by Britt Fossum | Agronomy and Horticulture
At the second East Campus Discovery Days and Farmers Market on July 8, organized by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, producers, artists and vendors partnered with students and university researchers to provide a fun and educational event aimed at promoting science literacy and building relationships between the university and the Lincoln community.
The Department of Agronomy and Horticulture’s doctoral students Britt Fossum and Christopher Anuo, intern Mahmoud Sleem and Assistant Professor Michael Kaiser helped the Lincoln community get their hands “soily” while learning about biochar. Attendees learned about important properties of biochar for plant growth, including water retention and infiltration. They tried mixing their potting soil using biochar — with nearly one hundred potting experiments completed in one day.
Their booth also distributed free samples of biochar provided by Oregon Biochar Solutions and the Nebraska Urban Soil Health Initiative, an NRCS-funded citizen science project studying the benefits of soil health management practices for urban farming and gardening.
