Bailey Morrell, a senior in agricultural studies with minors in agronomy and agricultural business, became the 2014 Students of Agronomy, Soils and Environmental Sciences (SASES) national president at the Tampa national meeting in November.
She is one of the few SASES national presidents from Iowa State. Rachel Owen (’13 agronomy), was the 2012 SASES national vice president. Randi Koehler, senior in agronomy, is the 2014 SASES national recording secretary.
Bailey says she’d like to get more two-year schools involved in SASES regional meetings and help clubs raise funds for attendance to national meetings. She also would like to see more collaboration between clubs.
“There are numerous opportunities to learn from peers within this organization,” Morrell said.
As president, she will preside over meetings, address concerns, interact with other professional societies and conduct monthly telephone conferences with national officers.
SASES is a compilation of undergraduate agronomy and soil science clubs from across the nation. The SASES program is a part of three professional societies: American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA).
The meetings provide opportunities in agronomy, crops, soils and environmental science industry fields; as well as giving students access to individuals in professional societies. The 2014 SASES national meetings will be Nov. 2-5 in Long Beach.
“SASES provides students like Bailey opportunities to develop leadership skills. Congratulations to Bailey on getting elected SASES president. We are proud to have her as the national leader of SASES.” said Kendall Lamkey, Iowa State agronomy department chair.
“SASES’s organization is great because it prepares students for the agronomy profession. It builds professional skills as well as social networks which will be useful in future careers. Involvement in SASES also exposes students to research being done in the agronomy field.” said Erik Christian, ISU SASES club advisor and lecturer.
Iowa State Agronomy Club has 115 members and 13 of those members went to Tampa for the 2013 SASES national meeting. The club meets every other week to discuss new topics in agriculture. Club activities include pizza sales, campus grilling events and attending both regional and national meetings.