Philippe Duchaufour Medal 2006

The British scientist Ewart A. FitzPatrick has won the prestigious EGU Philippe Duchaufour Medal for his new and original insights in soil genesis, classification and micromorphology, which have had a great impact on the development of soil science.

The Philippe Duchaufour Medal has been established by the Division on Soil System Sciences in recognition of the scientific achievements of Philippe Duchaufour. It will be awarded by the European Geosciences Union for distinguished contributions to soil science, defined in its widest sense.

Dr. FitzPatrick is a Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, UK.

Resumé

Dr. Ewart A. FitzPatrick is internationally recognised for his great contributions to soil science, especially genesis, classification and micropedology. Throughout over 50 years of his scientific activity he published a large number of original papers and widely known textbooks on soil science, from which several were re-edited in English and translated in Spanish. His creative textbooks have greatly contributed to the possibilities that soil micromorphology can offer. Also his case studies, dealing with rock weathering, glacial and periglacial features in soils, soil morphology, as well as soil classification and genesis, brought important original contributions. Very recently he prepared brilliant tutorial CD-ROMS: "Interactive Soils" (1999), "Horizon Identification" (2003), "Soil Microscopy and Micromorphology" (2005).Dr. FitzPatrick made great effort to provide with better understanding of phenomena occurring in the soil. He organised several international courses on soil micromorphology (Scotland, Argentina, UK, Italy) and he widely disseminated thorough knowledge on soil micromorphology by numerous seminars and lectures organised in 19 countries. The impact of Dr. E.A. FitzPatrick on soil research, teaching and service is based on his cordial and decent personality, still provoking enthusiasm for soil science in many students and colleagues. His achievements have been awarded in 1996 by the Kubiëna Medal of the International Soil Science Society.

Medal Lecture

Ewart FitzPatrick will accept his medal and give his Medal lecture during the EGU General Assembly, to be held in Vienna, Austria from 2 – 7 April 2006. The lecture ‘The value of micromorphology in soil classification’ starts Wednesday, 5 April at 13:30 h in Lecture Room 2.

More information:
http://www.copernicus.org/EGU/awards/philippe_duchaufour_overview.html