A conversation with Hans Jenny
Excerpt
Hans Jenny, no stranger among soil scientists, has begun to receive wider public recognition for his many professional achievements. Last year, SCSA presented Jenny, an SCSA member, its Honor Award. More recently, the book accompanying a new British Broadcasting Company television series, “Bellamy's New World,” was dedicated to Jenny. Then in February of this year, a symposium was held at the University of California—Berkeley to commemorate Jenny's 85th birthday and to raise funds for the Hans Jenny Land Conservation Fund, which is used to acquire land chosen by Jenny for its value to soil appreciation and study.
A native of Switzerland, Jenny camee to the United States in 1926 as a Rockefeller Fellow. He joined the University of Missouri—Columbia faculty in 1927 and moved to the University of California—Berkeley in 1936. Jenny's early research produced a new, quantitative description of soil genesis. While at Missouri, his work took a practical bent, focusing on problems of declining soil fertility in the Midwest. His well-known text, Factors of Soil Formation, was published in 1941.
A colleague has written of Jenny's research career: “In a field of …
Footnotes
- Copyright 1984 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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