DEPARTMENT OF SOIL AND CROP SCIENCES

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1 DEPARTMENT OF SOIL AND CROP SCIENCES AGGIE AGENDA December 2011 In this issue: A Word from the Department Head Condolences Calendar Awards Gold Housekeeping Award Graduates Christmas Coffee Greetings Excitement is in the air, with our winter graduates wrapping up their programs and moving on to new careers and further education. Congratulations to each and everyone. We look forward to several new students joining us in January as the cycle moves forward and demand for our students continues to grow. Commodity partners continue to appreciate our efforts and are workig closely with us. Highlights of this were the recent commodity forums in Amarillo and San Antonio and the Texas Crop Protection Association in College Station. Meetings with the various assoications and representatives are driven by recognition that our relationship is built on the strong relationship with vigorous debate and discussion on many issues. Keep up the great work! Budget concerns at the federal and state level are still present, but we have continued strong support from corporate partners and as a faculty have been very competitive for the federal grants available. We look to the future as a smaller department than in 2010 as we develop our strategic plan to help meet the food, feed, fiber, fuel and funding needs of a growing world population. Thanks to Scott Senseman and committee for developing an approach to strategic planning, and the FAC for reviewing the presentation at our faculty meeting. There is little doubt we have significant work ahead as we go through the process, however, it s critical to our future. Our study abroad programs are off and rolling with the new year. We have grown the support for these and developed several valuable programs. This along with growth in our internship programs and undergraduate research projects adds significantly to our overall effort to enhance the learning outcomes of our students. I want to wish each of you a great Holiday break and a Hapy New Year! Soil & Crop Sciences T A M U Department of Soil & Crop Sciences, TAMU 2474, College Station, Tx , PH Fax:

2 Page 2 Condolences Volume V, Issue 10 Condolences to Dr. Brent Bean and his family on the passing of his father. On the Mend: Sonnie Feagley is recouperating from cataract surgery. The Baltensperger s brought their daughter Katie home this week to meet with doctors in our area. Please continue to keep the family and the doctors in your thoughts and prayers as they search for answers to the ongoing problems. In Memory of Former Students William M. Rountree '41 Agronomy Sulphur, OK 2011 & 2012 Dec. 16 Dec. 20 Dec Jan. 1 Jan. 3-6 Jan. 10 Jan Jan Feb. 2-3 Feb Feb. 27- Mar. 2 March Calendar Events Graduation Christmas Coffee in Room 440, Heep - 3:00 pm Christmas Holiday Happy New Year! Beltwide Cotton Conference - Orlando, FL 2012 Texas A&M AgriLife Video Conference STMA Long Beach Turf Ecology & Management Short Course Soil Survey and Land Resourse Workshop AAAS - Vancouver, Canada GCSAA Spring Break

3 Page 3 Volume V, Issue 10 Congratulations! Congratulations to Joseph Storlien, a PhD candidate in Soil Science who is co-advised by Frank Hons and Terry Gentry, has been awarded a Tom Slick Fellowship for This award is for academic excellence and contributions to southwest Texas agriculture. Joe also recently won third place in the graduate student poster competition at the Texas Plant Protection Conference. His research involves greenhouse gas emissions from and the carbon economy of biomass sorghum produced for bioenergy. Chance Robinson, student of Dr. Tom Hallmark won 3rd place for his poster presentation at the SSSA meeting, Pedology Division Dianna Fisher also won 2nd place recognition for her Oral research Presentation at the SSSA meeting. Julie Rothe, Ph.D. student of Dr. Dirk Hays was selected Third Place Student Oral Competition at the CSSA meeting, Crop Physiology and Metabolism Division Gold Housekeeping Award This is room 343 after the soil, water and forage testing lab moved to their new location on F&B Road. The room is currently in transition and we want to thank all that were involved in the renovation process. KUDOS! If you have awards or information that you would like mentioned in future newsletters, please send to dsutherland@ag.tamu.edu

4 Page 4 Volume V, Issue 10 Congratulations Graduates! Class of 2011 Graduate Students: Key: AGRO Agronomy, SOSC Soil Science, FSTC Food Science and Technology PLBR Plant Breeding, WMHS - Water Management and Hydrology Muhammad Asif - PhD - FSTC Dustin Borden - MS - AGRO Charlie Dowling - MS - PLBR Travis Janak - MS - AGRO Laura Masor - MS - PLBR Takele Dinka - PhD - SOSC Eliza Watson - MS - WMHS Undergraduate Students: Key: TMO Turf Management Option, SCM - Soil & Crop Management Option AGI - Agro Industries Option Jamie Ausley - BS - AGRO - SCM Christian Boyd - BS - AGRO - TMO Michael Cain - BS - AGRO - TMO Jason Cobb -BS - AGRO - TMO Melissa Ganotis - BS - AGRO - TMO Michael Hinkelman - BS - AGRO - TMO Travis Kidd - BS - AGRO - SCM John McGinty - BS - AGRO - SCM Matthew Megally - BS - AGRO - SCM Lindsey Merritt - BS - AGRO - TMO Jeffrey Morris - BS - AGRO - SCM Allen Pavlica - BS - AGRO - TMO Blake Peveto - BS - AGRO - AGI Dillon Pool - BS - AGRO - SCM Brandon Reynolds - BS - AGRO - SCM David Tietz - BS - AGRO - SCM Heather Watson - BS - AGRO - SCM Neil Wessels - BS - AGRO - SCM Department of Soil & Crop Sciences, TAMu 2474, College Station, TX PH: FAX:

5 Page 5 Volume V, Issue 10 Soil & Crop Annual Christmas Coffee Annual Soil & Crop Sciences Christmas Coffee Please join us for our Annual Christmas Coffee and Sweets before we break for the holidays. Tuesday, December 20, 2011 Room 440, 3:00 p.m.

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