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That silky, gold-coloured tuft you normally discard along with your corncob husks is worth more than you think.

For the first time, a team of University of Guelph researchers has shown corn silks naturally contain diverse microbes, a finding that may point to a new strategy to protect the cob from fungal infections.

Their discovery of this corn silk microbiome may help improve breeding and farming practices to avert costly and harmful fungal outbreaks, protect one of the world’s three most important food crops and increase food security globally.

Ontario peaches with better colour, taste and texture, and that are available in stores two weeks earlier than other local peaches, is the goal of University of Guelph research.

Using molecular genetics, plant breeder Dr. Jay Subramanian has been developing new peach and plum varieties to appeal to both consumers and growers.

The University of Guelph’s Ridgetown Campus celebrated the achievements of graduating students who have completed one of the seven academic programs offered.

Graduates successfully completed their academic requirements in the Associate Diplomas in Agriculture, Environmental Management, Equine Care & Management, Horticulture and Veterinary Technology, along with graduates in the Veterinary Office Administration Certificate and the in-class portion of the Dairy Herdsperson Apprenticeship program.

Having grown up in Guelph, Danielle Roy is no stranger to the city, and she loves everything it has to offer. She completed her undergraduate degree in environmental economics and policy, here at the University of Guelph (U of G), and is working toward completing a master of science in food, agricultural and resource economics. With her primary interests being natural resource economics, she has been able to explore her passion through behavioral and experimental economics research in her M.Sc. program.

Offering “the gift of rest” to front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic is the goal of a novel fundraising project by University of Guelph students.

The One Bench One Tree project aims to install a park-style bench and a native tree at Canadian hospitals to provide a shady respite for nurses, doctors and other health-care workers, said Alli Neuhauser, a second-year master of landscape architecture (MLA) student and a member of the organizing committee.

Fernando Montaño Lopez is an international graduate student in the School of Environmental Science (SES). He is currently using digital soil mapping to research the effect of land conversion on soil carbon and nutrient dynamics in the Great Clay Belt of Northern Ontario.

Fernando’s family roots emerge from a Zapotec indigenous community, in a south rural area of Oaxaca in Mexico. His grandparents were dedicated to agriculture and Fernando developed his fascination with soil science at a young age. 

Dr. Paul Sibley has been appointed as director of the School of Environmental Sciences. He begins his five-year-term on September 1, 2021.

"I am very excited to commence this next chapter of my career,” says Sibley. “I am grateful to everyone who has shown support and I look forward to working with our faculty, staff and students over the next five years to continue to grow and strengthen the already outstanding research and teaching programs in the School of Environmental Sciences.”

Dr. Mohsen Yoosefzadeh Najafabadi is the 2021 recipient of the University of Guelph's (U of G) top graduate convocation award: the D.F. Forster Medal (Doctoral). 

Robin is a passionate environmental sciences master’s student. Soil organic matter and soil health are the primary focus of her master’s research, and she is also heavily involved in the student community by way of volunteering, teaching assistant roles and other student support work. Advancing Canadian agriculture is Robin’s ultimate goal – the knowledge and research exposure obtained during graduate studies is helping her pursue a future career in agricultural research and policy. 

With just 180 seconds on the clock and one slide to work from, 11 grad students recently competed for the chance to win a $1,000 prize and the opportunity to move on to the 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) provincial rounds.

In this annual competition, students use plain language to present their graduate thesis to a panel of judges within three minutes.

Top prize and the Community Choice award went to Claire Mindus, Animal Biosciences, whose thesis explored the use of probiotic bacteria to reduce feather pecking in chickens. The Community Choice award is voted on by the public.