A Little About Me And Soil...

Soil Samping

Before I jump into the basics of soil science and soil health, I better introduce myself and give myself a little credibility. So My name is Jordaan Thompson I grew up and still currently live in a small farming town in rural North Dakota. Even at a small age my mother always knew I'd grow one day and make playing the "dirt" my job, well I guess that's why they say mothers know what's best. So after high school I packed up my bags and headed to NDSU (North Dakota State University) to start my educational journey in the amazing world of soil science. While NDSU was quite large and populated to my standards, the soil science department always felt like home to me as it was fairly small and personal. Being that the department is so small it wasn't hard to make connections with other soil scientists and students, so I used those connections and obtained my very first internship with the NRCS. The photos you see are a few of the many things that I learned those hot and very cold days working in the heavy clay of the Red River Valley. I not only learned from my coworkers and other professionals,  I learned the most  from the local farmers (producers).The interactions with the local farmers only enhanced my strive to become a professional soil scientist. The local farmers showed me just how important my profession really is, my job is to ensure that these farmers have a healthy medium (soil) to sustain their livelihood. Talk about pressure! So long story short I'm  5 months away from becoming a professional soil scientist and this blog is designed to share my stories and information about soils and all they have to offer. 


I want to start by saying that this blog is intended to give a broad understanding of soils and soil health. It will be directed towards people that have minimal to no understanding of soils, and to people that just want to learn about soils and agriculture in general. I will focus my blogs mainly on the agricultural sector, but I'm and avid gardener so if you want to learn gardening tricks and information stick around!

So what is soil? Well there are many fancy definitions out there, but this one from the Soil Science Glossary I feel is the best.

"The unconsolidated mineral or organic material on the immediate surface of the Earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land" 

What this basically means is that soil is literally just dirt, which people in profession would not be happy with me as we say soil is so much more than dirt. Which it really is, below is a picture of dirt, its cold lifeless and really just dirt!



http://trythirtydays.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/dirt-pile.jpg

 

                                                             While this is soil....

Full of life and systems and it's happy!

http://decoradvisor.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/cba25__soil-life.jpg

So hopefully these pictures show everyone that soil is so much more than a pile of dirt, many organisms and systems depend and live in soil. So what is soil science? Well its really just the study of soils, or to be specific oxford dictionary states its

"The branch of science concerned with the formation, nature, ecology, and classification of soils"

So as a soil scientist I study soils everyday and observe both physical and chemical properties of the soil and make agricultural determinations based on those properties. Such determinations could be fertilizer recommendations, salinity management decisions, or even cover crop selections. I get to get my hands dirty every day and be outside actively helping people in agriculture and I  love it!
So hopefully this gives you a little insight to how amazing soil really is and a little about me!