Jim Laurie & His Homeschool AP Biology Students: Nature Wants to Be Wet

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Restoration ecologist Jim Laurie illuminates the vital connections between water cycles and biodiversity, describing numerous keystone species – from microbes and worms to beavers, burrowing animals and ruminants – which increase water infiltration and retention in landscapes. By partnering with these species we can jumpstart the restoration of stable local water cycles. Jim also introduces students from his Homeschool Advanced Placement Biology / Restoration Ecology course who perform a short play called “Symbiosis”, including sketches on “Making Holes to Improve the Small Water Cycle” and “Stopping Flash Floods and Cleaning Water.” Jim will finish with a brief description of a new initiative in state government: since 2009 the Mass. Division of Ecological Restoration has helped partners remove 40 dams and restore approximately 2,000 acres of coastal wetland.

Presented a Biodiversity for a Livable Climate’s “Restoring Water Cycles to Reverse Global Warming” conference October 16th-18th, 2015 at Tufts University.

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Soil Ecosystem Health: From Fungi & Nematodes to Beetles & Earthworms with Jim Laurie

Mycorrhizal fungi are critical conduits moving photosynthetic energy to underground microbial communities. In return these microbes find minerals and water for their plant benefactors. In addtion, nematodes are essential nitrogen pumps in the soil, while dung beetles and earthworms can lock up tons of soil carbon, year after year. Jim Laurie illustrates and explains.

Presented at Biodiversity for a Livable Climate “Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming” conference at Tufts University on November 21-23, 2014

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