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C-CHANGE Team Members Win Soil and Water Conservation Society Awards

Several C-CHANGE team members are among the winners of the 2020 SWCS awards from the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS).  Awards are presented annually to individuals and organizations who have made outstanding contributions in advocating and advancing the conservation of soil, water, and related natural resources.

J. Arbuckle holding a photo of a cow.
C-CHANGE’s J. Arbuckle won two 2020 SWCS awards from the Social and Water Conservation Society.

C-CHANGE’s J. Arbuckle won two 2020 SWCS awards from the Social and Water Conservation Society.

Conservation Research Award

J. Arbuckle, John Gilley, and Mark Tomer received the Conservation Research Award in recognition of Society members or teams of members whose research has led to exceptional improvements in soil conservation, water conservation, and/or related natural resources research. Arbuckle is the leader of the C-CHANGE’s socioeconomic innovations and a professor of sociology at Iowa State. Gilley and Tomer are both with the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

Best Research Paper for Impact and Quality Award

Arbuckle and Gabrielle Roesch-McNally were recognized for their article, Cover crop adoption in Iowa: The role of perceived practice characteristics, published in the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 70(6):418-429, doi:10.2489/jswc.70.6.418. Roesch-McNally is the Women for the Land Director at the American Farmland Trust.

Editor’s Choice Award Winner

C-CHANGE team member Matt Helmers, Dean’s Professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State, and his fellow authors were recognized for their article appearing in the “A” Section of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation in the previous year. The article, Managing crop nutrients to achieve water quality goals, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 74(5):91A-101A, doi:10.2489/jswc.74.5.91A, was authored by Helmers and Andrew Sharpley, Arkansas; Peter Kleinman, Pennsylvania; Kevin King, Ohio; April Leytem, Idaho; and Nathan Nelson, Kansas.

Conservation Innovation Award

The STRIPS team was garnered this award, which recognizes “outstanding activity, product, or service by a group, business, firm, corporation, or organization that promotes natural resource conservation,” Many C-CHANGE members are also members of STRIPS.

Learn more about the 2020 award winners at the SWCS site (PDF). Award winners will be showcased at the SWCS 2020 International Annual Conference virtual platform during the July 27-29, 2020, event. The SWCS is an international organization for professionals who practice and advance the science and art of natural resource conservation. It is headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa, with chapters across the United States and Canada.