The Urban Soil Guide

Dr. Anna Paltseva is an international urban soil scientist. She received her Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from The Graduate Center, City University of New York, in 2019. She is now an endowed assistant professor in Environmental Sciences at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL) School of Geosciences. Anna's expertise is in urban soil contamination and remediation of urban gardens. Her mission is to educate communities about the critical importance of soil health for growing nutritious food, supporting healthy ecosystems, and most importantly, protecting children from exposure to harmful heavy metals. Dr. Paltseva specializes in identifying and mitigating contamination in urban soils, assessing potential health risks, and developing sustainable practices for urban agriculture. Since 2014, I have taught a wide range of students at multiple institutions, including New York University, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the renowned New York Botanical Garden, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Dr. Paltseva has authored and co-authored over thirty manuscripts and book chapters, with more on the way and presented her work in Spain, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, China, Russia, and Germany. Dr. Paltseva served as the Chair for the Urban and Anthropogenic Soils Division at the Soil Science Society of America (2022-2023). She received the esteemed 2023 Soil Science Education and Extension Award from the Soil Science Society of America.

Lab 1. How Do Soils Form? Examining Rocks, Minerals and the Products of Weathering under a Microscope.- Lab 2. What Is a Soil Profile?.- Lab 3. Why Do Soils Have Different Colors? Does Soil Smell?.- Lab 4. What Is Soil Texture?.- Lab 5. What Are Soil Structure And Consistence?.- Lab 6. What Is the Total Pore Space In the Soil?.- Lab 7. How Can Apparent Soil Water Retention Capacity Be Analyzed?.- Lab 8. What Is Permeability of Soil?.- Lab 9. How Does Water Percolate Through Soils?.- Lab 10. Build an Urban Erosion Model.- Lab 11. What Is Soil pH? How Is It Measured?.- Lab 12. Why Is Soil Salinity Important?.- Lab 13. How Do Cations Exchange In the Soil?.- Lab 14. How Can Carbonate Content Be Estimated?.- Lab 15. How Much of Trace Elements Are In Urban Soils?.- Lab 16. How Much of Nutrients Do Plants Need?.- Lab 17. How Much of Organic Matter and Humus Content Is In The Soil?.- Lab 18. Who Lives In the Soil?.- Lab 19. Using the Web Soil Survey for Various Applications.- Lab 20. Tell a Story about Your Soil from "A Worm's Eye View".