UW-River Falls students honored at Agronomy, Soils and Environmental Sciences

Twelve students from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls attended the Students of Agronomy, Soils and Environmental Sciences (SASES) Conference in Minneapolis Nov. 13-16 capturing awards and honors.

SASES features professional development activities, intercollegiate competitions, networking and social events, and regional tours focusing on different aspects of the industry. UW-River Falls students participated in a full range of activities.

Seven students participated in the Undergraduate Research Symposium, giving either an oral or poster presentation. William Steffel, a sophomore majoring in agricultural business from Champlin, Minn., took first place out of the 47 entries in the national poster competition with his presentation, “Midseason Determination of Quality Parameters in Silage Corn Using the Greenseeker Sensor.”

A separate poster competition was conducted to showcase student work in club activities and give clubs recognition for promoting agronomy, crops, soils, and environmental sciences on their college campus or in their local community. The UW-River Falls submission took third place. The poster was presented by two members of the UW-River Falls Crops and Soils Club: Renee Reid, a crop and soil science major from Whitewater, and Karlee Lawrence, a crop and soil science major from Hugo, Minn. The poster described the club activities in celebration of the International Year of Soils. The members reached out to 4-H and FFA youth groups with interactive presentations and demonstrations emphasizing the different roles of soil and the need to protect soil from degradation. A highlight of activities was the introduction and subsequent identification of a “mystery soil.”

Elections for the five-member national officer team for SASES took place during the conference. Steffel was elected vice president and in that role will serve as program chair for the 2016 annual meeting in Phoenix. He will also attend the SASES spring meeting in March hosted by Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

The student conference is held each year in conjunction with the annual joint meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America and the Soil Science Society of America.
For more information, email laura.walsh@uwrf.edu or call 715-425-4714.