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Animal Welfare Researchers Receive Funding from Global Animal Partnership

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.

Grad Student Wins Top Prize in National 3MT Contest

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.

New OAC Recruitment Manager Announced

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.

University of Guelph Introduces New Organic Agriculture Certificate to Enhance Educational Opportunities for Students

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.

New Environmental Toxicology Researcher

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.

Help Wanted sign with note that says "Part-time weekend help needed"

What’s happening in rural Ontario? Telling the stories of the precariously employed

Waiting in line at a small town coffee shop got Prof. Al Lauzon wondering about the different demographic he was seeing working at this rural Ontario location – more middle aged male workers. Job losses from the auto sector over the last decade could explain some of the changes in this older work force, but Lauzon wondered what was happening to employment opportunities in rural Ontario.

New Professorship and Scholarships Further a Family Legacy

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.

Four holstein dairy cows eat at manger, one looking up

Making better milk through cow behaviour

What if dairy farmers could improve their cows’ health and enhance milk’s nutritional quality through understanding their animals’ feeding behaviour?

Brown mink looks up out of wooden box

Research relationships focus on mink mating

We know more about mink sexual development thanks to University of Guelph researchers and local mink farmers. It may not be a “romantic” topic for Valentine’s Day, but it is certainly a story about relationships.

Lead researcher Jamie Ahloy Dallaire and Prof. Georgia Mason, Department of Animal Biosciences, found that young male mink who spent more time playing as juveniles showed more vigorous sexual performance as adults.

University of Guelph researchers with Perth County participants standing and kneeling together  at a focus group

Attracting immigrants to rural Ontario

As a way of ensuring their long-term viability, Ontario’s rural communities should do more to attract and keep newcomers in their municipalities – and a University of Guelph professor has developed some recommendations on how to best do that.

Changing demographics are leaving many rural areas struggling with declining populations, and although immigration is a key solution, most of the province’s immigrants prefer to settle in large urban centres like Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton or London.

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