Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
January 22, 2001
OAC Prof Wins Federal Funding to Study Agricultural Impact on Global Warming
Land resource science professor Jon Warland has been awarded more than $70,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation's (CFI) New Opportunities program to study the exchange of greenhouse gases between agricultural vegetation and the atmosphere.
CFI announced the award, along with other recent New Opportunities winners, today in Ottawa. Warland's project, titled "Turbulence and Radiation Profiling Systems for Exchange Studies Inside Plant Canopies," will receive $72,605.
Warland, who completed his PhD at Guelph in 1999 and joined the faculty that same year, says he is "very pleased" at the recognition. "This is the first big grant I've gotten. It's cause to celebrate."
Warland's research, which follows on from his doctoral dissertation, measures greenhouse gas exchange inside crops and forests. He'll use his CFI funding to buy four sonic anemometers for high-speed wind and temperature measurements, along with six net radiometers for measuring available energy. The equipment will be arrayed within plant canopies. "Instead of measuring emissions in the air above crops, our new model allows for measurements of gas flux, including nitrous oxide released from the soil, close to the soil surface," says Warland. "This will give us more complete information on greenhouse gas exchange that should aid in both mitigating and adapting to climate change."
Agriculture is both a source and a sink for several important greenhouse gases, which are the primary cause of global warming. Canada must lower its greenhouse gas emission levels to conform to the Kyoto accord, and Warland hopes to play a part by developing new techniques for monitoring gas fluxes. These techniques will be used in experiments designed to find best-management practices for mitigating emissions.
"These strategic investments will help our universities to attract and retain the best researchers in Canada," said Dr. David Strangway, President and CEO of the CFI. "It will also play a critical role in ensuring our researchers can compete with the best in the world."
Contact:
At the University of Guelph, contact Prof. Jon Warland, Land Resource Science, 519-824-4120, Ext. 6374, or Alex Wooley, manager, media relations, 519-824-4120, Ext. 6982. At the CFI, contact Suzanne Corbeil, coordinator of public events, 613-996-4403.
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs, 824- 4120, Ext. 3338.
