Phillip Owens, research leader and research soil scientist with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service and the Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville, has been named a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America.

Up to 0.3 percent of the society's active and emeritus members may be elected Fellow. He will be recognized at the SSSA/American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of American joint annual meetings in Baltimore, Maryland, in November.

Owens is an internationally recognized authority in digital soil mapping focused on data-driven management. He has authored 126 publications and has one patent. In addition to his work for the USDA-ARS and advancing its research mission, he is active in SSSA, the American Geophysical Union and the International Union of Soil Sciences.

Owens has numerous invitations to present his research at national and international conferences. In addition, he is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. In his role with the department, Owens serves on graduate student committees and collaborates with CSES scientists in their work with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the U of A System Division of Agriculture.

Owens earned his bachelor's degree in crop science and his master's in crop, soil and environmental sciences, with a soil science concentration in each, both from the U of A. He received his Ph.D. in pedology from Texas A&M University.

Prior to serving in the USDA-ARS position, he was the Tri-Societies Congressional Science Fellow in the office of Senator Blanche Lincoln.

The Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center conducts research to introduce new practices and technologies to help small farms become more profitable and sustainable.

SSSA is an international scientific society that fosters the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global soils. Home to 6,000-plus members and 800-plus certified professionals who advance the field of soil science, it provides information about soils in relation to crop production, environmental quality, forestry, ecosystem sustainability, bioremediation, waste management, urban uses, mining and reclamation, and across many closely related scientific disciplines and applied fields.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

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