With checkoff grant in hand, UMd soil judging team
packs for national contest
Maryland soybean farmers are helping four young men and women from the University of Maryland journey to Rhode Island this month for the 43rd annual National Collegiate Soil Judging Contest.
The four make up the university’s soil judging team which is on a winning streak, of sorts.
The Maryland team captured first place last fall in the Northeast regional soil judging contest and won the privilege thereby of representing the region in the nationals.
The Maryland Soybean Board, which administers the soybean checkoff program in the state, sent along a check for $1,000 to help defray costs.
The contest is slated for April 17 and 18.
Dr. Martin Rabenhorst, University of Maryland professor of pedology — the study of soils in their natural environment — and coach of the team, said that in preparation for the nationals, “we will be traveling to Rhode Island the week before the contest in order to study the soils of the area. Of course, the area around Rhode Island has been glaciated so we have a lot of work to do getting ready as we study these younger soils formed on such interesting glacial landforms as kames, drumlins and eskers.
“This,” he added, “is really a wonderful educational opportunity for the students to study soils in a very different geological setting and to gain invaluable experience developing skills in soil science.”
Team members are George Gaetz of Cumberland, Md., Clinton Gill of Souderton, Pa., Vera Jaffe of Cary. N.C., and Alsa Vinnikova of University Park, Md.
At the Northeast region competition, the Maryland team competed against teams from six other states.
The University of Maryland had all four of its team members finish among the top 10 individuals. By comparison, Ohio State and Wilmington College of Ohio each had two individuals in the top 10, and the University of Rhode Island, and Delaware Valley College each had one individual in the top 10.
The top three schools were the University of Maryland, first, Ohio State, second, and the University of Rhode Island, third.
Here’s the way they placed in the top 10 individual competition:
Michele Hetu (1) University of Rhode Island (URI); Andrea Gibson (2) Wilmington College of Ohio (WCO); Mitchell Valerio (3) Ohio State University (OSU) ; Vera Jaffe (4) UMD; Clinton Gill (5) UMD; Katherine McAlarney (6) OSU; Preston Simmons (7) WCO; Lindsay Shirk (8) Delaware Valley College; George Gaetz (9) UMD; and Asia Vinnikova (10) UMD.