ISMC News 14 January 2026
Announcements
ISMC has launched the Harry Vereecken Lectureship Award
The ISMC is pleased to announce a new distinction: the ISMC Harry Vereecken Lectureship. The Lectureship is intended to strengthen ISMC’s community, accelerate realistic representation of soil processes across disciplines, and inspire the next generation of researchers.
The Harry Vereeccken Lectureship Award honours a scientist who advances the representation of soil processes in Earth system science, strengthens multidisciplinary applications, and fosters an inclusive, collaborative ISMC community. The awardee delivers the Harry Vereecken Lecture as an ISMC Conference keynote and engages early-career researchers through a mentoring or tutorial event, with materials shared openly via ISMC channels.
What is the awardee expected to do?
Keynote: Deliver the Harry Vereecken Lecture at the ISMC Conference.
Community engagement: Host one interactive ECR session (e.g., clinic, roundtable, or tutorial) within 12 months.
Knowledge sharing: Provide slides/materials for open access via ISMC channels.
Selection emphasis?
Scientific impact: Clear advances in representing soil processes (theory, data, or modelling) with demonstrated uptake beyond soil science.
Community service: Meaningful contributions to ISMC activities and international collaboration.
Mentorship & inclusion: Evident support and inclusive practices for early-career researchers.
Open science: Reproducible code, data, or training materials where feasible.
The call for applications will be opened soon and announced via the ISMC Newsletter. More information on the nomination can be found here
ISMC-GLOSOLAN Webinar on Basic Concepts in Soil Hydrology
Students are invited to register for a free, 3-day online webinar sponsored by ISMC and GLOSOLAN, focusing on Basic concepts in soil hydrology. Key topics are:
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Day 1 (Basic Concepts Part I): Soil Physical Properties (e.g., density, capillarity, texture, porosity) and Soil Water Content measurement methods (e.g., TDR, CRNS).
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Day 2 (Basic Concepts Part II): Soil Water Potential, Soil Water Dynamics (Darcy's equation, Richards’ equation), and hydraulic conductivity functions.
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Day 3 (Soil Water Balance): Water balance components in the SVA continuum, numerical modeling, and a hands-on exercise using HYDRUS-1D to simulate water flow and nitrate transport.
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Please register here:
ISMC Executive board meeting 2025
The ISMC executive board meeting 2025 was held on December 5th online. During the meeting Lutz Weihermüller was elected as a treasurer and ISMC coordinator. The minutes of the meeting can be found here.
Call for Papers: Special Issue in Land Journal
You are invited to contribute to a Special Issue titled "Monitoring and modelling the water and carbon dynamics in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum" in the journal Land. Focus: This issue aims to gather cutting-edge research on SPAC processes. Topics of interest include novel monitoring, advanced modeling (including physics-informed machine learning), data fusion, digital twins, and ecosystem responses to stress. Submit your article here until August 31, 2026.
EGU General Assembly 2026 Session Integrating observations and physics-informed modeling for understanding vadose zone processes
by Na Li Yonghong Hao, Martine van der Ploeg, Paolo Nasta and Sarem Norouzi
We encourage you to submit your abstract to our session. The goal are: To enhance the understanding of the impact of natural and human disturbances on the vadose zone by integrating innovative observation techniques, data mining, and advanced modeling.
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Key Topics: Innovative observation techniques (e.g., new methods for measuring soil variables), data fusion and downscaling using machine learning, and advanced model development (e.g., deep/machine learning approaches).
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Abstract Submission Deadline: Please note that the deadline is rapidly approaching: January 15, 2026
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Submit here:
Featured Paper
Do you want your paper featured?
Please share your recent paper if you want to be featured in the ISMC newsletter. With your contributions, we will select one paper to be featured in every newsletter. Submission can be done here.
Evaluating grassland ecosystem responses to management practices and climate change: results from the Global Change Experimental Facility in Bad Lauchstädt (Germany)
Grassland ecosystems play a vital role in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling, influencing climate regulation and ecosystem resilience. However, their responses to different management practices and future climate conditions remain insufficiently understood. This study, conducted at the Global Change Experimental Facility (GCEF) in Bad Lauchstädt, Germany, examines how intensive and extensive grassland management under ambient and future climate scenarios affects plant productivity, soil C and N dynamics, and nutrient fluxes. Using the process-based CANDY model, we simulated key ecosystem parameters, including dry matter (DM) yield, net primary production (NPP), soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (Ntot), mineral nitrogen (Nmin), and N emissions. We hypothesized that intensive management enhances biomass production and SOC sequestration but increases N losses, whereas future climate conditions reduce productivity and alter nutrient cycling dynamics. Model simulations revealed that intensive management significantly increased DM yields and NPP across climate scenarios, although future conditions slightly reduced productivity. SOC and Ntot increased in all treatments, underscoring the SOC sequestration potential of grasslands, whereas Nmin exhibited stronger seasonal fluctuations under intensive management due to fertilization effects. Notably, N emissions were highest in winter, likely due to reduced plant uptake. These results highlight the trade-offs between maximizing productivity and minimizing environmental impacts, emphasizing the need for optimized nutrient management to sustain ecosystem functions under changing climatic conditions. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into plant-soil interactions in managed grasslands, supporting the development of sustainable land-use strategies that balance productivity and long-term ecosystem stability. More information can be found here.
Featured Soil Modeler (Wenhao Shi)
Modeling Soil Hydrological Processes Informed by Soil Structure
Wenhao Shi is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Earth System Science at Tianjin University, China, working under the supervision of Associate Professor Yonggen Zhang. In 2024, he received the ISMC Early Career Award in recognition of his contributions to vadose zone hydrology. His research focuses on developing parameterization schemes and predictive models for soil hydraulic properties in the critical zone, with the goal of improving soil water movement simulations by incorporating key soil structural characteristics.
- Please tell us briefly about yourself and your research interests.
I grew up in a mountain city, which gave me a strong connection to the natural environment from an early age. This interest eventually led me to study ecohydrology as an undergraduate. During my master’s program, I stayed in this field and worked on developing a regional pedotransfer function based on the soil conditions in Tianjin. My fieldwork took me to many parts of the city, and although it was demanding, I really enjoyed being outdoors and working directly with the soils. After collecting data on basic soil properties and hydraulic behavior, I used machine-learning methods to build the pedotransfer function, and it has since been put into use by local agencies. Now, my research focuses on understanding soil structure and simulating how it influences hydraulic behavior. I hope to develop pedotransfer functions that can capture soil water processes more accurately and provide better predictions of water movement in practical applications.
- How did you first become interested in soil modeling and learn about ISMC?
My journey into soil modeling began in 2018, when I started my master’s studies in geology at Tianjin University. I worked on developing pedotransfer functions for predicting soil hydraulic parameters in the Bohai Rim region. That project allowed me to dive into soil physics and also gave me real experience with field site selection, sampling, and laboratory work. It was during this period that I realized how many interesting scientific questions lie within soil science and soil modeling. In 2024, the International Soil Modeling Consortium held its fourth conference in Tianjin, and my supervisor, Associate Professor Yonggen Zhang, was the lead organizer. Being part of the organizing team gave me the chance to meet and interact with many inspiring researchers. Those conversations and experiences added a lot to my academic growth and helped shape the direction I’m pursuing today.
- Can you share with us your current research focus? How could your research contribute to ISMC Science Panel activities?
Currently, my research follows two main directions. One focus is to build models that can predict soil hydraulic parameters for soils with bimodal or multimodal pore-size distributions and to examine how well these models work across different soil types. The other focus is to incorporate land surface models in order to test how reliable various pedotransfer functions are when used to predict ecological indicators such as evapotranspiration and runoff. Through these evaluations, I hope to refine the transfer functions and improve their overall accuracy.
- How can ISMC help you advance in your career?
The ISMC plays an important role in bringing the soil modeling community together and in helping others in hydrology, ecology, and agronomy recognize the value of soil processes. It creates a space where people from different backgrounds can work together and share ideas, which often leads to new ways of thinking. For early-career researchers like me, the ISMC is also helpful because it provides chances to meet experienced scientists, receive advice, and build connections that support both personal and professional growth.
- What resources or skills would you recommend for early career ISMC members? How can ISMC support them?
For soil modelers today, I think it’s important not only to concentrate on our own research but also to pay attention to what is happening in related fields. When we bring new scientific ideas together with real-world needs, our work can have a much stronger impact. Conferences are especially helpful for young researchers. At the 2024 ISMC meeting, I was able to talk with many leading scientists, and those conversations were both inspiring and encouraging. ISMC really offers a global space where early-career researchers can share their work, connect with others, and receive thoughtful guidance from more experienced colleagues.