Sharon Pochron studies earthworms and how they react to various stressors, including the weedkiller Roundup. Host Heather Lynch and Pochron, an assistant professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, discuss how this weedkiller and others affects the health of both humans and the organisms that dwell within the soil. Pochron also discusses the current concerns that undergraduate students have about the environment and how the water fern Azolla may be the key to mitigating greenhouse gases.

Learn more with:

• “Current and future glyphosate use in European Agriculture”

• “Effects of glyphosate exposure on intestinal microbiota, metabolism and microstructure”

• “Exposure to aged crumb rubber reduces survival time during a stress test in earthworms (Eisenia fetida)” by Sharon Pochron, Jacqueline Nikakis, Kyra Illuzzi, Andrea Baatz, Loriana Demirciyan, Amritjot Dhillon, Thomas Gaylor, Alexa Manganaro, Nicholas Maritato, Michael Moawad, Rajwinder Singh, Clara Tucker, & Daniel Vaughan

• The Farm Bill

• The 4/1000 Initiative

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

• 00:00 Introduction to Roundup

• 03:16 Roundup’s Effects on Soil and Human Health

• 06:42 The Wheat Farmer’s Use of Roundup

• 09:16 Fast vs. Slow Microbial Turnover

• 10:21 The Benefits of Using Roundup

• 12:32 Roundup’s Effects on Earthworms

• 14:20 Earthworms and Their Impacts on Soil Health

• 19:14 Undergraduate Concerns for the Environment

• 25:11 Additional Concerns

• 27:02 Azolla as a Sequestration System  

• 33:02 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Producer: Rachel Lea 

Program manager: Jennifer Gilday