CSC students win awards at International Society of Range Management Convention

Three Chadron State College students garnered top awards at the Society for Range Management’s (SRM) 71st Annual Meeting and Convention in Sparks, Nevada, at the end of January. The conference spanned a number of days, starting January 28 and ending February 2, and was themed “Empowerment through Applied Science.” The convention saw an attendance of nearly 1,400 people and 400 of those were students. CSC brought 12 students to compete and network with the producers, educators, researchers, range consultants and government employees in attendance.
Will Krause, junior from Canyon Lake, Texas, took home the first place honors in the Excellence in Range Management poster competition, Missy Jech, senior of Rushville, won first in the photo contest and Jessica Hurd, senior of Gordon, placed fifth in the SRM competition of extemporaneous speaking.
The trio was honored to accept the awards and had great experiences at the convention.
“The best take away from the SRM [convention] was the importance of connections, team work and willingness to learn. It was an awesome experience and it was humbling to have done so well,” Jech said. “The trip overall was a learning experience and I truly enjoyed seeing the different landscapes, people, and differences in practices within the range community.”
Jech entered her photo of a yucca plant framed by fire that she took on her family’s ranch near Rushville. She named the photo “Lil Toasty” and it sold during an auction to raise money for the Society of Range Management endowment.
Hurd gave a speech on “Keystone Species” and was only given two hours to prepare and research her five-to-seven minute presentation.
“SRM [convention] this year and in the past has allowed me to see new places, open my mind to new ideas and understand the depth and structure of the field I’m studying. I was happy with my placement in the speaking contest, although I believe I could have done better if I had incorporated a couple more ideas,” Hurd said.
Krause entered a large poster featuring photos and text about the range management processes used at Terrell Farms south of Hay Springs. Krause had an internship with the farming company during the summer of 2016.
Nine other CSC students competed in the competitions available at the convention in categories ranging from plant identification, various exams with topics in range management and a chapter display competition. They also attended job fairs, career building seminars and networking information sessions.
Anthony Perlinski and Aaron Field, both CSC rangeland management professors, attended the convention as well. Field serves as a member of the Range Science Education Council, and Perlinski recently took over as the chairman on the SRM Advisory Council. He also serves as president of the Nebraska Society of Range Management.