On behalf of the Organizing Committee and Scientific Committee, I welcome you to the 13^th Pedometrics conference 'Pedometrics 2019' at the University of Guelph in the city of Guelph, 'The Royal City'. Guelph is pronounced  'Gwelf' and rhymes with self. 

Fostering collaboration with provincial and federal agencies and research organizations, the International Union of Soil Sciences will host Pedometrics 2019 conference of Commission 1.5. Pedometrics 2019 conference will be held on June 2-6, 2019, in Guelph, Ontario in collaboration with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). 

Hosting Pedometrics for the first time in Canada is a great honor and we believe that Canada is the perfect place for Pedometrics 2019. There is no better time than now to host Pedometrics 2019 with tremendous interest, movement, and investment in developing soil strategy from the Provincial as well as the Federal level. We are pleased to showcase what Canada and Canadian Scholarship have to offer. More importantly, we offer a platform for scholars working in different parts of the world to come together, exchange ideas, and collaborate.

The conference venue is the University of Guelph, which has an attractive North-American campus. Guelph is a medium sized research intensive university with excellent facilities to host an international conference. The University has one of the largest university housing systems in Canada. The City of Guelph also has many hotels and guest-houses.

The City of Guelph is about 90 kilometers from Toronto and there are buses and trains connecting the two cities. Guelph is a vibrant city of 132,000 people, known for its 19^th Century limestone architecture, high quality life, beer micro-breweries, and art and music festivals.

We look forward to welcoming you to Guelph and the University of Guelph.

Asim Biswas

(on Behalf of the Organizing and Scientific Committee)

Pedometrics 2019