Will Run For Soil

Karen Vaughan, UW Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
Yamina Pressler, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo Department of Natural Resources Management & Environmental Sciences
Lydia Jennings, University of Arizona Department of Environmental Sciences
Morgan Heim, Film maker, Neon Raven Story Labs
Jane Zelikova, Film maker, Hey Girl Productions

https://www.willrunforsoil.com/

a film
an adventure
a movement
coming in 2020

Will Run for Soil tells the story of soil through the lens of the people who study it. The documentary follows Karen Vaughan (a pedologist), Yamina Pressler (a soil ecologist), and Lydia Jennings (a soil microbiologist), as they explore soils while running through the sweeping western wilderness. Far from professional ultrarunners, Karen, Yamina, and Lydia challenge themselves to run their longest distance ever for their love of the land and in an effort to expand our collective notion of why we should care about soils. In the process, they confront ideas about what a scientist looks like, what it means to be a soil scientist, and what the human body is capable of accomplishing for the love of soil.

Will Run For Soil approaches soil science communication from a fundamentally different perspective. The film is the first step in a movement to change the way that we think about and talk about soils. We seek to engage a new audience in thinking about soil biodiversity and conservation. As of 2017, there were 9.15 million trail runners in the United States alone (Gough, 2020) . Many of these individuals spend their time on trails daily, appreciating nature mentally, physically, and emotionally, but often lack the language or awareness of how soil impacts their daily lives. We seek to engage these outdoor enthusiasts to be land conservation stewards through our film and our film screenings, connecting runners and film viewers to local soil experts in each location.

We are on a mission to make soil, and the soil scientists who study them, household names