Emma Holmes
As BC’s organic industry specialist, I have been able to meet many members of our organic community across the province. I also get to collaborate with other experts at the Ministry of Agriculture, and am keen to highlight them and the important work they do, so you can get to know them—and hopefully collaborate with them too! This issue, I interviewed Leah Sandler, who works in the Resource Management Unit on the Environmental Farm Plan and Beneficial Management Practices programs.
Emma Holmes (EH): When did you join the ministry and what is your role?
Leah Sandler: I joined the ministry almost exactly a year ago. I’m coming up on my one-year anniversary. I think it was March 13th.
EH: Oh, congratulations!
LS: Thank you. My role is senior program developer of the Environmental Farm Plan program and the Beneficial Management Practices program.
EH: Where do you hail from?
LS: I originally come from St. Louis, Missouri, in the Midwest. But most recently, when I moved to Canada, I moved to Vancouver and started with the Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) Institute of Sustainable Food Systems and then transferred from there to this position based in Courtenay.
EH: What did you work on at KPU?
LS: I was the lead organic agriculture researcher and extension officer. I was leading research and extension projects and had a few big, big projects on the go. One was working with the Alaksen Wildlife Reserve, which is on Westham Island and in Delta. That one involved some really interesting work around farming, conservation, and organics. Some other projects include livestock integration into vegetable farming.
EH: Sounds very interesting.
LS: It was!
EH: How did you get interested in agriculture?
LS: I grew up in a city—St. Louis. My parents and grandparents were big gardeners, with a vegetable garden in the backyard. But I think it stems from just growing up in the Midwest. You’re surrounded by agriculture. I was aware of it in a way that maybe a New York city kid wouldn’t be. I have always liked being outside and doing manual labor. And when I went to university, I didn’t know what I wanted. And my father said, you know, we’ve always been interested in agriculture. Why not that? I was in a school in a rural area, so it had a strong agriculture program and a university farm and all that kind of stuff. So that’s how I started.
EH: How wonderful to have a parent who can reflect your strengths and interests back to you at those critical moments.
LS: Yes, yes, yes. Yeah I remember that conversation.
EH: What were your favorite classes at university?
LS: The one course that really, really stuck out with me was in grad school. I took a course called Plant Water Relations and it was taught by a well-known forest dendrologist. It was an entire semester of how plants use water, starting from the soil, moving through the plant into the air – the soil, plant, air continuum. It was fascinating, it was in-depth plant water relations.
EH: Can you speak a bit to your current projects?
LS: Yes, one of my main projects is in the Beneficial Management Practices program or BMP for short. Farmers who have completed an Environmental Farm Plan in the past five years can apply for a suite of different practices that would improve the agri-environmental risks on their farms. We’re working on water infrastructure programs within the BMP, so there’s going to be more funding available for farmers to apply different irrigation or water storage facilities on farm.
EH: Can you share a little bit about where you’re based now and what do you do there?
LS: I am based in Courtenay, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. We live in a very beautiful part of the province with access to many, many outdoor things, so that is generally what I like to do. I really enjoy trail running, so I get out on the trail a lot here. I really love to be volunteer farm labour at local farms. There are some different orchards and farms that I like to help out on. I love getting on farm!
EH: If farmers in Courtenay or farther afield want to get in touch, what is the best way for them to reach you?
LS: Leah.Sandler@gov.bc.ca
Emma Holmes is the Organics Industry Specialist with the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food. She studied Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Science at UBC, and then farmed on Salt Spring and worked on a permaculture homestead on Orcas Island. She now lives in Vernon and loves spending time in the garden. She can be reached at: Emma.Holmes@gov.bc.ca
Featured image: Photo provided by Leah Sandler.
