Thanks to the generous grant I received from the British Society of Soil Science, I had the privilege of being a member of the team representing Great Britain at the 5th International Soil Judging Contest in Nanjing, China. The grant covered the cost of the competition registration, accommodation, local transportation and all meals for the event. A further £650 was awarded to support my travel costs and I heard about this grant directly from the British Society of Soil Science.
After experiencing my first long-haul flight and an internal transfer with Air China, the competition started with registration and a welcome meal on Tuesday 2 June, where it was great to meet the other 17 teams from around the world. We then had three days of intensive training ahead of the competition, which included lectures, workshops and fieldwork. A key focus of the workshops was classification of different soil profiles. For the competition we needed to be able to use both the World Reference Base (WRB) and Soil Taxonomy to classify the horizons and full profiles. This was particularly challenging as I was much more familiar with WRB than Soil Taxonomy before the competition, but the training provided an excellent opportunity to develop my knowledge of both systems, and it was exciting to be able to apply this knowledge straightaway in practical field settings.
I particularly enjoyed completing a workshop on soil texture, as I have done a lot of measurements of texture in Scotland, but the soils in China were completely different from what I was used to, so this was a fun challenge. Having conducted extensive fieldwork across Scotland as part of my PhD studies it was exciting to have the opportunity to test my field skills in a different environment. I enjoyed the challenge of identifying transported materials within the profiles, as many of the sites we visited had been impacted by human activities adding an extra challenge to the classification, and requiring very good observation skills. We also had a chance to see many different Chinese soils firsthand in the fantastic soil museum at the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
On the third day of the event we had a competition simulation day, where we put our learning into action with two individual pits and two team pits. It was a steep learning curve, with different challenges in each. For individual pits I had to manage my time and make quick and confident decisions, while in the team pits, the challenge was based around communication and ensuring that all team members were working on tasks which best suited their abilities. We were assisted by our coach, Jay Ryan, who provided her experience and great insight into soil judging. Prior to the event, I was also fortunate to receive field training from Richard Hewison from the James Hutton Institute who took me out for a day, assessing soil pits and working through the scorecard. This meant that when I arrived for the competition I already had a good understanding of the processes required for classifying the different soils.
Competition day was a great experience – it was amazing that the organisers had found four locations within walking distance from each other that had such different soil types and formations. The adrenaline rush was like competing in a sporting event, with time pressure and a lot of tasks to complete. I loved taking part and working together with my team. While we did not place in the top ten, I was very proud of our performance and how we worked and learned together, and I would recommend this experience to all early career soil scientists. It truly is one of my favourite experiences with soil yet. Additionally, this event provided me with an invaluable experience in networking with other early career soil scientists from across the world.
Overall, I am very grateful to the British Society of Soil Science for funding and facilitating my attendance at the 5th World Soil Judging Contest. It was a truly unforgettable experience, and I gained valuable field skills and connections which will benefit my career for years to come.
