ASA CSSA SSSA 2012 - here we come

Nearly 4,000 people attended the ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meetings, Oct. 21-24, Cincinnati, OH and we are proud to be part of them.

 

First dinner at a cute local restaurant, Melt.

Jacob's parents offered the place for us to stay for the entire time.
We were so grateful to stay in such a warm and friendly home. Thank you for the hospitality :)

Lots of people were interested in Matt's oral presentation.
Great talk, Matt!!

Mary presented her work in Malawi.

Erika and her popular poster.

Jacob with his first prize award winning poster.
Congratulations Jacob!!

Suzanne and her poster.

 

The best way to get the day started.
Coffee for the world!

Lunch time. Guess who got yelled at.

Taking a break.

New soil scientists

Congratulations to Erika Larsen and Sarah Smith, our most recent M.S. of Soil Science graduates!

Sarah defended in mid September and welcomed her newest family member, baby Declan, into their family only a few days later. Super multi-tasking soil scientist mama! Sarah's thesis was entitled "Improving Professional Skills in Soil Science Outreach through Experiential Service-Learning Initiatives".

Erika defended her thesis, entitled "Evaluating Soil Carbon Pools and Losses in Long-Term Organic and Conventional Farming Systems" on October 2nd. Erika will be leaving us in a few short weeks to begin her new position as a fellow with the EPA in D.C.

We have really enjoyed having these two wonderful women as a part of our lab and will miss them both tremendously. Good luck you two!

 Erika's defense seminar

Sarah's congratulatory dinner!

Visit to the Food Shuttle gardens

SSC 428, Service-Learning for Sustainable Soil Management, took our first trip to the student's future teaching sites today, visiting Parrish Manor, as well as the IFFS Farm where students will teach as part of the Young Farmer Training Program. Great trip!

Arun and his SARE!

Congratulations to Arun, who just found out he was awarded a graduate student SARE grant to investigate legume cover crop root contributions in organic systems. Way to go, Arun!

Time to dress up

One of our lab members, Mary, got married on August 11 in Asheville, NC. Congratulations Mary and Bon!

We went there to celebrate but just seeing a tractor there we felt like we need to represent the lab somehow.

Global Food Security Summer Institute

I recently attended the inaugural Global Food Security Summer Institute at Purdue University. The program was organized by Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, a world-renowned sorghum breeder and winner of the 2009 World Food Prize. Dr. Ejeta is a remarkable man and spending time with him was a great honor. The program consisted of a series of lectures, practicums, group projects, and field trips related to issues pertinent in the study of food security. The extension of appropriate technologies and agricultural trade policy were heavily discussed. The program will occur again next year and I highly recommend it for individuals interested in global food security.

Congratulations, Erika!

One of our own, Erika Larsen, was just offered a position at the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water as an Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education Fellow. She will be working at the Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds conducting research activities related to the environmental impact of non-point source pollution. Way to go, Erika!