She came, she sawed, she conquered
With a swing of her axe, Stéphanie Bélanger-Naud, FMT’14, BSc(AgEnvSc)’17, regularly bites out large chunks from totem-like wooden poles, and, handling a single buck saw, slices through pine logs the size of sewer pipes. She's no slouch when it comes to a chain saw, either. A professional female timbersports athlete, or lumberjill, she excels at an axe event called the underhand chop.
Urban beekeeping putting the sting on wild bee populations
±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą entomology researcher and PhD candidate Gail MacInnis presented her findings at the Apimondia International Apicultural Congress in Montreal earlier this week
±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą entomology researcher and PhD candidate Gail MacInnis says that when comparing pollination efficiency between wild bees native to Canada and the more numerous honey bees, there is no contest. Wild bees win, wings down.
Macdonald team heads for National Design Innovation Challenge for Agriculture
Dalhousie University, Lethbridge College and ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą are collaborating with Farm Credit Canada on a 2 year pilot project to bring Canadian post-secondary agriculture students together to create innovative solutions to Canadian agricultural challenges. Fifteen students will bring their diverse Canadian perspectives together in cross-institutional teams responding to a specific regional agricultural issue.
Chandra Madramootoo receives 2019 World Irrigation and Drainage Prize
Professor Chandra Madramootoo is the recipient of the 2019 World Irrigation and Drainage Prize. During the Opening Ceremony of the World Irrigation Forum on September 02 in Bali, H.E. Minister Basuki Hadimulyono, Minister for Water Resources and Public Works of Indonesia, and H.E.
Montreal researchers probe muscle-loss disease in elderly
A team of Montreal researchers has devised a new set of criteria to better diagnose a disease that affects the elderly, sarcopenia, which causes loss of muscle mass.
The improved criteria raise hopes that physicians will be able to detect the disease in people earlier, and therefore, to recommend certain types of exercise and nutrition to stem the loss of muscle mass, say scientists at the Research Institute of the ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą Health Centre.
Serge Lussier reçoit le Mérite du Conseil interprofessionnel du Québec (CIQ)
FMT's Serge Lussier recently received the Mérite du Conseil interprofessionnel du Québec (CIQ) from the Ordre des Agronomes du Québec, awarded for exceptional work in supporting promoting agriculture and its professional aspects. He is the fourth Macdonald staff member, and 3rd FMT staff member, to receive this award since its inception in 1990.
$5.5M support for new Canadian ecosystem service network
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) ensures Canada’s working landscapes remain biologically diverse, resilient, and adaptive
Urban agriculture gets boost in efforts to grow farming sector
Urban agriculture is getting a $750,000 boost from the province and from Montreal to help develop the farming sector.
 The goal is to spur innovation and growth in urban farming, agriculture and local greenhouses, ensuring the projects align with the needs in each part of town to add to the vitality of the area.
... These measures have been due for a long time, said ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą Urban Agriculture Professor Mark Lefsrud.
Government of Canada funds collaborative research to clean Arctic oil spills
Two ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą researchers developing solutions to clean marine oil spills in the Northwest Passage and in oceans surrounding Canada to receive $3.7 million in funding from the Multi-Partner Research Initiative (MPRI).
Murres dive deep on fishing missions
Rappelling down a 650-foot cliff to catch seabirds on a remote island just below the Arctic Circle was scary enough.
“The first time you look over and you rappel over, it’s certainly not for the faint of heart,” said Kyle Elliott, a research chair in Arctic ecology at ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą in Canada.
Update on the Industrial Research Chair in the Sustainable Life of Dairy Cattle
Improving the comfort and longevity of dairy cows can improve dairy farm sustainability and profitability. This is the premise of the Industrial Research Chair in the Sustainable Life of Dairy Cattle, launched in 2016 and led by Dr. Elsa Vasseur of ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą. Preliminary results of multiple studies presented in May 2019 by the scientist and her team show promise for new and innovative approaches to cow comfort and longevity.
Un bateau-robot pour « scanner » la santé des lacs
Imaginez un bateau robotisé équipé de capteurs qui sillonne les plans d’eau pour récolter des données sur la température, le pH, l’oxygène dissous et les contaminants. Grâce à la transmission d’un signal acoustique, ces données s’affichent en temps réel sur une carte qui permet de connaître la distribution et la dynamique des polluants, à des millions d’emplacements.
Urban or rural: Where to build a greenhouse
'You need political will, and it takes time' – urban greenhouses could benefit from more direct support from governments, experts say.
...Mark Lefsrud has studied different ways of growing food for more than 20 years. He is an associate professor at ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ąâ€™s Macdonald Campus where he is a leader of the Biomass Production Laboratory and worked on the design of the Advanced Plant Habitat on the International Space Station.
Deep roots. Quebec's farmers are among the youngest in the country, and they're facing new challenges
Peter Enright, director of ±«ÓăÖ±˛Ą's farm management and technology program, said regardless of the specialization, there has been one major shift between the generations of John and Matthew Burns — social networks that are completely transformed.
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Des super patates découvertes en Colombie
Entre 12 et 14 millions de Colombiens consomment depuis peu trois super variétés de pommes de terre à chair jaune provenant des terres reculées de la cordillère des Andes. Pourtant, rien ne prédestinait ces patates à se retrouver dans autant d’assiettes.