Soil Judging

Soil judging is an immersive, 3-day learning "field conference" where students develop skills for describing soil morphology, geomorphology, classification, and interpretation. After two days of practice, students participate in a competition on the third day. SUNY Fredonia competes in the Northeast region against various other schools such as Maryland, Penn State, Rhode Island, etc. Soil judging is a valued skill and students who participate in this event have a higher likelihood of finding employment.

If you are a SUNY student and want to know more about how to participate in Soil Judging, contact Matthew Purtill (purtill@fredonia.edu). Also, check out a poster that discussed our 2019 team here.

2024 Rhode Island Results

Our team did very, very well considering it was our first time and we were going up against many bigger schools. We even beat Brown University, so take that Ivy League. In the group competition, we finished an amazing 4th out of 15 teams - one place removed from receiving a plaque. I'm also pleased to announce that we topped all other New York schools so we are the best soil judgers in the state! Check out a short article highlighting our success here.

In support of our efforts, we've recently excavated a soil pit on campus to help practice the art of soil description.

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