News Release

MADISON, WI, AUGUST 24, 2011 -- The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) will recognize the following individuals at the 2011 Awards Ceremony during their Annual Meeting on Oct. 16-19 in San Antonio, TX, www.acsmeetings.org.

• S. Majid Hassanizadeh, Deltares Institute - Don and Betty Kirkham Soil Physics Award. S. Majid Hassanizadeh is a professor of hydrogeology at Utrecht University and senior advisor with the Soil and Groundwater Department of Deltares Institute, The Netherlands. He received his B.S. from Pahlavi University, Iran, 1975, and M.E. and Ph.D. from Princeton University. His research focuses on the development of basic theories of flow and transport in porous media. He has served as editor of Advances in Water Resources and associate editor of Vadose Zone Journal and Water Resources Research, and is a member of editorial boards of a number of journals.

• Chad Godsey, Oklahoma State University - Early Career Professional Award. Chad Godsey is an associate professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at Oklahoma State University. He received a B.S. in agricultural business and plant and soil science from Colorado State University, a M.S. and Ph.D. in agronomy from Kansas State University. Dr. Godsey’s extension and research efforts are focused on oilseed cropping systems with an emphasis in tillage and crop rotation. He serves as an associate editor for Agronomy Journal and Peanut Science. He is active in ASA-CSA-SSSA and the American Peanut Research and Education Society.

• Alexander Cheesman, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute - Emil Truog Soil Science Award. Alexander Cheesman is a postdoctoral researcher at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama. Working with the Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatories and the Center for Tropical Forest Science, his work now focuses upon the impact of changing temperature upon tropical tree growth. He received his B.A. from Pembroke College, Cambridge, and his Ph.D. on phosphorus in wetland soils from the University of Florida.

• Ryan Busby, Colorado State University – Francic and Evelyn Clark Soil Biology Scholarship. Ryan Busby is a Ph.D. candidate in the graduate degree program in ecology at Colorado State University. He received his B.S. in botany from Western Illinois University and M.S. in natural resources and environmental sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His dissertation research is focused on studying the interactions between cheatgrass invasion and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and how these interactions differ from native vegetation.

• Bal Ram Singh, Norwegian University of Life Sciences - International Soil Science Award. Bal Ram Singh is a professor in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB).  He received his M.S. degree from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, and his Ph.D. degree from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology. His program focuses on bioavailability and mobility of heavy metals in the soil and plant system, fertility management and agricultural sustainability in soils of the tropics and on carbon sequestration in soils and vegetation under different land uses. He has served as chairman of the Soils and Plants program board of the Research Council of Norway and as Deputy Head of the Department. He has chaired or been a member of many national and international committees. He provides the current leadership of the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action FA0905 on Mineral Improved Cop Production for Healthy Food and Feed, in which > 200 scientists from 31 countries are participating. Dr. Singh is a fellow of ASA and SSSA.

• David C. Nielsen, USDA-ARS - L.R. Ahuja Ag Systems Modeling Award. David C. Nielsen is a research agronomist with the USDA-ARS Central Great Plains Research Station in Akron, CO. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Iowa State University, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Nebraska. His program focuses on crop water use and water stress effects on crop productivity in dryland and irrigated cropping systems in the Great Plains. Dr. Nielsen has served on the editorial boards for Agronomy Journal and Crop Science, and has been active in the ASA, CSSA, and SSSA.

• Daniel Strawn, University of Idaho - Marion L. and Chrystie M. Jackson Soil Science Award. Dan Strawn is a professor of soil chemistry at the University of Idaho.  He received his B.S. degree from the University of California Davis, and Ph.D. from the University of Delaware.  His program focuses on research and teaching of soil chemistry and mineralogy with special emphasis on discovery of chemical and mineral speciation in soils.  He is an associate editor for the Soil Science Society of America Journal.

• Richard McLaughlin, North Carolina State University - Soil Science Applied Research Award. Rich McLaughlin is a professor and extension specialist in the Department of Soil Science at North Carolina State University, with a B.S. from Virginia Tech and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University.  His program has focused on erosion, sediment, and turbidity control on construction sites.  Dr. McLaughlin is active in the Soil and Water Conservation Society and the International Erosion Control Association, which presented him with the Educational Achievement Award for 2010.

• John Keith Syers, Naresuan University - Soil Science Distinguished Service Award. Keith Syers is professor and soil chemist in the Faculty of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environment at Naresuan University, Thailand. He also serves as the Distinguished Specialist for International Development in The Office of the President. Dr Syers received his B.S. (Hons) and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Durham (UK). His program focuses mainly on soil chemistry with particular interest in the efficiency of soil and fertilizer phosphorus use. Dr. Syers has served as Senior Vice-Chair of Commission II (Soil Chemistry).

• Andrew Manu, Iowa State University - Soil Science Education Award. Andrew Manu is a professor and George Washington Carver Endowed Chair in agronomy at Iowa State University. He received his B.S. degree from University of Ghana and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Iowa State University. He has established vibrant soils teaching programs at Alabama A&M and Iowa State Universities. His research foci are remote sensing of the environment, urban soils, and tropical soil management. Dr. Manu has served as associate editor for Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education and as A-6 Division Chair of ASA. 

• Jorge A. Delgado, USDA-ARS - Soil Science Research Award. Jorge A. Delgado is a soil scientist with USDA-ARS and Fellow of the SSSA, SWCS, and ASA. Dr. Delgado received his B.S. degree from the University of Puerto Rico, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from LSU. He has been research editor of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation since 2001. He is a national and international leader in the field of nitrogen (N) management and an expert in developing new concepts and applying software tools (e.g., nitrogen index, NTT) and cover crops for soil and water conservation, increasing farm-level N use efficiencies. 
   

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