Features

Featuring Bruce Martin, MLA 2009, and Tatiana Zakharova, MLA 2019

There’s a playground renaissance in North America, says Tatiana Zakharova, a playground designer with Earthscape Play, which creates, designs and builds brilliant, fun and award-winning playgrounds around the world. 

“It’s thrilling to be part of a Canadian company that pioneered design and creation of unique wood playgrounds – growing exponentially outward from local Ontario work to worldwide projects,” says Tatiana. 

Jennifer Mitchell (associate diploma in agriculture, 1999) is a passionate advocate of agriculture. She is a project manager with Koeslag Consulting Inc. and a board member of Farm and Food Care Ontario (FFCO). We talked with Jennifer to learn more about her roles and the importance of agricultural outreach.

Dr. Hanh Pham (PhD in environmental sciences, 2012) improved his scientific research skills and practical experience with honeybees, while studying at the University of Guelph. He returned home to Vietnam, where he works as the director of the Bee Research Center. We recently chatted with Hanh to learn more about his work with honeybees.

Apple growers can stem costly post-harvest spoilage losses by up to 20 per cent by applying a natural compound in orchards, according to a new University of Guelph study.

The study found that applying hexanal to apples pre-harvest helps curb losses from a condition called “bitter pit,” impairing fruit appearance and flavour, especially in the Honeycrisp cultivar that normally fetches a premium in the grocery produce section, said Dr. Jay Subramanian, a professor in the Ontario Agricultural College.

To celebrate the December break, we've compiled a list of activities to try this winter, recommended by OAC community members. Thank you to everyone who provided suggestions!

Dec. 5 is World Soil Day, a day targeted towards raising awareness about the importance of soil health and sustainable soil management.

Soil health and sustainable soil management is an ongoing focus for several University of Guelph researchers and their work aimed at soil conservation has become increasingly important in countering the risk of climate change impacts while growing enough food for the planet.

With growing public concern over the welfare of captive animals, a first-ever code of practice for farmed fish will help ensure that Canadian farmers meet acceptable husbandry standards and remain globally competitive, says a University of Guelph researcher who helped develop the new guidelines.

“Food is health, you are what you eat, and people should know that.” says Hala Amer, a PhD candidate in the Department of Food Science.

Hala is an international student from Egypt, where she completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees in food science with a focus on product development.

After learning about her family’s history of diabetes and high blood pressure and seeing their challenges, she decided to dig deeper into researching the nutritional aspects of food.

Make better cows and cool the planet.

That’s the dual goal of a University of Guelph-led, international project intended to reduce climate-warming methane emissions from dairy cattle – a key issue following adoption of a global methane-reduction pledge at this month’s United Nations climate change conference.

Writing poetry or short stories might seem an unlikely way to tackle climate change or biodiversity loss. But addressing the world’s environmental problems starts with changing lives and minds, says one University of Guelph professor, whose new creative writing course for budding environmental scientists aims to do just that.

The new offering, called “Creative Writing for Environmental Science,” will encourage students to read and write short stories, poetry and essays on environmental science themes or topics.