Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences earns honors at national conference

Faculty and students from the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Soil and Crop Sciences recently received recognition by the Tri-Societies international annual meeting recently in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Tri-Societies conference includes oral and poster presentations as well as award presentations to members of the Crop Sciences Society of America, or CSSA; the American Society of Agronomy, or ASA; and the Soil Sciences Society of America, or SSSA. This year’s theme was “A Creative Economy for Sustainable Development.”

Seth Murray, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research corn breeder and Eugene Butler Endowed Chair in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, was named CSSA president elect. He will serve in that position from Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2022, and be responsible for planning the 2022 meeting. He will serve as the president from Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2023.

American Society of Agronomy Fellow

The ASA recognized Steve Hague, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program leader for the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Bryan-College Station, as a 2021 Fellow award recipient.

The ASA Fellow is the highest recognition bestowed by the American Society of Agronomy and is presented for outstanding contributions to agronomy through education, national and international service and research.

Hague is a professor and cotton breeder at Texas A&M. He teaches several conventionally delivered undergraduate courses, leads high-impact learning experiences such as internships and study-abroad programs, has mentored numerous graduate students and served on various educational committees. His research program focuses on developing cotton germplasm with enhanced yield, fiber quality and stress resistance.

“Dr. Hague has emerged as a leading cotton breeder nationally and has been a leader in undergraduate education,” said David Baltensperger, Ph.D., head of the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. “His Fellow recognition is a tribute to his efforts on behalf of Texas A&M.”

Golden Opportunity Scholars

Three students were selected to the Golden Opportunity Scholars program, which matches undergraduates with scientist-mentors and encourages students to pursue careers in the agronomic, crop and soil sciences.

Ariana Lazo is a senior majoring in plant and environmental soil science with an emphasis in soil and water. She provides leadership for several organizations, serving as vice president of the Texas A&M Agronomy Society, an ambassador for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and national vice president of the SASES, the undergraduate program of the Tri-Societies.

Grace Bodine is a senior at Texas A&M majoring in honors plant and environmental soil science with a soil and water emphasis. From Austin, she is active as an undergraduate research and student worker in various labs. She serves as an ambassador for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the president of the Agronomy Society, and a member of the Soil Judging Team. Upon completing her undergraduate degree, Bodine plans to attend a graduate program in soil science.

Chris Barron is a sophomore from Slidell, Louisiana, majoring in plant and environmental soil science with an emphasis in crop science and biochemistry with a minor in genetics. He hopes to work as a seed and plant geneticist to improve corn drought tolerance and vitamin content for application in sub-Saharan Africa. At Texas A&M, he is a member of the Agronomy Society, serving as its treasurer and an ambassador for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Giants of Progress in Forage and Grazinglands Agriculture 

Monte Rouquette Jr., Ph.D., a Regents Fellow and professor with Texas A&M AgriLife Research who has served more than 50 years at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Overton, was one of three people recognized as “Giants of Progress in Forage and Grazinglands Agriculture.”

Rouquette developed a novel research program that combines the soil-plant interface of sustainability and environment-compatible impacts of nutrient cycling under grazing and stocking conditions with the plant-animal interface that assesses biological components of efficiency of utilization. His grazing research with tropically-adapted breed types is the only project in Texas, and possibly the U.S., that evaluates performance of beef cattle from birth to carcass and sensory.

Other awards and recognitions

— Shuyu Liu, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research small grain geneticist, Amarillo, was selected to be a Tri-Societies SEED Ambassador. This is an immersive advocacy leadership program designed to develop training to engage with federal, state and local policy makers and strong relationships with U.S. Congressional members.

— Texas A&M students selected for the seventh-annual ASA Graduate Student Leadership Conference in Salt Lake City were Bishwa Sapkota, Dinesh Phuyal, Chiranjibi Poudyal, Khushboo Rastogi, Musfiq-Us Salehin, Kisman Bhattarai and Ka Man Jasmine Yu. The conference included skills building and networking, leadership sessions, a design-your-own experience and additional professional development sessions.

— Karina Morales – Bridge Scholar – Scholars support the joint effort between the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science and the Tri-Societies.
 
— Bishwa Sapkota – CSSA Gerald O. Mott Award Graduate Student Travel Scholarship.

— Walker Crane – National Student Recognition Program.

— Catherine Danmaigona Clement; Fabian Leon and Jeewan Pandey – NAPB Borlaug Graduate Scholars.

— Ken Lege, former student now with Phytogen Seed Co., Agronomic Industry Award.

Student winners

Tri-Society recognition

— Catherine Danmaigona Clement – first – diversity student poster competition.
— Catherine Danmaigona Clement – second – society-wide CSSA poster competition.

Students of Agronomy, Soils and Environmental Sciences

— Grace Bodine, Trenton Sulak, Ariana Lazo – first – SASES undergraduate club poster.
— Grace Bodine – first – undergraduate research poster.
— Ariana Lazo – first – undergraduate internship poster.

CSSA

— Catherine Danmaigona Clement – first – oral/poster, plant breeding and genetics.

SSSA

— Annalee Epps – second – 5-minute oral/poster, soil biology and biochemistry.
— Kisman Bhattarai – third – soil biology and biochemistry.

ASA

— Isaiah Robertson – first – poster, environmental quality.
— Katherine Quinonez Gonzalez – second – poster, soil carbon and greenhouse gas emissions
— Donovan Davis – first – poster, nutrients and environmental quality.
— Donovan Davis – first – oral, soil carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.
— Gustavo Silva – first – poster, weedy and invasive species.
— Sarah Kezar – second – poster, weedy and invasive species.
— Bishwa Sapkota – first – poster, precision agriculture systems.
— Guy Coleman – first – oral, precision agriculture systems.
— Kisman Bhattarai – third – oral, sensor-based nutrient management.
— Rahul Raman – second – poster, precision agriculture systems.
— Chiranjibi Poudyal – third – poster, precision agriculture systems.
— Joseph Burke – first – oral, cover crop management.
— Joseph Burke – third – oral/poster, cover crop management.
— Jackson Nielsen – second – oral, cover crop management.
— Hayden Taylor – third – poster, cover crop management.