Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Goodbye, Sarah!

After five fun and action-packed years, Sarah is off to greener pastures! She has recently begun a position as the Research Specialist in Organic Cropping Systems in our sister-lab, run by PI Chris Reberg-Horton. What a perfect fit for her! Below are pictures from Sarah's going away party in the Soil Science department. We will miss you, Sarah!


Sarah received lots of love from the lab!

A table highlighted some of the funnies from our experiences over the years

A 'thumbprint tree' was made in her honor

Lots of blue thumbs! (and pinkies for those of the group who thought their thumb was too fat)



Wednesday, February 19, 2014

National conference on cover crops and soil health


Greetings from Omaha!  I am here at the National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health with 299 other invitees to celebrate the contributions of cover crops towards enhancing soil health. And what an amazing bunch of folks it is!

Intended not only to highlight the latest information on cover crops and soil health practices, but also for participants to discuss the role of industry leaders, government agencies, farm organizations, scientists, and educators in advancing soil health and the use of cover crops, this event has been inspiring, to say the least. Both plenary and breakout sessions have focused on progress and prospects for further conservation advancements and the benefits for farmers and farm industries that are engaged with these practices. I can't express how exciting it is to have discussions with growers, funders, researchers and industry reps about what we love best - cover crops. The passion for furthering understanding of legume cover crops for nitrogen, carbon and overall soil health contributions is evident in every session. Smart folks.

A heartfelt thanks to the Howard Buffet Foundation and to SARE for having the vision to bring everyone together in one place!


Thursday, January 30, 2014

A special day

The day was started by a "surprise" birthday party for Natalie. Even though, Natalie cannot eat cake but WE can so we decided to celebrate her day with a yummy carrot cake anyway and give her a bag of sweet potato chips home.

The celebration was followed by a small group meeting with Dr. Snapp, who was visited for Mary's defense.

And yes, later in the afternoon, Mary had turned herself into Dr. Parr!! Congratulations!!





Thursday, January 23, 2014

Notables from the SSSNC Annual Meeting 2014

The annual NC Soil Science Society meeting was on January 21-22 at the McKimmon Center. This year, Sarah contributed her hard work and time to be on the committee of the meeting. Julie and JiJY gave oral presentations. Our graduate students, Sarah, Peyton and Natalie attended the poster competition for which cash prizes were given!!!

Please join us in congratulating Peyton and Sarah for their award winning in the graduate student poster competition!!!

1st place - Peyton Ginakes

4th place - Sarah Seehaver

2nd place- Boris Droz (our lab neighbor)

Sarah and JiJY happened to wear similar dresses.
No, we did not plan on doing that.