Soil and Water Conservation Society

The Soil and Water Conservation Society, or SWCS, is a professional society focused on the field of conservation with several student chapters in the United States. One such student chapter is found here at UMass Amherst, and we could not have been more happy to help increase student interest dramatically during the 2024-2025 school year after the chapter had seen dormancy during and after COVID-19. As a leadership team of four aspiring professionals, we have been working hard to bring this important organization back to campus. So far, we have hosted speakers to discuss such topics as soil erosion, farming best management practices, wetland conservation, and soil biogeochemistry. In the future, we also hope to facilitate tours of laboratories on campus to give students another view of this kind of work. Our goal is help students find what about this field interests them and to better understand potential career pathways. We are seeking funding to continue these events and hopefully move them off campus and into the community as well. Your support is invaluable as we work to bring this important organization back to UMass!