Soils are our history and our foundation. A soil profile tells us what has happened over the last 100 years and what will happen over the next 100 years. It is the legacy we leave our grandchildren. So, we must manage it. Manage it well and we can’t make any mistakes because if the soil goes wrong, no plants can grow, not animals can scamper and no birds can sing. If you don’t believe me, go to Haiti, go to the Sahara, go the middle east which used to be the World’s breadbasket but is now a desert. Why, because their soils were wrecked. So if you want to save the world, you need to save the soils first.

What will a soil’s education give you? Just this, a chance to immediately get a job. This job will be either helping protect our ecosystems from industrial damage or helping produce food. If you don’t believe me, in the 100 years since settlers came to the prairies, 50% of the organic matter and hence, the ability of soils to support human use, was lost. But beginning in the 70’s, soil scientists figured out better ways to manage the soil. As a consequence, for the last 20 years, we are no longer losing organic matter but are in fact increasing it. Thanks to soil science, our lives on the prairies is more sustainable than ever before.

As a new soil scientist, your challenge is to figure out how to make our mining, oil and gas and forestry industries sustainable. It’s not easy but nothing worthwhile is. Why should you work with me. Arctic soils are the tipping point. Can we stop run away greenhouse warming which will flood Halifax, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and all of Bangledash? There is so much carbon and nitrogen stored in Arctic soils that determining what they do will determine, are we going to tip?

Why else should you work with me? Simple really, soils form the basis of life. Our lab group tries to heal sick soils and make sure that sick soils don’t poison people.