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ASSW Soils Tour
The Alberta Soils Tour (AST) is held biannually to facilitate regional interaction among professionals, students, and enthusiasts in soil science and related fields. The tour provides hands-on field opportunities for professional development, learning, and collaboration. Typically, 40 to 100 attendees gather for a 2- or 3-day program that consists of investigating sites representing a range of different soils, as well as abundant networking opportunities.
The AST and the Alberta Soil Science Workshop (ASSW) were born the same year (1962) under the umbrella of the Alberta Advisory Fertilizer Committee. The two events went hand by hand for the last 61 years, but the role of ASSW in AST evolved with time. From 1962 to 1988, both were organized by the Alberta Soil Advisory Committee (ASAC). In 1989, the ASAC was abolished and the initiative was held by volunteers. Between 1990 and 2013, ASSW sponsored the AST, which was organized by a group of enthusiasts. In 2017, ASSW adopted the AST, taking the responsibility to organize a volunteer-led tour every two years.
2024 Soils Tour
The 2024 tour was another successful trip taken to the Boreal transition region of Alberta. The 2024 Alberta Soils Tour was held from May 29 to May 30, 2024, traversing Alberta’s Parkland and Mixedwood areas with a focus on soils of the Boreal transition. With about 50 participants onboard, the Tour started in Edmonton, went to Cold Lake, AB and returned to Edmonton the next day. Stops along the Tour covered a wide variety of sites. Local and regional pedology was discussed in a multi-disciplinary sense, including hydrology, botany, geology, sedimentology, geomorphology etc. This is the first Alberta Soils Tour that incorporated the Aboriginal aspect.
Key locations along the 2024 tour included:
- Orthic Gray Luvisols and Organic soils at Kikino Metis Settlement
- Dark Gray Luvisols and Humic Gleysols on the Drobot’s family farm near Glendon, AB
- Dark Gray Luvisols and Dark Gray Chernozems on glacial till at the Lakeland Agricultural Research Association (LARA) research farm near Bonnyville, AB
- Anthroposols research and land reclamation at the Imperial Cold Lake Operations
- Brunisols and Luvisols on glaciofluvial deposits and the Rangeland Reference Area Program by Alberta Forestry and Parks
- Eutric Brunisols and Terric Mesisols in the Bruderheim Dune Field
A comprehensive tour guidebook was prepared for the 2024 tour and is now available at www.soilsworkshop.ab.ca/history
Alberta Soil Tour updates (March 2025)
The Alberta Soils Tour Volunteers meeting was held on the margins of the past ASSW conference in Edmonton on February 18, 2025. After a discussion, the area of the upcoming 2026 Tour was selected. The next Alberta Soils Tour will be scheduled for late May 2026 and will cover the area from Cypress Hills in the south to Wainwright, AB, in the north. Potential starting points for the tour are either Calgary or Medicine Hat, AB, with an option of a shuttle bus coming from Edmonton. Several people volunteered to help with organizing the tour. Thank you to those who stepped forward and committed to it!
The next steps in the Tour preparation are:
- Hold a volunteer meeting and assign roles among the volunteers. The invitation will be sent to volunteers shortly
- Prepare a list of proposed sites, following suggestions from the volunteers
- Schedule a scouting trip in June 2025 to visit some of the proposed sites, collect samples and rectify the route
Another activity ASSW is involved in indirectly is the Pedology Field School organized by Montrose Environmental in the Edmonton area from May 28 to 30, 2025.
Dr. Konstantin Dlusskiy will instruct this 3-day field school hosted near Lac La Nonne, AB. The field school is focused on developing hands-on skills with application to consulting industry standards. Participants will be able to examine and discuss 4 soil orders in boreal Mixedwood landscape:
- Luvisols (Dark Gray Luvisols)
- Solonetz (Dark Gray Solodized Solonetz)
- Gleysols (Luvic and Humic Great Groups)
- Organic soils (Terric Mesisols)
Registration for the Pedology Field School is already open, and the seats are limited. Early registration is advisable.
Details are available at https://go.montrose-env.com/learning-series.
Please contact the Soils Tour Chair, Konstantin Dlusskiy, directly at kdlusskiy@montrose-env.ca if you would like to volunteer but have not expressed your interest yet.
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