UW-Platteville's Scheckel, Team USA take honors at international soils competition

UW-Platteville junior Jakob Scheckel took runner-up honors in a soil judging contest in China earlier this summer.

Scheckel, a soil and crop science major from Dodgeville, Wisconsin, earned a spot on the U.S. team that competed in the 5th International Soil Judging Contest held near the cities of Nanjing and Zhenjiang in China's eastern Jiangsu province from June 3-7. The event is held every four years in association with the World Congress of Soil Science and was organized by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) and the Soil Science Society of China. 

The competition brought together 72 students across 18 teams from 14 countries. The event included three days of preparation, training, mock exercises, and official contests, and culminated in a grand awards ceremony. The contest involves contestants describing soils both individually and in four-person teams using techniques developed by field soil scientists. The descriptions are then used to classify the soils using scientific classification systems and to make interpretations for specific land uses. Scoring is determined by how well the contestant’s descriptions, classification, and interpretation match those of professional soil scientists.

Eight students made up two teams representing the United States at the competition. Scheckel earned his spot on Team USA by placing sixth in the USA National Soils competition in March in North Carolina. Students representing Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, University of Missouri, West Virginia University, and University of Tennessee-Knoxville also were on the USA teams.

Seven of the top ten students in the individual competition were from the United States, with Scheckel placing second behind Virginia Tech’s Holden Mrizek. In the team judging portion, Scheckel’s Team USA “Stars” placed third behind German and Russian teams. Team USA “Stripes” placed seventh. In the overall scoring, Team USA “Stripes” placed first, followed by Team USA “Stars” in second.

Following the contest, Scheckel and several teammates attended the World Congress of Soil Science, where scientists present soil-related research from around the world.

Travel to the contest was sponsored by the Agronomic Science Foundation, which provides funding to support the missions of the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America.