Soils are a critical part of our life support system, providing many functions across the food-water-energy-environment nexus: they provide 99.7% of our food; they are the largest store of organic carbon in the earth system and as such are important to climate change; and they regulate water quality and quantity, mitigating the risk of floods, droughts and pollution.
This research theme considers the management of land and our soil, and how it is vital to the sustainability of societies, economies and our environment. It draws together the rich soil and water science expertise across Lancaster Environment Centre and the world-class business understanding of LUMS to work towards a more sustainable future.
Activity includes a prestigious five-year EPSRC/LWEC Early Career Research Fellowship; several workshops around soil, carbon and business at WBCSD business events in Chennai and Montreux; publication of a high profile comment in Nature on the business case for soil management; and the appointment of a senior research associate and PhD student.
Key researchers: Dr. Jessica Davies, Dr. Victoria Janes Bassett, Roisin O’Riordan