We are excited to announce that the British Society of Soil Science’s upcoming Soil Judging event in Nottinghamshire, taking place on 8-10 July 2025, is open for bookings!
This is the first event of its kind in the Society’s history and is something that is being pioneered by our Early Careers Committee. Soil Judging is a popular phenomenon in other parts of the world, so we are delighted to be able to offer this for our Early Career members. In fact, soil judging is an event that was started in America as a competition between colleges where students use their knowledge of soils to describe and classify a soil profile to the best of their ability. It is now a competition run in other countries such as New Zealand and Australia as it is seen to have tremendous benefits in raising the standard of soil science and producing passionate young soil scientists. We previously held a soil judging event at the 2022 World Congress of Soil Science in Scotland but this would be the first official event for the Society.
This event will be a jam packed three days. The first two days will consist of classroom workshop training and in-field soil pit practicals, with professional soil scientists as your ‘coach’. They will teach you how to describe and classify soil profiles. When you are in the field, an information card will be provided at each soil pit with data you will use to help classify your soil, such as chemical and landscape information. Together with your soil profile in front of you, you will complete a ‘scorecard’ describing and classifying the soil pit.
This scorecard will cover aspects of:
- Site characteristics (e.g. slope class, land use, parent material)
- Soil morphology (e.g. horizon designation, texture, colour)
- Soil profile characteristics (e.g. wetness class and permeability)
- World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) classification
You will be given a handbook which contains descriptions of each of the sections above, required to complete your scorecard. You will also be able to use WRB, a Munsell colour book and other field equipment such as a trowel and spray bottle to complete your scorecard.
The final day will be a friendly ‘competition’ where you will put your training into practice by describing two soil pits within a time limit, one as an individual and one as part of a team (without your coaches this time!). This will be followed by a celebration and networking evening, where not only will the winners be announced, but you will be able to network with other Early Career members at the event and those who sponsored the event, over a dinner.
This three-day event will empower early career soil enthusiasts to hone their skills in describing and classifying soil profiles. It offers a unique chance for you to engage with the other soil scientists, researchers, and professionals, each with unique skills that you can learn from.
Key objectives of this event are to:
- Develop – your confidence as a soil scientist in the field.
- Connect – with other early career members as well as industry professionals and interested parties alike.
- Train – in soil description and interpretation, with additional insight into land capability assessment.
- Improve knowledge – about British soils and soil profiles, for better soil management.
We look forward to seeing you there! BASIS points will be awarded for this event. If you have any questions relating to this event, don’t hesitate to reach out to the BSSS Early Careers Committee Chair, Danni: dannielle.roche@ceresresearch.com
The event is primarily aimed at BSSS Early Career members who will get priority booking to the event. Depending on numbers, we may open this up to Full and Associate members nearer the time. If you are at Early Career level and would like to take part but are not yet a BSSS member, please check out the BSSS website or email the BSSS team at admin@soils.org.uk.
For those who require funding, there will be grants available via the Brain Chambers Soil Fund. To find out more about this, please email us at admin@soils.org.uk.
Common FAQs:
- Do I need to bring any equipment? No, you do not need to bring any equipment with you.
- Do I need to have prior knowledge or experience of soil descriptions? No, you don’t! But if you do… that’s ok too! This is about learning new soil science, whether that is from the professional soil science coaches or other members experience.
- Can I sign up on my own? Yes! Training is for all, whether you come alone or with others you know. For the competition day where you describe the soil pit as a team, you will be put into teams by us.
