Range Management team takes second at international competition; Fisher places first

Associate Professor Dr. Tony Perlinski, who traveled to Nevada with the group and Professor Dr. Teresa Frink, said the Rangeland Cup competition is designed to promote critical thinking and cooperative, collaborative work on current topics or issues of historical importance to rangeland ecology and management. Depending on the year, as many as 40 different colleges from three countries participate in the SRM meeting. 

The SRM website indicates the competition is intended to build skills in interpersonal communication and team problem-solving, both of which are highly desired qualities in the workplace.

The team competed against nine other colleges and universities addressing the following topic: Select innovative technologies within the last decade that could assist rangeland managers manage North American rangelands in response to climate instability. Perlinski said the judges were looking for a holistic approach, utilizing multiple technologies to respond to changes in the range.

“The Rangeland Cup contest is always a challenging topic, and this year the organizers gave the students a difficult task. The four of them did an excellent job addressing the topic and following the prompt. I’m impressed by their creativity and their ability to work together bringing different approaches into a cohesive presentation. They should be proud of their effort and their ability to compete with significantly larger institutions,” Perlinski said.

Eisenbraun said the team members had a solid understanding of the topic required for the poster competition.

“Although we fell just short of winning the whole competition, I am a junior and have another chance to improve next year. I am grateful to my team members for the work we all put in and the execution of our presentation, as well as for some entertaining conversations while researching and designing the poster. I am also thankful for our professors who expressed confidence in our abilities. I’m glad we were able to put Chadron State right up there with the larger universities,” Eisenbraun said.

In the Extemporaneous Speaking contest, Fisher competed against nearly 40 students. Perlinski said the contestants drew a topic at random and were given two hours to prepare a five to seven-minute presentation. 

The topic she drew was Determining and Evaluating Stocking Rates. The term stocking rates refers to how many head of cattle to run on an acre and for what length of time to provide adequate feed and yet preserve the ecosystem.

“I love public speaking, especially extemporaneous, and getting to do that in a field I'm passionate about was an amazing experience. This is a topic I was excited to speak about and I had a lot of fun doing it. Winning this competition was an awesome feeling, as I put a lot of work into creating a good speech,” Fisher said.

Perlinski said he’s always impressed by CSC students who compete in the speaking contest.

“That’s something I wouldn’t have been able to do as an undergraduate. It’s even more impressive when students like Mekenna come in and do an amazing job,” Perlinski said. “After she picked her topic, we discussed it a little bit and she ran with it and turned it into, obviously, a great presentation on stocking rates.”