Soil Classification

Dr. Hari Eswaran is the National Leader for World Soil Resources at USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. He provides the Agency.s leadership in information and documentation of global soils resources and their use and management. He is also the Chairman of the Working Group on Land Degradation and DesertiÞcation of the International Union of Soil Sciences and a former Chairman of the Commission on Soil Genesis and ClassiÞcation of the Society. As a member of the Soil Science Society of America, Dr. Eswaran has assisted in organizing several symposia and editing their proceedings. He is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America and has received the International Award from the Society. He has also received the USDA Superior Service Award and other awards from many countries. Email: hari.eswaran@usda.gov. Dr. Robert Ahrens is Director of the National Soil Survey Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Center provides technical leadership for soil interpretations, soils data, laboratory analyses, soil survey investigations, and standards and soil classiÞcation. He led the effort to revise soil taxonomy and was responsible for several editions of the .Keys to Soil Taxonomy.. Dr. Ahrens has been a regional correlator and state correlator, and was a Þeld soil scientist for several years. He provided quality assurance for the soil survey of Kuwait. He is a member of the Soil Science Society of America and the International Union of Soil Sciences. Email: bob.ahrens@usda.gov. Dr. Thomas J. Rice is a Professor of Soil Science and Chairman of the Soil Science Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he is responsible for teaching soil science, land use planning, soil geomorphology, soil resource inventory, and advanced land management. He has been a CertiÞed Professional Soil Scientist (C.P.S.S.) since 1982. Dr. Rice has published numerous journal articles, research reports, and popular press articles. He has been the project director for funded studies involving soil taxonomy updates in California, Nevada, and Utah; a comprehensive soils database for California; non-point source pollution study in western range-lands; mercury pollution study in a California watershed; soil mapping of a national wildlife refuge; and soil map unit interpretation record updates for California. Email: trice@calpoly.edu. Dr. B.A. Stewart is Distinguished Professor of Agriculture and Director of the Dryland Agriculture Institute at West Texas A&M University. Before joining West Texas A&M University in 1993, he was the Director of the USDA Conservation and Production Research Laboratory, Bushland, Texas. Dr. Stewart is a past president of the Soil Science Society of America, and was a member of the 1900.1993 Committee on Long Range Soil and Water Policy, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, and Soil and Water Conservation Society, a recipient of the USDA Superior Service Award, and a recipient of the Hugh Hammond Bennet Award of the Soil and Water Conservation Society. Email: bstewart@mail.wtamu.edu.