u/0ldsoul_

I wanted to share a small local win.

I’m a biology student at UA Little Rock, and today I received the Thomas Hogue Memorial Award for Outstanding Research for my work with spent mushroom substrate and soil health.

My research focuses on how “used-up” mushroom-growing material could potentially be reused to support soil microbial activity, nutrient cycling, and more regenerative growing systems. Basically: mushrooms do their thing, and then the leftovers may still have a second life helping the soil.

I’m especially interested in how this could apply to Arkansas growers, gardens, damaged soils, and local sustainability projects.

I’m still very much learning, but this award meant a lot, especially because my boys got to be there with me.

If anyone in Little Rock is working in soil health, composting, mycology, regenerative agriculture, native plants, farming, gardening, or cemetery/natural burial land restoration, I’d genuinely love to connect. I’m trying to learn from people already doing the work here locally.

Very grateful today. Also still thinking about dirt way more than the average person probably should. 🍄

Hi! PSA: This is an AI generated image I prompted with my original ideas. I’m getting a lot of hate for using AI to generate an image. I’m a visual learner. That was my only MO for creating an infographic of my ideas. If that is offensive, I apologize.

I’m a biology student in Arkansas researching spent mushroom substrate (SMS) as a possible soil amendment, and I’d love feedback from the soil science side before I design a larger pilot.

My broader question is whether SMS could help support recovery of disturbed clay-heavy soils, using cemetery soil disturbance as one possible real-world case study.

The issue I’m looking at:

- heavy clay soils

- compaction after disturbance

- poor drainage

- bare patches / failed grass recovery

- low organic matter

- repeat reseeding and maintenance problems

In my own smaller research, I used SMS that was somewhat fresh, not necessarily fully composted, and saw promising signs:

- increased microbial activity

- improved soil structure

- more stable pH

- support for nutrient cycling

Now I’m thinking about a pilot using disturbed clay soil with different treatments, possibly comparing:

1. control soil
2. soil + native seed
3. soil + SMS
4. soil + SMS + native seed
5. soil + compost
6. soil + compost + native seed

Possible measurements:

- soil respiration

- pH

- moisture retention

- infiltration/drainage

- bulk density or compaction

- plant establishment

- root growth

- visual surface recovery

- organic matter over time

My questions:

1. What would you measure first if the goal is soil recovery in compacted clay?
2. Would somewhat fresh SMS create any obvious soil chemistry or structure concerns?
3. Would you compare SMS against compost, leaf mold, or both?
4. What would make this pilot more defensible scientifically?
5. Are there any red flags with using cemetery soil disturbance as a case study, as long as the pilot itself uses only soil/material samples and not human remains?

I’m still in the question-building stage, so critique is genuinely welcome.