Annual Meeting 2011

This is the first annual meeting of the British Soil Science Society since our reorganisation. 2011 is also the 20th Anniversary of the Institute of Professional Soil Scientists. To celebrate, we have organised an event that we hope has broad appeal to scientists and practitioners alike. The issue of “ecosystem services” has become a hot-topic. There is a global trend towards recognising the monetary and non-monetary value of natural resources to human health and well-being and in using this information in planning and decision-making. The UK Government and devolved administrations are investigating “ecosystem services” as a mechanism to improve the use of natural resources to meet major and inter-related challenges in food security, reducing poverty, providing a healthy environment to live in, halting biodiversity losses, etc. Both valuation and effective management are reliant upon up-to-date, adequate and accessible scientific information. This two day event has been organised as a forum to review, discuss and learn from our own scientific and practical experiences in trying to develop, improve and deliver information on the capacity of soils to maintain a supply of diverse goods and services in changing world. Invited speakers will present diverse perspectives on soils / ecosystem-services related research initiatives, including the UK National Ecosystem, TEEB, Defra and RCUK. We have organised the sessions to provide an opportunity for discussion and debate amongst the Society’s member. We invite you to contribute to a new “meet the soil scientist” event for the Society. This will be extended poster and demonstration session on the second day. It is an opportunity for you to display and discuss your soil science activities - from research to education to commercial - with your peers and to engage with people and organisations who are interested in finding out about UK soil science. We are open to different contributions including posters, new technology or computer-based systems, videos, hand-on demonstrations etc. The Society will be inviting interested parties to the afternoon session of this event of the 20th. During this event, the Society will launch the first set of IPSS Professional Competency Documents. The Society’s Annual Dinner will be held at the Royal Geographical Society on the 19th July 2011 along with a presentation of awards.

To register your interest for presenting in the public session please send  a summary of your intended stand, which should include a brief summary of the organisation, details of your intended presentation and what you would require (e.g. table or floor space for a pre existing display). Please send your summary (in no more than 3 sides of A4) to Kathryn Allton

        Programme