Training Module 1: 1.5 Professional Development Hours
Training Module 2: 2.0 Professional Development Hours
Certificate provided by Midwest GeoSciences Group
New Jersey Licensed Site Remediation Professionals: PENDING APPROVAL
NY Professional Geologists and Professional Engineers receive a special NY SED-approved CE certificate from Midwest GeoSciences Group (Approved CE Provider #213).
Indiana Professional Geologists and Professional Engineers
Pennsylvania Professional Geologists and Professional Engineers
New Hampshire Professional Geologists and Professional Engineers
Delaware PGs Professional Geologists and Professional Engineers
North Carolina Professional Geologists and Professional Engineers
South Carolina Professional Geologists and Professional Engineers
Texas Professional Geologists and Professional Engineers
Do you want this training privately for your team? Contact Dan Kelleher at dan@midwestgeo.com or call 763.607.0092 for a quote and to schedule a date.
WHAT YOU GET
Training Module 1: Online Instructional Session
Pre-Training Event Assessment
1.5 hours of instruction with Prelude from Staff at US Department of Agriculture
Handouts
Post-Training Assessment
CEU Certificate from Midwest GeoSciences Group
Training Module 2: Online Workshop
Pre-Training Event Preparation Video
Calibrated USDA Soil Samples for Workshop Exercises and Practice
2.0 hours of personalized instruction
Handouts
Post-Training Personalized Follow Up
CEU Certificate from Midwest GeoSciences Group
The USDA textural classification was developed primarily for assessing suitability for agricultural production. Consequently, it's more concerned with the finer grained sand-silt-clay percentages. As such, its textural classes categorize recognizable differences in these grain-size components.
Texture class is related to weathering and parent material. Soil horizons may be differentiated based on texture of their respective parent materials. Texture class can be determined fairly well in the field by feeling the sand particles and estimating silt and clay content by flexibility and stickiness.
Although USDA soil textures are universal, sometimes it helps to be familiar with local soil composition. These are, but not limited to, the presence of carbonate minerals, clay mineralogy, and parent material. If field and laboratory determinations are inconsistent, one or more of these conditions is suspected.
Moisture content is independent of soil classifications / soil texture. It's important to learn how to optimize the soil moisture of a hand-held sample in order to produce ribboning affects and feel the plasticity of the fine-grained component. This is why we bring a spray bottle to the field with us, no matter the field classification system.
Sometimes soil conditions, components, and incorrectly executed procedures can cause inconsistencies between field texture estimates and standard laboratory data.
So, now is the time to learn the proper textural procedures and practice your skills with calibrated soil samples.
Advantages of the USDA Textural Class System are:
It's widely used in agronomic soil science.
The different textural classes differ noticeably from one another, so with calibration and practice, it's relatively easy to accurately distinguish these different textural classes in the field.
The limitation of the USDA Textural Class System is:
It was not designed to have wide utility in classifying gravelly soils. Although terms for gravel-size fragments are added to the textural terms if gravel makes up over 20% of the soil mixture, using a prescribed step-wide procedure for adding those modifiers.
ONLINE INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE: Friday, December 12, 2025, 10:00am-11:30am ET
Online Course Module 1 is a lecture designed to provide instructions for implementing the USDA Textural Classification System.
ONLINE WORKSHOP MODULE: Friday, December 12, 2025, 1:00pm-3:00pm ET
Online Course Module 2 is a hands-on workshop with soil samples for individuals to practice classifying sediments according to the USDA Textural Classification System. We have selected samples that span the range of grain-size and characteristics that are captured by this common classification system.
PRELUDE by Special Guest: Susan Grover, National Geologist, US Department of Agriculture.
Notes:
A Record of Attendance Form is included free with each course module for your record keeping and individual PDH verification. You are welcome to return the completed and signed copy of the Form to us following a session for (1) maintaining a separate copy as a service to attendees and (2) forwarding to NIU confirming attendance for those who order certificates.
Attendees may also order an official a Course Completion Certificate from Northern Illinois University for a small administrative fee. The Certificate is optional and may be ordered separately following the live broadcast to confirm your attendance and showcase the certificate on your office wall. Instructions for ordering certificates are given during the broadcast.
Attendees are invited to actively participate during both live course modules. Midwest GeoSciences Group follows the monitoring guidelines required by certain state licensure programs. Discussion is planned following the live broadcast for those who want to continue the session. Feel free to send your questions before the session or bring them to the course and present them to the instructor and other participants for exploring the best solutions.
Instructor Bio
Russell L. Losco, M.A., P.G., C.P.S.S.
Russell Losco is a licensed Professional Geologist and a Certified Professional Soil Scientist, with over 38 years of experience in the private sector. He is the co-owner of Lanchester Soil Consultants, Inc. and an adjunct professor of Earth Science at West Chester University, where he has taught for over a decade. He holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology/archaeology and a master's degree in geosciences. His consulting work and research has stretched from Alaska to Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Peru. He is the lead author of The Traveler's Guide to the Geology of Costa Rica, the PAPSS Manual for Soil Investigation in Pennsylvania and co-author of a chapter in the book Soils and Human Health. He is the creator and producer of the Podcast "A Poorly Sorted but Well-Rounded Series", a production of the Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists. His research includes soil genesis, periglacial features, serpentine-derived soil and micro-plastics in soils.
Susan Grover, M.Sc., P.G.
Susan Grover, M.Sc., P.G., is the National Geologist for the USDA National Resources Conservation Service in Washington, DC. She supports staff nationwide and serves as the national discipline lead for eight conservation practice standards. Prior to her work in Washington DC, Susan worked for 10+ years as the NRCS State Conservation Geologist for Ohio, and more than a decade of experience before that working in environmental consulting and Department of Defense contracting.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
THIS COURSE EVENT IS DESIGNED AND PRICED FOR INDIVIDUALS WORKING ALONE. Pricing is discounted for individual registrations for people working alone.
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NO REFUND FOR NO SHOWS. No refunds for No-Shows; however a Promotional Code is administered automatically to the registrant to access a missed course module when a live broadcast event is missed.
CANCELLATIONS Cancellation of registration before the first live course module will be charged $100. No refunds after the first course module.
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PROMOTIONAL CODES Promotional codes may become available at different times for different promotions. Only one Promotional Code may be applied at the time of the original registration.
Promotional Codes are not eligible for retroactive discounting after registration.
CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS Northern Illinois University administers the CEUs for eligible broadcast events. Broadcast event participants who are engaged in the full duration of each broadcast event and have completed and signed a copy of the Record of Attendance Form may be eligible for ordering an official certificate from NIU. Refer to the Code of Conduct (No. 1) above.
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If you can not attend the Live event, we will send you an email with instructions on how to access the On-Demand version.
You will receive this email a day-or-two after the Live Event airs and the On-Demand version is usually available within a week-or-so of the Live Event.
Simply click-on the 'Register' button and check the box 'I can not attend' located next to the 'Contact Email Address'.
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Russell Losco is a licensed Professional Geologist and a Certified Professional Soil Scientist, with over 38 years of experience in the private sector. He is the co-owner of Lanchester Soil Consultants, Inc. and an adjunct professor of Earth Science at West Chester University, where he has taught for over a decade. He holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology/archaeology and a master's degree in geosciences. His consulting work and research has stretched from Alaska to Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Peru. He is the lead author of The Traveler's Guide to the Geology of Costa Rica, the PAPSS Manual for Soil Investigation in Pennsylvania and co-author of a chapter in the book Soils and Human Health. He is the creator and producer of the Podcast "A Poorly Sorted but Well-Rounded Series", a production of the Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists. His research includes soil genesis, periglacial features, serpentine-derived soil and micro-plastics in soils.
Susan Grover, M.Sc., P.G., is the National Geologist for the USDA National Resources Conservation Service in Washington, DC. She supports staff nationwide and serves as the national discipline lead for eight conservation practice standards. Prior to her work in Washington DC, Susan worked for 10+ years as the NRCS State Conservation Geologist for Ohio, and more than a decade of experience before that working in environmental consulting and Department of Defense contracting.