Associate Professor Matthew Purtill (far left) and members of the 2025 soil judging team.
The Fredonia Soil Judging team recently competed in the 2026 Northeast Region Soil Judging competition.
The competition, held in Waldorf, MD, included 83 students from 11 schools.
During the immersive, three-day field event, students learned how to describe, classify, and evaluate soil properties and compete against teams from other schools. The competition is highly valued, noted Associate Professor Matthew Purtill, because it transforms classroom theories in practical knowledge used in environmental science, geology, geomorphology, archaeology, and agriculture.
The SUNY Fredonia team, consisting of Geology, Environmental Science, and Earth Science-Adolescence Education majors Colin McKee, Rylan Everson, Cali Hofner, Molly Hubbard and Ella Culligan, competed against 17 teams.
Associate Professor Purtill noted that SUNY Fredonia did extremely well, finishing eighth overall, while placing fourth out of 17 teams in the group judging component of the competition. The group judging finish was good enough to earn a plaque. He added that the students learned a tremendous amount of information concerning soils, had a lot of fun and made a lot of new friends.
Participation in the event is funded by the Phyllis W. and Lawrence A. Patrie Endowment for the Sciences established with the Fredonia College Foundation.
