News Release

Soil Science Society of America announces 2012 award recipients

Awards will be presented at the annual meetings in Cincinnati in October

Grant and Award Announcement

American Society of Agronomy

MADISON, WI - Aug. 29, 2012 – The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) announces the following 2012 awards that will be formally presented during their Annual Meetings, Oct. 21-24, 2012 in Cincinnati, OH.

Susan Brantley, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State - SSSA Presidential Award: Susan Brantley is Distinguished Professor of Geosciences in the Department of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University. She received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in Geological and Geophysical Sciences from Princeton University.

Daniel Hillel, Columbia University - SSSA Presidential Award: Daniel Hillel is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Climate Systems Research, part of the Earth Institute of Columbia University, and is working on the adaptation of agriculture to climate change in association with NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Hillel is the recipient of the 2012 World Food Prize for his work in conceiving and promoting micro-irrigation methods that have helped increase crop production on arid lands in numerous countries.

Pedro A. Sanchez, Columbia University - SSSA Presidential Award: Pedro Sanchez is the Director of the Tropical Agriculture and the Rural Environment Program and Senior Research Scholar of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He also directs AfSIS, the African Soils Project, developing the digital soils map of the world and related information systems.

Jan Vanderborght, Forschungszentrum GmbH - Don and Betty Kirkham Soil Physics Award: Jan Vanderborght is a senior scientist at the Agropshere Institute of the Forschungszentrum Jülich. He is associate professor at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the KULeuven where he also received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees.

Dylan E. Beaudette, University of California-Davis - Emil Truog Soil Science Award: Dylan Beaudette is a Soil Scientist with the USDA-NRCS, working in the Sierra Nevada Foothill and Mountain region of California. He received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California Davis.

Ravendra Naidu, CRC CARE Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment - International Soil Science Award: Ravi Naidu is Professor of Environmental Remediation and the Managing Director of CRC CARE and also the inaugural Director of the Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation at the University of South Australia.

Kerry Arroues, USDA-NRCS - Irrometer Professional Certification Service Award: Kerry Arroues is a MLRA Soil Survey Leader with the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. He is in charge of updating soil surveys in California covering the San Joaquin Valley and Delta. He received a B.S. degree from CSU, Chico in 1973.

Graeme L. Hammer, University of Queensland - L.R. Ahuja Ag Systems Modeling Award: Graeme Hammer is Professor in Crop Science and Director, Centre for Plant Science of the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. He completed BS and M.S. degrees at University of Melbourne, BA at University of Queensland, and Ph.D. at Kansas State University.

Johannes Lehmann, Cornell University - Marion L. and Chrystie M. Jackson Soil Science Award: Johannes Lehmann is an Associate Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry and Soil Fertility in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Cornell University. He received his undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Bayreuth in Germany.

Rajiv Khosla, Colorado State University - Soil Science Applied Research Award: Raj Khosla is a Professor of Precision Agriculture at Colorado State University. Currently, he is appointed as "Jefferson Science Fellow" to the Office of Science and Technology Advisor, U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Virginia Tech.

Domy Adriano, University of Georgia - Soil Science Distinguished Service Award: Domy Adriano is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Soil Chemistry and biogeochemist at the University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. He has published more than 180 journal and proceedings articles and book chapters and edited or co-edited 12 books.

Gary "Pete" Peterson, Colorado State University - Soil Science Distinguished Service Award: Gary "Pete" Peterson is Professor Emeritus and former Head of the Soil and Crop Sciences Dept. at Colorado State Univ. He was privileged to serve as SSSA President in 2008. He received degrees from the Univ. of Nebraska and from Iowa State Univ.

Eric C. Brevik, Dickinson State University - Soil Science Education Award: Eric C. Brevik is a Professor of Geology and Soils in the Depts. of Natural Sciences and Agriculture & Technical Studies at Dickinson St. Univ. He received B.S. and M.A. degrees from the Univ. of North Dakota and the Ph.D. degree from Iowa St. Univ.

Clifford S. Snyder, International Plant Nutrition Institute Americas Group - Soil Science Industry and Professional Leadership Award: Clifford Snyder is a soil scientist and the Nitrogen Program Director for the International Plant Nutrition Institute. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Arkansas, and a Ph.D. degree from North Carolina State University.

Magdi Selim, Louisiana State University - Soil Science Research Award: Magdi Selim is Endowed Professor of Soil Physics in the School of Plant, Environmental and Soils Sciences at Louisiana State University. He received B.S. degree from Alexandria University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Iowa State University.

Jason G. Warren, Oklahoma State University - SSSA Early Career Professional Award: Jason Warren is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at Oklahoma State University. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Oklahoma State University, and Ph.D. degree from Virginia Tech.

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For more information on the 2012 SSSA awards, visit: www.soils.org/awards/award. For more information on the 2012 Annual Meetings, visit: www.acsmeetings.org.

Photos of the recipients receiving their awards will be posted online following the Annual Meetings and placed on our Newsroom page: www.acsmeetings.org/newsroom/news-releases

The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is a progressive, international scientific society that fosters the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global soils. Based in Madison, WI, SSSA is the professional home for 6,000+ members dedicated to advancing the field of soil science. It provides information about soils in relation to crop production, environmental quality, ecosystem sustainability, bioremediation, waste management, recycling, and wise land use.

SSSA supports its members by providing quality research-based publications, educational programs, certifications, and science policy initiatives via a Washington, DC, office. Founded in 1936, SSSA proudly celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 2011. For more information, visit www.soils.org or follow @SSSA_soils on Twitter.


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