AG e-news December 18, 2017
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, December 19 – There is a Food and Human Nutritional Sciences M.Sc. Thesis Defense at 2:30 pm in Richardson Centre Board Room. Elizabeth Babawale will present “The effect of phytosterol and cholesterol concentration in infant formula on circulating cholesterol levels, cholesterol absorption and synthesis as well as other health biomarkers using neonate piglets”. Faculty, students, staff and general public are welcome to attend.
Wednesday, December 20 – There is a Food and Human Nutritional Sciences Ph.D. Oral Defense at 9:00 am in 206 Human Ecology. Nasibeh Younes Sinaki will present “Rheological Properties of Plant-tissue Suspensions: Aqueous Suspensions of Potato and Carrot Parenchyma Powders”. Faculty, students, staff and general public are welcome to attend.
Wednesday, December 20 – There is a Food and Human Nutritional Sciences M.Sc. Thesis Defense at 9:00 am in 245 Ellis Building. Xuan Zhang will present “Using Lytic Bacteriophages as a Biocontrol Intervention to Eliminate /Salmonella in Romaine Lettuce, Mung Bean Sprouts, Mung bean Seeds, Mung bean Sprouted Seeds and to Prevent Shiga-toxigenic /Escherichia coli Biofilm Formation on Romaine Lettuce”. Faculty, students, staff and general public are welcome to attend.
December 22-January 1 – Most of the University of Manitoba will be closed for the holiday break. Complete details at http://news.umanitoba.ca/holiday-closure-2017/.
Friday, January 5 – There will be a Graduate Student Orientation Session from 7:30 am to 11:00 am in E2-229, EITC open to all graduate students in Agricultural and Food Sciences. The morning will include speakers from Student Advocacy and Accessibility, Student Support Services, and Office of Research Ethics and Compliance. You will also have an opportunity to get to know your fellow graduate students, departmental program chairs, and program assistants. A light breakfast will be served. The session is free but registration is required by January 3 to agfoodsci [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.
February 1-2 – The Manitoba Soil Science Society 61st Annual General Meeting will be held in Winnipeg. The focus of the 2018 AGM is “Remembering the Dirty 30’s: Lessons learned, forgotten and rediscovery”, but submissions on other topics in soil science will also be considered. Both oral and poster presentations are welcome. Graduate student presentations are judged with awards for the best oral and poster presentations. Complete contact information and abstracts must be submitted by December 20, 2017. Contact msss [at] cc [dot] umanitoba [dot] ca for more information.
February 23-24 – The 2018 Prairie Organics Think Whole Farm Conference will be held at the Keystone Centre in Brandon. This year’s conference will highlight producers and researchers discussing livestock, horticulture, grains, pulses and oilseeds. The conference features a 26 000 sq ft tradeshow and business to business meetings, connecting buyers and sellers of organic grains. The conference is FREE TO STUDENTS and volunteering slots are available. For conference agenda and to register: www.prairieorganics.org. Email: info [at] prairieorganics [dot] org for more information.
STAFF AND STUDENT NEWS
Gemmar Maramot has been hired as the Poultry Agricultural Attendant 4 position at the Glenlea Research Station effective December 11. Gemmar began with the University of Manitoba in the Glenlea Swine Barn in 2010. Since then, Gemmar has held positions at both Glenlea and the T.K. Cheung Centre, with his most recent being the Agricultural Attendant 3 position in the Poultry Barn. Gemmar is taking over from Jason Bourcier as the Supervisor for the Poultry Unit going forward.
Kris Dick, Biosystems Engineering, was a keynote speaker and presented two papers at the NOCMAT2017 (Non Conventional Materials Conference) conference in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, November 26 to 29.
Dilantha Fernando, Plant Science was an invited speaker at the Innovation Day of Canola Week in Saskatoon last week. Dilantha spoke on the on-going work in his lab by his students on understanding durability of resistance genes (R-genes) and emergence of virulence and how the new blackleg management tool of R-gene rotation will work in favor of the canola growers and the industry while mitigating the blackleg disease in canola. Several researchers, industry personnel and growers were in attendance.
Ryan Cardwell, Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, presented a paper titled “Untying Aid – The Case of Canadian Food Assistance” at the annual meetings of the International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium’s annual meeting in Washington, DC, on December 5.
Miyoung Suh, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, was invited (as a team of Opaskwayak Cree Nation Smart Farm) to attend “Canadian Artificial Intelligence mission to South Korea” which hosted by Canadian Embassy to Seoul, South Korea on November 14-18. She will also be making a presentation at the First Canada-Korea Joint Committee On Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation in Seoul December 19-20. Their project entitled “Improvement of Health for Canada’s Indigenous People through Smart Farm System” has been short-listed for the 1st Canada-Korea International R & D calls from NRC-IRAP through the Global Affairs of Canada.
Peter Jones and Itzel Vazquez-Vidal, Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, attended the ILSI North America Technical Committee on Lipids in Washington, DC, on December 6 where Itzel presented “Precision nutrition project, how combinatory patterns of single nucleotide polymorphisms and nutrition interact with mechanistic elements of lipid metabolism.”
The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences mentorship program for women held their second networking event on November 23 at Barley Brothers. They enjoyed learning circle discussion on student-chosen topics which included leadership development and workplace expectations towards team building and work-life balance. Panelists Patti McKenzie (Scott Wolfe Management), Myrna Grahn (Bruce D. Campbell Farm & Food Discovery Centre) and Jenn Dyck (Manitoba Canola Growers) shared with the audience their advice and experiences pertinent to agricultural careers. Thank you to all mentors and mentees for their participation in the discussions. Details about the new mentorship program was also shared in a poster presentation at the Manitoba Agronomist’s Conference, December 13-14. Visit www.cwse-prairies.ca for more information.
Marjia Khanom, a graduate student in Biosystems Engineering, successfully defended her M.Sc. thesis entitled “Consumer Perception and Choice Preference Concerning Safe Clothing and Workers’ Safety: A Case Study of University-based Consumers in Manitoba, Canada” on December 5. The examining committee comprised of Mashiur Rahman (Advisor), Biosystems Engineering, Tammi Feltham, Biosystems Engineering, Harvy Frankel, Faculty of Social Work and Emdad Haque (Co-advisor), Natural Resources Institute.
IN THE NEWS
The work done by Getahun Legesse Gizaw and Kim Ominski, Animal Science, and their collaborators on the environmental footprint of the beef industry was featured in the Beef Cattle Research Council’s blog article “The Canadian beef industry’s water footprint is shrinking” (December 14) – http://www.beefresearch.ca/blog/the-canadian-beef-industrys-water-footprint-is-shrinking/
Nazim Cicek, Biosystems Engineering, continues with his series on energy and the environment with the opinion article “Manitoba’s investment in solar power is paying dividends” in the Winnipeg Free Press (December 13) – http://news.umanitoba.ca/op-ed-manitobas-investment-in-solar-power-is-paying-dividends/.
David Lobb, Soil Science, was quoted in the articles “Tillage questions posed for Manitoba” and “Manitoba sees changing erosion landscape”in the Manitoba Co-operator (December 11) – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/crops/tillage-questions-posed-for-manitoba/ and https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/crops/manitoba-sees-changing-erosion-landscape/.
Doug Cattani, Plant Science, was quoted in the article “Making bread — and maybe history too” in the Manitoba Co-operator (December 11) – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/local/making-bread-and-maybe-history-too/.
Jason Gibbs, Entomology, was highlighted in several articles that highlighted a recent paper he co-authored with Michigan State University colleagues on bee species counts – http://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/regional/first-ever-tally-finds-about-bee-species-in-michigan/article_50cdb72e-77ce-5120-bae9-33534ba5224e.html; http://www.futurity.org/michigan-bee-census-1630102-2/; and http://www.michigansthumb.com/news/article/First-ever-tally-finds-about-465-bee-species-in-12410798.php.
PUBLICATIONS
Farenhorst, A., Amarakoon, I, Andronak, L.A. 2017. 17 beta-Estradiol mineralization under field and laboratory incubations. J. Environ. Sci. Health Part B-Pesticides Food Contaminants and Agricultural Wastes 52: 564-569
Polyanna Silveira Hornung, Suelen Ávila, Kabo Masisi, Lovemore Nkhata Malunga, Marcelo Lazzarotto, Egon Schnitzler, Rosemary Hoffmann Ribani, and Trust Beta. 2018. Green development of biodegradable films based on native yam (Dioscoreaceae) starch mixtures. Starch/Starke DOI: [10.1002/star.201700234] Published online: 17 November 2017 http://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.uml.idm.oclc.org/doi/10.1002/star.201700234/epdf
An examination of how the quality of frozen convenience noodles changes with the nature of the processing regime was the subject of a collaboration between researchers at the University of Manitoba, the Canadian Grain Commission and the Kyoto Institute of Technology. – Daugelaite, D; Strybulevych, A; Norisuye, T; Hatcher, DW; Scanlon, MG; Page, JH. 2017. Frozen Convenience Noodles: Use of Ultrasound to Study the Influence of Preparation Methods on Their Rheological Parameters. Cereal Chemistry 94: 892-896.
GENERAL NEWS
Bruce (BSA/58, LLD/07) and Lesley Campbell have generously offered to match all gifts to the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre endowment fund, up to a total of $250,000. This will provide an opportunity for donors to double their impact on the agriculture outreach being done at the Farm and Food Discovery Centre and help teach another generation of Manitobans about the agricultural industry’s important role in feeding Manitoba and the world. Gifts can be made online or by phone at 204-474-9195.
Alumnus Rauri Qually, DipAgric/17, was recently elected to the Wheat and Barley Board. As we also recently reported, Rauri’s wife Pam Bailey (farm safety coordinator in the School of Agriculture) was elected to the Manitoba Canola Growers Association board. Rauri and Pam farm at Dakota and both are active in Keystone Agricultural Producers and Manitoba Young Farmers.
There are important changes to Concur Expense Claims effective immediately. Learn more at https://umanitoba.ca/admin/financial_services/media/Summary_of_Changes_-_Travel_and_Business_Expense_Claims_Procedure.pdf. The revised Procedure can be found at http://umanitoba.ca/admin/governance/governing_documents/financial/travel_and_business_expense_claims.html.
The Glenlea Research Station has posted an Agricultural Attendant 3 position for the Poultry Unit. The posting closes on January 6, 2018. For more information, please visit https://viprecprod.ad.umanitoba.ca/default.aspx?REQ_ID=00886
Call for Poster Presentations – The CropConnect Conference will be held on February 14 & 15, 2018 at the Victoria Inn, Winnipeg, MB. This year a poster session has been created to showcase research. To learn more about the poster session, or to submit a poster, please email laura [at] manitobapulse [dot] ca by January 12, 2018. All presenters must register for the event and this year a reduced rate has been made available for students wishing to take part in the conference: cropconnectconference.ca/event/registration/attendee-registration.
The Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor – Food Systems and Human Health. Closing date for applications is January 15, 2018. For more information, please visit https://viprecprod.ad.umanitoba.ca/DEFAULT.ASPX?REQ_ID=00395.
Certificate of Merit Call for Nominations – The Certificate of Merit is presented by the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and the School of Agriculture in recognition of leadership with agricultural organizations and outstanding service to the community at large. Each year two Certificates of Merit are presented, normally, one to a graduate of the Agriculture Diploma program, and one to a graduate of the Agriculture Degree program. Nominations are considered by the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences Executive Committee and must be received no later than January 12, 2018. Nominations should include a letter from the nominator describing the nominee’s leadership contributions and service to the community. Letters of support may also be included. More information including a list of previous recipients can be found at http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/school/merit.html.
Two NSERC Competitions give you to the opportunity to highlight your research – Lights, Camera, Science Action! – NSERC is once again inviting you to submit a 60-second video showcasing science and engineering on our campus for a chance to win cash prizes in the Science Action! contest. Read more: http://nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ScienceAction/index_eng.asp. Contest closes: January 19, 2018. Science Exposed is a science photography contest with cash prizes open to students and academics. Read more: http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ScienceExposed-PreuveParLimage/index_eng.asp. Contest closes: January 12, 2018.