LFS Alumna One of 2015 Trudeau Foundation Scholars

LFS Alumna One of 2015 Trudeau Foundation Scholars

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LFS Alumna One of 2015 Trudeau Foundation Scholars

Jun 12, 2015

Congratulations to alumna Anelyse Weiler (BSc GRS ’11) who is one of 16 recipients of the Trudeau Doctoral Scholarship. The award recognizes exceptional Canadian students who have distinguished themselves through academic excellence, civic engagement, and a commitment to reaching beyond academic circles. Currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto, Anelyse completed her Master’s degree at SFU under the supervision of Dr. Hannah Wittman.

During her undergrad, Anelyse was an worked as Communications Coordinator at the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, as well as serving as President of the AMS club, Friends of the UBC Farm, a network of students, staff, and community members passionate about sustainable agriculture, and preserving the the UBC Farm for academic and research activities.

Learn more about Anelyse’s PhD researchKnow Farmworkers, Know Food: Advancing Equitable Livelihoods and Food System Sustainability in Canada.

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PhD Candidate Named Member of the Month by Cdn. Nutrition Society

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PhD Candidate Named Member of the Month by Cdn. Nutrition Society

Jun 4, 2015

Congratulations to PhD Human Nutrition Candidate, Kyly Whitfield, who is the featured Student Member of the Month for June. The CNS-SCN Student Network recognizes outstanding CNS-SCN member trainees from coast to coast.

In the past year Kyly has proven to be one of the most active CNS-SCN University Student Representatives. CNS-SCN is proud to recognize Kyly as the June trainee student of the month because of her excellent work in furthering the CNS-SCN student initiative mission, her contributions to the experience of her peers at UBC in her leadership roles, and her past research accomplishments.

Read more: cns-scn.ca

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Video: B.C. expertise helps feed struggling population in Cambodia

Video: B.C. expertise helps feed struggling population in Cambodia

May 31, 2015

From Global BC: UBC is helping Cambodians set up fish farms to increase protein in their diets. Linda Aylesworth reports.

Can’t see the video? View it on the Global BC website.

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Spring 2015 PhD Graduates

Spring 2015 PhD Graduates

May 29, 2015

Three LFS students received their doctorates at the May 22 graduation ceremony. Congratulations to Drs Isabelle Lacroix (Food Science), Jun-Hyung Tak (Plant Science), and Gosia Zobel (Applied Animal Biology).

A copy of their doctoral dissertations are available through UBC’s open-access repository, cIRcle:

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Fish farm project helps Cambodian women care for families, learn business skills

Fish farm project helps Cambodian women care for families, learn business skills

May 29, 2015

Fish on Farms, an international food security project that helps rural women in Cambodia establish home aquaculture and food gardens, will now help them become entrepreneurs, thanks to more than $1 million in funding from the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund.

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Global Food Ethics Project

Global Food Ethics Project

May 26, 2015

Professor David Fraser is serving as an advisor on the Global Food Ethics Project, a project coordinated by Johns Hopkins University aimed at working through conflicting visions of what it means to feed the world ethically and find a concrete path forward even in the absence of consensus about ethical commitments and values.

Last year, Dr. Fraser took part in a week-long workshop in Italy that culminated in the creation of a full report and a short summary that identifies seven specific projects deemed particularly worthy of investment because of their importance and tractability.

The principal investigators are open to feedback on those projects or suggestions for carrying them out. For more information, please contact David Fraser.

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Global Resource Systems Alumna Receives Gates-Cambridge Scholarship

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Global Resource Systems Alumna Receives Gates-Cambridge Scholarship

May 11, 2015

Congratulations to Jodi Gustafson on receiving a Gates Cambridge Scholarship!

Jodi, an alumna of our Global Resource Systems program, is one of three Canadian students – and the only UBC student – selected among 54 Gates Cambridge Scholars who will begin their postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge this September. Gates Cambridge Scholarships are prestigious, highly competitive full-cost scholarships awarded to outstanding applicants from countries outside the UK.

Jodi will pursue a Master of Philosophy in conservation leadership. While in the Global Resource Systems program, she produced a documentary, Qikiqtaruk- Herschel Island: Yukon’s Vulnerable Arctic Treasure, which highlighted the impacts of climate change on Inuvialuit communities in Canada’s Western Arctic.

She was also recently named one of Canada’s Top 25 Environmentalists Under 25 for 2015 as listed by The Starfish.

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Food & Resource Economics Student to Speak at Skoll World Forum

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Food & Resource Economics Student to Speak at Skoll World Forum

May 5, 2015

Congratulations to Food and Resource Economics Masters student and MasterCard Foundation scholar Isaac Jonas, who was selected as a delegate for the Skoll World Forum Young Leaders Initiative at Oxford University in April.

The annual Skoll World Forum focuses on exchanging ideas to create innovative solutions to global social issues through a three day conference featuring debates, presentations and workshops from over 1,000 social entrepreneurs from around the world. LFS’ own Isaac Jonas was one of only ten Skoll-MasterCard Foundation Young Leaders delegates to be selected by the forum to present and help incite social change. His research has focused on the interconnections between development, social entrepreneurship and access to education.

Originally from Zimbabwe, Isaac, is also one of UBC’s MasterCard Foundation Scholars—an initiative which identifies, educates, and equips the next generation of young leaders from Africa to create positive social change in their communities and across the globe. He hopes to inspire younger generations to take an active role in solving global issues through improving access to education and employment. Isaac is the English speaking facilitator for African Youth Movement (AYM) committee of employment and entrepreneurship, a pan-African movement of young Africans scattered across the globe, developing solutions to African problems.

Congratulations again to Isaac for his impressive selection to this internationally renowned conference!

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LFS Centennial Session | Genetics vs Food: Are we truly what we eat?

LFS Centennial Session | Genetics vs Food: Are we truly what we eat?

May 4, 2015

Part of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems Centennial Dialogues, Critical Issues in Land and Food Systems series 

On April 29, Alumni UBC, in partnership with the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and the Heart & Stroke Foundation, held a panel discussion exploring the effect of diet and genetics on chronic disease.

What’s more harmful: fat or sugar? Should I drink a glass of red wine every day, or abstain from alcohol altogether? We spend a lot of time worrying about how our dietary choices are impacting our health. In fact, hardly a day goes by where we’re not hearing about how the “latest studies” suggest that we make immediate dietary changes. But some experts suggest that our genetic predisposition for disease is actually the most significant factor in our overall health. So how vigilant do we really need to be about our diet?

Moderator

  • Rickey Yada, BSc(Agri)’77, MSc’80, PhD’84 – Dean and Professor, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, UBC

Panelists

  • Dr. Susanne Clee, PhD’01 – Assistant Professor, Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, UBC
  • Desiree Nielsen, BSc(Food, Nutrition and Health)’06 – Registered Dietitian and Owner, Desiree Nielsen Nutrition Consulting
  • Brad Popovich – Chief Scientific Officer, Genome BC
  • Yves Potvin – Founder and President, Gardein

Listen to a podcast of the discussion here:

This discussion was recorded April 29, 2015, at the York Theatre in Vancouver.

Photos

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Plant Science Alum Receives Innovation Award from IAF

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Plant Science Alum Receives Innovation Award from IAF

May 1, 2015

The Investment Agriculture Foundation of B.C. (IAF) has awarded the 2015 Award of Excellence for Innovation to Dr. Saber Miresmailli, founder and CEO of Ecoation Innovative Solutions (EIS), for the development of a wireless crop health monitoring system that will prevent crop losses and decrease pest and disease management costs for growers.

“The Award of Excellence for Innovation celebrates the leaders behind those projects that have the potential to transform a sector, or turn a problem into an opportunity for B.C.’s agriculture and agri-foods industry,” says Ken Bates, IAF chair. “Dr. Miresmailli’s creativity and leadership in addressing the industry-wide issue of crop protection will provide growers with a new tool that allows them to identify and address problems before they spread, reducing crop loss, labour, and pesticide applications.”

EIS crop-sense ™ automates the plant monitoring and inspection process, and identifies where and when treatment is needed at the plant level.  Instead of looking for signs of pests and diseases, crop-sense ™ conveys information about plant health based on plant-generated signals before symptoms arise. The system will allow growers to identify pest outbreaks sooner, and take action to manage the pest before there is damage to the crop.

EIS recently established a research greenhouse at UBC to test its technology on eleven major cultivars of tomato and is also conducting massive data collection inside commercial greenhouses to complete its signal database and refine its predictive models and prototype. Once fully implemented, EIS technology can significantly reduce grower operation costs related to pest and disease management and minimize crop losses due to pests and diseases. Commercial trials are underway to prove the efficacy and functionality.

“Our vision at EIS is to change the way we produce and protect our food with the help of innovative technology and big data. I am extremely proud that today, we can apply this vision to various agricultural settings, from sophisticated greenhouses in British Columbia to smallholder cowpea farms in Benin, West Africa,” says Dr. Miresmailli.

“As an immigrant, thinking outside the box has always been my forte.  Over the years, I’ve enjoyed tremendous support from people, organizations and government agencies that have invested their trust in me and made my journey possible. I am extremely thankful for the recognition.  I consider this award as yet another driving force and motivation for me and my amazing colleagues at EIS with whom I share this honor.”

The IAF Award of Excellence for Innovation in Agriculture and Agri-Food celebrates B.C.’s agriculture and agri-food leaders who have implemented specific projects or initiatives leading to economic, environmental or social benefits to British Columbia and the industry in general, or to a specific sector. This year the award was presented at the IAF Award Luncheon and Project Showcase in Abbotsford.

Through the Canada-BC Agri-Innovation Program, the Investment Agriculture Foundation has committed over $6-million in federal and provincial funding to projects in research and development and pilots and demonstrations. Looking ahead, the Agri-Innovation program will focus funding on facilitating commercialization and adoption of innovative products, technologies and practices.

The Investment Agriculture Foundation is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization that works with the agri-food industry to strategically invest federal and provincial funds toward projects that have the potential to transform ideas into solutions.

For more information, media may contact:

Sarah Rostami

IAF Communications

250.356.1772

srostami@iafbc.ca

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