2026 Student Awards now closed.
See details below for the Les Lavkulich (Doctoral),
Shannon Berch and Chuck Bulmer (Masters),
and Art Bomke (Undergraduate) 2026 award winners.
Application Closed: March 28, 2026
Annually, the PRSSS offers 3 awards for students: Soil Science Student Awards, Poster Competition Awards, and the Warkentin Prize. Please see the information below for each of the awards:
| The PRSSS, in partnership with the Y.P. Heung Foundation, awards a PhD student, a master's student, and an undergraduate student on the merits of academic achievement, leadership and community service, communication skills, letters of recommendation and research proposal (graduate students only). |  |
| The Les Lavkulich Doctoral Student Award in Soil Science
One award of $5000 annually This award recognizes the research impact and community contributions of Doctoral students in soil science. The award is named for Dr. Leslie (Les) Lavkulich and his contributions to research and graduate student mentorship spanning his entire career. Les Lavkulich, a Professor Emeritus, grew up on a farm in Alberta. He joined the then Faculty of Agriculture at UBC in 1966 after completing his BSc and MSc at the University of Alberta and his PhD at Cornell University. His research portfolio highlights the interdisciplinary implications of soil science, having supported the establishment of both the foundation for the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability and the Fisheries Centre (now Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries). His research has spanned a wide range of disciplines, from soil genesis and environmental chemistry to mine reclamation and contaminant remediation, from sustainable ecological systems to land-water interactions. He is passionate about the communication of science for informed policy development. Significantly, Dr. Lavkulich was a founding director of the Pacific Regional Society of Soil Science, and we are thrilled to acknowledge his impact through this award. |
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| The Shannon Berch and Chuck Bulmer Master Student Award in Soil Science One award of $5000 annually Application guidelines. Application form.This award recognizes the research impact and community contributions of master's students in soil science. Dr. Shannon Berch and Dr. Chuck Bulmer are both exceptional examples of soil science practitioners who have made significant contributions to graduate student mentorship as well as the broader soil science community. Both have been long-time mentors at the annual PRSSS soil identification course and have contributed to the organization through many avenues. Dr. Shannon Berch is a retired Research Scientist with the Government of British Columbia and adjunct professor at both UBC and Royal Roads University. Her research has focused on the study of soil fungi and particularly mycorrhizal fungi from a variety of perspectives, including the health of nursery seedlings, impacts of forestry practices, management of commercially harvested wild mushrooms, and the use of molecular tools to identify and detect the presence of fungal species on mycorrhizal roots. Dr. Chuck Bulmer is a retired Soil Scientist who worked with the Government of British Columbia. His research explored soil disturbance, the success of rehabilitation efforts, and implications for site productivity. He also engaged in digital soil datasets, employing high-resolution air photographs to support soil conservation and monitoring in addition to resource planning and operations. This award is co-named to highlight the breadth of soil science research across the province and the collaborative, transdisciplinary nature of soil research. As committee members to numerous graduate students and mentors to students at all stages of their academic careers, we are thrilled to name this award for Shannon and Chuck. |
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| The Art Bomke Undergraduate Student Award in Soil Science One award annually of $3000. Application guidelines Application formThis award recognizes the curiosity of and contributions by undergraduate students entering the field of soil science. It is named for Dr. Art Bomke, Professor Emeritus at UBC. A favourite among students, Dr. Bomke is a two-time recipient of the UBC Killam Teaching Prize award (1999 and 2010), a rare honour. His commitment to education has been clear through his introduction of a core series of courses for students studying agriculture and related fields at UBC, his support of student-led initiatives to resurrect UBC farm and preserve it for ongoing research and educational purposes, and his role in developing the Orchard Garden, an outdoor classroom for hands-on learning about small-scale urban farming and sustainable practices. Passionate about community and a strong proponent of small-scale agriculture, he continues to volunteer with community garden organizations throughout Vancouver. As a founding director of the PRSSS, we are honoured to name this award for Art’s contributions, both as a scientist and an educator. |
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2026 Art Bomke Undergraduate Student Award Victoria Pitsiaeli - UBC, Vancouver Victoria Pitsiaeli is a third-year UBC Global Resources Systems and Business Management student and is currently completing a Youth Agriculture Programs co-op placement at the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Inspired by her early experiences in agriculture education beginning at the age of 8 and love for soil science developed from various UBC courses and field schools, Victoria believes that providing hands-on soil science and agriculture education to young people is crucial to building the next generation of innovators. Victoria represents 2,000 youth as the BC Youth Advisory Committee member for 4-H Canada, the largest youth agriculture education program, participates as a Student Representative for the BCIA Vancouver Branch and has interned and volunteered with various organizations including Canada's Outstanding Young Farmer, Alberta Sugar Beet Growers, a soil science lab, MRPM Agricultural Association and, most recently, UBC's Faculty of Land and Food Systems, developing a new sustainable agriculture course. |
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2026 Shannon Berch and Chuck Bulmer Master Student Award Erica Kreitz - UNBC, Prince George Erica is a MSc candidate at the University of Northern British Columbia studying soil biogeochemistry, with a focus on microbially mediated carbon and nitrogen cycling as a process-based framework for improving soil health. Her research is embedded within an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Living Labs project in the cattle and forage sector, where she works alongside ranch partners, cattle producers, and the BC Forage Council to help bridge the gap between science and community-based soil management. Her passion for soil science began during her undergraduate degree at UNBC, where several mentors fostered my interest. As a student researcher, she values the opportunity to combine fieldwork, laboratory research, and collaboration with agricultural communities. She believes that working towards the title of “soil scientist” is both a professional goal and a personal privilege. |
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2026 Les Lavkulich Doctoral Student Award Matthew Kyriakides - UVic, Victoria Matthew Kyriakides is a Professional Agrologist with over a decade of experience in agriculture. He is a PhD Candidate with the Ecogastronomy Research Group at the University of Victoria, where his research focuses on the reclamation of degraded agricultural land. His dissertation examines soil condition, crop productivity, and financial viability through a three-year field trial on southern Vancouver Island. He holds an MSc in Earth and Environment from Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands, specializing in biological soil quality and ecosystem restoration, and a BSc in Global Resource Systems from the University of British Columbia. Matthew has worked on farms across Canada and is passionate about bridging scientific research with practical farm management to support farmers in building healthy soils and viable food systems.
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2025
- Les Lavkulich Graduate Award: Sarah Bird - PhD Candidate at University of Victoria
- Art Bomke Student Award: Theo Mohamed - Bachelor's Student at UBC
2024
- Sasha Pollet - PhD candidate at UBC
- Cameron Donnelly - Bachelor's student at UBC
2023
- Jordy Kersey - PhD candidate at UBC
- Sarah Gafner-Bergeron - Bachelor's graduate at UBCO
2022
- Patrick Pow - PhD candidate at UBC
- Liam Easton - Bachelor's student at TRU
2021
- Paula Porto - MSc student at UBC
- Helga Holler-Busch - Bachelor's student at UNBC
2019
- Patricia Hanuszak - MSc student at the University of British Columbia
- Hannah Friesen - Undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia
2018
- Carson Li - MSc student at the University of British Columbia
- Patricia Hanuszak - Undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia
Our 2025 AGM will feature a student poster competition, in which participants are asked to submit a poster. There are cash prizes to be won for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place! This event takes the place of our poster competitions.
More details can be found on the Eventbrite page, located here.
Past Recipients
2019
Patricia Hanuszak (UBC) - "Effects of a 4-Year Grassland Set-aside on Soil Aggregate Stability"
Marieta Marin-Bruzos (UBC) - "Chitinases gene abundance in cherry orchards under different land management"
Vaselios Kokkoris (UBCO) - "Are fungal inoculants effective in the field?"
2018
1st Prize: Nicolette Lax (UBC) - Effect of low tunnels and plant biomass and fruit yield of summer squash
2nd Prize: Marieta Marin-Bruzos (UBC) - Potential of cherry rhizosphere Actinomycetes as biocontrol agents against plant-parasitic nematodes
3rd Prize: Doug Terpsma (TRU) - The “Topographic Signature”: Using Fine-Scale Soil Variability and Topography for Predicting Available Soil Water in Hot, Dry Douglas-fir Ecosystems
Every year, the PRSSS accepts nominations and applications for the Warkentin Prize, in recognition of Dr. Benno P. Warkentin. The Warkentin Prize of $750 will be awarded to a student or recent graduate that has published a peer-reviewed article or thesis in the field of soil science.
- For more information about the award and how to apply click HERE
2025 Winner: Harini Aiyer
Harini Aiyer is a Soil Science PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia, co-supervised by Dr. JT Cornelis and Dr. Luke Bainard (AAFC). Her current project focuses on the effects of cattle grazing management on microbe-mediated soil carbon sequestration in Canadian grassland ecosystems. Harini graduated with an MSc in Agriculture from Dalhousie University (Nova Scotia, Canada) in 2021. Her MSc research (done at AAFC-Charlottetown, PEI) focused on the effects of certain cover crops on associated soil fungal and bacterial communities and the carryover impact on root disease caused by soil-borne Fusarium species. Harini has always been fascinated with the hidden world of microorganisms and how they are inextricably linked with human life. Through her research, she hopes to gain more knowledge about soil microbe interactions with associated plants and animals in order to better understand how agricultural land-use practices can be modified to increase ecosystem sustainability and resilience.
Past Recipients
2020
Zimin Li - Université Catholique de Louvain - UC Louvain
2019
Vaselios Kokkoris - University of British Columbia Okanagan
2018
Gabriel Maltais-Landry - University of British Columbia
and
Jacynthe Masse University of British Columbia
2016
Katelyn Congreves - University of Guelph