About AOP

To find out more what members of the Association of Ohio Pedologists do and fields they work in, follow this link for a presentation.

What is a Pedologist?

A pedologist is someone who, by virtue of specialized higher education, training and experience with soils - that group of natural bodies occupying the unconsolidated portion of the earth's surface and having physical and chemical properties due to the combined effect of climate and living organisms, as modified by topography and time, upon parent material --is able to:

  1. Identify soils as natural units on the landscape,
  2. Differentiate soil types and landscape units, then document their location on aerial photographs or other suitable base map,
  3. Describe their characteristics and properties, and recognize their limitations for various land uses, and
  4. Promote their wise utilization. 
Pedology is one of the main branches of soil science, dealing with the formation, description, and classification of soils. Therefore, all pedologists are soil scientists.

What does a Certified Soil Scientist Do?

What Does a Certified Soil Scientist Do?


Maps and Describes Soils
  • Observes soils in the field
  • Identifies soils based on an established set of morphological characteristics


Samples and Analyzes Soils
  • Performs field sampling and analysis 
  • Interprets laboratory chemical and engineering data obtained using standard methods and classifies soils based on:
    • Texture
    • Color
    • Horizonation 
    • Parent material 
    • Wetness 
    • Chemistry 
    • Temperature 
    • Mineralogy

Onsite Investigations by Certified Soil Scientists can determine a property's suitability for all of the following land uses
    • Septic tank filter fields 
    • Dwellings 
    • Roads and streets
    • Farming 
    • Camp and picnic areas 
    • Playgrounds 
    • Hiking and riding trails
    • Wetland preservation

Who uses a Soil Scientist?

Students and Educators
  • Information for high school and college soil judging contests
  • Information for classroom use at all levels of education

Outdoor Specialists
  • Recreation specialists
  • Wildlife conservationists 
  • Resource conservationists 
  • Environmentalists 
  • Agronomists 
  • Soil conservationists 
  • Reclamation specialists

Realtors, Home Buyers, Developers, and Home Builders to Determine
  • Wetland identification 
  • Septic site suitability 
  • Erosion control structures 
  • Building site suitability 
  • Flooding hazard 
  • Soil and slope stability

Farmers and Foresters
  • Land use capability 
  • Woodland suitability 
  • Precision agriculture

Engineers and Architects
  • Pond site suitability 
  • Road construction 
  • Agronomic structures 
  • Building design

City and County Planners
  • Zoning 
  • Corridors of growth 
  • Prime agricultural land 
  • Tax valuation (CAUV)

Sanitarians
  • Location of septic tank filter fields 
  • Location of sanitary landfills 
  • Household sewage system design