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Data Science: Blockchain’s Role in Improving Food System Safety and Accountability
Photo Credit: Arrell Food Institute
By Ariana Longley
The Government of Canada says one in eight Canadians falls sick every year from food contaminated along its journey from farm to table.
As well, food fraud, or the mislabelling or tampering of food sold in retail markets, boosts the cost of food by 10 per cent and costs the food industry more than $10 billion annually.
All this points to a heightened need for information about the food we eat. One response from the agri-food industry is the adoption of new and innovative technology...
Data Science: Animal Health Laboratory Champions Innovation in Animal Disease Trends
Animal Heath Lab virology technicians working on samples in a biosafety cabinet.
By Alicia Bowland and Caitlin Ford
The University of Guelph’s Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) is Ontario’s foremost source of animal disease trend information – and that stock of information is growing steadily.
The AHL, a Laboratory Services unit at the University, serves as the provincial animal disease diagnostic lab. It is the laboratory partner of choice for governments and universities in Canada for agriculture, food safety...
Data Science: 18th-century British Art and Culture
Photo Credit: Christina Smylitopoulos
By Sydney Pearce
Art history professor Christina Smylitopoulos focuses on British art and visual culture in what’s called the “long” 18th century (1680s–1830s). In a recent project, she worked with students to create a digital catalogue of printed material produced by the early nineteenth-century publisher Thomas Tegg, integrating his graphic satire with other commodities, including books and pamphlets. This has resulted in a...
Data Science: Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock
The first IBM 360 computer delivered to a Canadian university came to the University of Guelph in 1966.
By Alicia Bowland
The IBM System 360 was the first family of computer systems to accomplish a full range of computer applications; the first IBM 360 computer delivered to a Canadian university came to the University of Guelph’s then Department of Animal Science in 1966. Expertise grew and in 1985, computer technology-based genetic research led to the establishment of the Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock (CGIL).
The centre grows its database by collecting producer...
Data Science: Guelph Family Health Study safely gathers family data
Photo Credit: Guelph Family Health Study
By Vanessa Virgo
The Guelph Family Health Study (GFHS) exemplifies big data studies being conducted at the University of Guelph and many other institutions. This study has enrolled over 300 families in a multi-year investigation to study family behaviours, nutrition literacy, food skills and other lifestyle factors to prevent child obesity.
Researchers aim to determine whether early life interactions in different home environments and family behaviours can lead to...
Data Science: Engaging the Rural Diary Archive
Photo Credit: Catharine Wilson
By Sydney Pearce
Rural Ontario has a rich history that has been documented through diaries dating between 1800 and 1960. History professor Catharine Wilson has brought together the writing of more than 200 diarists in the Rural Diary Archive. Volunteers across North America have been transcribing these works online, making them accessible and searchable. As they transcribe, they learn to read old...
U of G Researcher Exploring Automation for Better Dairy Health, Production
By Vanessa Virgo
University of Guelph PhD candidate Patty Kedzierski is using automated data collection to develop individualized feeding plans for dairy cows. Aiming to improve cow health and production, her research analyzes differences in dairy balance to tailor nutrition to each animal’s needs. Most farms currently use a total mixed ration, feeding all cows the same diet based on top-performing animals. Kedzierski’s work offers a more...
Data Science: On the Forefront of Feline Veterinary Medicine
Photo Credit: Theresa Bernardo
By Ashleigh Martyn
Many veterinarians use data to help keep farm animals healthy, but data is less fully employed to prevent or predict illness among companion animals. Dr. Theresa Bernardo, Department of Population Medicine, and her team are using big data to investigate the average weight of cats over their lifetimes and help prevent disease.
Bernardo holds the IDEXX Chair in Emerging...
Data Science: Exploring 19th-Century Innkeeping
Photo credit: Kevin James
By Sydney Pearce and Cate Willis
Kevin James, a professor in the Department of History and Head of the Tourism History Working Group, is studying the history of inns and hotels in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England and the Isle of Man in the 19th century. He transcribes digital records of hotel books to explore the...
New Apple Variety at U of G May Juice Up Cider Industry
Providence crab apple
By Cate Willis
A University of Guelph researcher has developed a new apple variety that holds promise for the cider industry.
Dr. John Cline, a professor of pomology and tree fruit physiology in the Department of Plant Agriculture at the Ontario Agricultural College, bred and developed Providence, a crab apple that has crimson-coloured flesh and produces crimson-coloured juice when...