Other Conferences

IBI is pleased to highlight presentations and articles from conferences focusing on biochar or with a biochar highlight. If you have information on any upcoming conferences or are interested in having materials posted, please contact Thayer Tomlinson. Click on any of the conference titles below for more information.

The Northeast Biochar Symposium, November 2009 (United States)

The Northeast Biochar Symposium that took place over the weekend of November 13-14 in western Massachusetts was a resounding success. Co-sponsored by the International Biochar Initiative, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst College of Natural Sciences, the Northeast Carbon-Negative Network, the New England Small Farm Institute, and the Pioneer Valley Biochar Initiative, it brought together some of the leading biochar researchers, developers, and advocates in the world, with over 200 participants.

On Friday, November 13, participants convened on the campus of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst to hear presentations by, among others, Cornell University soil scientist Johannes Lehmann, USDA agronomist David Laird, and IBI executive director Debbie Reed. Christoph Steiner, University of Georgia engineering research scientist (and star of a widely viewed YouTube clip from a documentary about biochar), also shared his insights.

The Influence of Biochar on Soil Processes and Fertility: A Joint Workshop, October 2009 (China)

A new group out of China, the CAU-Biochar group, recently hosted the Joint International Workshop between China and United Kingdom on the Influence of Biochar on Soil Processes and Fertility in Beijing on 18 -21 October, 2009.

Eleven scientists from the United Kingdom (Rothamsted Research, RR, and Edinburgh University, EU), Denmark (University of Copenhagen and Barritskov Company), Australia (University of New South Wales), Canada (University of Guelph), Japan (National Agricultural Organization, NAO), and Mongolia (Mongolian Biochar Initiative), and more than 20 scientists from Institute of Soil Science Research of China Academy of Science (CAS), Shenyang Institute of Applied Ecology of CAS, Changsha Institute of Sub-tropical Agricultural Science of CAS, Botany Institute of CAS, Zhejiang University, Huazhong Agricultural University, China Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS), and Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Science (BAAFS) participated the conference.

Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Conference, October 2008 (United States)

Presentations from Black Carbon in Soils and Sediments: Formation, Stabilization, Abundance, and Environmental Function

In October 2008, the joint meeting of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) with the Geological Society of America in Houston, TX included a three-day symposium entitled “Black Carbon in Soils and Sediments: Formation, Stabilization, Abundance, and Environmental Function”.

Nearly 40 presentations were given by authors from nine countries in four oral sessions and one poster session. Topics addressed included “Classification, Formation, and Occurrence”, “Identification and Characteristics”, “Environmental Function”, “Stability and Carbon Sequestration Potential”, and “Black Carbon and Soil Organic Matter”. Primary sponsors of the symposium were the Soil Chemistry Division of SSSA (David Laird, Chair) and the International Humic Substances Society (Paul Bloom, President). Symposium organizers were Jim Amonette and Dan Olk.