SPARKS, NEVADA – At the Society for Range Management’s 77th Annual Meeting in Sparks, Nevada last week, Dr. Jeff Goodwin was installed as the Society’s 1st Vice President. He is on the second of his three-year term, set to become the 2025 Society for Range Management (SRM) President.
Dr. Goodwin currently works as Director of the Texas A & M Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management in College Station, Texas where his primary responsibility is providing strategic leadership in the research and educational outcomes of the Center through Texas A&M AgriLife. Dr. Goodwin also holds a faculty appointment within the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management. Previously, he served as a Conservation Stewardship Lead and Senior Rangeland and Pasture Consultant for the Noble Research Institute. Dr. Goodwin also spent 14 years working for USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service as a rangeland management specialist in multiple Texas locations.
Within SRM, Dr. Goodwin has been active in committee leadership and was a member of the Board of Directors from 2017 to 2019. He has also held multiple offices within the Texas Section Society for Range Management.
“SRM has a unique opportunity to impact and promote rangeland stewardship principles to producers while serving as an informative science-based resource outlet for rangeland resource professionals,” Dr. Goodwin said. “The strength of SRM is its membership and as such is comprised of individuals that truly value the complexity of rangeland ecosystems and revere the stewards who properly manage them.”
He noted that finding solutions to address the complex challenges rangeland managers face can best be achieved through diverse ideas from a diverse group of individuals with common interests and goals in mind, all while maintaining sound ecological principles. This concept was at the forefront of the organization’s founding and Dr. Goodwin hopes to continue that tradition to address current and future challenges impacting rangeland resources.
“I would like to work to develop pathways for SRM to support and encourage the next generation of young rangeland advocates to be engaged, involved, and inspired. We all love rangelands, but honestly, that requires us to foster relationships with those that steward them, and importantly, foster opportunities for our young leaders to build those relationships,” he concluded.