This is a request to support the participation of seven US scientists to attend a meeting to be convened and supported by the European Commission, Joint Research Center; Ispra, Italy, in March, 2013. The workshop title is: "SCOPE Rapid Assessment Project on Benefits of Soil Carbon". This workshop will provide an important venue for US scientists studying the Critical Zone to actively engage with the international community in developing science-based solutions to an important issue with global importance. The outcome of the workshop is a monograph of the same title.
This "workshop" funded travel support for U.S. participation in an international meeting of Critical Zone researchers held at the European Commission, Joint Research Centre Ispra, Italy on18-22 March, 2013. The workshop title was: "SCOPE Rapid Assessment Project on Benefits of Soil Carbon". A major aim of this workshop was to draw together relevant knowledge and examples of the problems and science-based solutions for assessing soil carbon and the benefits to ecosystems and human society. The concept was that sharing and integration of knowledge on the soil carbon cycle will help identify knowledge gaps and potential solutions enabling protecting and enhancing soil functions through fundamental understanding. The science-based management of soil carbon is one of the most urgent tasks of the 21st century. The meeting developed a strategy for establishing a formalized international network of sites, data and people. In the long run, this network will enable CZ researchers to develop cross-observatory collaborations and comparisons on a global scale. The workshop served to broaden and intensify communication between U.S. andEuropean (and other international) Critical Zone scientists toward a goal of establishing a truly international network of Critical Zone scientists, data and research sites aligned to tackle the soil-carbon science. U.S. participation included 7 scientists from areas of research related to CZO program. The major result of the SCOPE Workshop was a monograph currently in rough draft form with the same title: "SCOPE Rapid Assessment Project on Benefits of Soil Carbon". This will be published online at: www.scopenvironment.org/downloadpubs/indexpub.html
