Attendees at the upcoming Comox Valley Horticultural Society's General Meeting will get a chance to dig into 'Life in the Soil' with local soil expert Thierry Vrain.

Vrain teaches online classes on biophilia, which refers to the idea that communion with nature comes from an innate, biologically-driven need in humans. Vrain is a retired soil biologist and genetic engineer who has spent his career with Agriculture Canada.

He was born and raised in Paris, France and has lectured extensively across Canada and the US. Now, he works with Innisfree Farm, and will be sharing video clips during his presentation that will help explain some of the complexity and life in the soils around us.

Vrain is not the only attraction for this event. The general meeting promises to foster interesting discussion.

"Join us in bringing a Food Bank donation so we can help those in need in our community," a release from the society says.

The event takes place on Oct. 21. The meeting will be in person and over Zoom. In person guests can come to the conference hall in the Florence Filberg Centre in Courtenay. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 7:15 p.m. For Zoom attendees, advanced registration is required. More information is available at the Comox Valley Horticultural Society website. Admission is $5.50.