'Soil Will Save Us' author to speak Oct. 23

Journalist Kristin Ohlson is the speaker for the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum's Young Lecture Oct. 23 in Lincoln.
Journalist Kristin Ohlson is the speaker for the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum's Young Lecture Oct. 23 in Lincoln.

Journalist Kristin Ohlson is the speaker for the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum's Young Lecture Oct. 23 in Lincoln.

Ohlson is the author of "The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers and Foodies are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet," which looks at the work of pioneering scientists and agriculturalists to develop land-management practices that respect nature and heal landscapes. The book won a 2015 Books for a Better Life award in the "Green category" and was a finalist for a 2015 Oregon Book Award. The Los Angeles Times said Ohlson "directs our gaze earthward, to take a long, hard look at the dirt beneath our feet. We may have overlooked a solution there … This is a hopeful book and a necessary one."

Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, Salon, Smithsonian, Discover, New Scientist, Gourmet, Oprah and many other print and online publications. She is the author of the memoir "Stalking the Divine," which won the American Society of Journalists and Authors Best Nonfiction Book Award in 2004, and co-author of the 2007 New York Times bestselling "Kabul Beauty School."

Ohlson is the featured speaker of the 2015 Joseph and Dorothy Young Memorial Lectures in Horticulture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Hardin Hall, 3310 Holdrege St. The ticketed lecture is at 7:30 p.m. A reception with hors d'oeuvres and desserts precedes the talk at 6:30 p.m. The cost for the lecture is $15 for NSA members and $20 for non-members. The lecture plus reception is $20 for NSA members and $30 for non-members. Space is limited. Sign up at http://plantnebraska.org or call 402-472-2971.

The Nebraska Statewide Arboretum hosts the Young Memorial Lectures in Horticulture to honor the late Joseph Young, who worked at the university from 1958 to 1980 as chair of the Department of Horticulture and founder and first director of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. A visionary advocate for landscape beautification, he helped establish Maxwell Arboretum, the UNL Botanical Garden and Arboretum and the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. Learn more at http://plantnebraska.org.