NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS
MICHIGAN CHAPTER SUMMER TOUR
Thursday, August 19, and Friday, August 20, 2010
In Region 1 (Upper Peninsula) near Sault Ste. Marie
- MICHIGAN CHAPTER ORGANIC TOUR
- MICHIGAN CHAPTER ORGANIC TOUR
Friday, October 1, 2010
Region 2 (Northern Lower Peninsula) Details coming soon
NEWSLETTERS
June, 2010, Chapter Newsletter (pdf)
February, 2010, Chapter newsletter (pdf)
Previous Year's Newsletters can be accessed under the History sub-tab
under the About Us tab.
OTHER SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION EVENTS
INFORMATION FROM PAST EVENTS
Michigan Chapter Professional Development Seminar
Held March 10, 2010, during ANR Week
Michigan State University
Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center
East Lansing, Michigan
Seminar Title: A Matter of Balance: Peak Phosphorus - Balancing Demand, Supply and the Environment
Agenda, Speaker Bios
Handouts and presentations on Home page
Michigan Chapter Annual Meeting
December 16, 2009
Soaring Eagle Casino, Mt. Pleasant, MI.
President's Michigan Chapter 2009 Progress Report (pdf)
64th INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL CONFERENCE
HELD AT THE HYATT REGENCY HOTEL
Dearborn, Michigan, July 11 - 15 (More information)
THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE SILENT AUCTION
Each year the chapter hosting the SWCS Annual Conference sponsors a silent auction with the proceeds going to scholarships for college students majoring in a conservation field. The Michigan Chapter has given scholarship money to students from Michigan Tech, MSU, and Grand Valley, to name a few, studying soils, agriculture, forestry, conservation, environmental engineering and biology. This year the Michigan Chapter raised over $4,000 for their scholarship fund from their Silent Auction at the 64th Annual International Conference at Dearborn, Michigan.
MICHIGAN CHAPTER
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR
Held Wednesday, March 11, 2009, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Michigamme Room, Kellogg Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
A Matter of Balance: Soil and Policy/Economics/Climate Change/Public Demand
The purpose of this Seminar was to discuss the relationships between the prospect of sustainable soil productivity for future generations versus the way we have been and are managing the soil, the demands we put on our soils and the expectations we have for our soils. We looked at a brief soil history of western civilizations; the current state of our soils and our progress in conservation and management; why is soil important; the impact of climate change; and economic and policy issues that drive our decisions in soil use, management and conservation. Attendees should have gained a better understanding of the need for conservation, enhanced respect for the importance of soil and an understanding of the impact of human decisions on soil sustainability.
This seminar was intended as a professional development program for SWCS members and others who work in the field of soil conservation and management, but was also open to land users, students and anyone else interested in our soils.
Agenda (pdf)
Speakers, information on the speakers, and their presentations in pdf form:(Some are large files)
Dr. Diane Stott, Research Soil Scientist, USDA-ARS National Soil Erosion Laboratory, Purdue University (About the speaker)
Presentation: Soil Conservation and Soil Quality: History and Current Status (8.15MB pdf)
Dr. Stuart Grandy, Assistant Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University (About the speaker)
Presentation: Why Soil Matters - Soil as a Living System (8.69MB pdf)
June Grabemeyer, State Economist, USDA-NRCS, Michigan State Office, East Lansing, MI (About the speaker)
Presentation: Why Farmers Farm the Way They Farm (1.87MB pdf)
Dr. David Skole, Professor of Global Change Science, Department of Forestry, Michigan State University (About the speaker)
Presentation: The Emerging carbon Markets: Opportunities for Soil and Biomass Offset projects in Agriculture and Forestry (4.57MB pdf)
Dr. Peter Nowak, Professor, Environmental Studies, The Nelson Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison (About the speaker)
Presentation: The Gretzky Model of Conservation (2.42MB pdf)
MICHIGAN CHAPTER ANNUAL MEETING AND
TECHNICAL PROGRAM
Held December 10, 2008
The following lists the speakers for the Technical Program. Two sessions were offered.
Speaker: Bill Cook, Michigan State University Extension Forester
"Energy, Biomass, and Other Abstract Ideas" (Click here to download his PowerPoint program. This must be viewed with MS PowerPoint or PowerPoint Viewer. It does not convert to a pdf correctly. If you do not have PowerPoint or PowerPoint Viewer, go to this Microsoft Webpage to download PowerPoint Viewer.)
Speaker: Donna LaCourt, Michigan Economic Development Corporation with Kevin Korpi, Michigan Products Council
"Center of Energy Excellence Update with a Look at Understanding the Feddstock Supply Chain for Sustainability and Competiveness." (Click here to download this pdf file)
Speaker: Kurt Thelen, Michigan State University
"The potential long term impact to soil productivity that could be realized IF all the detritus and crop residue is removed for conversion to fuels." (Click here to download this pdf file)