服务与土壤科学

Danny 鲍德温 first applied to the University of Idaho nearly 10 years ago. 在萨拉托加长大, 加州和姐妹, 俄勒冈州, 鲍德温 loved exploring the outdoors and was considering a degree in forestry.

“因为我在俄勒冈州上的学, I was already interested in the Northwest and what it had to offer,他说. “I’d never been to Idaho but at the time I was interested in doing forestry and I thought Idaho would be a good state to go study forestry in.”

鲍德温 ultimately decided to put off his college education and enlisted in the U.S. 海军陆战队预备役部队. 现在是两次部署，差不多十年后, 鲍德温, 27, will graduate from U of I in May 2020 with a degree in sustainable cropping systems with a soils emphasis.

平衡行为

鲍德温 was deployed to Afghanistan in 2013 where he assisted with the logistics for a retrograde project to move equipment back to the United States. He returned to the reserves and 加州 in 2014 to work on his family’s vineyard and horse ranch. 在和他的阿姨们谈过之后, uncles and cousins who all had agricultural degrees, he decided to put his 退伍军人权利法》® to use in a similar area, 特别是土壤科学.

“I decided I wanted to go more of the science route and I essentially chose soils because I figured it was a small program that would be specialized and I’d have a chance to have a lot of one on one interactions with professors,他说. “There wasn’t a very strong push or drive into soils, it was more I wanted to do something based in the agricultural realm.”

一旦他下定决心要拿到学位, 鲍德温 began looking at soil science programs and the U of I once again rose to the top of his list. This time for the stellar reputation of the U of I 军事和退伍军人服务 office.

“There is a strong veteran community here,他说. “I’d never been to Idaho but I figured I’d just go check it out and move there, site unseen. 这真的很值得，我很高兴我做到了.”

鲍德温于2015年秋季开始在伊利诺伊大学上课, but after three semesters he was deployed to Afghanistan again, 缺席接下来的两个学期.

“I was able to stop after the fall semester and go on a pause and then come back and register again a year and a half later,他说. “There was no discontinuity there to me as far as the service the university has provided.”

鲍德温’s responsibilities often take him away from campus for training exercises. He serves as a Joint Terminal Attack Controller with the 6th ANGLICO (Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company) based at Fort Lewis in Washington. 作为本单元的一部分, 鲍德温 works in a multitude of training areas — from Alaska, 加州, 夏威夷和路易斯安那, 包括芬兰在内的海外, 韩国和加拿大. But the support from faculty has helped make those absences less daunting.

“All the university faculty have done an exceptional job accommodating me,他说. “他们一直很理解我. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without that support of the faculty.”

土壤科学的未来

Although 鲍德温’s decision to study soils wasn’t born out of a passion for the field, 他对自己的决定很满意.

“I didn’t necessarily want to do soils right off the bat but after being in the program for a couple of years I am very pleased with myself because it’s been really challenging,他说. “It incorporates physics, chemistry, biology and you have to wrap it all together to make sense.”

在获得学士学位之后, 鲍德温 plans to pursue a master’s degree in soil science — hopefully at U of I. He currently works as a research assistant for Jason Kelley, an assistant professor in the Department of 土壤 and 水系统 with a focus on remote sensing, 蒸散和精准农业.

“I can see myself doing that because his remote sensing and broad picture mapping is interesting to me,鲍德温说. “It’s one of the few ways my military career ties into what I’m studying here.”

作为一名本科生, 鲍德温可以在凯利的实验室工作, 帮助设计和安装气象站.

“The opportunities that are given to undergrad students to be able to work hands-on in a research lab is pretty rare it sounds like from friends that go to other colleges,他说. “There is a great chance to work with industry leaders here that you wouldn’t get somewhere else.”

Although 鲍德温’s journey to a bachelor’s degree has been anything but typical, 这条路对他来说是正确的.

“I joined the Marines when I was 17, so having a couple years of not doing school was good,他说. “I have a strong drive and perspective that other students don’t have yet and it’s been beneficial. And soils has pushed me in ways that I’m way outside my comfort zone sometimes and that’s good for me.”

本文由 艾米Calabretta农业与生命科学学院

照片 梅丽莎·哈特利，大学传播与市场营销

2019年11月出版