Dr Pam Hazelton has been a practising soil scientist for more than 35 years. She has been a consultant, a soil surveyor and a lecturer focused on the environmental and engineering problems of urban soils. She is a former President of Soil Science Australia and also Vice President of the International Union of Soil Scientists Commission for Education in Soil Science. Dr Brian Murphy has worked as a soil scientist for 30 years with a strong focus on applied science. He provides day-to-day advice on the management of soils for a range of natural resource issues, and his interests lie in the application of soil science to environmental management, hydrology, salinity and urban land use. He is also an editor of the textbook Soils: Their Properties and Management. He is a former President of the NSW Branch of Soil Science Australia.