NSW Branch News and Events
Annual Harald Jensen Lecture
The annual lecture is named after Harald Jensen (1879-1966), a geologist and soil chemist. Harald was a soil chemist and soil surveyor with the NSW Department of Agriculture (1909-1912), chief geologist for the Northern Territory government (1912-1916), and geologist (temporary) for the Queensland government (1917-1922), after which he became a consulting geologist.
Harald was a senior geologist for the Aerial Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia (1938-1940) and investigated mica deposits in central Australia for the Commonwealth Government (1942-1943). Throughout his career, Harald took a keen interest in the vegetation, especially eucalypts, of the areas he visited as a geologist. He wrote a large number of scientific papers and reports, most of which were published in NSW journals.
To register for the lecture click here. Registrations open approximately two weeks before each annual lecture.
Harald Jensen Lecturers
2023 Professor Budiman Minasny “Soil Carbon – much more than a climate solution”
2022 Dr Richard Greene “Coping with changing demands in soil science”
2021 Dr Patrick Hulme ‘Changes in soil survey and mapping over 25 years’
2020 Associate Professor Damien Field, ‘Securing our science, securing our soil, securing our future’
2019 Simon Leake, ‘Reconciliation: Trials & tribulations of Barrangaroo Dreaming’
2018 Adjunct Professor Annette Cowie, ‘Soil science in a changing world: Meeting the challenges of climate change and land degradation’
2017 Dr Pam Hazleton, ‘Transferable knowledge and skills widen the horizons for future soil scientists’
2016 Associate Professor Stephen Cattle, ‘The SSA NSW Branch: past, present and future’
2015 Ms Rebecca Lines-Kelly, ‘Sharing the love: Two decades of soils communication’
2014 Associate Professor Balwant Singh, ‘Training soil scientists for the 21st century’
2013 Professor Neal Menzies, ‘The Challenge of predicting metal transfer throughout the soil-plant-animal continuum – reflections on the challenges of bucket soil chemistry through to synchrotron studies’
2012 Dr Mark Conyers, ‘Particulates vs partisans, humus vs the rotten, charcoal vs the cooked’
2011 Dr John Williams, ‘Restoration of soils for productive landscapes’
2010 Dr Brian Murphy, “How much has government activity contributed to Soil Science and the community in NSW? – Lessons from the past to look to the future”
2009 Professor Alex McBratney, ‘Soil Carbon: the known unknowns’
2008 Professor Rob Fitzpatrick, ‘The weight of the world on the shoulders of soil science: amazing new linkages between soil, water quality, extreme drought conditions and criminal investigations’
2007 Professor Rob Fitzpatrick, ‘Soil science for forensic and criminal investigations’
2006 Dr Neil McKenzie, ‘Translating soil processes to landscape scale’
2005 Dr Pat Walker, ‘Soil Pioneers of Australia’
Soil Science Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land and we pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future.