It takes a lot of grit and determination to win a national championship, and sometimes you have to be willing to get a little dirty. Or in Bianca Peixoto’s case, a lot dirty. In April she was crowned champion at the National Collegiate Soils Competition, and the nine members of the URI team placed second overall in the team competition.

Soil judging is a contest to correctly identify, classify and describe the soils from holes dug into the ground. Students must climb into five-foot deep pits to identify the soil layers, describe their properties, classify each soil according to taxonomy, and evaluate their uses. The team and individual with the most accurate evaluations win.

Soil science isn’t just an academic discipline and an excuse to get dirty, though. It’s a field that provides students with numerous job opportunities.

This year’s success wasn’t a fluke; we’ve become the team to beat in recent years. A URI student has won the individual competition in three of the last five years, and the University won the team championship in 2011 and consistently places in the top five.

Bianca won the individual championship after a long day of classifying soils in three pits dug in Pennsylvania for the competition. For placing first, she will compete at the World Soil Judging Championships in South Korea this summer. “I’ve loved soil science ever since I first learned about it in high school,” said Bianca, who placed fourth in the regional soil judging competition last fall. “I’m absolutely fascinated by it. Soil is the basis of life, and while so many people focus on the bigger and grander aspects of the environment, soil is where it all starts.”

Soil science isn’t just an academic discipline and an excuse to get dirty, though. It’s a field that provides students with numerous job opportunities.

“The competition gives students the chance to test their skills against regional soil experts,” said Professor Mark Stolt, advisor to the URI soil judging team. “Just about every environmental firm in the country is looking for people who can evaluate soils. Those that compete at soil judging are in demand when they graduate.”

So if you like to dish the dirt as much as Bianca does, then URI may be the place for you.