••• 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 and North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Teaching Award of Merit for her innovative efforts in teaching.

••• was raised on a small farm in Illinois, did his university education in that state at Southern Illinois University (B.S. and M.S.) and the University of Illinois (Ph.D) and immigrated (now 34 years ago) to British Columbia. Art’s educational background is in Agronomy, specifically soil and crop management; and he has taught courses on soil fertility and management since his arrival at UBC. I have also had opportunities to explore social dimensions of agricultural systems. Since coming to UBC, he has conducted research on both inorganic and organic fertilization, nitrogen cycling, and cropping systems. Currently, our group is studying on-farm use of composts, symbiotic nitrogen fixation in Yukon agriculture, soil health indicators and the City of Vancouver’s foodshed. Most of our work is done in partnership with farmers and other participants in food systems.

Art is a strong proponent of small-scale agriculture, including organic and urban systems, and the need to strengthen community food systems. His contribution to the UBC Faculty of Land System’s core Land, Food and Community courses exemplifies this commitment.

Finally, Art serves as the Graduate Advisor for the UBC Soil Science Graduate Program and, generally tries to follow Maja’s instructions such as in the production of this Virtual Soil Processes Project.

••• has worked and studied in the field of soil science for 30 years. His educational background includes an M.Sc. (Alberta) and Ph.D. (UBC) degrees, as well as postdoctoral research. His related work experience involved soil survey, consulting, and applied forest soils research in BC and Alberta. Paul joined UNBC in 2002, where he teaches introductory soil science and advanced courses in soil genesis and forest soils. His current research emphasizes the role of soils as a recorder of environmental change, and involves field areas in northern BC, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. More information about his work is available at his web site.

••• is an Assistant Professor of Soil Science in the Natural Resource Science program at Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC. Kent specializes in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems, and Soil Science. He teaches Introduction to Study of Soils (FRST 200) and Geographic Information Systems (NRSC 223) and Forest Mensuration (NRSC 211) courses.

He is also president of International Remote Sensing Surveys Ltd., which specializes in aerial photography, soil and vegetation surveys, remote sensing, photo interpretation and mapping using GIS. Kent has also written an illustrated field guide for describing soils in the field. The manual is referenced as follows:

Watson, E.K., 2007. Soils Illustrated—Field Descriptions, First Edition. International Remote Sensing Surveys Ltd. 426 Azure Place, Kamloops BC V2E 2R1. 280pp. 259 annotated colour photographs and soil profiles.

••• is an Instructional Designer/Project Manager for UBC’s Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology. He is involved in the design, development and delivery of online courses and learning resources in a number of subject areas including Soil Science. At UBC, he has also produced and directed some award-winning video productions for the online resources and courses. Chris has a background in agricultural science, film and television studies and educational technology. In his spare time, usually he can be found playing or coaching soccer.

••• is a Media Producer for the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology of UBC’s Information Technology Department. He has a diverse background in engineering, photography, film-making and information technology. Saeed is the founder of Neev Media and the New Windows Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting media literacy in Canada, and the associate publisher of The Source/La Source newspaper. He also serves as the chair person for the Multicultural Advisory Committee at the City of Vancouver.