\u201cWe wanted to find a niche where NAU could support agriculture in Yuma,\u201d Villa said. \u201cOur program is\u00a0equipped to do a variety of biological, chemical and physical analyses of soils, and it is just a matter of working with the local agriculture industry to support them with this scientific component. Ideally, we would like NAU to be a training site for soil analysis for the Yuma community and for our students to be trained in these methods and for them to establish careers here working with local farms.\u201d He spent two weeks at the Kellogg Soils Laboratory of the NRCS in Lincoln working with NRCS agronomists, soil scientists, analytical chemists and state and local NRCS personnel. He studied the soil health of local farms, both in the field and in labs, using various chemical and physical analyses and other techniques. Villa plans to introduce these techniques and pull from this collaborative experience in his ecology lab, through internships and undergraduate research projects.<\/p>\n It was such a valuable experience, both for Villa and his students and for future USDA-NAU collaborations, that he\u2019s encouraging a faculty member in education to apply for the program next year.<\/p>\n \u201cThis fellowship has already opened doors to the NRCS, an area of the USDA I had no idea existed,\u201d he said. \u201cOpportunities like this are important because they connect educators with all the different aspects of a federal agency and can communicate what they learned to their students, colleagues and in other outreach activities.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Heidi Toth | NAU Communications![\"Francisco](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/2018-USDA-field-lab-Lincoln-NE.jpg\")
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\n(928) 523-8737 | heidi.toth@nau.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"