News Release

Internationally acclaimed soil scientists to receive awards in Philadelphia

Distinguished scientists will be honored on July 13 during the World Congress of Soil Science

Grant and Award Announcement

American Society of Agronomy

Kubiëna Medal -- Herman Mücher

image: In memory of German soil scientist Walter L. Kubiëna (1897-1970), the medal is awarded for outstanding and sustained contribution in the discipline of soil micromorphology. The award consists of an engraved medal and $1,000 honorarium and is presented in 2006 to Herman Mücher, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. view more 

Credit: World Congress of Soil Science

Four award recipients and nine honorary members of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) will be honored for their achievements in soil science research during the World Congress of Soil Science, July 9-15 in Philadelphia. These prestigious awards are presented every four years in conjunction with the World Congress of Soil Science. The ceremony will be held on Thursday, July 13 from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. when the following awards will be presented:

2006 Dokuchaev Basic Soil Science Award – Victor Targulian, Institute of Geography, Moscow
In memory of Russian geographer Vasily Vasili'evich Dokuchaev (1846-1903), the Dokuchaev Basic Soil Science Award honors major accomplishments resulting from basic soil science research. The award consists of an engraved medal and $1,000 honorarium. The 2006 honoree is Victor Targulian of the Institute of Geography, Moscow, Russia. Dr. Targulian has spent his 50-year scientific career developing a pedology model as a basic Earth and biosphere science.

2006 Liebig Applied Soil Science Award – Rattan Lal, The Ohio State University
In memory of German scientist Justus von Liebig (1803-1873)--known as the "father of the fertilizer industry"--the award recognizes outstanding contributions in applied soil science research, resulting in new discoveries, techniques, inventions, or materials. The Liebig Applied Soil Science Award consists of an engraved medal and $1,000 honorarium and is presented in 2006 to Rattan Lal of The Ohio State University. Dr. Lal is professor of soil physics in the School of Environment and Natural Resources, and director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at The Ohio State University. Since joining OSU in 1987, he has worked on soils and climate change, soil degradation, and global food security.

2006 Kubiëna Medal – Herman Mücher, University of Amsterdam
In memory of German soil scientist Walter L. Kubiëna (1897-1970), the Kubiëna Medal is awarded for outstanding and sustained contribution in the discipline of soil micromorphology. The award consists of an engraved medal and $1,000 honorarium and is presented in 2006 to Herman Mücher, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Dr. Mücher was unanimously awarded this medal for his outstanding research combining meticulous observations in the field, in the laboratory, and in thin sections. During his early career, he founded the micromorphological laboratory at the University of Amsterdam, greatly improving preparation techniques. Recently, he has directed his research towards palaeosols, a theme that Kubiëna also probed. During his career at the University of Amsterdam, Mücher trained many graduate and postgraduate students, and was involved in all the Erasmus intensive courses on micromorphology until his retirement.

2006 Kubiëna Medal Posthumous Award – A. Jongerius, Dutch Soil Survey Institute
In memory of German soil scientist Walter L. Kubiëna (1897-1970), the Kubiëna Medal is presented in 2006 posthumously to A. Jongerius, former Head of the Department of Micropedology and Mineralogy of the Dutch Soil Survey Institute (Stiboka) in Wageningen, the Netherlands. The award honors his memory and is an expression of appreciation for his outstanding and pioneering contribution to soil micromorphology. Dr. Jongerius passed away in mid-life, shortly after the establishment of the Kubiëna Medal. The awards committee noted that had Dr. Jongerius been nominated, he would have proved an outstanding candidate.

Honorary Membership to the International Union of Soil Sciences
This recognition is for soil scientists of distinction and international reputation who have given service to the international Soil Service Society and/or International Union of Soil Services.

  • Winfried E.H. Blum earned his Ph.D. in Natural Sciences in 1968 and became an associate professor in 1972, teaching soil science and serving as lecturer for clay mineralogy at the University of Freiburg, Germany, then became a visiting professor and director of a University Partnership Project at the State University of Paraná in Curitiba/Brazil. Since 1979 he has been professor of soil science and director of the Institute of Soil Research at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna/Austria. Since 2004, he has served as president of the European Confederation of Soil Science Societies. Dr. Blum was chairman of the Commission of Soil Protection at the Council of Europe, Strasbourg/France (1989-1994) and Secretary-General of the International Union of Soil Sciences (1990-2002). He is an honorary member of several academies and national soil science societies, and has received numerous distinctions and awards, as well as edited numerous journals in nine languages.
  • Hans-Peter Blume, emeritus professor, Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, University of Kiel, earned his Doctoral of Agricultural Science degree at Kiel University. His career includes serving as assistant professor for Soil Science, at Stuttgart-Hohenheim, and professor of soil science at the Department of Ecology, Technical University of Berlin (West). At the University of Keil, Dr. Blume has served as professor and director at the Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, and director at the Ecological Centre. His research has included "Stagnosols", desert soils in the Central Sahara, soil ecology, and Cryosols in Antarctica. He has served as president of the German Society of Soil Science and is an honorary member of the Polish, Romanian, and German Societies of Soil Science.
  • Johan Bouma received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. In 1973, he became an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin. In 1975 he returned with his family to the Netherlands where he founded the Department of Soil Physics at the Netherlands Soil Survey Institute, becoming deputy director in charge of research in 1983. In 1986, he joined Wageningen University as professor of soil inventarisation and land evaluation, a position from which he retired in 2004. From 1998-2003 he was a member of the Scientific Council for Government Policy, a think-tank in the Prime Minister's office.
  • Seong-Jin Cho earned his Ph.D. degree from Chungnam National University in 1967, specializing in soil fertility. He worked for 30 years as a professor of soil science and served for four years as the president of the Chungbuk National University, Korea, where he recently retired as an emeritus professor. During 1987-1988, Dr. Cho served as president of The Korean Society of Soil Science and Fertilizer. He organized a number of international symposia in soil sciences and related fields.
  • Jan Glinski is a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. As the director of the Institute of Agrophysics in Lublin during 1982 to 2003, he was the initiator and active promoter of scientific cooperation with many universities and institutes in Poland and abroad and organizer of international conferences on agrophysics. He specializes in searching for soil erosion processes, soil chemistry, soil aeration and its role in agriculture and environmental protection, as well as soil-root interactions. An emeritus professor, he has been an active participant of eight World Congresses and served as editor-in-chief of the journal International Agrophysics.
  • Marcel G.H. Jamagne, emeritus research director of the National Institute for Agronomic Research, was president of the French Soil Science Society from 1995-1999 and Vice-President of ISSS/IUSS from 1994-1998. He was co-organizer of the 16th World Congress of Soil Science. Born in Brussels, he served as engineer of agronomy and forestry in 1955, and earned his Doctor in Sciences in 1973. In 1968, he created the Soil Survey Staff of France and served as director until 1997, when he was appointed emeritus director. He was nominated chairman and general coordinator for the elaboration of the European Soil Geographic Database.
  • Donald R. Nielsen, Professor of Soil and Water Science at the University of California-Davis, taught soil physics courses, integrating chemical and biological processes. His research and that of his students included miscible displacement, microbiological transformations, scaling soil properties and analyzing field soil variability. While at Davis, he collaborated with 90 soil scientists from 40 countries. Nielsen retired in 1994, but he continues to visit and encourage young colleagues worldwide. He has served as president of the Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, Hydrology Section of the American Geophysical Union, and the Soil Physics Commission. He is chair of the U.S. National Committee of Soil Science.
  • J.H.V. van Baren, a long-term officer and leader in the IUSS, has made major contributions to the Soil Map of the World and has been instrumental in the establishment and development of the unique World Soil Museum in Wageningen, the Netherlands. With his Dutch colleagues, the first soil reconnaissance of the whole country was made. He collected and prepared soil monoliths that are the foundation of the unique collection with over 900 soil profiles. In 1999, he was elected deputy secretary general of ISSS (which later transformed to IUSS). In 2002, he retired from his post of the IUSS, but he continues to review books for the IUSS Bulletin.
  • Larry P. Wilding is professor emeritus, Soil and Crop Sciences Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1962 and served as a pedologist on the faculty of The Ohio State University from 1962-1976, as visiting professor at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, from 1971-1972, and as professor of pedology at Texas A&M University from 1976 until his retirement in 2003. He has more than 40 years of teaching and research experience in near surface geoscience processes, soil diversity, soil micromorphology, hydric soils, soil classification, Vertisol genesis, soil carbonate enrichment, soil carbon sequestration, surface mine reclamation, and international agriculture land use and development. He served as president of the Soil Science Society of America, was a charter member of the U.S. National Committee on Soil Science, and has served on numerous committees at soil science societies. He is a registered Professional Soil Scientist and Professional Agronomist with ARCPACS, Soil Science Society of America, and a Professional Licensed Geoscientist in Texas.

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The World Congress of Soil Science is held from July 9-15 in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center and features presentations by soil scientists from around the world on such topics as climate change, soils and health, urban planning, crop production, hazardous waste, and more. The World Congress of Soil Science is a unique international event held in a different city every four years (last held in the U.S. in 1960). For more information, go to: www.18wcss.org.


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