Soil & Plant Scientists
Conduct research in breeding, physiology, production, yield, and management of crops and agricultural plants or trees, shrubs, and nursery stock, their growth in soils, and control of pests; or study the chemical, physical, biological, and mineralogical composition of soils as they relate to plant or crop growth. May classify and map soils and investigate effects of alternative practices on soil and crop productivity.
Also called: Agronomist, Crop Nutrition Scientist, Research Soil Scientist, Soil Scientist
Knowledge:
- biology
- arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics
- teaching and course design
Engineering and Technology
- computers and electronics
Skills:
- reading work related information
- using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems
- noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
People and Technology Systems
- thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
- figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it
Abilites:
- listen and understand what people say
- read and understand what is written
- group things in different ways
- make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
- choose the right type of math to solve a problem
- add, subtract, multiply, or divide
Personality:
Description: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need
- Integrity
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Achievement/Effort
- Initiative
- Analytical Thinking
Technology:
Analytical or scientific software
- European Soil Erosion Model EUROSEM
- SAS
Data base user interface and query software
- Microsoft Access
- National Soil Information System NASIS
- ESRI ArcGIS software
- Geographic information system GIS software
