My name is Alex Koiter (he/him) and I am an associate professor in the department of Geography and Environment at Brandon University. My academic training is a bit of a mix of environmental science and physical geography (soil science, geomorphology). More recently I have been learning about, actively participating in, and advocating for, open and reproducible science. I recently created my very first R package, mbquartR, and had it peer-reviewed by rOpenSci. This package helps users find parcels of land based on the legal land description (e.g., NE-22-8-1E1); this system was widely used to georeference soil and other environmental samples prior to the widespread use of GPS. Want to know more? Check out my website for more details or send me an email.

I teach a range of courses including geomorphology, soil science, weather & climate, global environmental change, and limnology. Some of my favourite teaching expereinces are the independent or directed study courses where I have the opportunity to work with students one-on-one and develop tailored projects that let them explore their own interests. Where ever possible I try to fit in a little bit of R into my courses so students have the opportunity to learn a little bit of programming 😁. I also give presentations and guest lectures, and help deliver workshops on coding in R and how to make science more reproducible and open.

My research program focuses on investigating in agri-environmental issues including soil erosion, downstream sedimentation, nutrient dynamics, greenhouse gas fluxes, micro-plastics, and extremes of moisture. I do not do this research in isolation, I have a network of excellent and supportive colleagues across Manitoba, Canada, and globally! Much of the work done is done by a fantastic group of graduate students and undergraduate research assistants. I have also started creating more open and reproducible science by using Quarto Manuscripts. This allows me to integrate the data, code, statistical analysis, results, and text in a single repository. It also produces a user friendly website that allows people to read the published work and dig deeper into the methods using the notebooks. For example, have a look at the GitHub repository and the accompanying website for my recent publication on riparian grazing and phosphorus.

At Brandon University I coordinate the Environmental Science Program and sit on the Strategic Academic Planning Committee. I serve as treasurer of the International Association for Sediment Water Science and recently finished a three-year term on the Manitoba Soil Science Society executive. Locally, I am the president the Westman Naturalists](https://westman-naturalists.github.io/), a group of amateur naturalists with the goal of exploring and enjoying the natural beauty and history of southwestern Manitoba.