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Career profiles

September 16, 2026
Career profiles
Career profiles

What's it like to have a career in agronomy, crop science, soil science, or the environmental sciences? How does being a member of ASA, CSSA, or SSSA add value to one's career? Learn directly from our members in this special collection. 


Table of contents

Wale Adewunmi, SSSA member and Certified Professional Soil Scientist.
May 15, 2026

Classroom to career: Wale Adewunmi

Our Classroom to Career series spotlights members who began as students and grew into thriving professionals. This installment features Wale Adewunmi, who used certification and Society resources to boost his career as a scientist working in a non-traditional field. 

Photo courtesy of Gaurav Jha.
March 13, 2026

Classroom to career: Gaurav Jha

Our Classroom to Career series spotlights members who began as students and grew into thriving professionals. This installment features member Gaurav Jha, who shares his experience creating lifelong colleagues through the Societies and gives graduate students tips on how to make the most out of their degree. 

Tina Sullivan smiles while her team harvests alfalfa plots in Cedar City, UT. Both the small grain and alfalfa projects are vital components of the extensive water optimization research she conducted for her master’s and Ph.D.
January 26, 2026

Classroom to career: Tina Sullivan

This month, we launch a new series, Classroom to Career, which spotlights members who began as students and grew into thriving professionals. 

Our first installment features member Tina Sullivan, who shares the pivotal experiences and challenges that shaped her career and how being a member of ASA, CSSA, and SSSA helped her make key connections.

Lee Briese is a crop consultant with CENTROL in North Dakota and a Certified Crop Adviser (CCA). 
November 12, 2025

A day in the life: Lee Briese

What can you do with a career in agronomy, crop, soil, and environmental science? In our series, “A Day in the Life,” we’ll introduce you to some ASA, CSSA, and SSSA members doing cool things with our sciences. This month, we’re talking with Lee Briese, a crop consultant with CENTROL in North Dakota and a Certified Crop Adviser (CCA). 

Debasish Saha is an Assistant Professor of Soil Science at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville.
August 4, 2025

A day in the life: Debasish Saha

What can you do with a career in agronomy, crop, soil, and environmental science? In our series, “A Day in the Life,” we’ll introduce you to some ASA, CSSA, and SSSA members doing cool things with our sciences. Today we meet Debasish Saha, an Assistant Professor of Soil Science at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville. Saha’s lab studies sustainable management of soil nitrogen cycling in agricultural systems to enhance its efficient use and mitigate its environmental losses as pollutant such as greenhouse gas emissions. Says Saha: “When I was undergraduate student ... I did not have any idea what I was going to do in my life, but I was sure about two things: soils are beautiful, and they are so variable.”

Angélica Vázquez-Ortega, left, an associate professor of geochemistry at Bowling Green State University, with students in the field. Photo courtesy of Angélica Vázquez-Ortega.
June 16, 2025

A day in the life: Angélica Vázquez-Ortega

What can you do with a career in agronomy, crop, soil, and environmental science? In our series “A Day in the Life,” we’ll introduce you to some ASA, CSSA, and SSSA members doing cool things with our sciences. Today we meet Angélica Vázquez-Ortega, an associate professor of geochemistry at Bowling Green State University. Vázquez-Ortega focuses on understanding nutrient and carbon distribution in agricultural soils under various best management practices. She also studies the impacts of dredged material on soil health, crop yield, contaminant bioaccumulation, and nutrient runoff into waterways in the western Lake Erie Basin. 

Skye Brugler, a Ph.D. student and research associate studying soil science and greenhouse gas emission management practices in David Clay’s lab at South Dakota State University.
April 14, 2025

A day in the life: Skye Brugler

What can you do with a career in agronomy, crop, soil, and environmental science? In our new series “A Day in the Life,” we’ll introduce you to some ASA, CSSA, and SSSA members doing cool things with our sciences. This month, we meet Skye Brugler, a Ph.D. student and research associate studying soil science and greenhouse gas emission management practices in David Clay’s lab at South Dakota State University.