Alyssa Gingras is a two-time OAC alumna (BSc. ENVB 2017, MES 2018) and a sales agronomist with Sharpe Farm Supplies. Although her day-to-day work is not significantly affected by the changes brought by COVID-19, she still adjusting to a new routine. We recently connected with her to find out how she’s doing.
*** Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing a series of Q&As featuring OAC community members to showcase how people are coping with our uncertain - but collective - state. We’re hoping these will help connect and support our community (in a small way) during these isolating and challenging times. Look after yourself and those around you. ***
Meagan Griffiths
Precision Agronomist CCA-ON, 4R NMS, FS PARTNERS
B.Sc. (Agr.) Crop, Horticultural and Turfgrass Sciences, 2012; M.Sc. Plant Agriculture, 2014
Meagan Griffiths works in precision agriculture. It’s not a career she planned on pursuing, but she’s found a fit for her interests and skillset in this dynamic part of the sector. She shares more about her current role and tips for current students who are staring off their careers.
Shannon Labelle recently graduated in October 2019 with an M.Sc. in Rural Planning and Development, but she landed her dream job four months before graduation! She recently sat down with us to chat about her role, Indigenous planning and her transition into the workplace.
Christopher Naese graduated with a B.Sc. Agr. in Dairy Science in ’85. He was one of rare co-op students at the time, but his work experience helped him land a job that set him on a prosperous and exciting career trajectory. Today he’s the Vice President of Business Development for Florida Food Products and took some time to share insights on food industry business trends.
So what do you want to do after school?” It’s a question that every university student is asked, and probably more times than they’d like.
For Ashley Knapton, B.Sc. (Agr.) ’13, the answer was simple: become a dairy classifier.
Classifiers, an unbiased thirdparty group of trained people, score dairy cows based on industry-outlined criteria. They travel from farm to farm to evaluate the physical structure of the cow. It’s a service that helps producers make informed decisions and is often used as a pride point for dairy breeders.
When I returned home to Eastern Ontario after completing my first year at U of G, I was so excited to share the stories of my experiences at Guelph. One day, I told a farmer about my friend Clayton McWilliams, whom I had met at Guelph. The farmer immediately asked if Clayton was related to Wyatt McWilliams. I didn’t know. Wyatt was a new name to me. But it was clear that Wyatt was a well-known person in agriculture, and his story was one I wanted to hear.
So, I began asking questions. And the more I learned about Wyatt, the more I wanted to know.
We see them every day, all around us: the interconnections between the natural and humanmade worlds. A lot of hard work and critical thought have gone into the design of parks, school playgrounds and local streets. But who did this work? Most likely a landscape architect.
Colleen Mercer Clarke describes the profession of landscape architecture as “being architects for nature.”
Brewing craft beer isn’t just trendy and full of cheers says Patrick Wynn-Williams, B.Sc. ’12. He knows first-hand the dedication and stamina it takes to work in this industry.
“As fun as it might be, and it is definitely fun, it is also a lot of hard work,” says the packaging and shipping technician at Escarpment Laboratories in Guelph.
"One minute you have it all, and then you find yourself with nothing.”
Tendai Wilkerson didn’t own land in Zimbabwe when the government heated up its land reform policies, but she did lose everything.
Tendai’s employer, HSBC Bank, closed-up shop in the late 1990s over fears that it would not be able to repatriate its profits. Atrained lawyer, she found herself unemployed with no job prospects amid economic collapse.