Congratulations to our Crops and Soils Club, for receiving the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Student Organization Excellence Award for Active Citizenship! In the words of our college this award is "presented to a student organization that has demonstrated, through activities, a commitment to diversity and inclusion, advocacy and education, political involvement, socially responsible behavior, activism, and participation in state, national, or global associations". The Club received the award at the CFAES Olympics on March 28th, 2024.
The Crops and Soils club is advised by HCS professor, Dr. David Barker, and they've had a jam-packed year filled with club events, fundraising and traveling to off-campus events such as Weed Judging Competitions, and Students of Agronomy, Soils and Environmental Sciences (SASES) meetings in spring and fall. They're currently looking forward to welcoming over 110 students from 15 different agronomy clubs to our Columbus campus as they host the spring SASES meeting (April 4th-6th, 2024)!
We had the chance to chat with the Crops and Soils Club President, Ashley Bergman, to get the inside scoop into the club...
What were your thoughts on Crops & Soils receiving A CFAES Student Organization Excellence Award?
Ashley: I was thrilled when we were announced as the Active Citizenship award winners because I had nominated our club for several categories of the CFAES Student Organization Excellence Award, and it had been a few years since we had won any of the awards. It's awesome to know that the club's involvement and activities over the past year while I served the club as its President were what helped us to achieve this award.
How’d you first get interested in joining Crops & Soils Club?
Ashley: I became interested in joining the Crops and Soils Club back during covid when I was a freshman. Since everything was online, I was struggling a lot in college, and I was looking to be a part of something that would allow me to meet people and get involved. I found out about the Crops and Soils Club and thought it sounded interesting, so I joined, and I've been extremely grateful for that.
What’s your favorite part about being in Crops & Soils Club?
Ashley: My favorite part about the Crops and Soils Club is that we get to do fun things like travel across the country for SASES (Students of Agronomy, Soils, and Environmental Sciences) conferences and prepare for and work at the Plant Sale every spring. I get to do all of these things with my peers and friends in the club, which makes it even more awesome.
how are you enjoying being a club officer?
Ashley: I knew I wanted to run for a club officer because it would allow me to get involved with the club on a deeper level. I held several leadership positions in 4-H and FFA in high school, so being an officer for Crops and Soils came naturally to me. I've previously served the club as President, Vice President, and Philanthropy Chair for one year each, and it's been enjoyable getting to interact with our club's members and have a say in the future trajectory and successes our club wants to achieve.
Congratulations again to all the Crops and Soils Club members! You can keep up with the club on Instagram @osucropsandsoilsclub