ES Colloquium Series Brooke Hayes: “Biological Soil Health and Farmer Mental Health”

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David Turpin Building (DTB) - B255. The School of Environmental Studies Research Colloquium Series presents: Biological Soil Health and Farmer Mental Health Brooke Hayes PhD candidate and Manager of the EcoSoil Lab at the University of Victoria Abstract: Agricultural soils and the farmers who work with them operate within socioeconomic and environmental contexts where policy frameworks, measurement approaches, and personal factors shape outcomes for both soil and human health. This dissertation examines the relationships between biological soil health and farmers’ mental health in British Columbia, Canada through four interconnected studies. First, litter decomposition was assessed as a field-based measure of biological soil activity in degraded agricultural soils, refining the Tea Bag Index (TBI) protocol and identifying a biological indicator (Br: Rooibos mass remaining) that improves measurement precision. Second, this measure was validated across 57 farms spanning diverse regions and production systems, where it successfully discriminated between management systems and crop types independent of climate or soil data, showing higher decomposition rates in organic and regenerative systems. Third, relationships were assessed between soil health, farmers’ mental health, and contextual factors including rurality, social networks, production systems, pesticide use, ecological values, and demographics. Hypothesized structural associations were broadly null; a small positive association between value for ecological