Clay mineralogist Sridhar Komarneni was working on his master’s degree in agricultural chemistry when the first man landed on the moon. “They collected lunar soils and brought them back to earth to analyze,” he says. “What they found was a very different mineralogy. The moon doesn’t have the same weathering processes as earth—there’s no rain, no wind. It doesn’t have the same clays. That’s when I knew I wanted to understand the chemistry of soils.”

Soil scientist Daniel Fritton, who grew up on a farm in eastern Colorado, figured he’d go back to the farm after graduation—until he took his first soils class. “I walked on soil every day,” he says, “but I never realized what went on in it. We continue to try to understand it, and we struggle to manage or repair it.”

Today, great resources and dedicated faculty like Fritton and Komarneni make Penn State’s Environmental Soil Science major one of the best in the country. “Every graduate in the past 10 years has had an opportunity to work as a soil scientist,” says Fritton, who coordinates the program.

Graduates can apply for certification as a soil scientist, soil specialist, or soil classifier. Typical starting salaries are $25,000 per year, with frequent promotions to higher-paying positions after six months to two years.

“If you want to work outdoors, this is an excellent major,” Fritton says. “Field scientists are in the trenches, mapping soils. They interpret soil maps for specific uses, like construction, agriculture, forestry, and waste disposal. Since the soil and water are closely linked, they frequently also look at a soil’s effect on water quality.”

“There are so many avenues you can take,” adds instructor Kate Butler, who teaches courses in soil science. “If you like lab work, you can study soil chemistry and reactions, or you can study microbiology and investigate the billions of diverse and elusive soil organisms—most of which have yet to be identified. If computers are your passion, there are exciting programs for mapping and interpreting soil data.”

“Traditionally, Soil Science focused on fertility for plant growth and crop yield, and some students specialize in that today,” says Fritton. “But we’re also focusing on how soils maintain a habitable planet.”

“I knew I wanted to work outside in an environmental field,” says Duane Goodsell, who earned his degree in May 2001. “As a kid, environmental problems were happening all around me. I grew up near Spring Creek, in Lemont. Kepones from leaky lagoons ended up in the creek, and there was a contaminated spring a half mile from my house. People living near it complained of the strong smell and headaches. Today you still can’t eat the fish.”

After graduation, Goodsell went to work for Meiser and Earl Hydrogeologists, a State College environmental firm, where he does a little bit of everything.

“There’s never a typical day, which is nice,” he says. “I don’t just sit at a desk. Today, I’m going to run a video camera down a well to look for a coal mine. The people who drilled the well wanted to hit a mine filled with water. I’ll look for indications of fractures, so they can enlarge them to reach the water.”

Goodsell says many people, including his fellow students, don’t realize how many applications soil science has. “When I tell people I’m a soil scientist, they immediately think: agriculture. But there are all kinds of jobs outside of agriculture too, like wetland delineation, where you go out and locate the boundaries of wetlands for construction projects.

“We get called out to do all kinds of things,” he says. “Fifteen years ago, the company was hired to help out with a murder investigation, looking at soils in a pit where a dead body was found.”

Jaime Carson, who earned her degree in December 2000, grew up in Philipsburg, where she saw a lot of red- water streams from abandoned coal mines. “I went into soil science because I’m interested in the environment,” she says. “I wanted to make a difference.”

Today, she works at the USDA Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Laboratory, where she analyzes soils and water samples for research projects on phosphorus.

“Most of my courses had labs or field trips, which was great for me because I learn by doing. Because of the small class size, I got a lot of one-on-one work with instructors. We took a lot of field trips where we practiced describing soils, based on color chips, texture, and other properties. We made a lot of ‘mud pies’—where we wet the soil and roll it in our fingers to feel for the sand, clay, and silt. Judging soils is an art, not just a science.

“The faculty are great,” she adds. “They’re really willing to help—they’ll take you out on an extra field trip if you need it. They go above and beyond.”

Many students also get extra hands-on experience through part-time positions at soil research and service labs at University Park, including the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s Map Compilation Center, the USDA Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Laboratory, Penn State’s Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory, or individual faculty labs.

To learn more about Environmental Soil Science, contact Daniel Fritton at 814-865-1143 or ddf@psu.edu. You also can visit the program’s Web site at http://www.agronomy.psu.edu/Academic/SoilScienceUG.html.

—Kim Dionis