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Co-Leads: Luis Hernandez (Northeast Region, Amherst, MA), Kevin Norwood (Central Region, Indianapolis, IN), Cynthia Stiles (Southwest Region, Davis, CA)
Core Members: Russ Almaraz (Southwest Region, Davis, CA), Samantha Carrillo (Tucson, AZ), Ben Hannibal (National Headquarters, Washington, DC), Adrien Metcalf (NSSC-KSSL, Lincoln, NE), Kendra Moseley (Southwest Region, Davis, CA)
Ad Hoc Members: Joseph Brennan (North Central Region, St. Paul, MN), Lance Brewington (Laurens, SC), Suzanne Kienast-Brown (NSSC, Bozeman, MT), Johanna Pate (CNTSC, Fort Worth, TX)
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The Training Focus Team supports several sub-teams that support the primary specialist areas within the SPSD and our National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) interest areas. Sub-teams are presently tasked with reviewing training, maintaining/modifying specialist curricula and identifying core courses for personnel involved in specialist area activities. There are presently sub-teams for Administrative Specialists, Ecological Sites Specialists, GIS Specialists, and Soil Scientists (including both MLRA and Resource Soil Scientist tracks). We are looking to add a sub-team for Physical Science Technicians who work in the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory, which might include introducing and executing training for field staff to become more familiar with lab protocols.
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Developed a proposal process for ideas to be brought forward and facilitated by the team – several proposals have been processed to date.
Completed a review of all existing courses (including retired courses) for application into new curricula and potential revision to include updated materials.
Completed a thorough review and vetting of Specialist Curricula course lists, incorporating suggested changes and additions from external reviewers.
Developed a list of immediately available virtual resources for training in collaboration with SPSD Training Coordinator: Immediately Available Virtual Resources for Training (PDF; 202 KB).
Compiled and released curricula for each specialist area within the Soil and Plant Science Division to all NHQ staff, regional directors, and state soil scientists.
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Proposed Activities for FY21
- Work with Training Coordinator to develop and implement a Quality Assurance / Quality Control process (PDF; 119 KB) by which all training materials are reviewed on a five year rotation.
- Continue to work with the Ecological Sites Team to develop and deliver more ecological sites training.
- Assist with delivery of technical training to NCSS cooperators.
- Provide updated timeline for new/updated course development, including milestones for proposal, development stages, strategic planning, rollout, delivery and follow-up.
- Continue with proposed changes for fundamental field-based SPSD courses: Basic Soil Survey, Soil Science Institute, Soil Geomorphology Institute.
- Evaluate novel ways to provide support for advanced degrees for SPSD employees.
Long Range Projects
- Continue to assist SPSD training coordinator in individual course development and/or modification to fit within training curriculum.
- Deliver more training to NCSS partners as per their needs – develop more interactive partnerships to take advantage of collaborative training activities.
- Work with collaborator Universities to expand training options for NCSS staff.
- Continue with material update and review.
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