Ram Talks – Notes from the Underground: A Discussion About the Skin of the Planet Earth

Bring your curiosity and energy, grab a cold one, and spend Wednesday happy hour with Ram Talks. Explore, learn, and create with CSU experts downtown at the new Fort Collins Welcome Center!

Ram Talks are a mashup of CSU expertise and active community conversation, unleashing the creative insights and eye-opening shakeup that comes from taking a fresh look at the world around us.

Gene Kelly – Professor & Deputy Director of the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station  

The discussion explores the critical role of soil as Earth’s living, breathing skin. This thin, fragile layer supports life by providing nutrients, filtering water, regulating temperature, and storing carbon. Like human skin, soil is dynamic—constantly forming, aging, and interacting with its environment. It is home to an extraordinary diversity of organisms, with a single teaspoon containing more life than the entire human population. Yet, unsustainable practices threaten this vital resource, eroding its ability to sustain ecosystems and humanity itself. This talk delves into the science of soil, its ecological significance, and the urgent need to protect and restore this foundation of life for a sustainable future.