Excerpt
In 1984, I became a member of the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS), one of the best decisions of my professional career. I joined SWCS at the invitation of Bernie Parsons, a senior faculty member in the Agricultural Engineering Department at Virginia Tech, which I had just joined as a new assistant professor. Bernie took me under his wing and started taking me to Virginia Chapter SWCS Council meetings. He introduced me to most of the key soil and water conservation professionals in the state. As a result of these introductions and the networking opportunities that they provided, I became heavily involved in soil and water conservation activities in Virginia—served as Virginia Chapter president, have been the faculty advisor to the Virginia Tech Student Chapter for over 15 years, served on numerous national committees, and eventually became an SWCS Board member and president. Now, I am involved in soil and water conservation activities across the globe. Bernie's invitation had a profound effect on my life and professional development, and I will forever remember him for introducing me to SWCS. This article focuses on my international soil and water conservation experiences since 2004 when I became the program director of…
Footnotes
Theo Dillaha is a program director of SANREM CRSP and a professor at the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia. He is also a Southeastern Regional Director at the Soil and Water Conservation Society.
- © 2009 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.