ArcSIE News, March 20, 2017

NRCS ArcSIE Training 2017 Was Held in Amherst, MA, March 14-16

This year’s training was held in the University of Minnesota. This is our first “regional” effort. Special thanks go to Joe Brennan, a participant to the very first training session back in 2011 in Amherst (MA). Joe initiated this “regional” idea and did a lot of legging work to make it happen. Of course, Joe received tremendous support from the agency and numerous people. He also taught a module in the training, sharing his own and regional experience with digital soil mapping, terrain analysis, and ArcSIE. The other members of the cadre are veterans, including Tom D’Avello, Jess Philippe, and Xun Shi.

The class is formed by 23 NRCS soil scientists, most from Minnesota and Wisconsin, plus a few from West Virginia and other states. A number of UM faculty members, staff, and postdocs also sat through the three-day training.

This class was one of the most dedicated classes we have ever seen. Everyone was working very hard on the exercises and projects, proactively trying to apply new conceptus and procedures to actual mapping areas and solve the problems encountered during this practice. There were also many inspiring discussions during the lectures.

Michael Whited, the Director of West Central Glaciated Soil Survey Region (SSR 10), opened the session on Tuesday morning with an enthusiastic speech, and sat in the session for the whole morning. He then addressed the class again at the end of the training in Thursday afternoon, urged the participants “(not to) put what you have learned to the shelf, but to the use”.

(By Xun Shi)

(Photographed by Xun Shi and Jessica Philippe)