Celebrating Ten (whoops, Eleven) Years of Healing City Soils
April 16, 2026
The Compost Education Centre (CEC) has been operating the Healing City Soils (HCS) program since 2016! The program started by providing free heavy metal soil testing for gardeners and gatherers through the Capital Regional District. The program is a collaboration between the CEC; Dr. Matt Dodd, a professor at Royal Roads University (RRU); and Dr. Danielle Stevenson, a mycologist and environmental scientist. The program has evolved and changed since 2016, and we want to take a moment to celebrate everything we’ve accomplished and learned along the way.
2016
Healing City Soils is born
CEC Executive Director, Marika Smith; Royal Roads University Professor Dr. Matthew Dodd; GIS Map Coordinator, Steven Deschenes; and Dr. Danielle Stevenson of D.I.Y. Fungi create Healing City Soils. The program aims to raise awareness around potential contamination in backyard and boulevard soil. Program aims are achieved through free soil sampling by RRU BSc student teams and the creation of a soil map of Victoria and Esquimalt.
2017
Healing City Soils Expands
The RRU BSc student teams expand soil sampling to Saanich and Oak Bay.
2018
HCS Program Manager Changes
HCS Program Manager and Executive Director, Marika Smith, left the CEC. Office Manager, Alexis Hogan, takes over as HCS program manager.
2019
Ecostar Award for Educational Leadership
Healing City Soils is awarded the Synergy Ecostar for Educational Leadership. Program creates educational opportunities for program participants through workshops, factsheets, and data interpretation letters
2020
Test plot established at SṈIDȻEȽ
Residential soil testing services put on hold due to COVID-19 concerns. The CEC launches the Ground Beneath Our Feet (GBOF), a research pilot project that explores the bioremediation potential of native plants, compost, and fungi. RRU BSc student teams establish test plots at SṈIDȻEȽ (Tod Inlet) in collaboration with the PEPÁḴEṈ HÁUTW̱ Foundation, a W̱SÁNEĆ-led ecological restoration group.
2021
HCS Art Exhibit with Nanaimo Art Gallery
Healing City Soils is a finalist for the Canadian Museum of Nature Award. The GBOF project expands to include two private residential sites in Fernwood. HCS is featured at the Nanaimo Art Gallery in two exhibits: “Rainshadow” and “uli u’tu staluẃ / Riverbed.” The exhibits feature a poster and an off-site workshop about soil remediation.
2022
Residential soil sampling resumes
Free residential soil sampling resumes. The program expands from one to two RRU student teams. The first team conducts free residential soil sampling. The second team supports the development of the GBOF pilot, sampling and analyzing plant tissues, and contributing to research into native plants’ abilities to remediate heavy metal in soils.
2023
HCS Program Manager Changes
Executive Director and HCS Program Manager, Alexis Hogan, leaves the CEC. Martyna Tomczynski joins the CEC as HCS Program Manager.
2024
A Shift to Citizen Science Approach
HCS soil testing project adopts a new “citizen science” approach where program participants collect and submit their own samples. The GBOF project plants and monitors the growth of Western Canada Goldernrod at bioremediation plots across SṈIDȻEȽ. HCS co-founder, Danielle Stevenson, is awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of Victoria.
2025
Creating a Baseline Analysis
The GBOF project is put on pause so that RRU student teams focus on conducting soil sampling across SṈIDȻEȽ to produce a baseline analysis of heavy metal soil contamination.
2026
HCS celebrates 286 participants engaged and 600 sites tested across the Capital Regional District.