SBCS Newsletter August 2023
Solos Floripa was successfully carried out in Santa Catarina
Around 1300 people participated, between July 30th and August 4th, in Florianópolis, SC, in the XXIII Latin American Congress of Soil Science and the XXXVIII Brazilian Congress of Soil Science. Together, the events were given the fancy name Solos Floripa 2023. The event is jointly promoted by the Latin American (SLCS) and Brazilian (SBCS) Soil Science Societies, with the support of the International Union of Soil Science (IUSS).
Solos Floripa was carried out by the Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company of Santa Catarina (Epagri) and chaired by researcher Elisângela Benedet. This was the first in-person event held by SBCS since 2018, due to the coronavirus pandemic that interrupted scientific events in Brazil and around the world.
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Solos Floripa 2023 in numbers 1300 participants 30% were undergraduate students 26% were graduate students 38% were professionals. 84% Brazilian. The rest came from Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Peru, Argentina and Uruguay.
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The theme During the event, the public will be able to participate in seven conferences, 27 symposiums with two lectures each and three mini-courses in all areas of soil science, creating great opportunities to update contemporary topics in soil science and contacts with renowned researchers. Solos Floripa had the theme “Latin America and the good governance of its soils and biomes: possibility or utopia? A video produced by Epagri highlights some highly relevant speakers and topics.
Women at the helm of scientific societies
Solos Floripa 2023 was marked by the presence of women at the head of scientific soil science societies.
The president of the event, Elisângela Benedet (Epagri) presiding over the Latin American Society of Soil Science (SLCS), professor Lúcia Anjos (UFRRJ) heading the SBCS and Mexican researcher Laura Bertha as president of the International Union of Soil Science (IUSS)
In their speeches, they highlighted that there is a crisis in researchers joining scientific societies and that these difficulties need to be rethought so that there is an understanding of the importance of these societies for strengthening science and soil governance.
New board
The holding of the Brazilian Soil Science Congresses marks the renewal of the SBCS boards, made up of president, vice-presidents, advisors, executive secretary and directors of the Specialized Divisions and Commissions and, in some cases, of the Regional/State Centers. The elections
During Solos Floripa 2023, professor Lúcia Anjos (UFRRJ), who held the position for two terms, handed over the position to the new president, Maria Eugênia Escobar, elected by the Board of Directors and endorsed by the General Assembly. In the case of the boards of Divisions and Commissions, the election is made by the participating members and endorsed by the Council. The vice-presidents will be the directors of the next two Congresses.
The headquarters of SBCS will remain at the Federal University of Viçosa -MG, and the Secretariat will continue to be exercised by professors Reinaldo Bertola Cantarutti (general secretary) Raphael Bragança Fernandes (deputy secretary) and Igor Assis (treasurer).
The directorates of the Centers, Divisions and Commissions can be seen on the SBCS website.
SBCS is immensely grateful to Professor Lúcia Anjos for her work leading the presidency of SBCS from 2019 to 2023.
SBCS has new president
Maria Eugênia Escobar was elected by the SBCS Board of Directors on Sunday, July 30th, and had her name endorsed by the SBCS General Assembly this Wednesday, August 2nd.
Since 2010, Maria Eugênia has been a professor in the Department of Soil Sciences at the Federal University of Ceará where she leads the Soil Quality and Environmental Chemistry Research Group (QSQA). As advisor for the Postgraduate Program in Soil Science and Ecology and Natural Resources at UFC, she works in the areas of soil chemistry, environmental chemistry, heavy metals and the use of biosolids and industrial waste as soil conditioners. Between 2019 and 2023, she held the position of Director of the Northeast Regional Center of SBCS.
The new president called for everyone to come together in search of strengthening SBCS as a representative entity of soil science in Brazil “It is time to call all scientists who work with soil in all their areas, the youngest, those who are in training and those who have a little extra time in this area, come, contribute and strengthen SBCS”. She also reaffirmed her dedication to serving SBCS and enhancing Soil Science with courage, commitment, sensitivity, respect and dedication to SBCS.
1st Latin American Solo Competition
In the São Joaquim region, in Serra Catarinense, students from Brazil and Spain participated in the 1st Latin American Soil Competition. The event was held on the 26th, 27th and 28th of July, as part of the Solos Floripa 2023 program and preceding the start of the Congress. The competition was promoted by SBCS and the Latin American Soil Science Society (SLCS), organized by UFSC, UFSM and Epagri. It was coordinated by professors Arcângelo Loss (UFSC) and Fabrício de Araújo Pedron (UFSM). the event was held at the São Joaquim Experimental Station (Epagri – EESJ).
Soil identification and interpretation competitions are common at International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) events and have been held in Southern Brazil since 2015. Now, they should be part of the official program of the Brazilian Soil Science Congresses.
This time, participants had to evaluate the soils of the São Joaquim region according to the criteria, hierarchical levels and soil classes in the Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 2022) or World Reference Base for Soil Resources (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2022) . According to professors Arcângelo and Fabrício, the main objective of this event is to allow students to learn about soils from different regions and have the opportunity to interact with students, technicians and researchers from other universities and countries. It’s a good time to also develop skills related to soil interpretation in the field.
1st place = Team 2 – Spain (Coach Jorge Solera)
2nd place =Team 3 – Brazil (Técnica Taciara Horst)
3rd place = Team 4 – Brazil (Coach Pablo Miguel)
VIII Latin American Symposium on Educational Innovations in Soil Science Teaching
During Solos Floripa 2023, around 130 children and teachers from 12 schools, eight from Santa Catarina and the others from Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Spain presented innovative teaching experiences involving soil and environmental content to the public.
The Symposium was opened by the president of the International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) Laura Bertha, who reminded young people and children that it is important to be at an international scientific congress and that they will also be able to participate in such events, if they wish.
“The only way to stop land degradation is to educate school-age children, showing them the fundamental importance of soil health and the harm of degradation to humanity,” said Laura Bertha.
Tributes
Paulo Leonal Libardi
Professor Paulo Leonal Libardi received the Antonio Carlos Moniz Medal of Merit in Soil Science during the opening ceremony of Solos Floripa. The honor is awarded every two years, during the Brazilian Soil Science Congresses, to a single professional who has, throughout his scientific life, contributed extraordinarily to the advancement of science or technology in Brazilian soil science.
Professor at the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture at Esalq/USP, Paulo Leonal Libardi has built a solid career as a researcher and advisor and author of books and articles that are references in the area of Soil Physics.
Bernardo Van Raij
The researcher from the Campinas Agronomic Institute (IAC) was chosen by SBCS to be its newest honorary member, an honor for members of great prestige in science and dedication to SBCS.
In addition to his career dedicated to soil science, he has also always been committed to strengthening the SBCS.
Next Congress will be in Maranhão
During the SBCS General Assembly, held during Solos Floripa 2023, professor Glécio Machado Siqueira, from the Federal University of Maranhão, presented the State’s candidacy to host the next Brazilian Soil Science Congress. The venue was approved by the partners and the event should be held between August and September 2025, in São Luís, the state capital. The promotion will be from the SBCS Eastern Amazon Regional Center.
New edition of Topics in Soil Science
Volume XII of the “Topics in Soil Science” series was launched during Solos Floripa 2023. There are 15 chapters that were prepared by recognized authors in their areas of teaching and research. As in the previous volume, SBCS chose young researchers to define contemporary themes that cut across soil science that need to be debated by the scientific community and be present in teaching and postgraduate studies.
Editors: Tiago Assis Nogueira (Unesp), Mauro Roberto Cherubin (Esalq/USP), Arthur Prudêncio de Araújo Pereira (UFC) and Tales Tiecher (UFRGS)
