Wolfson Fellows launch ‘Earth Rover Program’, shaking up our understanding of soil

On Friday 5th December, Wolfson Honorary Fellow George Monbiot and Emeritus Fellow Tarje Nissen-Meyer, announced the launch of their co-founded new venture, the Earth Rover Program. The simultaneously released report, ‘Soilsmology: Transforming our Understanding of Soil’, explores how an emerging scientific concept, ‘soilsmology’, is shaking up our understanding of the ground beneath our feet.

Soil is the fragile cushion between rock and air on which our civilisations are built. Despite supplying 99% of our calories, it’s the least known major ecosystem.

The Earth Rover Program is a non-profit organisation that is developing scalable, non-invasive technologies that will enable us to ‘see’ into soil with greater accuracy, speed, and at less cost than ever before. By repurposing the proven methods of seismology and combining them with novel sensors and AI analysis, the program has established ‘soilsmology’, a non-invasive technique that measures soil health. Together with scientists, researchers, and farmers working on three continents, the Earth Rover team is aiming to transform how we map the complex and vital ecosystem that underpins global food security and climate resilience.

To learn more about the program – and its beginnings at a fortuitous meeting at Wolfson, click here.