Begg, Caroline
Faculty Lecturer;
Director of Stage, Farm Management and Technology Program
“Plants, soils and microbes are essential components of our agriculture and food systems. I am passionate about incorporating a system's approach into understanding how we can have healthier soils, plants and animals. We need to make our agriculture resilient in the face of ongoing climate change. I am committed to working with students to achieve these goals.”
Caroline Begg, agr., P. Ag., PhD, is a faculty lecturer in the Department of Plant Science and Director of Internship (Farm Management and Technology). She is co-director of McGill's Barbados Interdisciplinary Tropics Studies Program and the coordinator and advisor for the specialization, minor and certificate in ecological agriculture. Her main interests are in ecological agriculture and sustainable agri-food systems. In the past, she has worked in the field of sustainable agriculture in Tanzania and the Philippines. Currently, she conducts research on food security on the island of Montreal and on ecological agriculture practices focusing on soil and crop management.
At McGill, Caroline teaches courses both at the degree and the college level and supervises 5 to 8 undergraduate projects, including Honours theses, per year. She is the mentor to the Macdonald Student-Run Ecological Garden. In addition, Caroline is president of Marché Ste Anne, a farmers market located in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, cofounder and vice president of École-O-Champ, an agricultural education organization which is the official representative of Agriculture in the Classroom Canada in Quebec, and president of the Neighbourhood Farm Schools Association in British Columbia, founded by a former student. She serves on the Board of Corbeille de Pain, a food security organization in the West Island and as an industry advisor to board of 4H Québec.
She is an Associate Member of the Bieler School of Environment and a member of l'Ordre des Agronomes du Québec and Professional Agrologists Ontario.
- Ph.D. (McGill)
- M.Sc. Soils (University of Saskatchewan)
- B.Sc. Agr. (McGill)
- 2022-2023: McGill Sustainability Faculty Education Fellow
- 2019: Award of Excellence, Honourable Mention- Outstanding Post-Secondary Educator, Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication
- 2016: Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching (McGill University)
- 2016: Macdonald Campus Award for Teaching Excellence (McGill Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences)
- 2013: McGill Faculty Award for Excellence in Alumni Activities
- 2012: McGill Office of Sustainability Award for Staff Contribution to Sustainability
Dr Begg's research interests include soil health and the interactions between soils, microbes and plants in order to have resilient and sustainable agriculture.
Dr Begg is currently examining soil health parameters from about 20 farms in southern Québec.