I’m participating in the 20th World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) in Jeju, which is the most stunning place in Korea.

On the first day of WCSS, the K-COSEM research group, in which I’m currently involved, presented a special session titled “Environmental risk management of geologic carbon storage and an introduction to the K-COSEM research center of Korea”.

Even though it was a small session, many participants lighted this session.

I gave a talk titled “Soil CO₂ efflux in ecological studies: Current status and challenges”. I reviewed soil CO₂ efflux (i.e., soil respiration) studies in ecology in which lots of challenges remains with abundant reports. I was interested in how ecologists approaches soil CO₂ efflux (background), what they have found (current status), and what they should study more (challenges and prospects). Finally, I tried to suggest implications for this brand new launching K-COSEM project.

Frankly speaking, my talk still has troubles in English skills and oral presentation experience. I’m not talented in verbal skills, actually. Also, I didn’t have enough time to exercise this presentation.  Therefore, I’m not satisfied with my presentation in this time. However, I believe that I keep improving better than before. At least, I’m proud that I did synthesize soil CO₂ efflux studies informatively and presented it in a highly-authorized international meeting.   

Beyond my talk, I’m enjoying numerous presentations, meeting friends, and looking around Jeju island. It’s nice time to visit Jeju island. Nice weather, not many visitors. Day after tomorrow, I’ll hike on Mt. Halla, the highest mountain in Korea.  

I’m happy to receive a mail that my manuscript has been accepted for publication in Soil Science Society of America Journal (SSSAJ). It will be my 7th publication as the first author and total 28th publication.  

Actually, it was the toughest revision. Reviewers gave the critical and constructive comments with total 2567 words. Then, I responded to the comments with total 4800 words. Also, the volume of the MS increased from ~8000 to ~10000 words. I challenged to find a solution for each comment; however, it was very helpful for improving the manuscript. So, I really enjoyed this revision process, and finally received the successful decision from the reviewers. I really appreciated the anonymous reviewers and my supervisor who guided the manuscript to be improved and succeeded.

Also, I’ll do my best to publish other research works continuously.