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UW Soil Judging Team Wins Regional Contest

group of people standing outside
UW soil judging team members, posing with the overall winner trophy, are, from left, Taylor Britt, of Cheyenne; Coach Chelsea Duball, from Exeter, N.H.; Matthew Ratterman, of Kansas City, Mo.; Megan Andersen, from Sturgis, S.D.; Ryan Brentzel, of Grand Island, Neb.; Madelyn Haeg, from Bloomington, Minn.; Noah Cheshier, of Afton; and Austin Jacobson, from Cheyenne. Not pictured is Tori Strom, from Casper. Haeg holds the first-place team trophy, and Jacobson holds the second-place individual trophy. (UW Photo)

The University of Wyoming’s soil judging team bested those from three other universities to win the regional competition Oct. 10-12 at Utah State University in Logan.

Students in the UW Department of Ecosystem Science and Management beat Colorado State University, Utah State University and the University of Idaho.

UW’s team also won the group judging category. This is the first time the team has come in first place in regionals since becoming a class/team four years ago. This also is the first time the team has fielded eight members, says doctoral student Chelsea Duball, of Exeter, N.H., the team’s coach.

UW placed six students in the top 12. Austin Jacobson, of Cheyenne, placed second; Noah Cheshier, from Afton, finished fourth; Taylor Britt, of Cheyenne, took fifth; and Matthew Ratterman, of Kansas City, Mo., ended up 10th. Megan Andersen, of Sturgis, S.D., and Madelyn Haeg, from Bloomington, Minn., were 11th and 12th, respectively.

Students spend a day practicing and learning about the local soils, then compete for one day by judging three soil profiles. Two are judged individually and one as a group.

UW students have been practicing since the start of the semester in the laboratory on concepts, before going to field sites on the prairie east of Laramie and in soil pits in the Laramie Range of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests.

“Despite the short time period for preparation, the students did an exemplary job learning the concepts and applying them to a new region, northeast Utah,” says Karen Vaughan, the team adviser and an assistant professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management.

two people looking at a bank of dirt
University of Wyoming students examine the soil profile during the recent regional competition. The soil profile is marked off by a tape measure and flagging tape, providing a reference area where students cannot dig. (UW Photo)

Students have 60 minutes to complete their soil descriptions. In competition, students enter a large, excavated hole and examine a marked soil profile. They describe the soil by layer and note the color, texture, percent of rock fragments, structure and soil features, such as carbonates and clay films.

They then move out of the hole and describe the landscape features. They use their overall descriptions to make soil interpretations, such as water movement, and storage and building site suitability. They then classify the soil using soil taxonomy.

“Above all, the biggest takeaway from this experience is the opportunity for students to quite literally apply their knowledge,” Duball says. “Although they spend a whole semester learning soil morphological concepts and skills, actually seeing and feeling the soil properties in competition help the students to better understand the course material from a hands-on perspective.”

The team now advances to national competition this spring in Ohio.

“Coming away from this successful experience, the students are already asking when our first practice is for nationals,” Duball says.

 

 

Contact Us

Institutional Communications
Bureau of Mines Building, Room 137
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-2929
Email: cbaldwin@uwyo.edu


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