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If you have any article or editorial submissions for the newsletter, please contact Mark McClain at:

Soil Profiles Editor

204 Hunters Ridge

Canton, Georgia 30114

mmcclain at comcast dot net

In May 2009, NSCSS presented results of a professional practice survey at the National Soil Survey Planning Conference in Las Cruces New Mexico. The study was comprised of 42 questions using online survey software in late spring 2008. Almost half of the NSCSS membership responded.

Highlights:

• 91 percent of the respondents reported that consulting was their full time occupation and 86 percent reported that soil consulting was their primary area of consulting.
• While only 27 percent said they had retired before they began to consult, a significant 59 percent of the respondents were 50 years of age or older, and 28 percent were 60 years of age or older.
• Level of education split the responses nearly in half with 45 percent reporting bachelors level education and 48 percent reporting masters level education. Only 7 percent reported doctorate level education.

Something "different" is going on with NSCSS' private sector soil science job listings.

1. The shear number. Never before has this list maintained above 20 openings for months on end, yet it has been doing so since mid April.
2. The persistence. For example, Cascade Earth Sciences has had an opening for a Senior Soil Scientist to manage sprayfield permits since April 25th.

Interview with Gene Rosow, Co-Producer and Co-Director of Dirt! The Movie.

It’s been 22 years since NSCSS was founded by James Brown, a former SCS employee in Alabama. In those early years, NSCSS served its members by providing a platform to share work experiences as business owners, project managers, and professional soil scientists. Good things emerged from knowing that other soil scientists faced the same hurdles that another member had navigated as well. The identity of the soil scientist was elevated and many soil science-based firms flourished. Such successes have rarely rested on one’s laurels; we work in a competitive environment and some of our services overlap with well-organized and represented professions. As NSCSS continues to evolve and respond to new challenges, we rely and benefit from our unity as professional soil scientists. This is our greatest asset.

Biochar is gaining more interest as a tool for improving soil fertility and sequestering carbon in soil. “Environmental celebrities” such as James Lovelock, Tim Flannery and James Hansen have spoken about the “promise of biochar”. But soil scientists, who might find biochar to be pretty exciting stuff, are still poorly aware of it.

A rare opportunity for California soil scientists is at hand. “Soil Scientist Certification” under the Board for Geology and Geophysicists could come about by regulation, rather than by legislation, a more onerous process. For context, in addition to technical qualifications, experience and examination passage, a licensed California Professional Geologist (PG), may have a specialty certification as an engineering geologist or as a hydrogeologist. Ostensibly, therefore, qualified soil scientists who pass the national basic examination for geologists (see “ASBOG”) could well become Certified Soil Scientists under regulations of the existing Geology Board.