Auburn University soil and environmental scientist Joey Shaw coached Team USA to a world championship Sept. 5 at the second annual International Field Course and Soil Judging Contest in Hungary. Team member and spring 2015 AU agronomy and soils graduate Kristen Pegues received the highest score in the competition, making her the world’s No. 1 soil judger.

Auburn University professor and soil judging team coach Joey Shaw and 2015 AU graduate Kristen Pegues helped Team USA win the International Soil Judging Contest.

Team USA beat 16 other teams from around the globe. Spain placed second, with Hungary finishing third.

Pegues bested more than 70 other contestants. The three other Team USA members also finished with high scores in the individual contest. Erin Bush of Kansas State University came in fourth, Stephen Geib of Delaware Valley University was seventh, and Adrienne Nothingham of West Virginia University placed eighth.

“Having all four of our soil judgers place in the top eight in individual scores, combined with a second-place finish in group judging to a team from Africa, is what gave the U.S. the overall championship,” said Shaw, AU’s soil judging coach for the past 17 years.

In a collegiate soils competition, contestants must identify and describe soils in five-foot deep pits, evaluate potential functions for the soil type and interpret how soils would perform under different land-use and management practices. There are individual and team portions of the competition.

“These are skills students can carry into the workplace,” Shaw said. “Having soil scientists in society who can describe and classify soils is the foundation for most land management and use, from agriculture to home construction to streets and roads.”

Shaw won the right to coach America’s team after leading AU’s 2014-15 Soil Judging Team to the championship in the 2015 National Collegiate Soil Judging Contest at the University of Arkansas–Monticello in April.

Pegues had the top individual score in that contest, too. She and the next three highest scorers were named to Team USA.

As an undergraduate at Auburn, Pegues was a member of three consecutive soil judging teams. The Fairhope native entered the University of Georgia in August as an agronomy and soils master’s student, but she represented Auburn on Team USA.

Team USA also won last year’s inaugural international soil judging competition held in Korea.