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SSS Soil System Sciences Division on Soil System Sciences

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European Geosciences Union

Division on Soil System Sciences
sss.egu.eu

Division on Soil System Sciences

President: Heike Knicker (Emailsss@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Araceli Perez-Sanz (Email)
ECS Representative: Beatrice Giannetta (Emailecs-sss@egu.eu)

Soil is the interface between the crust and atmosphere, and is the basis of life on Earth.  The impact of soil science to the society has probably never been as high as it is currently. The importance of soils in the Earth system must make us, the soil scientists, more noticeable at the EGU. The aim of the Division on Soil System Sciences (SSS) is to coordinate the EGU scientific programme on soil science and related activities. The SSS contributes actively with EGU by promoting scientific interchange and dissemination of activity carried out by members.

Soils at Imaggeo: shoot your soil!

Amazing soil pictures? Are you a photo artist? Share your work at Imaggeo, the open-access image repository of European Geosciences Union.

Aggregate from an Irish peat soil (Credit: Antonio Jordán, distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)
Aggregate from an Irish peat soil (Credit: Antonio Jordán, distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Latest news

Campfire meeting on 17 December 2025 at 11:00 CET
  • 12 December 2025

Dear all, 

We would like to invite you to attend an online cross-division Campfire meeting on 17 December 2025 at 11:00 CET organized by the EGU Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology, and Volcanology (GMPV) and Soil System Sciences (SSS) Divisions:

Mineralogy Meets Soil Science: Remediation, Weathering Processes and Interactions

Register to the Event here: https://www.egu.eu/webinars/687/gmpv-sss-campfire-mineralogy-meets-soil-science-remediation-weathering-processes-and-interactions/

Please feel free to share this link and registration.

We are happy to share that we will have four presentations during the campfire: 

Ewa Stępień, University of Krakow: Zeolites and apatites to immobilize As(V) from the soil systems Fluid-mineral mediated formation of mimetite Pb₅(AsO₄)₃Cl for efficient arsenate removal from water using Pb-modified zeolite.

Błażej Cieślik, University of Wrocław: Nickel pathways during ex situ mineral carbonation of serpentinized peridotites: Implications, advantages, and challenges. 

Xavier Dupla, ETH Zurich, Back to the future of Enhanced Rock Weathering: a little agronomic journey in time

Thiago Inagaki, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, C-Persistence Across Scales: Leveraging Organo-Mineral Associations and Management to Build Climate-Resilient Soils.

This event is organized by:

Bartosz Puizo, Mariane Boulanger 

Marcus Schiedung, Beatrice Giannetta and Diana Vieira  

Latest posts from the SSS blog

Is Soil Quality the same in all Conservation Agriculture Fields?

Soil degradation has become a major environmental concern. Today, 62% of European soils are affected by at least one degradation process, largely driven by land sealing and unsustainable farming practices (Mason et al. 2023; EUSO 2024). Conservation Agriculture (CA) is often promoted as a promising alternative, combining sustainable production with improved soil quality (Chabert et Sarthou 2020; Thierfelder et al. 2017). CA is built on three pillars: minimizing mechanical soil disturbance, maximizing soil organic cover, and diversifying crop species. Together, …


Soil Carbon, Resilience, and Modelling the Future: A Conversation with Katerina Georgiou

Soils play a central role in climate change mitigation and adaptation, with soil carbon management increasingly seen as a key pathway for enhancing ecosystem resilience—particularly in agricultural systems. At the same time, predicting how soil carbon responds to changing climate and management remains one of the major challenges in soil system science. In this interview, we speak with Katerina Georgiou, recipient of the 2025 EGU Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award in Soil System Sciences. Her research focuses on advancing our …

Recent awardees

Bettina Weber

Bettina Weber

  • 2026
  • Alina Kabata-Pendias Medal

The 2026 Alina Kabata-Pendias Medal is awarded to Bettina Weber for pioneering, interdisciplinary contributions to understanding cryptogamic communities and biocrusts, and their role in biogeochemical cycles, particularly in nitrogen cycle.


Cornelia Rumpel

Cornelia Rumpel

  • 2026
  • Philippe Duchaufour Medal

The 2026 Philippe Duchaufour Medal is awarded to Cornelia Rumpel for pioneering interdisciplinary research on soil organic matter and exceptional leadership advancing soil science through mentorship and global engagement.


Layla Márquez San Emeterio

Layla Márquez San Emeterio

  • 2026
  • Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award

The 2026 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Layla Márquez San Emeterio for significantly advancing our understanding of the origin, turnover, and stabilization of soil organic matter in Mediterranean agroecosystems.


Wulf Amelung

Wulf Amelung

  • 2025
  • Philippe Duchaufour Medal

The 2025 Philippe Duchaufour Medal is awarded to Wulf Amelung for pioneering research in uncovering the mechanisms of soil degradation and efforts to restore soil functions, thereby enabling sustainable agriculture and land use.


Katerina Georgiou

Katerina Georgiou

  • 2025
  • Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award

The 2025 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Katerina Georgiou for significant contributions to the understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of carbon cycling at a range of scales; from soil particle to field-scale, to global predictions.


Daniel Asiamah Aboagye

Daniel Asiamah Aboagye

  • 2025
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2025 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Daniel Asiamah Aboagye Effect of Residue Application Methods and Long-Term No-Tillage Management on Residue Decomposition and Priming Effect in Japanese Andosol: Evidence from a Field Incubation Experiment


Kavindra Senaratna

Kavindra Senaratna

  • 2025
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2025 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Kavindra Senaratna Characterizing Soil Respiration rates across different Land uses in a Tropical Urban Catchment


Martin-Georg Endress

Martin-Georg Endress

  • 2025
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2025 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Martin-Georg Endress Exploring the energetics of soil microbial metabolism under substrate limitation

Current issue of the EGU newsletter

In our February issue, we are following pioneering scientists into extreme places in the name of discovery, from a day-in-the-life of an Antarctic researcher working on the sea ice to how the Viking spaceships took space plasma from theory to observation. Marie Cavitte shares her experience of the Blue Book traineeship in science for policy and Elsa Abs talks about their work with soil microbes. EGU's President thanks our 12,000 volunteers from 2025 and we share the 24 training schools and member-organised meetings we have funded in 2026. Deadlines approach for the EGU26 photo competition and Early-bird registration fees, and there is a job vacancy in the EGU Executive office in Munich, Germany!

All this and much more, in this month's Loupe!

Current issue of the SSS division newsletter

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the February newsletter of the EGU Soil System Sciences Division! This month, we invite you to learn more about the EU Soil Policy Dialogue: “Aligning European and National Soil Strategies”, and the SOILveR webinar series: “Integration of Soil Health in decision-making processes at various scales”, read a new SOIL paper, discover an interesting interview with the new SSS Blog post, and learn more about the SSS Division through our Linkedin and Bluesky pages. Moreover, we also have some reminders to attend the iCOSHINE: “Soil literacy approaches in Living Labs” workshop, the next EGU SSS Division Campfire and apply for the EGU Photo Competition 2026.

Heike Knicker, Division President

Beatrice Giannetta & Sana Boubehziz, ECS Reps

The ECS Team

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