Technical and Leadership Workshops
The professional development workshops held in conjunction with the SWCS International Annual Conference will be eligible for continuing education credits from various certifying organizations.
Workshop 1: Conservation Careers in Federal Government Coast to Coast, and How to Apply!
Sunday, August 3
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Instructor: Bernadette Mills, Master of Natural Resources (MNR), Regenerative Conservationist
This workshop will spend the first hour covering some of the exciting Federal Conservation careers, what education and background they require, plus the usual job duties associated with them depending on the part of the country they are located in. The second hour will be a walkthrough of the USAJOBS application website and how to navigate the federal hiring process. Participants are recommended to bring their laptop in order to walk through creating an account and learning how to set up their resume.
Tickets: $75 early/$100 regular (after June 16)/$125 onsite (after July 16)
Workshop #2: Essential Indicators to Measure Soil Health
Sunday, August 3
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Instructors: Elizabeth Rieke and Emily Ball, Soil Health Institute
This workshop is aimed at translating the Soil Health Institute's essential suite of soil health indicators. The Institute is using the suite of indicators to benchmark soil health on commercial farms and has done so for approximately 12 million acres. At this workshop, the Soil Health Institute will share our learnings on practical and scientific tools and strategies for measuring and assessing soil health. This workshop will cover how the essential suite of soil health indicators was selected by the Soil Health Institute, the importance of standardizing sample collections, lab measurements, and data QAQC, and a demonstration of a free, scalable soil health indicator. One of the Institute's leading Soil Health Educators will end the workshop with a discussion on their experience translating soil health indicators to practitioners and farmers.
Tickets: $75 early/$100 regular (after June 16)/$125 onsite (after July 16)
Workshop #3: Managing Opportunities with Stakeholders
Sunday, August 3
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Instructors: Jeanne Jasper, Jessie Lamont, and Brandi Murphy, Women in NRCS (WiN)
This workshop is for anyone wanting to develop tools and strategies for working on a team where everyone leads. Multifaceted workgroups rely on informed organization to keep everyone on task. In order to do this the team needs to understand each stakeholder's interpretations of the work, and distinguish between technical and adaptive work, before deciding who will do the work. It requires self-evaluation and management, energizing others by understanding their processes and acknowledging their opportunity costs and learning to intervene skillfully when there are changes in team momentum. Beneficial to those who prefer to lead by example and share the limelight while operating on a taskforce or partnership team.
Tickets: $75 early/$100 regular (after June 16)/$125 onsite (after July 16)