Gathering on a hillside are (from left): Gavin Kaminski, J. Weston Hepler, Rachel Echevarria, Dr. Matthew Purtill and Alex Gombos.
SUNY Fredonia students narrowly missed bringing home a plaque from the Northeast Collegiate Soil Judging Competition.
Even so, it was an impressive SUNY Fredonia debut by the contingent of Rachel Echevarria, J. Weston Hepler, Alex Gombos and Gavin Kaminski that placed fourth in the team competition out of 15 teams from 11 schools from six states.
“Our team did 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,” remarked Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences Assistant Professor Matthew Purtill. Plaques were awarded to the top teams and individuals in various categories.
Soil judging is an immersive, three-day learning field conference where you compete against teams from other schools and learn how to describe soil morphology, geomorphology, classification and make land use interpretations.” - Dr. Matthew Purtill
By ranking above all New York schools in the final team standings, SUNY Fredonia’s team can be considered “the best soil judgers in the state,” noted Dr. Purtill, who accompanied the students at the competition hosted by the University of Rhode Island.
“Soil judging is an immersive, three-day learning field conference where you compete against teams from other schools and learn how to describe soil morphology, geomorphology, classification and make land use interpretations,” Purtill explained. Students, as individuals, described three pits, and then two pits where they collaborated as a team. The pits revealed different characteristics and properties that the students had to identify.
Soils are assessed by a number of criteria, such as the number of horizons, texture and its ability to hold, retain or filter water. Interpreting soils data helps determine whether a soil type is adequate to build a road on or to accommodate a septic system, among other land uses.
Over a span of three days, the four Environmental Sciences majors first practiced how to describe soil morphology, identify its geomorphic setting, classify the soil based on standards used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and formulate land use interpretations, Purtill explained. The skills and experience in evaluating soils they acquired are highly valued by companies that recruit students with environmental science degrees, Purtill said, and not many graduates have these skills.
“They all are really interested in different aspects of environmental science for their careers,” Purtill said of the students, “but what I always tell them, having the ability to describe and understand soils is an overarching benefit. A lot of different jobs require a basic understanding of soils.”
Mr. Hepler, a senior from Clymer, NY, said he learned about landscapes and gained valuable insight into the many components that contribute to understanding the nature of a place.
Before this experience, Helper often found himself jumping to conclusions about why a landscape appeared in a certain way. “However, the trip taught me that it takes a complex combination of hundreds of factors to shape the land as we see it.”
The competition was held in a highly diverse geographic region, Hepler noted, where the effects of thousands of years of geomorphic processes that produced the landscape could be observed. “It also gave me the chance to connect concepts from my geomorphology class, comparing field sites we studied around Dunkirk and Fredonia with the coastal areas near the University of Rhode Island and the New England region,” he added.
For Ms. Echevarria, a senior from Fredonia, NY, the conference was far more than a resume builder. “This is an experience that solidified my ability to use real world applications and create interpretations that most others might not get from looking at ‘dirt,’” she said.
Students observed geological changes in the environment and learned to interpret what the soil might tell them once they were in a pit, Echevarria explained.
Soil isn’t recognized as a key component of the environment, but “that can’t be further from the truth. It tells us so much,” commented Echevarria, who is also majoring in Geology and has minors in Psychology and Biology. By holding soil in their hands, students detected changes in color and horizons, whether texturally or otherwise.
“We got to understand texture and use landscapes as clues to the bigger picture. The hands-on experience in the pits gave me way more than most of the classes spent in a room ever did,” Echevarria said.
For Echevarria, the 2024 competition wasn’t a one-time experience; she plans to assist Purtill next year as an assistant coach.
“I want to soak up as much knowledge from these professionals as possible. Soil might be the soul of the earth, you look inside layers and layers of history, see what happened in each, and see what it represents. It tells you ‘this is what I am, this is what happened to me, and this is what I can tell you about what to do next.’”
Echevarria’s career plans are to work closely in conservation efforts with the state or national parks or perhaps pursue a career in consulting.
The conference enabled students to see how science is applied in real time and speak with others working in the field. “I think when I go on to graduate and get a job that I’ll be able to provide something valuable to the team. I’ll be able to see more than maybe most candidates applying,” Echevarria said.
“Fieldwork will forever be the most valuable resource and tool that you can have because it places you in the exact shoes you are trying to fill one day,” Hepler concluded. Going through experiences such as field trips enable students to make informed career choices much earlier than they would have otherwise without having had these experiences.
To prepare students for the competition, Purtill had a soil pit excavated near a campus maintenance building to provide hands-on experience in soil testing.
Expenses associated with the trip to the competition, including conference registration, vehicle rental, lodging and some needed equipment, were funded by the Phyllis W. and Lawrence A. Patrie Endowment for the Sciences through the Fredonia College Foundation.
