Blog

Fundraising 2020

January 27, 2021

With corporate and employee donations plus Paragon’s matching program, over $15,000 was raised for a wide range of charities in 2020, even in the absence of group events that are usually key fundraising opportunities. Donations were made to Action for Healthy Communities, Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, Camrose Open Door Society, Second Chance Animal Rescue, YESS | Youth Empowerment & Support Services, The Pride Centre of Edmonton, Operation Smile Canada…and the list goes on. We are committed to continuing the community support through donations and volunteer hours in 2021!

Paragon will be hosting two 2-day online soil courses this spring, led by our own Dr. Konstantin Dlusskiy. Click on the links below to find out more about both advanced soil science courses and to register on Eventbrite. We hope to see you there!

Soil Classification 410 Download

Alberta Native Plant Council Webinar Series

January 21, 2021

Thank you to the Alberta Native Plant Council for free CPD opportunities with their live webinar series! The topic for the webinar occurring January 28, 2021 is Peatland Bryophytes. Click on the link below for more details and to register for the Winter Webinar Series:

https://anpc.ab.ca/?page_id=218

64th Annual Manitoba Soil Science Society Meetings

January 19, 2021

Thank you to the Manitoba Soil Science Society for a free virtual professional development opportunity! The theme for this year’s AGM on Feb 4-5, 2021 is “Soil Webs: Keeping connected by collaborating between disciplines”. Details in the link below:

https://www.mbsoils.ca/event/annual-general-meeting/

Edmonton Food Bank Drive 2020

December 17, 2020

The Paragon Soil food drive for the Edmonton Food Bank has officially ended and it was a major success. We want to thank everyone who was able to donate, locally and out of town. These overflowing boxes can now go on their way, along with the monetary contributions made, to help those in need.

Wishing you and yours a safe and cozy holiday!

Bioengineering Success with the Town of Devon

December 9, 2020

Starting in fall of 2019, Paragon Soil has been working with the Town of Devon to combat erosion concerns on two different public trails. Because of the severe erosion, large portions of the upper slopes and trails were failing and creating dangerous conditions for the public, resulting in trail closures. We started our work within the Battery Creek Trailhead (located in the Devon Lions Campground) with wattle fences, poplar staking, and willow staking. We were able to continue our work in preserving these trails in the fall of 2020 with a heavy focus on toe staking with willow at the water edge. In addition to the Battery Creek sites, another area was included along the Legs of Fire Stairs (located in the Devon Voyageur Park) that required the installation of a live pole drain, and dense live staking with willow and dogwood stems. Although the work was labour intensive, our crews loved being in these beautiful public areas and are proud to help keep them accessible for others in the years to come. We hope you check out our handiwork out next spring!

Right 1/3 of the photo shows installation done in May 2020, which is growing well. The rest of the installation was done in October.

2020/2021 Fundraising Focus – Action for Healthy Communities (AHC)

November 25, 2020

Paragon Soil has recently committed to directly supporting two families who recently immigrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Edmonton. We have previously donated items to the families and are excited to expand support with monthly donations through Action for Healthy Communities. Speaking with the principal where the children are attending school, the kids are making great strides and the parents are attending an adjacent adult learning centre. We hope that our support will go a long way in setting them up for long-term stability and success in Canada. If you are interested in learning more about Action for Healthy Communities or in making a donation, please visit a4hc.ca.

15 Years !!!

November 2020

Happy 15 year work anniversary to Scott!

Thank you for being a part of Paragon Soil – we appreciate your dedication and hard work.

Happy 10 year work anniversary!!!

August 2020

Happy 10 year work anniversary to Steph, Katelyn, and Trevor! Thank you for being a part of Paragon Soil – we appreciate your dedication and hard work.

A bioassay of long-term stockpiled salvaged soil amended …

July 2020

… with biochar, peat, and humalite

Interesting research on the effects of amendments on the quality of stockpiled salvaged soil by a research team led by Jorden Laskosky and Leonard Leskiw from Paragon. Biochar and peat offer the greatest promise for improving the productivity of long‐term stockpiled salvaged soil.

This is the link to the article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20068

A-bioassay-of-long-term-stockpiled-salvaged-soil-amended-with-biochar-p…-1 Download