Employee Vignette

William H. Taylor

Acting State Soil Scientist, Massachusetts State Office, Amherst

When Bill Taylor finished high school he wanted to find a career where he could help the people of the world to produce the crops necessary to sustained mankind. He started by studying plant science at Florida A&M University, then one of his professors steered him into soils.

That change in course lead to a long career as a soil scientist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Bill joined the agency, then known as the Soil Conservation Service, in 1967 as a student intern in Watertown, New York. He later became a full time employee, working in Lake George, New York, and Holden, Middleboro and Amherst, Massachusetts.

In Massachusetts he’s served as Project Leader for Worcester County, Supervisory Soil Scientist for the Southeast Technical Area Office and eventually as Assistant State Soil Scientist.

Bill is proud of the three soil surveys he authored. He also assisted in the completion of three others. “This data will be used by the public for the next twenty years,” he says.

A man of the earth, Bill is also a man of God, serving as a Baptist minister for the John Street Baptist Church in Worcester, Massachusetts. Bill and his wife Catherine have two sons and a daughter. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf.

“I feel that I have helped people by producing tools – like soil maps and interpretations – that are used to make wise land use decisions and increase productivity. It’s about helping people help the land and the land helping us,” says Bill.

For More Information Contact:

Diane Baedeker Petit
Public Affairs Officer
413-253-4371
diane.petit@ma.usda.gov

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