AG e-news February 8, 2019
News and events from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences
News and events from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences
UPCOMING EVENTS
Tuesday, February 12 – A Department of Entomology Seminar will be presented by Dr. Tom Phillips, Kansas State University, on “Pest Management for Stored-Products: Challenges with Mites and Beetles.”. Refreshments at 10:00 am, seminar begins at 10:10 am sharp in 220 Animal Science/Entomology Building. All are welcome.
Tuesday, February 12 – The Indigenous Student Centre is running a series of Fireside Chats every Tuesday from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm in the Circle Room at Migizii Agamik. On February 12, Moneca Sinclaire (Cree) presents “The Colonization of Indigenous Foods”. See the complete schedule at https://eventscalendar.umanitoba.ca/site/indigenous/event/fireside-chats-talks-on-indigenous-knowledges-18/.
Tuesday, February 12 – The Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre invites you to celebrate Canada’s Agriculture Day together at the launch of their new Careers in Agriculture video exhibit. Join them for light refreshments, a short program and a signature mocktail in celebration of the nine amazing Manitoba women featured in the exhibit. Location & time: Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre, 3:30 – 6:00 pm. RSVP to ffdc@umanitoba.ca.
Wednesday. February 13 – The Soil Science Seminar Series will feature Dr. Jeff Schoenau, Department of Soil Science, University of Saskatchewan, at 12:30 pm in Room 346 Ellis Building on the topic “Manure: Soil-Plant-Animal Nutrient Linkages”.
Thursday, February 14 – An Advanced Plant Science Seminar will be held in the Carolyn Sifton Lecture Theatre, 130 Agriculture Building at 3:30 pm. Dr. Steve Shirtliffe, Professor, Department of Plant Science, University of Saskatchewan, will present “Reading the Leaves: Aerial Field Phenotyping for Plant Breeding and Agronomy”. All are welcome to attend. Coffee at 3:00 pm in the Atrium.
Friday, February 15 – The Office of Indigenous Engagement invites you to Louis Riel Day Celebrations from 11 am to 1 pm on Friday before the long weekend at Migizii Agamik – Bald Eagle Lodge. The annual Louis Riel Day celebration/chivaree will include fiddle music, jigging, delicious Métis fare and more. Everyone is welcome! For more information, or to advise of any accessibility or mobility requirements, please contact Laura Forsythe at laura.forsythe@umanitoba.ca.
February 19-21 – Mark your calendars for the 12th Prairie Conservation and Endangered Species Conference at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre. Connect with scientists, landowners, consultants, educators, nature enthusiasts, land managers, and others to share information and new approaches to conservation, agriculture and the protection of prairie landscapes and native species. Explore the conference theme of to gain a better understanding of the many changes that have shaped our prairie landscape. For more info, visi www.pcesc.ca.
Tuesday, February 20 – Please join the International Centre at their Open House for Faculty and Staff in Bistro Two O Five (205 UMSU University Centre) from 10:00am-11:00am (Faculty drop-in) and 11:00-12:00pm (Staff drop-in). This is especially beneficial for faculty and staff member who are not familiar with the services that the International Centre provides. Enjoy cookies, coffee, and tea, and learn about the services they offer, including international student services, programs and advising; international partnership development, funding information, proposal support and coordination of delegations; travel safety services, International SOS and pre-departure information and orientation; and intercultural experiences for students locally and internationally.
Thursday February 21 – The next RCFFN Coffee Talk will feature Kennis Fung, International Partnership Officer, International Centre, University of Manitoba will be speaking about International Funding Opportunities, Canada ASEAN Scholarships and Educational Exchanges for Development at 9:00 am at the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, 196 Innovation Drive Room 124. RSVP to rcffn@umanitoba.ca.
February 21 and May 10 – The Department of Statistics is offering the following workshops: “Data Visualization Using R: Statistical Graphs and Animation” 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm, Thursday, February 21, 311 Machray Hall. Registration deadline: February 18. To register for this workshop, please email consulting@stats.umanitoba.ca. $30 course fee. Space is limited to 35 seats. They are also offering “Introduction to R” 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm, Friday, May 10, 311 Machray Hall. $30 course fee. Space is limited to 35 seats. Registration deadline: May 6. To register for this workshop, please email consulting@stats.umanitoba.ca.
Saturday, March 2 – Professional home economist Getty Stewart is facilitating two Applied Skills in Food Preparation workshops on campus. “What’s for Dinner with Canada’s New Food Guide” will take place from 11 am to 1:30 pm and “Eating Greener – Reducing Food Waste At Home” will be from 3 pm to 4:30 pm.in the Barbara Burns Food Innovation Laboratory, room 410 Human Ecology Building. Cost for each workshops is free for Food and Human Nutritional Sciences students and $10 for general public. Also offered on March 2 will be a Food Handlers Certificate Course facilitated by FoodSafe Manitoba. All three workshops are being organized by the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre, with support from the Endowment Fund. To register email ffdc@umanitoba.ca. Spaces limited. See more details at http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/discovery_centre/events.html.
Saturday, March 2 – There will be a free public conference on “Climate Change and Transportation in the Canadian Shield” hosted by the Transport Institute. It runs 8:30 am – 4:30 pm in the Robert B. Schultz Theatre, St. John’s College. More details at http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/management/ti/3450.html
March 11-12 – Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference – West 2019 will be at the Hyatt Regency Calgary. Annemieke Farenhorst, Associate Dean (Research) will be participating in a panel discussion. Learn more about the conference and registration at https://www.advancingwomenconference.ca/2019west/.
Wednesday, March 13 – The Real Dirt on Farming Speak Up Training – This presentation skills workshop is geared towards farmers, agri-food industry professionals, and farmers’ market vendors interested in learning how to give effective presentations and speak to non-farmers about agriculture. Participants will leave with a USB key filled with the customizable Real Dirt on Farming PowerPoint presentations, speaking notes, and a copy of the Real Dirt on Farming booklet. Workshop includes lunch, please indicate dietary restrictions. Location & time: Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre, 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM. Cost: $30. Register to ffdc@umanitoba.ca by Thursday, March 7.
Wednesday, March 13 – The next seminar in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences Seminar Series will be held at 3:30 pm in the Carolyn Sifton Lecture Theatre, 130 Agriculture Building. Dr. Pat MacKay, Senior Scholar, Department of Entomology, and Dr. Robert J. Lamb, Emeritus Research Scientist, Department of Entomology, will present “Exploring Population Dynamics: 20 Years of Data on a Manitoba Insect”. Refreshments will be served at 3:00 pm in the Atrium. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Saturday, March 16 – It’s time once again for Discover Agriculture in the City, a free event featuring interactive displays from key organizations in the agriculture industry that will take place downtown at the Forks Market from 10 am to 4 pm. This event allows urban Canadians to explore and discover the important role agriculture plays in their lives. Come see the University of Manitoba Food Fight at 10 am in the South Atrium featuring our very own food product development students. For more information, visit http://aginthecity.ca/.
Tuesday, March 19 – The Department of Animal Science will be hosting a Special Seminar in honour of Dr. T. K. Cheung, a former student of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences who has made significant contributions to the Department of Animal Science. Our guest speaker this year is Dr. Hans H. Stein, Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, who will be giving a talk in 219 Animal Science Building at 11:30 am. The title of his talk is “Current Research in Swine Nutrition”. All are welcome to attend.
Friday, March 29 – The Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine (CCARM) is hosting “Rapid-Fire Research Symposium 2” from 12:30 pm to 5 pm in the Samuel Cohen Auditorium at St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre, 351 Tache Avenue, Winnipeg. Includes 7-Minute Trainee Presentations, career development session and netowrking and awards reception. Abstract submission is free and open to trainees – deadline February 22 email to rrs@sbrc.ca (300 words max). Event registration is free and open to everyone – deadline March 15. Send an email to rrs@sbrc.ca to register free of charge – include your name and department.
June 11-14 – The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) 2019 Conference will be hosted by the University of Manitoba, Red River College and Universite de Saint-Boniface at the RBC Convention Centre with the theme “Guiding the Journey: Learner-Teacher-Learner.” Complete details and registration at https://stlhe2019sapes.ca/.
STAFF AND STUDENT NEWS
Trust Beta, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, received a very special congratulations on her Canada Research Chair – from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself! Check out the letter at http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/pdf/PMcongratsTrustBeta.pdf.
Rachel Sydor, School of Agriculture, has been appointed to serve on the interim board of directors for the newly formed Manitoba Urban Forest Council.
Martin Entz, Plant Science, attended the Soil Health Institute “Long-term Studies” workshop in Chicago January 23-24. The Glenlea long-term rotation study has been selected by the Soil Health Institute as one of 15 study sites in Canada – along with 100 other sites in the United States and Mexico – for intense soil health analysis. Soil Health Institute scientists will join us in May to measure soil health parameters at the Glenlea rotation. The Glenlea study is one of three North American long-term studies in the Soil Health Institute network where organic and conventional production systems are compared – the others are in Wisconsin and California.
Mohammed Moghadasian, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences and his collaborators Carla Taylor, Peter Zahradka and Denice Bay have been awarded the University of Manitoba Collaborative Research Grant to study cardiovascular benefits of wild rice in humans.
Next week at the CropConnect conference being held at the Victoria Inn February 13-14 in Winnipeg (which is sold out), a number of Faculty members will be making presentations. If you managed to get a ticket, you can check out sessions by Kristen MacMillan, Plant Science, David Lobb, Soil Science, Yvonne Lawley, Plant Science, Derek Brewin, Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, Doug Cattani, Plant Science and Paul Bullock, Soil Science.
IN THE NEWS
Joyce Slater, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, and Keren Taylor-Hughes, Winnipeg Harvest, co-wrote the op-ed “Make Manitoba’s food cost data publicly available” in the Winnipeg Free Press (February 7) – http://news.umanitoba.ca/op-ed-make-manitobas-food-cost-data-publicly-available.
Don Flaten and M.Sc. student Megan Bourns, Soil Science, were featured in the article “Soybean response to potassium” in Top Crop Manager (February 2019) – https://mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=566259#{%22issue_id%22:566259,%22page%22:%2256%22}
David Lobb, Soil Science, was quoted in the article “Soil erosion costs farmers $3.1 billion a year in yield loss: scientist” in the Western Producer (January 31) https://www.producer.com/2019/01/soil-erosion-costs-farmers-3-1-billion-a-year-in-yield-loss-scientist/ and on Pembina Valley Online – https://www.pembinavalleyonline.com/ag-news/cost-of-soil-erosion-discussed-at-ag-days.
Two alumni were featured in the most recent KAP magazine Farmers Voice – Chris Dzisiak (BSA/78) in the article “Chris Dzisiak: Pioneer of Canada’s hemp industry” page 2 and KAP President Bill Campbell (DipAgric/75) in the article “Looking forward to working for Manitoba farmers in 2019” page 9 at http://lesterfiles.com/pubs/KAP/winter2019issue/#/.
Rob Duncan, Plant Science, was quoted in the article “Gene editing could boost producer profitability” in the FCC Express newletter (January 24) – https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/ag-knowledge/knowledge/gene-editing-could-boost-producer-profitability.html.
Jonathan Rosset, M.Sc. student with Rob Gulden, Plant Science, wrote a short article “How does hockey relate to weed management?” for Farming Smarter’s (Lethbridge, AB) January online publication -https://www.farmingsmarter.com/weed-wisdom-jan-2019/.
PUBLICATIONS
Ancestral history matters – Biodiversity is sometimes quantified purely by the number of species within a system that allow it to function to produce ecosystem services. Grab et al. (including Jason Gibbs, Entomology) show that simple species counting is too simplistic. They combined remotely sensed land-cover analyses and crop production records with an extensive 10-year pollinator community survey and a complete species-level phylogeny generated using genome-wide phylogenomic methods. They found that the equivalent of millions of years of pollinator evolution were lost in highly altered agricultural environments, which decreased pollination services above and beyond what would be expected from a simple numerical species count. Grab H, Branstetter MG, Amon N, Urban-Mead KR, Park MG, Gibbs J, Blitzer EJ, Poveda K, Loeb G, Danforth BN (2019) Agriculturally dominated landscapes reduce bee phylogenetic diversity and pollination services. Science 363(6424): 282-284. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat6016
Kerr, R.B., Young, S.L., Young, C., Santoso, M.V., Magalasi, M., Entz, M., Lupafya, E., Dakishoni, L., Morrone, V., Wolfe, D. and Snapp, S.S., 2019. Farming for change: developing a participatory curriculum on agroecology, nutrition, climate change and social equity in Malawi and Tanzania. Agriculture and Human Values, pp.1-18.
Flood, H. and Entz, M., 2018. Effects of a fall rye cover crop on weeds and productivity of Phaseolus beans. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, (ja). https://doi.org/10.1139/CJPS-2018-0161
Cyclooxygenase 2 inhibition slows disease progression and improves the altered renal lipid mediator profile in the Pkd2WS25/- mouse model of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Md Monirujjaman, Harold M. Aukema. (J Nephrol. 2019 Jan 22. doi: 10.1007/s40620-018-00578-8). https://link-springer-com.uml.idm.oclc.org/article/10.1007%2Fs40620-018-00578-8
Davison, KM, D’Andreamatteo, C, Smye, VL. (2019). Medical nutrition therapy in Canadian federal correctional facilities. BMC Health Services Research. 19(89). https://rdcu.be/bjHUA
GENERAL NEWS
The Endowment Fund Committee of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences is once again seeking proposals from students, alumni, and academic and support staff of the Faculty for special projects requiring funding. This year, approximately $240,000 is available to fund a variety of projects, from teaching equipment/projects to student competitions and field trips. The fund has also been allocated for visiting scientists and lecturers, conferences and workshops, and library acquisitions. Please submit an application via email to Heather Wiebe at heather.wiebe@umanitoba.ca by NOON Thursday, February 28, 2019. Complete Endowment Fund details and application form are available online at: http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/endowment/index.html.
Our fiscal year end of March 31, 2019 is just around the corner. Visit our Year End at the University website (http://umanitoba.ca/admin/financial_services/comptrollers/yearend.htm) to review the Year End Guidelines & Schedule for 2018-19 which includes frequently asked questions, key deadline dates, checklists and your Financial Services contacts to help you through the process.
MAAS Manitoba Open Farm Day – Applications are now open for Open Farm Day Host Sites to register for the upcoming Manitoba Open Farm Day September 15, 2019. Please go to www.openfarmday.ca and click on Register Your Site – scroll down and “Click Here” to continue to read information and fill in the application. Deadline to register is Tuesday April 30, 2019. Help us celebrate 10 years of Open Farm Day in Manitoba! #agriculture #OpenFarmDay2019