As a Professional Soil Scientist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Steve Slusser immensely enjoyed sharing his knowledge, skills and experience with Cal Poly Humboldt and other students by annually leading soils tours of the Honey Lake Basin (SOIL 360) and surrounding areas near Susanville, CA. After retirement, Steve continued as an Earth Team Volunteer and helped with high school soil judging competitions in northeastern California. He mapped soils extensively in both California and Nevada. Steve served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, graduated from Cal Poly Pomona, and was a Certified Organic farmer in Nevada.
Susan Edinger Marshall, Ph.D. established the Steven E. Slusser Memorial Endowment for Future Soil and Range Scientists with a gift of $5,000 to honor his dedication and commitment of more than four decades to sharing his extensive field knowledge with Cal Poly Humboldt students. Her goal is to create an endowment fund of $25,000 to support future student access to field experiences, collegiate competitive activities and exams, and conferences related to the range and soil science.