The Salazar Center is hosting a free screening of parts one and four of “Roots So Deep (you can see the devil down there),” a documentary series all about inventive farmers and maverick scientists building a path to solving climate change with hooves, heart and soil.

Watch the trailer:

Can a novel way to graze cattle, that mimics the way bison once roamed the land, help get farmers out of debt, restore our depleted soils, rebuild wildlife habitat and draw down huge amounts of carbon? Cattle have been seen as eco-villains for a long time. What if they can help save us from catastrophic climate change?

“Roots So Deep” is guided by director and wrangler of scientists Peter Byck as he meets farmers on both sides of the fence – the folks practicing a new way to graze, and their neighbors set in their family’s generations-old method of doing things. Peter’s team of outcast scientists are measuring what’s happening on both sides of the fences – exploring if this new, adaptive grazing could help slow down climate change.

Register

Event Agenda

5:00 PM MST – Reception and networking; Food will be provided, cash bar

6:00 PM MST – Film screening, parts 1 and 4

8:15 PM MST – Panel discussion and Q&A with director Peter Byck

Speakers

Sarah Wentzel-Fisher – Moderator 

Sarah has worked in food and agriculture planning and education for over a decade, with a focus on supporting young and beginning farmers and ranchers, and regenerative agriculture. She is currently the Executive Director of Quivira Coalition, a nonprofit focused on resilience on working lands; she oversees staff in New Mexico, Colorado, and Montana. She was the editor of Edible New Mexico from 2011 to 2017. From 2013 to 2015, she worked for the National Young Farmers Coalition as an organizer and is currently on the boards of the Greenhorns, Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance, and the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, and has served on the board of the Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust.

She is a committed champion of the local food movement and of resilient and regenerative agriculture, and brings deep experience and knowledge of network building, program development, project management, research, writing, advocacy, and event planning to this work. In her free time, you can find her feeding pigs, checking the compost pile, or visiting farms and ranches in New Mexico and beyond.

Peter Byck

Peter is a professor of practice at Arizona State University where he is helping to lead a $10 million research project comparing Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing with conventional grazing; collaborating with 20 scientists and 10 farm families, focused on soil health & soil carbon storage, microbial/bug/bird biodiversity, water cycling and much more featured in “Roots So Deep (you can see the devil down there).” He has over 25 years experience as a director and editor. His 1st documentary, garbage, won the South by Southwest Film Festival, screened in scores of festivals and played at the Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center. His 2nd documentary, carbon nation, has screened all over the world; it won the IVCA Clarion Award, the GreenMe Global Festival, and was runner-up for the EMA Award.

Francesca Cotrufo

Dr. Cotrufo is a Professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Senior Scientist at the Natural Resource Ecology Lab, at Colorado State University. She is a soil ecologist and biogeochemist, internationally recognized as an authority in the field of litter decomposition and soil organic matter dynamics, and in the use of isotopic methodologies in these studies. Her main research interest is in understanding the mechanisms and drivers of formation and persistence of soil organic matter, and its response to global environmental changes and disturbances. She also pursues applied research to propose soil management practices that increase soil health and mitigate climate change, such as application of biochar in soils. As a scientist fully aware of the current and future challenges expecting humanity, she is interested in promoting K-12 education and outreach activities to advance scientific literacy and societal understanding of current human impacts on the Earth System.

Samantha Mosier

Dr. Mosier is currently the Executive Director and one of the Co-Founders of Cquester Analytics, a soil testing facility specializing in soil carbon analysis. Originally from Holland, Michigan, she earned a Ph.D. in ecology from Colorado State University. She also holds a B.S. in environmental science from the University of Michigan and a M.S. in applied ecology from Michigan Tech University.

Dr. Mosier’s research interests include soil organic matter dynamics and biogeochemical cycling. She adds, “I’m passionate about sustainable land management practices as climate change mitigation strategies.”