AG e-news April 13, 2021
COVID-19 UPDATES
Please continue to exercise caution and follow guidelines. For updated health and safety protocols, visit https://umanitoba.ca/coronavirus/latest-updates-and-safety#latest-covid-19-updates.
The Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre is open to the public for pre-booked visits at 25% capacity. Full details on COVID-19 safety protocol and procedures at https://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/discovery_centre/COVID19-information.html.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday, April 14 – The Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences is holding an open presentation by Dr. Chamila Nimalaratne, candidate for Instructor I (Term) position on the topic “Evolution of Food Quality Evaluation – Past, present and future” at 2:30 pm. Teams link is https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NmY2NDg5ZmMtNTFhZi00MWY2LTkzNDAtOTA0YmFmZWQyYWEx%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%224f80dd0b-338c-4e4c-8a14-90446962f7b8%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22c68035e5-b20b-4430-91be-db34970ebee7%22%7d.
Wednesday, April 14 – The next episode in the Faculty Conversation Series will feature Dr. Ryan Cardwell, Professor, Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, Dr. Jill Hobbs, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Saskatchewan, and Dr. Alan Ker, Director and Professor, Institute for the Advanced Study of Food and Agricultural Policy, Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Guelph, on “How did Canadian food and agricultural markets hold up during the pandemic? Looking back after one year”. Event starts at 3:30 pm. Livestream link – https://youtu.be/MEftUMYK6w8.
Wednesday, April 21 – Join us as we cheer on Biosystems Engineering grad students Vimala Bharathi S K and Sristi Mundhada on April 21 at 7:00 pm as they compete in the finals of the University of Manitoba 3MT competition. The event will be broadcast live at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXkGUFB6w8A. Learn more about their research at https://news.umanitoba.ca/reducing-food-losses-the-goal-of-3mt-finalists/
May 3-4 – The University of Manitoba Centre on Aging is holding its 38th annual Spring Research Symposium, this year online and free to the public. May 3 & 4, 9 am – 4 pm. Topics include Mental Health in Later Life, Social Isolation and Loneliness: Can lessons learned during the pandemic help in the future, Opportunities and Challenges for Home Care, and Health Policy lessons from the Pandemic. Attend all or part of the symposium; most parts don’t require registration. Full details are at https://umanitoba.ca/centre-on-aging/research/spring-symposium.
Friday, May 7 – UM Extended Education presents four free webinars exploring the state of lifelong learning at Canadian universities and the future of continuing education including the introduction of micro-credentials to support the upskilling and reskilling of professionals. Join experts from across Canada as they explain how university continuing education continues to support businesses and professionals as they prepare for the future. Registration is required and seats are limited. The May 7 webinar is at 12:00 pm and is titled “State of university continuing education across Canada”. See further details and registration at https://umextended.ca/university-continuing-education-webinars/
Friday, May 14 – UM Extended Education free webinar is at 12:00 pm and is titled “After the COVID pandemic: The role of universities and colleges in building a stronger Canadian economy”. See further details and registration at https://umextended.ca/university-continuing-education-webinars/
May 19-21 – The Faculty of Science is hosting Nexus 2021: Digital Agriculture, Public Health, Transportation and Logistics, a three-day data science conference. Tickets are $75, or $25 for students. Learn more and register at https://sci.umanitoba.ca/data-science-nexus/2021-nexus/.
Friday, June 11 – UM Extended Education free webinar is at 12:00 pm and is titled “Deciphering the meaning of micro-credentials”. See further details and registration at https://umextended.ca/university-continuing-education-webinars/
Friday, June 18 – UM Extended Education free webinar is at 12:00 pm and is titled “Recognition of alternative digital credentials”. See further details and registration at https://umextended.ca/university-continuing-education-webinars/
June 22-24 – Save the date! The Manitoba Protein Research Strategy will be holding a virtual sustainable protein research symposium and AIMday™ in partnership with the Manitoba Industry-Academia Partnership. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. Details coming soon. For more information please contact Erin Goldberg (Research Associate) at MBprotein [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.
STAFF AND STUDENT NEWS
The Diploma in Agriculture Teacher of the Year awards are selected each year by the students in recognition of individuals for their teaching excellence and contribution to the students’ program of study. For 2021, the first year students have honoured Marla Riekman, Soil Science, and the graduating class of students have chosen Garrett Sawatzky, School of Agriculture.
The Department of Plant Science welcomes Justice Zhanda as the supervisor of the Ian N. Morrison Research Farm and Carman and Region Facility. Justice is joining the department from WADO Inc. in Southwest Manitoba where he was employed as a research technician for the past three years and was responsible for all aspects of applied research of a wide range of crops grown on the Prairies including cover crops and corn under no-till systems. Before joining WADO, Justice briefly worked as a biological technician for nine months between September 2017 and March 2018 under the supervision of Yvonne Lawley and Paul Bullock at the University of Manitoba. Justice graduated in 2017 from the UM with a Master of Science degree that focused on assessing various thermal indices for modeling grain corn phenological development on the Prairies.
Eleven students competed in the graduate student video competition at the Sustainability of Canadian Agriculture Conference held in early March. Recipients of the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment award were Chris Manchur, Biological Sciences, UM; David MacTaggart, Plant Sciences, UofS; and Patrick Le Heiget, Plant Science, UM. The recipient of the People’s Choice award was Chris Manchur. You can watch all of the videos https://umanitoba.ca/agricultural-food-sciences/sustainability-canadian-agriculture-2021/graduate-student-video-competition#march-1-130-200 as well as take in the workshops and speaker sessions https://umanitoba.ca/agricultural-food-sciences/sustainability-canadian-agriculture-2021#monday-march-1.
Tressa Alexiuk, MSc in Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, was awarded the Holmfridur Kristjansson Graduate Award in Nutrition.
Ehsan Zarrinabadi, Soil Science PhD student with David Lobb, received third prize for his poster presentation at the annual Soils and Crops conference held in Saskatoon March 16-17.
Joyce Slater, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences,was a keynote speaker at the World Home Economics Day event hosted by the Manitoba Associate of Home Economists on March 20. She presented “The Winnipeg Food Atlas”.
Doug Cattani, Plant Science, made a presentation to Advancing Organics, the Saskatchewan Organics Conference on “Intermediate wheatgrass: A perennial grain for western Canada” on March 25.
The Department of Biosystems Engineering has announced the new Sustainability-in-Action Facililty located on the west edge of the Fort Garry Campus. This space will be available to the University of Manitoba community for experiential learning and demonstration opportunities that relate to sustainability. Some examples include renewable energy, sustainable food production for remote communities, sustainable building practices, and utilization of waste biomass. Read more at https://news.umanitoba.ca/new-facility-gets-hands-on-with-sustainability-technologies/.
Rob Currie, Entomology, along with Sarah Semmler from the Living Prairie Museum, presented a seminar on the topic “Pollinators and what we can do to conserve them” to about 70 individuals at Master Gardeners Association of Manitoba session on April 23. Rob also presented at an Integrated Pest Management of varroa “virtual” workshop put on by Derek Micholson, Knowledge Research Transfer Program and Provincial Apiarist Rheal Lafrenier on April 25 to about 90 producers.
Kateryn Rochon, Entomology, presented on ticks to the Fort Whyte Discovery Center on the April 6.
Rotimi Aluko, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, presented “Potential role of food protein-derived proteins and peptides as hypocholesterolemic and antihypertensive agents: evidence from animal studies” to a national and international audience during the virtual seminar organized by the Manitoba Section of the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology on March 25.
Two Food and Human Nutritional Sciences students recently attended the International Cereals and Bread Congress (ICBC) 2021 – 16th ICC Cereal and Bread Congress held online March 29-31, and presented posters. Pamela Drawbridge, PhD candidate presented “Canadian Hulless Barley Varieties Are a Source of Bioaccessible Phenolic Compounds” co-authored with Franklin Apea-Bah, Polyanna Silveira Hornung, and Trust Beta. Hannah Oduro-Obeng, PhD candidate presented “Impact of cooking duration on carotenoid isomer content in pasta prepared from three durum wheat cultivars” co-authored with Bin Xiao Fu and Trust Beta.
Justine Cornelsen, Plant Science, successfully defended her master’s thesis on March 30, titled “Validating the strategic deployment of Blackleg major resistance gene groups in commercial canola fields on the Canadian prairies”. Her work looked to assess the concept of blackleg major resistance gene labelled cultivar deployment through monitoring of the avirulence profile of Leptosphaeria maculans population and disease levels in commercial canola fields. Findings from this work will provide canola farmers with the latest information to select cultivars to manage blackleg on their farms, while providing the canola industry with the latest L. maculans avirulence frequencies across the prairies. Justine was supervised by Dilantha Fernando in Plant Science.
IN THE NEWS
Justine Cornelsen, Plant Science MSc student, was quoted in the article “Study breaks down blackleg resistance in canola” in the Western Producer (April 8) – https://www.producer.com/crops/study-breaks-down-blackleg-resistance-in-canola/
Phil Veldhuis, School of Agriculture, was quoted in the article “Many options, obstacles for value added” in the Manitoba Co-operator (March 30) – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/farm-it-manitoba/many-options-obstacles-for-value-added/
Easton Sellers, School of Agriculture, was interviewed in the article “Technology blooms in ag education” in a special Winnipeg Free Press insert Manitoba Growth 2021 (March 27) – http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/1355689-2021
Mario Tenuta, Soil Science, was interviewed by Real Agriculture (March 25) on the topic “The practicality of permanence in the soil carbon market”- article and video link at https://www.realagriculture.com/2021/03/the-practicality-of-permanence-in-the-soil-carbon-market/
Martin Entz, Plant Science, was quoted in the article “A cover crop ‘failure,’ but the story doesn’t end there” in Country Guide (March 24) – https://www.country-guide.ca/crops/a-cover-crop-failure-but-the-story-doesnt-end-there/
Chithra Karunakaran, Biosystems Engineering alumna and a special seminar presenter at the UM last month, was featured in the article “Canadian Light Source aids agriculture projects” in Manitoba Co-operator (March 23) – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/canadian-light-source-aids-agriculture-projects/
Marcos Cordeiro, Animal Science, was featured in the article “Making agricultural ecosystems more sustainable” in UM Today (March 22) – https://news.umanitoba.ca/making-agricultural-ecosystems-more-sustainable/
Annemieke Farenhorst, Soil Science and Associate Dean (Research), was quoted in the article “Finding ways to better protect a vital resource on World Water Day” in UM Today (March 22) – https://news.umanitoba.ca/finding-ways-to-better-protect-a-vital-resource-on-world-water-day/
Martin Scanlon, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences and Dean, was interviewed in the CBC Marketplace (March 19) article titled “What testing 17 butter brands told us about the science behind ‘buttergate'” – https://www.cbc.ca/news/marketplace/butter-tests-marketplace-1.5954569
Yvonne Lawley and Navneet Brar, Plant Science, were quoted in the article “Hold the nitrogen when planting soybeans” in the Western Producer (March 18) – https://www.producer.com/news/hold-the-nitrogen-when-planting-soybeans/
David Lobb, Soil Science, was quoted in the article “Soil health a moving target” in the Manitoba Co-operator (March 16) – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/farm-it-manitoba/soil-health-a-moving-target/
Mario Tenuta, Soil Science, was quoted in the article “There’s a teeming world of diversity and complexity in your field’s soil” in the Manitoba Co-operator (March 16) – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/farm-it-manitoba/theres-a-teeming-world-of-diversity-and-complexity-in-your-fields-soil/
Kristen MacMillan, Plant Science, was quoted in the article ” Agronomy update: Environment has biggest impact on soybean production” in Top Crop Manager (March 8) – https://www.topcropmanager.com/agronomy-update-environment-has-biggest-impact-on-soybean-production/
Chaminda Weeraddana, post-doctoral fellow in Entomology, was featured in the article “Exploring pest and clubroot interactions” in Top Crop Manager (March 2) – https://www.topcropmanager.com/exploring-pest-and-clubroot-interactions/
PUBLICATIONS
TJ Lysyk, SJ Dergousoff, K Rochon, NB Chilton, AM Smith. 2021. Distribution of Dermacentor andersoni (Acari: Ixodidae) in Grassland Regions of Alberta, Canada. Journal of Medical Entomology, tjab019, https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjab019
Sonklin C, Alashi AM, Laohakunjit N, Aluko RE. 2021. Functional characterization of mung bean meal protein-derived antioxidant peptides. Molecules, 26, 1515.
Famuwagun AA, Taiwo KA, Gbadamosi SO, Oyedele DJ, Adebooye OC, Aluko RE. 2021. Antioxidant and enzymes inhibitory properties of Amaranth leaf protein hydrolysates and ultrafiltration peptide fractions. J. Food Biochem. 45, e13396.
Olagunju AI, Omoba OS, Enujiugha VN, Alashi AM, Aluko RE. 2021. Thermoase-hydrolysed pigeon pea protein and membrane fractions possess in vitro bioactive properties relating to antioxidative, antihypertensive and antidiabetic properties. J. Food Biochem. 45, e13429.
Akinyede AI, Fagbemi TN, Osundahunsi OF, Aluko RE. 2021. Amino acid composition and antioxidant properties of the enzymatic hydrolysate of calabash nutmeg (Monodora myristica) and its membrane ultrafiltration peptide fractions. J. Food Biochem. 45, e13437.
Sultana R, Alashi AM, Islam K, Saifullah M, Haque CE, Aluko RE. 2021. Chemical composition and in vitro antioxidant properties of water-soluble extracts obtained from Bangladesh vegetables. J. Food Biochem. 45, e13357.
GENERAL NEWS
Support Staff Recognition! Show your appreciation of a support staff member or team by nominating them for the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences Support Staff Awards. Deadline is May 15 – details and nomination form is at http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/staff/supportstaffawards.html.
There is also a call for nominations for FAFS Excellence in Teaching Award which was established to recognize exceptional contributions to the teaching mandate of the Faculty. Deadline is May 15 – details and nomination form is at https://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/staff/excellenceinteachingaward.html.
Plant Science MSc student Sonia Wilson did a takeover of the @umstudent Instagram account – check out her posts at https://www.instagram.com/p/CMPimcsgEI7/, https://www.instagram.com/p/CMPqSa_gpL5/, https://www.instagram.com/p/CMQdLkSgjno/, https://www.instagram.com/p/CMQ3zyfA1PY/
FHNS adjunct professor and associate professor in the department of Pediatrics and Child Health Dr. Jennifer Protudjer and her team are loking for participants for two studies:
FARIS: Food Allergy, Racial-ethnic Identity and Food inSecurity – Help researchers and patient advocates understand how you manage food allergy. As part of a short, anonymous survey, you will be asked about food allergy, including types of allergy and management, buying allergy-friendly foods and racial-ethnic identity. This study is led by Dr. Jennifer Protudjer at the University of Manitoba and is open to all families with a child under 18 years with a food allergy. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/faris_study
Pediatric food allergy in schools: Learning with children and school staff to share knowledge – The Protudjer Lab at the University of Manitoba is recruiting Manitoban children (ages 5-15 years) with and without food allergies, to participate in a virtual engagement session to discuss food allergies in schools. The information learned from these sessions will help inform the content of a food allergy education program geared towards students and teachers. Please contact the study coordinator at Jennifer [dot] Protudjer [at] umanitoba [dot] ca or visit the study website for more information http://jenniferprotudjer.ca/current-projects.html