SUITMA 5 - New York City, USA

SUITMA held its fifth conference from September 20th to 25th, 2009, in New York City. Hosting were the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) and the New York City Soil and Water Conservation District (NYCSWCD), along with the Queens College School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Cooperators included the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYCDPR) and Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP); the GAIA Institute, the Central Park Conservancy (CPC), and the USDI-National Park Service (NPS).

The main program was held at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center in midtown Manhattan. In attendance were 125 participants from 16 countries representing 5 continents. The 37 oral presentations and 36 posters were organized to highlight the direction of current research in urban soil science: Urban Hydrology, Soil Contaminants, Soil Carbon and Land Use, Technosols, and Urban Soil Survey.

Two days of field tours through all five boroughs of NYC emphasized urban applications of soil survey information and highlighted NRCS partners in the City. The NPS tidal marsh restoration project at Big Egg Marsh, the subaqueous soil survey work conducted by the NRCS for eelgrass restoration, both in Jamaica Bay; the Pennsylvania Avenue Landfill native plant revegetation project (NYCDEP) in Brooklyn; and a Million Trees project site (NYCDPR) in Kissena Corridor Park, Queens, were visited. A tour was provided of the (NYCDPR) Native Plant Center in Staten Island, a 13-acre greenhouse, nursery, and seed bank complex providing native plants and seeds for restoration efforts. Storm water management projects included an example of the NYCDPR’s Greenstreets program in upper Manhattan, and an innovative system designed by the GAIA Institute at the City’s metal and plastic recycling center on the Bronx River.

The conference proved to be a valuable networking event that not only brought together the SUITMA community, but connected it to New York City environmental professionals and USDA-NRCS soil scientists, fostering several new cooperative efforts. It also served to underscore some practical applications of urban soil science and strengthen the USDA-NRCS presence in New York City and the urban environment at large.

Fot. P. Charzyński