Teten recognized as an outstanding student leader

Monday, May 21, 2018
Samantha Teten
Samantha Teten |  Photo by Fran Benne

Samantha Teten, a junior agronomy major, was honored as a semifinalist for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s 2018 Outstanding Student Leadership Award April 13.

Jackson Grasz and Lauren Maciejewski, both of Elkhorn, received the 2018 awards. In addition to Grasz and Maciejewski, four students were honored as finalists and 14 as semifinalists.

Coordinated by Student Affairs and selected through multiple committees, the Outstanding Student Leadership Award annually recognizes top students for exceptional leadership contributions at Nebraska and efforts to develop leadership qualities in fellow students. The award is one of the highest honors presented to students, recognizing outstanding leadership in academic, co-curricular, and/or extracurricular activities and involvement.

Teten grew up on a corn and soybean farm in southeast Nebraska and fell in love with agriculture at a young age. Active in 4-H and FFA in high school, she decided to pursue a degree in agronomy and minor in agribusiness at Nebraska.

She has served as president and secretary of the Agronomy Club and is a member of the CASNR Coffee Club Executive Team and Alpha Zeta National Honor Society. She’s a CASNR Ambassador and was a 2017 Corn and Soy Collegiate Ambassador.

Teten competes on several agronomy-related Husker judging teams. She is a member of the national-qualifying Soil Judging team that took first place at Regionals Sept. 28 in Redfield, South Dakota. She placed seventh overall individually. She is a member of the Crops Judging team that placed in the top three at every competition in 2017 and 2018. Teten is also a member of the Weed Science Judging team that placed second overall at the North Central Weed Science Society Student Weed Contest last July at Iowa State University. At this same competition she won first place in the Weed ID contest and second overall individually.

Teten participated in the undergraduate Students of Agronomy, Soils, and Environmental Sciences program along with her Crops Judging teammates at the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting Oct. 20–24. Teten placed third in the Undergraduate Research Poster “Analysis of Blended Learning Method for Teaching Introductory Soils Course.” She was eighth overall individually and the Crops Judging team placed third.

She serves as a SASES representative and played an integral role in organizing, planning and implementing the SASES 2018 conference held April 12–14 in Lincoln.

Teten is a teaching and research assistant with agronomy and horticulture faculty members Meghan Sindelar and Martha Mamo. She has assisted with Agronomy 132 Agronomic Plant Science Lab, Agronomy 153 Soil Resources and Agronomy 366 Soil Nutrient Relationships. She is advised by Rhae Drijber, an agronomy and horticulture professor in soil microbial ecology.

Read more about the Outstanding Student Leadership Awards at Nebraska Today.

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