In partnership with Earth and Climate Science Professor Dan Richter and the Duke Soils Lab, the Duke Campus Farm launched the Soil Fertility Fellowship in 2024, working with a team of undergraduate and graduate students to quantify the impacts of Duke Campus Farm’s regenerative agriculture practices over the past 13 years. Students combine hands-on work in the field with bench science analysis, learning to view soil from the perspective of both the scientist and the practitioner. These student research opportunities have a ripple effect on education at the farm. They support the learning of the student research team; the student field crew members who implement the soil fertility management plans that the fellowship helps to refine; and the students and members of the public that student field crews engage and instruct, all while helping the farm. This past year, fellows focused on the cycling of phosphorus. They also studied how Duke Campus Farm soils were responding to recommendations made by the prior fellow cohort. The results are promising and have potential implications for the broader small-farm communities in the Piedmont. LEARN MORE.
