Dr Stephen Cattle is a Senior Lecturer in Soil Science in the Faculty of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources at the University of Sydney, Australia. Stephen completed his BScAgr and PhD in soil science at the same university before becoming a lecturer in soil science in 1997. His teaching responsibilities include aspects of pedology in three units of study and supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate research projects. He has also served as the Chair of the Learning and Teaching Committee of his Faculty. Stephen’s research focus has been on soil types of the semi-arid, agricultural regions of New South Wales, in particular the structural behaviour of these soils and the identification of soil types and features derived from æolian dust accessions. For the last decade, Stephen has taught in undergraduate soil science units, supervised postgraduate research students and developed a pedological research portfolio. He has also served in several capacities in the Australian Society of Soil Science Inc. (ASSSI), and is currently the President of that Society. Through his observations at Sydney and discussions with soil science colleagues in other Australian universities, it is clear to him that undergraduate student demand for soil science courses has decreased in recent years, and that this trend has been mirrored in various countries around the world. Ironically, Australia is faced with a number of landscape issues that trained soil scientists are well placed to tackle, but fewer trained soil scientists are being produced. Through the soil science group at The University of Sydney and the ASSSI, Stephen is currently attempting to initiate various initiatives in soil science education and various initiatives to “raise the profile” of soil science with the general public. He believes that demand for soil science education will only increase on the back of greater public awareness and understanding of the roles soil scientists play, and the exciting challenges that lay ahead for the next generation of soil scientists. His intention for Commission 4.4 is to lead a coordinated attempt to improve the quality and amount of soil science education in schools and university curricula, and to identify publicity opportunities for the discipline of soil science.