Online from publisher via subscription., Instagram-ready installations often frame the desert as austere. What are the alternative ways of looking at the land? Author invites engaging with the reality of the desert rather than the cartoon of it.
Online from publication. 9 pages., Advice from a fresh produce marketer with more than 30 years of experience in a supermarket chain. "The environment you want is one of being a merchant. ... It is somewhat of a lost art in today's fast paced world of data, low price and lack of labor."
6 pages., Via online journal., Plant Madness was a classroom activity developed and implemented for the Landscape Plants II identification course at Kansas State University. The game was modeled after the National Collegiate Athletic Association college basketball March Madness tournament and Bracketology. One activity objective was to provide students an opportunity to learn new and recent cultivars and plant species not specifically covered in the class curriculum. The activity also provided students opportunities to practice public speaking skills, an avenue to be creative, and simply have fun in class. In Plant Madness, each student randomly drew a plant from a hat and then students were randomly assigned tournament seed rankings (preliminary rankings). On specified game days, one student played against another student, each having 2 minutes of play. Student play varied, and consisted of defining different plant attributes, landscape appeal, and interesting facts, for example; or identifying the opposing student’s plant’s faults through riddles, poems, games, songs, or simply recitation. Referees (e.g., guest faculty, graduate students) reviewed student play and awarded points, and the student with the highest score advanced to the next round through the single-elimination tournament. A postactivity survey was administered [Spring 2016 and 2017 (n = 44)] to obtain student feedback. When asked if the students liked the activity, it was nearly unanimous, 98% liked Plant Madness. Similarly, most students (93%) self-reported the activity increased their awareness of new or recent plant cultivars. When asked to rate the activity compared with other class approaches for learning different plants based on a scale of 1 (excellent) to 5 (poor), the average rating was 1.8. Students’ average rating for their ability to be creative for Plant Madness was 1.8 (1 = to a large extent, 5 = not at all). Ninety-five percent of the students recommended repeating the activity.
9 pages., Includes a link to the seven-page article which this award-winning agricultural reporter wrote for the February 2018 issue of Western Horseman magazine.
8 pages., Online via Ryerson Review of Journalism website. Published on February 19, 2020., Tara de Ryk, owner and publisher of a rural Saskatchewan weekly newspaper, decided after 21 years to retire from the newspaper business. This article describes how community interest in local news and an adventuresome spirit prompted her to conduct a give-away contest in late 2019. Interested persons were invited to write an essay (500 words maximum) about how they would be ideal owner and publisher of the Davidson Leader. The article describes the contest and winning entry, which led to change in ownership.
