About Us
Soils at Guelph advances sustainable soil management in Ontario by making research accessible and facilitating knowledge exchange between researchers, farmers, industry, government, and the public.
Who we are:
SOILS Team:
Executive Co-Directors
Our Executive Co-Directors reflect the multidisciplinary and collaborative approach that Soils At Guelph envisions in Ontario.
Dr. Kari Dunfield – Soil Microbiologist
Dr. Laura Van Eerd – Soil Health and Agronomy
Dr. Claudia Wagner-Riddle – Agrometerologist
Staff
Knowledge Mobilization and Communications Coordinator – Heather White brings a practical and academic background in Environmental Science, Community Engagement, and Communications, and experience on Ontario Farms.
Research Impact Manager – Dr. Angela Straathof brings expertise in soil health and agricultural sustainability, as well as complex project management experience, and a practical understanding of production agriculture.
Get Involved with Soils At Guelph:
Soils at Guelph strives to give University students an opportunity to become involved in the work of Soils At Guelph. If interested in a Co-op placement or have another idea for involvement, please reach out to our team, and we can explore opportunities.
SOILS Strategic Advisory Board:
Drawn from the broad community of stakeholders, representing soil health interests in Ontario
Farmer-producers
- Bob Kerr, Ontario grain and vegetable Farmer
- Don Lobb, Ontario grain Farmer
- Brian Rideout, Ontario apple grower
- Michael Schouten, Ontario grain grower
- Marty Vermey, Grain Farmers of Ontario
Broader soil health community stakeholders
- Sharon Bowes, AgScape
- Ataharul Chowdhury, Capacity Development and Extension, U of G
- John Cranfield, Dean, Ontario Agricultural College
- Tori Waugh, Ontario Soil Network
- Ian McDonald, OMAFRA
- Lillie Ann Morris, Glacier Farm Media
- Jo-Anne Rzadki, Conservation Ontario
If you’d like to be part of our Strategic Advisory Board in the future, please let us know.
SOILS Collaborations:
SOILS believes in working with others to achieve common goals. We serve on committees, task forces, and in collaborative initiatives that advance the vision of science-backed sustainable soil management practices becoming the “norm” across the agricultural landscape. Some of these collaborations include:
- CREATE-Climate Smart Soils Program
- Living Lab-Ontario Consortium
- Ontario Cover Crop Committee
- Ontario Soil Action Group (SAG)
SOILS History: Grounded and Evolving
We began as a $500,000 donation from citizen activists with a passion for soil care and conservation to mark World Soil Day in 2018.
The Donation was amplified by support from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and their Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance partnership. We continue to build new collaborations.
We are part of a longer tradition of soils extension and knowledge mobilization at the University of Guelph; from its early days (circa 1874) in the Ontario Agricultural College’s Department of Field Husbandry to the modern day, technologically sophisticated Soil Health Monitoring Station at the Soil Health Interpretive Centre, located at the Ontario Crops Research Centre – Elora.
SOILS Donors and Financial Supporters:
We are thankful for every individual and organization whose financial support empowers our vision and our work for the soil. This includes:
Lillie Ann Morris, Bob and Moira Kerr, Glacier Farm Media, The Butt Family Memorial Soil Knowledge Mobilization Fund, the family of Dick and Flora Heard, the Alan Lyons Family, the Stuchberry Foundation, the Weston Family Foundation, and the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance (a collaboration between the Ontario Government and the University of Guelph).
If you’d like to support the work of Soils At Guelph, please let us know.
