Pierre Memorial Lecture in Soil Science to feature David Myrold

April 7, 2017

AMES, Iowa— David D. Myrold, professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Science at Oregon State University, is the guest speaker for the 2017 William H. Pierre Memorial Lecture in Soil Science at Iowa State University (ISU).

Myrold’s lecture, “Microbial Communities and Nitrogen Cycling in Diverse Soils,” is Friday, April 14, 2017, at 1:10 PM in 1204 Kildee Hall (Ensminger Room) on the ISU campus. The transformations of nitrogen in soil ecosystems — and the organisms involved in those transformations — have been well studied for more than a century. Despite this, research in recent years has shown that the nitrogen cycle is more complex and less understood than we once thought. This lecture will explore some of these recent insights in to soil N cycling.

Myrold applies a quantitative approach to the study of soil microorganisms and biogeochemical processes, often using stable isotope and molecular analyses. He teaches courses on soil microbiology, principles of stable isotopes, and soil microbial ecology. He has served on the editorial boards of Soil Biology and Biochemistry and ISME Journal, and is currently the Editor-in-Chief for the Soil Science Society of America. He is a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and of the Soil Science Society of America, and he was the joint recipient of the Soil Science Research Award of the Soil Science Society of America in 2007.

 

The lecture series honors the memory of Dr. William H. Pierre (1898-1982) who served agronomic sciences and ISU as an administrator, researcher, and leader; most notably as the head of the ISU Agronomy Department from 1938 until 1964.  His initial work on the effect of nitrogen fertilizers on soil pH was rewarded with the American Society of Agronomy Nitrogen Research Award in 1931. His research on the effect of nitrogen fertilizers on soil pH elucidated to the effect of crops on soil acidity development by the cation-anion balance in plants and the excess-base concept.

The lecture is part of a series through the Sustainability Task Force in the ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and is co-sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture was established in 1987 through the Iowa Groundwater Protection Act. It is a research and education center at Iowa State University created to identify and reduce negative farming impacts and to develop new ways to farm profitably while conserving natural resources. The Center’s competitive grants program awards funds to researchers and investigators across Iowa, extending more than 500 competitive grants since 1988. For more information about the Leopold Center, visit the website: www.leopold.iastate.edu.

 

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