In the News
WVU Soils Team wins second national championship
On a blustery day in a large, open field in Manhattan, Kansas, a Flying WV flag waves proudly in the air. Near the flag pole, the West Virginia University Soils Team surveys the ground beneath its feet in preparation for the 2016 National Collegiate Soils Contest. Full Story
WVU students will compete in Southeast Collegiate Soils Contest this weekend
Unlike other West Virginia University students, James “Jimmy” Leonard doesn’t learn by sitting in library study rooms or boring classrooms, but rather by exploring soil pits for nine hours a day, four days each week and analyzing the local land. Full Story
Getting dirty: WVU student places seventh at international soils contest
When it comes to soil judging, West Virginia University student Adrienne Nottingham is among the world’s elite. The Green Bank, West Virginia, native placed seventh at the International Field Course and Soil Judging Contest in Gödöllő, Hungary, at the beginning of September. Full Story
WVU student headed to Hungary for soils contest
Adrienne Nottingham isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty. The West Virginia University student has proven it as a member of the Youth Conservation Corps and a nationally ranked member of the WVU Soils Team. In September, she’ll get a chance to prove it to the world. Full Story
WVU places at national soils tourney
Mountaineers aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. That’s especially true of the West Virginia University Soils Team, which took second-place honors at the 2015 National Collegiate Soils Contest. Full Story
WVU Soils Team qualifies for nationals
A second-place finish in regional competition has qualified the West Virginia University Soils Team for the National Collegiate Soils Contest next spring. Ten students from WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design traveled to Clemson, South Carolina, Oct. 6-9 to compete in the 2014 Southeast Regional Collegiate Soils Contest. WVU’s team members were among 71 students representing 11 schools digging into the red clay dirt of the southern Piedmont landscapes. Full Story
WVU Soils Team unearths win at regional competition
The West Virginia University Soils Team recently brought home another regional title after participating in the 2013 Southeast Regional Collegiate Soils Contest hosted by the Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tenn. Since winning a national championship in 2006, the team has been a strong contender at the regional and national levels. While it’s only the fifth time WVU has won the Southeast Region since it began competing in 1967, it’s the second in the last five years. Full Story
WVU Soils Team wins Regional Collegiate Soils Contest
The West Virginia University Soils Team dug up a first place championship at the Southeast Regional Collegiate Soils Contest at Tennessee Tech University. The 10 undergraduate students and their coach took this week to travel to Tennessee for four days to compete against 11 other universities. The first three days consisted of practice, leading up to the final contest on the fourth day. Jim Thompson, WVU professor and coach of the Soil Team and, said the students who competed in the event gained field experience in their future professions.. Full Story
National Soils competition digs Morgantown
West Virginia University agronomy graduate student Katey Buckland put it about as succinctly as possible: “You get to play in the mud. How is that not fun?” She was talking about a competition that’s pretty much of a secret outside of its own fraternity: the National Collegiate Soils Judging Contest, which made its way to Morgantown last month. A video of the visit, and why the soils competition is important for the rest of us, is available here. Full Story
Digging in the dirt: WVU to host national soil judging contest
They’re coming to dig up some dirt around Morgantown, and it’s a good thing. Students from 21 college and universities will descend on Morgantown March 25 in hopes of earning a victory as West Virginia University hosts the annual National Collegiate Soils Contest. Teams will have access to practice sites in the Morgantown area March 25-28. The individual judging contest is set for Thursday, March 29, with the group judging taking place Friday, March 30. Full Story
WVU to host regional soil judging contest Oct. 4-7
This October West Virginia University will welcome students from nine universities along the east coast for the Southeast Regional Collegiate Soils Contest. The event is scheduled for Oct. 4-7 in Morgantown. This will be the fourth time WVU has hosted the event with the first being in 1971 and subsequent contests in 1979 and 1994. Full Story
WVU Soils Team earns another top 10 finish
The West Virginia University Soils Team recently traded the Appalachian Mountains for the Cascades as it traveled to Bend, OR, to compete in the National Collegiate Soils Contest. WVU placed second in the group judging event, the highest it has ever finished in that portion of the competition, and seventh overall. This marks the fifth top 10 finish for WVU in six years. Full Story
WVU Soils Team plows through regional contest
The West Virginia University Soils Team recently placed second in the Southeast Regional Collegiate Soils Contest hosted by the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. Four students in the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design finished in the top 25 with two placing in the top 10. Full Story
WVU Soils Team digs up win at regional contest
West Virginia University’s Soils Team recently placed first in the Southeast Regional Collegiate Soils Contest, hosted by the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in Crossville, Tenn. Four WVU students placed in the top ten. Full Story
WVU Soils Team ready to defend national championship
West Virginia University’s Soils Team will head to Logan, Utah Saturday to defend its championship status in the National Collegiate Soils Contest April 19-20. The WVU team took first place in team and individual competition in last years contest at San Luis Obispo, CA, and members are hoping for a repeat. Full Story
WVU Soils Team takes national title
It wasn’t the Final Four of basketball, but for “one shining moment,” it sure felt like it for West Virginia University’s Soils Team. The group took first place in the National Collegiate Soil Judging Contest March 23-24 at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Full Story
WVU Soils Team qualifies for nationals
Members of the West Virginia University Soils Team were not just playing in the dirt during the Southeast Regional Soils Contest held in Raleigh, NC, Oct. 28, 2005. The team earned a fifth-place finish in a field of 12, qualifying WVU for the National Collegiate Soils Contest at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA, March 19-24, 2006. Full Story