For last week’s Becker-Rose Café, Dr. Dawit Solomon, a researcher of plant science at Cornell, gave a talk about the importance of soil. We often see soil as the dirt that plants are on, or a substance containing a certain number of minerals. Likewise, Dr. Solomon agrees with the following points, but expanded more about the importance of soil in biodiversity and the planet from his research.

He specifically mentioned the importance of soil in retaining carbon from biomass. I found this point interesting since I’m currently taking a plant biology class and the greenhouse effect. Much of the increase in carbon dioxide is manmade (from burning fossil fuels) and while I learned that CO2 levels are increasing, I didn’t know that soil could be used as carbon sinks. Building off of this idea, he introduced his current research about placing phosphorous back into the soil to make for an even richer soil for indigenous populations.

Professor Blalock later brought in a bagged sample of Dr. Solomon’s product, which was made of cow-bone and merged into the soil for higher carbon concentrations. Not only would this reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released as a byproduct of butchering cows for meat, but it enriches plant life. In addition to helping the environment, soil becomes important by ensuring that agriculture also thrives. Having some background in the material, I thought it was interesting to learn more about a practical application of what has been studied.