March 18, 2018 – Students enrolled in BS AGRI degree program will have an opportunity to participate in the Earth Team Volunteer Program as part of a collaborative venture between PVAMU’s College of Agriculture and Human Sciences and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The PI for the project, Dr. Richard W. Griffin, will conduct the project activities on the 90-acre property on the PVAMU Farm that has a combination of soil textures that range from sand, loamy sand, and sandy loam topsoil horizons to sandy clay loam, clay loam, and clay subsoil horizons. The student volunteers will gain practical, technical and hands-on knowledge about the physical characteristics and chemical indicators present in these soils. The initial learning module will focus on pH monitoring of the topsoil horizons at 100 data points that will be systematically selected using a sampling grid.
Observation of important project information using the scientific method will contribute toward enhancing the CAHS students’ experiences related to how to use customized soil maps from the web soil survey, systematic grid overlay techniques, and geographic information systems. Dr. Griffin will be supported in the project activities by Dr. Annette A. James, Mr. Horace Hodge, and undergraduate student workers – Javon Polk, and Edward K. Timms.
Richard Griffin, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, Natural Resources and Environmental Systems Research
(936) 261-5039
rwgriffin@pvamu.edu