UNL soil judging team competes at national competition

The UNL Soil Judging Team with coaches Paul Hanson (far left) and Mark Kuzila (far right) at the National Collegiate Soil Judging Contest. (Courtesy photo)
The UNL Soil Judging Team with coaches Paul Hanson (far left) and Mark Kuzila (far right) at the National Collegiate Soil Judging Contest. (Courtesy photo)

The UNL Soil Judging Team competed at the National Collegiate Soil Judging Contest, which took place April 19-24 at the the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

"Despite the wet weather and water-filled pits, the team placed third in the group judging portion of the contest," said Mark Kuzila, professor and a team coach. "The group judging portion is one where all of the team members work together to describe, classify and interpret the soils."

UNL cracked the top ten, placing ninth overall. The overall score is the combination of the group score and individual scores of four of the team members.

UNL Soil Judging Team members:

Josiah Dallman, senior, fisheries and wildlife/agronomy; Joshua Gates, senior, environmental restoration science; Philip Goodin, senior, environmental restoration science; Alainie Hersh, senior, environmental studies; Danielle Jones, junior, environmental studies; Mark Keck, junior, agronomy; James Reece, senior, environmental restoration science; Rachel Stevens, senior, agronomy.

Team coaches are Kuzila, Paul Hanson, SNR associate director; and Becky Young, doctoral student and research assistant.

Collegiate soil judging originated in the southeastern United States in 1956 and began in the Midwest in 1958 with a contest hosted by Kansas State University. Today, the American Society of Agronomy organizes the contests and more than 40 universities from seven regions participate.

— Mekita Rivas, Natural Resources