EmeritusProfessor Stuart Hill in his study. (Photo: Belle Butler)
Life is made up of complex systems in which everything is inter-connected. Over his decades-long teaching career, Stuart Hill, a retired Emeritus Professor, and Linden resident, has helped hundreds of students understand the critical links between human actions and the health of our planet.
Key Points:
The interconnectedness of life systems: Professor Hill’s research on the ecosystem of a bat cave, and soil ecology, has highlighted the intricate relationships between organisms and their environment.
The importance of holistic thinking: By studying entire ecosystems, Professor Hill emphasised the need to consider all components of a system, rather than focusing on individual elements.
The potential of untapped resources: Professor Hill believes that understanding the unseen processes of nature, such as those occurring in soil, holds the key to addressing global challenges.
Professor Hill’s own thinking has stemmed from an everlasting love of, and connection with nature and has built on his early research as a zoologist in the mid 60s. His PhD involved the study of a bat cave in Trinidad: a complete, almost self-contained ecosystem in which it was actually possible to observe and measure all the complex relationships that create life. One of the smallest beetles in the world, that he discovered in that cave, is even named after him: Micridium hilli.
Ann Dale, his last PhD student at McGill University in Canada in the 70’s, went on to establish the government’s first ‘National Round Table for the Economy and the Environment’- recognising that our economies profoundly impact both human health and the health of the planet.
EmeritusProfessor Stuart Hill has inspired the work of many students and contributed to many publications. (Photo: Belle Butler)
Once known as ‘Mr Organics’ he was responsible for facilitating the research in the 70s that validated the benefits of organic farming. Much of the experience that he brought to this derived from his early studies in the Bat cave in Trinidad.
Learning from the bat cave
Professor Hill’s recollections of his PhD research:
“There were a quarter of a million bats and all sorts of other things in the cave, but it turned out that most of the cave life was in the guano, the bat droppings. In much of the cave the guano was half a metre deep, and when I actually measured its respiratory rate I found it was respiring at the same rate as a domestic cat. That’s how dynamic it was. It was a heaving living mass because of the presence of microorganisms, microarthropods, cockroaches, and a range of other arthropods.”
“In the process I became interested in life in the soil, which was the closest thing to this guano. When I finished the work I was essentially writing up a PhD thesis on the ecology of a very special type of soil. I had gained an understanding of soil ecology, way beyond what anybody else had discovered. Up to that time, those studying life in the soil were specialising — they were looking at the fungi, or the bacteria, or the insect life, but not at the whole system. Whereas I was studying the whole system and studied energy flow and community relationships in the guano, which was just like a very fertile soil.”
“I also compared guano with soil outside the cave. Through my research, my interest shifted from a focus on marine ecology to a focus on soil and terrestrial ecology, and particularly the relationships between micro-arthropods, especially mites, and the fungi.”
“In soil there are really three sub ecosystems. Soil is made up of little particles and those particles are surrounded by a water film. In between there’s a space. Some organisms are living in the water film, particularly bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, rotifers and things that swim.”
“Then there are fungi that grow out into the air spaces, and a whole lot of animals, such as mites and springtails, that are dependent on those air spaces to walk around and feed on the fungi, similar to cows feeding on grass. What I discovered was that those organisms were actually ‘farming’ the fungi. Nobody had really understood this because they mostly looked at the various types of organisms separately.”
“The third sub ecosystem comprises the organisms that can actually move through the soil by creating spaces, such as earthworms. They’re not dependent on the spaces that already exist, they’re actually pushing through and creating their own spaces. We humans have a mucus lining in our gut, while in contrast micro-arthropods have an extension of their exoskeleton lining their gut. They’re covered in chitin outside and that actually extends all through their gut as a sleeve, or lining.”
“When they eat fungi they eat the hypha and the spores, and chomp it all up. They digest the hypha but not the spores, the spores survive. Each time they poo they cast off a little bit of the sleeve of the gut lining and inside that little faecal pellet, which is like compost, are fungal spores. When this faecal pellet is deposited in the soil the chitinous sleeve protects it from being accessed by fungi other than those that have germinated from the contained spores. So, in a sense, they are practicing ‘weed control’.”
Stuart argues that it is the things that we can’t see, in this case the life in the soil and the processes going on, and what goes on in our subconscious, that are in a sense our greatest hope for the future. They’re our greatest untapped resource.
Until he retired in 2009, Stuart spent more than 20 years as the Foundation Chair of Social Ecology at Western Sydney University, training many more young people in systems thinking. He firmly believes that social change requires a willingness to learn both from nature and from other people, to pay attention to ‘the things we can’t see’ and to take a holistic and pluralistic approach, in which we pay much more attention to practitioners on the ground who gain their wisdom from actual experience.
This story has been produced as part of a Bioregional Collaboration for Planetary Health and is supported by the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF). The DRRF is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
Our newsletter is now out! Find out about the Mid-Mountains Garden Festival this weekend, about Biodiversity Discovery Day at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre on Saturday, about how to create habitat for threatened Glossy Black Cockatoos (thank you to Merryl Watkins for this fabulous photo!), about how to build a raingarden, and lots more. You can read it here: https://bit.ly/4eovRnQ (link in profile) #biodiversity #glossyblackcockatoo #gardenfestival #festival #gardens @merrylwatkinsphotography @midmountainsgardenfestival @bluemountainsculturalcentre...
Are you keen to find a new career path that can fill you with joy and contribute to restoring the health of our planet at the same time? There`s a growing need for skills to support circular and regenerative economies! Join us on Skillshare Saturday 7 Sep with our free Upcycling Fashion program from 9am to 3pm and Bushcare from 1.30-4.30pm. Bookings essential for Fashion Upcycling (link in profile): https://bit.ly/3XddWJs Contact Karen Hising to come along to Bushcare at khising@bmcc.nsw.gov.au or call the Bushcare Office on 4780 5623
Have you seen the video of the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative`s 18 month grant program? It`s been a massive collaboration from the Lower Mountains to Lithgow. Check out the 150,000 litre underground water storage we`ve built with StormBrixx, the bushfire sprinkler demonstration wall we`ve installed at the Planetary Health Centre, the Hydraloop greywater recycling system being trialled by Sydney Water that`s on display at the Centre, and more, as we work together to restore the health of our planet and reduce the risk of future extreme weather events becoming disasters. View full video (and lots more) at our Planetary Health YouTube channel. (link in profile)
We need your help! Would you fill in this 4-min survey to help the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative report back to the funding body and enable us to seek more funding (link in profile): https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9XC9TG8 Over the last 18 mths we`ve delivered a massive program to help the community prepare for future fires, extreme wet weather events and heatwaves. We`ve built a Circular Water Demonstration site to showcase how we could increase water storage around our city as well as the latest research in building bushfire sprinklers and new technology for recycling grey water; we`ve organised over 60 presentations/workshops/events; we`ve built 6 neighbourhood news sites with links to emergency services, What`s On Calendars, Community Directories, Real Time Air Quality Monitoring and hundreds of stories written by local people about local solutions. Thank you to everyone who has helped and participated. Now we need your feedback to guide future programming and apply for more funding and sponsorship. Please take 4 mins to do the survey or email planetaryhealth@bmcc.nsw.gov.au to give us your feedback....
Have you seen the video of the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative`s 18 month grant program? It`s been a massive collaboration from the Lower Mountains to Lithgow. Check out the 150,000 litre underground water storage we`ve built with StormBrixx, the bushfire sprinkler demonstration wall we`ve installed at the Planetary Health Centre, the Hydraloop greywater recycling system being trialled by Sydney Water that`s on display at the Centre, and more, as we work together to restore the health of our planet and reduce the risk of future extreme weather events becoming disasters. View full video (and lots more) at our Planetary Health YouTube channel. (link in profile)
For the past 18 months the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative`s grant-funded program has created local news sites and shared solutions from every neighbourhood! Which have been your favourite stories? Check out the 6 most popular stories and give us your feedback in our Planetary Health newsletter (link in profile): https://bit.ly/3Mm5Xov #solutions #localaction #inspiration #hope #solutionsmedia #planetaryhealth #disasterriskreduction #stories #localnews...
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Life is made up of complex systems in which everything is inter-connected. Over his decades-long teaching career, Stuart Hill, a retired Emeritus Professor, and Linden resident, has helped hundreds of students understand the critical links between human actions and the health of our planet. His research on bat caves and soil ecology highlights the intricate relationships between organisms and their environment. Read more in Mid Mountains Local News (link in profile) https://www.midmtnslocalnews.com/learning-about-systems-thinking-from-a-bat-cave/ #socialecology #ecology #planetaryhealth #systemsthinking #batcave...
The Planetary Health Precinct was buzzing on Friday. We attended the Inaugural Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA) Conference organised by the @bluemountainswhi during the day, and in the evening were inspired and uplifted by Andrew Skeoch from https://www.facebook.com/listeningearth at our Deep Listening to Nature event.
Springwood resident Dr Kate Umbers, Senior Lecturer in Zoology at Western Sydney University, is someone who sees the magic and beauty in our invertebrates, dedicating her life to studying and helping to conserve them. Read more in Springwood Area Local News (link in profile): https://springwoodlocalnews.com/magical-creatures-in-the-garden/
We are SO looking forward to this: 6pm at the Planetary Health Centre tonight! We`ll hear from the inspiring acoustic ecologist, Andrew Skeoch, who will guide us into hearing the languages of nature. Andrew is a professional wildlife sound recordist and author of ‘Deep Listening to Nature’. His recordings have been heard in documentaries, installations and feature films such as Peter Gabriel`s soundtrack to `Rabbit Proof Fence’. The event is free but bookings essential (link in profile): https://bit.ly/4c6e6rP Over the last thirty years, he has been documenting the sounds of environments around the planet, and through his label `Listening Earth`, published over one hundred recordings allowing listeners to immerse themselves in wild soundscapes from around the world. Learn how we can develop our auditory awareness, identify species by ear, recognise behaviours and repertoire, and find empathy with the voices of other beings. Deeper listening allows us to hear the integrity of entire ecosystems, and reveals what the communications of the biosphere tell us about how nature functions to achieve sustainability. Andrew’s presentations are an immersive weaving of evocative recordings, fascinating spectrogram analysis and original ideas. You’ll hear the natural environment around you in a whole new way. #deeplistening #wearenature #acousticecology #wildliferecording #dadirri #planetaryhealth...
Blue Mountains City Council’s Planetary Health Initiative is working in collaboration with the Mountains Community Resource Network, Lithgow City Council, Western Sydney University’s Lithgow Transformation Hub, and the Sustainability Workshop, to establish this communications platform on behalf of the community. It is supported by a grant from the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF) which is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
Mushrooms are a hot topic at the moment with more and more research illuminating the essential role these organisms play in the health of the planet as well as the significant health and medicinal benefits they hold for humans. Belle Butler visited local mushroom grower, Alex Felix, at his farm in Lawson to talk about the mighty mushroom.
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