The Dirt- a new SoGES affiliated blog

We wanted to pass along some information about a new blog that is being put on by the School of Global Environmental Sustainability's Global Soil Sustainability Working Group. The Dirt will be a great annex from the regular SoGES blog and will focus specifically on soil sustainability issues. Check out their first post by Dr. Rich Conant:

Many have waxed eloquently about the importance of soil (e.g., “The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself” — FDR) or lamented our lack of knowledge about the soil (“We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.” — Leonardo daVinci).

Plan to see a lot of both on this blog!

My goal here is to present the latest scientific information and my thoughts on how that new knowledge fits in with – or contradicts – what we already know. I also want to foster discussion about that new soil science knowledge means for environmental sustainability and human well-being. Soils are at once integrators of diverse ecosystem processes and a fundamental resource that is often taken for granted. We know quite a bit about the world under our feet, but there is still a lot to learn. I hope that this blog facilitates that.

This blog follows fast on the heals of a release of a new documentary – DIRT! The Movie. I haven’t seen it, but I did read the excellent book that was it’s basis: Dirt: the ecstatic skin of the Earth. It is a really good read. It is especially interesting to think about how soil shapes major events like the US civil war. To learn more, visit the PBS DIRT! web site or check out the book from your local library.