Seven soil borne bacterial isolates were collected from locations throughout the Houston metropolitan area. All isolates proved capable of degrading the pesticide paraoxon to p-nitrophenol in carbon limited media and showed a high degree of tolerance to an environment exposed to increasing concentrations of the pesticide. A combination of 16S rRNA sequencing and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis was used to identify the unknown bacterial species. Universal bacterial primers were used for 16S rRNA analysis to tentatively identify all seven isolates as species belonging to the genus Pseudomonas. Sequencing results coupled with FAME analysis resolved the species identity of the seven isolates as either Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Pseudomonas putida. The results of this study demonstrate that a combination of molecular and biochemical analysis provide sufficient resolution to identify paraoxon degrading microbial populations.