Angela Gallego-Sala joins us in this episode to discuss their peatland research. This episode is being on International Bog day which is on the 24th July. Angela is a professor at the University of Exeter and is a specialist in peatlands. Angela is working to understand why peatlands form in certain places and other places not and is working towards improving the mapping of peatlands globally. Peatlands are wet, carbon rich ecosystems where dead plant material, or OM, is not given the opportunity to break down. For this reason, peatlands store large amounts of carbon and even play a role regulating the Earth’s climate.

SPOILER ALERT: Angela expects that peatlands may expand with human-induced climate change because this is what we’ve witnessed under previous periods of climate warming.

We also discuss the implications that accompany protecting peatlands from agricultural land use in developing countries with widespread poverty. Angela is also a member and organiser of C-PEAT - an international consortium of peatland scientists, attended the COP26 in Glasgow to contribute to the Peatland Pavillion. Angela also contributes to PAGES, an international palaeoclimate research group.

Soil Matters respectfully acknowledges all indigenous peoples connected to the soils and lands across this planet. We particularly offer respect to the elders past, present, and emerging that are, have been, or will be caretakers of peatlands.

Angela Gallego-Sala:

https://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/tropeacc/team/angela-gallego-sala/

https://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Angela_Gallego-Sala