Week 1   |   Events from October 8-13  

Friday, October 8th, 6 - 9 PM EST (Virtual) - Opening Day

The Symposium is for a community of people as diverse as soils. We come together through our experiences, relationships, and interactions with soils. Biospheric workings sculpt crustal fragments of the earth into matrices of crumbs,pores & capillaries. Microbial films & branching hyphae establish a membrane circuitry, through which carbon flows, powering the biogeochemical cycles, dynamic workings of soils. Let’s look together to redefine, to rediscover, dynamic workings of soils What is your definition of soils? What are soils to you?

Featured Events:

• Welcome by USI and Co-hosts RUDN & TreePeople

• Meeting Ground, a performance by Susan Main and MJ Neuberger

• Questions for Soils: Mission and layout of the symposium & workshops for this month and year; objectives and strategies. An invitation for your feedback

• Walking through Layered Histories and Emergent Horizons with Dr. Margot Lystra

• Karen Vaughan, Associate Professor of Soil Pedology, University of Wyoming

• Discussion with Happy Hour and Special Appearance by FunGuy

Saturday, October 9th, 2 - 5 pm EST - The Laboratory For What's Possible - Opening & Book Launch, by artist Amelia Marzec (In-Person) on Saturday, October 9th from 2 pm - 5 pm EST. Talk at 3 pm, located at Swale House, Nolan Park, Governors Island. Exhibition Hours: October 5 - 10, 12 noon - 5 pm.

Tuesday, October 12th, 11 am - 3 pm EST - Green Infrastructure Walking Tour of the Lower East Side, by NYC Soil & Water Conservation District, a USI sponsor (In-Person) on Tuesday, October 12th from 11 am - 3 pm EST. Starting location 365 Madison St (Vladeck Houses). Registration is $5, lunch provided.

Week 2   |   Events From October 14-20

Thursday, October 14th, 12 noon - 3 pm EST - The Microbe Goes to Work Live Session (Virtual)

Soils contain most of Earth's genetic diversity, with a single gram of soil containing billions of microorganisms belonging to thousands of species - a microbial density an order of magnitude greater than our oceans - however these microorganisms remain largely unexplored. Through the lens of soils, lets walk through “a day in the life of the microbe” to get an inside view of what urban soils are trying to teach us. This session will explore and re-examine not only the dynamic microbial processes found in soils, but also their broader implications on the biosphere and the feedback loops between microbiota, the rest of the environment, and of course, humans.

Features

• Moderated by Dr. Richard Pouyat, Emeritus Scientist, U.S. Forest Service

• Dr. Paul Mankiewicz, Ecological Engineer, Co-Founder of Leaf Island, Co-Founder of The Gaia Institute

• Dr. Maha Deeb-Collet, Lecturer, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnements Continentaux (LIEC), University of Lorraine

• Multispecies cities in the Anthropocene: bioremediation potential of the Gowanus Canal Sediment Microbiome by Dr. Elizabeth Marie Hénaff, Assistant Professor, NYU Tandon School of Engineering

• Dr. Elvira Dovletyarova, Director, Department of Landscape Design and Sustainable Ecosystems, RUDN University, Dr. Viacheslav Vasenev, Senior Researcher, Department of Landscape Design and Sustainable Ecosystems, RUDN University*

• Vlad Plyushchikov, Researcher, RUDN University

• Soil microbes, carbon cycling, and dung beetles by Suzanne Lipton, Graduate Student, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Alberto Acedo, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Biome Markers Inc.

• Dr. Geoffrey Gadd, Professor, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee

• Jason Sinopoli, Soils Researcher

• Open Discussion between Speakers and Audience

Friday, October 15th, 12 noon - 3 pm - Workshop Session CANCELLED - Combined with Saturday, October 16th Workshop

Saturday, October 16th, 12 noon - 3 pm - Workshop Session 2 - at Swale House, Nolan Park, Governors Island (In-Person)

Hosted by Dr. Anya Paltseva, Assistant Professor, School of Geosciences, University of Louisiana - Lafayette, this workshop will feature a hands-on look into urban soils contamination, best practices for soil remediation, and Dr. Paltsevas experiences with urban soils contamination between two comparative locations: New York City and Lafayette, Louisiana. Also features a discussion with Dr. Elvira Dovletyarova, Director, Department of Landscape Design and Sustainable Ecosystems, RUDN University, a roundtable event between RUDN University & USI on global collaborative research objectives within urban soils.

Sunday, October 17th, 11 am - 2 pm - Wildflower Farm Microbiome Sampling Workshop, by Jason Sinopoli & Seth August at Ecology Village, Floyd Bennett Field. (In-Person) More specifics to follow

Week 3   |   Events from October 21-27

Thursday, October 21st, 6 - 9 pm EST - Soils Engineers: Soil Biology, Processes, Cycles, Humans, Time - Live Session (Virtual)

Until very recently, "soil building" has been left in the hands of the environment, however through passive anthropogenic processes and active technological optimization of soil properties, a new classification of anthropogenically-modified soils has emerged: engineered soils. More common than you think, engineered soils have begun to dominate urban landscapes and offer us new and emerging insight into the capabilities of soil. This session will explore the role of us humans in soil development, and how our adaptations of nature’s workings in the process of creating sustainable cities bridges our boundaries between land forms and landscapes.

Features

• Saving Urban Lakes Using Constructed Wetlands by Dr. Paul Mankiewicz, Ecological Engineer, Co-Founder of Leaf Island, Co-Founder of The Gaia Institute & Igor Bronz, Co-Founder & Head of Design at Leaf Island

• Building future soil scientists through outreach at BioBus by Ashley Pirovano, Senior Scientist, BioBus & Maria Mazin, Lead Scientist & Program Manager, BioBus

• The Meaningful Dirt by Xinan (Helen) Ran, Artist & Co-Founder of Tuft Love

• A Material Marriage: A Muse For Material Research by Matt Levy, Artist & Ceramicist

• Urban soil morphology in Santiago de Compostela – NW Spain by Dr. Remigio Paradelo Núñez, Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (Spain)

• William Bryant Logan, Author of Sprout Lands, Oak, Air, and Dirt; Faculty, New York Botanical Garden

• Open Discussion between Speakers and Audience

Friday, October 22nd, 12 noon - 2 pm EST - Workshop Session 1 - In-person at the NYC Parks 5-Borough Maintenance Facility at Randall's Island (In-Person)

A green infrastructure tour of the 5-Borough Maintenance Facility on Randall's Island, which hosts the largest collection of individual green roofs found anywhere in the world, hosted by Max Lerner, Sustainability Project Development Coordinator, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation

Please arrive at the NYC Parks 5-Borough Maintenance Facility at 20 Bronx Shore Road, Randall's Island, New York, NY at 12 noon. The location is marked on the map below.

The easiest way to get here via public transportation is by taking the 4, 5 or 6 train to 125 st, then taking the M35 bus headed towards Sunken Garden Loop/Charles Gay Ctr for 3 stops, followed by a 10 minute walk on Randall's Island. Once the bus crosses the RFK bridge unto Randall's Island, you can get off on the first stop and walk from there. Alternatively, if you prefer a longer walk, crossing the RFK bridge by foot from the left side after arriving at 125th st gets you directly to the 5-Borough Facility!

Saturday, October 23rd, 6 - 9 pm EST (Virtual) - Workshop Session 2 (Virtual)

Hosted by Dr. Olga Bezuglova, Professor, Department of Soil Science & Land Assessment, Southern Federal University (Russia)

Tuesday, October 26th, 12 noon - 4:30 pm EST - 2nd Los Angeles Urban Soil Symposium, hosted by TreePeople, a USI symposium partner (Virtual)

Registration link available on the Whova App

Week 4   |   Events From October 28-30

Thursday, October 28th, 12 noon - 3:30 pm EST - Waste Not; The Cycle of Life Live Session (Virtual)

Through construction, New York City alone introduces over 16,500 tons of soil, rocks, concrete, brick and other material into our waste stream each and every day. The creation of a sustainable urban landscape requires an adaptive re-use of resources, and urban soils play a central role in this equation. In this session, we will we explore the role of soils as a primary driver of circularity, and its potential to disrupt an otherwise linear waste stream. How do we turn soil waste into a soil resource, and what implications will it have on economies, quality of life, innovation, culture, and urban space? What historical, contemporary and future contexts does soil play as a common resource, and the lessons that emerge?

Features

• 12:00 - Sensing and Showing Climate Change, Part two of three: Science and magic, carbon and soil by Dr. Margot Lystra, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, Université de Montréal

• 12:15 - Effect of soil properties on the state of urban lawns by Dr. Olga Bezuglova, Professor, Department of Soil Science & Land Assessment, Southern Federal University (Russia)

• 12:40 - Garden of Ashes by Jason Smith, Director of Northern Manhattan Parks for the NY Restoration Project

• 1:00 - Factors Affecting Carcinogenic PAHs and Select Metals in Urban Soil in NYC by Raphael Rosenbaum, Remediation Scientist

• 1:20 - How much urban soil do we need? by Moreen Willaredt, PhD Candidate, Department of Ecohydrology and Landscape Evaluation, Technische Universität Berlin

• 1:50 - Mine All Mine by Stephanie Garon, Artist & Sculptor

• 2:10 - Soil, Environmental Justice and the Law by Joel Kupferman, Attorney, New York Environmental Law and Justice Project - Environmental Justice Initiative

• 2:30 - Resilient Metabolism of Urban Wastes: Past, Present and Prospects for the Future by Dr. Daniel Walsh, Founding Director of NYC Mayor's Office of Environmental Remediation, Founder of Clean Soil Bank, NYC Voluntary Cleanup Program and NYC Green Property Certification Program

• 2:50 - Open Discussion between Speakers and Audience

Friday, October 29th, 3 - 5 pm EST - Workshop Session 1 - Healthy Soils for Healthy Communities Initiative: A Perspective from Community Surveys and Focus Groups in Los Angeles (Virtual)

Presentations (60 minutes)

Project Overview and Future Directions by Yujuan Chen, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, TreePeople & Richard Pouyat, Ph.D., Emeritus Scientist, U.S. Forest Service

Findings from Online Surveys by, Erica L. Wohldmann, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, California State University, Northridge

Findings from Focus Groups, by Kirsten Schwarz, Ph.D.,Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Health Sciences, UCLA

Is the Public Making the Link Between Brown and Green Infrastructure?—Insights from the Surveys, by Susan Day, Ph.D., Professor and Program Director, Urban Forestry, UBC

Q&A Session (60 minutes)

Saturday, October 30th, 12 noon - 4 pm EST - FREE Soils Testing Workshop+ - at Swale House, Nolan Park, Governors Island (In-Person)

Bring your soils for a free soils testing workstop and porch chat with USI's own George Lozefski and Igor Bronz, as well as partners attending. Check out the poster within the calendar link for more information!