AG e-news April 29, 2016
News and events from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Manitoba
UPCOMING EVENTS
The 2015 Diploma Convocation will be held Friday, May 6 at 3:30 pm in the Investors Group Athletic Centre. All are welcome to attend!
Science Rendezvous 2016, a nation-wide science open house, will once again be held at the University of Manitoba campus on Saturday, May 7. Bring your family down and check out the Faculty booth in the Engineering Atrium between 11 am and 3 pm. There are also lots of other exhibits planned, from the Chemistry Magic Show to slime-making to a spaghetti bridge-building contest. Get your geek on and come visit! See the complete list of activities at http://www.sciencerendezvous.ca/university-of-manitoba/.
A Soil Science M.Sc. Thesis Defense will be held Wednesday, May 11 at 10:00 am in Room 346 Ellis Building. Ahmed Lasisi will present “Investigation of the mechanisms by which perennial grasses prevent nitrate leaching from solid and liquid pig manures”.
The Department of Food Science will be offering the short course “Pasteurization of Milk and Liquid Foods I” on June 1 and 2. Registration deadline is May 16. Cost is $575 per person (includes all instructional and practical sessions, course manual, nutrition breaks, parking, certificate upon completion). Payment is accepted via cheque, money order or money transfer made out to the University of Manitoba and must be made prior to the commencement of the course. If you need any further information or to register please contact Gwendolyn [dot] Band [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.
The Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre is excited to offer the “Preserving Summer’s Bounty Workshop Series” led by food writer and professional home economist Getty Stewart all about food preservation, from herbs to berries and fruit and canning. Workshops run May 2 – June 20 and all begin at 7:00 pm. Cost per workshop is $15/adult. Don’t have a sitter? Entertainment available for children under 12 available – $2.50/child. Learn more at www.ffdc.ca or email ffdc [at] umanitoba [dot] ca to register.
The 2nd Annual Northern Great Plains Lipids Conference will be held June 11-12 in Grand Forks, ND. This meeting will continue to build on last year’s successful conference, which saw researchers from Manitoba and North Dakota share expertise related to lipids. Registration, housing and abstract submission information can be found at http://und.edu/academics/extended-learning/conference-services/lipid-conference/.
Book now for the 2016 Crop Diagnostic School Staff Student Day, scheduled for Tuesday, July 5 at the Ian N. Morrison Research Farm, Carman Manitoba. The day will run 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. Registration is limited and costs $50. Lunch and refreshments provided. School will run, rain or shine, Please dress accordingly. For additional information, contact: Program – Anatasia Kubinec at 1-204-750-2717; Registration – Monika Menold at 1-204-745-5663.
In this, the Year of the PULSE, Winnipeg will be host to the 10th Canadian Pulse Research Workshop. This workshop includes sessions on Genetics and Plant Breeding, Agronomy and Pathology, Environment and Nutrition and Food. The workshop will be held at the Delta Hotel in Winnipeg October 25-28, 2016. There will be an additional workshop pulse protein quality on the afternoon of October 28. To get more information and register go to www.pulseresearch.ca.
STAFF AND STUDENT NEWS
The winners have been chosen in the University of Manitoba’s BEE / HOUSE / LAB open international bee house design competition. The winning designs will be fabricated and then face their toughest adjudication: nesting bees. http://news.umanitoba.ca/bee-squad-brings-a-game-to-competition/
Rob Currie, Entomology, gave a seminar to the Seniors Alumni group April 28 entitled “Going, Going, Gone? – Can the World Survive the Death of the Honey Bee?”
Terry Galloway, Entomology, made a presentation to the Entomological Society of Manitoba April 27 entitled “What’s eating you? The 40-year spin-off as a veterinary entomologist”.
Neil Holliday, Entomology, presented a talk on bark beetles and Dutch elm disease in Alberta on April 28.
Dilantha Fernando, Plant Science, was invited to give an oral presentation at the recently concluded 5th International Symposium on Fusarium Head Blight, held in Florianapolis, Brazil. Dilantha’s talk was in the Toxicology and Food Safety Section of the symposium. It was titled “Breakdown of mycotoxins in grain: is it a good fortune or really a misfortune?”. The 6th International Symposium on Fusarium Head Blight will be held in 2020 in Canada (venue to be decided).
Nazanin Vafaei, Ph.D. student in Food Science, has been awarded the Mitacs Accelerate Award valued at $30,000 for 2016-17. Nazanin is supervised by Martin Scanlon and Peter Jones.
Debora Giordano, Food Science, presented a paper co-authored by M. Blandino, A. Reyneri & T. Beta on “Changes in the phenolic acid content and antioxidant activity in colored maize grain during kernel development and analysis of the correlation with mycotoxin contamination at harvest maturity” at the International Association of Cereal Science and Technology 15th ICC Cereal and Bread Congress (ICBC) held at the Military Museum and Cultural Centre, Harbiye, Istanbul, Turkey, from April 17 to 21, 2016. Debora is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Science, University of Turin, Grugliasco, Italy. She is being tutored by Drs. A. Reyneri and M. Blandino in Turin and Trust Beta in Manitoba. Debora spent several months at the U of M in 2015.
Kabo Masisi and Lovemore Nkhata Malunga, Ph.D. candidates in Food Science, respectively made poster and oral presentations on “Cardiovascular benefits of corn fractions in low density lipoprotein receptor knockout mice” and “Antiglycemic effect of water extractable arabinoxylan from wheat aleurone and bran” at the Functional Foods and Natural Health Products Graduate Research (FFNHP) symposium/ Therapeutic Applications of Functional Foods and Bioactives (TAFFB) conference held at the St-Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre, Winnipeg from April 20 to 22.
The 7th annual Carman High School Agro Ecology Day was held on April 13 at the Ian N. Morrison Research Farm and involved 80 Grade 10 students from Carman, Elm Creek and Miami. Started in 2010, the event is a joint venture between the Prairie Rose School Division, University of Manitoba Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, and MAFRD. The students participated in hands-on learning with experts in the fields of entomology, weeds, riverbanks, soil, and agricultural meteorology. Presenters included staff and students from University of Manitoba, MAFRD and La Salle Redboine Conservation District. http://www.pembinavalleyonline.com/local/49660-high-school-students-explore-ag-careers-video and http://www.carmancollegiatecatsmeow.blogspot.ca/2016/04/agro-ecology-day.html.
Crystal Jorgenson, Dean’s Office, was elected president of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation (CFWF), a national organization that represents over 350 agricultural journalists and communicators. The CFWF is an umbrella group of six regional associations, including the Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Meale SJ*, Li S*, Azevedo P, Derakhshani H, Plaizier JC, Khafipour E‡, Steele M‡. 2016. Development of ruminal and fecal microbiomes are affected by weaning but not weaning strategy in dairy calves. Front. Microbiol. 7:582. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00582.
Khafipour E‡, Li S, Tun HM, Derakhshani H, Moossavi S, and Plaizier JC‡. 2016. Effects of grain feeding on microbiota in the digestive tract of cattle. Animal Frontiers. 6:13-19. doi:10.2527/af.2016-0018.
Eragoda Amarawansha, G., Kumaragamage, D., Flaten, D.N., Zvomuya, F. and Tenuta, M. 2015. Phosphorus Mobilization from Manure-Amended and Unamended Alkaline Soils to Overlying Water during Simulated Flooding. J. Environ. Qual. 44:1252-1262
IN THE NEWS
Michael Eskin, Human Nutritional Sciences, was featured in TeachingLIFE magazine (Spring 2016) and on UMToday News in the article “Breaking it down”. http://news.umanitoba.ca/breaking-it-down/
The Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre hosted the CTV Morning Live remote crew on Monday, April 18. Presenters included Jordan Bannerman, Entomology, as well as Discovery Centre staff Myrna Grahn, Elisabeth Harms, Kristen Matwychuk and Harley Siemens. Thanks to all the young people and their parents that participated that morning!
Ana Maria Dal Molin, post-doc in Entomology, was quoted in the article “APPlied knowledge” in Country Guide (April 2016) – page 42 at http://www.agcanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/CGW160419.pdf.
GENERAL NEWS
Support Staff Recognition! There’s still time to get a nomination in for the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences Support Staff Awards. The deadline was May 1 but since that is Sunday, we’ll take nominations until noon, Monday, May 2 – details and nomination form is at http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/staff/supportstaffawards.html.
Agriculture in the Classroom invites you to volunteer at their upcoming Amazing Agriculture Adventure in Brandon, June 7-8. The Brandon event is held at the Keystone Centre and they are expecting over 550 Grade 4 and 5 students to register for this event. They will need class hosts each day to tour the students and teachers through the interactive stations. In addition, they need volunteers to help manage the various stations. To volunteer, please fill out a form available at http://aitc.mb.ca/educational-programs-events/amazing-agriculture-adventure-brandon before May 16.
Alumnus Weldon Newton (BSA/69) will be inducted into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame in summer 2016. Weldon served for 20 years on Manitoba Hog Producers Marketing Board and 16 years as a Keystone Agriculture Producers board member, and was noted for demonstrating leadership, especially during the BSE crisis. http://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/local/manitoba-agricultural-hall-of-fame-inductees-named/.