COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M Agronomy Society grabbed the Tri-Societies Presidents’ Trophy for the Best Students of Agronomy, Soils and Environmental Sciences Chapter of the Year at the annual meeting Oct. 15 in San Antonio.
“We have now won it for three straight years and four out of the last six years,” said Dr. Steve Hague, co-advisor with Dr. Dave Zuberer. Hague is an assistant professor of cotton breeding and Zuberer is a professor of soil microbiology, both in the department of soil and crop sciences at Texas A&M University in College Station.
The two attribute the continued success of the program to an active group of talented students who are highly motivated to make their club a success. This year’s club has 24 students, 11 of whom traveled to San Antonio to participate in the national meetings.
This year, Hague said, club president Dianna Fisher “gave an incredible presentation and blew the competition away. I could not be more proud of her and the other students in the Agronomy Society.”
Students of Agronomy, Soils and Environmental Sciences is an undergraduate student organization of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America.
The President’s Trophy award is presented upon an evaluation of the chapter and how it promotes agronomy, crop, soil or environmental sciences, public service, club development, fundraising and a presentation by the chapter representatives.
In addition to winning the Presidents’ Trophy, students of the Agronomy Society were successful in several other competitions, Zuberer said. The society placed second in the National Club Poster Competition with their poster describing their teaching activities at the Still Creek Ranch in Bryan. Fisher, from Flint, placed second in the undergraduate Student Research Symposium – Oral Presentations; Kelsey Hoegenauer, New Braunfels, placed second in the Visual Presentation Contest; and Melissa Ganotis, Flower Mound, placed fourth in the National Speech Contest.
Graduate students placing in poster contests were Justin Ng of San Antonio, third in Soil Biology and Biochemistry; and Maddy Romero, second in Diversity in Agronomy, Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences.
Paige Graves of Nocona was awarded the Hank Beachell Future Leader Scholarship, and Heather Watson of Brenham was awarded the J.Fielding Reed Scholarship and a National Society of Consulting Soil Scientists Scholarship.
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