soil scientist
Soil scientists research and study scientific disciplines concerning soil. They advise on how to improve soil quality to support nature, food production or human infrastructure using surveying techniques, irrigation techniques and erosion reduction measures. They make sure to conserve and restore land suffering from intense farming or human interaction.
soil scientist soil scientists research and study scientific disciplines concerning soil. They advise on how to improve soil quality to support nature, food production or human infrastructure using surveying techniques, irrigation techniques and erosion reduction measures. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include environmental policy, ecosystem management, pollution legislation, environmental legislation, pollution prevention.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £43,362 a year for Environment professionals (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £33,231 to £51,849 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 2152). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only soil scientist, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- English Language
- Biology
- Customer and Personal Service
- Law and Government
- Computers and Electronics
- Public Safety and Security
- Chemistry
- Administrative
What you'd actually do
- Communicate scientific or technical information to the public, organizations, or internal audiences through oral briefings, written documents, workshops, conferences, training sessions, or public hearings.
- Monitor effects of pollution or land degradation and recommend means of prevention or control.
- Collect, synthesize, analyze, manage, and report environmental data, such as pollution emission measurements, atmospheric monitoring measurements, meteorological or mineralogical information, or soil or water samples.
- Review and implement environmental technical standards, guidelines, policies, and formal regulations that meet all appropriate requirements.
- Provide scientific or technical guidance, support, coordination, or oversight to governmental agencies, environmental programs, industry, or the public.
- Process and review environmental permits, licenses, or related materials.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does soil scientist do?
Soil scientists research and study scientific disciplines concerning soil. They advise on how to improve soil quality to support nature, food production or human infrastructure using surveying techniques, irrigation techniques and erosion reduction measures. They make sure to conserve and restore land suffering from intense farming or human interaction.
What skills does soil scientist need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include environmental policy, ecosystem management, pollution legislation, environmental legislation, pollution prevention, green building standards. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace soil scientist?
Our AI-durability model gives soil scientist a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.