Soil, conservation experts to reflect on Hurricane Katrin...( Two years after Hurricane Katrina de...)

Two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and parts of the Gulf Coast, soil scientists and conservation leaders will share lessons learned during the International Annual Meetings of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Nov. 7-8 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

The symposium, Katrina Disaster and Sustainable Coastal Development: An Integrated Perspective and the Role of Land and Water Sciences, will include more than 10 speakers on Wednesday, Nov. 7 from 1:45 to 3:45 pm (room R02) and Thursday, Nov. 8 from 8 to 10 am (room 207).

Hurricane Katrina provided the scientific community with an unparalleled opportunity to guide both ecosystem restoration and the design of measures to protect lives and properties from violent natural events, says Charles Groat of the Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, who will open the symposium.

On Nov. 7, the symposium will focus on the storms impact on the land, the role wetlands could play in protecting the area, and the sociopolitical and scientific processes of land and resource management.

Rapid degradation of the Mississippi River delta and climate change are placing the physical and socioeconomic sustainability of coastal Louisiana in doubt, says speaker William Jenkins of Louisiana State University. We must pursue aggressive coastal restoration or face the daunting implications of inaction.

Another key aspect to understanding and preparing for environmental disasters is sharing information about resources. William Puckett, Christopher Smith, and Karl Hipple of the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will address the importance of generating custom products, such as interpretative maps with soil suitability data, and training response agency personnel how to properly interpret soils in
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