Range graduate honored for career achievements

Posted 2/11/20

Chadron State College recently awarded Marji Patz of Powell its Range Alumni Achievement Award. Patz is an ecological site specialist with the Soil Survey Office in Powell.

Patz moved to Powell …

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Range graduate honored for career achievements

Posted

Chadron State College recently awarded Marji Patz of Powell its Range Alumni Achievement Award. Patz is an ecological site specialist with the Soil Survey Office in Powell.

Patz moved to Powell in 2010 and has been with the Soil and Plant Sciences Division of the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) ever since.

“It was a great career move, and it’s an excellent team to work with,” Patz said.

At the office, they map soil compositions, which provides valuable information in building foundations, installing septic tanks, and other types of
construction.

Chadron State professor emeritus Jim O’Rourke presented the award to Patz, the fourth in the college’s history. O’Rourke said Patz is one of only a handful of regional certified professionals in rangeland management, a distinction she earned in 2014 and has
maintained since then.

“It was humbling and an honor,” Patz said of the recognition.

According to a Chadron State release on the award, she graduated cum laude from the college in May 2000. Patz was a member of the Campus Activities Board for four years, competed with the animal science triathlon team, completed an internship with NRCS, and earned the outstanding agronomy student award.

After graduating from CSC, she earned a master of science in rangeland ecology and watershed management from the University of Wyoming in May 2002. While pursuing her graduate degree, she completed summer internships with NRCS in Valentine, Nebraska, and Buffalo, Wyoming.

Patz then served as rangeland management specialist for the NRCS in Ogallala, Nebraska, for three years before transferring to Medicine Bow and working as a Resource Conservationist until 2010.

She maintains ties with the Society for Range Management (SRM) in the Wyoming Section. She has served as president, treasurer, award chairman, and hosted the 2009 annual meeting. She received the Award of Merit from the Wyoming SRM Section in 2012, and the Outstanding Woman of Range award in 2016.

Other professional accomplishments include presenting at the National Grazing Lands Coalition Initiative Conference.

Patz is active with adult and youth conservation education. She has assisted with Wyoming Youth Resource Education Days since 2004. Patz has been an adjunct professor for Northwest College in Powell, a guest lecturer at regional high schools and served on the Nebraska Range Judging Committee.

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