“We all are the future of soil sciences… when understanding and supporting the young people and children” were the final words shared by AMGC doctoral fellow Axel Cerón González at the Centennial Celebration of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) on the 21st May 2024 in Florence, Italy.
Axel was invited to deliver the plenary talk “Who constitutes the future of soil sciences? – Gender, age, and citizenship among the Young and Early Career Scientists”, in his role as the vice-chair of the IUSS Young and Early Career Scientists Working Group (YECS). He looked into the fabric of the YECS members, featuring over 350 young soil scientists from 58 countries who responded to a structured questionnaire, revealing intriguing singularities. Europe is nearing gender equity, and Latin America demonstrates increased participation of young women. The average age of young soil scientists worldwide is 30 years. Notably, there are distinct gender variations in the Middle East, where the average age is 27 years for men and 35 years for women.
At the AMGC, Axel explores the values of multilingual education supported by the VUB. His most recent collaborative project, a children’s booklet to understand the soils of the past, was also launched during the Centennial Celebration. The booklet was financially supported by the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) and translated into 15 languages, including Dutch (thanks to AMGC Prof. Yannick Devos) and Chinese (thanks to AMGC doctoral fellow Meihui Li). Additionally, Oriana Chiappa (AMGC doctoral fellow) lent her voice to a promotional YECS video, which was also featured in the plenary talk. See video.
Axel is working under the Terrace project led by AMGC Prof. Ralf Vandam, focusing on understanding the soils of ancient agricultural terraces in the Mediterranean.