This October West Virginia University will welcome students from nine universities along the east coast for the Southeast Regional Collegiate Soils Contest.

The event is scheduled for Oct. 4-7 in Morgantown.

This will be the fourth time WVU has hosted the event with the first being in 1971 and subsequent contests in 1979 and 1994.

Collegiate soil judging provides training and practical experience for students interested in learning proper methods of soil and site evaluation used by professional soil scientists.

Teams from colleges and universities across the country annually compete in regional contests in an effort to qualify for the national event. WVU will also host the national contest in the spring.

Contestants will have access to twelve practice sites in the Morgantown area Oct. 4-6. These sites will be divided equally between the WVU Agronomy Farm, WVU Organic Research Farm, and Twin Hill Farm just outside of Morgantown.

The sites for the Oct. 7 contest have been established at an undisclosed location.

“This is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate the unique soils and landscapes that are common in North Central West Virginia,” said Jim Thompson, associate professor of soil science in WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design. “It’s also an opportunity for the visiting students to see soils that are unfamiliar and differ from those in their home states.”

According to the National Collegiate Soils Contest rules, as the contest host the WVU Soils Team is not allowed to participate in either the regional or national contests. At the regional level, however, the host team counts toward the total number of participating schools. That number then determines how many schools can qualify for the national contest.

That doesn’t mean the team won’t have a participatory role in the overall event.

“With an event of this magnitude, it’s going to take a lot of time and effort from the WVU Soils Team and other student organizations in the Division of Plant and Soil Sciences to help make it successful,” Thompson said. “We’re looking to them to be student ambassadors for WVU, the Davis College and the Division.”

The WVU Soils Team has seen national success in recent years winning a national championship in 2006, earning five top 10 finishes and four top five.

More information about the contests can be found at http://soiljudging.wvu.edu or by contacting Thompson at Jim.Thompson@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

law/9/26/11

CONTACT: Lindsay Willey, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Design
304-293-2381, Lindsay.Willey@mail.wvu.edu

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