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: Building Conservation Leadership Pipelines: Developing Tomorrow's Soil and Water Leaders Today
Sunday, July 26
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Instructor: Brandon Bell, Syngenta North America

Conservation organizations face a critical challenge: developing the next generation of leaders who can navigate complex environmental challenges while maintaining institutional knowledge. This interactive workshop guides conservation district leaders through creating sustainable leadership development programs within their organizations. Participants will learn practical strategies for identifying high-potential talent, creating meaningful development opportunities, and building stronger succession strategies. Through hands-on exercises and peer learning, attendees will leave with a customizable framework for leadership development and concrete next steps for implementation.

Tickets: $75 early/$100 regular (after June 16)/$125 onsite (after July 16)

Workshop #2: Human-Centered AI in Soil and Water Conservation Science
Sunday, July 26
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Instructors: Sushant Mehan, South Dakota State University; Maysoon Mikha, USDA ARS; Kathy Boomer, FFAR

Artificial intelligence, particularly large language models (LLMs), is rapidly entering environmental and agricultural decision-making. Their promise for soil and water conservation is real, but effective and responsible use depends on domain expertise, structured problem formulation, and critical evaluation. This interactive workshop helps participants move beyond using LLMs as a "consumer" tool and instead apply them as a collaboration tool to surface assumptions, connect knowledge, and accelerate shared learning.

Participants will work in small teams on real-world soil and water conservation problem statements, such as nutrient loss reduction, water quality protection, or conservation practice optimization. Through guided prompting, hypothesis development, model design, and iterative refinement, the workshop will demonstrate both the capabilities and limitations of LLMs when applied to conservation science.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Gain proficiency with LLMs for problem formulation, hypothesis generation, and conceptual model development in soil and water conservation.
  • Design and evaluate conservation models using a combination of AI outputs and expert judgment.
  • Critically assess LLM limitations, biases, and failure modes in environmental applications.
  • Articulate why human-in-the-loop approaches are essential for credible and responsible AI-enabled conservation science.

Tickets: $75 early/$100 regular (after June 16)/$125 onsite (after July 16)