A seed, some dirt, some light, some water and a lot of love — these are the traditional ingredients. However, it’s not so easy to grow a plant and according to Prof. Murray Brian McBride, crop and soil sciences, not all soil is created equally.

On Sep. 3, in a seminar entitled “Soil Testing for Copper and Other Trace Metals: The Challenge of Estimating Bioavailability and Toxicity,” McBride addressed a crowd of botanists and chemists in Emerson 135, proposing a new strategy in soil analysis.

“The question is, what total soil concentration of toxic metals is tolerable?” McBride asked.

While scientists around the world sweat the steady growth of climate change, Professor Johannes Lehmann, crop and soil sciences, and his researchers have turned up the heat to produce biochar – a fine-grained residue that may simultaneously improve soil health and curb harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Biochar is the organic matter left over after pyrolysis—a slow-burn conducted in the absence of oxygen. This process confines much of the carbon that might otherwise contribute to the formation of carbon dioxide, a prevalent GHG.