Source: Flinders University
16 September 2026
In today’s urbanised and highly engineered world, good mental health and wellbeing are in big demand.
With an aim to promote better crops and health from the ground up, a group of scientists from the Grounded Minds Consortium at Flinders University and Deakin University will present a series of free online webinars this month to mark ‘Soil Yourself September.’
The series aims to raise awareness of the importance of soil for food systems, biodiversity and climate resilience. Its role in human health and the emerging soil-food-gut-mental health connection will also be highlighted.
Starting this week, the Soil Yourself September 2026 series brings together scientists, practitioners and educators to showcase the wonders of soils for the health of people and planet.
You can book tickets to join the online sessions at at the links below:
- Thursday 17 September @ 6pm – Flinders University’s Alex Taylor: ‘The sounds of the underground – soil ecoacoustics’ and @ 7pm Flinders University researcher Dr Craig Liddicoat: ‘Restoring soil microbiomes to restore human health’
- Friday 18 September @ 6pm – Deakin University researcher Emma Todd: ‘An introduction to the gut microbiome and its relationship to mental health’
- Monday 21 September @ 6pm – Flinders University’s Dr Riley Hodgson: ‘Ecosystem restoration from the ground up’ and @ 7 pm – Flinders University PhD candidate Kate Matthews: ‘How soil education can change the way we view landscapes’
- Tuesday 22 September @ 6 pm – Deakin University’s Dr Carmen Vargas: ‘Improving planetary health through sustainable food systems’ and @ 7 pm – Flinders University Dr Alyce Martin: ‘How our diet shapes our gut health at a microscopic level’
- Wednesday 30 September @ 6 pm – Deakin University’s Dr Aydin Enez: ‘Transforming waste for healthier soils: the biochar story’.
“In our modern urban world, it can be easy to overlook how deeply our health and wellbeing are intertwined with the ecosystems around us,” says Flinders University microbial ecologist Dr Jake Robinson, from the College of Science and Engineering. “But growing interest in healthier lives, alongside greater ecological awareness, is beginning to bring those connections back into focus.”
Industrialised foods and poor diet are among the leading causes of illness and premature death, driving heart disease, diabetes, cancer and even the most common being mental disorders, depression and anxiety.
“Our highly processed ‘western’ diet is also undermining our gut microbiome and we have seen a rise in allergic and autoimmune conditions, as well as emotional and neurodevelopmental disorders in children, including anxiety, ADHD and autism, which we think are connected.”
In a recent communication published in the journal Nutritional Psychiatry, Dr Robinson and Deakin University Food and Mood Centre director Professor Felice Jacka claim the world is facing a ‘polycrisis’ of escalating neuropsychiatric disorders, chronic disease, ecosystem degradation and failing food systems.
These challenges are deeply interlinked, reflecting a broader disconnection between human health and soil health, says Professor Jacka.
“Our group of research and industry partners are committed to revolutionise the food system so it can sustainably enhance mental health and wellbeing and planetary health, through a focus on improving the global food system,” she says.
“This new research in microbiome science, nutritional psychiatry, agriculture and soil ecology will bridge the missing links between soil, food and mental and brain health in humans.”
The Grounded Minds Consortium features a transdisciplinary group of experts in gut and mental health, microbiome, bioinformatics, agricultural and soil ecologists.
It aims to branch out across Australia, and to include industry and other partners in the UK and beyond, to showcase the close ties between a healthy mind and body, along with more sustainable farming practices that focus on enhancing production from the soil.
Presentations from the 2025 Soil Yourself September can be viewed online.
The new article – The Grounded Minds Consortium: Researching the soil, gut, brain, and mind connection (2026) by Jake M Robinson, Rubén Fernández-Rodríguez, Aydin Enez, Alyce M Martin, Damien Keating, Timothy R Cavagnaro, Craig Liddicoat, Wolfgang Marx, Martin F Breed, Feargal J Ryan, Steven Allender, Carmen Vargas, Rebecca K Golley, Stuart McAlpine and Felice Jacka – has been published in a short article in Nutritional Psychiatry DOI: 10.1016/j.nupsyc.2026.100023.
Acknowledgements: Dr Jake Robinson has published a series of books, including Invisible Friends: How Microbes Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us. Also see the Nature. Gut. Nature website. Professor Felice Jacka was recently awarded the 2026 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Award as Laureate for Asia and the Pacific.