News
Weed Researchers Awarded
65th Annual Meeting of the NCWSS in Lexington, KY, December, 2010
Plant Agriculture Weed Researchers, Ridgetown Campus, were honoured at the 65th NCWSS annual meetings in Lexington Kentucky, December, 2010. Dr. Darren Robinson received the Distinguished Achievement Award - Young Scientist . While Dr. Peter Sikkema was the recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award - Research Award, which recognizes outstanding research achievements in weed Science. Principal criteria included demonstration of excellence and creativity in research accomplishments; in conducting research and applying the results to solve problems in weed science and in applying unusual creativity to research efforts. Drs. Robinson and Sikkema are the first Canadians to ever receive these Awards from the North Central Weed Science Society (NCWSS).
Ford Biomaterial Debuts in 2010 Ford Flex
Ford Motor Company introduces the wheat straw-reinforced plastic car part, developed by the Ontario BioCar Initiative.
UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH NEWS RELEASE
The world's first car to have interior parts made from wheat straw-reinforced plastic - created via technology that has roots at the University of Guelph - is set to roll off the assembly lines in the new year.
The Ford Motor Company announced today that its 2010 Ford Flex will include storage bins made from this bio-based material. The wheat straw-reinforced plastic was created by Leonardo Simon, a University of Waterloo engineering professor, who is part of the Ontario BioCar Initiative. This multi-university project involves scientists at U of G and the universities of Toronto, Waterloo and Windsor.
“It’s an amazing achievement,” said plant agriculture professor Larry Erickson, one of BioCar’s lead researchers.
The BioCar Initiative, supported by the Ontario Research Fund's Research Excellence Program, was started in 2007. The universities agreed to combine their research strengths and efforts for four years in order to improve the development and delivery capacity of biomaterials for the automotive industry.
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- Read full Ford Motor Company News Release
- Read full University of Waterloo bulletin (scroll down)
The Fruits of His Labour
Plant agriculture prof nurtures stone fruits and young scientists in his Vineland lab
BY ANDREW VOWLES
Prof. Jay Subramanian, Plant AgricultureThose plum trees putting out their delicate pink and white blossoms on an early May afternoon in Vineland aren’t the only crop being coaxed along by Prof. Jay Subramanian, Plant Agriculture. Back in his office in the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, Subramanian has plenty to say about breeding stone fruits for consumers in the Niagara Peninsula and worldwide. But he’s equally excited about his volunteer job of nurturing young scientists for tomorrow’s world.
This year, he has served as mentor to four elementary and high school students whose projects on fruit production, storage, and health and environmental benefits collected a handful of awards at the regional science fair. The two high schoolers went on to the Canada-Wide Science Fair last week in Winnipeg. And later this summer, they will jet all the way to northern Africa to display their projects at an international science exhibition in Tunisia.
U of G to Offer Bioinformatics Graduate, Diploma Programs
New offerings to meet growing need for informatics experts to crunch life sciences data
BY ANDEW VOWLES
More accurate base calling sounds like a job for an umpire. But at U of G, it’s a data-crunching task that now brings together biologists, computing scientists and mathematicians — and it helps explain why Guelph will launch new graduate bioinformatics programs in the fall.
U of G to Help Create 'Green' Cars
May 21, 2009 - News Release
Automobiles with bumpers and running boards made from composites of agricultural crops such as corn and wheat are closer to hitting the open road. A team of researchers - including two from the University of Guelph - has received $620,000 to create "green" car parts from biofibres and bioplastics.
Funding for the project, which is co-led by Guelph plant agriculture professor Amar Mohanty and Mohini Sain from the University of Toronto, comes from AUTO21, part of the national Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program. The U of G project is one of 20 nationwide that will benefit from a new $10-million investment announced today. The support includes money from Auto 21, plus external funding from industry partners.
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U of G, Vineland Ink New Partnership
May 06, 2009 - News Release
Officials from the University of Guelph and the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre today signed a research partnership agreement to collaborate on national and international industry-driven horticultural research initiatives.
The agreement, signed by Kevin Hall, the U of G's vice-president (research), and Jim Brandle, Vineland's chief executive officer, is expected to yield new ideas and products for Canada’s grape growers and winemakers, fruit producers and professional landscapers, ranging from new fruit cultivars with health-boosting antioxidants to wider food choices at the supermarket.
Both partners will conduct research and develop products for the multi-million-dollar agri-food industry, said Rich Moccia, U of G's interim associate vice-president (research) agri-food and partnerships.
"Signing this new agreement takes us in a brand new direction," Moccia said. "It takes the best of the capacity of the University of Guelph and the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre and establishes a partnership to explore and use the latest technologies to improve products, quality and choice and to increase economic wealth."
It also promotes building private- and public-sector partnerships, funding intellectual capacity and human resources, and allowing for more rapid commercialization of research technology.
U of G Researchers Find Suspected Glyphosate Resistant Weed
May 07, 2009 - News Release
Researchers at the University of Guelph's Ontario Agricultural College have found a giant ragweed biotype that is showing resistance to the popular herbicide glyphosate. The plants are able to survive glyphosate use rates that kill normal susceptible weeds.
"We've seen a difference in control of this giant ragweed biotype than what is normally expected when sprayed with glyphosate," said Prof. François Tardif of the Department of Plant Agriculture. The plants were still able to grow after an application of the herbicide at recommended levels, whereas susceptible ragweed did not survive.
"Glyphosate has become a tool of choice for the control for many weeds, so the appearance of a glyphosate resistant population can complicate management for growers," added Peter Sikkema, a plant agriculture professor at the University's Ridgetown Campus, who conducted the research with Tardif.
Currently, no weeds in Canada have been confirmed as resistant to glyphosate, the most often used herbicide globally. But in other countries around the world, 15 weed species – including giant ragweed – have been confirmed as resistant to glyphosate. Eight of those species are in the United States.
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CFI Invests in U of G Research
April 07, 2009 - News Release
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) was at the University of Guelph today, announcing that it's investing more than $26 million in revolutionary research at 29 Canadian universities. U of G received more than $1.1 million for six projects ranging from biomaterials to childhood injury prevention.
"This award opens up new doors in discovering and engineering innovative biomaterials that will help in greening the manufacturing sectors in Ontario and Canada," said plant agriculture professor Amar Mohanty, who, along with engineering professor Manjusri Misra, received $463,796.
The funding will be used for novel equipment at U of G's Bioproducts and Development Centre, which is headed by Mohanty, holder of the Premier's Research Chair in Biomaterials and Transportation. Researchers at the centre are turning agricultural crops into everything from car parts and furniture to fuel. The goal is to substitute non-renewable materials in many manufacturing sectors, consumer goods and services.
Misra said the new equipment will establish U of G as a global leader in green materials research and development. It will also create a new research direction in nano-biocomposites and nano-enhanced biomaterials.
"Integration of nanotechnology with biomaterials is the smartest pathway to discover green products of improved and competent performance," she said. Among other things, the new equipment will allow researchers to fabricate a broad range of fibres, including crop-based green nanostructured fibres.
Raziada Lab on CBC's The National
From a UofG Campus Bulletin:
On Wednesday, December 10, Plant Agriculture Prof. Manish Raizada and his research team were featured on CBC TV's The National. They were part of a larger feature story on the global food crisis. The segment featuring Raizada and his team looked at how they are using science to find permanent solutions to feeding the world's poor.
Part of Raizada's research is focused on helping farmers in developing countries create new plants and more intensive practices so that they can produce food with fewer resources such as land and water. In addition, Raizada has used his own funds to set up the Raizada Foundation, a charitable organization that involves Guelph students in finding inexpensive prize-worthy ideas and tools to help poor people in developing countries. Read more.
The National is CBC's national evening television news program.
From Crops to Car Parts
Prof aims to help rebuild our world using biobased materials
BY ANDREW VOWLES, AtGuelph
That wooden lectern looks lonely. Its blond wood stands out in the School of Engineering (SOE) boardroom, surrounded by painted cement block walls, glass windowpanes and a carpet, table and chairs made of various synthetic products. One day soon, if Prof. Manju Misra's ideas pan out, that lectern in the corner will be a little less lonely.
Newly arrived at Guelph this year, Misra hopes to help supplant our petroleum-based economy with more biobased materials. She plans to bring together engineering and structural know-how with ideas and new materials from a fast-growing bioproducts sector to re-engineer much of our world.
Cross-appointed between SOE and the Department of Plant Agriculture, she is something of a composite herself. Misra spends most of her time teaching and researching in SOE; about one-quarter of her time is devoted to plant agriculture.
U of G Crop Named Seed of the Year
November 14, 2008 - Campus Bulletin
An Ontario soybean variety developed by a University of Guelph professor and a technician was the winner at the 2008 Seed of the Year competition. Another crop developed by U of G researchers also received accolades. The results were announced at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.
OAC Kent, a soybean variety developed by plant agriculture professor Istvan Rajcan and technician Wade Montminty, took first prize. In the last five years, it has realized more than 8,000 tonnes of recorded seed sales, and has been a consistent soybean in yield and agronomics for many growers over the last seven years. OAC Kent was developed with support from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
Three other finalists were also recognized during the Seed of the Year event, including OAC Rex, a white bean variety developed by Prof. Peter Pauls, Plant Agriculture, former professor Tom Michaels and technician Tom Smith.
Continue reading - UofG Campus Bulletin
