Contact: Maridith Geuder
A senior lecturer at England's University of Birmingham will deliver the 1999 Lyle E. Nelson Seminar Monday [Nov. 15] at Mississippi State University.
The 2 p.m. public program led by Michael Hilary Hayes takes place in Dorman Hall Auditorium. "Soil Organic Matter: As Vital to Life as Sunlight" will be his topic.
Nelson, MSU professor emeritus of agronomy, began the annual seminar in 1993. A 32-year teaching veteran, the Starkville resident established a fund through the Mississippi State Foundation to sponsor annual programs featuring specialists in the soil sciences.
"The purpose is to bring to the university community the perspectives of those who have demonstrated world-class leadership in areas related to soil science," Nelson said. "For students, faculty and the public, these experts can speak to today's issues, especially as they relate to agriculture and environmental sciences."
Hayes, a former chair of the International Society of Soil Science and president of the International Humic Substance Society, is widely recognized for his research. He has taken part in a range of international programs sponsored by such diverse bodies as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the International Rice Research Institute.
Hayes is a co-editor of "The Chemistry of Soil Constituents," "The Chemistry of Soil Processes" and "Soil Colloids and Their Associations in Aggregates." He holds degrees from the National University of Ireland and Cornell and Ohio State universities.
For more about the lecture, telephone William Kingery at (662) 325-2748.