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Soil Judging

Soil Judging is a intercollegiate competition which occurs annually in colleges and universities across the USA. Schools first compete in regional contests in the fall and the top teams from each region go on to compete in the National Championship each spring. The location of the regional and national contests vary every year.

During the contests, students are asked to describe the characteristics of a soil profile in different pits. Students take turns going in and out of each pit under strict time limits. The students describe the color, texture, consistence, structure, and other properties of the soils then make interpretations about the soil such as its classification, parent material, suitability for different land uses, and the soil's water holding properties. After the end of each period, students rotate to the next pit until they have characterized all of the different soil pits. The student's descriptions and interpretations are compared to the those by the official judges to generate a score to determine the winners. Prizes are awarded for individual scores, scores combined for each school and a score for a pit in which all the students from each school work together.

Soil Judging is offered as a 1 credit class every fall as ENST 499B. The coarse is taught in alternating years by Dr. Martin Rabenhorst and Dr Brian Needelman.

University of Maryland Records

Regional Contest Major Accomplishments

2007 - First place team
2006 - First place team
2003 - First place team
2002 - First place team
2001 - First place team
2000 - First place team
1998 - First place team
1990 - First place team
1989 - First place team
1987 - First place team

National Contest Major Accomplishments

1984 Overall winner National contest held at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
1972 Overall winner National contest healed at Virginia Tech
 
SAWGAL Director - Dr. Brian Needelman - Office 301-405-8227 - Lab 301-405-1309 – bneed@umd.edu
Website Administrator - Raymond C. Crew - Office 301-405-1309 - rcrew@umd.edu
Last updated 12/03/2008 9:10 AM