Just after Andy and I finished setting up the BSSS stand at the World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) in Nanjing, our own Soil Judging Team showed up, and they were buzzing from their activities over the previous few days. With their coach, Jay Ryan, the team of our EC Members Jessica Brook (EC Chair and University of Aberdeen), Theodore Heaton-Davies (University of Reading), Thomas Smith (Cranfield University) and Cairo Robb (Durham University) experienced a range of exotic Chinese soils and received tuition from some of the top pedologists on the planet. What a great event for bringing together emerging soil scientists from all over the world! Well done to Team UK, who performed strongly against some extremely capable teams. Off the back of this experience, we have set up a very strong committee to oversee the soil judging competition at Eurosoil28 in Edinburgh. We will use this too to help develop competitions in the UK, hopefully reaching beyond our membership to post-secondary and high school students.
The Chinese Society of Soil Science (CSSS) hosted an excellent conference and was highly supportive of the involvement of the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS) and other national societies throughout the event. Much of the planning and organisation was led by the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, based in Nanjing, which also hosts the CSSS. I first started working with this institute 25 years ago when China was beginning its rise in international soil science. It was wonderful to see them finally host the WCSS after all these years. They attracted almost 4,000 delegates, including over 50 BSSS members (and several new members Andy signed up at the event). Our own Pete Smith was one of eight keynote speakers; his talk was “Looking after soils so that they can look after us”. En route to China for the WCSS, I represented BSSS at the Responsible Investor Europe Conference in London for a fireside chat titled “Digging Deep: An Investors’ Guide to Soil Health”. The audience of around 300 ESG asset managers, investors and financial professionals was extremely interested in soils, and the organisers have invited me to follow it up with a podcast.
On the theme of looking after soils, BSSS had a strong presence at Groundswell shortly after the WCSS. At the shared soil pit with ADAS, crowds flocked to this visual learning experience to hear what constitutes a healthy soil. Over the years, we have established many partnerships with organisations and industry through our presence at Groundswell. Many delegates remarked on the positive impact that the work and science of BSSS members have had in improving sustainable farming practices.
Later in July, I took a seven-hour train journey from Aberdeen to attend RHS Sandringham, alongside Cranfield University, who kindly invited us to share their marquee. Dan Evans was promoting his Talking Soil Bench and was also one of the speakers on the main stage. Instead of a soil judging team arriving after Andy and I had set up the stand, Alan Titchmarsh, accompanied by Queen Camilla, emerged about 100 m away to judge flower displays from community gardeners. When the event opened the next morning, both King Charles and Queen Camilla returned to the same location, much to Dan’s delight, and he had a brief chat with the King about soils.
Working with a committee of BSSS members, we are nearing completion of the first draft of the State of UK Soil Science Report. Khalid Mahmood, the BSSS Partnerships Manager, presented our early findings at the Natural England Conference. We expect that this report will raise alarm bells about soil science education options in the UK, especially in light of recent developments arising from the financial pressures facing the higher education sector. This is against growing demand of trained soil scientists by industry, who are crying out for professionals with the necessary depth and breadth of understanding. In other areas, we continue to perform remarkably well, including being the global leader of papers becoming highly cited. Churchill Nokrach, a PhD student at Brunel University on the UK Food Systems CDT, is working on the report as part of his internship and has made an outstanding contribution.
I unfortunately missed the Annual General Meeting held at the Natural England Conference due to a family commitment. President-Elect Lizzie Sagoo and Executive Director Andy Morris delivered a jam-packed overview of BSSS activities in 2026. BSSS also announced that John Quinton had been elected as the next President-Elect. Congratulations, John! It will be great to work with you next year.
In the next newsletter you will hear from Andy and me about COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Our side event, “Underlooked and underfoot: diversifying solutions to restore soils and produce healthy food”, was given a premium slot on Land and People Day. We were delighted to bring together a panel of senior representatives from leading global organisations, including the FAO, UNCCD civil society networks, the Eastern African Farmers Federation, the CGIAR/ILRI Alliance and IUCN, alongside Professor Rattan Lal, one of the world’s most renowned soil scientists and a World Food Prize Laureate. Stay tuned to hear more. We will be extremely busy.
Plans are also well underway for the Annual Congress in Aberdeen. You have just read that I travelled to Norfolk without a problem, so make your way north to one of the hotbeds of soil science, home to SRUC, the James Hutton Institute and the University of Aberdeen. We have also established most of the committees for Eurosoil28, which will be held in Edinburgh. A site visit is planned for next month, when we will see more of the venue and plan the social events. The BSSS has been active in many, many other ways over the past few months as well. We are also getting ready for our 80th anniversary next year.
Enjoy the rest of the summer! The weather has made life challenging across much of the Northern Hemisphere, especially through drought and wildfire. Soils are under threat, but they also offer many solutions, so keep positive and try to make a positive difference.
