Spotlights: Excellences in Agricultural Sciences Day

Mike Kucera and Charles Kome of the National Soil Survey Center’s Soil Quality and Ecosystems Branch participated in Excellences in Agricultural Sciences Day. Charles spoke about soil quality resources and demonstrated the soil quality test kit. Mike provided “hands-on” demonstrations and lesson plans on filtration, soil glue, and soil water.

Nearly 130 agricultural educators from across the state of Nebraska attended the two sessions. One of the educators, Jonathan Anderson of Conestoga High School wrote, “I was able to incorporate a new lesson on soil glue and aggregate after discussing top soil. The lesson was directly from the conference and was simple, educational, and hands-on. Thank you again to all.” The photo shows two students from Jonathan’s class completing lesson plans for the soil glue demonstration.

This is part of an ongoing soils education grant project that is a joint effort between NRCS and the University of Nebraska. More information can be found at the following website: http://neaged.org/soils-grant-project.html. For information about soil quality test kits and demo training, contact Mike Kucera at michael.kucera@lin.usda.gov.