Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Conference

2023 NCSS National Conference

Event Date
July 9-13, 2023
Time
See Agenda (below)
Location
Bismarck State College, National Energy Center for Excellence, Bismarck, ND
Wind turbine next to an oil derrick; North Dakota Badlands; an orange sky over a field of sunflowers.

Join us for the 2023 National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) National Conference!

2
Jun
Deadline

Registration

Conference registration is closed.

The 2023 National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference is at Bismarck State College in Bismarck, North Dakota, from July 9 to 13, 2023. The national conference convenes every two years to discuss and develop solutions to issues of concern to the National Cooperative Soil Survey program. The theme of this year’s conference is “Soil, Energy, and Agriculture for Resilient Ecosystems.”

Scroll down the page for the complete agenda.

Technical Posters

Explore posters about Soil Science, Climate, Ecology/Agronomy, and Technology.

Poster Road Trip (1.67 MB)

Quick Links

Co-Hosts

Wade Bott, State Soil Scientist
NRCS North Dakota
(p) 701-530-2021
(e) Wade.Bott@usda.gov 

Dr. David Hopkins, Professor
North Dakota State University
(p) 701-231-8948
(e) David.Hopkins@ndsu.edu 


Agenda

Saturday, July 8

1:00 pm
Registration – Hampton Inn & Suites Bismarck Northwest (until 7 PM)

Sunday, July 9

6:45 am
Assemble in the north parking lot of the Bismarck State College National Energy Center of Excellence (NECE)

Buses will leave promptly at 7 AM.

7:00 am
FIELD TOUR (lunch included; return at 6 PM)

Sedimentary Plains Tour: Belfield & Medora, North Dakota

Guest Speaker: Dr. Bernhardt Saini-Eidukat, North Dakota State University

Explore and enjoy the history, geology and soils of Western North Dakota including sodium affected soil pits near Belfield. Then we’ll continue west for lunch at Medora, and into the heart of the North Dakota Badlands and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

A truly legendary landscape!

12:00 pm
Registration – Hampton Inn & Suites Bismarck Northwest (until 6:30 PM)
6:30 pm
DINNER (on your own)

Monday, July 10

7:00 am
Registration – 4th Floor, Bismarck State College NECE (coffee/continental breakfast included)

Registration will remain open until 5 PM.

8:00 am
PLENARY SESSION – Bavendick State Room

Moderator: Wade Bott, USDA-NRCS, North Dakota

8:00 am
Welcome Remarks

Dr. Doug Jensen, President, Bismarck State College

8:10 am
Welcome Remarks

Dan Hovland, State Conservationist, USDA-NRCS, North Dakota

8:20 am
Welcome to North Dakota, a State of Remarkable Soils and a Unique Soil Survey Legacy

Dr. David Hopkins, North Dakota State University

8:40 am
Remarks from Soil Science Society of America

Dr. Carrie Laboski, President, Soil Science Society of America

9:00 am
Remarks from USDA Leadership

Dr. Luis Tupas, Deputy Chief, SSRA, USDA-NRCS, Washington D.C.

9:15 am
Remarks from Soil and Plant Science Division Leadership

Dr. David Lindbo, Director, SPSD, USDA-NRCS, Washington D.C.

9:30 am
BREAK
10:00 am
Farming, Hunting, and Mining among North Dakota’s First People

Dr. Andrew Clark, State Historical Society of North Dakota

10:15 am
Traditional Gardening Practices of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara People: Historic and Contemporary Glimpses in Time

Dr. Ruth Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College

11:00 am
National Cooperative Soil Survey Activities at the Northern Great Plains Field Station, 1949-1956

Dr. Mark Liebig, USDA-ARS, Mandan, North Dakota

11:15 am
COMMITTEE BREAKOUT SESSIONS – Bismarck State College NECE
11:15 am
Committee Meetings (4 concurrent)

Bylaws – Meeting Room 436/443
Interpretations – Meeting Room 431/433
Taxonomy – Bavendick State Room
Technology – Basin Auditorium 304

12:00 pm
LUNCH (provided)
1:00 pm
Committee Meetings (4 concurrent)

Hydric/SAS – Meeting Room 436/443
Research – Bavendick State Room
Soil and Ecosystem Dynamics – Basin Auditorium 304
Standards – Meeting Room 431/433

1:45 pm
BREAK
2:00 pm
Committee Meetings (4 concurrent)

Bylaws – Meeting Room 436/443
Interpretations – Meeting Room 431/433
Taxonomy – Bavendick State Room
Technology – Basin Auditorium 304

2:45 pm
BREAK
3:00 pm
Committee Meetings (4 concurrent)

Hydric/SAS – Meeting Room 436/443
Research – Bavendick State Room
Soil and Ecosystem Dynamics – Basin Auditorium 304
Standards – Meeting Room 431/433

3:45 pm
BREAK
4:00 pm
Business Meetings

Cooperator/Partner Business Meetings – Meeting Room 431/433

State Soil Scientist Business Meeting – Basin Auditorium 304

5:00 pm
DINNER (on your own)

Tuesday, July 11

7:00 am
Morning Networking Session – 4th Floor, Bismarck State College NECE (coffee/continental breakfast included)
8:00 am
PLENARY SESSION – Bavendick State Room

Moderator: Dr. David Hopkins, North Dakota State University

8:00 am
Transformation of Agriculture in North Dakota for Ill and for Good

Dr. David Franzen, North Dakota State University

8:30 am
Measuring Soil Carbon: Unique Considerations for Climate Mitigation (virtual)

Dr. Jonathan Sanderman, Woodwell Climate Research Center

8:50 am
Overview of the USDA Climate Hubs & Soil-Related Tools and Resources

Dr. Dannele Peck, USDA-ARS, Fort Collins, Colorado

9:10 am
Climate Regulation Services from Northern Plains Agroecosystems

Dr. Mark Liebig, USDA-ARS, Mandan, North Dakota

9:30 am
BREAK
10:00 am
The National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network: What it is, and why soils characterization is an integral component of our success (virtual)

Marina Skumanich, NOAA-NIDIS, Boulder, Colorado

10:20 am
DSP4SH: Using Cooperative Research to Define Dynamic Soil Property and Soil Health Reference Conditions for Soil Survey

Dr. Skye Wills, SPSD-NSSC, USDA-NRCS, Nebraska

10:40 am
Trends in Soil Properties Across the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area - Implications for Ecosystem Services (virtual)

Dr. Nic Jelinski, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

11:00 am
The Changing Demands on Soil Survey -- What the Future May Hold

Dr. David Lobb, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

11:20 am
Species Composition Trends and Impacts on Native Ecological Site States

Dr. Kevin Sedivec, North Dakota State University

11:40 am
Building Rangeland Resilience to Adapt to Climate Change

Dr. David Toledo, USDA-ARS, Mandan, North Dakota

12:00 pm
LUNCH (provided) with The Geology of North Dakota

Ed Murphy, North Dakota Geological Survey

1:00 pm
ORAL POSTER PRESENTATIONS – Bavendick State Room
1:00 pm
Sensor-Informed Soil Water, Nitrate, and Greenhouse Gas Monitoring and Management for Climate-Smart Agriculture

Dr. Jingyi Huang, University of Wisconsin, Madison

1:15 pm
Impacts of Wildfire on the Ecologic, Hydrologic, and Geomorphic Resiliency of Forest Soils in the Southwestern U.S.

Dr. Craig Rasmussen, University of Arizona

1:30 pm
State-and-Transition Models in a Time of Change: Toolsets for Integrated Carbon Management

Dr. James Thompson, West Virginia University

1:45 pm
Legacy Data Rescue for Retrospective Soil Survey and Change Detection in Topsoil Organic Carbon Stocks of the Corn Belt, USA

Dr. Meyer Bohn, University of Iowa

2:00 pm
Visualizing Soil Landscapes by Mining Soil Survey Taxonomic Data

Dr. Darrell Schulze, Purdue University

2:15 pm
Soil Landscapes of the United States (SOLUS): A 21st Century Raster Soil Survey Inventory

Suzann Kienast-Brown, SPSD-NSSC, USDA-NRCS, Montana

2:30 pm
BREAK – Move to North Dakota’s Gateway to Science at 1600 Canary Avenue, Bismarck, North Dakota
3:00 pm
Poster Session with “Stump Talks” – North Dakota’s Gateway to Science gallery viewing
5:00 pm
Poster Social and North Dakota’s Gateway to Science Gallery Viewing (Heavy hors d’oeuvres and cash bar)
7:00 pm
DINNER (on your own)

Wednesday, July 12

6:45 am
Assemble in the north parking lot of the Bismarck State College NECE

Buses will leave promptly at 7 AM.

7:00 am
FIELD TOUR (lunch & dinner included; return at 9 PM)

Missouri Corridor Tour: Underwood, Mandan, & McKenzie, North Dakota

An event filled day! Discuss soil pits on reclaimed coal mine land and restored wetlands; then compare them to the unmined soils and landscape. Experience the Garrison Dam and Lake Sakakawea, learn the history of the development, energy contributions, and flood control use of the 3rd largest reservoir in the Unites States. Tour the USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan where you will learn of the history, research, and collaborations of the 111-year-old station. End the day with dinner during the NCSS Awards Banquet hosted by the Black Leg Ranch, owned/operated by the Doan Family since 1882. This ranch, heavily involved in conservation and regenerative agriculture has won numerous state and national Environmental Stewardship Awards including the Inaugural Aldo Leopold Conservation Award.
 

Thursday, July 13

7:00 am
Morning Networking Session – 4th Floor, Bismarck State College NECE (coffee/continental breakfast included)
8:00 am
PLENARY SESSION – Bavendick State Room

Moderator: Lance Duey, USDA-NRCS, North Dakota

8:00 am
Walking Back – Looking Forward

Jay Fuhrer, Burleigh County SCD Menoken Soil Health Farm

8:30 am
UPDATES FROM FEDERAL PARTNERS
8:30 am
Updates from USDA-Agricultural Research Service

Sarah Beebout, USDA-ARS, Maryland

8:45 am
What’s the BLM Been Up To? (virtual)

Ron McCormick, USDI-BLM, Washington D.C.

9:00 am
Updates from USDA-Forest Service (virtual)

Robert Colter, USDA-FS, Washington, D.C.

9:15 am
With a Lot of Help from Our Friends: Soils Data, Information, and Partnerships in the National Park Service Washington Office

Jason Kenworthy, USDI-NPS, Colorado

9:30 am
The Dynamic Role of Depressional Wetlands in Agroecosystems in North Dakota and Beyond

Owen McKenna, USDI-GS, North Dakota

9:45 am
BREAK
10:00 am
Bylaws

Chair: Jenn Mason, SPSD, USDA-NRCS, Tennessee

10:15 am
Interpretations

Chair: Bob Dobos, SPSD-NSSC, USDA-NRCS, Nebraska

10:30 am
Taxonomy

Chair: Andrew Brown, SPSD, USDA-NRCS, California

10:45 am
Technology

Chair: Aaron Friend, USDA-NRCS, Tennessee

11:00 am
Subaqueous Soils Ad Hoc

Chair: Greg Taylor, SPSD, USDA-NRCS, North Carolina

11:15 am
Research Priorities

Chair: Dr. Skye Wills, SPSD-NSSC, USDA-NRCS, Nebraska

11:30 am
Soil and Ecosystem Dynamics

Chair: Curtis Talbot, SPSD, USDA-NRCS, New Mexico

11:45 am
Standards

Chair: Deb Surabian, SPSD, USDA-NRCS, Connecticut

12:00 pm
Hydric Ad Hoc

Chair: Lenore Vasilas, SPSD, USDA-NRCS, Maryland

12:15 pm
LUNCH (provided)
1:15 pm
TOWN HALL DISCUSSION — Recruitment and Retention

Moderator: Dr. Meyer Bohn, Iowa State University

2:15 pm
NCSS Business Meeting & NCSS Next Host

Dr. David Lindbo, Director, SPSD, USDA-NRCS, Washington D.C.

2:45 pm
Closing Remarks

Friday, July 14

7:30 am
Travel to Menoken, North Dakota
8:00 am
Burleigh County SCD, Menoken Soil Health Farm Tour (until 10:30 AM)

Witness soil health cropping systems, cover crops, composting system, high tunnel, vermiculture, and the no-till garden.