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Pritchard Lecture

Dig It! The Secrets of Soil:
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Soils Exhibit Opening and the Traveling Tour

Dig It! The Secrets of Soil by the Soil Science Society of America and the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). The 5,000 square foot exhibit opens to the public July 19, 2008, at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. It is then slated to travel to 10 venues (major museums and science centers) across the country from 2010-2014.

Never before has the soil/environmental sciences community had such a high-profile opportunity to showcase soil at the world's most-visited natural history museum with more than six million visitors a year! The National Academies endorses the exhibit as, "Unquestionably, the most important opportunity that the field of Soil Science has ever had to educate the general public about soils and their role in food and fiber production, environmental quality at local and global scales, and in human health."

Moderators for the Pritchard Lecture will be Ellen Bergfeld, CEO, Soil Science Society of America, and Paul Kamps, Development Officer, SSSA. The three-person panel of presenters will be Barbara Stauffer, Exhibit Developer, NMNH, Jennifer Bine, Project Director, SITES, and Pat Megonigal, Exhibit Curator and a biogeochemist with Smithsonian's Environmental Research Center.

Attendees will receive a virtual tour of the exhibition from the Exhibit Developer, with stories of the exhibit development process and perhaps an on-line version. The Project Director for the national traveling tour will provide a description of the tour with tips for getting involved with the major museums and science centers that have expressed an interest in hosting it at their venue. SWCS members will learn how they might be able to create local augmentation / programming of the show if it's coming to their area and discover other ways to support and be involved in the exhibit. The Exhibit Curator will give his perspective on "getting hokey" with soil science to reach a general audience of more than six million visitors a year.

Additionally, there will be a 90-minute symposia immediately following the Pritchard Lecture which will "Dig Even Deeper" into the exhibit with the entire panel and moderators.

For more information on the exhibit, visit www.soils.org/smithsonian