Dr. Rattan Lal, the member of WASWAC advisory committee, is the recipient of RNRF's received 2017 Sustained Achievement Award. The award recognizes a long-term contribution and commitment to the protection and conservation of natural resources by an individual.

During his 50-year career Dr. Lal studied sustainable intensification and climate-resilience of agroecosystems, working to advance global food and nutritional security through soil health management, carbon sequestration, and erosion control.

Dr. Lal has advanced soil resources science through his extensive accomplishments as a researcher and mentor. He has written 818 journal articles, 485 book chapters, 16 books, and has given 425 keynote presentations on the sustainable management of world soils. In addition to teaching two classes at Ohio State University, he has mentored 106 graduate students, 55 post-doctoral researchers, and 156 visiting scholars from around the world.

Dr. Lal has promoted the application of sound scientific practices to soil research and policy over the years by serving as lead author of the Special Report of IPCC on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (2000), as science advisor to the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam, to initiate the Global Soil Week (2010-2015), and as Chair of Advisory Board of the UNU-FLORES, in Dresden, Germany. He has worked with the U.S. Senate to approve Soil Resolution 208 (2008) and has witnessed 6 congressional hearings (2000s) regarding soil resources and carbon sequestration. Furthermore, Dr. Lal has worked with several heads of state, including the President of Bangladesh (2007-2008), the President of Iceland (2006-2010), Vice President Al Gore (2010-2015), the former Secretary of the Environment of Germany (2010-2015) and the French Minister of Agriculture (2015) to help translate soil science to actionable policies.

Dr. Lal is currently a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science at Ohio State University and serves as the President of the International Union of Soil Sciences, representing 60,000 scientists.

Dr. Lal holds a B.Sc. in Agriculture from Punjab Agricultural University, a M.Sc. in Soil Science from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, and a Ph.D. in Soil Science from Ohio State University.

The award will be presented on November 15, 2017 at the annual meeting of the RNRF Board of Directors in Potomac, Maryland.