This funding will be used to support a conference on the mechanisms of soil organic matter stabilization, to be held at the Asilomar Conference Center in California in October 2005. The intellectual merit of this effort centers around the key role that organic matter in soil plays in the release and absorption of the greenhouse gases that control earth's climate. Soil organic matter is also critical in maintaining soil fertility for agricultural and forest productivity. Despite decades of work, the mechanisms that control the stability of soil organic matter remain actively debated. Researchers studying such mechanisms need periodic and dedicated international meetings in order keep pace with rapid advances in the analysis and modeling of soil organic matter that cannot currently be met by the existing society meeting venues and publication process. A recent meeting in Munich, Germany, Oct. 2003, provided the first such formal and large-scale opportunity. The broader impacts include providing a venue for sharing up to date information on a topic critical to understanding terrestrial controls on the earth's climate. A special issue of the journal Biogeochemistry will result from the conference. The conference will have a strong international representation, with substantial participation from women and graduate students.
