Facilitators: Brian Mauza, PAg, and Russ Horton, PAg

 Using case studies and examples, this course looks at professionalism, the code of ethics, and the responsibilities of professional Agrologists. The Professional Governance Act and the BCIA Bylaws will also be reviewed. This workshop is a requirement for all new Registrants in the Articling Program, Expedited Admission Program, and as a Limited License Agrologist. Includes lunch, materials, and certificate on completion.

The course will also review the new Code of Ethics, Duty to Report, and the changes to the BCIA Bylaws following the enactment of the Professional Governance Act.

Brian Mauza, PAg, achieved a Bachelor's degree in Agriculture from the University of Alberta, and a Master of Science degree from Simon Fraser University. After working in the agriculture industry in British Columbia for over 40 years he retired from Ocean Spray of Canada, Ltd. in 2017 and was active in integrated pest management and registering pest control products during his career. Brian has been an active member of the BC Institute of Agrologists since 1977 achieving my PAg status in 1979. He served on the executive of the Fraser Valley Branch for 3 years. From 2002 until 2011 he was the Councillor for the Fraser Valley Branch and Treasurer of BCIA.In 2012 he served as president-elect, the president in 2013, and past president in 2014. Throughout his time on the Council, he took an interest in board governance and ethics and also served on the Governance Committee. After leaving the council Brian was appointed Chair of that committee from 2016-2018. In 2018 he was elected to Council for another two-year term. Over the past 5 years, BCIA has been dealing with the Professional Reliance Review of resource professionals and since November of 2018 the resulting Professional Governance Act. The implementation of this new Act has now become a primary focus of BCIA. A somewhat standard code of ethics is now shared with the 5 resource professional groups in BC.  

Russ Horton, PAg, is a seasoned professional in the areas of agriculture and natural resources. He has worked internationally in rural development with nongovernment organizations and for government agencies in Canada’s three western provinces. His roles have included research, extension education, program administration, strategic planning, policy, and intergovernmental relations related to agriculture and natural resources. Life-long learning is a core value to Russ. His Ph.D. work focussed on rangeland ecology and management. He has worked as a part-time instructor at Thompson Rivers University and the University of Alberta in the areas of natural resource science and plant science. Russ is committed to the value of professionals, like agrologists, providing competent, ethical, science-informed advice for the public, and the decision-makers who work with the complex difficult issues related to land, food, environmental, and social systems. Based on his experience Russ looks forward to facilitating, instructing, and learning with the ethics and agrology course participants, and the BCIA’s Ethics Course Team members.