Elaine Ingham is a microbiologist and soil biology researcher and founder of Soil Foodweb Inc. She has a PhD in microbiology, was previously chief scientist for the Rodale Institute, worked as a postdoc at the Natural Resource Ecology Lab at Colorado State University, and was a research fellow at the University of Georgia.

Timestamps

[1:00] Early years: falling out of trees and examining E. coli

[3:30] Starting a company

[6:00] There are no minerals lacking in the soil: it’s lacking microorganisms

[14:30] Plants send signals to microorganisms for food and nutrients

[16:30] How could I have a conversation without talking about sauerkraut?

[20:30] Getting nutrients into plants

[25:30] Bacteria/Fungi have been around over 3.5 billion years yet we’ve only started to understand them

[27:30] The silica bilayer

[31:30] Lava Fungi: Microbes exist 16 miles under the Earth

[35:00] Biomass of microorganisms in soil vs. minerals

[40:30] Nitrogen

[44:30] Where else could microorganisms be used?

[47:00] Enough phosphorus in one grain of sand for an acre of crop species

[50:30] Soil illness destroys civilizations

[56:30] A theory on why humans exist

[1:00:30] Eating soil and soil foodweb benefits

[1:06:30] Next time: decomposition of toxic materials

[1:10:00] Visit www.soilfoodweb.com to learn more!

Cliffhanger for part two: Decomposition of toxic materials