Soil scientist : Employers and vacancy sources

Soil scientists work in a wide variety of fields, such as:

• agriculture, horticulture and forestry;
• environmental protection and management;
• land use planning and site remediation;
• education and research;
• national and international policy formulation.

The largest numbers of soil science opportunities are in specialist research centres such as Rothamsted Research , Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) , the Macaulay Institute , and others funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)  and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) .

Soil scientists also carry out research and teach in higher education institutions, including universities that offer soil sciences postgraduate programmes, such as the National Soil Resources Institute (NSRI)  and the University of Aberdeen , and more applied establishments, such as the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) .

Jobs are sometimes available with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) , the Environment Agency (EA) , Natural England , Scottish Natural Heritage , the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)  and in local government. Other potential employers include non-governmental environmental organisations, conservation agencies and industrial companies.

Opportunities for soil scientists also exist with environmental and related consultancies, which act in an advisory capacity for the whole range of industries outlined above.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Countryside Jobs Service (CJS)  
• DEFRA Recruitment    
• Earthworks Jobs  
• ENDS Environmental Consultancy Directory  
• ENDS Environmental Job Search   
• Environment Jobs  
• The Environment Post  
• Farmers Weekly  
• The Green Directory  
• Horticulture Week  
• Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA)    
• Jobs.ac.uk  advertises academic-related jobs and studentships.
• Nature Jobs  
• New Scientist Jobs  

Contact universities running soil sciences postgraduate programmes such as the National Soil Resources Institute (NSRI)  and the University of Aberdeen , and more applied institutes, such as the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) , to identify where the majority of research is being undertaken in the UK and overseas and write speculatively to those might have openings.

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