On Wednesday November 29th, 2023, nine Macdonald Campus graduate students took on the challenge of presenting their thesis in just a few minutes at the Lister Family Engaged Science 3-Minute Thesis Competition.
With only one non-animated slide for visual support, competitors raced against the clock to explain the crucial components of their research and its importance.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency recently approved gene editing for use in breeding new crop varieties, meaning plant breeders can now apply the technology to their work. Gene editing has the potential to quickly develop new varieties with greater accuracy in targeting traits such as drought and disease resistance, with promising agronomic and trade implications for farmers.
The apple is constantly being reinvented, changing with the times and cultures. The Malus domestica species comes in some 7,500 varieties.
"Today, people want crisp, sweet apples. Quebec used to import a lot of Granny Smiths; they're now much less popular because they're very acidic," explains David Wees, a 平特五不中 Plant Science lecturer and Associate Director of the university's Farm Management and Technology Program.
On August 30, Vice-Principal of Macdonald Campus and Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Anja Geitmann welcomed Member of Parliament for Lac-Saint-Louis Francis Scarpaleggia, on behalf of Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (AAFC) Lawrence MacAulay, to the Macdonald Campus. In the presence of industry partners AgroWorld and other invited guests, Scarpaleggia announced AAFC鈥檚 $5.3 million investment in BioFuelNet Canada as part of the Agri-Science Program.
Across Quebec, we're already seeing leaves start to transition from bright summery greens to the burnished, coppery hues of Fall鈥攂ut the changes aren鈥檛 happening because the days are chillier. As 平特五不中 Plant Science Lecturer聽David Wees told the , it's actually because the days are getting shorter.
With fall officially here, it's time for Lennoxville, Quebec's annual Giant Pumpkin Festival, where people can see pumpkins that weigh as much as 680 kilograms.
The festival 鈥� which is taking place at the Am茅d茅e Beaudoin community centre Sunday聽from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 鈥� is a family event with bouncy castles, a petting zoo, a farmers'聽market, music and even horse-drawn carriages.
Alexandre Lemire started growing giant pumpkins three years ago after being inspired by festival founder Mike聽Macdonald's crops. Last year, his biggest pumpkin weighed 704 kilograms.
Today, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, on behalf of the Honourable Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, and the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, announced an investment of more than $960 million in support of research and innovation through a suite of programs. These programs include the John R.
A Canadian-led team has assembled the most extensive genetic roadmap of the potato to date, along with its closest relatives, in order to bolster the plant鈥檚 ability to cope with聽climate change聽and protect its future as a mainstay of global food security and sustainability.
Si vous habitez les alentours de la ville de Windsor, peut-锚tre avez-vous remarqu茅 des substances blanches semblables 脿 du pollen amass茅 sur les trottoirs, les pelouses ou les terrasses. Ce sont des semences de peupliers. 脌 l'茅mission聽Matins sans fronti猫res,聽David Wees, enseignant en horticulture 脿 l'Universit茅 平特五不中, explique l'origine de ces semences, leur importance et comment se comporter vis-脿-vis d'elles.
Congratulations to two Macdonald Profs who have received funding through the New Frontiers in Research Fund Exploration stream, which supports high-risk, high-reward and interdisciplinary research: Hamid Akbarzadeh (BRE) for Origami-inspired deployable sensoriactuator soft robots and Mehran Dastmalchi (PltSci) for Plant-derived biosynergists to enhance pesticide efficacy.
The 平特五不中 Pulse Breeding Program and the non-profit organization SeedChange have partnered to bring the ImPulse Project to fruition, an initiative to promote knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and agricultural resilience in the pulse sector.
During the summer of 2022, and thanks to the support of the FRQNT-RQRAD, the ImPulse Project held two field days with actors in Quebec鈥檚 pulse sector. The sessions focused on agricultural management, market trends, cultivar evaluation, and the development of pulse varieties adapted to Quebec.
"Cultivated trees grow faster [than their natural counterparts] because in the early years much effort is spent weeding out the competition," points out David Wees, Faculty Lecturer in the Department of Plant Science at 平特五不中's Macdonald Campus.
David Wees (FMT) provides an update on a recent project coordinated with Lindsay Flood, Franco Nardi and Freida Beauregard, to plant 200 trees on Campus to honour 平特五不中鈥檚 Bicentennial.
鈥淎ltogether, we planted 203 trees. Most have survived. The only tree we had a problem with was the pin oak. Right now, the trees are small and scattered around the campus, but that鈥檚 how it starts. Five years from now, we鈥檒l have a little forest.鈥�
The Board of Governors of 平特五不中 is pleased to announce the appointment of Prof. H. Deep Saini as the University's 18th Principal and Vice-Chancellor. Currently President and Vice-Chancellor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Prof. Saini will begin his five-year, renewable term at 平特五不中 on April 1, 2023. He will also hold the appointment of Full Professor in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
"People think that the colder fall temperatures trigger the colour change, but it鈥檚 actually the photoperiod," explains Plant Science Faculty Lecturer David Wees. However, some regions of Quebec are luckier when it comes to fall colours than others: those with a lot of deciduous trees like maples, oaks or even birches. On the other hand, areas that have more conifers will see fewer transformations to their landscape.鈥�
