Greetings from the Urban and Anthropogenic Soils Division (UASD) of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). I hope your summer is going well and that you are looking forward to the 2018-2019 International Soils Meeting, January 6-9, 2019, in San Diego, CA. The theme of the Meeting is “Soils Across Latitudes”. Following is some important information: DEADLINES If you are planning on attending the meeting, please make note of the following deadlines: • EARLY ABSTRACT DEADLINE – JULY 24, 4:00 PM CDT • FINAL ABSTRACT DEADLINE – AUGUST 7, 4:00 PM CDT • PROGRAM PUBLISHED ONLINE – EARLY OCTOBER • ABSTRACT EDITING DEADLINE – OCTOBER 25, 4:00 CDT IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS Below are several FAQ that you might want to review and share with your students who will be attending the Meeting for the first time: • Poster and Oral Presentation Tips • Abstract Regulations • Tips for Writing an Abstract
https://www.sacmeetings.org/faqs STUDENT COMPETITIONS SSSA Society-Wide Graduate Student Competition Announced! SSSA will be hosting the inaugural Society-wide graduate student competition at the 2019 SSSA International Soils Meeting in San Diego (theme: Soils Across Latitudes). The competition is being developed by the SSSA Student/Early Career Annual Meeting task force and is full-supported by the SSSA Program Planning Committee. This Society-wide competition will give our students the opportunity to showcase their work to the broader soils community. This competition will be tournament style, where the top winner from each division's traditional contests will then go on to compete in a head-to- head 5 minute rapid oral session and then poster session. Eligible students are undergraduates, grad students, and if the division choses, could include postdocs with no more than one-year post doc (and must present on their doctoral research). Each division will select their top student in whichever manner best fits their program – traditional oral/poster, rapid fire oral/poster, etc. but selected students will be presenting in the conference-wide contest with a 5 minute rapid fire oral and a poster (so should be prepared as such). We anticipate that each division will need to submit their top student’s name by the end of the sessions on Tuesday and that the Society-wide competition will take place on Wednesday. This contest will showcase each division’s top student – going head to head with other students. As such, there will be significant prizes! First Place: $1000 plus a 2018 San Antonio Meeting Registration (value of $300) Second Place: $750 Third Place: $500 All of the participants in this competition will receive recognition in CSA News and certificates. PRE-MEETING FIELD TRIP UASD is co-sponsoring a pre-meeting field trip with the Forest, Range and Wildland Soils Division on Sunday January 6 to examine wildland fire effects on soils and watersheds. Thanks to Chuck Rhoades (FRWSD) and our own Maxine Levin for organizing the trip. “Prior to the 2017 Thomas Fire, the 2003 Cedar Fire which burned 273,250 acres east of San Diego, was the largest and most destructive wildfire in California history. Both fires exposed the vulnerabilities of population growth into the wildland urban interface (WUI). However, the Cedar Fire was pivotal because it occurred when management and understanding of WUI vulnerabilities was fairly poor. For example, the Cedar Fire generated the first large-scale study of hydromulch as an erosion management treatment and the first evaluation of remote sensing to rapidly assess soil thermal damage. It also spurred development of hazardous fuels management aimed at reducing wildfire intensity and rebalancing western ecosystems. This tour highlights the growth of knowledge since the Cedar Fire and how scientific understanding is operationalized in the era of WUI fire ecology. The field tour will consist of 4 stops on the Cleveland National Forest near Mt Laguna at sites impacted by the Cedar Fire and other fires. US Forest Service, NRCS and State of California managers and scientists will serve as hosts. Throughout the day we will discuss 1) post-fire erosion and soil geomorphology and rehabilitation treatments, 2) Initiatives to refine post-fire hydrophobicity measurements and debris flow risk mapping, and 3) fuel management in WUI forests and efforts to monitor soil effects. We will observe soil pits at most locations (including two “anthrosols”) and discuss soil taxonomy and fire ecology of California’s southern coastal chaparral and oak woodlands. The trip will feature an ARCGIS storymap containing soil maps and soil profile descriptions, research publications and field trip presentations accessible from attendee’s hand-held devices. Field trip fees will include snacks, lunch, drinks and tour materials. All tour stops are within 1 hour of downtown San Diego and will be accessible with limited, easy walking on uneven terrain.” UASD PROGRAM AGENDA 1. CROSS-DIVISONAL SYMPOSIUM: “Geoarchaeology and Ancient Anthropogenic Soils” Dr. Matt Ricker (NCSU) has organized an exciting cross-divisional symposium and related session, “Geoarchaeology and Ancient Anthropogenic Soils”. The symposium will feature four invited speakers who research various aspects of the intersection of soils and geoarchaeology: • T.R. Kidder - Washington University in St. Louis (North America) • Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach - University of Texas, Austin (Maya Region) • Timothy Beach - University of Texas, Austin (Maya Region) • John Walker - University of Central Florida (Amazon Basin) 2. SESSION: “Geoarchaeology and Ancient Anthropogenic Soils” Following the symposium, there will be oral and poster sessions devoted to geoarchaeology and ancient anthropogenic soils. These will include the 5- minute rapid oral and poster sessions, as well as the graduate student competition. 3. SESSION: “Interdisciplinary Research: What Works and What Does Not" Anthony R. Tricarico, University of South Florida, Department of Anthropology, and Dr. John Obrycki (ORISE Fellow, USDA-ARS) have organized this session. Co-sponsors include Pedology, Soil Chemistry, Soil Physics and Hydrology, Soil and Water Management and Conservation Divisions; and SSSA Committee S205.1, Council on the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Soil Science. “This session seeks to incorporate a wide range of disciplines bringing together practitioners who have developed effective means of interdisciplinary practice. The purpose of this session is to examine the history and future of interdisciplinary research that utilizes soil science methods and theories in cross-discipline, applied research projects. Some topics that would be of interest to this session are: participatory approaches to interdisciplinary soils research, applied soils research, the promotion of community engagement in interdisciplinary soils research, the best practices for fostering collaborations among different disciplines, and/or the incorporation of mixed methods approaches. We especially encourage presenters who can discuss how and why their interdisciplinary projects were successful, while offering lessons for avoiding project setbacks. Participants need not have an active research project if they can speak to a past cross-disciplinary project. This session encourages submissions from all soil societies (USA, Canada, Mexico) and also from researchers and practitioners from outside our current membership.” 4. SESSION: “Urban and Anthropogenic Soils General Oral and Poster Presentations” This day-long general session is for anyone who is engaged in any aspect of urban and anthropogenic soils. This session will include the 5-minute rapid oral and poster presentations, as well as the graduate student competition. 5. UASD Business Meeting We will discuss planning our agenda for the 2018 meeting in San Antonio and other things that might be on your mind. Please contact James Montgomery (jmont...@depaul.edu) if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing everyone in sunny San Diego in January 2019. Best wishes, Dr. James Montgomery (Chair, UASD) Associate Professor Department of Environmental Science and Studies DePaul University 1110 West Belden Avenue Chicago, IL 60614 Tel: 773-325-2771 Email: jmont...@depaul.edu
