Dr. Maja Krzic
Faculty of Land and Food Systems / Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC)
Maja is an Associate Professor of Soil Science with a joint appointment in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and Faculty of Forestry at UBC. Her current research focuses on development of soil quality indicators for assessing management impacts on grassland soils, forest soil response to severe mechanical disturbance, and soil compaction susceptibility. In her work, Maja integrates research, teaching, and community education through application of information technology. In 2006, she received the UBC Killam Teaching Award for her innovative efforts in teaching.
Dr. Les Lavkulich, Professor Emeritus
Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability / Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Les Lavkulich’s research activities contribute to advancing an understanding of fundamental soil processes (pedogenesis) as affected by both natural and anthropogenic factors, at both temporal and spatial scales. Of particular interest is the formation of high specific surface materials that are mainly responsible for sorption, retention and release properties of soils for nutrients, contaminants and pollutants. This research contributes to the necessary understanding of natural soil resilience and inherent capabilities to sustain ecological services, including the carbon, nutrient and water cycles. The research provides an index of the natural capacity of soils to absorb anthropogenic effects and provides a comparison point from which to assess the effects of human impacts on terrestrial ecosystems and the capability of the soil resource to sustain ecosystem management. This experience is applied to other natural resource systems, notably the carbon and hydrological cycles. More recently, Les has been involved in international concerns, sponsored by NATO, focusing on “Integrated Water Basin Management”.
Emma Holmes, Undergraduate Student
Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Emma is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in the Global Resource Systems Program, with a specialization in sustainable agriculture. She developed an interest in soil science after spending a summer as a farm apprentice on Saltspring Island, and became further hooked after taking Soil 200 and Agro 402. Emma received an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award for the summer of 2009, and is working with the Soil and Water Environmental group at UBC.
Rachel Strivelli, M.Sc. Student
Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Rachel Strivelli has a B.A. (2001) from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, United States. She is currently pursuing a M.Sc. in Soil Science at UBC with Dr. Maja Krzic as her supervisor. Rachel and an amazing team created the Land-Use Impacts Tool, a university-level teaching tool for soil formation and soil quality. In addition to schoolwork, she is the Communications Coordinator of the Pacific Regional Society for Soil Science, President of the BC-Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society, and executive member of the Strathcona Community Garden Society.
Prior to her studies at UBC, Rachel Strivelli spent four years teaching in public schools. She consistently studied methods for improving teaching largely through the incorporation of technology, multiple modes of presenting information, and environmental education into the classroom. In addition to teaching, she worked for several farms and experiential environmental education centers in North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Ohio. Rachel plans to combine her teaching skills with her love of soil science, working for public outreach and communications for either land conservancy, environmental or agricultural sectors.
Martin Hilmer, M.Sc.
Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Martin’s role is supporting the Faculty in both technical and administrative matters. Further, he is also part of a teaching team for APBI 260 and 360 courses. He also facilitates laboratory activities in APBI 200 and APBI 403 courses.
Saeed Dyanatkar
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Saeed is a media producer at the UBC’s Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology. Saeed has a diverse background in engineering, photography, film-making and animation. Saeed is the founder of Neev Media and the New Windows Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting media literacy in Canada. He is also the associate publisher of The Source/La Source newspaper and serves as the chair of the Multicultural Advisory Committee at the City of Vancouver.
Cory Wallace, Undergraduate Student
Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Cory is currently pursuing a bachelors degree in forest sciences. His interest in soil science was first sparked while taking SOIL 200 in 2009. He continues his study of soil in FRST 201 and 211 and is especially interested in how mycorrhizal fungi assist plants in nutrient uptake from the soil.
Katina Tam, Undergraduate Student
Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Katina is an undergraduate student in the Global Resource Systems Program, focusing her studies on nutrition and sustainable agriculture. Her interest in soil science was first sparked in a soils analysis project at the UBC Farm in AGRO 260, which prompted her to take SOILS 200. She will be completing her final year of studies on exchange at the Swedish Agricultural University (SLU), where she will be taking advanced level courses in agricultural sciences.
Sepand Dyanatkar, Student
Vancouver, BC
Sepand was a high school student in the French Immersion program and is passionate about science and technology. He learned about soil and other environmental elements as part of his high school Ecology course and helped this project by working on the website.