Soil is the skin of the Earth - so said DaVinci some 500 years ago...

...But the face of the planet is being rapidly changed through the combined effects of agriculture and urbanization. A particular societal challenge facing Earth scientists in this century is to study soil processes occurring in the “domesticated” landscapes of the globe, and to develop an understanding of how the processes in these landscapes respond to management and climate. It is also important that remaining undisturbed landscapes be set aside for scientific benchmarks.    

Here, at the University of California at Berkeley, my students and I study the role of soils on global elemental cycles, the use of soils in paleoclimate research, and the interaction of biological and abiotic processes on landscapes. At Berkeley, we are interested in the natural capital of landscapes, the record of Earth history they contain, and the utility and value that landscapes hold to all of us in the 21st Century - especially as we try to meet the demand of growing populations for food and prosperity amidst diminishing natural resources of land, energy, and nutrients. It is a very exciting and important time to be an earth scientist.