Botanical extracts with the potential to stimulate crop plant growth or performance must be rigorous tested as part of new product development. Similarly, botanical extracts that control microbial growth on plant tissues (including plant pathogenic fungi, bacteria, nematodes, etc.) or that control insect or arachnid pests on plants (aphids, whiteflies, mealybugs, mites, etc.) must be […]

Feed restriction in gestating sows is required to prevent excessive body weight gain and the associated negative consequences on lactation, locomotion, farrowing, and feed intake during lactation. Aggression and stereotypies associated with restricted feeding become a welfare and production concern when the sows are housed in groups. Delayed gastric emptying, increased swelling of contents in […]

Feed restriction in gestating sows is required to prevent excessive body weight gain and the associated negative consequences on lactation, locomotion, farrowing, and feed intake during lactation. Aggression and stereotypies associated with restricted feeding become a welfare and production concern when the sows are housed in groups. Delayed gastric emptying, increased swelling of contents in […]

Most economically important traits associated with lactation and reproduction in pigs are either less heritable, sex-limited, expressed later in life, or difficult to measure on a routine basis. Genomic predictions using single step best linear unbiased prediction (SSBLUP) methodologies, which utilizes information on phenotypes, pedigree and markers from genotyped and non-genotyped animals simultaneously, is an […]

Most economically important traits associated with lactation and reproduction in pigs are either less heritable, sex-limited, expressed later in life, or difficult to measure on a routine basis. Genomic predictions using single step best linear unbiased prediction (SSBLUP) methodologies, which utilizes information on phenotypes, pedigree and markers from genotyped and non-genotyped animals simultaneously, is an […]

Our research will investigate changes in duck populations relative to resource development in Alberta’s western boreal forest (WBF). Specifically, we will investigate changes in duck nest success and predator communities across a gradient of resource development. Resource development is rapidly increasing in Alberta and it has been implicated in the population decline of some wildlife […]

Salt marshes are important coastal ecosystems because they provide many services to surrounding areas. However, due to their highly productive nature, they have a long history of being converted into farmland in Maritime Canada. In recent years, there has been strong interest in restoring salt marshes to protect against coastal erosion, mitigate sea level rise, […]

Informed decisions on resource management and development require an understanding of how projects will impact the resource, other resources, and the ecosystem. Because the ocean and land are intricately connected along coastal areas, development projects in either will invariably affect the other. However, Ecological Risk Assessments do not consider the two in tandem because the […]

“A large majority of microbes cannot be cultured. Recently, microbiome sequencing has begun to identify the genetic potential of these lineages, often referred to as microbial “dark matter”. By integrating my taxonomic profiling methods with function profiling developed by the academic supervisor, I aim to develop and apply a comprehensive pipeline for microbial dark matter […]

The collection of bacteria and archaea in an ecosystem is termed the microbiome. This microbiome is critically important to the structure and function of essentially any ecosystem, providing many ecosystem services, such as growth promotion, nutrient turnover, and impacts on organismal health. The vast majority of these organisms, however, are unknown to science for a […]

Les infections nosocomiales sont des infections contractées dans les établissements de santé et représentent un problème de santé publique majeur. Dans les établissements de santé québécois, on évalue qu’entre 80 000 et 90 000 personnes sont atteintes d’une infection nosocomiale, ce qui correspond à 10% des admissions. Dans ce contexte, il est alors urgent de […]

Consumers are increasingly interested in how their pork is raised especially in terms of welfare (the five freedoms) and the use of antibiotics (in relation to antimicrobial resistance). This project will focus on pig behavioural traits such as aggressiveness, tail biting and social interaction and seek to develop new tools to allow these traits to […]