In the news

National Geographic

Jerry Glover, Agroecologist

“Food security is central to global relationships. If we can develop new crops that feed more people, yet do less harm to the planet, the world will feel the difference.”

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Soils exhibit digs into the secrets of soil

Opening in July 2008, this exhibit celebrates soils and their role in environmental quality, food and fiber production, and human health.

Dig It! The Secrets of Soil

U.S. Geological Survey

History of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States

by Thomas E. Dahl, National Wetlands Inventory

Interest in the preservation of wetlands has increased as the value of wetlands is more fully understood.

Office of Ecosystem Services in the USDA

In December 2008, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced the intention to establish a new USDA Office of Ecosystem Services and Markets and the creation of a federal government-wide Conservation and Land Management Environmental Services Board to assist the Secretary of Agriculture in the development of new technical guidelines and science-based methods to assess environmental service benefits which will in turn promote markets for ecosystem services including carbon trading to mitigate climate change.

"Our Nation's farms, ranches and forests provide goods and services that are vital to society - natural assets we call "ecosystem services...The Office of Ecosystem Services and Markets will enable America's agriculture producers to better compete, trade their services around the world, and make significant contributions to help improve the environment."

How our economy is killing the Earth
New Scientist, October 16, 2008
Consumption of resources is rising rapidly, biodiversity is plummeting and just about every measure shows humans affecting Earth on a vast scale. Most of us accept the need for a more sustainable way to live, by reducing carbon emissions, developing renewable technology and increasing energy efficiency. But are these efforts to save the planet doomed? A growing band of experts are looking at figures like these and arguing that personal carbon virtue and collective environmentalism are futile as long as our economic system is built on the assumption of growth.

Terra Preta: Biochar and The MEGO Effect

Oil Drum ~ discussions about energy and our future
A look at modern day techniques to produce terra preta (often called biochar or agrichar), which have the potential to increase soil fertility, generate energy and sequester carbon all at the same time.

Scientist documents melting Siberian permafrost

The Olympian, May 5, 2008

In a country where many scientists scoff at the existence of global warming, Zimov has been waging a lonely campaign to warn the world about Russia’s melting permafrost and its nexus with climate change. His laboratory is the vast expanse of tundra and larch forest along the East Siberian Sea, an icy corner of the world that Zimov has scrutinized almost entirely on his own for 28 years.

Methane belches in lakes supercharge global warming
National Geographic, September 6, 2006
Global warming is causing Siberian lakes to bubble methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere at an alarming rate, scientists say.

 

Global warming could accelerate from thawing Siberian permafrost

Physorg.com, June 16, 2006
Permafrost soil blanketing northeastern Siberia contains about 75 times more carbon than is released by burning fossil fuels each year. That means it could become a potent, likely unstoppable contributor to global climate change if it continues to thaw. So conclude three scientists in a paper in the journal Science.

Thawing permafrost could supercharge warming
National Geographic, June 15, 2006
"...Thawing permafrost in the Arctic could play a role in fueling global warming, scientists in Russia and the United States report..."

Shifting soil threatens homes' foundations

New York Times, March 3, 2010

The clay soils described in the linked article are 2:1 clays—expanding clays that are notoriously unstable for home construction and quite different from the 1:1 clays that are more common throughout the southeast. This would be a great opportunity for professional cooperation between the engineer and a soil scientist, where the soil scientist would properly identify the risky soil type and the engineer would design an appropriate solution.

Our Good Earth: The future rests on the soil beneath our feet
National Geographic, September 2008
Big, heavy machines like the harvesters mash wet soil into an undifferentiated, nigh impenetrable slab—a process called compaction. Roots can't penetrate compacted ground; water can't drain into the earth and instead runs off, causing erosion. And because compaction can occur deep in the ground, it can take decades to reverse.

The lowdown on topsoil: It's disappearing
Seattle PI, January 22, 2008
While many worry about the potential consequences of atmospheric warming, a few experts are trying to call attention to another global crisis quietly taking place under our feet...Disappearing dirt rivals global warming as an environmental threat.

Problem solving in stormwater bioretention: Pitfalls in bioretention systems and how to avoid them
Barrett Kays
Soil Scientist innovations for containing stormwater runoff and transforming what was waste water into an asset by recharging groundwater reservoirs.

Watering park may taint lake: Officials urge care to avoid runoff at Heritage Park  
The Olympian, October 6, 2006
Using highly treated wastewater to irrigate Heritage Park will require great care to avoid adding more nutrients to nutrient-rich Capitol Lake.

Curbing stormwater pollution: Cleaning up Washington’s toxic runoff
Sightline Institute, January 21, 2010

As rainwater streams off roofs and over pavement, it mixes a toxic cocktail of oil, grease, antifreeze,
and heavy metals from cars; pesticides lethal to aquatic insects and fish; fertilizers that stoke algal blooms; soap; and bacteria from pet and farm-animal waste. A heavy rainfall delivers this potent shot of pollutants straight into streams and water bodies—threatening everything from tiny herring to the region’s iconic orcas.

 

Shoreline program is critical for clean water, our survival

The Olympian, January 20, 2010

Thurston County contains 688 miles of shorelines, and these areas are in peril.

 

Failing our sound

The Seattle Times, May 14, 2008

The Sound is by no means dead. By some measures it's cleaner and healthier than it was 30 years ago. Yet that progress is at risk because we're still betraying Puget Sound with the choices we make about developing the land. It's not because people are breaking the rules. The rules are simply inadequate for the task at hand.

The painful cost of booming growth

The Settle Times, May 14, 2008

It happens one creek at a time as bulldozers and pavement disrupt the natural flow of water through the ecosystem, destroying habitat and sending billions of gallons of polluted runoff into the Sound.

Saving wetlands: a broken promise

The Settle Times, May 12, 2008
This year, even as Gov. Christine Gregoire, the newly formed Puget Sound Partnership and teams of scientists all work to protect and restore Puget Sound, the management of wetlands in Washington remains in disarray.

From runoff to rain gardens: A new way to aid Puget Sound
The Olympian, August 31, 2006
A classic application of a soil science problem with a soil science solution that typically requires soil sampling and assessment to evaluate the soil's capability to absorb, treat, and store water. Sampling to characterize the soil capability allows us to develop a specific application prescription for that site and design a supporting program with fertilization and irrigation that will not overwhelm the background soil capacity. 

Video clips

Soils

The water cycle

Smithsonian soils exhibit
Soil food web
Soil analysis
Expansive clay soils
How to collect a soil sample for analysis
Wonder soil expands (organic soil)
Soil texture
Soil erosion
More about soil erosion
Soil erosion after rain
Sustainable development

Wetlands

coming soon...