The New Year already feels well underway, and we’re straight into planning for the next annual conference—as well as our Early Careers’ conference! Last December’s conference was a huge success, especially with so many Early Career presenters involved—covering an impressive 17 out of 25 oral presentations and a wide range of topics. We also hosted an EC-specific careers networking evening, giving our members a great chance to explore future opportunities from those in the industry, as well as catch up with fellow EC members.
2024 was a year of change for the Committee, as we said goodbye to Kirsty, Jess, Izzy, Chris, and James. But with change comes fresh input—we welcomed some new faces: Louisa Moor, Jumana Akhtar, Liv Hoyland, Asa Dant, and Jess Brook. Even more recently, we’re also joined by Tanya Trott. They bring a wealth of EC experience from both academia and industry—something I was keen to balance during my time as Chair, ensuring we support ECs across both sectors.
Looking ahead to 2025, the EC Committee is busier than ever, making sure our members get the most out of their membership and stay connected throughout the year. We’ve got three online workshops lined up, kicking off in April with Building Your Brand. The following sessions will be shaped around relevant topics for our members, aiming to develop skills, foster a supportive community, and create more opportunities to connect.
Jay and I have also been working hard on our brand-new Soil Judging event! This will give members hands-on, in-pit experience describing and classifying soil profiles alongside experts—a first of its kind for the Society.
And of course, we’re diving into planning for the EC conference! We’re excited to bring you the latest scientific insights from your peers, interactive workshops to encourage collaborative thinking, and maybe even some exciting (and slightly competitive!) presentation challenges like a 3-minute thesis competition.
I’m so thrilled to see our EC membership entering a new era—more engagement, stronger collaboration, and even better soil science and knowledge exchange. I look forward to seeing you at events throughout the year!
Early Career Member Grades
The Society is committed to supporting individuals in the early stages of their soil science careers. To continue to meet the needs of our Early Career members and remain aligned with best practices and member engagement and support, we have introduced the following enhancements to our Early Career membership grade.
- Soil Judging event: The inaugural Soil Judging Competition will take place later this year from 8 – 10 July and will be held in Nottinghamshire. Tickets for the competition are now available and be sure to check our website for updates.
- EC Workshops: Building on the success of the society’s Zoom into Soil webinar series, we will be launching the first Early Career Workshop in April. This series, organised and led by the Early Career Committee, is designed to support the professional and personal development of Early Career Members by equipping them with practical skills, knowledge, and opportunities to advance their careers.
- Mentorship Programme: We are in the process of developing a mentorship programme designed to connect our Early Career Members with Full and Fellow members. The programme aims to provide Early Career Members with valuable guidance and support from experienced professionals in the soil science community. Its primary goal is to nurture the next generation of soil scientists, boosting their confidence and preparing them to contribute meaningfully to the profession.
Early Careers Conference
Our biennial Early Careers Conference returns this year and will be held prior to our Annual Conference in Manchester on Monday 1 and Tuesday 2 December 2025. Keep an eye on the website for more details.
Inaugural Soil Judging Event
We are excited to announce that we will hold our first Soil Judging event in Nottinghamshire on 8-10 July 2025. This is the first event of its kind in the Society’s history and is something that is being pioneered by our Early Careers Committee. Soil Judging is a popular phenomenon in other parts of the world, so we are delighted to be able to offer this for our Early Career members. This event will be a jam packed three days. The first two days will consist of classroom workshop training and in-field soil pit practicals, with professional soil scientists as your ‘coach’. The final day will be a friendly ‘competition’ where you will put your training into practice by describing two soil pits within a time limit, one as an individual and one as part of a team. Bookings for the event are now open.
