Soil Judging Team
Department of Natural Resources
University of New Hampshire
215 James Hall, 56 College Road
Durham, NH 03824

Participants on the Soil Judging Team are students enrolled in NR 607: Soil and Land Evaluation (course information). Each year, four students in the class are selected to participate in the Northeast Regional Soil Judging Contest. Soil teams from colleges around the northeast region gather at a participating university to compete in this two-day event. The first day is the individual competition where each team member competes on their own. There are three soil pits that students must describe the soil properties, classify the soil and interpret the soil properties, their behavioral characteristics and suitability for agricultural use, urban development and subsurface wastewater treatment. The second day is the team competition where the four members of each team work together. There are two soil pits on the second day where the team works together to describe the soil and provide land use interpretations.

Soil Judging Competitions

2005 National Competition Held at Auburn University, Alabama

The UNH Soil Judging Team participated in the 45th National Collegiate Soil Judging Competition at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. The competition took place April 7 & 8, 2005, and was attended by twenty-two collegiate teams. Even though the team did excellent in describing and interpreting the soils, it was Virginia Tech that took top honors, followed by Arizona and Rhode Island. Read more...

2004 Regional Competition Held at Ohio State University

UNH Soil Judging Team Places 4th in Regional Competition, Invited To Nationals

Press Release
Wilmington, Ohio
October 17, 2004

The four-member team of Amy Ladner, Dan Miller, Jay Malouin and Matt Trippel, overcame the elements to take 4th place at the Northeast Regional Intercollegiate Soil Judging Competition. Read more...

2003 Regional Competition Held at University of Rhode Island

The 2003 annual competition was held at the University of Rhode Island. The University of New Hampshire registered one team of four students to participate. (View Photos). There were 8 colleges participating in this year’s event with some colleges having two teams of 4 students each. All total there were 12 teams in the competition.

The New Hampshire team traveled to URI the day before the competition to practice at soils pits prepared for students to become familiar with the nature and properties of the soils in the immediate vicinity.

Although the UNH team did not place that year, it was a very rewarding, enjoyable and memorable experience for everyone. The winning team, Penn State, will go on to the National Soil Judging Competition in the Summer of 2004.

NR 607: Soil and Land Evaluation Course Information

This course focuses on the physical properties of soils in the region, their recognition within the Taxonomic System of Soil Classification, and their behavioral characteristics under different kinds of land use. The students spend most of their class time outdoors, identifying soil characteristics, describing soil profiles, and applying this information to land use interpretations. Soil features that are observed and described include: soil color, texture, particle size distribution, percent coarse fragments, permeability, available water holding capacity, soil reaction, bulk density as well as identifying special features that identify depth to seasonal high water table.

With the soils information collected at a particular site, the students apply this knowledge to determine the behavioral characteristics of the soil and potential limitations or hazards for various kinds of land use. The primary areas of interpretation include: suitability for growing agricultural crops common to the region; suitability for building site development, both single family homes as well as industrial sites; and determining the suitability of the soil for treating subsurface wastewater, potential for groundwater contamination and restrictive features that could lead to septic system failure.