Embrey Bronstad

What is the first thing you think when you hear “Black Gold”? Is it the theme song for the Beverly Hillbillies? A baritone “Texas Tea”? Well, some people think “BIOCHAR!”

What do you call the worm that ate Mozart? A DECOMPOSER! But for one central Washington dairy, a treatment system is using worms, not to decompose manure but to address the knotty and chronic issue of excessive nutrient levels. And now WSU researchers are studying just how helpful those worms might be to the Washington dairy industry.

Biochar has the potential to provide a win-win for climate, soils, and forest health. Previous posts on the CSANR Perspectives in Sustainability blog have discussed the effects of integrating biochar with composting facilities, engineering biochars for specific applications, and potential for biochar use in Washington to draw down carbon dioxide. The Pacific Northwest is particularly suited…

I really didn’t like this fungus joke at first. But it’s growing on me. And thank goodness for that, because fungus may just be a key component to addressing another issue ripe for CSANR blogpost humor: cow poop.

Here is an ammonia joke for you: Why do chemistry students like studying ammonia? Because it’s pretty basic stuff! So basic, in fact, that high levels of ammonia in dairy wastewater inhibit algal growth. For researchers at WSU looking to use algae as a natural way to extract high levels of nitrogen…