soil quality

CFAES’s Lal, world expert on sustainable land management, named UN Global Dryland Champion

oardc wooster ar02 rattan lal carbon sequestration fieldCFAES’s Rattan Lal, pictured, has been chosen as one of the first Global Dryland Champions by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. The honor, according to a letter by Luc Gnacadja of Benin, the convention’s executive secretary, recognizes “those who have made outstanding contributions to our efforts for achieving a land-degradation-neutral world.”

Lal is a Distinguished University Professor in CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, directs the school’s Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, and is an international expert on agricultural sustainability and climate change.

His expertise and leadership in sustainable land management, Gnacadja’s letter says, “has unquestionably helped increase the attention given to desertification, land degradation, and drought problems in drylands and its related major global challenges.”

He will be recognized at a dinner hosted by the Namibian government during the 11th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD in Windhoek, Namibia, Sept. 23.

There’s a previous post about him here that includes a link to a nice video interview (2:14).

How to feed the world’s people while keeping soils healthy

sustainable soil management book for GBDistinguished University Professor Rattan Lal of CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) is a co-editor of the new book Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems. Chapter authors include, among others, Lal, other faculty in SENR, and faculty in CFAES’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics. (Hat tip to OARDC Librarian Connie Britton and the OARDC Library website, where the book is currently featured. OARDC is CFAES’s research arm.)

‘America’s real criminal element’

1960s image of automobiles and air pollutionThere’s an interesting story in the latest Mother Jones about research linking lead exposure and violent crime rates. “Fixing the problem is a lot cheaper than doing nothing,” the subheadline says. We’ve previously looked at one CFAES scientist’s research on this front: Nick Basta, who’s developed an innovative, low-cost way to treat lead in soils in cities. There’s a video interview with him here (2:14).

‘Ghost factories,’ lead poisoning … and Ohio State science that can help

Great story on USA Today’s website (video, 5:34) about the problem of lead-poisoned soils in cities, including in Cleveland — under homes and in yards, and mostly unknown to the families who live there. And while he isn’t mentioned in the story, our own Nick Basta, School of Environment and Natural Resources, has developed a way to solve the problem (doing much of his testing in Cleveland) — and to do it for a lot less money than ever before. Check it out (video, 2:15).

New way to treat lead in soil: Save $22,500 per acre

Nick Basta, a scientist in our college, has developed a new, much cheaper way to treat lead in soil (video, 2:14). Using compost and other material, it costs 75 percent less than the next-cheapest option ($7,500 an acre vs. $30,000) and can benefit cash-strapped cities. Lead in soil is a health risk to kids, especially in cities, and a snag for urban farming. Basta is shown here working in Cleveland, which SmartPlanet calls one of the most progressive cities in the U.S. for urban farming.