Farms following soil-friendly practices grow healthier food, study suggests

A person holds soil from a regenerative farm (blacker soil on the left) for comparison with soil from neighboring, conventional farm (right).

Everyone knows eating fruits and vegetables is good for your health. But these days, stores offer a dizzying array of options: organic, conventional, CSAs, local agriculture. Which ones are best for your health? A new study, published in January in the journal PeerJ, looks at how regenerative farming practices — soil-building techniques that minimize plowing, use cover crops, and plant diverse crops — affect the nutritional content of the food. 

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UW Botanic Gardens selected for Central Park Conservancy Institute for Urban Parks 2022 Partnerships Lab

A windy road in a garden

UW Botanic Gardens, the Arboretum Foundation, and Seattle Parks & Recreation have been selected to participate in the Central Park Conservancy’s 2022 Partnerships Lab program! The Partnerships Lab provides resources and mentorship to support urban parks through fundamental challenges and strengthen public spaces to expand environmental and community benefits. The eight-month program to teach best practices, engage in peer-to-peer mentorship and host workshops with Central Park Conservancy subject-matter experts. 

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VIDEO: Amplify SciComm event with Faith Kearns

Amplify: Conversations about Science Communication

Navigating the human relationships critical to successful practice-based science: a conversation with Faith Kearns It is no longer enough for scientists to communicate a scientific topic clearly; in addition to being experts in their fields of study, they must also be expert enough to navigate the thoughts, feelings and opinions of the people they engage with, as well as their own. 

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New story map unites sea gardens around the Pacific and shows the importance of revitalizing Indigenous mariculture practices for food sovereignty and resilience

Indigenous people have been stewarding the ocean for thousands of years. This stewardship has appeared in many different forms around the world, all of which represent a reciprocal relationship between humans and the sea rooted in deep, place-based knowledge. From octopus houses in Haida Gwaii to fish ponds in Hawai’i, an Indigenous mariculture renaissance is making waves as groups across the Pacific seek to revitalize these ancient techniques and traditions. 

Read more at Washington Sea Grant »