Playing in the Dirt (er...Soil)

If you ever talk to a soil scientist, don't EVER refer to soil as "dirt." They get really offended. Dirt certainly isn't the technical term for that brown stuff we grow vegetables in and track through the house; to a soil scientist, that word is almost derogatory. Personally, I don't care what you call it. All I know is that really "good" dirt (with lots of organic matter in it) looks, feels, and smells so good to me that I want to eat it. If you think that's weird, consider that I also like the smell of composting horse manure.

For those of you who don't know, I work in a soils lab and my thesis research focuses on soil organic matter chemistry, specifically the stability and composition of yard waste compost amendments to denuded, sloped soils to aid in revegetation success. If you didn't understand that, I'm basically a chemist who is trying/learning to be a soil scientist also. Simply put, I'm a big-time nerd like all great Levies. =o)

From June 23-July 10 I will be out in the boonies of California, digging soil pits and learning how to analyze soils and classify them. This is the first year Davis is offering the course at the graduate level, which is good for me because I still need 4 more graduate level units. This is an intense class and may be only 3 weeks long but it is a 5-unit class! That means it will be a lot of work.

The class will be camping at many locations throughout northern California. They offer a northern and southern loop alternatively each year. Thank goodness this year is the northern circuit. If I'm feeling up to it next summer I will take the southern loop through Death Valley and Joshua Tree. Here's where I will be: 3 days in Davis, 1 in Vine Hill, 1 at Silver Lake, 1 in Tahoma, 1 at Pyramid Lake, 4 at the Eagle Lake Biological Field Station, 1 in Susanville, 1 in Day Bench (no idea where that is...), 1 in Redding, 1 at Black Butte Lake, 1 in Hopland, 1 in Van Damme State Park...and finally back to Davis.

After all that work and travel, we have to take a final exam, submit a GIANT report, and us grad students also have to submit a big project (which hasn't been explained to us yet...I hope it isn't too much more work!).

Part of me is really looking forward to the class (the part of me that loves learning) and part of me is sorta dreading it (the part of me that wants to be at home with my husband to make sure he's eating well--not Taco Bell every night!--and keeping the house livable). This class isn't a requirement for me but it will fulfill my lacking units. There are lots of people in my department who are going so I know that it will be fun. One of the professors, Dr. Singer, is an amazing guy who literally wrote the book on soil science. Rumor has it that he will be retiring next year so I wanted to make sure to take the class from him before he's gone.