Pluton Biosciences

Great insights from Alice Korngold and BioSTL ’s Dan Schulz during this morning’s #ClimateInnovationDay panel! "It's been exciting getting to know the Danforth Center and BioSTL better," Alice says. "The connection between global ambition and what is happening on the ground is vital to addressing climate change. And the work of the #STL ecosystem is admirable." We look forward to hearing more from Alice tonight at IGNITE! #DanforthIGNITE 🔥 IGNITE details: https://lnkd.in/gZWSU7SF

A.J. (Ashok) Kumar and his team at Indigo recently published a paper on “implementing an agricultural carbon project at scale”. The paper “Solutions and insights for agricultural monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) from three consecutive issuances of soil carbon credits” is published at this link (https://lnkd.in/djKWw9N6). There have been recent examples that some carbon sequestration practices do not store the amount of carbon originally predicted. This engenders a lack of trust in the marketplace. AJ and team are trying to address this by describing how Indigo is approaching this space.   From the Abstract.   There is a challenge to quantifying emission reductions on a large scale. To quantify the impact, Indigo created a monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) pipeline to produce agricultural soil carbon credits produced at large scales (>100K hectares). The pipeline uses field data, biogeochemical models, and soil sampling to produce estimates of emissions reduction while integrating uncertainty. In this paper Indigo was able to account for 297K tCO2 equivalent of carbon credits on 554K hectare. The paper then explores the effect sizes associated with specific regenerative practice changes. Some questions they address in the manuscript include: ·      How to accurately measure carbon in the field broadly ·      How measure the durability of the carbon ·      How to account for uncertainty   I applaud AJ's and Indigo's efforts to more thoroughly understand the quantification of sequestered carbon through modeling of regenerative agricultural practices. This paper helps clarify one component of the complex and evolving carbon sequestration space.   #sustainableag #regenerativeag #carbonmarket #carbonsequestration #nitrogenfixation #carboncapture #covercrops #notill #soilcarboncredits #carboncredits #soilorganicmatter #greenhousegas #emissionreduction #quantification #regenerativefarming 

Tracking the sources of mineral-associated soil organic matter 🔀🧱 📚 Mineral-associated soil organic matter (MAOM) represents the largest and most slowly cycling carbon (C) reservoir within the terrestrial biosphere. 🦠 Microbial biomarkers (e.g. amino sugars) are most commonly used to estimate microbial versus plant contributions to MAOM. 📰 A recent meta-analysis by Chang et al. 2023 included 288 datasets of C/N ratios for MAOM, particulate organic matter (POM), and microbial biomass across the soils of forests, grasslands, and croplands. 📊 While the average microbial contribution to MAOM was estimated to be around 30-50%, the actual contributions from microbes and plants vary based on: -> ecosystem type, -> soil characteristics, -> climatic conditions. Image: plant and microbial contributions to MAOM as a function of ecosystem type, soil properties, and climate factors (credits: Chang et al. 2023; DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17385). #soil #microbiome #agriculture

In between analyzing data, designing experiments, and quite lengthy brainstorming sessions, I like to seek out the perspectives of those outside the lab including farmers. I recently found a Youtube channel called Kiss The Ground. In their “5 With A Farmer” playlist, they ask farmers questions like “What do you wish more people know about farming?” Or “What is the wildest idea you’ve had that’s worked?” Let me share a couple I particularly like. “On a farm, there are no failures, only lessons.” This quote from Wil Crombie, the owner of an organic farming compound in MN, has stuck with me for the last few days. Wil views regenerative farming as a form of climate activism - something that heals both the planet and the people on it. He doesn’t think in terms of “success” or “failure.” Instead, there is always an opportunity for taking in more knowledge and for continuous improvement.     Another interview with Wendy Johnson from Charles City, Iowa, is a reminder of the surprisingly large diversity within the farming community. Wendy talks about her career prior to farming, involving quite a bit of travel, and how she has now put down roots through establishing Jóia Food Farm.    I find perspectives like Wil’s and Wendy’s to be insightful and valuable. Very few of us grow food. Demystifying that process is critical to having the food systems we want. Farmers and scientists often live and work in such vastly different circles, but they are deeply intertwined in the realm of sustainable agriculture. https://lnkd.in/g_tk6_pV https://lnkd.in/gvYJ-h8w   #sustainableag #carboncapture #climateaction #sustainability #regenerativeag 

New site, who dis?   This week we’re proud to launch the new, improved Wollemi.com. We’re excited to have a space to showcase the diversity and depth of our global team – now numbering more than 30 professionals across Sydney, Seattle and San Francisco – and our growing portfolio of incredible businesses and projects.   At Wollemi, we’re focused on bridging the climate growth capital gap by providing flexible capital to businesses, developers and projects with technologies that are proven and at the inflection point ready for rapid scale-up.   And you can now see that brought to life in our portfolio page, featuring Kanin Energy, Loam Bio, Pachama, Pluton Biosciences and our most recent investment Samsara Eco, along with a growing array of projects in partnership with RegenCo, Permagen and Carbon Neutral – with more announcements to come very soon. A shout out to Present Company and Hatch Creative Agency for their great work in creating our new digital home. #climatefinance #climateimpact #climatetech #growthcapital #Wollemi #TeamWollemi

There has been quite a bit of conversation about loss of soil and organic matter on farms and how that will impact yields in the future. This has been difficult to address from an industrial perspective. Regenerative Ag is the broad category for how this issue is being addressed, but not many products have come out of the current leaders in the industry. Can industry identify and implement simple and cost-effective solutions that growers can integrate into their current practices that will reduce soil and organic matter loss?     Industry is now beginning to address this. Syngenta has hired a team reporting to the highest levels of the organization. Matthew Wallenstein is the chief soil scientist at Syngenta and former Professor of Soil Science at Colorado State University. He has built a strong team of soil scientists to understand how industry can come up with solutions to address this issue. You can hear him on the  Future of Agriculture podcast, which is hosted by Tim Hammerich. Tim has been providing great 1:1 interviews with the critical players in Ag for the last several years. Worth the listen.  #Soilscience #regerativeag #podcast #sustainability #climateaction #soilhealth