UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Soil Judging Team placed fourth at the Northeast Regional Collegiate Soil Judging Contest in Easton, Maryland, in early October, qualifying for the national championship to be held in Ohio in the spring of 2020.
Between Oct. 8 and Oct. 11, Penn State students — most from the College of Agricultural Sciences — competed against their counterparts from nine other schools in the annual event, hosted this year by the University of Maryland.
“The contest allows students to practice describing and interpreting soils and landscapes against different schools from around the region,” said team coach Patrick Drohan, associate professor of pedology. “This year, students at the regional contest practiced describing soils representative of Entisols, Inceptisols, Alfisols and Ultisols. With 10 schools from across the northeastern United States competing this year, it was the largest northeast regional contest ever.”