…U of G researchers and facilities are growing Canada’s bioeconomy
Making car parts out of corn, soybean, wheat and other crops is just one way U of G research will help fuel the bioeconomy in the newly opened Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre. Products made from plants and plant wastes are expected to substitute for more conventional petroleum-based materials, says Prof. Amar Mohanty, Plant Agriculture, director of the new centre. He says the centre will help in investigating renewable materials, growing Canada’s bioeconomy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from oil-based fuels and products, especially those used in the automotive, packaging and building industries.
An international leader in biomaterials, Mohanty envisions the centre as a testing ground for researchers to try out processes on a pilot scale. The 2,700-square-foot facility includes a processing lab with new equipment for moulding and extruding materials. There are plans to build another processing lab of the same size and connect the facility with existing greenhouses located nearby.
About 50 U of G researchers will use the centre for their studies, and it will draw scientists from other universities and from industry. For instance, Guelph leads the $6-million BioCar project that involves researchers here and at three other campuses ― the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo and the University of Windsor ― in studying ways to use crops for car parts.
Other U of G projects include:
● Prof. Larry Erickson, Plant Agriculture, studies ways to add value to biomaterials from agriculture to manufacturing.
● Prof. Peter Pauls, Plant Agriculture, assesses plant proteins for functional and structural uses from sutures and clothing to packaging and coatings.
● Prof. Chris Hall, Environmental Biology, has studied bioactive filters to detect, capture and disarm pathogens ― research that may help the greenhouse, health sciences and water treatment industries.
● Profs Mike Emes and Ian Tetlow, Molecular and Cellular Biology, investigate novel starches for various manufacturing processes.
● Prof. Manju Misra, cross-appointed to the School of Engineering and the Department of Plant Agriculture, studies green nanotechnology and biobased materials.
● Prof. Stefano Gregori, Engineering, studies electronic circuits for flexible displays and biocompatible devices based on biopolymers and their conducting nanocomposites.
● Prof. Istvan Rajcan, Plant Agriculture, investigates ways to manipulate soybean seed composition genetically for various functional food and industrial product applications.
Few research centres exist worldwide for exploring ways to add value to waste agricultural products, says Mohanty. Guelph’s strength lies in interdisciplinary studies connecting plant breeding and genetics, materials and food processing, engineering, life sciences and environmental management, he says.
U of G shows leadership in environmental and social responsibility…
● home to more life science expertise per capita than any other university in North America
● student learning is our No. 1 priority
● linked with communities and policy-makers through the Guelph Institute for the Environment
● students received provincial award for the highest levels of volunteerism in Ontario
● collaboration and caring are deeply rooted values
Fulbright chair to study green motives
Prof. Monica Cojocaru, Mathematics and Statistics, wants to know what motivates consumers to buy green products such as organic food, hybrid vehicles and geothermal heating. She wants to know so she can help businesses and governments design more effective policies and incentive programs to reduce harmful emissions and lower the use of non-renewable resources.
Although her focus is generally on Canadian consumers, Cojocaru will have a chance to quiz Americans during a five-month academic exchange next winter at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The opportunity comes as a result of being selected as a Canada-U.S. Fulbright Visiting Research Chair. Long regarded as the world’s premier academic exchange, the Fulbright Program involves exceptional scholars from more than 150 countries worldwide.
Book questions what it means to be black
Sociology professor Cecil Foster has received a major book prize from the Canadian Sociological Association for his work Blackness and Modernity: The Colour of Humanity and the Quest for Freedom. The annual award recognizes work that advances sociological knowledge in Canada.
Blackness and Modernity was selected from among several dozen nominated works. Published in 2007, it challenges existing notions of blackness and argues for the viability of a multicultural world. “It’s about inclusiveness, recognition and the triumph of the human spirit,” says Foster, who is considered one of Canada’s leading intellectuals on issues of race, culture, citizenship and immigration.
Ridgetown Campus CARES for agriculture
Bioenergy research and the bioeconomy are the focus of a new Centre for Agricultural Renewable Energy and Sustainability (CARES) at the Ridgetown Campus. The centre will include a research and demonstration facility to test new technologies.
“We want to do research that will benefit rural Ontario,” says Ridgetown Campus director Art Schaafsma. “The projects we undertake will create new value-added markets for agricultural products.”
The first project is a farm-scale biodiesel demonstration plant that is currently under construction. The federal government is investing more than $900,000 in the project.
In addition to government and University support, the Southwestern Ontario Bio-Products Innovation Network was instrumental in the conception of CARES and will work with the University to promote bioproduct research and development opportunities.
DNA bar-coding can catalogue ecosystems
Prof. Mehrdad Hajibabaei, Integrative Biology, says maintaining and improving freshwater ecosystems is an example of what he calls the “next frontier” for DNA bar-coding.
At Guelph and around the world, biologists continue to use DNA bar-coding to catalogue species of animals, insects, fungi and other creatures. But environmental bar-coding is a new way to use the DNA database being developed at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO), one that will give biologists a big-picture look at ecosystems.
Using powerful machines and computers to plow through numerous and varied bits of DNA at once, BIO researchers are now able to catalogue the variety of organisms living in a water or soil sample. That information is crucial for the Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network, a program run by Environment Canada to assess the health of freshwater bodies across the country.
Consumer panel measures response to food issues
If there’s a food scare tonight, U of G researchers will know how Canadians are reacting within 24 hours.
That’s one of the benefits of the new Guelph Food Panel, the first large-scale panel of consumers dedicated to food research. Developed by agricultural economics professors John Cranfield and Spencer Henson and post-doc Oliver Masakure, the panel allows them to accurately track changes in Canadians’ eating habits and measure consumer response to issues raised in the media.
To date, the panel has reported that Canadians think Canada should be doing more to alleviate the world food crisis and noted significant changes in consumer buying and consumption behaviour following a listeriosis outbreak in sliced meat products.
Can soil moisture predict the weather?
Geography professor Aaron Berg is launching a new research project that will bring together the expertise of meteorologists, hydrologists and soil scientists from several Canadian universities and Environment Canada. With support from the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, he will look at soil moisture as a way of enhancing seasonal climate predictions in Canada. This research will provide insight into the management of water resources at a time of looming climate change challenges.
Guelph students care about the world
● A dozen University of Guelph students will travel to rural Kenya this fall to work on a school that provides education to AIDS orphans and destitute children. They will pay their own expenses and also raise money and provide the labour to help build and furnish a classroom at the Bukati Primary School.
● Six Guelph business students slept outdoors in cardboard boxes during the national “5 Days for the Homeless” fundraiser. The students didn’t shower and relied on donated meals while helping to raise $10,000 to support a local organization that provides co-operative housing for youth.
● The University of Guelph chapter of Meal Exchange was recognized for its exceptional leadership, innovation and creativity, and for its impact on its community through volunteerism, with a June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award presented April 27 in Toronto. The awards are named to honour Callwood, the late Canadian journalist, author and social activist.
Bilingualism is part of the Canadian identity
With funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, history professor Matthew Hayday is exploring the history of how bilingualism was promoted and received by English-speaking Canadians from the 1960s to the 1990s. Through this project, Hayday hopes to explain how and why a majority of English-speaking Canadians came to accept bilingualism as part of Canada’s national identity during this period.
-
Guelph Matters Now
-
This is Our Time
-
Animal and Human Health
-
Environmental and Social Responsibility
Arts and Humanities
Expand Human Knowledge
International Co-Operation
Mobilize Leadership
Prof. Amar Mohanty
Plant Agriculture
"our actions lead the way… • buying green products • understanding diversity • advancing agriculture • bar-coding ecosystems • responding to issues • predicting the weather • caring for the world • developing an identity "
