Biochar for soil restoration and environmental management: An integrated food-energy systems approach

Dr. Roy Beckford presented findings from a research project that investigated an intervention strategy. The first goal was to determine the practicability of rebuilding soil horizons on eroded parent soils using blends of biochar and compost to create anthroposols, through a process called ‘Restorative Anthropogenesis.’ The second goal was to develop a closed loop cycle between pyrogenic carbon (thermochemically altered carbon) and farm soils. The final goal was to model how an integrated food-energy system (IFES) impacts biogeochemical cycles to restore ecological interactions and improve the delivery of ecosystem services.

Presenter: Roy Beckford has been the University of Florida’s Agricultural and Natural Resources Agent in Lee County, Florida since April 2005 and serves concurrently as County Extension Director. He previously worked in Agricultural Extension in Jamaica and the British Virgin Islands for 14 years.