USU Undergrad Captures Top Award at International Range Science Meet
USU wildlife science major Morgan Hughes, an Honors student, placed first in the Society of Range Management's international undergrad competition. The senior will enter the Peace Corps in Peru following May graduation.
Utah State University undergraduate Morgan Hughes placed first in the International Society for Range Management’s Undergraduate Range Management Exam held during the society’s 68th annual meeting Jan. 31-Feb. 6, 2015, in Sacramento, Calif.
The wildlife science major bested 186 competitors from universities across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
“I was shocked when I heard the results,” says Hughes, a graduating senior and Honors student, who will pursue a Peace Corps assignment in Peru following May commencement. “But it was really a team effort. My teammates and I spent months studying in preparation for the competition.”
Hughes and more than a dozen teammates from USU’s SRM chapter, known as the “USU Range Club,” traveled to the California meeting to compete in a variety of events and attend the professional conference.
In addition to individual competition, Hughes and students Raul Lira, Brianne Palmer and Jamie Reynolds competed as a team in the URME event. They placed 5th out of 27 teams.
The club’s Plant Identification Team, which included Garret Billings, DaShell Burnham, Carlee Coleman, Jesse Fleri, Kari Norman, Brianne Palmer, Reynolds, Austin Spence and Camille Waters, placed 4th out of 23 schools. Billings was USU’s top individual scorer in the event, placing 7th out of 137 competitors. Reynolds placed 15th and Waters placed 19th.
Reynolds was the 5th highest scorer overall, who completed in both the URME and Plant Identification contests.
Coleman, Palmer and Casey Brucker competed in the Rangeland Cup event. Mentored by Wildland Resources faculty member Eric Thacker, the team developed a poster on a topic selected by the society and defended it before a panel of judges.
Aggies presenting papers are the conference were Hope Braithwaite, Tim Bateman, Hughes and Palmer.
“Overall, the conference was a great experience,” says Palmer, club president. “It was nice to interact with range science students from all across North America. We heard from a diverse group of professionals from both public agencies and private organizations. The trip also gave us an opportunity to bond as a group.”
Long-time range club mentor Fee Busby says preparation for the competitions requires an “unbelievable work ethic.”
“When I write letters of recommendation for students who have competed in the Plant ID contest, I mention they have to be able to identify 200 of the most important rangeland plants in North America — from a seedling to an old, dried stem,” says the Department of Wildland Resources professor. “The Undergraduate Range Management Exam requires the same dedication. To do well is an accomplishment, but the real value of competing is each student developing a commitment to putting in sustained work toward a goal. It is a joy to work with these students.”
Related links:
- USU Student Chapter of the Society for Range Management
- USU Department of Wildland Resources
- USU Quinney College of Natural Resources
Contact: Fee Busby, 435-797-5636, fee.busby@usu.edu
Writer: Mary-Ann Muffoletto, 435-797-3517, maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu
Several members of the USU Range Club gather with faculty member Fee Busby, standing, second from left, following their return from competition in Sacramento. The Aggies excelled in rangeland knowledge, research, planning.
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