2023 Honorees
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Leonard (Len) Leskiw Paragon Soil and Environmental Consulting Inc. |
Tiequan Zhang Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
2023 CSSS Fellow Award to Leonard (Len) Leskiw
Leonard (Len) Leskiw holds a MSc (Soil Science) and a BSc (Agriculture) Gold Medal, both from University of Alberta. He received the Professional Agrologist Award from the Alberta Institute of Agrologists and served as its President for a 3-year term. Leonard is an active member of Canadian Society of Soil Science, Canadian Land Reclamation Association, Alberta Soil Science Workshop, and Environmental Services Association of Alberta.
Leonard’s illustrious career in soil science has seen him as consultant, teacher, trainer, entrepreneur, innovator, author, pedologist, regulator contributor, tour leader, speaker, mapper, and volunteer. His soil expertise covers agriculture, environment, and forestry, and includes land resource evaluations encompassing soil surveys, agricultural and forestry capability, irrigation suitability, soil reclamation and remediation, environmental impact assessments, conservation and reclamation planning, construction supervision, and long-term soil and vegetation monitoring. He is especially well known for his land capability classification systems, and detailed soil and biophysical mapping. His work has spanned British Columbia to Ontario to the northern Territories, and into north-central United States. Leonard was instrumental in developing the Anthroposolic soils order, now being included in the CSSC4.
Leonard has established several well-known Soils Consulting Companies that employ numerous soils and environmental sciences graduates. He has made many contributions to Government Regulatory Bodies and to Long-Term Monitoring and Scientific Studies. He is dedicated to training and education, teaching numerous courses.
Leonard has worked internationally on soil mapping and suitability rating for dryland farming and irrigation in Africa, South America, Asia, and the Middle East. As a volunteer, he began a food basket operation in El Salvador, and offered a professional opinion to the City of Edmonton on preserving agricultural land.
Leonard is also an innovator, developing a technology for subsoiling and organic pellet injection. He remains passionate, hardworking, and dedicated to his discipline, his companies and employees, his colleagues, his family, and his fellow human beings.
2023 CSSS Fellow Award to Dr. Tiequan Zhang
Dr. Tiequan Zhang is a Senior Research Scientist at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Harrow Research & Development Centre. He received his Ph.D. in Soil Chemistry and Fertility from McGill University in 1996 and has made significant contributions to soil management, crop production, and water quality. Tiequan is a nationally and internationally recognized authority on nutrient management in agri-ecosystems and was a pioneer in the development of the concepts of legacy phosphorus (initially referred to as “residual phosphorus”) in soils and sub-surface phosphorus loss pathways—both rooted in his Ph.D. studies during mid-late 90’s. Tiequan’s career has focussed on giving Canadian agronomists and farmers the right information to produce an abundance of nutritious food with innovative practices that also conserve soil and protect water quality.
Tiequan has disseminated his research actively and broadly to academic communities, farming groups, crop advisers and policymakers. He has authored or co-authored over 140 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and 480 technical reports and presentations at various meetings.
Tiequan has been an Adjunct Professor/Special Graduate Faculty at the University of Guelph since 2007 and at the University of Windsor since 2013. He has served on numerous regional, national, and international professional societies/committees, including the National Nutrient Recovery and Reuse Steering Committee (Canada), Advisory Board for the Phosphorus Sustainability Alliance in North America, Planning and Priority Committee on International Joint Commission Lake Erie Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative, and serving as Vice-President for the International Society on Environmental Indicators. Tiequan is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America and is a recipient of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Gold Harvest Award.