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Keynote Speakers

Prof Donald Sparks is S. Hallock du Pont Endowed Chair of Soil and Environmental Chemistry and Chairman of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA. He is nationally and internationally recognised for his research on the kinetics of soil chemical reactions and the application of state-of-the-art molecular scale spectroscopic and microscopic techniques to elucidate reaction mechanisms. Prof Sparks has authored three books, 36 book chapters and 144 refereed papers. He has edited 43 books, presented 112 invited papers at national and international symposia and been a visiting professor at over 64 universities, laboratories and institutes in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Prof Sparks was named Distinguished Professor in 1994 and T.A. Baker Professor in 2001. He also received the University of Delaware’s prestigious Francis Alison Award in 1996 and was the first recipient of the UD Doctoral Advising and Mentoring Award. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America and American Association for the Advancement of Science. Prof Sparks has served as President of the Soil Science Society of America and is President of the International Union of Soil Sciences. He has also served on National Academy of Science/National Research Council Committees and is on the editorial boards of seven international journals and serial reviews.

Prof Johan Bouma received his PhD at Wageningen University, in the Netherlands in 1969. He then moved to the University of Wisconsin as a postdoctoral and became Associate Professor with tenure in 1973. Returning to the Netherlands in 1975, Prof Bouma worked at the Soil Survey Institute, first in the Department of Soil Physics, later as Deputy Director in charge of research. In 1986 he was appointed Professor of Soil Inventorisation and Land Evaluation at Wageningen University, from which he retired in 2002. Until 2004 he was Director of Research of the Environmental Resources Unit of Wageningen University and Research Center. From 1998-2003 he was a part-time (60%) member of the Scientific Council for Government Policy in the Hague, a think-tank in the Prime Minister’s office. He is now on the board of the Physics Section of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Amsterdam and a co-ordinator of a national research program on sustainable agriculture.

Dr Brent Clothier is a soil physicist and environmental scientist who is leader of the Environment Sector within HortResearch based in Palmerston North, NZ. Dr Clothier has a BSc (Hons I) (1974) from Canterbury University and a PhD (1977) and DSc (2002) from Massey University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Soil Science Society of America, the American Agronomy Society and the New Zealand Soil Science Society. In his 30-year research career, Dr Clothier has published over 150 scientific papers on the movement and fate of water and chemicals in production systems and the environment. He has led projects on risk assessments of land-use practices and the protection of soils, surface water and groundwater from contamination, both in New Zealand and in the Pacific islands.Dr Clothier is Chair of the Editorial Advisory Committee of the Australian Journal of Soil Research and is a Council member of the New Zealand Society of Soil Science.

Prof Bob Gilkes is a Professor of Soil Science at the University of Western Australia where he has worked since 1969. After graduating in physical and earth sciences in the UK he spent time working with CSIRO divisions and in universities and research centres in France, the UK, Republic of South Africa, Thailand, China and India. Prof Gilkes' research interests extend from the fundamental mineralogy of clay minerals, sesquioxides and phosphates, where observations are made at the atomic scale, through to studies in WA landscapes. He has used his knowledge of soil materials to work on problems of mine rehabilitation, mineral exploration, soil fertility and forensic science. Prof Gilkes has received several distinctions for his work, been chair of national and international scientific societies and served on boards of many journals and review committees; but now avoids committees like the plague! He is at his most relaxed at weekends when fishing from his beach shack at Moore River or playing with his growing tribe of grandchildren.

Prof Stuart Hill came to the University of Western Sydney, Australia, from Canada. He established Ecological Agriculture Projects, a leading resource centre for sustainable agriculture (www.eap.mcgill.ca) and was a member of over 30 regional, national and international boards and committees. Prof Hill has worked in agriculture and development projects in the West Indies, UK, French West Africa, Indonesia, The Philippines, Seychelles, New Zealand and Australia. He has a background in chemical engineering, ecology, soil biology, entomology, agriculture, psychotherapy, education, policy and international development and experience working with change. Prof Hill has published over 350 papers and reports. His latest book (with Martin Mulligan) is “Ecological Pioneers: A Social History of Australian Ecological Thought and Action”, Cambridge UP, 2001. He is on the editorial board of four refereed journals and until 2004 was on the NSW Council on Environmental Education.

Ms Rebecca Lines-Kelly is a writer who is fascinated by soils and their importance in our lives. She is the author of Soil Sense, a manual for farmers and has developed several simple communication tools to help people better understand the soils around them. From 1996-1998 she was a member of the ASSSI Federal Committee and editor of the society’s newsletter Profile. She works with NSW Department of Primary Industries as an extension specialist in environmental issues at the Wollongbar Agricultural Institute, Australia.

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