Sunday, November 4, 2007
8-5

Gator Nation Conservation: Promoting Agricultural and Natural Resources on Campus.

Tom Tidyman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Room 301B, Newell Hall, PO Box 110500, Gainesville, FL 32611

The Agronomy and Soils Club at the University of Florida takes pride in conducting service and outreach projects in the agricultural, environmental and soil sciences on campus and throughout the Gainesville community.  For over a quarter century, The Agronomy and Soils Club has been the steward organization of the University Agricultural Gardens, providing plots of land to students and faculty to grow food or conduct research while learning about agriculture and the environment.  In addition to club members undertaking maintenance and landscaping activities, promotion of the agricultural gardens is a key goal for the club to raise awareness about land use, environmental health and the process our food takes from seed to shelf.  In a campus community where construction is ongoing, renovations are essential and new buildings and research centers equal progress and growth, sustainable land use and conservation are sometimes overlooked. 

In helping attain goals within the new UF Conservation Area Land Management Plan, which serves to preserve and promote conservation areas at UF, the Agronomy and Soils Club has adopted a second area on campus to maintain and protect.  The McCarty Woods is a 2.9 acre disturbed upland hardwood dominated forest located within the center of many UF classrooms and offices.  It is an area in desperate need of restoration and promotion as a valuable natural campus area and teaching resource.  The Agronomy and Soils Club has received a conservation area grant to restore trails, remove invasive species, preserve ecosystem health, and increase awareness of the McCarty Woods natural area.  Promotion of both agriculture and natural resources are important to campus environments and the UF Agronomy and Soils Club is proud to sponsor areas where preservation, restoration, research and teaching can come together and benefit the community as a whole. 


Back to National Student Club Poster Contest
Back to Z00 Students of Agronomy, Soils and Environmental Sciences (SASES)

Back to The ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meetings (November 4-8, 2007)