Dr. Carl Wepking, Executive Director of the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative, addresses the Conference on Connections Between Soil Health and Human Health, October 2018, in Silver Spring, Maryland. Dr. Wepking addresses how antibiotics given to livestock can be found in soil, plant, and human microbiomes and how antibiotic-resistant pathogens have developed over time. Special consideration to the effects of antibiotics on multiple aspects of soil microbial activity are also discussed.
The Conference on Connections Between Soil Health and Human Health was designed as a working meeting to provide a roadmap for collaborative, interdisciplinary leadership and exploration into the connections within and among soil health, the microbiome continuum from soil to plants to humans, food safety, human nutrition, fate and transport of human health-related substances in soil, and community health. Among those in attendance were soil health researchers, human health researchers, soil and medical science practitioners, public health experts, and agronomists. In addition, policy makers and representatives from soil health and human health research funding organizations discussed implications and opportunities for advancing research and societal benefits in this emerging field.