Newswise — In honor of the hurricane-ravaged states of Louisiana and Mississippi, a special donation was recently made to support the collection of state soils being readied for the Smithsonian Institution World's Underfoot Exhibit planned for 2008.
A $5,000 donation to Louisiana and Mississippi from the Mid-Atlantic Association of Professional Soil Scientists will help fund their state soils display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The donors represent soil scientists in Delaware, Maryland, and Washington, DC.
"After the hurricanes happened, the soil scientists up here all wanted to do something," says Diane Shields, a Mid-Atlantic Association of Professional Soil Scientists (MAPSS) member from Dover, DE, recalling the Gulf Coast destruction during the 2005 hurricane season. According to Shields, at first the group considered donating to humanitarian causes but then decided to stay true to the focus of its mission, which is natural resources. They also wanted to lend support to their soil scientist counterparts in these states since their involvement in the Smithsonian project would be overshadowed by their hurricane cleanup efforts.
The exhibit at Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History Museum will display each of the states' soil in a monolith. Each state has a soil with special significance to the particular state. The state soil will be displayed in a monolith, which is a thick slice of soil stretching from the surface to the subsoil that scientists remove and attach to wooden frames, stabilizing it with glue. Every state has been asked to fund their state soils' display as part of the Soils Exhibit.
"We are overwhelmed by the generosity, says Michael E. Lilly, the USDA-NRCS State Soil Scientist for Mississippi. "We in Mississippi had begun our fundraising efforts when we were hit with the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. Needless to say, our focus was redirected. Your generous contribution will help us reach our goal. We thank you, all the members of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Soil Scientists, and any others involved for this great donation."
The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is working with the Smithsonian Institution to develop a 5,000-square-foot Soils Exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Along with state soils on display, hands-on educational, interactive sections will help the museum's more than 6 million visitors a year better understand soil. Related publications, web activities, a traveling exhibit will reach additional audiences. The Soils Exhibit is being developed as part of the museum's Forces of Change outreach program, which explores the forces that shape and sustain the world we live in.
To learn more about the Smithsonian Soils Exhibit, corporate sponsorship benefits, or individual donations, visit http://www.soils.org/smithsonian. A two-minute video on the project can also be viewed at this site.
ASA—http://www.agronomy.org, CSSA—http://www.crops.org, and SSSA—http://www.soils.org are educational organizations helping their 11,000+ members advance the disciplines and practices of agronomy, crop, and soil sciences by supporting professional development and science policy initiatives, and by providing quality, research-based publications, and a variety of member services.
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