First SUITMA Summer School – Soil sciences in the Anthropocene era – Bondy

First international SUITMA Summer School

Following the last SUITMA (Soils in Urban, Industrial, Traffic, Mining and Military Areas) congress in Santiago de Compostela, it was proposed to organize summer schools every 2 years, alternating with the congresses, for young researchers carrying out their research on anthropized soils.

The Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IEES-Paris) will organize the first of these summer schools, from September 8 to 13, 2024.

The event will take place at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), an historic soil sciences center located in Bondy, north of Paris (France).

This summer school will focus on the specific study of anthropogenic soils. It will include lectures on pedogenesis and soil functioning, with reminders of fundamental knowledge on the physical, chemical and biological processes taking place in natural ecosystems, and will then focus on the contexts of high anthropic pressures encountered in SUITMAs. Theoretical courses will be complemented by presentations on the various methodologies applicable in the laboratory and in the field. Tutorial sessions will be offered both in the field (geophysical measurements, infiltration, CO2 flux measurements, pXRF chemical characterization, meso- and macro-fauna inventory, etc…) and in the laboratories (soil hydric properties, molecular biology, chemical analyses). The week’s training will begin with a poster session to introduce each participant to the scientific issues involved, so as to better adapt the transmission of knowledge and encourage interaction between participants and the emergence of future collaborations. At the end of the week, the course will be devoted to field visits (description of soils along the urban gradient in Paris) and experimental sites dedicated to soil construction and hosted by associative and private partners in the Ile de France region.

The course is aimed primarily at PhD students and post-docs, but is also open to Masters students wishing to continue their studies.

Registration is free (only travel to Paris is charged to participants) and limited to a maximum of 20 people.

To register, please send a cover letter and CV to: irina.mikajlo@ird.fr and thomas.lerch@u-pec.fr no later than July 13, 2024.