New South Wales
The New South Wales branch of Soil Science Australia holds a regular program events and activities which include meetings in regional centres.
The annual lecture is named after Harald Jensen (1879 – 1966), a geologist and soil chemist. The lecture is a forum to discuss and reflect on contemporary and historical soil science issues.
The NSW branch provides support to students to attend the National Soils Conference, the World Congress of Soil Science and the National Soil Judging Competition.
Meet our committee
Executive
President: Dr Jason Reynolds
Email: [email protected]
Vice President: Â Dr James Maloney
Email: [email protected]
Secretary: Dr Tom Zhao
Email: [email protected]
Treasurer: Mr Lyndon McGrath
Email: [email protected]
Regional Representatives
Northern Rivers: Abigail Jenkins
New England: Dr Lisa Lobry De Bruyn
Western: Dr Guna Nachimuthu
Central West: Dr Jane Aiken CPSS
Hunter and Central Coast: Simon Buchanan
Western Sydney: Greg Chapman CPSS
Sydney Metropolitan: James Robinson
Illawarra: Roy Lawrie
Canberra: Ben Fox
Central Tablelands: Vacant
Southern Highlands: Vacant
Role Representatives
Immediate Past President: Dr Ivanah Oliver
Early Career: Carly Green
Student:Â Blake Palmer
Communications Officer: Niraj Yadav
State Soil
The New South Wales Branch selected the Red Chromosol as their State Soil.
Also known as red brown earths, red podzolic soils or red duplex soils, Red Chromosols feature a strong texture contrast between the A and B horizons. They are distinguished from other texture contrast soils by not being strongly acidic like Kurosols or sodic like Sodosols in their upper B horizons. In their natural condition, these soils have favourable physical and chemical properties, but many now have hardsetting surface layers with structural degradation and acidification problems caused by longterm cultivation.
They occupy some 20% of the State and are used for grazing, cropping and vineyards. They have been described as ‘the workhorse of agriculture’ in New South Wales.