This request will support a fellowship program of the U.S. National Committee for Soil Science for students presenting papers at the 19th World Congress of Soil Science to be held August 1-6, 2010, in Brisbane, Australia. Every effort will be made to select both an ethnically and scientifically diverse group of recipients that will represent all areas of soil science, including ecosystem science and earth sciences.
The congress is being organized by the Australian Society of Soil Science, Inc. (ASSSI) and sponsored by the Australian government, the Queensland government, and CSIRO. General information on the congress can be found at the web site www.19wcss.org.au/. The World Congress is held every four years; the last congress was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2006. These congresses provide a forum for scientists from around the world to present and discuss recent research findings and to define directions for future research work. The congress is expected to attract leading authorities in different fields from all over the world. The intellectual merit of international congresses is encompassed in the setting they provide for the exchange of ideas, the cultivation of working relationships, networking, and the education of graduate students and early career scientists. Even though the Internet has enabled the essentially instantaneous exchange of information, there is no substitute for face-to-face dialogue and discussions.
In addition to the intellectual merit of the interactions of researchers from around the world, there are also broader impacts achieved through a fellowship program. Graduate students are the foundations on which future scientific advances and the technical well-being of the nation rest. Their attendance at the congress will expose them to the latest developments in soil science, enable them to interact with many of the leaders and pioneers in the field, help strengthen their understanding of basic principles, implant seeds for the future growth and development of soil science, and enable them to establish a more personal relationship with their peers. The increased involvement of all scientists from the United States that this grant will enable will strengthen U.S. soil science research and help build the future of the
The National Academies’ U.S. National Committee for Soil Science offered travel fellowships to U.S. graduate students and early career scientists to present their research at the August 2010 19th World Congress of Soil Science in Brisbane, Australia. Most of the funding for the program was provided by the National Science Foundation, with additional support from the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), the Florida Association of Environmental Soil Scientists, and North Carolina State University. Fellowships were awarded to 14 U.S. graduate-level researchers to help defray their travel costs to attend the Congress. The awards enabled them to develop U.S. and international contacts that would advance soil sciences through further research and help lay the foundation for international cooperation in the future. The travel support provided by this program had a profound effect on these early career scientists’ ability to present their research at this meeting: 71% of recipients indicated that they would not have been able to attend without this support. All recipients stated that the Brisbane World Congress of Soil Science was the first international scientific congress they had ever attended. Intellectual merit: All awardees shared their latest research findings and made new scientific contacts and discussed collaborations with U.S. and international scientists. Twelve of the recipients indicated that they made contacts they felt might help them advance their careers. Such international collaboration strengthens the current academic infrastructure, and will help build the future of soil science in the U.S. Broader impact: Recipients listed many benefits of attending an international congress relating to U.S science advancement, such as excellent exposure of early career scientists to current international research, and the ability to see different perspectives on similar research topics. As one of the awardees reported, "[attending the international congress] allows us as young professionals to bring back new ideas from others doing similar work around the world. With this new information (or maybe with the same information but in a new light) we can develop collaborations or embark on new projects." In summary, the travel fellowship recipients are very satisfied with the experience, and are grateful for the opportunity to travel to and present their research at a premier international meeting, which was made possible by the National Science Foundation through its grant to the U.S. National Committee for Soil Science.
