Newsletters – What's New?
President's meassage
As the days get shorter and the nights a little cooler, we begin to look forward to the autumn season. Autumn epitomizes change more than any other season. The weather is changing, children are returning to school, and the Creator transforms our landscape into a colorful masterpiece.
In addition to these changes, many of us have experienced major changes in our own lives, whether personally or professionally. The economy has been something that has affected all of us in some way. Revenues are down for governmental agencies, construction has slowed, and people are overall more reluctant to spend money for things that do not show a positive return on their investment.
While this presents us as soil scientists with a number of challenges, it also presents us with many opportunities. We know both the economic and environmental value of the services we provide. However, many of the people that we interact with on a daily basis do not understand that value. I want to encourage you all to make a little extra time available in your schedules to educate the public. Most of us already do this in some way, but if we can do a little bit extra, it will help to demonstrate our value to those around us. Some examples of ways to do this are to volunteer to talk about soils to a local 4-H or FFA group, or volunteer your expertise as a resource for a local Master Gardener program. Many of these programs are facing budget cuts and are subsequently being forced to cut back on what they are able to offer, so your willingness to help will be greatly appreciated. If you are not able to volunteer, even the few extra minutes that you spend with a landowner explaining how important the proper placement of a septic system is will pay off for our profession down the road.
I also want to take a minute to remind you all how good we have it. Even with all of the bad news around us, we are still very fortunate to be in a land that has been blessed with abundant opportunities and resources that most of the rest of the world would desperately love to have, and we as soil scientists are fortunate to have the opportunity to work toward protecting these resources. Please try to spend a few moments each day remembering how fortunate we are to have such an opportunity.
On another note, this year’s fall workshop promises to be a great learning opportunity. George Derringer has worked very hard on this workshop and has put together a fantastic agenda and roster of presenters. I encourage you all to attend. This year’s workshop is being held in conjunction with the northeast regional collegiate soil judging contest, so in addition to a great learning opportunity, it will be a good opportunity to interact with potential future colleagues and promote the soil science profession. I hope to see you all there.
Respectfully submitted,
Don Burgess