DURHAM, N.C. – , dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences and James B. Duke Professor of Biogeochemistry at 91ÉçÇø¸£Àû, has been elected a 2006 Fellow of the 6,000-member Soil Science Society of America (SSSA).

Election as a fellow is the highest honor SSSA bestows on its members.  No more than 0.3 percent of its active and emeriti members are selected for the honor.

Schlesinger is an internationally recognized expert on global environmental change.  His research focuses on chemical changes in the environment, especially soils, which relate to changes in global climate and desertification.  He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a past president of the Ecological Society of America.

SSSA is an international organization whose mission is to enhance the sustainability of soils, the environment, and society by integrating diverse scientific disciplines and principles in soil science for the wise stewardship of natural resources.  The society is affiliated with the Crop Science Society of America and the American Society of Agronomy.

Schlesinger will be recognized as a Fellow at the SSSA’s awards program in Indianapolis on Nov. 15.