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Soil: Sustaining Life on Planet Earth 18 July 2008 | Washington, DC
This symposium is an activity celebrating the United Nations designated International Year of Planet Earth.
Symposium Sponsors
International Union ofSoil Sciences
Soil Science Societyof America
“We might say that the earth has the spirit of growth; that its flesh is the soil.” Leonardo da Vinci
Agenda8:30–8:40 am Welcome and Introductions
8:40–9:20 am Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, David Montgomery, University of Washington
9:20–10:00 am Humanity’s Transformation of Earth’s Soil, Daniel Richter, Duke University
10:00–10:40 am The Hidden World Beneath Our Feet: What it Does For Us, Diana Wall, Colorado State University
10:40–11:20 am Sustaining Soil Quality on a Warming Planet, Rattan Lal, The Ohio State University
11:20–11:50 am Panel discussion
11:50–12 noon Closing remarks
“Essentially, all life depends upon the soil .... There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together.”Charles E. Kellogg, USDA Yearbook of Agriculture, 1938
“Dig It! The Secrets of Soil” Opens July 19, 2008 Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History
“Dig It! The Secrets of Soil,”opensattheSmithsonian’sNationalMuseumofNaturalHistoryonJuly19,2008.TheexhibitionrevealsthecomplexworldofsoilandhowthishiddenecosystemsupportsnearlyeveryformoflifeonEarth. “Dig It!”includesinteractivedisplays,hands-onmodels,videos,andsoilsamples.Visitorscanexploresoilfoundintheirownbackyardandinobscurelocations,with54soilsamplesrepresentingeachU.S.stateandter-ritory,aswellassoilmapsandtouchablesoilmodelsfromaroundtheworld.Indoingso,visitorswilldiscoveraworldteemingwithlife. TheexhibitionissponsoredbytheSoilScienceSocietyofAmericaandtheNutrientsforLifeFoundation,which is underwritten by The Fertilizer Institute. FollowingitsshowingattheNationalMuseumofNaturalHistory,“DigIt!”willtraveltomuseumsacrossthecountrythrough2013throughtheSmithsonianInstitutionTravelingExhibitionService. Additionalinformationabout“DigIt!TheSecretsofSoil”isavailableat:
http://forces.si.edu/soils www.sites.si.edu/soils www.soils.org/smithsonian
Symposium Speakers
Diana H. Wall Professor of Biology and Senior Research Sci-entist, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University
Asoilecologist,Dianaisactivelyengagedinresearchexploringhowlifeinsoil(microbialandinvertebrates),contributestohealthy,fertile and productive soils and society. Her research includesglobalinvestigationsand18seasonsintheAntarcticDryValleysexaminingglobalchangeimpactsonsoilbiodiversityandcarboncycling.WallValley,Antarctica,77°29’S,160°51’Ewasdesignatedinrecognitionofherresearchin2005.Dianaisinvolvedinmanynational and international scientific activities, including serving on the U.S. National Commission of UNESCO. She served asPresidentoftheEcologicalSocietyofAmerica,AmericanInstituteof Biological Sciences, Society of Nematology and other scientific organizations. Diana has received honors including an Honorary DoctoratefromUtrechtUniversity,TheNetherlands.ShereceivedherPh.D.attheUniversityofKentucky,Lexington.
Rattan LalProfessor of Soil Physics, School of Natural Resources and Director, Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, FAES/OARDC, The Ohio State University
Prior to joining Ohio State in 1987, Rattan was a soil physicist for 18 yearsattheInternationalInstituteofTropicalAgriculture,Ibadan,Nigeriawhereheconductedlong-termexperimentsonlanduse,watershed management, soil erosion processes as influenced by rainfallcharacteristics,soilproperties,methodsofdeforestation,soil-tillageandcrop-residuemanagement,cropping,andmixed/relaycroppingmethods.SincejoiningTheOhioStateUniversity,Rattan has continued research on erosion-induced changes in soil qualityanddevelopedanewprojectonsoilsandclimatechange,demonstratingthatacceleratedsoilerosion isamajor factoraf-fecting emission of carbon from soil to the atmosphere. Otherresearch interests include soil compaction, conservation tillage,minesoilreclamation,watertablemanagement,andsustainableuseofsoilandwaterresourcesofthetropicsforenhancingfoodsecurity. Rattan is a fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, AmericanSocietyofAgronomy,ThirdWorldAcademyofSciences,AmericanAssociationfortheAdvancementofSciences,SoilandWaterConservationSociety,andIndianAcademyofAgriculturalSciences.HeistherecipientofnumerousawardsandahonoraryDoctorofSciencefromPunjabAgriculturalUniversity,IndiaandoftheNorwegianUniversityoflifeSciences,Aas,Norway.HeispastpresidentoftheSoilScienceSocietyofAmerica,theWorldAssociationoftheSoilandWaterConservation,andtheInterna-tional Soil Tillage Research Organization. He was a member of the U.S. National Committee on Soil Science of the National Academy ofSciences(1998-2002).Hehasauthoredandco-authored1,100research publications, he has written 9 and edited or co-edited 43 books.
Daniel D. RichterProfessor of Soils and Ecology and Director of Graduate Studies of the University Program in Ecology, Duke University
CompletingaB.A.atLehigh(1973),graduatestudiesatMissis-sippiStateandNorthCarolinaStateUniversities,andaPh.D.atDuke(1976),heworkedasaPost-DoctoralScientistatOakRidgeNationalLaboratory,beforejoiningthefacultyattheUniversityofMichiganin1984andthefacultyatDukein1987.Heistheauthoror coauthor of nearly 100 scientific papers and the Cambridge UniversityPressbook,Understanding Soil Change: Soil Sustainabil-ity over Millennia, Centuries, and Decades (2001).Currently,Danielfocuseshisresearchonthehuman-transformationofthebiogeo-chemistry of Earth’s soil. Scientific papers examine soil changes overtimescalesofdecadesofthecontents,fractions,andcyclingofC,N,P,Ca,K,Mg,andtraceelementsB,Fe,Mn,Cu,andZn.Since1988,RichterhasworkedattheLong-TermCalhounSoilEx-perimentinthePiedmontofSouthCarolina,acollaborativestudywiththeUSDAForestService,thatseekstounderstandhowsoilsformasnaturalbodiesandaretransformedbyhumanaction,suchas management for cotton and subsequent reforestation by pine. In2004,Danielandcolleaguesinitiatedaprojecttonetworktheworld’sLong-TermSoil-EcosystemStudies(LTSEs),andusinganadvanc ed-format website (<http://ltse.env.duke.edu/>), they have assembled metadata on 250 experiments from every continent.The LTSEs project held its first workshop at Duke University in December2007,hostingrepresentatives fromAfrica,Asia,Aus-tralia,Europe,andtheAmericas.
David MontgomeryUniversity of Washington
ProfessorDavidR.Montgomeryisanaward-winningleaderinthestudyofgeomorphology,theevolutionoflandscapes.Hegradu-atedfromStanfordUniversityin1984withaB.S.ingeologyandfromU.C.Berkeleyin1991withaPh.D.ingeomorphology.HeistheDirectoroftheQuaternaryResearchCenterandaprofessorintheDepartmentofEarth&SpaceSciencesattheUniversityofWashington.Hisresearchinterestsrangefromtheco-evolutionof the Pacific salmon and the topography of the Pacific Northwest totheenvironmentalhistoryofPugetSoundrivers,interactionsamongclimate,tectonics,anderosioninshapingmountainranges,and giant glacial floods in eastern Tibet and central Alaska. He is the author of over 180 publications in the scientific literature, as well asDirt: The Erosion of Civilizations and King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon,andsenioreditorofavolumeontheRestoration of Puget Sound Rivers.
The National Academies The NationalAcademies perform an unparalleled publicservice by bringing together committees of experts in all areas of scientific and technological endeavor. These experts serve pro bono toaddresscriticalnational issuesandgiveadvice to the federalgovernment and the public. The NationalAcademies consist offour organizations: the National Academy of Sciences, the National AcademyofEngineering, theInstituteofMedicine,andtheNa-tionalResearchCouncil.TheNationalAcademyofScienceswascreatedin1863byacongressionalcharterapprovedbyPresidentAbrahamLincoln.Underthischarter,theNationalResearchCoun-cilwasestablishedin1916,theNationalAcademyofEngineeringin1964,andtheInstituteofMedicinein1970. TheNationalAcademyofScienceswascreatedbythefederalgovernment to be an adviser on scientific and technological mat-ters. However, the Academy and its associated organizations are private, not governmental, organizations and do not receive direct federalappropriationsfortheirwork.StudiesundertakenforthegovernmentbytheNationalAcademiesusuallyarefundedoutofappropriationsmadeavailabletofederalagencies.Thegreatmajor-ityofthestudiescarriedoutbytheNationalAcademiesareattherequestofgovernmentagencies. Thereareapproximately1,100staff members.
www.nationalacademies.org
U.S. National Committee for Soil Science TheInternationalSocietyofSoilSciencebecameamemberoftheInternationalCouncilforScience(ICSU)in1993andin1998transformed itself into the International Union of Soil Sciences(IUSS), requiring national organizations to belong to the union. BecausetheNationalAcademyofSciencesisthenationaladheringbodytoICSUandmostofitsmemberunions,representativesofthesoilsciencecommunityaskedthattheNASbetheadheringbodytothe IUSS. The U.S. National Committee for Soil Science (USNC/SS) wasformedin1998tocarryoutthisactivity. The USNC/SS advises the National Academies in all matters pertainingtotheIUSSandsupportsU.S.participationinthein-ternational arena. To identify relevant issues for the committee to address,theUSNCcommunicateswithprofessionalsocietiesandorganizations. By building channels of communication, the com-mittee seeks the involvement of the U.S. soil science community to prioritize issues of concern and evoke a dialog on each priority area. The U.S. National Committee for Soil Science (USNC/SS) pro-videsleadershipintheadvancementofsoilsciencenationallyandinternationally.Bybuildingchannelsofcommunication,thecom-mittee seeks the involvement of the U.S. soil science community to prioritize issues of concern and elicit a dialog on each priority area. Amongitsactivities,theUSNCmanagestravelawardsforyoungscientists to attend international meetings and organizes symposia andworkshops. www.nationalacademies.org/usnc-ss
Soil Science Society of America TheSoilScienceSocietyofAmerica(SSSA) isaprogressive,international scientific society that fosters the transfer of knowledge andpracticestosustainglobalsoils.BasedinMadison,WI,andfoundedin1936,SSSAistheprofessionalhomefor6,000+membersdedicated to advancing the field of soil science. It provides informa-tionaboutsoilsinrelationtocropproduction,environmentalqual-ity,ecosystemsustainability,bioremediation,wastemanagement,recycling,andwiselanduse. SSSA supports its members by providing quality research-based publications, educational programs, certifications, and sci-ence policy initiatives via a Washington, DC, office. SSSAisthefoundingsponsorofanapproximately5,000-squarefootexhibition,“DigIt!TheSecretsofSoil,”openingJuly19,2008attheSmithsonian’sNationalMuseumofNaturalHistoryinWash-ington,DC.
www.soils.org
International Union of Soil Sciences TheInternationalUnionofSoilSciences(IUSS)istheglobalunionofsoilscientists.TheobjectivesoftheIUSSaretopromoteallbranchesofsoilscience,andtosupportallsoilscientistsacrosstheworldinthepursuitoftheiractivities.ThesocietywasfoundedastheInternationalSocietyofSoilScience(ISSS)on19thMay1924.The IUSS is a scientific union member of the International Council for Science. The scientific activities of IUSS are undertaken through 4DivisionsandeachDivisionhas4to6Commissions.
www.iuss.orgPress ContactsU.S. National Committee for Soil ScienceEster Sztein, PhDProgram Officer, BISOTheNationalAcademiesPhone:202-334-3049Email: [email protected]
Soil Science Society of AmericaSara UttechManager,ScienceCommunicationsSoilScienceSocietyofAmericaPhone:608-268-4948Email: [email protected] Union of Soil SciencesAlfredHarteminkDeputySecretaryGeneralInternationalUnionofSoilSciences++31317471713Email: [email protected]
About the Symposium Sponsors
Sounds of Science Podcast
The NAS Sounds of Science weekly Podcast to be released on 18 July 2008 will feature Dr. Sally Brown, University of Washington and member of both the U.S. National Committee for Soil Science and the Soil Science Society of America. http://media.nap.edu/podcasts/
