Don & Betty Kirkham Award

The Don and Betty Kirkham Soil Physics Award is designed to recognize a mid-career soil scientist who has made outstanding contributions in the areas of soil physics. This award is supported by the Lena and Maria van der Ploeg Fund and the Don and Betty Kirkham Fund. Both of these funds have been established in the Agronomic Science Foundation (ASF) with the selection process administered by the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA).The award consists of a certificate and a $1000 honorarium.

The Lena and Maria van der Ploeg Fund and the Kirkham Fund

Rienk R. van der Ploeg, professor of soil physics at the University of Hannover, Germany, established the Lena and Maria van der Ploeg Fund in memory of his late sister, Lena, and in honor of his wife, Maria. Dr. van der Ploeg established this permanent endowment to recognize scholarship in soil physics, presenting a check to the Agronomic Science Foundation (ASF) at the 1997 Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) annual meeting in Anaheim, CA.

The endowment, along with the Kirkham Fund, supports two programs; first, the Don and Betty Kirkham Soil Physics Award. This award is presented annually at the SSSA meeting to recognize a mid-career scientist who has made both outstanding scholarly achievements and educational contributions to advance soil physics. Awardees receive a certificate of achievement and a $1,000 US honorarium. In addition, the four most recent awardees help select the theme of the quadrennial Kirkham Conference.

Second, the endowment supports the Kirkham Conference series. Kirkham Conferences are by-invitation conferences focusing on a topic of particular interest in soil physics. Their off-the-record forum encourages scientists to explore disciplinary and interdisciplinary topics in a depth seldom possible at national or international meetings. The first Kirkham Conference was held in November 2000 at Iowa State University, immediately prior to the SSSA meeting in Minneapolis, and the second is scheduled for November 2004 at Utah State University. Additional conferences are planned every four years.

Both the Lena and Maria van der Ploeg Fund and the Kirkham Fund are managed by the Agronomic Science Foundation. More than 100 friends and professionals have supported the funds. For a limited time, gifts of $1000 US will be matched by Don and Joanne Nielsen. Financial contributions to these efforts can be made here.