Graduate Exit Seminar - Danielle Bush

Plan to join Danielle Bush's graduate exit seminar on December 19, 2023, at 9:30 am in Kottman Hall 245 or via Zoom. Danielle will present, "Possible connections between urban soil health and community wellbeing; case study of Linden neighborhood, Columbus, Ohio."

Abstract: Relationships between community wellbeing and soil health may be important for overall community improvement but are unclear. Increasing our knowledge of past impacts on and the range of urban soil properties and placing these soils within the local socio-economic context may contribute towards bridging the knowledge gap about urban soils and how soils affect urban residents. Linden, a neighborhood northwest of downtown Columbus Ohio, is characterized by an urban character with a growing population, housing issues, inadequate infrastructure, and socio-economic problems. Columbus City parks in Linden were used as benchmark sites with relatively well-known land use histories in the urban context for evaluating soil physical, chemical, and biological indicators within different use or hypothesized impact zones. Census tract American Community Survey data will be used to derive indicators for the Social Deprivation Index as broad indicators of community wellbeing. This research will not only increase our knowledge on urban soils and engage urban residents on soil health, but also inform future work to specifically community and eventually individual wellbeing connected to soil health.

Advisor: Dr. M. Scott Demyan