SoilRes3 Lab is located on the Unceded, Ancestral Territories of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Səl̓ílwətaʔ / Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), Kwikwetlem (Coquitlam), and Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) Peoples

Actions speak louder than words 

We recognize that we are situated in a colonial institution on land that has been stolen from Indigenous peoples, the stewards of this land since time immemorial. 

We recognize that the actions of colonization are not only historic, as colonial occupation and control continue to dominate both the landscape and mindsets.  

Members of the SoilRes3 Lab work to listen, ask questions, take feedback and create impact-driven research with the aim to shift conventional thinking towards fluid approaches and greater environmental justice. Through respect and reciprocity in relationships, the team works towards decolonizing the discipline of soil science to support the efforts of the land to maintain homeostasis.  

Students on Jean-Thomas’s first Soils & Landscapes field school course discuss visible soil legacies of Indigenous stewardship within the traditional lands of the Sts’ailes Coast Salish First Nation.

Recognizing the intersections of soil science and historical exploitation of Indigenous people, culture, and knowledge, we are engaged in place-based research and strive to counteract an often-implicit bias towards Euro-centric ways of knowing and make efforts to decolonize the approach to research.  

The health of soil, land and people are inextricably intertwined. The SoilRes3 lab conducts interdisciplinary research on soil genesis to understand how microscale processes drive macroscale ecosystem properties and resiliency. Rooted in soil-plant feedback, our work in pedology explores the intricate land and people relationships in diverse eco-cultural contexts, striving to enhance ecosystem resilience, resistance and restoration. 

Integrating SOIL processes for ecosystem RESistance, RESiliency, REStoration.  

We are honoured to co-research with Ts’msyen, Gitxsan and Coast Salish Indigenous Peoples. Any coproduced knowledge or research findings will be treated with extensive care, and the SoilRes3 lab pledges to ensure both First Nations’ stakeholders and research parties have explicitly consented to the dissemination of these co-produced findings, and that findings are expressed with consideration for its implications on all stakeholders involved, especially given the complex sociopolitical landscape of Indigenous governance in British Columbia. 

Our research umbrellas: