Utah State University’s Soils Team earned first place in overall team competition, besting competitors from Idaho and Oregon, at the Northwest Regional Soils Contest held Oct. 17 at the University of Idaho, Moscow. As the top team, the Aggies earned the opportunity to compete in the National Collegiate Soils Contest to be held in March 2010 at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

 

USU team members are undergraduates Teresa Hole Allpress, an environmental soil and water science major; Shannon Babb, a watershed and earth systems major; Brook Fonnesbeck, an environmental soil and water science major and civil and environmental engineering major and Melissa Jackson, a geology major with emphasis in geoarchaeology.

 

In addition to their achievements in the team contest, the Aggies excelled in individual competition with Fonnesbeck, Jackson and Allpress earning first, third and fifth places, respectively.

 

Team coach John Lawley, research associate, and faculty advisor Janis Boettinger, professor; both faculty members in the Department of Plants, Soils and Climate, accompanied the team to the Palouse region of northern Idaho and southeastern Oregon for a day of practice prior to the competition. The group studied Mollisols — a soil order found in loess or sediment formed by glaciers and wind, as well as Andisols — soils formed from 8,000-year-old Mt. Mazama ash near Crater Lake.

 

Sponsored by the Soil Science Society of America, the national soils contest and its regional qualifying competitions challenge undergraduates to describe, classify and interpret soils and landscapes. At the spring 2009 national competition, held in Missouri, USU placed fourth out of 24 universities. Allpress, Fonnesbeck and Jackson competed on the 2009 team and return, with Babb, for the 2010 competition.

 

Contact: Janis Boettinger, 435-797-4026, janis.boettinger@usu.edu