Research, contributions recognized by the Texas Section Society for Range Management
Texas A&M students, faculty receive top awards, leadership appointments
Employees and students of Texas A&M AgriLife and the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences received top awards and recognition during the annual Texas Section Society for Range Management, TSSRM, meeting held last month in Victoria.
“The honors and recognition received by our faculty and students highlight the significant and ongoing contributions of Texas A&M AgriLife to rangeland health and resource stewardship across Texas,” said Humberto Perotto, Ph.D., TSSRM president.
Perotto is also an associate professor and Joan Negley Kelleher Endowed Professor in Ranch Management in the Texas A&M Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management.
Publication awards
The popular publication award was given to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service document “Rangeland Analysis Platform, The Prairie Project” by Casey Matzke, AgriLife Extension program manager, and graduate student Erica Sullivan, Bryan-College Station, and Morgan Treadwell, Ph.D., professor and AgriLife Extension range specialist, San Angelo, all in the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management.
Special publication honors went to “Rangeland Carbon Markets: A Primer on the History, Function and Processes of Carbon Markets Relevant to Texas Rangelands.” Authors are Forrest Cobb, Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, NRI, project coordinator; Amanda Goldsmith, former research assistant ; Alejandra Rodriguez, NRI research assistant; Chad Ellis, Texas Agricultural Land Trust chief executive officer; William Fox, Ph.D., associate professor and AgriLife Extension range specialist; Doug Tolleson, Ph.D., associate professor and rangeland scientist, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Station at Sonora; Jeff Goodwin, Ph.D., Texas A&M Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management director and Texas A&M AgriLife Research assistant professor, and Roel Lopez, Ph.D., department head and NRI director, all in the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management; and Edward Osei, Ph.D., assistant professor of agricultural economics at Tarleton State University.
“The Declining Ogallala Aquifer and the Future Role of Rangeland Science on the North American High Plains” received the technical publication award. The authors include Edward Rhodes, Texas Water Resources Institute research specialist; Perotto; Evan Tanner, Ph.D., assistant professor, Texas A&M University-Kingsville Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute; Jay Angerer, Ph.D., research leader, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, Miles City, Montana; and Fox.
Staff award and leadership appointment
Rider Combs, property manager for the Texas A&M Ecology and Natural Resources Teaching Area, received the Young Professional Conclave Award to attend the national Society for Range Management, SRM, meeting next year.
Silverio Avila, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension range specialist and assistant professor in the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, Alpine, was appointed to the TSSRM board of directors.
Student competitions
The Texas A&M Range Club plant identification teams took first and second place in the rangeland plant identification competition. The top three high-scoring individuals include Jake Chapman and Garrett Parcell, both in the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, and Hanna Hardt, Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology.
The Texas A&M Range Club also placed first overall in the Undergraduate Range Management Exam.
Chase Brooke, Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, and Callie Jo Swaim, Department of Animal Science, took first and second place, respectively, in the Three Minute Thesis Competition.
Don Pendleton Memorial Student Awards
Reanna Santos, Department of Rangeland Wildlife and Fisheries Management, placed second, and Xavier Jaime, Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, placed third in the Don Pendleton Memorial Oral Presentations.
Swaim placed first in the Don Pendleton Memorial Graduate Student Poster Presentation, while Brooke placed third.
William Longoria, Department of Rangeland Wildlife and Fisheries Management, took first place honors in the Don Pendleton Memorial Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation.
Outstanding students and Land Steward’s Choice Awards
Hannah Hardt and Hannah Moreno, Department of Rangeland Wildlife and Fisheries Management, were recognized as Outstanding Range Students at Texas A&M University.
Jaime received the Land Steward’s Choice Award for his oral presentation, while Swaim received the Land Steward’s Choice Award for her poster presentation.
