A myriad of environmental stressors are threatening freshwater ecosystems. However, monitoring the impacts of these stressors on economically and culturally important native fish populations remains a challenge. Ontario is a large province with hundreds of thousands of lakes, yet knowledge of ecological structure across lakes is limited, particularly for remote lakes in the Far North. […]

The current wellbeing crisis in Canada is magnified in rural areas. Also, rural economies are negatively affected by lack of suitable youth lifeskill training. Rural communities lack financial capital to address these issues on their own. 4-H has been building rural youth skill for over 100 years, offering a variety of options, including physical activities […]

The goal of this research is to understand and develop techniques to improve flour performance in bread making, a low margin market which requires some of the tightest flour specifications across all bakery platforms. Standard flour quality testing methods will be compared to more recently developed quality tests as well as experimental methods. The end […]

Ontario’s chicken industry contributes $2.72 billion to Canadian economy, and supports 19,183 full-time equivalent jobs (Ontario Chicken Industry Report, 2013). To date, 2015 has seen 309 individual outbreaks of avian influenza (AI) reported to the World Organization for Animal Health, a 147% increase on outbreaks reported in 2014. In Ontario alone, 29 farms were quarantined […]

Obesity and diabetes are a significant global burden and there is an immediate need for novel treatments and management strategies. Our lab has shown that an avocadoderived lipid is a potent inhibitor of fatty acid oxidation (i.e., the cellular breakdown of fat for energy) which reduces mouse weight gain without toxicity. Inhibition of fatty acid […]

Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) are currently the subject of research to obtain Marine Stewardship Council certification for the fishery in Lake Erie. The declines of Lake Whitefish stocks in Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario have drawn much concern from the fishing industry, regulators, and other stakeholders. Better estimates of the stock status are needed to […]

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a blood cancer with very poor prognosis, especially for patients older than 60 years of age. This is in part because of the severe toxicity of medicines available. Less harmful medicines are needed to better treat older patients. Therapure Biopharma Inc. has chemically linked the standard toxic chemotherapy medicine called […]

Non-Apis bees are now recognized as significant pollinators. For most crops visited by bees, pesticides are used for pest management, and there is concern about the potential negative effects of pesticides on wild and managed bees. Most toxicity studies involving bees have focused on honey bees (Apis mellifera), partially because honey bee data are required […]

Non-Apis bees are now recognized as significant pollinators. For most crops visited by bees, pesticides are used for pest management, and there is concern about the potential negative effects of pesticides on wild and managed bees. Most toxicity studies involving bees have focused on honey bees (Apis mellifera), partially because honey bee data are required […]

The proposed research will investigate how to improve the performance and economic sustainability of Orius insidiosus as a biological control against Western Flower Thrips in greenhouse ornamental crops. New strategies to increase the efficiency of O. insidious will be investigated through the use of banker plants, supplemental food, and the use of lures. The project […]

Developing countries are faced with finding novel and humane ways to permanently reduce and control their dog populations. This is especially important for the sustainability of canine disease control and public health programs. Understanding the demography of domestic dog populations is central to the design of effective dog population management and zoonotic disease control interventions, […]

Interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) is a promising technique whereby a bison donor cell is transplanted into a domestic cattle oocyte. Different fibroblast donor cells have been demonstrated to have different embryonic outcomes. Problems with SCNT embryos have been also reported after in vitro culture. Toronto Zoo’s efforts have focused on wood bison iSCNT, […]