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Certification efforts
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Soil
and Wetland Scientists Certification Web site
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Society of Wetland Scientists
Professional Certification Program
Educational links
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.”
The new USDA Office of Ecosystem Services and Markets and the federal
Conservation and Land Management Environmental Services Board will assist the Secretary of Agriculture
develop new technical guidelines and science-based methods to assess environmental service benefits, which will promote markets for ecosystem services including carbon trading to mitigate climate change.
Protecting Puget Sound
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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 Seattle 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...."
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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..."
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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
particular site, as well as to design a supporting program with
fertilization and irrigation that will not overwhelm the background soil
capacity.
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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, lake managers learned Thursday..."
Soil science,
wetlands and stormwater
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Shifting soil threatens homes' foundations
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New York Times, March 3, 2010
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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.
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History of wetlands in the conterminous
United States
- U.S. Geological
Survey
- Interest in the
preservation of wetlands has increased as the value of wetlands
has become more fully understood.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Conference report:
breaking news from the world of geology
Discover Magazine, November
13, 2003
Geologist Gregory
Retallack of the University of Oregon studied the soils around 40
ancient temple sites and concluded that the classical Greek gods and
goddesses arose, quite literally, from the earth. He found a striking
correspondence between the type of soil where a particular deity was
worshipped and the personality or attributes of that god.
China's dust storms
raise fears of impending catastrophe
National Geographic, June 1,
2001
"...China has mounted various efforts to halt the increasing
desertification, which is caused by overuse of the land for farming
and grazing. Nonetheless, as much as 900 square miles (2,300 square
kilometers) of farmland in northern China—an area more than twice
the size of Hong Kong—is blown away by the wind each year, according
to a Chinese scientist quoted in a New York Times article last
year..."
Ancient Fertile Crescent almost
gone, satellite images show
National Geographic, May 18,
2001
"...The rich Mesopotamian marshlands known for centuries as the Fertile
Crescent have almost completely disappeared, with only 10 percent of the
important ecosystem still remaining, according to a study based on
satellite images of the region..."
Streams reduce nitrogen pollution
National Geographic, May 4,
2001
Nitrogen pollution in streams due to poor soil
management.
Video clips
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The water cycle
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Substance of life: soil
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Soil food web
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Soil analysis
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Expansive clay soils
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How to collect a soil sample for analysis
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Wonder soil expands (organic soil)
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Soil texture
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All about soil erosion
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Sustainable development
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Soil erosion
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Soil erosion after rain
Washington Soil Survey Data
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The
Natural
Resources Conservation Service
provides soil survey maps, text, and tables.
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