From grassroots to global impact: Empowering our SSSA community
This month, SSSA President Aaron Daigh turns our attention to the people who make this Society thrive: Our members who bring grassroots energy and innovation to everything we do to impact our global community.
In the previous two months, we reflected on where we have been and where we might be heading over the next 40 years as well as our society in action through committee appointments, task forces, Congressional Visits Day, and gearing up for CANVAS 2026. This month, I want to turn our attention to the people who make this Society thrive: Our members who bring grassroots energy and innovation to everything we do to impact our global community.
Board of directors kickoff and New Year’s resolutions
The SSSA Board of Directors kicked off the new year in January by welcoming new members, having members share their visions for the coming year, and diving directly into filling seats on standing board committees and adopting a series of motions to improve policies and the overall experience for members.
I am pleased to welcome our new board members whose terms began in January 2026:
- John Kovar (USDA-ARS) as President-Elect
- Fabian Fernandez (University of Minnesota) as Agricultural Soil and Food Systems Group Representative
- Ekrem Ozlu (North Carolina State University) as Early Career Members Representative
- Mumtahina Riza (University of Central Florida) as Graduate Student Representative
- Ankita Datta (University of Florida) as DEI Member-at-Large
Continuing their service on the board are:
- Past President Samira Daroub (University of Florida)
- Editor-in-Chief Markus Flury (Washington State University)
- Program Planning Officer Shannon Osborne (USDA-ARS)
- Certified Professional Soil Scientist Representative Jacob Berkowitz (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
- Education and Practicing Professionals Group Representative Clay Robinson (CRC Soil & Ecosystem Services LLC)
- Fundamental Soil Science Group Representatives Vanessa Bailey (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory), Rebecca Lybrand (University of California, Davis), and Ganga Hettiarachchi (Kansas State University)
- Soil and Ecosystem Processes Group Representatives Thorsten Knappenberger (Auburn University) and Ronald Reuter (Oregon State University)
- Agricultural Soil and Food Systems Group Representatives Julie Howe (Texas A&M University) and Dorivar Ruiz Diaz (Kansas State University)
- Ex Officio members Stella Salvo (Chair of the Agronomic Science Foundation) and Jim Cudahy (ACSESS CEO)
At our first meeting, I asked each board member to share a New Year's resolution for their work with the Society. Collectively, the board's resolutions reflect a commitment to advancing the 40-year task force, bringing societies closer together, re-engaging members who have drifted from our meetings, pushing division chairs to think creatively for CANVAS programming, serving as active ambassadors among graduate students, promoting our journals and publishing mission, expanding mentoring opportunities, strengthening engagement with the Agronomic Science Foundation, increasing international membership, connecting with regional professional soil classifiers associations, broadening the virtual reach of CANVAS, addressing AI topics and responsibilities in our field, and bringing K-12 demonstrations to CANVAS in Portland this fall.
As for my own resolutions, I committed to four goals: (1) creating avenues for a surge in grassroots efforts and programs within SSSA to leverage the creativity and innovation of our members and empower the networks within and among our divisions; (2) improving year-round engagement between board representatives and their divisions to strengthen the pipeline from grassroots ideas to division chairs to board members; (3) getting the news of what our Society and membership accomplishes out to other societies through their newsletters and conferences; and (4) commissioning a new task force whose sole purpose is to ensure the soil science discipline sticks around far into the future and is able to bounce back against even the toughest of extreme circumstances.
Speaking of recognizing excellence within our community, one of the most meaningful ways we can support our colleagues is through our Society awards.
Elections and award nominations are open!
Award nominations opened in late January and remain open through late March for most categories. Our awards span every career stage, from student scholarships and early career recognition to the highest honor our Society can bestow: Fellow. If there is a colleague, mentor, or student who has made meaningful contributions to our science or community, now is the time to put their name forward. Taking a few minutes to nominate someone tells them that their work matters and that they are valued by their community. Most awards also allow self-nomination, with just a few exceptions. Visit this page for more information and to nominate.
Elections will open on March 2 with voting continuing through early April. This year's ballot will include positions for division chairs-elect, board representatives, and SSSA president. If you've been thinking about stepping into a leadership role or know someone who should, I encourage you to learn about the candidates and cast your vote. Your participation shapes who guides our Society forward.
Beyond formal recognition, there are many ways to celebrate the work happening across our community. That spirit is part of what inspired two new features I'm launching in CSA News magazine this year.
New in CSA News: Soil Riddles and President’s Research Pick
This year, I am creating two new article series in CSA News magazine:
Soil Riddles is intended to create a sense of fun, challenge, and detective investigation for soil scientists. Amazing soils are all around us. We see some quite often while others only on special occasions or during a once-in-a-lifetime trip. My wife, daughter, and I love to travel and have had the opportunity to visit some bizarrely interesting soils. My wife and I are both soil scientists and know very well how excited soil scientists get when trying to identify a soil from a photo or even just a partial core. In that spirit, each month I will share a new riddle. If you are the first to guess the correct soil series name and its geographical location correctly, I will publish your name along with the answer in an upcoming issue.
President's Pick: SSSA Research is intended to celebrate exciting new research in our journals. SSSA is the sole publisher of the Soil Science Society of America Journal and Vadose Zone Journal and co-publishes the Journal of Environmental Quality and Agricultural & Environmental Letters with CSSA and ASA. Each month, I will pick one or two articles among our journals that represent some of the most exciting, creative, and innovative research in our field of soil science. Look for both features elsewhere in this issue.
These new features reflect a broader conversation I have been having about the value of our science and our Society. I recently had the opportunity to share some of these thoughts publicly.
On the ‘Connections’ podcast series
I recently joined ACSESS CEO Jim Cudahy and the ASA and CSSA Presidents, Wade Thomason and Felix Fritschi, on the new “Connections” podcast series that is being aired through the Societies’ Field, Lab, Earth podcast. When asked about overarching challenges facing soil science, I noted that while our field is getting noticed more these days (such as the impressive surge in recognition of soil health and even being mentioned in Hollywood movies), we face significant challenges. These include workforce development and building up soil science programs that have largely remained stationary or declined in capacity at the university level as well as scientific funding and diversifying funding routes for new discoveries in both the applied and fundamental sides of soils.
When asked about priorities, I emphasized that we want to keep the momentum on recent achievements while leaning boldly into areas we still want to accomplish by mobilizing our membership. This includes empowering our dozens of committees and divisions to act boldly and creatively in grassroots efforts by using the resources available through our Society (our network, connections, programs, and staff) and getting our community's work out there and more widely known by increasing our engagement with other societies and sectors.
When asked about the ultimate value of membership, I returned to what I call the "resource of community." Given our community's tremendous breadth and extraordinary depth in our field, a member can lean on their community endlessly and still continue to find new opportunities and benefits, professionally and personally.
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