ICRAF scientist joins global soil body’s advisory team
Land and water management scientist Bertin Takaoutsing. Photo: ICRAF
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) scientist Bertin Takoutsing has been nominated to an advisory board of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS). He will serve on the board of the union’s commission on pedometrics.
Bertin, an engineering graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, is a land and water management scientist within ICRAF’s Land Health science domain. He is based the West and Central Africa regional office in Yaounde, where the Centre’s Land Health program participates in various projects throughout the region.
The program has made important inroads in monitoring the health of soils, particularly in Africa, using technologies such as infrared, X-rays, and laser. This work includes assisting with the establishment of infrared spectral diagnostic labs in 10 African countries, under the Africa Soil information Service project (AfSIS).
IUSS is a global union of soil scientists that promotes all branches of soil science, and supports soil scientists across the world. Its work is undertaken through four Commissions, on Palaeopedology; Soil Morphology and Micromorpholgy; Pedometrics; and Soil Classification. Each commission has an advisory board.
Bertin and seven other scientists—from the Netherlands, US, Australia, Russia, New Zealand, Germany, and China—are the latest appointees to the IUSS’s advisory boards.
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