M.C. Ricker 🐲

After a Wetlands Ecology lecture I decided to join the Twitter machine. I was going to use the "handle" of MuckyPeat, but it was taken! So #MuckDragon was born. Long story short, a "MuckDragon" is a made up slang term for snapping turtle...

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Little upland alluvium in Skipwith, VA. Contact with residuum at 106 cm. Nice E horizon.

NC State qualified for national soil judging last week. I didn’t get to bed until 3 am last Friday, hence the late tweet. We had the #1, 3, and 4 judgers. Congrats to the team!

Day 2, soil judging practice.

Day 1, out here judging soils in Kentucky.

This picture of me in the field is from 14 ish years ago. I remember hiking miles into swamps like this with 1 other person, 3 days a week for an entire summer to sample soils. The fun times, where "MuckDragon" grew stronger. 😉

Soil judging is in KY this October. Talked about fragipans (and by extension, loess) for about an hour. Was reminded of this gem students @murphyc1928 ? made after our first contest at WKY.

@Soilhub Soil judging, major emphasis for teaching by week before travel to contest. Do this every semester. Hope all is well Mike!

@MuckDragon That’s some solid highlighter work. Informative but not overwhelming.

Getting prepared for the semester, which starts NEXT WEEK…🫠

As of today, I am officially an Associate Professor with tenure. That is all.

Sauce Piquante, Cajun recipe I learned about last week in Louisiana. 😁

Learning some new things, seeing some cool soils in Louisiana @NCSS1899

I’m in Louisiana.

NC State placed 5th in National Soil Judging. Go pack!

Day 2, soil judging practice. Wind advisory in Iowa.

Out here judging soils in Iowa for the national contest. Go pack.

Seen on campus today

This is the first time that NC State has ever had its men's and women's teams reach the Final Four in the same year 😤 @PackMensBball | @PackWomensBball

Is this X "Formerly Known as Twitter" shit still on? Testing, one two, one two, anyone out there? Hey, check. Check. CHECK! HEY! HEEEEEYYYY!🤷‍♂️

Every minute with him - on set and off - was pure joy. He was the type of friend who pushes you to be your best just to keep up with him. I’ll miss him, and my thoughts are with his family.