The spread of the COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the importance of having effective global surveillance systems in place for infectious animal diseases. University of Guelph researchers have discovered Twitter can help detect the spread of disease outbreaks. In what may be the first study to demonstrate Twitter’s use as an early warning system for tracking
Category: Findings
Reading cat facial expressions is a gift
University of Guelph research has found that some people have the gift of the “cat whisperer.” They are able to identify the moods of cats based on facial expressions. Women and those with veterinary experience are especially good at deciphering feline expressions, even those who admit to having no strong attachment to cats. “The ability
Mothers prone to gender stereotyping
Psychology Prof. Kristel Thomassin has found that gender stereotypes connected to the expression of emotion are perpetuated more by mothers than fathers. Boys may learn to hold back tears from mom, not dad. Thomassin’s study, published in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, found mothers favoured daughters expressing sadness and anger more than they favoured
Supporting first responders with traumatic stress
First responders coping with traumatic stress are more likely to seek help from a life partner than from their organizations, U of G researcher Grace Ewles has found. Those finding spurred Ewles to make trauma and PTSD resources more accessible for firefighters, police officers, paramedics, rescue workers, and their family members. She developed the website
Changing climate affects farmland
In a warming world, Canada’s North may become our breadbasket of the future – but this new “farming frontier” also poses environmental threats from increased carbon emissions to degraded water quality, according to a first-ever study involving University of Guelph researchers. The research team modelled prospects for growing major food crops in new farmland that
Wild apples have heritage DNA at their core
Ontario’s wild, or feral, apple trees have a genetic connection to apple varieties grown more than a century ago in the province, says U of G research that compared the genetics of hundreds of feral trees to that of non-feral varieties. “A relatively small number of varieties that were grown in Ontario more than 100
Many pet owners keen to have vegan pets
A surprising number of pet owners, particularly those who are vegan, are interested in feeding their pets a plant-based diet, according to new University of Guelph research. Researchers with U of G’s Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) along with colleagues in New Zealand surveyed 3,673 dog and cat owners from around the world to learn what
Wildfires turning boreal forests from carbon sinks to carbon sources
Bigger, hotter wildfires are turning Canada’s vast boreal forest into a significant new source of climate-changing greenhouse gases. The shift, which may have already happened, could force firefighters to change how they battle northern blazes, says Merritt Turetsky, an ecologist at the University of Guelph and co-author of a recent study that appeared in Nature.
Meat-eating plant discovered in Ontario
Call it the “Little Bog of Horrors.” In what is believed to be a first for North America, biologists at U of G have discovered meat-eating pitcher plants in Ontario’s Algonquin Park wetlands. The plants consume not just bugs but also young salamanders. Prof. Alex Smith, Department of Integrative Biology, calls the finding an “unexpected
Tiny radio transmitters provide insect migration clues
Wind and warmth can improve travel time for the billions of insects worldwide that migrate each year, according to a first-ever radio-tracking study by University of Guelph biologists. Researchers equipped monarch butterflies and green darner dragonflies with radio transmitters and tracked them through southern Ontario and several northern states. They wanted to learn how environmental