Alyssa Gingras is a two-time OAC alumna (BSc. ENVB 2017, MES 2018) and a sales agronomist with Sharpe Farm Supplies. Although her day-to-day work is not significantly affected by the changes brought by COVID-19, she still adjusting to a new routine. We recently connected with her to find out how she’s doing.
*** Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing a series of Q&As featuring OAC community members to showcase how people are coping with our uncertain - but collective - state. We’re hoping these will help connect and support our community (in a small way) during these isolating and challenging times. Look after yourself and those around you. ***
Meagan Griffiths
Precision Agronomist CCA-ON, 4R NMS, FS PARTNERS
B.Sc. (Agr.) Crop, Horticultural and Turfgrass Sciences, 2012; M.Sc. Plant Agriculture, 2014
Meagan Griffiths works in precision agriculture. It’s not a career she planned on pursuing, but she’s found a fit for her interests and skillset in this dynamic part of the sector. She shares more about her current role and tips for current students who are staring off their careers.
We see them every day, all around us: the interconnections between the natural and humanmade worlds. A lot of hard work and critical thought have gone into the design of parks, school playgrounds and local streets. But who did this work? Most likely a landscape architect.
Colleen Mercer Clarke describes the profession of landscape architecture as “being architects for nature.”
Brewing craft beer isn’t just trendy and full of cheers says Patrick Wynn-Williams, B.Sc. ’12. He knows first-hand the dedication and stamina it takes to work in this industry.
“As fun as it might be, and it is definitely fun, it is also a lot of hard work,” says the packaging and shipping technician at Escarpment Laboratories in Guelph.
"One minute you have it all, and then you find yourself with nothing.”
Tendai Wilkerson didn’t own land in Zimbabwe when the government heated up its land reform policies, but she did lose everything.
Tendai’s employer, HSBC Bank, closed-up shop in the late 1990s over fears that it would not be able to repatriate its profits. Atrained lawyer, she found herself unemployed with no job prospects amid economic collapse.
Our “places” are ever-changing and evolving.
Ensuring that our downtowns, small towns, regions and communities thrive in this change is the concern. How does one go about improving a community in economic, social or cultural ways?
In Grade 10, Wendy Zhang, B.Sc. (Agr.) 2016, M.Sc. 2018, set a goal for herself. She would grow rice in Canada.
Last fall, Wendy harvested her first Canadian rice crop from a 2.5-acre test plot in Chatham Kent, Ont. The pilot project of Ontario FangZheng Agriculture Enterprise Inc. was a terrific success, with an average yield of 6,920 lbs. per acre (or 154 bushels per acre).
Wendy came to Canada from China nine years ago to pursue her bachelor’s degree.
The University of Guelph’s Honey Bee Research Centre (HBRC) delivers some of the world’s most impactful honey bee research and outreach, and it does so out of a living room.
The world-renowned centre operates out of a residential bungalow built in the 1970s. What was a living room is now a meeting and teaching space, the kitchen is a sales room, and the former bedrooms are offices. The bee yard is scattered across the residential-style lawns. The labs are nearly 2km away.
Shannon Labelle recently graduated in October 2019 with an M.Sc. in Rural Planning and Development, but she landed her dream job four months before graduation! She recently sat down with us to chat about her role, Indigenous planning and her transition into the workplace.