Exposed: Science Isn't Just for Scientists.

Soil is the foundation of most terrestrial life and critical to human civilizations. But, of course, that is a soil scientist's viewpoint and not necessarily recognized by most people walking on top of the Earth's "ecstatic skin" everyday. Rather than inspiring ecstasy, soil, as a discussion topic, generally induces somnambulism. While soil science has enjoyed great advances and discoveries in recent decades, non-scientist interest in soils has almost certainly declined. Some evidence links this decline to urbanization and the greater distance between farms and forks; trends unlikely to reverse.

Urbanization, though, presents many opportunities for soil and other natural scientists to re-connect with the general public as people are more concentrated and seek more interaction with the natural world. Rather than sleep-walking into botanic gardens, people arrive with an expectation to learn and see something new and different. For example, the U.S. Botanic Garden developed, "Exposed: The Secret Life of Roots," to which Jim Richardson and I contributed content. For Jim and me, the exhibit presented one of the greatest opportunities to draw people in based on their interest in plants but really communicate the importance of soils. The exhibit also exposed many opportunities to communicate other important messages around topics difficult for people to engage with, such as farming and food security.

As human activities continue to transform the Earth's ecosystems through farming and other landscape altering practices, scientists should take advantage of the opportunities and expertise botanic gardens and other museums offer to transform somnambulism into ecstasy.