College News

The University of Guelph’s Ridgetown Campus will soon be home to one of the most advanced swine learning facilities in Canada. The 6,600-square-foot Swine Education Centre will open this fall at Ridgetown, offering training and education for agriculture and veterinary technology students and industry producers. The $500,000 project is funded mostly by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs through the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario, with Ontario Pork contributing 20 per cent of the budget.

The OAC Dean's Office is pleased to announce Rhonda Alger as the new Manager, Research Programs for the College. Her secondment will begin in a part-time capacity on July 24, 2017 and in a full-time capacity on August 14, 2017.

Global Animal Partnership (GAP) has provided a grant-in-aid of research to the University of Guelph for a two-year research project that will determine and evaluate the parameters necessary for assessing the animal welfare needs of different genetic strains of chicken breeds.

OAC master’s student Shanthanu Krishnakumarhas become the first competitor in the national 3-Minute Thesis contest to win both the annual competition’s top prize and its People’s Choice Award. The competition, now in its fifth year, requires students to explain their work and its relevance within three minutes using only one slide.

The OAC Dean's Office is pleased to announce Leigh West as the new Manager, Recruitment for the College. She will begin in this two-year secondment on July 3, 2017.

Leigh transitions to this position from her role as Manager, Research and Graduate Operations with the college, a position which she has held since 2013. In this role, Leigh has been responsible for managing and supporting the college’s research enterprise as well as supporting the growth of the college’s graduate programs.

The University of Guelph is introducing a new certificate in organic agriculture that will be available to all undergraduate students in fall 2018, encouraging broader student enrollment in organic and alternative agriculture courses.

“There is a strong demand from our students who are interested in supplementing their degree with specialized learning in organic agriculture,” explains Rene Van Acker, dean of the Ontario Agricultural College of the University of Guelph.

The School of Environmental Sciences (SES) is pleased to welcome Dr. Ryan Prosser as an assistant professor in environmental toxicology. Prosser began in his role on May 1.

A new professorship and scholarships have been established to support Eastern and Northern Ontario.

The scholarships and MacSon Professorship in Agronomy for Eastern and Northern Ontario honour a four generation family legacy in agriculture and environmental conservation.

All have been established through the sale of land in Plantagenet, Ontario. Proceeds from the sale were directed into the new scholarships and professorship, which unlocked additional funding that resulted in a $6 million investment to support Eastern and Northern Ontario agriculture and students.

Professor Hugh Earl has been appointed as the new chair of the Department of Plant Agriculture for a five-year term effective January 1, 2017.

Professor Sean Kelly has been appointed as the new director of the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) effective January 1, 2017.