For a practical approach in routine site characterizations, the minimal standard of work should be seismic piezocone tests (SCPTu) or seismic flat dilatometer tests (SDMT), as up to 5 separate measurements of soil behavior are captured during a single sounding. These results should be supplemented with sampling and laboratory testing directed at defining parameters within a rational effective stress framework, and in particular, critical state soil mechanics (CSSM). Even then, a number of challenges remain, including the appreciation of rate effects, fabric, particle breakage, weathering, and diagenesis. Furthermore, non textbook geomaterials (e.g., silty sands, carbonate clays, diatomaceous earth, peats, organic silts) will require a considerably higher level of testing and investigative effort because of greater uncertainty in understanding their anomalous behavior.