Call for nominations - Pedometrics "Webster Medal"

[Grunwald,Sabine]

Richard Webster Medal 2014 -- Call for nominations

You are encouraged -- individually or as a group -- to nominate candidates for the Richard Webster Medal of the Internation Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), to be awarded at the 20th World Soil Congress in Jeju (Republic of Korea) in June 2014. This medal recognizes the person who has most advanced pedometrics in the period between the IUSS World Congresses of 2010 and 2014, while also considering achievements prior to that period.

"Pedometrics" is defined according to the IUSS as "the application of mathematical and statistical methods for the study of the distribution and genesis of soils."

The two previous recipients (Alex McBratney 2006 and Jap de Gruijter 2010) are not eligible for a second award; the other eligibility criteria are (1) membership in the IUSS via their national society, (2) to be willing to be a keynote speaker at the next biannual conference of the IUSS Pedometrics Commission.

Scientists eligible for the award will have shown:
(a) a distinction in the application of mathematics or statistics in soil science through their published works;

(b) innovative research in the field of pedometrics;

(c) leadership qualities in pedometrics research, for example, by leading a strong research team;

(d) contributions to various aspects of education in pedometrics (e.g., supervision of doctoral students, teaching of pedometrics courses in higher education, the development of courses for broader professional needs); and

(e) service to pedometrics (e.g., by serving on a committee of the Pedometrics Commission or promoting pedometrics to the IUSS).


Nominations procedure
1) Nominations for the Richard Webster Medal should be made by a colleague or colleagues who know the person's work well -- these do not have to be IUSS members or active in pedometrics. The nomination should include a curriculum vitae and a short statement (a maximum of 750 words) summarizing the relevant qualifications of the nominee with respect to the conditions outlined in the section, requirements and eligibility, above.

2) The proposer(s) should submit the following on behalf of their nominee two months before the next IUSS conference:

(a) their published work for the four-year period between consecutive IUSS meetings,

(b) a suitable curriculum vitae that gives one or more the following, always showing clear relevance to pedometrics:

i. all previous publications,

ii. positions held,

iii. research undertaken,

iv. education of others,

v. teaching courses developed,

vi. and leadership and management of research projects .



Nominations should be sent before 08-April (two months prior to the Congress) to the Chairman of the Pedometrics award committee:

David G. Rossiter (University of Twente (NL), Cornell University (USA): d.g.ro...@utwente.nl or dg...@cornell.edu

The nominations are evaluated with a point system on the five criteria by the award committee members:

David G. Rossiter (University of Twente (NL), Cornell University (USA)

Sabine Grunwald (University of Florida, USA)

Alex McBratney (University of Sydney, Australia)

Margaret Oliver (University of Reading, UK)

Lin Yang (Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Beijing, PRC)



This committee was appointed by the IUSS Pedometrics Commission advisory board in January 2014.

A slightly more detailed description of the prize and procedures may be found on the IUSS web pages:

http://www.iuss.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=90%3Athe-richard-webster-medal&catid=12%3Aiuss-awards&Itemid=7