S1-Newsletter, Vol. 12, No. 4
December 3, 2006
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  Preface: This is the fourth S-1 Newsletter for the year 2006. The newsletter contains three sections: S-1 Member News and Announcements, Upcoming Meetings of Interest, and New Job Announcements. To have news and announcements included in future S-1 Newsletters, please send the text (either embedded in an e-mail message or as an attachment) to mtuller@cals.arizona.edu. Newsletters (current and past) and other S-1 information are posted on the S-1 Web Page: http://soils.ag.uidaho.edu/tuller/s-1/.

Please note that there will be a new web address in January 2007 due to transfer of the page to the SWES Department at the University of Arizona.

1) S-1 MEMBER NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

A) Urgent Need for Contributions to the Smithsonian Soil Exhibit
The proposal for a Smithsonian soil science display is entering a critical period when decisions will be made on whether to go forward with the project or not. This depends in part on the funding that SSSA can get from other organizations. One complaint that the Society has heard in approaching organizations about contributing is that only around 10% of our membership has contributed to the project. This shows how important it is that every member contributes even a small amount in that it will show that the society is behind this project. Please send in your contribution even if it is $10-20 so that we can get our membership support up to at least 50%. To donate, go to http://www.soils.org/smithsonian/ and click on "Donate Now" near the middle of the page. Thanks for your support. David Radcliffe.



B) Awards

S-1 Early Career Award

Sander Huisman is the recipient of the 2006 S-1 Early Career Award. He is the fifth recipient of this annual award, which recognizes scientists who have made an outstanding contribution in Soil Physics within six years of completing their Ph.D. degree. Dr. Huisman received his Master and PhD degrees in Soil Physics from the University of Amsterdam. His dissertation research focused on soil water content determination with Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). Over the last five years Sander conducted groundbreaking research on quantification of error sources in TDR measurements in both frequency and time domain analyses and developed a sound theoretical basis for the GPR technique. Dr. Huisman is currently a staff scientist at the Research Centre Jülich in Germany.

For further information regarding the S-1 Early Career Award please visit: http://soils.ag.uidaho.edu/tuller/s-1/eca.htm

Don and Betty Kirkham Soil Physics Award

The recipient of the 2005 Don and Betty Kirkham Soil Physics Award is Dr. Per Moldrup. Per is an associate professor in the Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry, and Environmental Engineering at Aalborg University, Denmark. Dr. Moldrup received his M.S. and Ph.D. from Aalborg University in collaboration with the University of California-Davis. His program focuses on applied soil physics in environmental engineering, with emphasis on gas, solute, and colloid transport processes in the soil vadose zone. He has served as an associate editor for Soil Science Society of America Journal. He is a Fellow of SSSA and is chair-elect of the S-1 Soil Physics Division.

For further information regarding the Don and Betty Kirkham Soil Physics Award please visit: http://soils.ag.uidaho.edu/tuller/kirkham/.

Congratulations to Sander and Per!


C) Minutes, 2006 Division S-1 Business Meeting (November 15, 2006, Indianapolis, IN)

Jon Wraith, Chair, called the meeting to order and introduced Gerard Kluitenberg (Past Chair), Jirka Simunek (Chair-Elect), Per Moldrup (Incoming Chair-Elect), Glenn Wilson (SSSA-ASA Board Representative), David Radcliffe (Incoming Board Representative), and Bob Horton (S-1 representative on the Soil Science Society of America early response team).

Jon Wraith introduced 2007 candidates for the Incoming Chair-Elect: Ty Ferre and Yakov Pachepsky.

The minutes of the 2005 business meeting were adopted without modification.

Jon Wraith informed the meeting about S-1 friends and colleagues who passed away in the past year. These included Ray Allmaras (USDA-ARS, Univ. of Minnesota), Jim Davidson (OK State Univ., Univ. of Florida), and Don Scott (Univ. of AR-Fayetteville).

Per Moldrup informed the meeting about the health status following a cerebral haemorrhage and brain surgery of Ole Hørbye Jacobsen (a colleague from the Research Centre Foulum, Denmark) and provided contact information for get-well wishes.

Recognitions

Jon recognized the following S-1 members who received award at the 2006 meeting: Per Moldrup (Don & Betty Kirkham Soil Physics Award), Laj Ahuja (ASA Environmental Quality Research Award), Art Corey (SSSA Fellow), Walter Rawls (SSSA Fellow), Rainer Horn (ASA Fellow), Sally Logsdon (ASA Fellow), Harold van Es (ASA Fellow), and Glenn Wilson (ASA Fellow).

S-1 Early Career Award

Gerard Kluitenberg presented the 2006 S-1 Early Career Award to Sander Huisman. Members of the 2006 S-1 Early Career Award were Glendon Gee (Chair), Ty Ferre, Shmulik Friedman, and Gerard Kluitenberg. Glendon will rotate off the committee for 2007, Ty Ferre will serve as chair, Shmulik Friedman continues, Jon Wraith will replace Gerard Kluitenberg (Past Chair) for a one-year term, and Michael Young will join the committee for a three-year term.

Report from VZJ Editorial board

The report (see below) was presented by Glenn Wilson instead of the editor Jan Hopmans who was not present. Additional information was provided by Sally Logsdon and Michael Young on the proposal to change the page charges for publishing in the VZJ. There is an ongoing discussion.

Report from SSSAJ Editorial board: Glenn Wilson (S-1 Technical Editor)

The report (see below) was also presented by Glenn Wilson. To the question from the forum on the proposal to remove division numbers from SSSAJ, Sally Logsdon (SSSAJ Technical Editor) responded that there was no such discussion on this topic this year. There was a discussion on the new format of SSSA journals initiated by Gerard Kluitenberg. Sally Logsdon provided information on new formats, including new format for equations, right or left justification, etc. Gerard Kluitenberg reported that in the latest proofs from SSSAJ he had different fonts in equations and in the text, which is something that needs to be fixed. In the future there should be more invited papers and reviews in SSSAJ since they are highly cited and may increase the SSSAJ impact factor.

Report from the SSSA and ASA Board of Directors

The report (see below) was presented by Glenn Wilson. There was a discussion whether the newly proposed strategic plan of SSSA replaces the old one. Jon Wraith informed that the previous program was a Business Plan, while the new one is a Strategic Plan. A motion to support the new strategic plan was unanimously passed.

Jon thanked Glenn for his service in the last three years. Glen received a round of applause for his outstanding efforts on our behalf.

Other Business

Carbon Credits:
David Radcliffe informed about the topic of Carbon Credits Proposal. Bob Luxmoore suggested that a SSSA committee should be appointed to develop a standard for measuring carbon credits. A motion was passed unanimously that Division S-1 recommends to the board that the society should appoint a committee to develop standards for measuring carbon credits.

2006 Program Report:
A similar attendance as in 2005, although a lower one was expected due to the World Congress of Soil Science held earlier this year. Two symposia were organized. Peter Shouse organized a symposium "Understanding Plant Water Uptake" and Per Moldrup organized the symposium "Soil Bio-Physical and Environmental Controls on Greenhouse Gas Emissions: In Honor of Dennis E. Rolston". Both symposia were co-sponsored by the A-3 division; the former also by C-2 and the latter also by S-3. Jon thanked both organizers of symposia, as well as all moderators of other sessions.

Joint meetings with Ecological Society of America (ESA):
Jon Wraith suggested organizing a joint meeting with ESA in 2011 or 2012. Steven Evett proposed a motion to "appoint Jon Wraith to form a committee to look into an idea of the joint meeting with ESA and to come up with the proposal next year". Sally Logsdon informed that in 2011 there is the 75th SSSA meeting. Since SSSA is donating some money to support ASA centennial next year, ASA may reciprocate in 2011 and thus to having a joint meeting in 2011 with ESA may not be a good idea. Nancy Cavallaro suggested that there should be representatives of other divisions on the committee. Steven Evett revised his motion to "appoint Jon Wraith to form a committee, having members from other divisions, to look into an idea of the joint meeting with ESA and to come up with the proposal next year". Jon and others suggested that we may not want to wait until next year, as we're already 5 years out in terms of planning. The motion was amended to move ahead immediately, and was passed unanimously. Mike Young suggested that in the meantime S-1 or SSSA could cosponsor symposia at ESA and/or other meetings.

Announcements

The S-1 website will move in the coming weeks to a new URL address since Markus Tuller has accepted a job offer from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and the web site will move with him.
Jirka Simunek informed about the upcoming W-1188 regional meeting in Las Vegas to be held on January 2-4, 2007.

Steven Evett informed about a workshop organized by him, Sally Logsdon, and Ali Fares in Honolulu, Hawaii. The workshop's topic concerns soil water sensors, new technologies, sensor designs, etc.
Nancy Cavallaro, Division S-2 chair, informed about the S-2 business meeting and about the North American Carbon Program (about a meeting to be held in Colorado Springs in January 2007 dealing with carbon stocks, decision support for various activities, etc.).
Jon Wraith introduced incoming Division Chair Jirka Simunek, who thanked Jon for his outstanding service to the division, solicited member input for symposia and session topics for the 2007 SSSA meeting, then adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Jirka Simunek


D) Vadose Zone Journal Annual Report - 2006

The VZJ is doing very well. Since February the editorial board includes 3 co-editors: Dani Or, Tissa Illangasekare and Rien van Genuchten. Rien is retiring from the Board; a search to replace him is ongoing.

- There was record number of submissions to approach 200 papers
- The 2006 issues are expected to total 100+ papers
- 33,000 pdf articles were accessed in 2006 (up from 21,000 in 2005)

Financial outlook: Revenues were slightly higher than budgeted; expenses were slightly over budget, leading to $25,000 deficit. Increased expenses are related to longer papers and composition (graphs, equations). Change to in-house composition is expected to reduce expenses by about 10%.

The Journal layout will be redesigned, with new font, page layout and 2-color printing. An attractive cover page design is needed for advertising and reprints.

The Manuscript Tracker system is improving and will have a new look in the coming months.

The SSSA Editorial Board recommends changing page charges for its journals. A flat fee of $650 per article penalizes short papers and encourages long papers. Average page number per articles has increased by 2 to about 12 pages/article. Likely, we will change to flat dollar amount per page, and charge so that VZJ is cost-neutral ($80-100 per page). Discussion is ongoing.

The number of subscriptions is increasing, however, library subscriptions and non-member subscriptions are stagnant; more advertising is needed.

An impact factor is expected in the summer of 2007. Cite VZJ articles in your papers, as potential authors are waiting to see how journal is doing.

Special sections in VZJ are very popular; about 15 in the pipeline; contact Editor for proposals
VZJ also seeks review papers and white/opinion papers

The societies are very supportive of VZJ, recognizing that it has raised visibility of SSSA. Note that also S-1 had record number of submissions in 2006. Headquarters continues to promote VZJ, including internationally.

Jan W. Hopmans, Editor


E) SSSAJ S-1 Technical Editor Report

A total of 446 manuscripts, 5 Letters to the Editor, and 7 book reviews were received for review from 1 July 2005 through 30 June 2006, Table below. This is an increase of more than 13% compared to 2004-2005. A total of 110 submitted to S-1 which is an increase of 47%. International submissions accounted for more than 48% of the manuscripts received in 2005-2006, an increase of 5 to 9% compared to the 2002-2005 period. Among Divisions, the percentage of international submissions was highest for S-1 (71%) which is an increase from 53% last year. The overall acceptance rate was 52% and 48% for S-1 which is lower than the 55% and 58%, respectively for last year.

Division
No. Received
No. Released
No. Accepted
%-Accepted

S-1
110
44
41
48
S-2
55
23
29
56
S-3
47
17
35
67
S-4
31
21
12
36
S-5
32
11
14
56
S-6
88
45
41
48
S-7
24
13
11
46
S-8
38
16
22
58
S-9
6
4
2
33
S-10
15
6
11
65

Total
458
200
218
52

SSSAJ was #1 in Citations and #3 in Impact Factor out of 29 Soils journals

Reappointments for 3-year terms: Horst H. Gerke, Daniel Giménez, 2007-2009
New appointments for 3-year terms: Melanie A. Mayes; Lyle Prunty, 2007-2009
Individuals retiring from the Board: Timothy R. Ellsworth, 4 years

New Initiatives: Since 1 July 2005.

(i) SSSAJ provides book reviews, which is coordinated by a Book Review Editor, Laj Ahuja.

(ii) Option of manuscript submission under Special Topics that address issues of contemporary interest. Two Special Topics have been featured initially: (1) Urban Soils; and (2) Landscape Management.

(iii) Invited Reviews are no longer coordinated by an Invited Review Editor. Each Technical Editor can invite 2 review papers per year. I have offered the S-1 Chairs the option of using one invited review paper per year for S-1 special symposiums at the National Meetings.

(iv) Supplemental materials may be included in publications, linked in HighWire and CD versions to the paper, e.g. videos, additional figures, color pictures, appendices…

Recommendations:


The Editorial Board is proposing changes to the publication fee structure. The flat fee is resulting in longer papers (average page length increased from 6.9 pages in 1994 to 9.6 pages in 2006). The SSSAJ Board recommends a set X$ per page charge with the rate determined by B&F to be revenue neutral. SSSAJ Board also recommends a higher rate for non-members at an amount to be determined by B$F

Glenn Wilson, Technical Editor SSSAJ


F) SSSA Board of Directors Report

In 2004 the SSSA Board Developed a Strategic Plan which was approved in 2005. View of the Society at that time was that "S-1 members support streamlining the Board and streamlining the decision process. Much frustration over the difficulty of conducting society business due to the inertia of the decision process."

In 2005, the SSSA and ASA Boards were restructured to be streamlined. The inertia is gone. SSSA has a quick response Board; regular Conference calls and email votes. The B&F and other committees have been restructured to be directly accountable to the Board.

I. The Management Entity
The Management Entity for the Tri-societies is being formed (create a 501c3). We do not have a name agreed to by the 3 Executive Committees. Drafting guidelines for selecting societies to join: financial and budgetary guidelines, evaluation of compatibility, what would qualify for full membership versus associate member societies. The Exec. Board has met with other societies, with at least one society eager to join our coalition.

II. Strategic Plan
SSSA approved a long-term Strategic Plan in 2005 but the other 2 societies did not. A Board retreat was held to assist each society in developing a strategic plan and since our 5 year plan is already about 90% completed, SSSA is also developing a new strategic plan to be approved in 2007.
The new Strategic Plan was posted in the S-1 Newsletter and on the SSSA website.

Goal A: SSSA will be the indispensable resource for enhanced programs and services to its members. (1) Improve graduate/early career recruitment and involvement, and develop more tailored programs and services. (2) Improve SSSA's website as a relevant, valuable benefit to members. (3) Increase value, benefits and marketing to better attract international members.

Goal B: SSSA will be the resource for enhanced programs and services to practicing soil scientists and associated professionals. (1) Increase value and benefits for practitioners. (2) Develop a comprehensive outreach program. (3) Develop active training and educational programs, and soil science certification exams.

BoD passed a motion at the November 12 Board meeting to form a Task Force to address Goal B, Strategy B1, and B3 with focus on soil science certification. Chair and members are being solicited.

Goal C: SSSA will be recognized as the most powerful advocate for soil science. (1) Organize a strategy session to develop plans for incorporating soil science into university curriculums. (2) Contact NASULGC to establish a strategy session to address the decline in soil science positions in academia. (3) Develop and design K-12 curriculum resources.

BoD passed a motion during October 4 conference call to form a Task Force to address Goal C, Strategies C1 and C2 John Havlin will Chair the Education Task Force and members are being solicited.

Goal D: SSSA will be financially secure and capable to carry out its strategic direction and vision. (1) Develop broad based endowment funds in support of education, advocacy and outreach. (2) Leverage the Smithsonian exhibit to support endowment efforts. (3) Increase non-dues income from SSSA's programs and services. (4) Increase grant, foundation and contract support for SSSA initiatives.

Goal E: SSSA will partner in a coalition of scientific societies to advance sustainability. (1) Develop plans for holding "independent" joint meetings with other societies. (2) Pursue forming a coalition of National Resource Societies. (3) Pursue development of joint publications with other societies. (4) Continue to reshape SSSA's infrastructure and facilities to be more inviting to a coalition of societies.

BoD passed a motion at the November 12 Board meeting to form a Task Force jointly with ASA and CSSA Boards to address Goal E, Strategy E1 with focus on implementing changes to how the annual meetings are held. Two members from SSSA are solicited.

Goal F: SSSA will be known for its innovative infrastructure that advances and sustains its success. (1) Develop a leadership development and succession planning program. (2) Reevaluate the divisional representation on the Board and restructuring the nomination procedures. (3) Review the Board's oversight of the strategic plan. (4) In conjunction with ASA and CSSA, implement a management entity and insure it supports implementation of the strategic plan.

III. Other Items

A. WCSS
Had 2133 registered with 2636 papers presented. Lower turnout than expected especially by SSSA scientist. We were in the black financially with about $40K profit.

B. Editor-in-Chief Report
Publications are pretty healthy. We are losing library subscriptions as are most all journals.
Taking measures to decrease cost, such as we are doing our own in-house publication of journals. The journal format has changed which saves about 1 page per article.

Open Access:
Currently, society publications (pdf) cannot be posted on websites for 18 months. If Lieberman bill passes, any research conducted with federal funds will be immediate open access.

C. Meetings

2008 we are going to Houston instead of Chicago who double-booked us. We are now subcontracting to Conference Direct to arrange meetings for us at better rates and they have access to a wider range of cities.

2009 we are going to Pittsburgh.

Glenn Wilson (Out-going S-1 Rep), and David Radcliffe (In-coming S-1 Rep)


2) UPCOMING MEETINGS OF INTEREST (arranged by meeting date)

A) AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December 11-15, 2006
The 2006 AGU Fall Meeting provides an opportunity for more than 12,000 researchers, teachers, students, and consultants to present and review the latest issues affecting the Earth, the planets, and their environments in space. This meeting will cover topics in all areas of Earth and space sciences. For further information please visit: http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm06/

B) International Soil Moisture Sensing Technology Conference, Honolulu, March 19-21, 2007
The International Soil Moisture Sensing Technology Conference provides a great opportunity to discuss current and future research directions in soil moisture in-situ sensing technology with special emphasis on sensor reliability and measurement scale dependency. Objectives of the conference include:

- Techniques for new generation soil moisture and thermal probes
- Background theory on complex permittivity, thermal properties, and sensor/soil interactions
- Effects of electrical conductivity, bulk density, clay type and amount, organic matter, water
- repellency, and soil structure.
- Measurement volumes as related to sensor size, configuration and method of operation.
- Techniques for on-site calibration of sensors.

Paper abstracts will be published, and we will pursue publication of the papers in a special journal issue.
For further information please visit: www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/faresa/Conference/


3) NEW JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS

To review all announcements from the last six months please visit: http://soils.ag.uidaho.edu/tuller/s-1/jobs.htm

A) Graduate Research Assistantship- Soil Physics/Remote Sensing (Posted: 12/3/2006)

The USDA ARS Southwest Watershed Research Center in Tucson, AZ, invites applications for a full-time graduate research assistant position preferably at the PhD level (applications at the Masters level will be considered). The assistantship is available to a student, who wishes to pursue a degree in Soil Science (Soil & Environmental Physics) at the Department of Soil, Water & Environmental Sciences (SWES) at the University of Arizona, and is interested in remote sensing applications for large-scale soil moisture monitoring.

The student will be supervised by Dr. Susan Moran (USDA Hydrologist) and Dr. Markus Tuller (SWES Soil & Environmental Physics) and be closely associated with scientists at the Topographic Engineering Center (TEC) in Alexandria, VA, and the U.S. ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Center (CREEL).

U.S. citizenship is required to facilitate research with and visits to the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) laboratories.

We are looking for a highly motivated graduate student with good mathematical and computational skills, and preferably a degree in Soil Science, Hydrology, Geophysics, or related field. Advanced skills in image processing and computer programming (preferably MATLAB) are desired. The student must qualify for admission into the Master or PhD program at University of Arizona. The graduate student handbook can be downloaded from: http://ag.arizona.edu/swes/instruction/gradhandbook.pdf
Contact: Dr. Susan Moran (520-670-6380 Ext.171; smoran@tucson.ars.ag.gov) or Dr. Markus Tuller (208-559-8875; mtuller@cals.arizona.edu).

B) Postdoctoral Research Associate- Soil and Environmental Physics (Posted: 12/3/2006)

The Soil & Environmental Physics Group at the University of Arizona invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position. We seek highly motivated candidates with good mathematical, computational, and technical background for theoretical and experimental work on porous media flow and transport phenomena. Applicants with strong Soil Physics, Engineering, or Geophysics background will be given preference. Please contact Dr. Markus Tuller (208-559-8875 or mtuller@cals.arizona.edu).

C) PhD Research Assistantship- Soil & Environmental Physics (Posted: 12/3/2006)

The Soil & Environmental Physics Group at the University of Arizona invites applications for a full-time Ph.D. Graduate Research Assistant position. We seek a highly motivated student with excellent mathematical, computational, and technical background for theoretical and experimental work on pore space evolution and hydraulic properties of swelling porous media. Students with strong Soil Physics, Engineering, or Geophysics background are encouraged to apply. Please contact Dr. Markus Tuller (208-559-8875 or mtuller@cals.arizona.edu). The Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences graduate student handbook can be downloaded from: http://ag.arizona.edu/swes/instruction/gradhandbook.pdf.

D) MS Research Assistantship- Soil & Environmental Physics (Posted: 12/3/2006)

The Soil & Environmental Physics Group at the University of Arizona invites applications for a full-time MS Research Assistant position. We seek a highly motivated student with good mathematical, computational, and technical background for theoretical and experimental work on plant-soil-atmospheric interactions in arid environments. Students with strong Soil Physics, Engineering, or Geophysics background are encouraged to apply. Please contact Dr. Markus Tuller (208-559-8875 or mtuller@cals.arizona.edu). The Soil, Water and Environmental Sciences graduate student handbook can be downloaded from: http://ag.arizona.edu/swes/instruction/gradhandbook.pdf.

E) Postdoc Positions in Subsurface Flow and Transport Modeling (Posted: 11/28/2006)

The Subsurface Flow and Transport Team in the Hydrology, Geology and Geochemistry (EES-6) group of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory seeks outstanding applicants for postdoctoral positions. The successful applicants will have education, training, and experience in model development for subsurface flow and transport processes on various scales. Potential research topics include multiphase flow and transport, reactive solute transport, flow and transport in fractures, particle-tracking simulation on unstructured grids, and decision analysis under uncertainty. This work will contribute to ongoing interdisciplinary investigations that include flow and transport modeling, data collection, remedy selection, and decision analysis. We provide access to advanced numerical simulation codes and state-of-the-art computing facilities.

Required Skills: Applicants must have a strong background in hydrogeology and demonstrated experience in conceptualization and numerical development of subsurface flow and transport models. Applicants should be proficient in one or more programming or scripting language.
Desired Skills: Experience with multi-processor computational environments and integrating state-of-the-art theoretical developments in the area of flow and transport modeling with analysis of field data. A demonstrated record of peer-reviewed publications is also highly desirable.

Education: A Ph.D. in Hydrology, Geosciences, or Engineering completed within the last five years or soon to be completed is required.

To Apply: Send a cover letter and resume/CV to jobs@lanl.gov referencing Job#213664-Eos in the subject line. For further technical information contact Andrew Wolfsberg at awolf@lanl.gov or Velimir Vesselinov at vvv@lanl.gov.

F) Assistant Professor - Soil & Water Quality
(Posted: 11/22/2006)

The University of Florida, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, Wimauma, FL is seeking applicants for a 12-month tenure track Assistant Professor position (0001-3878) in soil and water quality (70% research and 30% extension). Primary research and extension responsibilities will be related directly to soil-plant-water relationships for residential and commercial landscape management practices. Emphasis of the research program will be in the area of nutrient management and other emerging contaminants to minimize water quality degradation (surface and subsurface) in an urban environment. Excellent opportunities exist to develop other collaborative programs related to urban landscape management ecology. The faculty member will actively participate in graduate education. The incumbent will have opportunities to participate in the distance education graduate program in the Soil and Water Science Department. A Ph.D. in soil and water science or a closely related field is required. Candidates should have demonstrated skills in verbal and written communication and interpersonal relationships. Candidates are expected to support programs through procurement of extramural funding.

Interested persons are requested to submit the following items: (1) A letter of application discussing career goals and satisfaction of the stated qualifications; (2) A detailed curriculum vitae; (3) Official academic transcripts from all institutions attended (transcripts must be sent directly from the Institution to the address below); and (4) Three letters of recommendation (letters must be sent directly from the person writing the recommendation to the address below). All of the above items must be postmarked by the closing date of January 15, 2007 and sent to: Dr. Craig D. Stanley, Chair, Search and Screen Committee, University of Florida, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, 14625 CR 672, Wimauma, FL 33598; cdstan@ufl.edu. Implementation of the Affirmative Action program of the University of Florida is required.

G) Graduate Assistantships - Civil and Environmental Engineering (Posted: 11/14/2006)

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University is ranked 26th in the nation. We offer masters of engineering, masters of science, and doctoral degrees in Civil Engineering with concentrations in a variety of disciplines. The department has a very active research program with research expenditures of over $10 million last year and has and has a diverse faculty of 35 individuals. This creates great opportunities for highly qualified students to work in cutting edge research. The department offers graduate assistantships that in some instances covers graduate student tuition (both in-state and out-of-state), and provide a salary for students, ranging from $14,000 - $17,000 per academic year (9-months) or more depending on student qualifications and the nature of the support. In addition the Department awards a large number of graduate scholarships. Last year the department awarded 60 graduate scholarships for over $91,000 to our students. Highly qualified students can apply for up to $250 in reimbursable travel scholarships to visit the department.
Visit our website at: http://www.engr.colostate.edu/ce/students/grad/prospective_grad.shtml and explore the possibilities of joining the CEE department at CSU.

H) Assistant Professor - Environmental Geophysics. (Posted: 11/14/2006)

The Vancouver Campus of Washington State University invites applications for a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor in environmental geophysics. Area of emphasis is open, but candidates with expertise in surface or shallow sub-surface processes, and who complement the strengths of existing science faculty, are strongly encouraged to apply. Successful applicant will teach two courses per year, advise both graduate and undergraduate students and establish a productive, externally funded research program. Excellence in research and instruction are the main criteria for selection. Minimum qualifications: Ph.D. in geophysics-related discipline by date of hire. Preferred candidates will demonstrate a commitment to working with diverse student and community populations. WSU Vancouver is located across the Columbia River from Portland, OR and offers significant opportunities for research and an excellent quality of life. Additional information is available at http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/programs/sci/.

Applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, statement of research interests and accomplishments, statement of teaching philosophy and interests, copies of two publications, and three letters of reference to: Environmental Geophysics Search, Washington State University Vancouver, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave., Vancouver, WA 98686-9600. Review of completed applications will begin on January 2, 2007.

Washington State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action educator and employer. Members of groups historically under-represented in science are strongly encouraged to apply.


APPENDICES

A) S-1 Contacts
Chair (07): Jirka Simunek jiri.simunek@ucr.edu
Chair-Elect (08): Per Møldrup pm@bio.aau.dk
ASA and SSSA Board Representative (07-08): David Radcliffe: dradclif@uga.edu
SSSA Journal S-1 Technical Editor: Glenn Wilson: gvwilson@ars.usda.gov
Vadose Zone Journal (VZJ) Editor: Rien van Genuchten RVANG@ussl.ars.usda.gov

B) S-1 Working Groups and Committees
S-1 Program 2007 ASA-SSSA Meeting (New Orleans, LA, Nov. 4 - 8): Jirka Simunek
S-1 Early Career Award: Ty Ferré (Chair), Shmulik Friedman, Michael Young, and Jon Wraith