An Interactive Soil Map for the City of Vancouver, BC As a Learning Tool for Soil Science.

As urban agricultural activities grow in popularity, the need to understand our urban soils becomes increasingly important. Soil maps and soil inventories of urban areas in Canada and other parts of the world are often non-existent, since many urban centers were developed before a soil inventory could be conducted. Vancouver, British Columbia (BC) is a rare example of a city that has a soil map that was created post-settlement, although that soil map has not been easily accessible to the general public. Currently, the Virtual Soil Science Learning Resources (VSSLR) group (www.soilweb.ca) is developing an online tool entitled “Vancouver Soil Map” (www.vancouversoils.ca), with an aim to increase the accessibility and accuracy of the original Vancouver soil map and engage postsecondary students and interested Vancouverites in learning about the soils that occupy their urban environment. Information about each of the four soil management groups found in Vancouver is conveyed in several different formats (text, video, graphics) creating a flexible learning environment. Because the online tool focuses on local soils and soil formation, students are able to establish connections between curricula and their observations of the urban environment. The current format may be augmented in the future to include the capacity for citizen science (i.e., ground-truthing and map editing conducted by students) and foster relationships between soil scientists and community partners engaged in urban agricultural activities such as school and community gardens and urban farms. An interactive overview of the online Vancouver Soil Map will be given during the presentation.