IUSS Alert 209 (November 2022)

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IUSS News

Personal histories videos of leading senior soil scientists uploaded

As part of a suite of projects established to help commemorate the Centenary of the IUSS in May 2024, the IUSS Executive Committee with the support of the National Soil Science Societies is creating a Collection of Personal Histories of leading senior soil scientists, who contributed to the development of the former International Soil Science Society (ISSS) and the transition to the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS).

All the videos regarding the personal histories received so far have been uploaded in an own playlist on the IUSS YouTube channel: Personal Histories – YouTube

If further National Soil Science Societies would like to provide such videos of interviews with leading senior soil scientists, please contact the IUSS Secretariat for further details at iuss@umweltbundesamt.at.

More videos related to the IUSS can be found here: IUSS Channel – YouTube

News from national soil science societies

Dokuchaev Soil Science Society

The VIII Congress of the Dokuchaev Soil Science Society was held on the 10-14^th of August 2022 in Syktyvkar, Komi Republic, Russian Federation. Initially, it was planned to be held in 2020 but the date was shifted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The work of the Congress took place in a hybrid format: participants and delegates of the congress who could not come to Syktyvkar to take part in person were given the opportunity to make reports and listen to their colleagues online. The congress programme included young scientists’ soil judging competition, a plenary session, work of seven symposiums, two round tables, mid-congress and post-congress scientific field excursions. The subjects of the reports touched upon all topical issues of soil and environmental research, climate change and the state of the biosphere, agro-economic assessment of soils, degradation and restoration of soil cover.

The new Central Council of the society was elected. The Congress expressed many thanks to Prof. Sergey Shoba for his many years of activity as the President of the Dokuchaev SSS. The new President was elected – Prof. Pavel Krasilnikov.

The next IX Congress of the Dokuchaev Soil Science Society will be held in 2024 in Kazan, Tatarstan Republic, Russian Federation.

General News

World Soil Day 2022 | 5 December

Communication Package

Take a virtual journey into soils and enjoy our new multilingual website. This brings FAO and our work closer to the public. On the Campaign page you will find a range of multilingual communication products. You can also inspire action by sharing on social media material from our TRELLO BOARD.

Fun Activities for Adults and Youth – From Soil to Plate Contest

This World Soil Day 2022 gives us a chance to show how nutritious food can become when grown on soil that is rich and healthy. Under the motto “Soils, where food begins” this food contest is an opportunity to celebrate the richness of our soils coinciding the 10th anniversary of the FAO Global Soil Partnership… What better reason to start the celebrations than by preparing dishes with food from healthy soils?

[From Global Soil Partnership (GSP) Special announcement No. 43, November 2022]

Call for Papers “Optimizing the Use of Organic Amendments to Meet Climate-Smart Agriculture and Soil Fertility Goals.”

As the editors of the recently launched research collection, “Optimizing the Use of Organic Amendments to Meet Climate-Smart Agriculture and Soil Fertility Goals.” we kindly invite you to contribute to this important, up-to-date, and impactful collection of research on this topic. Alongside a top group of authors, you will have the choice to publish your work in Frontiers in Agronomy or Frontiers in Soil Science, both young multidisciplinary journals led by top researchers in the field.

Abstract Submission Deadline: 20 December 2022

Manuscript Submission Deadline: 19 April 2023

EGU 2023 – Call for abstracts is now open

The EGU General Assembly 2023 will bring back many of the features the EGU community enjoyed before the pandemic, including: orals, posters, and, PICO sessions, in a new hybrid format, as well as a wide variety of networking opportunities.

Apply for financial support by submitting your abstract by 1 December 2022, 13:00 CET (https://egu23.eu/guidelines/supports_and_waivers.html).

Submit your abstract to a SSS session by 10 January 2023, 13:00 CET. Instructions on how to submit an abstract can be found at https://egu23.eu/programme/how_to_submit.html.

If you need a registration fee waiver to attend EGU23, apply for financial support with your abstract submission by 1 December 2022, 13:00 CET (https://egu23.eu/guidelines/supports_and_waivers.html).

More info about the EGU23 format can be found at https://egu23.eu/about/meeting_format.html. If you have any questions, please contact egu23@copernicus.org.

News from the International Science Council (ISC)

Join the IUPAC Global Women’s Breakfast 2023

ISC Member, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), is inviting all ISC Members and their networks to join the IUPAC Global Women’s Breakfast (GWB) on 14 February 2023. Under the theme “Breaking Barriers in Science” #GWB2023 is held in conjunction with the United Nations Day of Women and Girls in Science. It is also a flagship event of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development, reaching out beyond chemistry to all stakeholders across science. Browse the online map to find a global breakfast event near you or become an event organizer and register your event on the GWB page: https://council.science/events/iupac-gwb-2023/.

Call for nominations for the World Data System Scientific Committee

The World Data System Scientific Committee (WDS SC) is seeking nominations for candidates to replace one vacancy on the Scientific Committee. The term of this position will be from 1 February 2023 to 30 June 2024.

To maintain diversity on the Scientific committee, we encourage nominations particularly focusing on females, and underrepresented geographic regions including the Global South. All scientific disciplines are welcome.

Deadline: 20 January 2023

sOilFauna project: How human activities impact soil macrofauna communities and how it relates to primary productivity

In this latest issue of the GSBI Blog “Beneath Our Feet” Jérôme Mathieu (Sorbonne University, Paris) and Nico Eisenhauer (sDiv, Leipzig) discuss the sOilFauna project, the MACROFAUNA database, and the questions of human activity and primary productivity they are addressing.

[From GSBI Newsletter – November 2022]

What is a soil carbon credit?

Agriculture is essential to ensuring global food security. However, the agricultural industry is also one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Some agricultural practices can release carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane into the atmosphere. Incentivizing climate-smart farming practices by creating “soil carbon credits” is one way to reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment.

[From ASA, CSSA, SSSA Science Policy Report, November 23, 2022]

Conferences, Meetings and Workshops

Due to the Corona pandemic and ensuing travel restrictions many of the events planned for 2020 and 2021 had to be cancelled or postponed. For a current list of upcoming events, please consult the IUSS website: https://www.iuss.org/meetings-events/

2022

World Soil Day 2022 event 5 December

5 December 2022 is World Soil Day (WSD), the United Nations date that celebrates healthy soils for a healthy life. The FAO Director-General will be joined by high-level speakers and thousands of soil enthusiasts. Artistic performances and keynotes will enliven the ceremony. Finally, the winners of the Glinka World Soil Prize and FAO’s King Bhumibol WSD Award will be unveiled and two flagship publications launched.

2023

4th SUITMA Seminar

January 13th, 2023

Toruń, Poland

Format: hybrid (in-person and online)

On behalf of the Research Team EF „Soil science, microbiology, agricultural genetics and food quality”, Bydgoszcz-Toruń Branch of the Polish Soil Science Society and the Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, we cordially invite you to the SUITMA International Seminar, focused on current problems of urban, industrial, traffic, mining and military areas soils research.

Deadline for registration with presentation (abstracts up to 300 words) – December 15th, 2022

Registration: https://forms.gle/sSfLFiX3qdnXUVNM7

BONARES Conference 2023 – Soil as a Sustainable Resource

15-17 May 2023

Berlin, Germany

A sustainable bioeconomy requires integration of soil productivity with a wide range of other soil functions including nutrient cycling, carbon storage, water retention and filtering as well as being the habitat of a myriad of organisms and enabling their activities. The conference will bring together researchers from various disciplines related to soil and plant sciences and agronomy to discuss strategies towards a (multi)functionality of soil ecosystems taking also constraints of climate and global change into account. The conference aims at providing solutions for a sustainable soil management including climate change adaptation, which requires an understanding of soils at a systemic level and to assess their value in a socio-economic framework. We are looking forward to welcome interested scientists as well as stakeholders in the field of soil management for inspiring discussions.

We welcome contributions (oral presentations and posters) to the following topics:

1. Impact of agriculture and cropping systems on soil functions
2. Carbon and nutrient cycling in soils: Processes and interactions in a changing world
3. Soil biomes and multifunctionality of soils
4. Soil degradation and sustainable soil management in agricultural landscapes
5. Model-based prediction of the dynamics of soil functions
6. Using soil sensing technologies for soil mapping, modelling and decision making in agriculture
7. Soils as a key to climate change mitigation: private and public governance instruments to unlock the potential
8. Data challenges and solutions

Abstract submission deadline: January 10, 2023

Read more: www.bonares2023.de

5th WASWAC World Conference – Adaptation strategies for soil and water conservation in a changing world

19 – 23 June 2023

Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic

The conference aims are:

– To analyse the present and future situation of soil and water conservation on a worldwide scale while taking local specifics into consideration.

– To analyse the effects of population growth, human activity and climate change on soil and water in the context of the demands of sustainable farming, water and food supply.

– To promote and increase collaboration between scientific organisations, policymakers, the general public and practitioners.

– To design goals, strategies and directions for conservation of soil and water as basic irretrievable natural resources for current exploitation and the needs of future generations.

First announcement: https://www.iuss.org/media/waswac_conference.pdf

The second announcement will be made in early January 2023.

28th IUGG General Assembly

11-20 July 2023 Berlin, Germany

This General Assembly is a special opportunity for participants from around the world to come together and discuss the full range of geodetic and geophysical themes, and further enhance the important interdisciplinary collaboration for a better understanding of our Earth System. IUGG2023 will provide a platform for personal meetings, exchange of ideas and developing new concepts for international science collaboration, all of which have suffered a setback during this pandemic crisis. IUGG2023 will help to create a new spirit to address pressing large societal challenges such as global environmental change and natural hazards and to stimulate novel geoscience research. Abstract Submission Deadline: 14 February 2023

Registration and abstract submission is now open: https://www.iugg2023berlin.org/registration-guidelines/

Website: https://www.iugg2023berlin.org/

For the complete list of upcoming events, please see the event calendar on the IUSS website: https://www.iuss.org/meetings-events/

New publications

Rootin’ in the Rhizosphere: Growing up in Ecosystem Ecology

By David C. Coleman. Published by Bilbo Books end September 2022. 194 pages, ISBN-10: 1736459899, ISBN-13: 978-1736459898; price softcover USD 20.00.

David Coleman is the David Attenborough of the Rhizosphere, exploring the upper layer of the ground on which we tread, the ground all of us tread. His expertise has taken him, quite literally, around the world, from New Mexico to New Zealand, from Stockholm to Saskatchewan. Root with him in the soil of his life, ride the rails, enjoy the experiences of a soil pioneer and heed his call for responsible stewardship of the planet we all occupy.

Soil and Water Conservation for Sustainable Food Production

By Subhabrata Panda. Published as part of the book series SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science and part of the subseries Chemistry of Foods, 2022, 108 pages, 8 b/w illustrations, 24 illustrations in colour, eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-15405-8, Softcover ISBN 978-3-031-15404-1, DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15405-8; price eBook EUR 37.44, price softcover: EUR 49.49.

This book addresses the impact of soil and water quality on food production, and explores soil and water conservation measures to be applied at farm level for agricultural sustainability. Divided into 8 chapters, the book covers topics such as soil properties responsible for soil loss, the impact of climate change, water and biological factors on soil chemistry, the effect of soil on the quality of water including sustaining aquaculture productivity and environment of wetlands, soil and water qualities necessary for irrigation, management of soil organic carbon, and the importance of soil moisture conservation including agroforestry for food production. Particular attention is given to the management of soil organic carbon in sustainable crop cultivation as well as reducing soil erosion and nutrient loss from soil from cultivated lands.

Problem Soils – Constraints and Management

By K C Manorama Thampatti. Published by CRC Press, November 24, 2022, 172 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations, ISBN 9781032388977, price hardback 63.00 GBP.

This is a unique book that deals with the problem soils, their constraints and management in the Indian context. The book starts with the introduction on problem soils and the classification of these soils are included there under. In India, there is wide spread occurrence of soils with different types of constraints for crop production. Such soils are popularly called as “Problem Soils”. Cultivation in these soils is not so easy as several problems have to be tackled during cultivation. It may be either soil droughtiness or acidity or salinity etc. An attempt has been made in this book to cover most of the problematic soils in India. The classification of problem soils has been done based on the limitations they possess and the most dominant limitation is taken into consideration for grouping it under a particular class. Here five broader classes have been identified viz., soils with climatic problems; soils with physical problems; soils with chemical problems; soils with biological problems and soils with problems due to anthropogenic reasons.

Emerging Pollutants in Sewage Sludge and Soils

Edited by Avelino Núñez-Delgado, Manuel Arias-Estévez, Series The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, Springer Cham, 2023, 305 pages, 30 b/w illustrations, 30 illustrations in colour, Hardcover ISBN 978-3-031-07608-4, eBook ISBN 978-3-031-07609-1, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07609-1, price hardcover 307.99 EUR, eBook 234.33 EUR.

This book provides an authoritative overview of emerging pollutants in sewage sludge and soils. It traces the latest research and new trends on the characterization, removal and treatment of such pollutants in urban and industrial sewage sludge and soils. The book covers topics such as antibiotic resistance, fate and environmental impact of contaminants of emerging concern, environmental transmission of human pathogenic viruses and their effect on soil, and the repercussion of various emerging pollutants on biodiversity. It also offers a case study of the epidemiology-based surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and sludge.

Job offers

If you are interested in working in soil sciences and related fields of expertise, please see current job offers at: https://www.iuss.org/jobs/

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