Killam Postdoctoral Fellow looks for agriculture solutions at the molecular level
Soil scientist Chaoqun Wang explores the rhizosphere – what he calls the ‘hotspot’ of microbial activity – as he tries to optimize plant productivity and limit environmental damage from fertilizers.
Digging Deep on Resiliency Challenges
Assistant Professor Dr. Jean-Thomas Cornelis spends a lot of time getting his hands dirty. But when your research focuses on understanding the intricate micro-scale soil processes that underpin macrosized ecosystems, grubby fingernails at the end of the day are a standard occupational hazard.
Karyna Howell
Celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science with…Karyna HowellMSc student in Soil Science What excites you about science? I think science excites me so much because it empowers me with the tools to find the answers to questions that we all walk around with. For example, when we were kids, we all learned that […]
Building a Sustainable Winery on Vancouver Island
Building a Sustainable Winery on Vancouver Island From historically long droughts to unexpectedly early freezes, the B.C. wine industry has weathered extreme shifts in climate patterns. Unsworth Vineyards is located in the heart of the Cowichan Valley and takes a sustainable approach in the management of their 25 hectares of vineyard. Chris Turyk is an […]
PhD profile: Sasha Pollet, Soil Science
Soil Science student Sasha Pollet wins the Warkentin Prize, which recognizes a young scientist who publishes a referred article or graduate thesis.
Bird’s-eye view of soil science challenges
Meet Dr. Jude Odhiambo (PhD Soil Science, 1998, who has taken a close look at soils around the world – from the Fraser Valley to his current work location in South Africa.
New Faculty Profile: Jean-Thomas Cornelis
New Faculty Profile: Jean-Thomas Cornelis Jean-Thomas Cornelis joined the Faculty’s Applied Biology program in February 2021 as an Assistant Professor. He came from Belgium’s University of Liège where he was an Assistant Professor in soil science. Cornelis has set up the SoilRes3 Lab, which stands for Soil Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration. A biogeochemist and pedologist, […]
Jean-Thomas Cornelis
@jtcornelis
Building a Resilient Food System Starts with the Soil
Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes (SAL) Lab published a paper this summer that measured soil organic carbon in the Fraser Valley from 1984 to 2018, reporting that 61% of the farms, soil organic carbon was in decline. Results proposes the next step of the research, which is to evaluate which specific methods are contributing this decline, and working with farmers to find solutions.