Geologist David R. Montgomery is the author of Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, a mix of history, archaeology and geology that shows how soil use - and abuse - has shaped great civilizations from Mesopotamia to the Roman Empire, China to Central America, and the American push westward. A MacArthur "Genius" Award recipient, Montgomery teaches at the University of Washington, where he studies the evolution of topography and how geological processes shape landscapes and influence ecological systems. In this lecture he discuss his current work, a solution-oriented approach to the problem of global soil erosion outlined in Dirt.
Originally broadcast 12/05/2013
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