Newswise — "Dig It! The Secrets of Soil" is scheduled to open July 19 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, with LI-COR Biosciences as the newest sponsor. The soils exhibition will occupy an approximately 5,000 square foot exhibition space in the National Museum of Natural History, the most visited natural history museum in the world, and will be on display until January 2010.

The exhibition will bring soils to life and invite visitors to look at soils in a new and exciting way through interactive displays, multimedia, hands-on components, and cultural displays that underscore the sustenance and inspiration that humans have drawn from soils.

The LI-COR LI-8100 Automated Soil CO2 Flux Measurement System with two LI-8100-104 long-term chambers will be featured in an interactive display as part of the Dig It! exhibition. This apparatus measures the carbon dioxide being released from soil. Carbon dioxide is a by-product of soil organism metabolism and is a critical measure of carbon sequestration and release.

"We are honored to work with the Smithsonian to assist in developing part of this significant event," says Larry Middendorf, LI-COR vice president. "The exhibition will provide a tremendous resource for educating the public."

The project includes a Web education component. It will be housed on the Forces of Change portal web site (http://forces.si.edu/soils) and will provide a virtual version of the exhibition, online educational materials, and access to additional resources. Dig It! is a major project being funded by public and private resources. The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is the founding sponsor and The Fertilizer Institute's Nutrients for Life Foundation is the lead sponsor.

"Our thanks to LI-COR, a long-standing sustaining member of ours, for their generous donation of equipment, expertise, and financial support to the soils exhibition," says SSSA president Gary Peterson, Colorado State University. "We join LI-COR in their commitment to soil science education. We are excited to partner with LI-COR and the other exhibit sponsors to educate the public about soils through this amazing exhibition that will open later this year."

According to Peterson, the goal of the exhibition is to foster greater public understanding of and interest in soils and focus attention on soil topics for secondary education students. Visitors to the exhibition will gain a better understanding of how healthy soils are linked to environmental health, economic strength, and food security.

LI-COR joins the more than 1,200 individuals and corporate, industry, foundation, USDA agency, and hundreds of Conservation District sponsors in supporting the exhibition. Depending on funding, following its 18-month display in Washington DC, Dig It! will begin a national tour that brings the soils education message to venues across the country. Additional support is still needed for the exhibition tour with high-profile benefits available to corporate sponsors.

The National Academies has endorsed the exhibition as, "Unquestionably, the most important opportunity that the field of soil science has ever had to educate the general public about soils and their role in food and fiber production, environmental quality at local and global scales, and in human health."

For more information on "Dig It! The Secrets of Soil," visit http://www.soils.org/smithsonian or http://forces.si.edu/soils/.

The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) www.soils.org is an scientific society based in Madison, Wisconsin, which helps its 6,000+ members advance the disciplines and practices of soil science by supporting professional growth and science policy initiatives, and by providing quality, research-based publications and a variety of member services.

LI-COR Biosciences is a leader in the design and manufacture of instrument systems for biotechnology and environmental research. LI-COR instruments for photosynthesis, carbon dioxide analysis and light measurement are recognized worldwide for standard-setting innovation in plant science research and environmental monitoring. LI-COR is a pioneer in the development of infrared fluorescence Founded in 1971, the privately held company is based in Lincoln, Nebraska, with subsidiaries in Germany and the United Kingdom. LI-COR systems are used in over 100 countries and are supported by a global network of distributors. For more information: www.licor.com.