Rain Location Jackson-Tanner Commons

The Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) Board of Directors named Francisco Arriaga (Assistant Professor and Extension Soil Specialist in the UW-Madison Department of Soil Science) as a 2017 recipient of the Society’s Fellow Award.  The 72nd International SWCS Conference took place at the Monona Terrace Sunday, July 30 to Wednesday, August 2.  Francisco was honored at the Awards Luncheon held on Tuesday, August 1. The designation of Fellow is conferred on SWCS members who have performed exceptional service in advocating the conservation of soil, water, and related natural resources. This award is given for professional excellence, first and foremost. Professional achievement may be in practicing, investigating, administering, or teaching soil and water conservation or closely related fields. The SWCS Awards Committee evaluates and ranks nominees. Recommendations are then presented to the Board of Directors for final approval. No more than one-tenth of 1% of the Society’s membership will be honored each year.  Congratulations, Francisco — an honor well deserved!!!

“Microbiomes: People and the Planet” will feature speakers from UW-Madison and other institutions presenting microbiome-related work in the biological, environmental, and social sciences. The seminar series is open to the campus community, and is also being offered as a special topics class to encourage student participation. For more information about the colloquium and its offering as a special topics class, please follow the link below.

http://microbiomespeopleplanet.weebly.com/ .  Each seminar will be followed by a mixer to which all are welcome to partake. Please join us!
 

MESSAGE FROM THE DEPARTMENT CHAIR

Some days ago, we interviewed some undergraduate students for fieldwork positions in the summer. Spring has arrived (well, almost) and we are planning ahead for our projects. We explained the projects to the students and then discussed all the variables, like our new probe sampler, the sampling design, the new instruments that we are using this summer, and of course the weather. It appeared to one of the students that there is lots to be figured out and decisions to be made whilst conducting research – not everything can be planned. The student couldn’t be more right as we are seeking for novelty, trying to explain and understand things a bit better, chasing ideas alongside, whilst keeping our goals and overall progress in close view.

Often, I think our department moves in a similar mode and manner; there are lots of things going on that may appear dispersed but the overall objectives of pushing the frontiers of soil science and doing some of the best teaching and extension is solidly anchored in the commotion of everyday life. We have the good fortune of being supported by a great staff, and an excellent college and university. We have keen undergraduate and graduate students, and a wonderful group of alumni and retired colleagues. The purpose of this newsletter is to keep you informed about departmental activities………………………From Alfred Hartemink

To access the rest of Vol. 8, No. 2 of “Profiles,” log in to MyUW and follow the link. https://uwmadison.app.box.com/files/0/f/27798721833/1/f_176011878926.  Watch for future volumes posted on this web site.

Congratulations to a number of Soil Science individuals:  (1) Francisco Arriaga for being selected to receive the 2017 CALS John S. Donald Short Course Teaching Award and being elected for the Rothermel-Bascom Professorship. (2) Laura Ward Good on being selected to receive the 2017 CALS Academic Staff Excellence in Leadership Award. (3) Alfred Hartemink on being named a Douglas D. Sorenson and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor.  Francisco, Laura, and Alfred, along with Thea Whitman (O.N. Allen Professor of Soil Microbiology) will be honored at the CALS Awards Program on Wednesday, May 3 @ 3 pm in the Ebling Auditorium of the Microbial Sciences Bldg.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017 @ 3:30 pm, 270 Soils Bldg. {Reception to follow in the Jackson-Tanner Commons}

“Biogeochemistry and Transport of Iron at the Soil Aggregate and Horizon Scale”

By Celine Pallud (Associate Professor, Environmental Science, Policy & Management, Univ. of California-Berkeley

Abstract:   Understanding and predicting the fate and transport of nutrients and contaminants in natural systems is a continuing challenge in soil science. Biogeochemical processes controlling elemental cycling in soils are heterogeneously distributed owing to chemical conditions dictated by the local mineralogical and physical environment. Consequently, the fate of chemicals in soils is dependent on the convoluted coupling of biological, chemical and hydrological processes that vary spatially from the micro- to the macroscale. In structured soils, the aggregate scale (mm to cm) is of particular interest and chemical species distribution can be strongly localized due to mass-transfer limitations and redox gradients within soil aggregates. Iron (hydr)oxides are ubiquitous in soils, playing a dominant role in the geochemistry of surface and subsurface environments. This presentation will discuss the use of flow-through reactors of increasing complexity, to study the coupling of physical, and (bio)geochemical processes affecting iron cycling in soils in order to fill the gap between understanding of well mixed batch systems and observations on very complex natural subsurface systems.

*Made available by the generosity of Leo M.  Walsh and the Leo M. Walsh Distinguished Lectures in Soil Science Fund*

Matt Ruark (Associate Professor and Extension Soils Specialist at UW-Madison) has been awarded the Vilas Faculty Early Career Investigator Award.  This award provides flexible research funds that can be used for books, research travel, supplies or similar expenses incurred in the pursuit of Matt’s scholarly activity.  Besides being a faculty member in UW-Madison Department of Soil Science, Matt is the Faculty Advisor for UW Discovery Farms and Project Director for the, Sustainable Dairy Project (USDA).