Seasonal Horticulture Consultant

About the role

Established horticultural consulting firm in Southern California is seeking a full‐time consultant. Waypoint Analytical – California serves the nursery, greenhouse, agricultural and landscape industries.

Responsibilities

• Reviewing soil, water, tissue, and compost analysis data and preparing written reports customized for each client.
• Evaluating and correcting chemistry and physical properties of soils.
• Ensuring quality control of analytical data and accuracy of data presentation.
• Evaluation and correction of chemistry and physical properties of soils.
• Customer service to select appropriate testing.
• Field calls to nurseries and greenhouses to provide consultation and to collect samples for analysis.
• Evaluation of plant nutrition with written fertilizer recommendations including but not limited to liquid feed and controlled release fertilizer recommendations for greenhouse and nursery production.
• Salinity evaluation and management.
• Irrigation water quality evaluation and management.
• Compost and soil amendment evaluation and use.
• Soilless media formulation and evaluation.
• Plant health diagnostics.
• Plant pathology, entomology, physiology, and abiotic disorder familiarity.
• Ability to triage plant health issues and recommend appropriate testing.
• Create and present talks to Trade Groups and junior college horticulture/soil classes.
• Research and develop new test methods and to conduct and evaluate greenhouse trials.

Requirements

• M.S. degree in Soil Science, Ornamental Horticulture, or related discipline required; experience may be considered in lieu of education.
• Ph.D. in Soil Science, Ornamental Horticulture, or related discipline preferred.
• 5+ years’ experience in Soil Science, or Ornamental Horticulture required; 10+ years preferred.
• Demonstrated knowledge in soil science with an emphasis on soil fertility and soil and water management.
• Familiarity with nursery, greenhouse, and orchard production, as well as urban soil management.
• Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) certification preferred.
• Spanish language proficiency preferred, but not required.

Qualifications

• Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Skills

• Technical assistance in the broad areas of soils, water quality and plant health diagnostics.
• Consultation and sample collection for analysis.
• Plant nutrition and fertilizer recommendations.
• Salinity and irrigation water quality evaluation.
• Compost and soil amendment evaluation.
• Soilless media formulation and evaluation.
• Plant health diagnostics.
• Plant pathology, entomology, physiology, and abiotic disorder familiarity.
• Triaging plant health issues and recommending appropriate testing.
• Creating and presenting talks to trade groups and junior college horticulture/soil classes.
• Researching and developing new test methods and conducting greenhouse trials.

Benefits

Actual salary and benefits may differ based upon location. Waypoint Analytical is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.