Dr. Fran Walley, President

Dr. Fran Walley, President

Fran Walley, P.Ag., is the Associate Dean (Academic) in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, and a Professor in the Department of Soil Science at the University of Saskatchewan. Fran also served as head of the Department of Soil Science (2004-2011) and Acting Associate Dean Research and Graduate Studies (2013) in the College of AgBio, UofS. She holds a Ph.D. in soil microbiology from the U of S and maintains an active research program in the area of soil nitrogen dynamics. One aspect of this research deals with the impact of cropping systems on bioavailable N-pools, which ties into her work in the area of soil N testing for improved fertilizer N recommendations. A second focus is pulse crop fertility, with an emphasis on nitrogen fixation and the development of effective inoculation strategies, including the application and use of arbuscular mycorrhizal and biocontrol inoculants in pulse crop systems. Fran served as co-chair of the organizing committee for the CSSS meeting in 2010. Fran is author or co-author of 65+ peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and has supervised/co-supervised 30+ graduate students and post docs. Fran has long been involved in teaching introductory soil science, and is particularly committed to sharing her love of soil science with her students. I’ve never met a soil I didn’t like!