Features

On May 1, the beginning of Brain Cancer Awareness Week, University of Guelph distance runner Haley Davis set out on a 150-kilometre fundraising run in support of cancer foundations.

Less than three weeks earlier, she completed radiation therapy for brain cancer.

In summer 2019, Davis was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour. A top Ontario high school runner, there was fear the tumour could end her running career. She underwent emergency surgery.

Natassya Lu became a wrestler in high school on a dare. A friend challenged her to take up the sport and she accepted.

Lu had some losses in that first year, but they motivated her to work harder and get better. She embraced the attitude that there is no failure in the sport; you either win or you learn. She learned and got very good, very quickly. She went from being eliminated in early tournaments to representing Canada at the Pan American Games in her first year of competition.

Keto, gluten-free, organic: If a pet owner is on a specific diet, chances are their dog is on it, too, a new University of Guelph study reveals.

But when it comes to a grain-free diet, owners seem to choose it more for their dogs than themselves, the study also found.

“It demonstrates that many variables, not just dietary habits, influence the selection of dog food,” said study lead author Sydney Banton, a master’s student in U of G’s Department of Animal Biosciences.

To curb greenhouse gas emissions, taking a regional approach – at least initially – is likely more effective than adopting a global one, according to a new University of Guelph study.

As Ottawa considers federal legislation aimed at decreasing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, the new study may offer insight into the proposed plan to meet targets.

A donation from crop researchers in the University of Guelph’s Department of Plant Agriculture will amount to more than just a hill of beans. In fact, it will likely provide dozens of nutritious meals for many people in Guelph who are food insecure.

Researchers with the U of G dry bean breeding program recently donated more than 2,000 kilograms of beans to the Guelph Food Bank, the non-profit group The Seed and the University’s Hospitality Services.

A compound in avocados may ultimately offer a route to better leukemia treatment, says a new University of Guelph study.

The compound targets an enzyme that scientists have identified for the first time as being critical to cancer cell growth, said Dr. Paul Spagnuolo, Department of Food Science.

Published recently in the journal Blood, the study focused on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is the most devastating form of leukemia. Most cases occur in people over age 65, and fewer than 10 per cent of patients survive five years after diagnosis.

Dr. Claudia Wagner-Riddle, a professor in the School of Environmental Sciences, appeared on CBC’s The National to discuss new farming approaches that are helping to slow climate change.

Continue reading, "CBC’s The National Consults U of G Soil Researcher" here.

When it comes to motivating consumers to make environmentally responsible choices, a moving story might be more persuasive than scientific facts.

A University of Guelph researcher has found that consumers are willing to pay more for “green” gardening products after reading a personal story about the importance of protecting the environment than are consumers who have read only scientific facts about environmental damage caused by water runoff.

As part of Earth Day, a University of Guelph institute is announcing funding for seven interdisciplinary research projects that tackle human-environmental crises.

The Guelph Institute for Environmental Research (GIER) will provide $105,000 from its small grants program to new and ongoing U of G projects.

Established in 2019, the institute is intended to stimulate collaborations across campus and raise the profile of environmental research at U of G.

A University of Guelph research team monitoring wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 is now using the technology to search for variants.