Personal Spiritual Search :: Noorallah Juma, Ph.D

My Teaching & Research Interest in Spiritual Science

I have a research interest in religion and spiritual sciences and am a practising Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim and have been brought up in the Alid tradition of a thinking and spiritual Islam: an Islam which leads to the development of the human soul to its highest level as described by His Highness Aga Khan III:

"Islamic doctrine goes farther than the other great religions for it proclaims the presence of the soul, perhaps minute but nevertheless existing in an embryonic state in all existence in matter, in animals, trees, and space itself. Every individual, every molecule, every atom has its own spiritual relationship with the All-Powerful Soul of God. But men and women, being more highly developed, are immensely more advanced than the infinite number of other beings known to us. Islam acknowledges the existence of angels, of great souls who have developed themselves to the highest possible planes of human soul and higher, and who are centres of forces which are scattered throughout the universe. Without going as far as Christianity, Islam recognizes the existence of evil spirits which seek by means of their secret suggestions to turn us from good, from that strait way traced by God's finger for the eternal happiness of the humblest as of the greatest — Abraham, Jesus, Mohammed." (Source: Memoirs of Aga Khan, p.177)

Academic Career :: Noorallah Juma, Ph.D

My Teaching & Research Interest in Soil Science

I graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan in the field of Soil Microbiology in 1981 and was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Soil Science in 1983. I was promoted to an Associate Professor in 1988 and a Full Professor in 1993. I taught undergraduate and graduate Soil Science courses within the Faculty of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences and was awarded the Tyrchniewicz Innovative Teaching Award, Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry & Home Economics, University of Alberta for developing and integrating technology in the classroom in 2000. I was inducted into the University of Alberta Museums Curator Hall of Fame for my work in the Soil Science Collections in 2014. My research and scholarly interests were in carbon & nitrogen transformations in soil; Simulation modeling of C and N cycling; Role of microflora and fauna in decomposition, nutrient cycling & soil structure formation. Since 2008, I am Professor Emeritus in the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta and my full scientific publication record with Abstracts can be accessed through ResearchGate.