Features

Carol Chui lives and works in one of the world’s most secretive states: the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or known to most as North Korea.

She moved to the capital city, Pyongyang, two years ago to work with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) as a food technologist.

“Every country faces its own issues,” she says. “There are three sides to this country. There is the dramatized media view, there is how the country presents itself, and then there is the real thing. There is food insecurity and under-nutrition, and that’s why we are here.”

Erin O’Neill was working for the Municipality of Wood Buffalo as a planner, looking after the municipality’s real estate interests, when her world changed.

On May 3, 2016, Fort McMurray, Alberta, was devastated by wildfires that forced more than 80,000 people from their homes. At $3.7 billion in damage, it was Canada’s costliest disaster, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Erin, with the rest of her community, was evacuated and unable to return home. But on May 15, she returned to Fort McMurray at a city manager’s request.

Looking into the eyes of a tiger, rehabilitating birds of prey, developing formula for a newborn polar bear cub: caring for some of the world’s most revered and dangerous animals under an increasingly critical public eye, is no walk in the park. But for Dave Barney, it was all in a day’s work. 

Desmond (Des) Doran has been a student, husband, father, teacher, researcher, economist, world traveller, equity and diversity champion and activist. At 82, he is also a man of many stories, experiences and reflections.

Here are a few of those stories about a life best summarized by the Jamaican greeting: “Respect.”

During his time at Ridgetown Campus, Andrew Vokes (Associate Diploma in Agriculture, 2018) discovered the variety of club and association opportunities available to youth interested in agriculture and farming in southwestern Ontario. After returning home to Manitoulin Island, he decided to form his own association to support people ages 16-40 who are interested in collaboratively learning about production agriculture. We recently chatted with Andrew about his new association and his hopes for the future.

Horses are highly-adapted performance animals, but one unexplained adaption – a very delicate gastrointestinal tract – is their Achilles heel.

Like humans, horses’ stomachs contain acid to digest and break down their food and mucus to protect the stomach wall against the acid. But for a vaguely inexplicable reason, horses do not have mucus on the top half of their stomachs. This causes all sorts of issues, including gastric ulcers.

In fact, gastrointestinal diseases are the leading cause of death in horses.

After 10 years as chief environmental officer, Karen Clarke-Whistler (M.Sc. in Land Resource Science, 1980) recently retired from TD Bank. She sat down with us to talk environmental business strategy and recap the role.

On November 24 and 25, 2018, the annual University of Guelph Alumni Hockey Tournament took place. OAC alumni throughout the years gathered at the University of Guelph Arena to try their luck at this year’s title. The graduates of OAC 1984 were short a few alumni and allowed me, Anna, to join the “Old Mules” for the tournament and the festivities that followed. Here's a re-cap on the day's events.

We asked U of G experts to share some of their favourite holiday recipes. Check out the below for some tried and true recipes recommended by the experts.

Shelby Avann is a graduate of the equine management major who sat down with us to share her career experiences so far. She currently works at Chiefswood Stables Thoroughbred Breeding Farm, which focuses on foaling and raising fillies and colts for racing. The foals she helps birth go on to race at Woodbine here in Ontario and also in Florida, Kentucky and New York. She’s been in the role for three years, with a year in between working abroad in Australia.