staff.matters
the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences staff newsletter
October 29, 2003
Plant Science Seminars - On Thursday, October 30, Claudio Stasolla, Plant Science, will be speaking about "Regulation of meristem formation and maintenance of angiosperms". The seminar will be held in the Carolyn Sifton Lecture Theatre at 3:30 pm. Coffee and donuts will be served at 3:00 pm.
Soil Science Seminars - Rick Raddatz, Environment Canada, will present "Monthly mean afternoon mixing-layer depths 'tuned' to the eco-climatic regions of the Canadian prairie provinces" in Room 344 Ellis Building at 2:30 pm on Friday, October 31.
Animal Science Graduate Seminars - On Tuesday, November 4, grad student Colleen Wilson will speak about "West Nile Virus and the horse". The seminar is set for 10:00 am in 219 Animal Science.
Join the Dips on tour - The second year Diploma class will be touring Glenlea on Wednesday, November 5. The bus leaves parking lot "E" at 2:30 pm. All are welcome to attend but seating is limited. Please call Lorrie Koroscil at 474-9236.
Take Your Kids to Work Day - Also on Wednesday, November 5, several Faculty staff members will be bringing their children (Grade 9/Senior 1) to visit their workplace. As an added bonus, the Faculty will offer a few extra tours and activities for those young people. If you are planning to bring your young person to work at the Faculty next week, please let us know so we can include him/her in our plans! Contact Diane Wreford (474-8281) or Crystal Jorgenson (474-9435).
Get to Know Research... at Your University - This speaker series from the Office of the Vice-President (Research) will feature Karin Wittenberg, Animal Science, on Sunday, November 16 at 2 pm at Smartpark, 135 Innovation Drive on the Fort Garry Campus. Karin's topic will be "Living in Harmony: Managing Livestock for a Sustainable Future" in which she will focus on how long-term research into animal housing, manure handling systems, land use and cropping systems can reduce environmental and human risk factors associated with intensive livestock operations. The Get to Know Research series, which showcases leading-edge University research and innovation to the general public, is free and everyone is welcome to attend.
Manitoba Agronomists Conference - Application forms are available on-line to register for the 4th Annual Manitoba Agronomists Conference set for Tuesday, December 9, and Wednesday, December 10, in the JRI Auditorium. This is a forum where Manitoba agronomists meet to discuss the latest developments and trends in crop production, crop protection and soil management. Registration at $125 includes all sessions, meals and a parking pass for both days! For more information, call 474-9391. The Conference is organized by Manitoba Agriculture & Food, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada and the University of Manitoba.
Short Courses in Dairy - The Department of Food Science and Manitoba Agriculture and Food are once again holding two short courses in the Dairy Science building in December: Pasteurization of Milk and Liquid Foods I (December 15 and 16), and II (December 17). This course will benefit plant supervisors, engineers, operators and quality control staff working with a wide variety of pasteurized food products. Also, inspectors of food pasteurization operations would find this course useful.
Brian Oleson, Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, will be in Kansas City, Missouri, October 29 - November 2, attending the NCR-194 Annual Meeting, and the 6th Annual Farmers Cooperatives 2003 Conference. NCR-194 is the USA national research group focused on cooperatives.
Brian also made an Outlook Presentation to the Credit Union Central Board of Directors in Winnipeg on October 28. He will be presenting a seminar to CARD/MRAC in Portage la Prairie on November 4 on "Agri-Food Sector and the Role of the Cooperative Model".
Alma Kennedy, Animal Science, made a presentation to the Manitoba Hydro Research and Development Board on October 29. Her talk was entitled "Economic production of replacement dairy heifers".
Bill Guenter, Animal Science, attended the "Fall Hatching Egg Seminar" on October 29 at the CanadInn, where he chaired the afternoon session.
The Western Grain Transportation Reform Conference sponsored by the Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics is history, and a cursory review of the evaluations, plus unsolicited observations, suggest that it was a great success! Approximately 90 people, including a good cross-section of producers, government and industry officials, and academics, participated in this event held at the Clarion Hotel on October 23-24. A major reason for this success was the excellent array of thoughtful presentations by the speakers and discussants. Proceedings of the conference will be available on a CD, likely after the New Year. The organizers believe that Daryl Kraft, who initiated this conference and to whom it was dedicated, would have been pleased!
Ed Tyrchniewicz, Adjunct Professor with the Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, has been appointed to a task force on Policy Options for Agricultural and Rural Development in China and is leaving for Beijing on November 1 for one week. This is the first of four trips he plans to make to China over the course of the next year. The task force, established by the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, is made up of five Chinese and five international agricultural economists. It will operate out of the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy in the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is required to submit its report in October 2004.
Barb Metrycki, School of Agriculture, participated with the Flax Council of Canada this past week in an Expo at the American Dietitians Association (ADA) conference in San Antonio, Texas. The Flax Council was one of more than 1600 exhibitors at the annual event which attracted dietitians from the U.S., Mexico, South America and overseas.
Kirstin MacDonald, Animal Systems, will leave October 30 for an 8-month period of study at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, under a bi- lateral exchange agreement between SLU and the University of Manitoba. Kirstin will be at SLU until mid-June 2004. Funds to assist with travel are provided from the award given by FAFS Endowment Fund in 2002 to the Department of Agribusiness project "Student/Faculty Exchange on Sustainable Agriculture and International Trade".
Syngenta Crop Protection Canada recently gave $100,000 to the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences to set up the Syngenta Graduate Scholarship. The gift was matched by the Manitoba Scholarship and Bursary Initiative, and will be used to supply an annual award to a graduate student working in an area related to sustainable development, specifically environmental quality and resources management, integrated pest management, introduction of new technologies, economic viability and rural community sustainability. For more information, contact Bernie Dronzek, Associate Dean (Academic) at 474-8229.
Farmers Independent Weekly - This week's article by Carla Zelmer and Alison Sass, Plant Science, is titled "On the trail of wheat that provides its own nitrogen fertilizer". They look at the notion of developing cereal crops that can produce their own nitrogen, which might in turn lower the fertilizer and application costs incurred by producers. Carla is exploring the possibility of introducing nitrogen-fixing sugarcane bacterium into wheat, while Alison has been looking for locally adapted, mutualistic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in native grasses.
In the Research News section of the University of Manitoba Bulletin (October 23), the "My Word!" feature was written by Paul Bullock, Soil Science, and the research profile features a piece by David Lobb, also of Soil Science, on "Landscape Restoration: a practice whose time has come".
Kelley Fitzpatrick, Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, is interviewed in an article titled "New frontiers in functional foods" that is currently featured prominently on the home page of Meristem Land and Science. The article teaser states "a leading research manager provides perspective on the fast-rising trend toward functional foods and the dramatic potential it holds for western Canadian agriculture".
The Faculty was involved in two Science Teachers of Manitoba SAG conferences this past Friday. Crystal Jorgenson and Gord Mushey, Dean's Office, attended the main conference at Kildonan East Collegiate where they promoted the Faculty's programs and the annual science teachers' workshop. Rene Van Acker, Plant Science, presented at the special SAG event entitled "Agricultural Biotechnology Enrichment Program: From Tube to Table" held at JRI's Kelburn Farm. Rene said about 20 high school science teachers participated. He wanted to note that Al Raine, JRI, did an excellent job of promoting the Faculty. Thanks Al!
The President's Office is calling for nominations for the highly prestigious 2004 3M Teaching Fellowships. The nomination procedure requires a letter from the Vice-President (Academic), or equivalent, that addresses the nominee's special qualifications for the award. Nominations should be forwarded to Karen Ogden, Vice-Provost (Academic Affairs), no later than February 16, 2004. For more information, visit the online document "Preparing a Nomination for the 3M Teaching Fellowship Award".
FASO will be placing an order soon for Aggie Clothing, so if you are interested in getting a jacket, duffel bag or some other cool aggie memorabilia, print and fill out the order form that can be found online. Deadline to get this form into clothing rep Nicki Dzisiak is November 1, so do it today! For more information, contact the FASO office at 474-6763.
The Faculty's 2002-2003 Annual Report is now online in PDF format. Limited hard copies are available at the Dean's Office - contact Crystal at 474-9435 or c_jorgenson@umanitoba.ca.
Farewell to staff.matters Plant Science correspondent Tammy Petriew, Plant Science. Tammy is moving to Payroll November 3. Best wishes!
staff.matters is e-mailed weekly on Wednesday afternoon to members and friends of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba. The weekly newsdeadline is Tuesday at 4:00 pm. Email Crystal Jorgenson with your news or get in touch with your department staff.matters rep:
- Agribusiness: Judy Powell 9259
- Animal Science and Entomology: Claire Hutchinson 6125
- Biosystems Engineering: Connie Wenzoski 6033
- Food Science: Yvonne Halden 9621
- Plant Science: Tammy Petriew 8563
- Soil Science: Terry Ramm 8153