1. Matt Saal
46 Vista Verde Way (650) 245-8816
Portola Valley, CA 94028 mattsaal@gmail.com
Education
- M.S. Soils and Biogeochemistry, University of California, Davis GPA: 3.89
- B.S. Earth Sciences (Geology), University of California, Santa Cruz GPA: 3.34
Relevant Academic Course Work
- Statistical Computing
- GIS in Geology
Skills
- Geospatial analysis (ArcGIS, R, PostGreSQL)
- Creation of soil data algorithms
- GUI development
- Statistical model design
- Application of statistical models to state-wide geo-data sets
- Land suitability analysis and site characterization
- Communication and presentation of scientific and technical content
- Task oversight
- Microsoft Office fluency
Employment
Research Technologist, UC Davis Dept. of Land, Air, and Water Resources 2014 - 2015
- Task oversight of geospatial soil analysis of vineyards and orchard crops
- Developed and edited manuscript for publication in California Agriculture journal (accepted for July 2015
issue). Utilized Microsoft office and spatial GIS software for presentations to the California Water
Foundation and the California Plant And Soil Conference
- Designed graphic user interface (GUI) for a decision support tool for farmers
- Updated and expanded a statistical environmental model for land suitability analysis, land classification, and
site characterization for agricultural groundwater banking
Graduate Student Researcher, UC Davis Dept. of Land, Air, and Water Resources, 2011 – 2014
- Designed and applied a statistical environmental model to a state-wide dataset
- Developed soil data algorithms in R computer language
- Created complex soil suitability maps in ArcGIS
- Lab characterization of vineyard soils for plant nutrient availability
Research Technologist, UC Davis Dept. of Land, Air, and Water Resources, 2010 – 2011
- Field sampling of gas, soil, and water of vineyards in Napa and Lodi regions
- Lab characterization of soils for green house gas emissions
- Management and organization of soil and gas samples for lab analysis
- Field description of vineyard soils for plant-water status
Publications and Presentations
- O’Geen, A., Saal, M., Dahlke, H., Harter, T., Doll, D., Fogg, G. (2015) A Soil Survey Decision Support Tool
for Groundwater Banking in Agricultural Landscapes. California Agriculture. 2015.
http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.edu/landingpage.cfm?article=ca.v069n02p75&fulltext=yes
- Saal, M., O’Geen, A. (2015) Repackaging Soil Survey into a Fuzzy Rule Based Decision-Support Tool for
Agricultural Groundwater Banking. Manuscript in preparation.
- Saal, M., O’Geen, A. (2014). The Soil Agricultural Groundwater Banking Index. Poster presented at
California Plant and Soil Conference, Fresno, CA.
Awards
- Lloyd Brown Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Soils and Biogeochemistry. 2012. Soils and
Biogeochemistry Graduate Group, University of California, Davis.
- Graduate Student Fellowship. 2011. Soils and Biogeochemistry Graduate Group, University of California,
Davis.