Graduate Student Research Opportunities

Today, the way people choose, buy, and eat food plays a big role in how our food system works. People often decide whether to eat or throw away food based on how it looks, tastes, or feels. However, we still don’t fully understand how these personal choices affect how much nutrition people actually get from food, how much food is wasted, and how sustainable the system is. This MSc project will study how differences in consumer preferences, such as taste, texture, and appearance, for plant-based ice cream and mushrooms, influence food choices and outcomes. The research will develop a data-driven virtual model linking sensory attributes (e.g., taste, texture, firmness), consumer preferences, and purchasing decisions to actual nutrient intake and food system sustainability. These models will help predict how people behave and how those choices impact a subset of nutrients and food waste. The work will contribute to developing next-generation food system models that incorporate consumer variability, supporting more effective strategies for personalized nutrition and food waste reduction

OAC Academic Unit: Department of Food Science

Advisor Name: Daniel Onwude

Location: Guelph

•  Bachelor’s degree in food science, food engineering, sensory science, nutrition, or a related field. 
• Interest in consumer behaviour, sensory science, or food systems modeling.
• Experience with statistics, numerical modeling, and machine learning (Python, MATLAB, or R) is desirable.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Highly motivated and able to work in an interdisciplinary research environment.
• Must meet University of Guelph MSc minimum admission requirements (A-/80% entrance average).
   

What we offer:

• A fully funded MSc (2 years) at one of Canada’s top food science departments.
• Access to sensory evaluation facilities and interdisciplinary research collaborations.
• Training at the interface of sensory science, data analytics, and digital food systems.
• Opportunities to contribute to consumer studies and real-world pilot trials
• Opportunities to publish research and present at international conferences.

This MSc position will be part of the ComputFood Lab supported by the NSERC research grant, along with OAC’s 
Department of Food Science. If interested, please send a statement of interest, CV, and unofficial transcripts to Dr. 
Daniel Onwude (donwude@uoguelph.ca). Learn more about the ComputFood Lab

Food quality and nutritional outcomes are strongly influenced by biological variability in food due to differences in pre-harvest factors. Differences in microclimate, weather, soil conditions, orchard management, and regional practices lead to significant variation in fruit quality, shelf life, and nutrient content of food, especially fruits and vegetables. However, current datasets in Canada are often limited in size and scope, particularly in semi-urban and remote regions, making it difficult to capture this variability. This MSc project will develop a virtual population model of fruit to simulate biological, environmental, and management variability across regions and seasons. The model will generate large-scale synthetic datasets representing fruit quality and nutrient variability, enabling improved prediction 
of postharvest quality, nutrient retention, and downstream supply chain performance. The work will contribute to a broader digital twin (so virtual model) framework linking production, processing, packaging, retailing, and consumption with fruit quality and nutritional outcomes.

OAC Academic Unit: Department of Food Science

Advisor Name: Daniel Onwude

Location: Guelph

• Bachelor’s degree in food science, data science, agricultural science, environmental science, engineering, or a related field.
• Interest in food systems, data-driven modelling, or agricultural systems.
• Experience with statistics and machine learning (Python, MATLAB, or R) is desirable.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Highly motivated and able to work in an interdisciplinary research environment.
• Must meet University of Guelph MSc minimum admission requirements(A-/80% and above entrance average).

What we offer:

• A fully funded MSc (2 years) at one of Canada’s top food science departments.
• Access to interdisciplinary datasets and advanced computational tools.
• Training at the interface of food systems, data science, and nutrition.
• Opportunities to collaborate with researchers and industry partners across Canada and Switzerland
• Opportunities to publish research and present at international conferences.

This MSc position will be part of the ComputFood Lab supported by the NSERC research grant, along with OAC’s 
Department of Food Science. If interested, please send a statement of interest, CV, and unofficial transcripts to Dr. 
Daniel Onwude (donwude@uoguelph.ca). Learn more about the ComputFood Lab

Position: M.Sc. or PhD - Cultivating high-value plants in controlled environments

OAC Academic Unit: School of Environmental Sciences

Start date: Please contact Dr. Youbin Zheng yzheng@uoguelph.ca

Advisor Name: Dr Youbin Zheng

Location: University of Guelph

Funding: Minimum stipend of $17,000 per year for MSc and $20,000 per year for PhD

Project Description:

Climate change, urbanization, population growth, pandemics, wars, land degradation, limited arable land, food insecurity, and lack of fresh food in remote areas pose significant challenges for society.

Controlled environment (CE) plant production technologies like greenhouses and vertical farms offer innovative and integrated solutions.

CE enables optimal growing conditions regardless of extreme weather caused by climate change, making it difficult to cultivate high-value crops in open fields. By using soilless media, CE eliminates the need for fertile soil and produces top-quality plant-based food and medicines. CE systems are highly resource-efficient, using less water and nutrients than traditional field production. They also address localized shortages of fresh produce during pandemics, conflicts, or natural disasters, directly providing consistent, high-quality plant products to consumers. This reduces the environmental impact of long-distance transportation, benefiting large cities and remote regions, such as Canada's far north.

It's an exciting time for CE plant production research, with rapid industry growth and demand for talented, well-trained individuals.

The School of Environmental Sciences has a graduate student position open to domestic applicants (i.e., Canadian citizens or permanent residents) to join a team of scientists working on cultivating high-value plants in controlled environments. This position is available for both M.Sc. and/or Ph.D. programs.

Qualified candidates will have:

• An outstanding academic record;
• a background in plant/soil science;
• strong academic writing skills;
• the motivation to secure a promising career right after graduation

Application Instructions:

Please get in touch with Dr Youbin Zheng at yzheng@uoguelph.ca  for more details regarding the research and application process to join his lab as a graduate student.  

Applicants are required to include their CV, unofficial transcript and writing examples. 

Position: PhD - Investigating the Soil Microbiome

Understanding soil biogeochemistry is essential to the stewardship of ecosystem services provided by soils, such as soil fertility (for food, fibre and fuel production), water quality, resistance to erosion and climate mitigation through reduced feedbacks to climate change. Microbial communities play a central role in virtually every biogeochemical cycle on earth. While soil microbial diversity and activity can be characterized using molecular tools, quantitative linkages to ecosystem function are often difficult. We need a better understanding of how extrinsic state factors or edaphic soil conditions (physical and chemical factors intrinsic to the soil) drive microbial activity and ultimately, biogeochemical cycling, in order to predict soil ecosystem responses to changes in climate, vegetation or land management.

An array of scientific approaches, including short term field studies, and long term field experiments will be used to investigate microbial drivers of biogeochemical cycling at the plant soil microbiome interface.

This research will contribute to our understanding of the ecosystem tradeoffs required to maximize productivity in agroecosystems in order to meet the demands of a global population while minimizing impacts on soil, air, and water quality.

OAC Academic Unit: School of Environmental Science

Advisor: Kari Dunfield (dunfield@uoguelph.ca)

Start Date: September 2022 or later

Stipend: Minimum $20,000 per year

Pre-requisites: Master of Science in a related discipline. Soil microbiology, microbial ecology, or soil scientists preferred.

Application Instructions: Please send a statement of interest, CV and unofficial transcripts to Dr. Kari Dunfield (dunfield@uoguelph.ca).

Learn more:

• Dr. Kari Dunfield's faculty profile, Soils at Guelph website

Description

The Raine lab at the University of Guelph has an exciting opportunity for a dynamic graduate student interested in PhD research on the value of wild pollinators to crop pollination. 

We depend on wild pollinators to support production of many of the foods we eat, particularly for fruit and vegetable crops. Demand for crop pollinators is increasing rapidly leading to real risks of reduced yields or crop quality if these ecosystem services are insufficient to meet demand. Managed honeybee stocks cannot keep pace with increasing pollinator demands, so we must find ways to sustain and enhance the free services provided by wild pollinators in our agricultural landscapes to support crop production. This project will assess the current status of pollination services for several economically important crops in Ontario (e.g. apple, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and cucurbits). The graduate student will determine which flower visiting insect species are consistently the most important pollinators of each crop, and assess the potential for pollination deficits both now and into the future. We will work to develop a toolkit to support farmers and producers in assessing their pollination needs within their farm landscape. This will involve identifying key landscape features and habitat types important to support wild pollinator biodiversity to restore, sustain or enhance sustainable pollination services on these farms. 

The Raine lab is a dynamic and collegiate team of motivated scientists studying diverse research questions relating to the behaviour, ecology and conservation of insect pollinators (https://1in3mouthfuls.org) as part of the School of Environmental Sciences. Successful candidates will have a chance to interact with other research groups (including the Honeybee Research Centre) and diverse faculty across campus. The University of Guelph was recently ranked in the top 50 institutions in the world for ecology, and has very strong links to agricultural and food research.

OAC Academic Unit: School of Environmental Sciences

Advisor Name: Dr. Nigel Raine

Number of positions available

1 PhD position

Desired background

The successful candidate will have:

• A master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. behavioural or evolutionary ecology)
• Excellent written skills evidenced by scientific journal papers, conference papers or technical reports
• Willingness to work with bees and other insects
• Strong interpersonal and communication (oral and written) skills
• Valid driver’s licence (the project involves a significant field work component)

Desirable skills and experience:

• Previous research experience of collecting ecological or behavioural data (particularly in the field) would be an asset. 
• Demonstrable interest in science communication and/or extension.
• Ideally the candidate would be able to start as soon as possible. 

Application Process 

Qualified candidates are encouraged to submit a (a) cover letter outlining their expertise, (b) a CV, (c) a copy of your academic transcript, (d) reprints of relevant papers, and (e) contact information for 3 referees to Dr. Nigel Raine (nraine@uoguelph.ca) with the subject line “PhD position in crop pollination by wild pollinators”. Applications will be reviewed as they are received and will continue until the position is filled.

Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Wendy Pearson (wpearson@uoguelph.ca)
Graduate Program Assistant: Jacob Harwood (harwood@uoguelph.ca)

Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Helen Hambly Odame (hhambly@uoguelph.ca)
Graduate Program Assistant: Lorena Barker (cde@uoguelph.ca)

Graduate Coordinators: Dr Asim Biswas and Dr Marc Habash (grdchair@uoguelph.ca)
MES Program Advisor: Dr Kimberley Bolton (kbolton@uoguelph.ca)
Graduate Program Assistant: (ses.gradsec@uoguelph.ca)

Graduate Coordinator - M.Sc.: Prof. Alfons Weersink (faregrad@uoguelph.ca)
Graduate Coordinator -  MFARE and MDTM: Dr Spencer Henson (faregrad@uoguelph.ca)
Graduate Program Assistant: Jennifer LaPorte (faregrad@uoguelph.ca)

Food Safety and Quality Assurance:

Graduate Program Coordinator: Dr. Don Mercer (dmercer@uoguelph.ca)
Graduate Program Assistant: Robin Verrall (fsqa@uoguelph.ca)

Food Science:

Graduate Coordinators: Dr. Mike Rogers (mroger09@uoguelph.ca)
Graduate Program Assistant: Jon Abram (fsgrdsec@uoguelph.ca)

MLA Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Steven Clarke (steven.clarke@uoguelph.ca)
Graduate Program Assistant: Diana Foolen (dfoolen@uoguelph.ca)

Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Istvan Rajcan (irajcan@uoguelph.ca)
Associate Graduate Program Coordinator: Dr Max Jones (amjones@uoguelph.ca)
Graduate Program Assistant: Tara Israel (pagrad@uoguelph.ca)

Rural Planning and Development

Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Ryan Gibson (gibsonr@uoguelph.ca)
Graduate Program Assistant: Lorena Barker (rpd@uoguelph.ca)

Rural Studies

Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Leith Deacon (leith.deacon@uoguelph.ca)
Graduate Program Assistant: Lorena Barker (rsphd@uoguelph.ca)