Society of Wetland Scientists - Overview of Program

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	Certification Information
	Body Of Knowledge

The Professional Certification Program (PCP) of the SWS is accredited by the Council of Engineering & Science Specialty Boards (CESB). CESB accreditation requires that the PCP create and maintain a Body of Knowledge (document) that outlines specific skills, knowledge, and abilities that a Professional Wetland Scientist should possess. The Body of Knowledge (BoK) must be solicited from all who are certified by the program and be updated every five years. The BoK is a living guidance document for knowledge and skill requirements to be used by the PCP Certification Review Panel in assessing an applicant's experience towards certification as a Professional Wetland Scientist.

The Certification Standards Committee developed a questionnaire that was sent to all PWSs. The questionnaire consisted of a list of skills, abilities and knowledge all PWSs could potentially possess in order to be certified as a Professional. All PWSs were asked to rank each area relative to their importance for being a certified Professional Wetland Scientist. Ranking was from 1 to 5, with 1 being not important and 5 being most important. The questionnaire was answered by 662 certified PWSs.

The survey results given here represent the full current assessment of the PWS Body of Knowledge to be updated in five years. These results will be developed into a hierarchy of knowledge and skills used by the Certification Review Panel as part of an objective method to assess an applicant's experience.

Ratings are 1 being not important to 5 being most important.

◊ General Science
◊ Landscape and Watershed
◊ Geology
◊ Soils
◊ Hydrology
◊ Plants
◊ Fish and Wildlife
◊ Protected and Invasive Species
◊ Ecology and Function
◊ Classification and Assessment
◊ Mapping/Imaging/Remote Sensing
◊ Delineation
◊ Regulatory
◊ Environmental Impact Assessment
◊ Mitigation
◊ Stream Assessment and Restoration
◊ Wetland Education
◊ Professional Ethics
◊ Publications/Products
◊ Wetland Law

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
General Science
Knowledge of statistics	59	164	276	159	3	2.82	661
Knowledge of general biology and ecology	0	0	22	197	443	4.64	662
Knowledge of general and organic chemistry	33	118	270	221	18	3.11	660
Knowledge of general physics	103	232	236	90	0	2.47	661
Knowledge of general calculus	246	249	143	22	1	1.92	661

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Landscape and Watershed
Knowledge of watershed dynamics	2	8	116	385	151	4.02	662
Ability to identify watershed boundaries	7	22	128	366	136	3.91	659
Knowledge of watershed hydrology and water resources planning	5	22	176	324	130	3.84	657
Ability to understand the concept of a floodplain, find a source for floodplain maps and understanding of relationship between waterways, wetlands and floodplains	3	5	58	313	283	4.31	662
Ability to identify climate induced stresses on the watershed and their impacts to wetlands, streams and water bodies	27	95	247	228	65	3.32	662
Knowledge of historic land use and land cover types	2	28	185	334	113	3.8	662

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Geology
Ability to identify geological and geomorphological features	7	61	228	303	56	3.52	655
Knowledge of geochemical affects on soils, wetland hydrology, and plant communities	7	39	185	318	106	3.73	655
Ability to recognize location of local bedrock depth	53	192	282	116	9	2.75	652
Knowledge of the nature and impacts of natural seismic events and processes	157	279	188	23	4	2.14	651
Knowledge of stratigraphy and soils and how they influence and are influenced by near-surface water movement	17	42	162	286	149	3.77	656
Knowledge of groundwater hydrology and how to locate the water table(s)	2	12	112	298	231	4.14	655
Ability to identify physiographic region and geological formations using state geological maps	26	112	259	221	36	3.2	654

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Soils
Knowledge of basic soil science (e.g., soil morphology and taxonomy)	1	10	87	329	229	4.18	656
Ability to describe a soil profile	2	19	102	302	229	4.13	654
Ability to use soil color charts	3	9	50	254	337	4.4	653
Knowledge of hydric soil indicator processes	1	6	26	239	376	4.52	648
Ability to identify hydric soil indicators according to USDA NRCS manuals and regional soil indicator handbooks	1	7	48	236	361	4.45	653
Ability to use local soil surveys and/or locate and use soil survey data resources on the internet (e.g., Web Soil Survey)	2	6	63	309	272	4.29	652
Ability to classify soils according to USDA classification	32	130	234	190	68	3.2	654
Knowledge of the interactions between soils and surface water, and soils and groundwater (water movement within, through, and over soils)	1	8	94	300	253	4.21	656

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Hydrology
Knowledge of wetland hydrology processes	1	0	16	247	386	4.56	650
Ability to identify field indicators of wetland hydrology	0	1	11	163	470	4.71	645
Knowledge of groundwater hydrology concepts	1	10	112	370	152	4.03	645
Ability to install, maintain, and interpret water table monitoring devices and data	18	84	269	219	57	3.33	647
Ability to estimate streamflow, baseflow and water budgets in order to classify streams accordingly as perennial, ephemeral, intermittent	16	92	265	218	56	3.32	647
Knowledge and ability to estimate seasonal high and normal pool elevations in coastal and freshwater wetland systems or a waterway	5	39	155	303	147	3.84	649

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Plants
Ability to identify plants to species level and determine their USFWS wetland indicator status	1	3	33	197	415	4.57	649
Ability to identify and to differentiate plant community types	0	1	21	272	357	4.51	651
Ability to measure plant species dominance	0	7	44	296	300	4.37	647
Ability to develop and execute an efficient plan for monitoring components of natural or created wetland systems in accordance with regulatory requirements or for establishing changes in wetlands/uplands/transition zones	1	12	113	327	197	4.09	650
Ability to identify wetland plant morphological adaptations	1	25	98	325	202	4.08	651
Ability to determine dominant or contributing influencing factors on species occurrence (e.g., wetland hydrology vs. salinity)	0	15	141	327	168	4	651
Knowledge of metabolic and adaptive physiological changes caused by prolonged soil saturation and inundation	5	77	217	268	81	3.53	648

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Fish and Wildlife
General knowledge of plant and animal kingdoms, and the ability to place organisms in proper taxonomic groups	15	67	189	272	105	3.59	648
Ability to identify fish and wildlife species, both terrestrial and those adapted to wetlands during some portion of their life history	4	53	218	282	90	3.62	647
Knowledge of fisheries biology	36	171	317	118	6	2.83	648
Ability to identify freshwater aquatic macroinvertebrates	39	164	295	131	16	2.88	645
Knowledge of and ability to formulate means to measure population dynamics	100	241	216	76	14	2.48	647

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Protected and Invasive Species
Knowledge of State and Federally listed regulations related to protected species	9	33	139	315	153	3.88	649
Ability to obtain information related to the natural history of protected species and their habitat	6	38	108	345	151	3.92	648
Ability to identify invasive species and general knowledge of their means of invasion and methods to manage	7	24	127	320	170	3.96	648
Knowledge of management and control of protected and invasive species	11	35	187	301	112	3.72	646

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Ecology and Function
Knowledge of wetland ecology principles	0	1	25	217	405	4.58	648
Knowledge of the role of wetlands in nutrient cycling	2	17	153	354	121	3.89	647
Knowledge of biogeochemical processes in wetlands	7	42	196	303	100	3.69	648
Knowledge of the role of wetlands in wildlife habitat	2	15	106	334	187	4.07	644

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Classification and Assessment
Knowledge of wetland functional assessment methods	3	14	96	324	211	4.12	648
Ability to use and interpret output from wetland assessment methods	5	21	114	332	174	4	646
Ability to use the Highways Wetland Methodology (FHWM)	65	198	242	119	18	2.73	642
Knowledge of Hydrogeomorphic (HGM) wetland classification & functional assessment	25	104	266	196	54	3.23	645
Ability to use Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP)	41	180	286	121	19	2.84	647
Knowledge of Evaluation of Planned Wetlands (EPW)	69	190	264	104	12	2.69	639
Ability to use Wetland Evaluation Technique or equivalent (WET)	58	174	252	139	19	2.82	642
Knowledge of Cowardin, et al wetland classification	9	40	106	280	210	4	645
Knowledge of local/regional wetland assessment methods or rating systems	4	29	124	263	227	4.05	647

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Mapping/Imaging/Remote Sensing
Ability to identify the physical boundaries of a watershed on topographic maps and in the field	3	16	109	327	188	4.06	643
Ability to use topographic maps and soils maps to identify potential wetland areas	0	4	37	269	334	4.45	644
Ability to find and use National Wetland Inventory maps	9	29	119	273	213	4.01	643
Ability to identify and classify wetlands using aerial photographs	4	32	147	297	163	3.91	643
Ability to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to gather ecologically related information for purposes of identifying or managing wetland and watershed systems	12	61	216	259	97	3.57	645
Ability to interpret remote sensing images (other than aerial photos, e.g., LiDAR)	27	97	266	205	47	3.23	642
Ability to use historic and current aerial photographs to detect changes in wetland, stream or water body signatures or land use practices	2	18	120	335	170	4.01	645

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Delineation
Ability to identify and delineate a wetland using federal, and, if applicable, state and local methodologies	3	6	38	153	445	4.6	645
Ability to define basic wetland delineation criteria, field indicators and methodology for delineation	1	6	22	180	434	4.62	643
Demonstrate knowledge of ACOE wetland delineation manual and regional supplements	6	12	61	195	368	4.41	642

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Regulatory
Ability to differentiate between a jurisdictional and a non-jurisdictional wetland and wetland (Army Corps of Engineers/Environmental Protection Agency Section 404) or other non-wetland Waters of the US (ACOE/EPA Section 10)	5	15	101	238	279	4.21	638
Ability to name examples of water dependent projects	43	90	203	220	79	3.32	635
Knowledge of terms related to USACE jurisdiction, like Navigable waters, Traditional Navigable Waters, contiguous, adjacency, isolated, connected, normal circumstances, atypical situations, water dependency, fill dredge, activities, structures, etc.	5	22	119	284	206	4.04	636
Knowledge of ACOE Regulatory Guidance Letters (RGLS)	11	50	176	285	115	3.7	637
Knowledge of state and local wetland regulations	2	14	77	262	283	4.27	638
Knowledge of the different Nationwide Permits (NWPs) versus Individual Permits	15	54	172	270	126	3.69	637
Knowledge of the Clean Water Act and the regulatory responsibilities of federal agencies and state agencies under it	4	30	146	294	161	3.91	635
Knowledge of National Environmental Policy Act	11	92	223	239	71	3.42	636
Knowledge of Endangered Species Act and the Cultural Resources Act, as well as other Acts and how they impact the Section 404 regulatory process	6	50	189	300	93	3.66	638
Knowledge of other federal/state/tribal regulations that have an effect on jurisdiction of wetlands and waters of the U.S.	10	42	184	287	107	3.7	630

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Environmental Impact Assessment
Knowledge of NEPA and its relationship to the Section 404 Program	17	83	221	252	63	3.41	636
Ability to identify human activities that impact wetlands and waterways	4	14	91	341	187	4.09	637
Ability to describe alternatives to impacts or how to minimize impacts to wetlands	3	14	74	290	258	4.23	639
Ability to design and conduct a monitoring protocol	2	30	151	303	150	3.89	636
Ability to prepare an Environmental Assessment document	38	90	218	222	69	3.3	637
Ability to prepare the Natural and Water resources sections of an Environmental Impact Statement	29	91	219	230	69	3.34	638

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Wetland Compensatory Mitigation Restoration, Creation and Enhancement
Knowledge of federal, state and local government guidance regarding aquatic resource mitigation and compensation	5	24	107	287	208	4.06	631
Ability to describe alternatives to impacts or how to minimize impacts to wetlands	1	16	71	302	240	4.21	630
Knowledge of compensatory mitigation design and construction techniques	8	28	112	300	179	3.98	627
Ability to develop and interpret a conceptual engineering and ecological design	12	44	119	301	154	3.86	630
Ability to set up a multiple year monitoring plan for a mitigation site	5	41	122	314	143	3.88	625
Ability to read and use an engineering plan	10	35	125	269	189	3.94	628
Ability to generate a sketch of a cross section and plan view to express a wetland mitigation design grading plan	14	61	154	261	138	3.71	628
Knowledge of the professional skills required for wetland and stream mitigation design	4	41	115	290	178	3.95	628
Ability to use and interpret data from monitoring tables	5	24	126	330	143	3.93	628
Ability to interpret data from a graph	4	18	107	327	171	4.03	627
Ability to develop a scope of work/plan for data gathering to develop a mitigation design	7	37	169	291	121	3.77	625

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Stream Assessment and Restoration
Knowledge of Stream Channel Assessment methodologies	29	83	220	235	61	3.34	628
Knowledge of Stream Classification Systems	27	69	231	238	62	3.38	627
Knowledge of the components necessary for a stable but Natural Stream Design	34	104	230	199	59	3.23	626
Knowledge of Rosgen Stream Classification and similar approaches	56	150	241	149	31	2.92	627
Knowledge of streamflow modeling methodologies	47	205	232	123	17	2.77	624
Knowledge of stormwater and erosion control best management practices (BMPs)	18	60	169	267	115	3.64	629

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Wetland Education
Ability to develop educational materials to inform the public about basic wetland science principles, wetland values, regulations as well as impact avoidance and minimization	37	99	238	197	56	3.22	627

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Professional Ethics
Knowledge of Current Ethics Issues in Wetland Science	3	15	107	302	204	4.09	631
Knowledge of the SWSPCP's Code of Ethics	3	15	65	282	265	4.26	630
Knowledge of the importance of adhering to SWSPCP's Code of Ethics	3	12	58	274	283	4.3	630
Knowledge of what to do when someone violates SWSPCP's Code of Ethics	7	31	110	287	188	3.99	623

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Publications/Products
Experience in writing scientific papers for publication	64	184	233	125	19	2.76	625
Experience in writing/preparing technical reports and papers	5	28	106	296	191	4.02	626
Experience in presenting an oral presentation on topics of wetland science and management	27	99	199	237	63	3.34	625
Knowledge of the scientific method and how to present data for publication	25	79	171	239	112	3.53	626
Ability to compile and organize a bibliography for scientific review	33	130	203	208	50	3.18	624
Knowledge of the peer review process	33	137	218	195	43	3.12	626
Knowledge of the current high quality technical journals and especially the Wetlands Journal	25	86	230	227	55	3.32	623
Experience in membership and active participation in professional societies and associations	28	114	221	205	56	3.24	624
Experience in researching scientific publications related to wetland science	19	94	209	237	65	3.38	624

Answer Options	1	2	3	4	5	Ave	Count
Wetland Law
Knowledge of how to provide Expert witness in legal proceedings	37	125	249	169	48	3.11	628
Knowledge of recent legal decisions affecting wetlands/water regulations	10	37	148	292	132	3.81	619