Al Gore, Meet Soil4Climate – Spontaneous Soil Summit at Tufts University Reception
“Al Gore’s leadership on climate change has been second to none. The inclusion of soil carbon drawdown in his Climate Reality training of climate educators has helped spread awareness of soil’s role in climate mitigation.”
- Dr. Bill Moomaw
Vice President Al Gore recently spoke with two Soil4Climate representatives at a reception at Tufts University. Gore traveled to Tufts on February 7th to kick off the Spring 2018 Tisch College Distinguished Speaker Series. At the reception after Gore’s talk, William “Bill” Moomaw, Tufts University professor and ...
High School Project with Aji Peppers Show Increased Growth with Rock Dust and Compost
In our previous article “Students Gain Hands-On Experience with Remineralization at Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School,” RTE reported on a remineralization experiment carried out in part by high school students. Aji peppers were planted to test the effect of rock dust on plant growth. Now, the results of the experiment are in.
Background
In 2014, Remineralize the Earth (RTE) received a grant of $5000 from the Judith Haskell Brewer Fund of the Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia to coordinate several local projects and create a ...
Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro Honors Professor Othon Henry Leonardos with the Almirante Álvaro Alberto Award
President of CPNq Mario Neto Borges gives award to Professor Leonardos.
In February, we reported that Professor Othon Henry Leonardos won the Almirante Álvaro Alberto Award as Researcher Emeritus, one of Brazil’s most prestigious science and technology awards. Three months later, on May 11, 2017, the award ceremony was held at the Naval School in Rio de Janeiro. It was attended by distinguished figures such as Brazil’s Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications and the president of the National Council for Scientific and Technological ...
Craving Minerals, Eating Rocks: Why do animals and humans eat rock dust?
Last October the Los Angeles Times released an article about research on tool-use among the wild bearded capuchin monkeys of Brazil. The article showcased two short videos of the monkeys smashing rocks against larger boulders – which was interpreted as intentional tool-making behavior.
With a closer look, another strange behavior emerged. The monkeys occasionally licked the rocks in their paws.
Several hypotheses were proposed to explain this behavior: the monkeys were licking off the minerals in the rock dust collected on the surface of the rocks; they were ...
Live Coverage of the Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon #GSOC17
Dr. Tom Goreau, of RTE’s Board of Directors, attended the Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon (GSOC17) in Rome from March 21 - 23. He presented a conference paper based on the book Geotherapy: Innovative Methods of Soil Fertility Restoration, Carbon Sequestration and Reversing CO2 Increase. Dr. Rattan Lal, who wrote the preface to the book, is a keynote speaker at the Symposium.
Soil took center stage at The Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon (GSOC17), hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Nearly 500 particip...
Remineralizing a Tree Farm – Growing Nuts for the Revolution!
Our Question
What does it mean to have an environmental footprint that regenerates the earth's ecosystems instead of degrading them? How can human beings once again live in concert with the earth, as fully participating members of the earth's diverse biota, enjoying rich lives in community with other beings?
With the forest as our teacher, we are setting out to discover what this might mean in our post-colonial age. Using the principles of perennial agroforestry and regenerative agriculture, we are recreating a diverse ecological habitat; a place where we can ...
Fertilização da Terra pela Terra | Earth Fertilizing Itself
Take a look at this exciting new video (with subtitles in English!) that has been released about the trajectory of remineralization/Rochagem in Brazil.
The narration of Othon Leonardos in the beginning captures beautiful footage of the geological processes that show how rock minerals have fertilized soils since antiquity.
Suzi Huff Theodoro shows how forests recycle nutrients and the importance of organic matter, particularly in the Amazon. She takes us on a tour to Sitio Semente, an agroforestry farm just outside of Brasilia in the midst of degraded lands, a virtual ...
Geotherapy on a Fast Track?
This is adapted from the blog of Benoit Lambert. Click here for the original version in French and English.
According to Prof. Rattan Lal of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at Ohio State University, the world’s cultivated soils have lost 50-70% of their original carbon stock, much of which has oxidized upon exposure to air, to become CO2. Yet the issues of land use, agriculture and forestry remain little discussed by international bodies on climate issues. Nonetheless science has been telling us for a while there is no coming out of the climate-wa...
Othon Leonardos Receives Prestigious Brazilian Award
Othon Leonardos
RTE would like to congratulate Professor Othon Henry Leonardos, for his recognition as a researcher and pioneer of remineralization in Brazil. Through Othon’s pioneering research and projects with Suzi Huff Theodoro in the Quilombola communities and his work with indigenous communities, he has been dedicated to sustainability for many decades.
Professor Suzi Huff Theodoro and Embrapa lead researcher Eder De Souza Martins who also continue to lead remineralization research and projects in Brazil, were his students.
For myself, it has been a wonder...
World Soil Day: December 5, 2016
Tom Goreau: Dr. Tom Goreau, keynote speaker at Tufts University's Biodiversity for a Livable Climate conference: “Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming,” November 22nd, 2014.
In November 2016, the Commonwealth Secretariat held a conference about its Initiative on Regenerative Development to Reverse Climate Change as part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. At that conference, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland asserted that “our priority is to move from agreement to action,” and called for "pioneering approaches" to climate ...
