AG e-news April 24, 2018
News and events from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences
News and events from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday, April 25 – The final 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. Terence P. McGonigle, Professor, Department of Biology, Brandon University, will present on “Figuring out soil biology with variation in time, space, and among species”. Refreshments will be served at 3:00 pm in the Atrium. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Thursday, April 26 – The Department of Mathematics presents John Urschel, MIT, former NFL Baltimore Raven’s star, on the topic “A Mild Introduction to the Multiplicative Weights Algorithm” at 3:30 pm in the Robert B. Schultz Lecture Theatre, St. John’s College, 91 Ralph Campbell Road. Multiplicative weights is a famous algorithm in theoretical computer science for pooling advice from “experts”. John will give a brief introduction to the algorithm and both the power and limitations of it. This is for a general scientific audience and has no mathematical prerequisites. Reception to follow lecture. All are welcome to attend. Rush seating in effect.
April 26-27 – The Canadian Agri-Marketing Association Manitoba is hosting “Earning Public Trust – An Interactive Working Session”, a professional development event at Delta Hotels Winnipeg by Marriott, 350 St. Mary Avenue. This two-day event includes a full day working session that will feature representatives from some of North America’s leading agri-businesses, ag representatives and food brands. The second day consists of a half-day strategic planning session that will use the previous day’s best practices to help attendees apply them in the development of a Public Trust Strategic Plan. Learn more and register at http://publictrustcama.ca.
Tuesday, May 1 – The Plant Science Safety Seminar will be held in the Richardson International Auditorium, Room 172 Agriculture Bldg from 9:00 am until noon. Academics, technicians, graduate students, and summer students from other departments are welcome to attend. Please contact Doug Durnin at 204-474-6611 or Doug [dot] Durnin [at] umanitoba [dot] ca if planning to come so they can have sufficient handouts prepared and refreshments available.
Tuesday, May 1 – There will be a MSc. (Human Nutritional Sciences) Thesis Defense at 2:00 pm in Room 207 Human Ecology Building. Hongyi Wu will present “The cholesterol-lowering effect of indigestible proteins isolated from pulses”.
Friday, May 4 – The 2018 Diploma Convocation will be held at 3:30 pm in the Investors Group Athletic Centre. All are welcome to attend!
Saturday, May 5 – The 29th Annual Traditional Graduation Pow Wow will take place at the Investors Group Athletic Centre. Please join us in celebrating the achievements of the 2018 University of Manitoba’s Indigenous graduates. Details at http://umanitoba.ca/student/indigenous/events/traditional_graduation_pow_wow.html.
Tuesday, May 8 – The 8th annual Manitoba Materials Conference will be held in the Engineering Atrium and surrounding lecture halls. Once again, students and researchers across the breadth of materials research within the institute will be presenting posters that will showcase their work. The poster competition finalists will be invited to give their 180 second presentations for a grand prize. For more information please visit: http://umanitoba.ca/interdisciplinary/research/mim/conference/790.html.
Saturday, May 12 – Science Rendezvous 2018, a nation-wide science open house, will once again be held at the University of Manitoba campus. Bring your family down and check out the Faculty booth in the Engineering Atrium between 11 am and 4 pm. There are also lots of other exhibits planned, from the Chemistry Magic Show to a robotic painting snake to homemade slime. Get your geek on and come visit! See the complete list of activities at http://www.sci.umanitoba.ca/?page_id=916.
June 10-13 – The 17th Canadian Animal Health Laboratorians Network (CAHLN) Annual Meeting, “Adapting to Emerging Animal Diseases” will take place at the University of Manitoba. The CAHLN Annual Meeting is a forum for knowledge exchange and networking among animal health laboratorians from across Canada, providing valuable continuing education to those working in both research and diagnostic laboratories. The meeting is an ideal setting for graduate students to present their research and discuss it with experts in their field of study. Call for Abstracts is open now until May 1, 2018 http://cahln-rctlsa.com/2018-cahln-annual-meeting/
August 12-17 – The International Biotechnology Symposium themed “Supporting a Healthy World” will be held in Montreal and is co-organized by the National Research Council of Canada, McGill University, the University of Waterloo, and BIOTECanada. From disease-resistant crops to vaccines that keep livestock healthy, biotechnology has a big role to play in the sustainable development of our natural resources. This event is held every two years in a different country. IBS2018 is a great opportunity for science faculty and grad students to attend, network, and present their latest research. The call for abstracts has been extended to May 11 and the early bird registration discount to July 3. See details at http://www.ibs2018montreal.org/en/index.html.
September 29 – There is a pre-ISNN-conference course add-on entitled “Precision Nutrition in Practice” which is hosted by Dr. Martin Kohlmeier and Olivia Dong. Cost: $125 (plus 5% GST). Details and registration at www.isnn2018.org.
September 30-October 3 – Save the date for the 12th Congress 2018 International Society of Nutrigenetics-Nutrigenomics which will take place in Winnipeg, MB. The Scientific Program will include presentations from internationally renowned speakers on cutting edge areas of research and new discoveries in genetics/genomics, and nutrition. Check out the website at www.isnn2018.org. (See call for abstracts in General News below)
STAFF AND STUDENT NEWS
The Faculty learned of the passing of Dr. Sam Loschiavo on April 9 at the age of 93. Dr. Loschiavo had a long-standing relationship with the University of Manitoba, particularly with the Department of Entomology. Dr. Loschiavo was a research scientist with the stored products research group at the Ag Canada station on campus. In 1961, Dr. Loschiavo was appointed an Honorary Research Professor associated with the Department of Entomology. This type of appointment, since discontinued, was for life, and entitled the appointee to participate in graduate student education at the University of Manitoba. He provided graduate supervision and taught stored products entomology and insect biology. Dr Loschiavo published 77 peer reviewed scientific papers, perhaps the most significant of which was a paper describing his development of a trap for detection of beetles in bulks of stored grain — a trap design that is in wide-spread use today. A personal obituary of Dr Loschiavo can be viewed at: https://www.wojciksfuneralchapel.com/obituaries/samuel-r-loschiavo/2067101/
Karin Wittenberg, Dean, has been elected as a Councillor (three-year term) to the Provincial Council of the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists.
Dilantha Fernando, Plant Science, was an invited speaker in the plenary session “A step beyond – Towards a mycotoxin-free supply chain through next level control strategies” at the 10th World Mycotoxin Forum held in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands March 11-14. Dilantha’s talk was titled “Lowered mycotoxin accumulation in cereal crops through investigation of fusarium/host interactions: challenges and opportunities through omics”. Fusarium mycotoxin in cereals is the most economically devastating issue in cereals in Canada. With the identification of newer toxins and chemotypes, there are demanding constraints faced by the industry. Ana Badea (AAFC), James Tucker (AAFC and University of Manitoba) and Chami Amarasinghe (University of Manitoba) were co-authors to the presentation given by Dilantha.
James Tucker, Plant Science doctoral student, gave a presentation at the 14th European Fusarium Seminar held in Tullin, Austria from April 8-11. James’s presentation was titled “Developing FHB resistance and lowered DON accumulation in two-row barley at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Brandon Research and Development Centre”. James is co-supervised by Dilantha Fernando (Plant Science) and Ana Badea (AAFC/Brandon). In addition to this presentation, James delivered another talk on behalf of Dilantha at the FusResist satellite meeting held in Tullin, Austria. This presentation was titled “Genomic selection for fusarium resistance in two-row barley”. FusResist Project is a collaboration between Canadian and German researchers to mitigate the fusarium head blight disease in cereals. The five year project comes to an end this year.
Charles Grant, Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, is attending the AgriTech Israel in Tel-Aviv, May 8-10.
Chad Lawley, Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, presented an invited seminar in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Guelph on March 26. The title of the seminar was “Ownership Restrictions and Farmland Values: Evidence from the 2003 Saskatchewan Farm Security Act Amendment.”
Jim House, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, recently gave presentations related to factors influencing the nutritional quality of plant-based proteins, including Pulse Protein Innovation Summit, Oakland, CA, Jan. 17-19, 2018 and 4th Latin American Cereal Congress, Mexico City, MX, March 11-14.
Umar Rasool, Animal Science (Supervisor: J. House) successfully defended his M.Sc. thesis, entitled “Safety and Efficacy of Hemp Products in Broiler Production”.
Bradley Feltham, Human Nutritional Sciences student in Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, has received 2018 UMSU Award for Indigenous Community Leader. Read more about Bradley’s award at https://www.sbrc.ca/2018/04/feltham-receives-umsu-award-for-indigenous-community-leaders/. Based on research last summer in Miyoung Suh’s lab supported by The Murphy Foundation Incorporated Indigenous Mentorship and Experiential Education Co-op Award, Bradley will present “DHA supplementation during prenatal ethanol exposure reduces oxidative stress in fetal liver” which is selected for an oral presentation, at the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids, Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 28.
Agro Ecology Day was held on April 19 at the Ian N. Morrison Research Farm and involved 85 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 Manitoba Agriculture. The students participated in hands-on learning with experts in the fields of entomology, soils, 4-H and livestock, agrometeorology, riparian areas and water quality. Presenters included staff and students from University of Manitoba, Manitoba Ag, 4-H Manitoba, Up the Creek Cattle Farm and South Central Eco Institute/Nutrients for Life. See more including photos at http://news.umanitoba.ca/agro-ecology-day-engages-high-school-students/.
On April 10, the Faculty celebrated the new artwork that graces the Atrium pillar and accompanies the Indigenous sacred plant garden. Artist Victoria McIntosh, Vice-Provost (Indigenous Engagement) Lynn Lavallée and U of M Elder Norman Meade were special guests. View some images from the event at https://www.facebook.com/UMFAFS/posts/1929980647312198 or come see the artwork for yourself!
The Faculty seminar page has been updated to include the recent presentation by Jason Morrison, Biosystems Engineering. Watch it at http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/seminars/index.html.
IN THE NEWS
Nazim Cicek, Biosystems Engineering, wrote the op-ed “Brady Road landfill biogas could replace natural gas at University of Manitoba campus” for CBC Manitoba (April 21) – http://news.umanitoba.ca/op-ed-brady-road-landfill-biogas-could-replace-natural-gas-at-university-of-manitoba-campus/
The Glenlea Swine Unit was featured in Topigs Norsvin’s Spring 2018 newsletter, which details the company’s partnership with the University of Manitoba – https://topigsnorsvin.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1803-Topigs-Norsvin-Insider.pdf
David Lobb, Soil Science, was quoted in the Western Producer story “Field drainage: just scratch the surface” (April 19) – https://www.producer.com/2018/04/field-drainage-just-scratch-the-surface/
Jared Carlberg, Associate Dean (Academic) and Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, was quoted in the article “Merger mania could hurt farmers” in the Manitoba Co-operator (April 19) – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/merger-mania-in-the-global-agriculture-sector-could-hurt-farmers/
Michele Rogalsky, School of Agriculture and students Antonio DeLuca, Amanda Yu, and Mikayla Rouire were featured in the article “Getting schooled” in the Manitoba Co-operator (April 19) on page 21. In a side bar “A hands-on approach”, Craig Fisher describes the new experiential learning course being offered at Glenlea Research Station this summer.
Yvonne Lawley, Plant Science, was quoted in the article “Soybeans raise tillage issues” in Manitoba Co-operator (April 16) – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/crops/soybean-production-raises-tillage-issues-for-manitoba-farmers/
Kateryn Rochon, Entomology, was featured in the story “Enjoying Nature While Not Being Ticked Off By Ticks” in Pembina Valley Online (April 14) – https://www.pembinavalleyonline.com/local/enjoying-nature-while-not-being-ticked-off-by-ticks
The School of Agriculture’s Colin Penner, along with Jake Ayre and Korey Peters were interviewed by Geoff Currier on CJOB on April 13 about being a young farmer – visit http://store.corusradio.com/audio-vault/avWidget/?s=cjobam&styleon=d12026&styleoff=95a5a6 and select April 13, 10 am and advance to 04:19 mark.
Paul Gregoire, recent M.Sc. grad, was quoted in “Keeping canola out of your soybean fields” (April 10) – https://www.grainews.ca/2018/04/10/keeping-volunteer-canola-out-of-your-soybean-fields/
Chad Lawley, Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, was interviewed on March 27 for an episode of FARE-talk, “The Economic Consequences of Farmland Policy on Farmland Values in Saskatchewan,” hosted by Dr. Brady Deaton from the University of Guelph – https://www.uoguelph.ca/fare/FARE-talk/index.html#consequences.
PUBLICATIONS
Hayes, R.C., Wang, S., Newell, M.T., Turner, K., Larsen, J., Gazza, L., Anderson, J.A., Bell, L.W., Cattani, D.J., Frels, K., Galassi, E., Morgounov, A.I., Revell, C.K., Thapa, D.B., Sacks, E.J., Sameri, M., Wade, L.J., Westerbergh, A., Shamanin, V., Amanov, A. and G.D. Li. 2018. The performance of early-generation perennial winter cereals at 21 sites across four continents. Intended journal: Sustainability 2018, 10, 1124; doi:10.3390/su10041124.
Cattani, D.J. and S.R. Asselin. 2018. Has selection for grain yield altered intermediate wheatgrass? Sustainability 10, 688; doi:10.3390/su10030688.
Hornung, P.S., Ávila, S., Masisi, K., Malunga, L.N., Lazzarotto, M., Schnitzler, E., Beta, T. and Ribani, R.H. (2018) Natural antioxidant starch film from Amazon tumeric (Curcuma longa L.). Polymer Bulletin 18 pages (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-018-2285-2) Published online: 22 February 2018.
Zielinski, A.A.F., Haminiuk, C.W.I. and Beta, T. (2018) Evaluation of the phenolics and in vitro antioxidant activity of different botanical herbals used for tea infusions in Brazil. Current Nutrition & Food Science 14, 1-8 (DOI : 10.2174/1573401313666171020114727).
Dutta B, Grant BB, Congreves KA, Smith WN, Wagner-Riddle C, VanderZaag A, Tenuta M, Desjardins R. 2017. Characterising effects of management practices, snow cover, and soil texture on soil temperature: Model development in DNDC. Biosystems Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2017.02.001
Huang, Q; Badreldin, N; Lobb, DA; Li, S; Feng, G; McConkey, BG. 2017. Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analyses of the Modified Wind Erosion Equation for Application in Canada. Land degradation & development 28(7):2298-2307.
Habibiandehkordi, R; Lobb, DA; Sheppard, SC; Flaten, DN; Owens, PN. 2017. Uncertainties in vegetated buffer strip function in controlling phosphorus export from agricultural land in the Canadian prairies. Environmental science and pollution research international 24(22):18372-18382.
Nosworthy, M.G., Medina, G., Franczyk, A.J., Neufeld., J., Appah, P., Utioh, A., Frohlich, P, and House, J.D. 2018. Effect of processing on the in vitro and in vivo protein quality of red and green lentils (Lens culinaris). 240: 588-593.
Jing, M., Zhao, S., Rogiewicz, A., Slominski, B., and House, J.D. 2018. Assessment of the Minimal Available Phosphorus Needs of Pullets throughout Development. Poult. Sci. 97: 557-567.
Jing, M., Zhao, S., Rogiewicz, A., Slominski, B., and House, J.D. 2018. Assessment of the minimal available phosphorus needs of laying hens: Implications for phosphorus management strategies. Poult. Sci. (In Press)
Brassard D, Arsenault BJ, Boyer M, Bernic D, Tessier-Grenier M, Talbot D, Tremblay A, Levy E, Asztalos B, Jones PJH, Couture P, Lamarche B. 2018. Saturated Fats from Butter but Not from Cheese Increase HDL-Mediated Cholesterol Efflux Capacity from J774 Macrophages in Men and Women with Abdominal Obesity. J Nutr. 2018 Apr 1;148(4):573-580. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxy014. PMID: 29659963 [PubMed – in process]
Zhongwei Zou, Xuehua Zhang and W.G. Dilantha Fernando. 2018. Distribution of mating-type alleles and genetic variability in field populations of Leptosphaeria maculans in western Canada. Journal of Phytopathology DOI: 10.1111/jph.12706.
G. Dilantha Fernando, Xuehua Zhang, Carrie Selin and Zhongwei Zou, Debra L.McLaren, Anastasia Kubinec, Paula S. Parks, M. Harunur Rashid, K. Rasanie E. Padmathilake, Lihua Rong, Cunchun Yang, Sakaria H. Liban, Belaghihalli N. Gnanesh, and Shuanglong Huang. 2018. A six-year investigation of the dynamics of avirulence profiles, disease incidence, and mating type alleles of Leptosphaeria maculans populations associated with canola crops in Manitoba, Canada. Plant Dis. 102: 790-798.
In a book edited by the Dean of Agriculture at UBC, Martin Scanlon of University of Manitoba and Alexander Henrich of CSM Bakery Solutions reviewed the enormous transformation that has occurred in the food industry as a result of modern biological techniques improving the specificity of enzymes as process aids. Scanlon MG, Henrich, AW & Whitaker, JR. 2017. Factors affecting enzyme activity in foods. PP 337-365 in Proteins in Food Processing 2nd Edition, Editor: Rickey Y. Yada. Woodhead Publishing Published Date: 13th November 2017
With co-editors Peter Shewry from Rothamstead, Hamit Koksel of Hacettepe University and Grant Campbell of the University of Huddersfield, Martin Scanlon wrote an editorial to introduce selected papers from the International Cereals and Bread Congress held in Istanbul in 2016 in a special issue of the Journal of Cereal Science. Cereals and Bread for the 21st Century Edited by Peter R Shewry, Hamit Koksel, Martin G. Scanlon, Grant M Campbell Journal of Cereal Science Volume 78, Pages 1-74
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 is May 1 – details and nomination form is at http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/staff/supportstaffawards.html.
The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences mentorship program for women held their 4th and final networking event of the 2017-18 year on March 26. The event focused on networking with other program participants in a relaxed atmosphere at the Investor’s Group Field Skydeck. In its inaugural year, the program matched 40 mentors and 20 university students to celebrate women helping women in STEM careers. Please visit cwse-prairies.ca for more information or contact Siobhan.maas@umanitoba to register for the 2018-19 program starting September 2018.
The ICAN-WISE (Integrated Collaborative Academic Network for Women in Science and Engineering) Scholarship is aimed at helping female undergraduate students develop mentoring relationships with women STEM academics. Each year, students are invited to select a mentor of their choice and apply for this scholarship worth $6,000 to embark on a summer of natural sciences research. The funding is the student’s stipend while working with their mentor on a research project in the summer of 2018. http://cwse-prairies.ca/pages/ican-wise/ican-wise.php. Application Deadline: April 24, 2018.
Call for Abstracts – On June 27, graduate students across departments and faculties (arts, agriculture, biological sciences, environment, engineering) – in conjunction with the Food Systems Research Group – are putting on the inaugural Food Systems and Sustainability Symposium. Graduate students from ANY department at the University of Manitoba wanting to share their research towards understanding and improving our shared food system are invited to submit an abstract. Student Presentation Abstracts due Friday, April 27 and Poster Abstracts due Friday, May 11. More information at uomfssc.wordpress.com.
Call for Abstracts for ISNN2018 – Present your latest discoveries! The 12th Congress of the International Society of Nutrigenetics-Nutrigenomics is September 30-October 2. All abstracts will be published in Lifestyle Genomics. Abstract deadline is June 15, 2018. Check out the preliminary program online and submit your abstract today for one of the 10 sessions -www.isnn2018.org.
Open Farm Day is an opportunity for Manitobans to connect directly with farms, ranches, and market gardens across the province. Agriculture organizations and farms wishing to register for Manitoba Open Farm Day on Sunday September 16, 2018 may go to www.openfarmday.ca and click on Register Your Site. The deadline for farms to register is April 30, 2018.