

A World Without Soil
The Past, Present, and
Precarious Future of the
Earth Beneath Our Feet
A scientist’s manifesto addressing a soil loss crisis accelerated by poor conservation practices and climate change. This book by celebrated biologist Jo Handelsman lays bare the complex connections among climate change, soil erosion, food and water security, and drug discovery.
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Awards for A World Without Soil
A World Without Soil makes AAAS Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books for Young Adults longlist

A World Without Soil
wins Association of American Publishers 2022 PROSE Category Award: Government & Politics

A World Without Soil
wins 2023 Annual Thoughts Award in the Fourth Pingshan Natural History Book Award
About the Author
Jo Handelsman is the director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and a Vilas Research Professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Handelsman previously served as a science adviser to President Barack Obama.

Praise for A World Without Soil
“Jo Handelsman is a national treasure, and her clarion call warning of a looming soil-loss catastrophe must be heard. Add her clearly written alarm to other future-shocks: climate change, pandemics, and mass extinctions.”
— Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World out of Balance
“The ground beneath our feet is slipping away as we lose the precious soil that sustains us. Jo Handelsman’s writing—as rich and life supporting as the soil itself—is a riveting warning. She tells us eloquently about the danger we’re in, but also what we can do about it.”
— Alan Alda, actor, writer, and host of the podcast “Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda”
Media Appearances

Door County’s Climate Change Coalition 10th-Anniversary Event Guest Speaker
Jo Handelsman presents at the Door County Climate Change Coalition 10th Anniversary event in a talk titled, “The Earth Beneath Our Feet: Climate Change and the Soil-Loss Crisis.” Learn more at climatechangedoorcounty.com.
TALK
September 20, 2025

Soil: An Invisible Crisis and Massive Climate Opportunity
INTERVIEW
Jo Handelsman talks with the Global Association of Risk Professionals on the Climate Risk Podcast about the threats to soil and the opportunities it holds.
April 13, 2025

Soil Health & The Microbiome on the Homeless Romantic Podcast
Jo Handelsman talks with Chris Jeffries on the Homeless Romantic Podcast about how the microbiology of soil and our guts are critical for environmental and mental health.
INTERVIEW
December 14, 2025

Reviews
Science - Searching for solutions to our soil woes
Nature - A call for governments to save soil
The New York Review - The waste land
Learn More About Soil
Check out these books, articles, and websites to learn more about
the precious resource beneath our feet
Soil Science Americana: Chronicles and Progressions 1860─1960 by Alfred E. Hartemink
Te reo o te repo: Kei konei tonu au (The Voice of the Wetland: I Am Still Here) by Yvonne Taura and Bev Clarkson
What’s the Biggest Threat to Our Lives? (video) by Sadhguru and Conscious Planet