Author: danwalls (Page 2 of 10)

Professor Leonardo Figueroa at La Universidad de Tarapacá in Arica opened his chemistry laboratory to the Our Soil team to assemble the lead and arsenic soil tests that we will use in the soil workshops this weekend. Here are some images of the Dan and Sebastián working in Leonardo’s laboratory taken by Caleb Yunis.

Abby and Dan arrived in Santiago de Chile early this morning where they will meet up with Sebastián and his students Daniel Valenzuela and Caleb Yunis. On Thursday, the workshops in Arica begin!

Rensselaer News published a press release about the soil workshops conducted with the Soil Justice Fellows in August. You can read the release here.

Photo by Tara Bryan.

One way to prevent exposure to lead in soil is to maintain a physical barrier on top of the soil. Mulch is one material that can be used to build a barrier on top of soil, and can be good on walking paths in gardens, around the dripline of a building, or in a play area. The city of Troy offers free wood chips to its residents through Public Works. Call to verify when you can pick up mulch from the lot at Main Street and East Industrial Parkway.

The Soil Justice Fellows met in two groups again with the Our Soil team on Saturday, August 21, and Sunday, August 29, to complete the second soil workshop. Mónica had to fly back to Tucson after the 21st, and Saed returned to Troy on the 29th after a well earned vacation. In these sessions, Fellows returned to the results of their soil testing and the health implications. The Our Soil team demonstrated how to cover soil in yards and gardens where contamination was identified and best practices like leaving shoes outside and washing hands in order to be able to use those spaces safely. We discussed nutrition, benefits of gardening, and proper precautions to take when gardening. Fellows and Our Soil team members then brainstormed what public policy and resources are necessary to address the broader scale of soil lead in Troy and other cities.

The Soil Justice Fellows met in two groups with the Our Soil team on Saturday and Sunday this weekend (8/14 and 8/15) to complete the first soil workshop. Mónica flew in from Tucson and Saed drove up from New Paltz to join Abby, Kathy, and Dan in Troy. In the NATURE Lab yard, fellows used color-based tests to measure lead and arsenic in their soil samples. Fellows shared with one another why the locations where they took samples were important to them and what they expected and hoped to find with the soil toolkit. Mónica and Saed briefed everyone on what soil is, why building healthy soils is important for community health, and how we can work with our existing soils to improve soil quality and community health.