International Union of Soil Sciences

The International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), founded in 1924 under the name International Society of Soil Science, is a scientific union and member of the International Council for Science (ICSU).

The Union has 86 national and regional member societies with about 60,000 scientists^[1] in several countries and individual members in 57 countries. Every four years, the IUSS holds the World Congress of Soil Science.

The Secretary is Sigbert Huber. He is an officer of the Environment Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt), located in Vienna.

Mission

The purpose of the IUSS is to promote all branches of soil science and its applications, to promote contacts among scientists and other persons engaged in the study and the application of soil science; to stimulate scientific research and to further the application of such research.

The IUSS is a founding partner of the International Year of Planet Earth and supports all of its activities. The IUSS has contributed to the International Year of Planet Earth's brochure "Soil – earth's living skin", which has been translated into several languages.

The IUSS publishes^[2] monthly the IUSS Alert and twice a year the IUSS Bulletin. December 5 is celebrated as the World Soil Day.

Organization: The Divisions

The IUSS has Divisions and Commissions in the following areas:

Division 1 – Soils in space and time

• C1.1 Soil morphology and micromorphology
• C1.2 Soil geography
• C1.3 Soil genesis
• C1.4 Soil classification
• C1.5 Pedometrics
• C1.6 Paleopedology

Division 2 – Soil properties and processes

• C2.1 Soil physics
• C2.2 Soil chemistry
• C2.3 Soil biology
• C2.4 Soil mineralogy
• C2.5 Soil interfacial reactions

Division 3 – Soil use and management

• C3.1 Soil evaluation and land use planning
• C3.2 Soil and water conservation
• C3.3 Soil fertility and plant nutrition
• C3.4 Soil engineering and technology
• C3.5 Soil degradation control, remediation, and reclamation

Division 4 – The role of soil in sustaining society and the environment

• C4.1 Soil and the environment
• C4.2 Soil, food security, and human health
• C4.3 Soil and land use change
• C4.4 Soil education and public awareness
• C4.5 History, philosophy, and sociology of soil science

This structure and the Commissions have grown from the original six Commissions established in 1924.

In addition, the IUSS holds many Working Groups.^[3] Every Working Group is associated to a Commission.

Organization: The President

Until 2014, the IUSS President was designated by the national soil science society that was responsible for the next World Congress of Soil Science. This was normally a 4-years period. The change in office was immediately after closing the World Congress. However, many tasks of scientific leadership were done by a Secretary-General. The last IUSS President according to this regulation was Jae Yang, who acted from the closure of the World Congress 2010 till the closure of the World Congress 2014.

Since 2014, the IUSS President is elected by the IUSS Council for a 2-years period. Since 2017, the change in office is January 1. The election is more than two years in advance. The IUSS President is the scientific leader, and the Secretary (instead of the former Secretary-General) is the organizing leader. The first IUSS President according to the new regulation was Rainer Horn, who acted from the closure (June 13) of the World Congress 2014 till December 31, 2016.

Congresses and Presidents

World Congresses of Soil Science and IUSS Presidents^[4]

Nr	Congress	Location		President
22.	2022	Glasgow	United Kingdom	2021–2022	Laura Bertha Reyes Sánchez	Mexico
				2019–2020	Takashi Kosaki	Japan
21.	2018	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	2017–2018	Rattan Lal	United States
20.	2014	Jeju-do Island	South Korea	2014–2016	Rainer Horn	Germany
19.	2010	Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	2010–2014	Jae Yang	South Korea
18.	2006	Philadelphia	United States	2006–2010	R.S. Swift	Australia
17.	2002	Bangkok	Thailand	2002–2006	D.L. Sparks	United States
16.	1998	Montpellier	France	1998–2002	S. Theerawong	Thailand
15.	1994	Acapulco	Mexico	1994–1998	A. Ruellan	France
14.	1990	Kyoto	Japan	1990–1994	A.A. Santelises	Mexico
13.	1986	Hamburg	West Germany	1986–1990	A. Tanaka	Japan
12.	1982	New Delhi	India	1982–1986	K.H. Hartge	West Germany
11.	1978	Alberta	Canada	1978–1982	J.S. Kanwar	India
10.	1974	Moscow	Soviet Union	1974–1978	C.F. Bentley	Canada
9.	1968	Adelaide	Australia	1968–1974	V.A. Kovda	Soviet Union
8.	1964	Bucharest	Romania	1964–1968	E.G. Hallsworth	Australia
7.	1960	Madison, Wisconsin	United States	1960–1964	N.C. Cernescu	Romania
6.	1956	Paris	France	1956–1960	R. Bradfield	United States
5.	1954	Kinshasa (Leopoldville)	DR Congo	1954–1956	A. Oudin	France
4.	1950	Amsterdam	Netherlands	1950–1954	R. Tavernier	Belgium
	x			1950	C.H. Edelman	Netherlands
3.	1935	Oxford	England
2.	1930	Leningrad	Soviet Union	1930–1935	J. Russell	United Kingdom
1.	1927	Washington, D.C.	United States	1927–1930	K. Gedroiz	Soviet Union
Fd.	1924			1924–1927	J. G. Lipman	United States

See also

• World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS)

References

External links

• IUSS Website