LeAnna Totten

Scholar Profiles

2003 - 2004 University Scholar
Mentor: Mary E. Collins
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

"I applied to the USP to have the opportunity to pursue research in my chosen field. I hope to gain valuable life experience through my project."

LeAnna is a senior majoring in soil and water science. As a USP scholar, she traveled to the Czech Republic to collect soil samples for her project. She is a horseback rider and competes in driving events. LeAnna is also self-employed in her own stump removal business.

Research Description:

Pedological Investigation of the Soil Forming Factors in the Czech Republic

This research project involves a pedological investigation of the soil forming factors as related to vegetation, hydrology and Phosporus contents in selected soils in the Czech Republic. Very little is known about the basic soil properties, e.g. the pedogenic processes in the Czech Republic and, therefore, a correlation has not been made between their soils and taxonomically similar soils in the United States. This study will be one of the first to do this correlation and as a result:

It will add information to our World Soils(USDA-NRCS) Database
It will build a soil database for the students that will be taking the travel field course in the summers of 2004 and 2005 (The first class of 7 undergraduates attended a 5 week intensive field course this June.)

Soils will be selected and morphological descriptions made. Included with the soil descriptions will be vegetation identification, hydrological processes, geologic and geomorphic information. The soil samples will be analyzed in the Environmental Pedology Laboratory/Soil and Water Science Department. Analyses will include particle size, pH, organic carbon content, and phosphorus content.

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