2/16/06
Contacts:
Michael Thompson, Agronomy, (515) 294-2415, mlthomps@iastate.edu
Ivonne Martinez-Sheperd, Agronomy, (515) 294-3763, ivonne@iastate.edu
Editor's note: The speaker, Samuel Traina, will be available for interviews the afternoon of Feb. 28 and on March 1. Contact Michael Thompson to schedule an appointment.
2006 PIERRE LECTURE IN SOIL SCIENCE MARCH 1 AT IOWA STATE
AMES, Iowa -- The impacts of nuclear waste from the Cold War will be discussed by an expert in the biogeochemistry of contaminants in soils, sediments and natural water on March 1 at Iowa State University.
Samuel Traina, director of Sierra Nevada Research Institute at the University of California at Merced, will present the 2006 Pierre Lecture in Soil Science at 4 p.m. in 2050 Agronomy Hall on the Iowa State campus. A reception will precede the lecture at 3:30 p.m. in the Agronomy Hall Commons.
Biogeochemistry refers to how biological and geochemical processes affect element cycles in nature. Traina’s presentation is titled “Hot Waste from the Cold War: Chromium Speciation in the Hanford Vadose Zone.” He will talk about the major contaminants in the Hanford site where U.S. nuclear weapons were produced and the potential of toxic species to migrate to the nearby Columbia River. The ramifications of migration of toxic elements for the environmental safety of the surrounding ecosystem also will be discussed.
Traina received his bachelor’s degree in soil resource management in 1978 and his doctorate degree in soil science in 1983 from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America and the 2004 recipient of the Marion L. and Chrystie M. Jackson Mid-Career Clay Scientist Award from the Clay Minerals Society.
The Pierre Lecture Series honors the memory of William Pierre, who served as chair of the Iowa State agronomy department from 1938 until 1964. Traina’s lecture will be the 19th in the Pierre Lecture Series.
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