S5 celebrates soil

1. Happy International Year of Soils 2015 on behalf of S5
The Newcastle University Student and Staff Soil Science Society (S5
) launched the International Year
of Soils 2015 at the World Soil Day event on 5th December 2014 at the School of Agriculture, Food
and Rural Development (AFRD).
Professor Stephen Nortcliff opened the event with a seminar on ‘Why do soils matter?’ This was
followed by a range of soil activities including ‘Every soil tells a story’ by Dr Robert Payton, ‘Soils got
talent’ by S5
, and a ‘soils research poster display’ by research students and staff. The event
concluded with delicious soil themed refreshments in NU Food at AFRD.
If you would like to know more about soils and participate in soil events this year, watch this space!
The S5
team are planning a series of events to promote soil awareness for a range of audiences
throughout the year so look out for further information coming soon at
https://www.facebook.com/nclunis5 and Twitter @NUSFive
For more information about S
5
contact Kevin k.stott@newcastle.ac.uk or Dr Elisa Lopez-Capel at elisa.lopez-
capel@ncl.ac.uk.For more information about the International Year of Soils visit http://www.fao.org/soils-2015/en/
Figure 1. Professor Stephen Nortcliffe of Reading University (left) and Dr Robert Payton of Newcastle
University (right), highlighting the importance of soils in our global system.

2. Figure 3. Prof. Stephen Nortcliffe (left) and Kevin Stott student president of S5
(right), holding his
very delicious soil profile chocolate fudge cake.
Figure 2. Newcastle University Student and Staff Soil Science Society and Prof. Stephen Nortcliff
(center left) presenting the 4 different soil profiles.