Cole, Allison placed high individually
The Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) Rangeland Plant ID team has kicked off its competition season with a win at the Texas Section Society for Range Management Collegiate Plant ID Contest in Denton, Texas.
TAMUK Rangeland Plant ID team is currently made up of many returning members, along with a handful of newly recruited members.
The team travels to three competitions a year, two are state competitions and one being a national competition. The team has plans to attend the next competition in Boise, Idaho, for the National Society of Range Management Conference on Feb. 14.When preparing for competition the members go through a list of steps to prepare for success.
The team meets weekly for practices where they review a list of plants that were provided to them for the contest and they practice identifying each plant by having quizzes on them. These quizzes give the coaches an idea of who the top members are and how to assemble each team.
“Teams are organized of four individuals, however only the top three scores go towards the team,” Coach Lori Massey explained.
In Denton, team 1, including Peter Cole, Josh Allison, Nadia Castanon and Carolina Munoz placed first as a team. Team 2, including Shanna Gleason, Andres Rosales, Meghan Anderson and Jack Davison placed third as a team. Individually, Cole was first place high individual and Allison second place high individual.
“I am extremely proud of this year’s team,” Massey said. “The team is one of the best we have had and I look forward to seeing what else they accomplish as the year progresses.”
Throughout the year, the team volunteers with many organizations and facilities to help them receive donations towards covering expenses when traveling to each competition. Weekly, the team meets at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute (CKWRI) to help clean and maintain the garden.
“I personally enjoy our time at CKWRI because I like to be outside around all the pretty plants and it’s good exercise for me,” Castanon said.
New members can join the team whenever and are more than welcome. The more they know about plants, the better chance a new member will have of getting to compete.
“I did plant ID in high school and enjoyed it, so I joined the TAMUK Plant ID when I could,” Cole, who is the team president, said.
To join the team, contact Cole at peter.cole@students.tamuk.edu or Coach Massey at lori.massey@students.tamuk.edu.