Texas Tech Soil Judging Team shines at regional competition; nationals next
Students from Texas Tech's Department of Plant and Soil Science captured first place in the team competition and third overall today (Nov. 11) at the Students of Agronomy Soils & Environmental Sciences Region IV Collegiate Soil Judging Contest in College Station. The team's overall finish earned it the opportunity to compete in the National Soil Judging Contest next spring at the University of Wisconsin.
Team members are Skylar Sowder, a junior from Sudan; Nathan Foster, a junior from Levelland; Parker Noel, a junior from Canyon; Kaitlyn Sides, a freshman from Paradise; and Jessica Napper, a freshman from Lamesa. Travis Conley, a doctoral student from Hooker, Okla., is the team's coach.
In addition to placing first in the team competition, Sowder finished as the sixth high individual, while Foster was the ninth high individual. The University of Arkansas and Oklahoma State University placed first and second overall, respectively. The event, hosted by Texas A&M University, included six teams from four states.
Soil judging provides students with practical experience evaluating the physical and chemical properties of soils, important in making land use decisions, program officials said. Soil forming factors, which include site characteristics, soil classification, land use interpretations and soil morphology, are key parts of the judging process.
The teams practiced for three days around the Brazos River and College Station. Twenty-one undergraduate students judged four soil pits individually and judged one soil pit collectively as an institutional team.
Soil judgers use their eyes and hands to characterize numerous properties of the various horizons or layers that make up a soil profile. Once horizons are characterized and differentiated using a specific nomenclature, the properties of the soil and where it is in the landscape are used to make a variety of interpretations about that soil.
Written by Norman Martin
CONTACT: Wayne Hudnall, B. L. Allen Endowed Chair for Pedology, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2838 ext 231 or wayne.hudnall@ttu.edu
1207NM11 / Photo: ( left to right) Travis Conley (coach), Kaitlyn Sides, Nathan Foster, Skylar Sowder, Parker Noel, Jessica Napper
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