To link our field-scale research to broader social and economic contexts, we conducted an analysis of the role of international agricultural trade on global phosphorus flows as a postdoctoral scholar at McGill University in collaboration with Dr. Elena Bennett. This research highlighted the impact of increased global meat consumption and international trade on our ability to reduce nutrient losses from agricultural systems. Phosphorus presents a unique sustainability challenge because, unlike nitrogen, it is a non-renewable resource on any meaningful time scale for human management and mineable reserves are concentrated in a few geographic regions. A related collaborative project with colleagues from Brown University received some press.