IUSS Alert 2 (June 2005)
IUSS Alert contains information for prompt distribution amongst the global soil science community. If there is information that you would like to have included please send it to: and and we'll include it in the next IUSS Alert
Important dates for the 18th World Congress of Soil Science
The dates for abstract submission and program development are:
September 15, 2005
Deadline for abstract submission at www.18wcss.org
January 1, 2006
Convenors and co-convenors have finalized draft of scientific program
January 15, 2006
Authors will be notified on the status of their oral or poster abstracts submitted
May 1, 2006
Presenters not registered will be dropped from program and abstracts withdrawn from the CD-ROM. Convenors and co-convenors finalize scientific program
For a list of symposia see: http://www.iuss.org/bull105media/symposia.htm
Nominations for the
IUSS DOKUCHAEV award and the LIEBIG award
Two awards are presented by IUSS at each World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) to recognize outstanding contributions in two specific areas:
IUSS-Dokuchaev Award for basic research in soil sciences
IUSS-Liebig Award for applied research in soil sciences
These two awards are differentiated by the type of contribution rendered, not by professional membership grouping. Eligible are members of the International Union of Soil Sciences. The deadline date for receipt of the nominations is 12 months before the beginning of the next WCSS at which the prizes are to be bestowed. For further details see http://www.iuss.org/popup/IUSSawards.htm
Year of Planet Earth brochure on soil now published
The International Year of Planet Earth project was conceived by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and UNESCO. The Year now enjoys the backing of all relevant IUGS sister unions in ICSU, including the IUSS. It has now won the full political backing of 16 nations, together representing half of the world population. The brochure 'Soil - the Earth's living skin' can now be downloaded from the website www.esfs.org/downloads.htm and www.iuss.org (brochure is 2.3 Mb).
This is part of the Outreach Programme, which will operate as a funding body, receiving bids for financial support that will help register and reinforce the central message of the Year in the mind of the general public and decision-makers. The International UN Year of Planet Earth offers soil science a suite of opportunities. It might provide a prominent platform for the launching of a 'World Soils Day' and be used to generate outreach towards the 2006 IUSS World Congress in Philadelphia, together with numerous related activities. Soil scientists may also recognize the relevance of their science in several of the Year's science themes, for example in Health (dust problems), Climate (palaeosol records), Resources (soil: a renewable resource?) Megacities (urban soils), and Hazards (risk of soil loss). For further information on see http://www.esfs.org
Professor vacancies in the Netherlands
ITC Enschede is looking for a professor of earth surface system analysis. Wageningen University has a vacancy for a professor of earth system science. Details on these vacancies can be found at the Jobs page of www.iuss.org
Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA)
The AGORA site provides access to 745 journals from major scientific publishers in the fields of food, agriculture, environmental science and related social sciences. AGORA is available to students and researchers in qualifying not-for-profit institutions in eligible developing countries. To date, 400 institutions in 55 countries - from the 69 countries eligible - have registered to use AGORA's valuable online resources. Moreover, eleven publishers have joined the initiative in addition to the nine founding publisher partners. The content available through AGORA now comprises almost 600 key journals in food, nutrition, agriculture and related biological, environmental and social sciences. This is making a significant impact on researchers, students and others in the scientific community in developing countries and countries in transition. In fact, FAO and its partners such as Cornell University are seeking to increase participation from users and publishers even further, and are reaching out to those countries which, as of yet, have no subscribers. It was also agreed that particular attention needs to be paid to improving accessibility of AGORA content for organizations with poor connectivity.
Website: http://www.aginternetwork.org/en/
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