Soil Biology & Biochemistry Division

Welcome! You can get involved with the Soil Biology & Biochemistry Division on the Discussion Board. On this page you'll find lectureship and award information.

FRANCIS E. CLARK DISTINGUISHED LECTURESHIP ON SOIL BIOLOGY

At each annual meeting, the Soil Biology & Biochemistry Division hosts the Francis E. Clark Distinguished Lectureship on Soil Biology. This lectureship honors Francis Clark's life-long commitment to the greater understanding of soil, plant, and microbial interactions and of nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. The lectureship focuses on topics in soil biology that are of interest to teachers, researchers, and students. The lecture emphasizes new frontiers in all aspects of soil biology and the importance of soil biology in addressing agricultural, environmental, and socio-economic issues.

STUDENT PRESENTATION AWARDS

At each annual meeting, the Soil Biology & Biochemistry Division hosts a student poster/5-min rapid talk presentation competition. Prizes are $500 for first place, $300 for second place, and $200 for third place. In January 2019, student prizes were kindly sponsored by Qiagen.

Our San Diego 2018/2019 year winners were:

1st Prize: Rachel Danielson (UC Davis) for " Linking the Genetic Signature of Free-Living Diazotrophs with Process Rates Under Land Use Conversion
2nd Prize: Rael  Otuya (Texas Tech Univ.) "Soil Microbial Communities and Soil Health in Semi-Arid Pastures of the Texas Southern High Plains
3rd Prize: Zachery Leitner (North Dakota State Univ.) "Soil Biological Temporal Variability As Functions of Physiochemical States and Soil Management

At the San Antonio 2019 meeting, the student competition will include a session of 5-minute lightning talks (Monday at 1:35 rm 225B  CC) followed by the poster session at 4:00 PM. The top division winners will advance to the to the society-wide competition on Wednesday.

Jeffrey L. Smith Graduate Student Travel Award

Eligible students are from divisions Soil Biology & Biochemistry or Forest, Range & Wildland Soils.

This award was established to commemorate the contributions of Jeffrey L. Smith, who passed away too soon on Jan. 25, 2014, just a few days shy of his 63rd birthday. Jeff was a decorated Vietnam Veteran, honorably discharged from the United States Army at the age of 20. He received a B.S. from Univ. of California-Berkeley, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Soil Science from Washington State University. He returned to Berkeley as a post-doc, helping lead one of the largest ecosystem science projects funded by the National Science Foundation. He returned to Pullman as a soil microbiologist with USDA-ARS from 1986-2013. He was an adjunct faculty member in the Crop and Soil Science Department at WSU, where he lectured, advised, and was mentor to numerous graduate students. Their professional and personal successes were his most prized accomplishments. Jeff was nationally and internationally known for his pioneering research on soil carbon and nitrogen cycling, and the impact of global climatic change on terrestrial ecosystems. He was a member of SSSA and active in the Soil Biology & Biochemistry and Forest, Range & Wildland Soils Divisions.

An endowed fund was established to award travel grant(s) each year to deserving graduate student(s) presenting their research in these Divisions’ contributed sessions or symposia to honor Jeff’s major contributions to SSSA, and to further encourage future scholars to participate in the Soil Biology & Biochemistry and Forest, Range & Wildland Soils Divisions at the SSSA meetings.

Eligibility and Criteria: Students must apply each year for this award and recipients will be selected based on the following criteria:

Students must be members of the Soil Biology & Biochemistry or the Forest, Range & Wildland Soils Divisions of SSSA, working broadly in the fields of soil biology, biogeochemistry or microbial ecology, and must have completed two semesters of graduate work leading to a Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Natural Sciences.

Students must be the presenting author and have an abstract accepted for presentation (oral or poster) at the annual meeting within Soil Biology & Biochemistry or the Forest, Range & Wildland Soils Divisions of the Soil Biology & Biochemistry Divisions.

Academic performance, honors and awards (Undergraduate and Graduate School GPA, etc), demonstrated leadership in professional, social, or personal endeavors and prior scholarly activity (publications, abstracts, other instructional or extension activities) will be considered.

Include a short essay explaining the importance of attending the SSSA annual meeting to their professional development and demonstrating financial need to attend.

Preference will be given to students in the final year of study for their M.S. or Ph.D. degrees, and those that are from underrepresented groups in the earth sciences.

Selection of a single award, valued at up to $2,500, will be made by the leadership of the Soil Biology & Biochemistry and the Forest, Range & Wildland Soils Divisions of SSSA.

An individual graduate student may receive this award only once.

Application Materials (packaged as one PDF):

• Letter and statement of interest from student (1-2 pages)
• Letter of support from advisor
• CV
• Presentation title and abstract indicating the session it is submitted to for the 2021 Annual Meeting

Send application materials (submitted as one PDF) by Oct. 15, 2021 to Send Message with the Subject Line "Jeffrey L. Smith Travel Award" and addressed to Jessica Miesel and Vanessa Bailey Division Chairs of the Soil Biology & Biochemistry and the Forest, Range & Wildland Soils Divisions.