SSSA and CSSA Society-Wide Student Competitions

SSSA and CSSA will be hosting separate, Society-Wide Graduate Student Competitions as an extension of the 2023 Annual Meeting! Both the SSSA and CSSA competitions will give students the opportunity to showcase their work/research. These competitions will be tournament style, where the top winner from each division's traditional contest at the Annual Meeting will then go on to compete in a head-to-head poster session and 5 minute rapid oral session after the Annual Meeting. Eligible students are undergraduates, grad students, and if the division chooses, could include post-docs with no more than one-year post doc (must present on their doctoral research).

Each division will select their one top student in whichever manner best fits their program – traditional oral/poster, rapid fire oral/poster, etc. and selected students will be presenting in the society-wide contest with a 5 minute rapid fire oral and an poster (so should be prepared as such). Each participating division will be submitting their top student’s name by the end of the sessions on Wednesday of the meeting.

The Society-wide competitions will take place November 16-18, via Zoom. The sessions, on Zoom, will be open for viewing by all members and non-members (including friends and family)! Registration for the Zoom sessions will be announced immediately following the Annual Meeting (in time for competition viewing).

All are central times:

CSSA Society-Wide Student Competition
Tuesday, November 14, 10:00-3:00 pm
Oral Session: 10:00 am - 11:30 am (or until all of the students have presented)
Poster Session: 1:00 - 3:00 pm

CSSA Division Student Competitors:
Crop Breeding and Genetics - Kayla Beechinor, Texas A&M University
Crop Physiology & Metabolism - Om Prakash Ghimire, Clemson University
Crop Ecology, Management & Quality - Haleigh Ortmeier-Clarke, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Seed Physiology, Production & Technology - Sarah Chu, Texas A&M University
Turfgrass Science - Jackie Lyn Guevara, Michigan State University
Forage & Grazinglands - Nicolas Caram, University of Florida
Genomics, Molecular Genetics & Biotechnology - Hallie Wright, University of Georgia
Plant Genetic Resources - Raegan Heinrich, Texas A&M University
Crops for Nutrition & Health - Madigan Eckels, Utah State University

SSSA Society-Wide Student Competition
Wednesday, November 15, 10:00-3:30 pm
Oral Session: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm (or until all students have presented)
Poster Session: 1:00 - 3:30 pm

SSSA Division Student Competitors:
Forest, Range, and Wildland Soils - Alexandrea Rice, University of Virginia
Nutrient Management & Soil & Plant Analysis - Sevendeep Kaur, University of Guelph
Pedology - Benjamin Newcomb, Texas Tech
Soils and Environmental Quality - Carlee Epting, North Carolina State University
Soil and Water Management & Conservation - Natalie Sturm, Washington State University
Soil Biology and Biochemistry - Endy Kailer Lopez, Kansas State University
Soil Chemistry - Gbenga Danielo Adejumo, University of Saskatchewan
Soil Education and Outreach - Carlos Bonini Pires, Kansas State University
Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition - Harrison Coker, Texas A&M University
Soil Mineralogy - Ashleigh Montgomery, University of Delaware
Soil Physics and Hydrology - Caroline Wolcott, Virginia Tech
Urban and Anthropogenic Soils - Tiffany Legg, University of Oklahoma
Wetland Soils - Grace Bodine, University of Maryland-College Park

Results Announcement
Thursday, November 16
11:00 AM - Facebook live
 

Have more questions? View the Society-Wide Competition FAQs

View the Society-Wide Judging Rubric: ORAL | POSTER

Each Society’s Competition Winners receive:

  • 1st Place - $1000 and a 2024 Annual Meeting Registration

  • 2nd Place - $750 dollars

  • 3rd Place - $500

All contestants receive a certificate, recognition in CSA News, and a valuable experience!