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![NRCS This Week mast head](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090111100455im_/http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/thisweek/images/mastheaddshadow3.jpg)
Iowa NRCS District Conservationist Leads Tour at Student Ocean Conference
![NRCS Earth Team Volunteer Robert O’Connell helps students during the Student Enviroscope](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090111100455im_/http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/thisweek/images/oconnelmed.jpg)
NRCS Earth Team
volunteer Robert O’Connell (left) helps students during the Student Enviroscope |
NRCS district conservationist Theresa Weiss shared her local expertise with a
select group of students and teachers from 20 schools across five States by leading
them on a farm tour of conservation practices as part of the
Rivers to the Sea Student Ocean
Conference held recently at the National
Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium.
Weiss and local landowner Ken Schmitt of Sherrill, Iowa, explained conservation
practices to the group including, contour strip cropping, terraces, ponds,
grassed waterways, and no-till farming. They also discussed how farmland nutrient
management ties into Mississippi Riverwater quality issues. “Students and teachers learned that what happens in their watershed
affects the river and eventually the ocean into which it drains,” said Weiss.
“It related rural and urban problems in soil erosion and water quality with
potential solutions.”
Weiss said the tour went upland into a watershed and explained how activities at
the site affect the water quality of the tributary that drains into the Mississippi River. “It worked
well because the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers had an active dredging project
going on at the site showing students what the sediment load looked like,” she
said.
Weiss and NRCS Earth Team volunteer Robert O’Connell assisted with the Student Enviroscope. The session
consisted of a hands-on tabletop demonstration that allowed
students to see various types of soil and water quality phenomena. Students
developed solutions for their sites based on what they learned earlier on the
land tour. “Overall, the conference was a great experience for me,” said Weiss.
“I think students and teachers learned a lot about watersheds and some of issues
we deal with on an everyday basis at NRCS.”
Your contact is Jason Johnson,
NRCS public affairs specialist at 515-323-2701.
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