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The Certified Professional Soil Scientist (CPSS) seal is the mark of trust, expertise and excellence in soil science.
Become accredited to advance your career and standing in the field of soil science.
Engage a Certified Professional Soil Scientist – reduce risk, increase certainty and achieve better soil and land management outcomes by engaging Certified Professional Soil Scientists.
The Certified Professional Soil Scientist accreditation recognises high-level professional competence in soil science and management, derived from a broad soil science knowledge base.
Certified Professional Soil Scientists demonstrate ongoing professional development to ensure their professional skills and competencies continue to develop in line with recent scientific and technological advances. In addition, they commit to a code of ethics as part of their accreditation.
Engage a Certified Professional Soil Scientist – reduce risk, increase certainty and achieve better soil and land management outcomes by engaging Certified Professional Soil Scientists.
Qualified and experienced soil professionals who gain CPSS accreditation know that their soil knowledge, expertise and work ethics have been recognised by their peers.
All CPSS can use the CPSS annual seal as a recognised mark of trust, expertise and excellence in soil science.
The CPSS seal is a recognised mark of trust, expertise and excellence in soil science.
Have your qualifications and experience as a professional soil scientist recognised by applying to become a CPSS.
Applicants should consult the Standards for Professionals in Soil Science and assess themselves against the competencies listed for each skill set.
Academic requirements
CPSS applicants must hold an AQF Level 7 degree and/or a postgraduate degree (or equivalent approved by the CPSS Board) including at least four (4) courses (units) in soil science fundamentals (e.g. soil biology, soil physics, soil chemistry, pedology, etc.).
If you have fewer than four university courses in soil science fundamentals (amounting to at least a sub-major in soil science at the undergraduate or postgraduate level) then you may sit and pass the Soil Science Australia Fundamentals Exam to satisfy the academic requirements.
Not sure if your qualifications meet the academic requirements for CPSS? Contact us.
Confidentiality of your application and conflicts of interest
The Accreditation Board understand the importance of impartiality in assessing applications and conducts assessments only against the Standards for Professional Soil Scientists. It also manages any conflicts of interest in assessing applications by preventing people that have a personal or pecuniary interest in a successful (or unsuccessful) outcome of an application from being involved in its assessment.
The Accreditation Board treats all applications as commercial-in-confidence material, such that only the assessors and members of the Accreditation Board having no conflict of interest can view an application. Furthermore, assessors and members of the Accreditation Board are required to delete all documents received, so the only copy of materials are held by Soil Science Australia.
As a guide, apply by the Narratives Pathway unless you have published more than 30 internationally peer-reviewed papers of high impact factor (with at least 15 papers in the past five years).
Application by Narratives
Application by Publications and CV
The Soil Fundamentals Exam is jointly developed and owned by Soil Science Australia and the Soil Science Society of America. It consists of 150 multiple choice questions on the topics listed in the Soil Fundamentals Performance Objectives. The Soil Fundamentals Performance Objectives represent the minimum professional competencies required by soil scientists working on environmental and agricultural problems in Australia.
The cost of sitting the Soil Fundamentals Exam is set on an annual basis. As a guide, the cost of sitting the exam is approximately US$200.
Because the Soil Fundamentals Exam is currently offered online, an additional US$60 is charged for the exam proctoring service.
Registration for the Soil Science Australia Soil Fundamentals Exam is currently via the Soil Science Society of America website. We strongly recommend you get in touch with our CPSS Officer BEFORE registering and sitting the Soil Fundamentals Exam.
Learn how to apply for the CPSS specialist certification in Contaminated Site Assessment and Management (CSAM) and view the guidelines and application forms above.
Soil Science Australia is the national soil science body and a not-for-profit professional incorporated association for soil scientists and people interested in the responsible management of Australia’s soil resources.