Stephanie Vickers is the new horticulture sustainability specialist in the Agriculture Development Branch at OMAFRA. She will be coordinating projects to assess the applicability of new practices, products, and technologies that address sustainability issues in Ontario’s horticulture sectors including labour uncertainties, nutrient inputs/outputs, and water and waste management. She began her role on June 27, 2022 and is based out of the Vineland Station office (Province of Ontario/Rittenhouse building).

Stephanie holds a BSc in Environmental Science and an MSc, both from the University of Guelph. Her Master’s thesis focused on modelling nutrient processes in the agroecosystem, specifically phosphorus dynamics in agricultural soils. Throughout her undergraduate degree, she gained horticulture research experience while working as a summer student in the Minor Use Pesticide Program with AAFC.

She has worked for OMAFRA previously as a junior land resource specialist in the soil survey group where she developed strong project management experience coordinating the Ontario Topsoil Sampling Program to benchmark soil health in the province’s agricultural soils. Through this project she gained exposure to a wide variety of production systems and built positive relationships with landowners and growers.

Most recently, Stephanie worked as the soil and vineyard technology lead for Sebastian Farms in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. In this role she developed a soil and technology program that supported the vineyard team which included soil conductivity mapping, nutrient recommendations, and soil health monitoring. She gained knowledge of emerging technologies that address current issues in the horticulture sector including labour challenges, pest/disease monitoring, and irrigation optimization.

Stephanie can be reached at stephanie.vickers@ontario.ca.