What Lies Beneath?

Join Dean Cowherd, State Soil Scientist, to discuss soils, one of our most precious natural resources. The soils at Belmont illustrate what happens when two different landscapes overlie one another. We will discuss and observe in the soil pit where the Coastal Plain sediments, which extend east to Ocean City Maryland, are laid down on top of the Piedmont which extends west to the mountains. These soils are known as “two-story” soils. The Belmont property represents a transition from one landscape to another within a short walking distance.

Bio: Dean Cowherd is currently the Assistant State Soil Scientist for Maryland, having worked out of Annapolis for 28 years. He works for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the United States Department of Agriculture, and is working on his 44th year as a soil scientist. He went to Virginia Tech for undergraduate and graduate school. Although his job is quite diverse, his passion is to educate and talk about soils to all ages, from kindergarten to senior citizens.