Research News
A major platform for the beef sector
Technician Tim Caldwell and Prof. Katie Wood. Photo: Gillian Beatson, SPARK
By Gillian Beatson
A huge $15.5-million facelift is underway at the Elora Research Station, with the construction of a new cow-calf research centre, a facility owned by the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario and managed by the University of Guelph under the OMAFRA-U of G Agreement. A separate project will repurpose 200 acres of land to create pasture at the station and almost double the capacity for livestock on site.
This initiative will improve research on beef cattle health and welfare, and is the largest update to the facility since it was...
Researchers scale the Rockies to predict climate change's effects
Prof. Gedalof with one of the temporary weather stations he is using to research tree lines. Photo: Ze'ev Gedalof
By Samantha McReavy
On a remote tree line in the Rocky Mountains, University of Guelph researchers are setting up temporary weather stations to better understand how forest and non-forest areas will interact as the climate changes.
Inspired by the remarkable mountain landscapes there, Geography Prof. Ze'ev Gedalof and PhD student Emma Davis say their research is designed to increase understanding of factors in the environment that contribute to tree line dynamics, and the role climate change will play in future species distribution.
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Cheers to research to help Ontario grapevines over winter
Photo: Dr. Alireza Rahemi
By Gillian Beatson
Summer is hitting us with a sweltering heat wave – but ironically, this is also the time researchers are immersed in field tests to help plants get strong for the inevitable winter deep freeze that will be here before we know.
For example, University of Guelph researchers at the Simcoe Research Station are field testing enhanced common wine-quality grape rootstocks in preparation for winter to determine if even more viticulture development can take place across Ontario.
Prof. Adam Dale, Department of Plant Agriculture, and...
It’s Canada Day weekend – for ticks, too
Finn looks forward to holiday weekend hikes with his owner, Ashleigh Martyn
Photo: Ashleigh Martyn
By Sydney Pearce
This holiday weekend, as you finalize your plans, make sure to prepare yourself for the insects that accompany the great outdoors – like ticks.
Ticks can transmit pathogens that cause disease. In Ontario, the blacklegged tick poses the greatest risk; it can transmit several pathogens including the bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi) that causes Lyme disease in humans, dogs and horses.
“We aren’t trying to scare people away from nature – enjoying the outdoors is crucial for health and wellbeing,” says Katie Clow, a...
Gaining virtual insights into the molecular structure of the brain
Prof. George Harauz in his lab. Photo: Sydney Pearce
By Sandra Clark
Using an advanced computing network to visualize interactions between two key proteins has brought researchers in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology one step closer to understanding the molecular structure of the white matter of the brain – findings that could also lead to important insights regarding the onset of multiple sclerosis (MS).
A team led by Prof. George Harauz used the Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network (SHARCNET) facility at the University of Guelph to better understand how...
Genetics help power Atlantic salmon restoration
Young salmon showing variations in parr marks (Photo: S. Pedersen)
By Louis Gasparini
Wild Atlantic salmon populations have declined drastically in recent decades, but new findings by Integrative Biology researchers could help with restoration efforts for this important aquatic species.
Prof. Elizabeth Boulding and her research group made several important discoveries about Atlantic salmon genes that influence the appearance and growth of the fish, and which could have important implications for their potential restoration.
“If salmon go extinct in a stream, we now have the technology to re-introduce...
A new zoonotic disease emerges in southern Ontario
Image courtesy J. Kotwa
Dogs, humans may be at risk from a new form of tapeworm
By Sydney Pearce
Dogs in southern Ontario are being exposed to a newly identified tapeworm that can infect humans and cause a potentially fatal disease.
Since 2012, five dogs in southern Ontario have been diagnosed with the larval stage of a small tapeworm called Echinococcus multilocularis (EM).
Reports of the disease that EM causes, called alveolar echinococcosis, surprised University of Guelph PhD candidate, Jonathon Kotwa, and Prof. Andrew Peregrine from the...
Using Data Management Plans will keep your research data safe and give your research more exposure
Photo: Andrew Goodwin Photography
Graphic overlay: Tiffany Murphy
By Liz Snyder
Data Management Plans (DMPs) are becoming a more integrated part of the funding application process. The U of G will soon be adopting its own Institutional Research Data Management strategy to ensure researchers are mitigating risk and increasing the visibility and impact of their research, one component of which is a DMP – and the Library is ready to help.
Creating a plan to manage data can be an important part of the research process. A DMP describes the methods, protocols and plans a researcher will use to manage, describe,...
New animal care program gives researchers better insights
By Liz Snyder
Animal Care Services has been developing a system to support animal research teams through the life of their research project – and animal researchers at the U of G can soon look forward to even more support with the hiring of a post-approval review coordinator.
To get to this point, for the past two years Animal Care Services has been consulting with Canadian universities that have similar animal care programs and U of G researchers and animal facility managers. They wanted to see what a good post-approval review program would look...
You can help track wildlife health
New online tool gets the public involved
By Sydney Pearce
Tracking wildlife health is too large of a task for just one individual, so a wildlife health tracking website, developed by the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) at the University of Guelph, is getting the public involved.
The initiative is designed to make it easier for the public and groups interested in wildlife health to report sick and dead wild animals they encounter in Ontario, and eventually across Canada.
“There is a wide span of benefits for a tool like this...