In November 2012, I presented my research at my first Soil Science Society of America General meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a great opportunity to meet fellow soil scientists and become a member of the Graduate Student sub-committee for the SSSA/ASA/CSSA tri-societies. Some important outcomes of this event was meeting Dr. Ivan Fernandez, a soil biogeochemist at the University of Maine, Orno, and meeting Dr. Susan Brantley, who was named a Soil Science Society of America Fellow. Dr. Brantley later became my outside examiner for my PhD Dissertation committee.