Joseph E. Aoun, a leader in higher education policy and a renowned scholar in linguistics, is the seventh President of Northeastern University.
President Aoun has strategically aligned the University’s research enterprise with three global imperatives—health, security, and sustainability. Northeastern’s faculty focus on interdisciplinary research, entrepreneurship, and transforming academic research into commercial solutions for the world’s most pressing problems. During President Aoun’s tenure, the University has realized a 189 percent growth in external research funding, along with approximately 1,500 patent applications filed by faculty and students.
Years of industrialized agriculture have been a major contributor to climate change. TO WHICH WE BELONG follows a new generation of farmers and ranchers who seek to rebuild their businesses and their planet by embracing the interconnectedness of living things.Â
Â
On land long depleted by monocultured crops, Trey Hill fills the fields with colorful tangles of plant life, revivifying the soil and bringing new richness to the harvest. In Chihuahua, Mexico ranchers like Alejandro Carrillo practice revolutionary techniques in cattle herding, carving out space for wildlife to thrive again. And off the coast of Connecticut, Bren Smith re-seeds the ocean with kelp, mussels, oysters, and scallops, restoring ecosystems ravaged by commercial fishing.
Despite their difference in culture and location, these farmers and ranchers are rooted in the same belief: that to work with nature, not against it, is the answer.
Science is showing that if we draw down enough carbon from the sky back into the soil through regenerative agricultural practices, we can actually reverse climate change bringing carbon dioxide down to pre-industrial revolution levels.Â
So, now it’s our turn: to bring awareness and support to the ranchers and farmers doing the work to renew the earth through these simple, yet profound practices.
TO WHICH WE BELONG tells the stories of nine farms and ranches going against the grain to bravely leave behind practices that are no longer profitable or sustainable.
These unsung heroes just might save their livelihoods – and our world itself.Â
And in this time of turmoil, it might be the best news you receive all year.
By providing us with your email address as part of your registration to any Boston Globe or Boston.com event, you will also be added to our select newsletter lists. You may opt out of these lists at any time by clicking the unsubscribe links provided in the newsletters. View our privacy policy.Â
The Globe does not tolerate hate speech or incendiary language in our virtual events. In the event of any violation, we reserve the right to remove you from the event and take legal action against you, including but not limited to reporting your behavior to the authorities. Your participation in any event is subject to our Terms of Service.