there will be more presentations on using digital tools and automation next year."

Russ Krueger: "I attended ACS primarily to deliver my talk, 'Real-time nitrate monitoring in tile-drained fields in Central Illinois,' so my experience is biased based on the sessions scheduled for that day. Many speakers that day discussed updating datasets, the procedures used in the risk assessments, and the need for more monitoring data. I was in good company. My own talk was about an alternative approach to monitoring (to date, I've collected 50 million+ drain tile samples, all of which have been collected and analyzed on-site with no need to send the samples to the lab), so I was able to have a good conversation afterward about monitoring options and how new technologies can be combined with modelling efforts to have the most impact."

Andy Jacobson: “I had an enjoyable experience attending the ACS Fall 2025 conference in Washington, DC this year. I attended multiple sessions related to Endangered Species Act (ESA) topics, which were a big focus at the conference again due to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) finalization of their Herbicide and Insecticide strategies this past year. I also had the great opportunity to present a new mitigation support tool (Farm-MIT) which we have been developing with Syngenta to assist growers and stakeholders with ESA compliance.

I also attended sessions on machine learning and artificial intelligence in agriculture, and heard from the EPA and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) about the pesticide registration challenges they are facing. Interestingly, some of the sessions were held in blow-up rooms, which we were referring to as igloos (see picture).

Unfortunately, I was jet lagged for most of my time in DC, due to traveling in from the West Coast, so I did not do too much outside of the conference. However, I did get to see a few monuments and landmarks from the airplane and taxi! Overall, it was a great few days to share, learn, and network with friends, colleagues, and new acquaintances. I hope to see everyone again in Chicago in 2026!”

Waterborne Environmental is a renowned consulting firm that has provided innovative solutions to the world’s most complex environmental problems since 1993. Our experienced, unbiased scientists and engineers work across industries to evaluate environmental, ecological, and human risks. Our work spans across industry and regulatory agencies to support the balance in the needs of a growing population with the environmental impact on our valuable natural resources.

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