Bay Area Researchers Test How Human Hair Can Improve Soil

CBS Bay Area

May 24, 2024

Curly, wavy or straight, long or short, we tend to do a lot with our hair. It grows about half an inch a month. Most of us just cut it off, and throw it away, or should we?

Researchers at UC Berkeley and ecologists at the Presidio in San Francisco are digging into the question: can human hair supercharge the soil on our farms and fields and help us fight the impacts of climate change?

Our first stop is in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Cal, where CBS News Bay Area met up with ecosystem ecologist Dr. Whendee Silver and visiting scholar Dr. Tibisay Perez. The scientists are studying the biogeochemical effects of climate change, human impacts on the environment and possible ways to mitigate the effects.

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