COVID-19 has cancelled the 2020 national, 2020 regional, and 2021 national in person contests. As such SSSA authorized a one-time entirely VIRTUAL soil judging contest in 2021.
- NCSU competed against 21 teams and 140 students in the virtual format. There were a number of different sections (feature identification, hand texture, and soil calculations) completed as a group and individuals.
- We had a team of 4 undergraduate students that took the challenge on short notice: Curtis Murphy, Jacob Cheers, Marissa Dellinger, and Matthew Stewart.
Students completing the hands on portion of the VIRTUAL contest
NCSU had positive results, even in this modified version of soil judging:
- Curtis Murphy placed 1st for the soil feature identification section.
- Curtis was our highest ranking overall individual, placing 14th out of 140 students.
- Read more here: https://cals.ncsu.edu/crop-and-soil-sciences/news/soil-judging-team-places-5th-in-2021-national-competition/
The group placed 2nd in the soil feature identification section, 3rd in hand texturing, and 5th overall in the group contest out of 21 teams. We received a team plaque for a top 5 finish as a group.
- We’re looking forward to the fall of 2021 and travelling to UT-Knoxville to compete in the first in person soil judging contest in nearly 2 years.
-Matt