AG e-news July 26, 2019

News and events from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday, July 27 – Next up in Family Fun Days at the Farm and Food Discovery Centre is Ice Cream Party! It’s hot outside! Come make some homemade ice cream and take a tour of our dairy barn to discover how dairy products like milk and ice cream are made. Pre-registration required, activities between 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Cost: $5.00 plus GST per person ages 5+, $3.50 plus GST per child 3-4 years old. For more information, please contact our Discovery Centre Coordinator at (204) 883-2524 or ffdc [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.  To see all the Family Fun Days events, visit https://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/discovery_centre/events.html.

Thursday, August 8 – Blue Bomber game at Investors’ Group Field. Parking restrictions will be in effect most parking lots starting at 6:00 pm. Complete details about alternate parking locations and other event dates are listed at http://umanitoba.ca/parking/igf.html.

Saturday, August 10 – Join us for Veggie Adventures “From Farm to Table” as part of Family Fun Days at the Farm and Food Discovery Centre. From learning quirky facts about Manitoban grown produce to participating in a live and interactive food demo, everyone in the family will have a blast! Plus, there will be free swag and tons of cool prizes to win. No pre-registration required, activities between 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Cost: $5.00 plus GST per person ages 5+, $3.50 plus GST per child 3-4 years old. For more information, please contact our Discovery Centre Coordinator at (204) 883-2524 or ffdc [at] umanitoba [dot] ca. To see all the Family Fun Days events, visit https://umanitoba.ca/faculties/afs/discovery_centre/events.html.

Thursday, August 15 – The Manitoba Soil Science Society (MSSS) presents their Summer Tour: Secrets of the Sandhills: Diversity & Preservation. Bus leaves from the Sobeys parking lot (Kenaston & McGillivray) in Winnipeg at 7:30 am. Highlights for the day: Tour a potato farm and a community pasture; Assiniboine Delta Aquifer – unique water and nutrient management issues; Lunch and tour of field plots at Canada-Manitoba Crop Diversification Centre near Carberry; Spirit Sands Trail – guided hike of Manitoba’s own desert. Lunch included. Returning to Winnipeg around 5:30pm.  CCA credits will be available. Register before August 5 to get early bird rate of $85 ($55 student) – additional $15 fee if after August 5. Registration form at: https://www.mbsoils.ca/event/summer-field-tour/.

Thursday, August 15 – Blue Bomber game at Investors’ Group Field. Parking restrictions will be in effect most parking lots starting at 6:00 pm. Complete details about alternate parking locations and other event dates are listed at http://umanitoba.ca/parking/igf.html.

STAFF AND STUDENT NEWS

The Department of Biosystems Engineering welcomes new faculty member Dr. Chyngyz Erkinbaev as Assistant Professor effective July 1, 2019. Chyngyz holds a Bachelor’s degree in Food Process Engineering from the Kyrgyz Technical University (Kyrgyzstan), a Master’s degree in Postharvest and Food Process Engineering from the Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand), and a PhD in Biosystems Engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). Chyngyz has held positions of post-doctoral research fellow/research technician in our Department since 2014. He intends to develop a research program in the area of “smart technologies in food process engineering”. Chyngyz can be found in E1-344 ETIC, and at 474-6457 or Chyngyz [dot] Erkinbaev [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.

If you have been by the Student Services Office this summer, you may have noticed a new face! Holly Adams is a Junior Academic Advisor who will be working until the end of August to provide academic support to our undergraduate students. Originally from Winkler, MB, Holly is a second year Agribusiness student who is passionate about plants, animals, and people. Holly is in the Student Services Office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Rani Ramachandran, Ph.D. graduate in Biosystems Engineering, was named earlier this year as the recipient of the prestigious University of Manitoba Distinguished Dissertation Award. Her thesis was title “Numerical Modelling of Superheated Steam Drying of Distillers’ Spent Grain Pellet – A Single Element Approach” and was described by one of her nominators as “an original contribution to research on a novel drying technology while using a modern engineering approach.” The Faculty of Graduate Studies hands out six dissertation awards annually, one in each of the following categories: applied sciences (the category that Rani won), humanities, interdisciplinary science, natural sciences, social sciences, and health sciences. The award comes with a $3,000 prize.

Chantal Bassett, research facilitator in the Faculties of Agricultural and Food Sciences, and Kinesiology and Recreation Management, was honoured with a 2019 Award of Excellence by President David Barnard at a reception on June 27. This award is in recognition of her leadership, mentoring and assistance to academics in both faculties in the development of grants and awards applications Read more at https://news.umanitoba.ca/research-facilitator-honoured-with-award-of-excellence/.

Jason Morrison, Biosystems Engineering, was presented with the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Teaching Award of Merit and Crystal Almdahl, Entomology, and Chelsey Walchuk, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, were selected to receive the Graduate Student Teaching Award of Merit. These awards are given annually to individuals who excel in teaching an agricultural discipline.

The Faculty also annually presents an Excellence in Teaching award, which was established to recognize exceptional contributions to the teaching mandate of the Faculty.  The recipient receives a certificate along with a grant of $2,500 that can be used in support of either teaching or research activities. Brian Amiro, Soil Science, was named the 2019 recipient for his leadership in guiding the review and renewal of the Faculty’s undergraduate curriculum.

A number of Biosystems Engineering faculty and staff were winners at the Canadian Society for Bioengineering/La Société Canadienne de Génie Agroalimentaire et de Bioingénierie annual (CSBE/SCGAB) annual meeting in Vancouver July 14-17. Danny Mann was named a CSBE Fellow, given to members of outstanding and extraordinary qualifications and experience in the field of agricultural, food or biological engineering.  Digvir Jayas and Song Liu were recipients of the inaugural CSBE John Ogilvie Research Innovation Award, presented for outstanding contributions to research, in any field of research relevant to CSBE/SCGAB, by an individual or team of researchers and intended to recognize the innovation or ingenuity of a single research project. Digvir was acknowledged for his groundbreaking innovation of the horizontal airflow grain dryer (in fact, he was described in his citation as the “father of horizontal airflow drying”!) Song was recognized for the development and fabrication of “smart” bacteria-responsive wound dressings. And Fuji Jian was honoured with the CSBE John Clark Award, given to a member who has produced outstanding work in industry, teaching, research or extension in one or more of the fields of electric power and processing, energy or food engineering. Student awards included: Laurissa Bridgeman – CSBE Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship; Sarah Currie – CSBE Undergraduate Thesis Award; Emily Kiely-Smith – CSBE Undergraduate Thesis Award; Rhianna-Lynn Holter-Ferguson – CSBE Undergraduate Design Project Award; Cliff Dueck – CSBE Graduate Thesis Award (M.Sc. category); Rani Puthukulangara Ramachandran – CSBE Graduate Thesis Award (Ph.D. category); Avery Simundsson – First Place, Oral Presentation at CSBE Conference; Kobby Acquah – Third Place, Oral Presentation at CSBE Conference; and Navjot Kaur Brar – Third Place, Poster Presentation at CSBE Conference. Also related to the CSBE Council, Danny Mann’s term as President ended (he will hold position of Past-President for one year) and Fuji Jian joined the CSBE Council as the Regional Director for Manitoba.

A number of students in Soil Science were winners at the recent joint meeting of Canadian Society for Soil Science (CSSS) / Canadian Society of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology held July 9-13 in Saskatoon. Joanne Thiessen Martens is this year’s recipient of the CSSS President’s Award for her poster presentation titled “Response of organically managed crops to addition of struvite fertilizer in a Manitoba soil”, co-authored with K. Schneider, F. Zvomuya, and M. Entz. Tony Britton was the winner of the Campbell Scientific Canada – Bert Tanner Student Prizefor his oral presentation, co-authored with A. Glenn, S. Satchithanantham, C Jackson, B. Amiro, and H. Wilson, titled “Improving canola evapotranspiration estimates in Manitoba”. Chamara Weerasekara received the CSSS Student Travel Award. Julie DePauw (Faculty of Environment, Soil Science minor) was this year’s recipient of the CSSS Student Book Award.

The Food Systems Student Symposium held June 26 at the University of Manitoba was a great success, and a number of our students did well in the presentations. Poster Presentations: 1. Rhea Teranishi – Animal Science/NCLE M.Sc. student (K. Ominski),  2. Lucien Cayer – Human Nutritional Sciences M.Sc. student (H. Aukema). Traditional Oral Presentations: 2. Ramandeep Kaur – HNS M.Sc. student (M. Moghadasian). People’s Choice category:  2. Poster presentation: Emily Boonstra & Sydney Fortier – both Animal Science/NCLE M.Sc. students (K. Ominski).

The 47th Annual University of Manitoba Long Service Awards Dinner was held June 26, and Carla Taylor, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, was recognized for 25 years of service.

Derek Brewin, Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, and Diploma alum Roberta Galbraith were recently elected to three-year terms on the board of directors for Farm Management Canada (FMC).  FMC is a national organization which plays an important role in promoting farm business management best practices, and providing Canada’s farmers with leading edge resources and tools to reach their business goals.

Kateryn Rochon, Entomology and student Gina Karam were in Madison, WI July 7-11 for the joint meeting of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP) — American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists (AAVP) — Livestock Insect Workers’ Conference (LIWC). Gina was selected to give an oral presentation titled “Adult Population Dynamics of the Stable Fly (Stomoxys calcitrans, L.) on Dairy Farms of Manitoba, Canada.” Kateryn was selected as Chair (i.e. president) of the LIWC Executive Committee for 2019-2020.

Brad Feltham, summer research student in Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, and Chelsey Walchuk, PhD student, attended the 1st International Lipid School, organized by the Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids in London UK, June 17-19.  Part of this trip was supported by Stewart Pugh External Study Scholarship.

Joanne Thiessen Martens, Soil Science Ph.D. student, was awarded the Western Grains Research Foundation Graduate Scholarship.

Christina Lengyel, Food and Human Nutritionla Sciences, recently received the Member Recognition Award for Outstanding Leadership at the Dietitians of Canada (DC) National Conference Annual Members Awards Ceremony.  DC members nominate their colleagues for awards in four different areas of excellence: Leadership, Innovation, Education and Association Catalyst. Winners are recognized for their volunteer efforts, professional expertise and achievements that contribute to the advancement of the profession – https://www.dietitians.ca/About-Us/Awards-and-Recognition/Member-Recognition-Awards/Member-Recognition-Awards-2019—Leadership.aspx. As well, nine FHNS undergraduate students were sponsored to attend the DC conference which ran from June 6-8 in Ottawa, ON. A special thanks to the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences Endowment Fund for supporting their participation.

Christina Lengyel, FHNS, received funding ($17,000) from the Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research to conduct the research project entitled, “Navigating the Nutrition Information Landscape for Long Term Care Residents and their Decision Makers at the End of Life”. She also received funding ($10,000) through the University Research Grants Program (URGP) from the University of Manitoba to conduct the study, “Development of Hydration Intervention Protocols for Long Term Care Homes”.

Ruchira Nandasiri, HNS Ph.D. student (supervisor Usha Thiyam-Hollander), and Md. Jiaur Rahman, HNS MSc Student (supervisor Usha Thiyam-Hollander), attended the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST) conference in Halifax, NS, May 22-24. At the conference, Ruchira presented his poster titled “Impact of Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) on Hydroxycinnamic Acid Derivatives” and Jiaur presented his poster titled with “Identification of hydroxycinnamic acids and their derivatives by HPLC-DAD and antioxidant potential of Local Canadian beers extracts”. Ruchira received the CIFST student travel grant for 2019.

Chengbo Yang, Animal Science, and his graduate students Janghan Choi and Qianru Hui attended the 2019 American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) and the Canadian Society of Animal Science (CSAS) Joint Annual Meeting and trade show held in Austin, TX on July 8-11. Janghan and Qianru made several poster and oral presentations.  Janghan and Qianru have been awarded the 2019 CSAS Graduate Student Travel Fellowship sponsored by Canadian Science Publishing and Agricultural Institute of Canada.

Chengbo Yang, Animal Science, and his graduate students Marion Mogire, Chongwu Yang and Qian Jiang and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Peng Lu attended the 2019 Poultry Science Association (PSA) Annual Meeting held in Montreal on July 15-18.  Marion, Chongwu, and Peng made poster presentations.  Qian and Chongwu gave oral presentations.

The spring Faculty seminars can be found online at www.umanitoba.ca/afs/seminars, including ones by Rotimi Aluko, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, Chengbo Yang, Animal Science, and guest presenter Nathan Pelletier, University of British Columbia – Okanagan.

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the University of Manitoba partnered to host “Digging Deep on Soil Health” July 25 and 26 in Carman. Ten specialists working on Foodgrains Bank projects in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Ethiopia, as well as faculty from the University of Manitoba including Martin Entz and Francis Zvomuya took part in the event. The two days included site visits on research being done in Carman with discussion on topics such as soil health and protection, care for the environment, and what these topics mean for ending global hunger.

Ever wonder what insect names are in Cree? One of the Department of Entomology Kirkness student’s parents was kind enough to send us a translated list which is posted on the indigenous outreach section of the Wallace Roughley Museum – http://www.wallisroughley.ca/outreach.html. 

Summertime often means reunion time, and in June and July we were pleased to host the Ag Diploma and Degree Classes of 1969 as they celebrated their 50th anniversaries. In June, the Diploma class were welcomed by Michele Rogalsky and enjoyed lunch and a tour of the Fort Garry campus. Last week, the Degree class came to campus for lunch, and Kateryn Rochon, Entomology, provided a mini-seminar on her research into ticks. The group also traveled out to the Farm and Food Discovery Centre and had the opportunity to see the new dairy learning complex. There were some interesting stories shared about student life in the ’60s!

IN THE NEWS

Yvonne Lawley, Plant Science, was quoted in the article “Strip tillage a friendly solution for Manitoba farm” in Top Crp Manager (July 25) – https://www.topcropmanager.com/strip-tillage-a-friendly-solution-for-manitoba-farm/.

Brian Amiro, Soil Science, was quoted in the article “Study: Agronomist support reducing nitrous oxide emissions” in Top Crop Manager (July 2019) – https://mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=603236&article_id=3432990&view=articleBrowser&ver=html5#{%22issue_id%22:603236,%22view%22:%22articleBrowser%22,%22article_id%22:%223432990%22}.

Rob Currie, Entomology, was recently interviewed by a production company working with a Japanese weekly TV documentary series “Bee World.” The series features beekeepers and bees from all over the world. Broadcast date is tentatively December 2019 on TV Tokyo Network.

Diploma alum Christian Wytinck (DipAgric/16) was featured in the article “Section control helps farmer find more acres” in the Manitoba Co-operator (July 22) – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/machinery-shop/section-control-helps-farmer-find-more-acres/.

Jordan Bannerman, Entomology, was highlighted in the article “Thistle Caterpillar Present In Manitoba” on Steinbachonline.com – https://steinbachonline.com/ag-news/agriculture-news-mb/thistle-caterpillar-present-in-manitoba.

Rob Gulden, Plant Science, was quoted in the Western Producer (July 18) in the story “Monitor combine to control canola volunteers” – https://www.producer.com/2019/07/monitor-combine-to-control-canola-volunteers/.

Alum Carson Callum (BSc[Agrbus]/12, MSc/16) has been named the new general manager for the Manitoba Beef Producers as noted in the Manitoba Co-operator (July 12) – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/local/manitoba-beef-producers-names-new-general-manager/.

Jason Gibbs, Entomology, was quoted in the article “Pollinator plots to be tested for benefits” in the Manitoba Co-operator (July 10) – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/crops/pollinator-plots-to-be-tested-for-benefits/.

Kateryn Rochon, Entomology, was interviewed by CTV (July 4) about the spotting of a lone star tick in Manitoba – https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/no-need-to-panic-meat-allergy-causing-tick-spotted-in-manitoba-not-the-first-one-1.4494299.

The Farm and Food Discovery Centre played host to CTV Morning Live on July 4, where they promoted the upcoming summer events at the Centre. Check out Myrna Grahn, Kristen Matwychuk, Tia Courcelles and Jordan Bannerman, Entomology as they chat with remote host Rachel Lagace – https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1722090;  https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1722140;  https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1722156; and https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1722175.

Derek Brewin, Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, was quoted in the Financial Post (June 26) in the article “‘Economic hit’: Chinese meat suspension will reverberate through supply chain” – https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/economic-hit-chinese-meat-suspension-will-reverberate-through-supply-chain.

Kateryn Rochon, Entomology, was interviewed on CBC Radio Canada (ICI Manitoba) on June 20 about caterpillars – https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156634838208195&id=89275118194.

Don Flaten and Amy Mangin, Soil Science, provided the presentation “Nitrogen management for high-yielding spring wheat” to Top Crop Manager (June 19) – https://www.topcropmanager.com/nitrogen-management-for-high-yielding-spring-wheat/.

The presentation by David Lobb, Soil Science, entitled “Make soil great again: Canadian soil in transition” was printed in Top Crop Manager (June 14) – https://www.topcropmanager.com/make-soil-great-again-canadian-soil-in-transition/.

Nazim Cicek, Biosystems Engineering, wrote an op-ed for CBC News (June 1) entitled “How a shift to electric vehicles is driving change in ‘China’s Silicon Valley'” – https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/opinion-cicek-shenzhen-china-electric-vehicles-1.5156436.

PUBLICATIONS

Nandasiri, R., Eskin, M., Eck P., Thiyam-Holländer, U. (2019). Impact of Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) on Hydroxycinnamic Acid Derivatives. Canadian Food Summit, Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST), 22-24 May 2019, Halifax, NS, Canada.

Rahman, M.J., Eskin, M., Eck P., Thiyam-Holländer, U. (2019).Identification of hydroxycinnamic acids and their derivatives by HPLC-DAD and antioxidant potential of local Canadian beers extracts. Canadian Food Summit, Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST), 22-24 May 2019, Halifax, NS, Canada.

Rahman, M.J., Eskin, M., Eck P., Thiyam-Holländer, U. (2019). Identification of hydroxycinnamic acids and their derivatives by HPLC-DAD and antioxidant properties of various beer extracts. 2nd Annual Graduate Student Symposium, 26 June 2019, 200 Robson Hall, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

Zhao, X.*, Schindell, B.*, Li, W.*, Ni, L.*, Liu, S.*, Charith U.B. Wijerathne, Gong, J., Nyachoti, M., O, K., and YANG C. (2019). Distribution and localization of porcine calcium sensing receptor in different tissues of weaned piglets. Journal of Animal Science, 97(6):2402–2413.

Miao, J., Adewole*, Liu, S.*, Xi, P., YANG, C., Yin, Y. (2019). Tryptophan supplementation increases reproduction performance, milk yield and milk composition in lactating sows and production performance of their piglets. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 67(18): 5096-5104.

Liu, S.*, Adewole, D.*, Yu, L.*, Sid, V., Wang, B., O, K., YANG, C. (2019). Rutin attenuates inflammatory responses induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in in vitro mouse muscle cell (C2C12) model. Poultry Science, 98(7):2756-2764.

Yang, X., Liu, Y., Yan, F., YANG, C., Yang X. (2019). Effects of encapsulated organic acids and essential oils on intestinal barrier, microbial count, and bacterial metabolites in broiler chickens. Poultry Science, 98(7):2858-2865.

GENERAL NEWS

The Department of Soil Science invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position in the rank of Assistant Professor in any discipline of Soil Science. For complete details visit https://viprecprod.ad.umanitoba.ca/default.aspx?REQ_ID=07879&Language=1.

Agriculture in the Classroom invites you to volunteer at their upcoming Amazing Agriculture Adventure (AAA) in Winnipeg, September 17-19, 2019. The Winnipeg event is held between two venues, Richardson International’s Kelburn Farm and the University of Manitoba’s Farm and Food Discovery Centre, and the Faculty’s Glenlea Research Station. The AAA is a hands-on and interactive event geared towards Grade 4 and Grade 5 science curriculum. Time commitment is approximately 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. They will need class hosts on each of the three days to tour the students and teachers through the interactive stations. In addition, they need volunteers to help manage the various stations. To volunteer, please register online at https://www.aitc.mb.ca/get-involved/volunteers/winnipeg-aaa-volunteers-needed/.

The University of Manitoba Support Staff Endowment Fund (SSEF) has planned a VIP Folklorama Tour for UM support staff on August 15, 2019.  The all-inclusive tour includes 3 pavilions, reserved seating with table service, a delicious and authentic progressive meal, and air-conditioned bus transportation to pavilions (pickup/return from ‘U’ parking lot, Fort Garry Campus). Cost is $74.99 per person. For more info or to register, visit http://umanitoba.ca/staff/endowment/daytrip.html.

Crystal Jorgenson