RUSTLING CATTLE DOWN UNDER
Recent grad learns career and life lessons p.22
THROUGH THE YEARS
Six alumni from different decades tell their story p.10
FISH OIL FIGHTS CANCER
And other recent discoveries by our researchers p.20
alumninews Fall 2011 • Issue Number 2
Donors give faculty
12,000-acre outdoor lab
p.8
Ruth and Edwin Mattheis display a map of their donated ranch www.ales.ualberta.ca
Greetings!
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One of the duties I have that I take great pleasure in as dean of the faculty is the opportunity to meet as many of you as possible. I’m constantly amazed at what our alumni accomplish once they leave our doors. In this issue, you can read about the career paths of six alumni who graduated over the course of several decades. Activity continues at a frenetic pace at the faculty. One clear indicator of this is the astonishing increase in the amount of external research funding we’ve attracted this past year. You can read about it on p. 19. We received our second major gift of land, this one from Edwin and Ruth Mattheis. On page 8, discover what convinced the couple to donate their 12,000-acre ranch in southern Alberta to our university. Of the 250 students who graduated from our faculty this past year, two of them convocated with a BSc in animal health, a new program we began offering last year. You can read about one of the two graduates, Alicia Glasier, who has big plans for the future, on page 15. The faculty appointed the first Bocock Chair in Agriculture and the Environment. William Shotyk will begin his new duties in October and will deliver this year’s Bentley Lecture in Sustainable Agriculture on Oct. 13. Visit our website, www. ualberta.ca/ales for more details. We expect to be naming the first Mattheis Chair in Rangelands Ecology and Management very soon. I invite you to join us during Reunion Weekend from Sept. 22 to 25 and I will tell you all about these exciting developments and much more during the alumni brunch on Saturday, the 24th. Hope to see you there! John Kennelly, Dean Faculty of ALES
alumninews is published twice a year by the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences. It is distributed to alumni and friends of the faculty. Dean John Kennelly Assistant Dean, Development Ken Crocker Development Team Kathy Horricks, Katherine Irwin Editor Michel Proulx Graphic Design Studio X Design Contributing Writers Bev Betkowski, Kelly Brouwer, Alexandria Eldridge, Michel Proulx, Aaron Yeo Contributing Photographers Ken Mathewson, Aaron Yeo, Michel Proulx
Send your comments to:
We’re on Facebook! The faculty recently launched its very own Facebook page. It’s a great way for alumni to keep in touch with former classmates as well as with the faculty. For the faculty, it’s another way to connect with you. You can expect fresh content on the page almost every day as the faculty provides news and information about what’s going at your alma mater including, of course, alumni events. One interesting Facebook feature I’d like to point out is the opportunity to engage in discussions. By clicking on the “Discussions” option on the left-hand navigation, you can see what discussions are happening and join in. Or, you can begin a discussion about anything you like. See you on Facebook! Kirstin Kotelko, BSc ’06 Faculty of ALES representative Alumni Council 2
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The Editor
alumninews 2-14 Agriculture/Forestry Centre University of Alberta Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2P5 Tel.: 780-492-8127 Fax: 780-492-8524 Email: alumninews@ales.ualberta.ca Website: www.ales.ualberta.ca Publications Mail Agreement No. 42038516 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 2-14 Agriculture/Forestry Centre University of Alberta Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5
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4 ALUMNI 10 The extraordinary life of Mike Bevan BSc (Ag) ’45
mother’s life and an association donates to support crop research
17 A recent grad acknowledges her education by giving and the home economics association keeps on supporting
11 Glen Dunsworth MSc (Forestry) ’77 turns crisis into opportunity
21 HAPPENINGS 4 The faculty lands an
international grad school, the Breton Plots Field Day makes a return and the Department of Rural Economy gets a new name as it gears up for its 50th anniversary
5 AN ENCS grad student’s work
gets featured on CBC’s venerable The Nature of Things, NuFS students’ chip recipe needs a manufacturer, ALES range team knows its plants and a Human Ecology student’s design gets attention in the fashion world
12 Greg Smith MSc (Ag Econ) ’85
leads the Alberta turkey industry
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
13 Megan Blackwelder BSc
18 Awards and accolades
14 Sabrina Lindquist BSc (NuFS)
(ENCS) ’99 reaches new heights ’07 has what it takes
15 Alicia Glasier BSc (AH) ’11 is off to Ireland to fulfill her dream
GIVING 16 The Class of ’61 establishes a scholarship, a son honours a
19 Faculty’s research program going strong
20 Designing safer clothes for
firefighters and making sense of carbon markets
21 Tough being green in the burbs and how fish oil fights cancer
22 Grad rustles cattle down under
6 The Poultry Research Centre celebrates 25 years while the DBG and Renewable Resources get new leadership
7 William Shotyk is appointed
Bocock Chair in Agriculture and the Environment and the faculty remembers Doris Badir, Bob Hudson and Suzanne Abele
8 Feature story
Home on the Rangelands
Donors preserve beloved ranch by donating it to the U of A
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HAPPENINGS
International land reclamation grad school to start in 2012 The faculty will be home to a unique graduate program thanks to $1.65 million in funding received from NSERC’s prestigious CREATE program. The Land Reclamation International Graduate School (LRIGS) will eventually have about three dozen students who will examine the science as well as the socio-economic and regulatory issues surrounding land reclamation. “Land reclamation is not a solitary science,” said Anne Naeth, a reclamation and restoration ecologist with the Department of Renewable Resources who secured the funding and will lead the school. “You really have to work as
a team. Land reclamation is so tied to economics, culture, politics and regulatory issues that if you don’t understand those, you won’t be a good land reclamationist.” Students will work closely
with industry to ensure the program focuses on current issues in the field. The school will develop new courses, make minor adjustment to others and use video conferencing extensively.
Reclaiming land: An ENCS student measures the height of a piece of land.
Breton Plots Field Day returns After a hiatus of a few years, about 60 alumni, former professors, current faculty members and graduate students gathered at the Breton Plots for a BBQ and field day last summer. With Margaret Kemp and Beth Howson, daughters of the late Professor Newton, Professors Emeriti Gordon Webster and Ted Cook, and Seena Handel, the granddaughter of eminent soil scientist Fred Bentley, 4
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Crop research: Professor Emeritus Jim Robertson describes research.
professor emeritus Jim Robertson led the field tour. Among the many important findings in the past 80 years that have benefitted Alberta farmers
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was the discovery of the importance of crop rotation, including legumes, and the use of appropriate fertilizers to maintain the fertility of grey-wooded soils.
The ‘new’ Rural Economy The Department of Rural Economy is now the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology. Three factors motivated the change, explains Brent Swallow, chair of the department. “The name Rural Economy clearly put us out of step with most professional associations and peer groups and limited our ability to compete in international markets for talented graduate students and faculty. Second, we wanted a name that students considering alternative programs within the province could relate to more easily. Third, we wanted a name that signaled both our applied nature and the range of issues that we address,” he said. The department will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this upcoming academic year. A series of events are being planned culminating with a major celebration on May 25-26, 2012 at Lister Centre. For more information, please contact Brett Lambert at 780-492-0815 or at recelebration@ualberta.ca. Visit www.ales.ualberta. ca/rees for updates.
Students’ success 2:49 of fame A chance encounter with a film crew from CBC’s Nature of Things television program gave an environmental and conservation sciences master’s student a few minutes of fame. Krista Fink was doing field work, looking for greater short-horned lizards in Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan, when she met the crew that was filming an episode of the popular science documentary series. During the filming, the crew was also looking for additional projects being conducted on other species at risk. Fink’s project fit the bill. She’s examining the impact temperature has on greater short-horned lizard’s choice of habitat.
“The northern limit of their habitat seems quite well-defined and I’m trying to figure out if it has to do with temperature,” she says. To view the two-minute, 49-second video, visit http:// www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/video. html?ID=1779190859
Lizard girl: Krista Fink at work.
ALES students tops A team of six ALES students won several team and individual awards in the undergraduate student competitions at the recent Society for Range Management annual meeting in Billings, Montana. ENCS student Kristine Dahl and agriculture major Jolene Noble finished in first and second place respectively, in the high individual combined category. Students were scored on the undergraduate range management exam (URME) and the plant identification context. “I didn’t expect to do
as well as I did but I wanted to nail the plants and for the URME, I just wanted to not lose any ground,” explains Dahl. The six-member range team—coached by Dr. Barry Irving and composed of Dahl, fellow ENCS student Karen Anderson and agriculture students Noble, Jordan Burke, Christine Buchanan and Kim Kuneff—finished first in the team URME competition. About 350 undergraduate students from 25 universities across Canada, the United States and Mexico competed in the annual event.
Chip recipe hits the spot Four students hungry for success on a class project won a national award for creating chickpea chips, which they initially developed to “get a good grade” for their fourthyear capstone course. Eden Berhe, Kate Alexander, Marshall Bell and Paula Duenas toiled in the kitchen for more than 150 hours, trying more than 20 different recipes before hitting upon the winning formula. “Most people don’t like the taste of chickpeas. The
challenge we took up was to make chickpeas taste good,” explained Berhe. With their win, which came with a $2,500 prize, the students are now exploring their options for marketing the product, which they call Chickitos.
Winning taste: Three of the fourmember Chickitos team.
Ooh-la-la design attracts national attention Lauren MacDonald, a clothing and textiles student in the Department of Human Ecology, was one of 25 young hopefuls across Canada— and the only one from the Prairies—who competed in the prestigious “Canada’s Breakthrough Designer” competition at the Montreal Fashion Week last February. MacDonald earned her spot in the competition as her design of an ooh-la-la capelet coat and shorts, a pairing that thumbs its nose at the standard winter gear of clunky ski jackets and scruffy wool toques, was chosen among 750 entries. “I wanted to portray the
Fashionista: Lauren MacDonald with one of her creations.
North in a wild and untamed way, and I also drew inspiration from the chill of winter,” said MacDonald, who admits to being pleased with the end result. “You always have insecurities about your work, but it turned out fairly well.” “Being in this show as part of Montreal Fashion Week is almost like the Olympics for athletes,” said Vlada Blinova, MacDonald’s instructor who accompanied her to Montreal.
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HAPPENINGS
Poultry Research Centre celebrates 25 years
velopment, Michael Froese, chair of the Alberta Egg Producers and Stan Blade, CEO of Alberta Innovates – Bio Solutions, among many others. Poultry researcher Frank Robinson, who has been with the PRC since its inception, delivered a humourous speech to the delight of the 100 or so A who’s who of the western people who attended a BBQ, Canadian poultry community in which he discussed and showed his first laptop comgathered on South Campus puter, weighing 13 pounds. last June to celebrate the The centre is a joint partPoultry Research Centre’s nership between the universifirst quarter century. Researchers showed their ty, the provincial government and the poultry industry. Its research and its application mandate is to develop and to school children, industry, government and academic of- innovate in chicken, egg and ficials including John Knapp, turkey production. Impressed by the research deputy minister of Alberta presentations, Froese called Agriculture and Rural De-
the producer group’s relationship with the PRC “symbiotic. “They’re able to attract a lot of talent, a lot of
intelligence, and to work through things that actually have significance and meaning to us as producers.”
Party time: Poultry researcher Martin Zuidhof and friend celebrate 25 years of innovation.
New beginnings for DBG and Renewable Resources
Lee Foote
Vic Lieffers
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Lee Foote has been appointed to a five-year term as director of the Devonian Botanic Garden and Vic Lieffers is the new chair of the Department of Renewable Resources. Foote, a plant and wetland ecologist who has been working as a faculty member in the Department of Renewable Resources since 2000, wants you to come to the garden more often, and bring all your friends and family. He’s also hoping to offer more educational opportunities to K-12 school children and university students and create stronger links with the worldwide research community. | Fall 2011
To do this, he says a new classroom/laboratory/events centre that is open yearround and is large enough to host the different programs, needs to be built. “We call this new building ‘the jewel in the crown,’” says Foote. “The garden is a glorious place and this new building will take it to the next level.” Lieffers, who has been with the department for 28 years, says it’s time for him to give back in a more substantial way. He hopes to increase the collaboration and coordination among the different programs that are dealing with land management systems
both within the faculty and across the university. He plans on spending time strengthening relationships with different industries that deal with forestry, sustainable agriculture, land reclamation as well as with non-governmental organizations and the provincial government. “We’re very good at doing research but most people don’t read refereed publications. We need to show that our basic and applied research has value for society” he explains. “I’d like to spend more time selling ourselves and making sure the different communities see us in a very positive light.”
Soil and water expert coming to ALES World renowned soil and water expert William Shotyk is coming to the University of Alberta to become the first Bocock Chair in Agriculture and the Environment. Shotyk specializes in environmental pollution by heavy metals and has spent the last 22 years in European universities studying heavy metal pollution in bogs and the Arctic. His research here will focus on the importance of soil for water, air, plants and animals. “Soil is where the action is,” he says. “Consider the discussion about oil sands,
heavy metals and water quality . . . there are basic questions about what’s actually in the water, how much is associated with soil particles and how much is really dissolved in the water and accessible to organisms.” A new clean lab will be constructed for Shotyk, who begins his appointment October 1. He will also deliver the annual Bentley Lecture in Sustainable Agriculture on Oct. 13 at the Meyer Horowitz Theatre. His talk is entitled Soil and Water Health: Our Key to Survival.
Soil and water expert: William Shotyk will begin his new duties as Bocock Chair in October and deliver the Bentley Lecture on Oct. 13.
In Memoriam Three people near and dear to the faculty passed away in the last few months. A teacher, mentor and guide to many, the former dean of the Faculty of Home Economics, Doris Badir, passed away peacefully last June. An expert in home and family issues, she became special assistant on employment equity to U of A President Myer Horowitz and had a big impact on employment equity issues at the university. “Without her influences we would not have the same level of equality that we do at the U of A,” says Betty Crown, a colleague who says Badir was “very understanding of people, well-spoken, and just very, very caring.” Wildlife expert Bob Hudson passed away in August, surrounded by loved ones. Hudson enjoyed a 36-year career and served as associate dean twice, most recently in the international portfolio. He was a visionary, according to ALES dean John Kennelly. “He was ahead of his
Doris Badir
time in so many ways. He understood that we lived in an interconnected world, that we had a responsibility towards ensuring the sustainability of our planet and that we had an obligation to reach out and help those who were less privileged.” Suzanne Abele, 27, died tragically as a result of an ATV accident in August. She had finished her masters and had been hired this past spring as core team leader for the EMEND forestry research project. “She was a leader,” says John Spence, who leads the EMEND project and was Suzanne’s co-supervisor during her masters. “She was able to lead from within. Not everybody is able to do that.” Ellen Macdonald, Suzanne’s other cosupervisor, said Suzanne was bright, hard-working, beautiful, warm, funny and happy. She was an excellent scientist with limitless potential and an accomplished musician. “The world is worse off without her,” she says.
Bob Hudson
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feature
Dream come true: Ruth and Edwin Mattheis high-five after announcing they were donating their 12,000-acre ranch to the U of A. Inset: Edwin Mattheis addresses neighbours and U of A researchers at a party last June at the ranch, as his wife Ruth and ALES dean John Kennelly look on.
Donors give faculty 12,000-acre outdoor lab Edwin and Ruth Mattheis were determined to preserve and protect their beloved ranch In a third-storey room at the exclusive Ranchmen’s Club in Calgary last December, Ruth Mattheis stood at a podium in front of her husband Edwin, friends, U of A dignitaries including the president and the chair of the board of governors, government officials, industry representatives and the media. She hesitated a bit. “Well,” she said, pausing slightly, 8
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“thank you for making our dream true.” Spontaneous applause erupted among the 75 or so people present and then, when you thought it might die down, the applause continued. It was . . . quite a moment. Thirty-four years earlier, in 1977, Edwin Mattheis, who was well into a very successful career as a petroleum engineer, and his wife Ruth, were look-
ing to buy a larger ranch than they had near Medicine Hat. They found what they were looking for near Duchess, Alberta, about 150 km east of Calgary and 100 km south of Scapa where Edwin had grown up on a mixed farm. It was a 12,000-acre continuous piece of land. “It was rare to have such a big piece of land, and of continuous land that is deeded, without any leases,” explains
Edwin, “so I jumped on it.” Edwin and Ruth settled into a house with their two children in the southeast corner of the ranch, just off Matziwin Creek. Edwin built two landing strips and commuted back and forth in his Cessna 206 from the different engineering jobs he worked at in the oil patch. He particularly enjoyed the field work and was sought after for his expertise in hydraulic fracturing. At the same time, he ranched. When he bought the ranch, it could sustain about 240 cattle. Edwin, who is on a never-ending quest to make the land more productive, soon discovered the slope of the ranch was east-south. By creating ditches in the right places and varying the drainage, he figured he could easily increase the land’s capacity to sustain cattle. And he did. Today, the ranch can sustain 1,000 cattle. But that still doesn’t stop Edwin from pondering more and different ways in which the land can be made more productive. Throughout the years, the Mattheis’ raised cattle – they started with a mixed bag but ended up mostly with Angus, Angus/Hereford cross and the terminal cross with Charolais – built another home on the ranch, developed some living quarters near the Red Deer River which borders the north side, constructed a research/field station and designed and built a unique corral to work cattle. “To me, it is a special piece of land,” says Edwin, the passion and pride in his voice clearly audible. In the last few years, as Edwin’s arthritis prevented him from working on the land as he had, he and Ruth began to think about what to do with the ranch as neither of their two children was interested. “We didn’t want to land to be developed and subdivided,” explains Edwin. “For us, it was important that the land be maintained and protected.” They made enquiries to the Nature
Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited and then, in 2007, while attending a Society for Range Management conference in Red Deer, Edwin heard Professor Edward Bork give a talk about grassland responses to climate change. “I was so impressed with the guy,” says Edwin, “because he kept talking about the fact that the purpose of their study was to make it useful to the neighbours, that other ranchers could learn from their experience. You’re supposed to end up with something that’s useful for God’s sake, not just a bunch of words.” Talks between the university and the Mattheis’ began. Both are alumni of the university with Edwin graduating from engineering in 1957 while Ruth earned a BA in 1958. “Both Ruth and I have such good memories of the U of A and what it did for us, for our personal growth. We came from poor, uneducated families – my mother would take exception to that but it’s probably right – mid-European peasants and all of a sudden, here we are and we’re exposed to this world, this unbelievable world of knowledge and we both got our degrees. It was such a joy,” Edwin says. Talks between the Mattheis’ and the university took their course, eventually leading to the December 2010 announcement at the Ranchmen’s Club that the Mattheis’ were donating their 12,000acre ranch to the university. It was an emotional day for the Mattheis’ as they publicly donated their beloved ranch. The gift agreement stipulates that the ranch will always be a working ranch, that the land will be used for that purpose and that rangeland ecology and management research will be conducted. As well, the Mattheis’ receive lifelong tenancy to the house near the river so they can continue to enjoy the land that means so much to them until their dying days. “We’re happy,” says Edwin.
Donated ranch provides unique research opportunities The ranch places the U of A at the forefront of rangeland ecology and management by providing it with the ability to put in place innovative systems of land management and evaluate them over the long term. “The value of controlled long-term studies cannot be overestimated,” says Ellen Macdonald, associate dean of research for ALES. The ranch is a microcosm of southern Alberta. It has a diversity of ecosystems and habitats; it has a rich variety of plant life, including cool-season temperate grasslands and warm-season vegetation more commonly associated with grasslands in southern regions of North America. The ranch also has a variety of riparian areas along the Red Deer River and the Matziwin Creek where there is substantial biodiversity, and several created wetlands that are managed for wildlife habitat. In addition, the ranch has significant areas of sand hills, which house a unique source of biodiversity. An inventory of vegetation types found on the ranch was done last summer. A research project examining the growth dynamics of the two dominant grasses on the ranch—needleand-thread grass and western wheat grass— was also initiated while some research crops were planted this past summer on part of the ranch’s 700 cultivated acres. In addition, the university created the Mattheis Chair in Rangeland Ecology and Management, to conduct research on the biology and ecology of rangelands, as well as their function and fundamental responses to land use activities and management systems. The Chair will spearhead the development of the Rangeland Research Institute and establish a leading research, teaching and extension program in various aspects of applied ecology, grazing management, livestock husbandry and production economics for the mixed-grass Prairie region.
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ALUMNI
Mike Bevan – BSc(Ag) 1945
There’s always something you can help make better Mike Bevan’s extraordinary life and commitment to community In 2004, when Michael Bevan was 84 years old, he moved from Niagara-on-theLake to North Vancouver to live more closely to his son and his family. The son, Doug, and his sister Lynn, wagered good heartedly about how much time it would take their father to become involved in the community. “Two weeks,” said Lynn. Doug paused. “I’ll best you,” he said. “I’ll say 10 days.” Five days later, Michael Bevan was leading the Remembrance Day parade and had already been elected to the board of the local Legion, the Royal Canadian Legion 118. The anecdote illustrates well Bevan’s passion and
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outstanding commitment to serving his community. Bevan graduated with a BSc(Ag) in 1945 and was appointed Manitoba’s provincial horticulturalist the following year. He worked on, among other things, the effect of soil temperatures on harvest times. The work was noticed by Canada Packers who hired him to head their new vegetable processing division. He had an interest in journalism, cultivated while working at The Gateway, and wrote for the Winnipeg Free Press. He joined the CBC in 1956 before changing careers again, becoming a high school science teacher. In 1972, Bevan was asked to head up the
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development – including the construction of the building, the design of new curriculum and the training of local teachers – of a comprehensive secondary school in St. Lucia. On April 1, 1974, the Castries Comprehensive School opened its doors and welcomed 560 students from every corner of the island. Bevan was the principal of the school and led a team of 44 Canadian teachers who helped train replacements in their disciplines. The program has since become the model in Caribbean countries. Drawing on his education in agriculture at the U of A, his work as a horticulturist and as a teacher of life sciences, Bevan initiated a campaign to eradicate a debilitating, water-borne disease named bilharzia. By educating the people of St. Lucia, raising funds through Rotary International and supervising the construction of 37 laundry, shower and toilet facilities, Bevan’s efforts eventually led to the removal of the parasite. Bevan and his wife even-
tually retired to the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario where he continued his strong community activism, initiating several major programs, including one that resulted in the donation of thousands of used computers to developing countries, another that enabled isolated migrant workers in the region to interact and participate more fully in the community by providing them with used bicycles, and a third that saw the creation of a memorial tree walk in honour of his wife. “There is always something going on that you can contribute to and make better,” he said. Bevan passed away on August 6, 2011. Throughout his life after graduation, he remained close to his alma mater. He endowed a Bar None scholarship in honour of one of his mentors, Frank Foulds, and had routinely attended the Bar None Alumni Dinner and Reunion Weekend. He will be missed by family, friends and all those whose lives he touched.
ALUMNI
Glen Dunsworth – MSc(Forestry) 1977
Turning crisis into opportunity Glen Dunsworth’s forced (and successful) career change In 2004, Glen Dunsworth became a victim of cutbacks and was laid off from his job in the forest industry. “I was 53 and out of work. It was a little hard to take,” he says. “But it was the motivation I needed to get out of the nest and start my own business.” Although he wasn’t quite sure how well he would do, he had accumulated more than two decades of experience in the forest industry and established a name for himself, working with large pulp and paper companies MacMillan Bloedel and Weyerhauser. “If the phone didn’t ring, I’d quit and retire,” he says.
“I only had three conditions: fun projects, interesting work and good people.” Turns out it only took two weeks for the phone to ring and for Dunsworth to get his first client. In fact, Dunsworth got more than a handful of calls reasonably quickly. Glen Dunsworth Ecological Consulting advises organizations on how to approach forest resource management, conservation biology and strategic planning, and works with clients like media corporations, forestry companies and government agencies. Dunsworth actually started his university career in medical genetics but he
developed a relationship with Bruce Dancik, a young academic at the time, who eventually convinced Dunsworth to join the newly-created forestry graduate program. Working closely with five other students, he became the first person to complete a graduate degree in forestry from the U of A in 1977. The job market was in good shape and it wasn’t hard for him to find work. “It was very different than it is now. Back then, everybody got a job. And it wasn’t a matter of ‘Did you get a job?’ it’s ‘How many offers did you get?’” He started out in an oil sands reclamation project
with the provincial government straight out of school and found himself with MacMillan Bloedel two years later, after sending his resume to anyone and everyone he knew. The job brought him to Lantzville, Vancouver Island, where he continues to live today. After seven successful selfemployed years, Glen Dunsworth Ecological Consulting is still going strong, and the phone “just keeps on ringing.” While he likes having some extra spending money, he’s considered retiring next year as he hits 60, turning his priorities over to fishing and taking care of his granddaughter.
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GIVING
Greg Smith – MSc(Ag) 1985
A job well done Greg Smith helped steer Alberta’s turkey industry When the position of secretary manager opened up at what was then the Alberta Turkey Growers Marketing Board in 1989, Greg Smith was only four years out of university and wasn’t sure if he could go for it. His friend and colleague Lloyd Unterschultz thought otherwise. “He was sort of like my career counselor and I told him about this job opportunity. He was walking with two canes at the time and he threatened to break them over my head if I didn’t take it,” he says with a laugh. He took the advice and joined the marketing 12
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board as it secretary manager, a position that evolved to executive director. It’s been a straightforward journey for Smith, a bornand-raised Calgarian. After earning a BA from the University of Calgary, he started graduate studies at the University of British Columbia and transferred to the U of A to complete his MSc in agricultural economics in 1985. “It was a tough grind, but I had a lot of good times, too,” he says. Smith established strong relationships and used them to build a network of
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contacts that got him work immediately after graduation. After less than a year of contract work, he found himself with the Alberta Pork Producers Marketing Board, working as a staff economist before landing the job with the turkey growers. Smith also had an important role in developing policies that defined the turkey industry, using skills he developed while also sitting on the U of A’s cooperative marketing board, a group he still is a part of today as vice-chair. Over the past few decades, Smith has watched the turkey industry evolve under his watch. “In a regulation sense,
it’s become less restrictive. Over my tenure, (the government has) made a lot of changes to encourage entry and exit to the industry,” he says, explaining that the industry has grown and become more responsive to the market. One of his accomplishments includes giving more flexibility to producers on how to sell their products and have the processing sector more involved in end results. After 27 years of sitting on marketing boards, Smith will be retiring next year and hopes to use his extra time to improve his golf and spend more time with his two step-daughters and five grandchildren.
Megan Blackwelder – BSc(ENCS) 1999
Reaching new heights
all the time,” she says. After a few more interpreMegan Blackwelder BSc (ENCS) ’99 tation jobs in parks, she went on a trip to visit a friend in charts a new path in park management Utah, where she met the man The rutted desert is responsible for a large part of she would eventually marry. marked by horizontal layland and make conservation She moved to Utah in 2004 ers of red-hued rock and the decisions based on my and inquired with Utah State only green on the landscape knowledge and experience. Parks about seasonal posiis found 2,000 feet below in But that wasn’t really part of tions. To her surprise, they the Colorado River basin. For my overall plan,” she says. were interested in Alberta’s most, a setting like this is Her plan was to pursue interpretive programs. She only seen on postcards. For her passion for environmental was asked to give a workshop ALES graduate Megan Black- education, which she discovto all state park naturalists. welder, it’s her backyard. ered as a student working After the workshop, Blackwelder graduated at the Valley Zoo and John Parks officials hired her as a from the environmental and Janzen Nature Centre. Once naturalist at a remote state conservation sciences program she graduated, she followed park. After nine months, in 1999 and is now the park her passion and got a job as Blackwelder was promoted to manager at Dead Horse Point an interpreter for Alberta assistant manager and took State Park in Utah – a position Parks. “I thought it sounded over many of the operational she never expected to hold. like the best job ever – I was duties at the park, as well as “I always thought able to do some environmencontinuing the interpretive it sounded great to be tal education and be outside programs.
She was the first assistant manager in the state to come from a naturalist background rather than the traditional route of law enforcement. “By hiring me, they set a precedent that park naturalists can be part of the management stream,” she says. In March 2009, Blackwelder was promoted to park manager at Dead Horse Point State Park, making her the first female manager in that location. Blackwelder would encourage students to gain field experiences during their degree programs. “Getting those field experiences from the beginning, I think, really helps to solidify what you want to do at the end of the program,” she says.
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ALUMNI
Sabrina Lindquist – BSc(NUFS) 2007
Food logistics star Sabrina Lindquist oversees the feeding of 800 every day
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Hospital food, along with airline cuisine, may be the butt of many jokes but Sabrina Lindquist is undaunted. As the manager of patient food service for Grande Prairie and area, she’s committed to making sure patients and staff are served foods that are safe, nutritious and taste good. “It’s all the background, behind-the-scenes things,” explains the 2007 nutrition and food sciences graduate. “Making sure food is ordered, there’s enough staff, enough plates to eat off, and [keeping] in budget. “[People] also think that the food is all pre-made and brought in, but in fact we still have cooks that freshly prepare the food. Those negative misconceptions are for sure our biggest challenges,” she says. One of the ways Lindquist and her staff are overcoming that perception is by establishing good rapport with patients. Frequent surveys also help the food staff keep track of their performance and make adjustments as required. Still, keeping everyone well-fed can be an onerous task but Lindquist has developed an expertise in logistics, managing about 800 trays of food every day while still making sure people’s personal dietary needs are met. “For example, someone who’s diabetic probably shouldn’t get a cheesecake, right? So we make sure we have a fruit or some appropriate desserts for them.”
She also recently presented a poster at a Dieticians of Canada conference in Edmonton on a new workflow she helped develop at the hospital. “My team and I designed an efficient process for tray assembly which allowed patient food services to reduce staff minutes per tray, decrease space requirements and improve staff related issues, such as ergonomics and stress.” Lindquist’s management skills will come in handy as the hospital undergoes some operational changes over the next few months. She’s been recognized for her achievements and is involved with planning how food will be handled in Grande Prairie’s upcoming $520-million regional healthcare centre that’s scheduled for completion in 2014. She hopes to get another administrative position when it opens and can’t wait for what the new hospital has to bring. “I was fortunate to have been able to complete two of my internship placements here in Grande Prairie, my hometown, and then be able to get employed here,” she said. An integral part of any aspiring dietitian’s U of A career, the dietetic internship takes place in a rural area for at least 12 weeks to help students gain work experience and make connections. Lindquist was able to make the most of hers, turning the internship from just a graduation prerequisite into a career.
Alicia Glasier – BSc(Animal Health) 2011
The world is her oyster Alicia Glasier’s next step: vet school in Ireland Under the heat of arena spotlights and the eyes of 18,000 people at the Pacific National Exhibition, Alicia Glasier prepares herself for the tricky obstacle course. But Glasier’s not a professional athlete, but you could say her dogs are. For the past 10 summers, the University of Alberta alumna has been performing with dog show troupe SuperDogs. Five years ago, when it came time to look at postsecondary education, she knew she wanted to study animals. “The connection we have with animals is so intricate yet we don’t really understand all of it. That’s what really interests me,” she says. “My whole life I’ve grown up around animals. So doing an animal science degree was a no-brainer. I had always wanted to go to vet school for as long as I can remember — I was one of those kids.” She came to the U of A and completed a bachelor’s degree in animal science in 2010, and when she heard the Faculty of ALES was creating an animal health program, she knew immediately what to do after graduating: get a second degree. A year later, she is one of the first two students to graduate with a BSc in Animal Health. Majoring in companion and performance animals, she studied
relationships between humans and pets, a field that’s often misunderstood. At a mere 10 years of age, Glasier began training Sage, her wire fox terrier. Within two years, she had joined the SuperDogs team, and was soon travelling to Saskatoon and Vancouver for shows. While her dogs get a lot of applause when they perform, Glasier says that their offstage relationships with people are just as important. Glasier conducted plenty of research on pet-human relationships, finding that people prefer big, friendlierlooking dogs and are more likely to trust dog owners than strangers who are pet-free. It’s those kinds of findings Glasier thinks are important to understand, as well as some of the health benefits that pets can bring. “Petting a cat can lower your heart rate, and [...] they’re looking at how dogs can help autistic kids and how it helps them come out of their shell,” she explains. Her next step is to cross the Atlantic to attend University College Dublin, where a four-year veterinary program will bring her closer to her dream career. Once she becomes an accredited vet, however, her journey won’t be over — Glasier hopes to bring her performance training to the table.
“There’s not a whole lot of vets who understand sports medicine in dogs, and there’s always a growing need for dog behaviourists, so that’s what I want to focus on when I come
home and get some more training in,” she says. The U of A’s animal health program may be just starting to develop, but for Glasier, the learning never stops.
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GIVING
Class of ’61 establishes scholarship
Honouring a mother’s life
Marion Audrey (Rey) graduated from the dietetics program in 1950 and led When people think of classmates to establish the academia, agriculture isn’t Agriculture Class of 1961 Bar a successful career as a dietitian. Upon her passing, usually what comes to mind, None Scholarship Award. but Allan Warrack of the “We are very strong on the her son, Robert Fuenning, Ag Class of ’61, wanted concept that agriculture is an wanted to honour her. to change that. After academic faculty no less than “I wanted to give something back to the connecting with former any other academic faculty. classmates at their 45th And we think our class proves community, to honour my mom, and something in her anniversary celebrations five it,” says Warrack. That’s bedepartment,” he says. years ago and again during cause the Faculty of Agricul Robert contacted the the university centenary ture class of 1961 had nearly faculty, looking for ways celebrations in 2008, Warrack one third of their graduates and fellow classmates Alex go on to earn PhDs. Seven out to contribute, and then found out about the dietetic McCalla and Gene Huber of 22 alumni obtained their internship every nutrition raised $26,000 from their doctorates and most joined student must perform to the world of academia. Some become a registered dietitian. are well-funded researchers, The internship lasts about others professors. Warrack a year. Students must take thinks that type of achievean introductory professional ment demonstrates the academic strength of the Faculty practice course and then perform four placements of ALES. in different settings, one of The first scholarship will which must be in a rural be awarded this year, just community. Students have in time for the class’ 50th to find a way to finance anniversary, which will take place this month and feature their different placements which may include travel, class and university dinners accommodation and other and campus tours. Allan Warrack
expenses. Fuenning had found what he was looking for. He made a contribution in his mother’s name that generates a scholarship every year to help a student on his or her journey to become a registered dietitian. “After the passing of your parents, you kind of want to do something for them,” he says. “I could have bought a park bench or something but instead I decided to give back to the university.”
Marion Audrey (Rey)
Gift gives profile to plant science Selective breeding has been commonplace for centuries and is a cornerstone of livestock raising but interest in plant breeding has declined over the years. The Western Grains Research Foundation has introduced the WGRF Endowment Fund Scholarship in a bid to change that trend. “We thought this would 16
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be a good way to encourage and help students get into the field if they’re interested.” says Don Dewar, the chair of the Endowment Fund Advisory Committee, who adds the fund will steer funds to the U of A, the U of S and the U of M. “We need plant breeders if we’re going to have new varieties released, whether it’s
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for disease resistance, insect resistance, better quality or whatever parameters that we need to stay competitive in the marketplace,” says Dewar. The WGRF hopes this scholarship will provide support and help inspire people to go into crop research. Every three years, each university will receive $100,000, to be used to fund
either a PhD student for three years or split up among two masters students for each of their two years. The WGRF is a nonprofit organization set-up to fund research that directly benefits prairie farmers, and is overseen by a board of 16 producers from agricultural organizations across Western Canada.
Recent grad gives to acknowledge her education At the end of every month, Stephanie Kosinski’s credit card gets charged $10, less than the cost of a movie ticket. But that money isn’t going to Hollywood — instead, it’s going to the U of A. “I wanted to acknowledge the contribution they had made to help me get the experience needed to get my career going,” she says. Kosinski joined Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development while completing her MSc in plant science in 2008. As a
forage specialist, she helps producers with questions they have on grazing, pastures and feed production. “Going to university and getting that degree really gives you that leg up in the world and helps set you on a career path,” she says. “I just wanted to give back to an institution that has given me so much.” Kosinski’s undying enthusiasm and passion show it’s never too early to start giving.
Stephanie Kosinski
Keeping up with the times Home Ec association funds 15 scholarships
In 1926, the Edmonton Home Economics Association (later known as the Alberta Home Economics Association) held a spring tea event and raised enough money to award their first scholarship of $50 to a student of outstanding merit in education, majoring in home economics. Seventyfive years later, the scholarship provides $1,500, has been
named the Florence Hallock Memorial Scholarship and is one of a growing list of 15 AHEA undergraduate awards. The organization has its roots in a group of University of Alberta students who all saw the importance of home economics in 1923 society. “(Canada) had just come out of the war and saw great needs everywhere with pover-
and in 1935, they teamed up with a similar effort in Calgary to form the AHEA. “They were instrumental in setting up the Canadian dietetics association, having dietitians introduced into the hospitals, providing training for men who went off to war and were cooks, [and] provided support to families and women in particular with ty and illnesses and sickness how to handle rations,” says and so on. So they formed Douglas Phillips. the association to have more Just as the AHEA have lobbying potential with the adapted with the times to provincial government,” exprovide the best service plains Faye Douglas Phillips, possible, their fundraising BSc (HE) ’70 and BEd ’74 and efforts have evolved over the past chair of the association’s years. Social get-togethers, scholarships committee. bake sales, fancy dinners and In 1926, the associaeven a line of cookbooks are tion raised enough funds to all tools the organization has provide their first endowment used to raise funds. Fall 2011 |
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ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Awards and Accolades Faculty Members
Rachel McQueen
International Vic Adamowicz, Outstanding Journal Article, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics Anne Bissonnette, Award for Excellence, Target Market Design, International Textile and Apparel Association Peter Boxall, Outstanding Journal Article, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics Lloyd Dosdall, Safeguarding the Environment Award, United States Department of Agriculture Doug Korver, Teaching Fellow Award, North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Diana Mager, Maurice Shils Research Award, American
Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Lynn McMullen, Teaching Fellow Award, North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Rachel McQueen, J.W. Weaver Award for Paper of the Year, American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists Sandeep Mohapatra, Teaching Award, North American Colleges and
Janusz Zwiazek
ALUMNI
Honour Award Hugh Bradley BSc(Ag) ’54 is a leader and a mentor in Yukon’s agricultural community. He has farmed in the Yukon for more than 55 years. He is part of an exclusive group of Canadians who have recorded weather data twice daily, which he has done since he’s been farming. 18
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Christopher Opio PhD ’94 is a forestry professor at the University of Northern British Columbia who was named one of the top 10 champions of change by the CBC in recognition of his efforts to provide clean and safe water for people in his native Uganda.
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Teachers of Agriculture Frank Robinson, Distinguished Educator Award, North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Andreas Schieber, Professional Member, Institute of Food Technologists Craig Wilkinson, Teaching Fellow Award, North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Janusz Zwiazek, Scholarship for Academics, Erasmus Mundus Janusz Zwiazek, Scientific Achievement Award, International Union of Forest Research Organizations National David Bressler, Most Cited Article Award, Bioresources Technology Catherine Field, Volunteer Recognition Wall, Dietitians of Canada John Kennelly, Fellow,
Jim Unterschultz
Agricultural Institute of Canada Vic Lieffers, Tree of Life Award, Canadian Institute of Forestry Linda McCargar, Volunteer Recognition Wall, Dietitians of Canada Jim Unterschultz, Outstanding Journal Article Award, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society Terry Veeman, Outstanding Journal Article Award, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society Janusz Zwiazek, David J. Gifford Award in Tree Physiology, Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists Provincial John Acorn, Excellence in Science and Technology Public Awareness, ASTech Charlie Arshad, Distinguished Service Award, Soil Science Society of America Ron Ball, Lifetime Achievement Award, Alberta Pork Congress Dan Barreda, Provost’s Award for Early Achievement of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of Alberta Clover Bench, Award of Distinction for Communication, Alberta Farm Animal Care Debra Davidson, McCalla Professorship, University of Alberta Lloyd Dosdall, Innovation in Agricultural Science, ASTech Anne Naeth, Vargo Teaching Chair, University of Alberta
Future of the Faculty Part 2: Research
Lingyun Chen has a patent pending for an encapsulation process of protein barley that could have wide-ranging applications in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. She’s currently in talks with potential industry partners to commercialize the discovery. The young scientist, who has been with the faculty for four years, is one of about a dozen faculty members working in the bio-resource area. While it’s well-known for its ability to convert various crops and animal fats into different fuels, most faculty members are using various techniques to add higher value to common Alberta commodities or create value out of waste. It’s one of the areas the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences is focused on in its research as
it continues its never-ending quest to provide solutions for some of the most pressing issues facing our world today. Other areas include food production, the environment, food for health, family studies and textile and apparel science. This past year, the faculty attracted $55.3 million in external research funding, a dramatic 43 per cent increase from the previous year. “We couldn’t be more pleased,” says John Kennelly, dean of the faculty. “I think our success in attracting external research funding speaks to the relevancy of our research. It’s a clear indicator that we are providing solutions to some of the challenges we all face.” The research funding averages out to more than $450,000 per faculty member, the second highest amount of any faculty on campus.
Research highlights 2010-11 $4.5 million from the provincial government for two Alberta Innovates Centres, Phytola and Livestock Gentec.
The faculty received funding to develop an international graduate school in land reclamation. It will launch in 2012. The faculty is looking closely at establishing a Restoration Ecology Centre.
Randall Weselake: Scientific leader of Phytola
World renowned soil and water expert Bill Shotyk has been appointed the Bocock Chair in Agriculture and Environment. With the construction of a clean lab on campus, he will use his considerable knowledge and experience in soils and water and apply them to important environmental issues in Alberta. A new Mattheis Chair in Rangeland Ecology and Management is expected to be appointed soon.
Faculty members are becoming more involved in international development, particularly in the area of food. Two major projects, one in India and another in Tanzania, got underway this year after receiving $6.6 million in funding. Both projects have a variety of students, research associates and faculty members working with local communities in the two countries and looking at ways to improve food security and nutrition by examining and improving agricultural practices.
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ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Creating better protective clothing for firefighters
Resisting fire: Guowen Song’s research may lead to reduced second-degree burns for firefighters.
A Human Ecology professor has been developing a model for protective clothing that may make firefighters’ jobs safer. Current testing methods and standards of protective clothing systems for firefighters don’t take into account
stored thermal energy, which can sometimes lead to second-degree burns, says protective clothing expert Guowen Song. “Normally, people using a regular approach to testing the clothing’s performance ignore (thermal stored
energy),” he explains “They assume they’re predicting clothing performance but they’re actually not.” His research sought to understand the phenomena, measure it and incorporate it into a standard in order to predict as precisely as possible the performance of a clothing system and give a true textile protective performance (TPP) value. While conducting his research, Song noticed energy was released when protective clothes were cooling after having been in a very hot environment. “It was huge,” he says, “especially for the thicker layered systems, like those (worn by) firefighters.” He adds that when the contribution of stored energy is considered, the performance of the clothing system is much lower than had been assumed from the TPP value. For example, the National
Firefighters Protection Association (NFPA) has set a fundamental requirement that protective clothing for firefighters has a minimum TPP value of 35, which means the clothes can protect a person engulfed in a fire for 17.5 seconds. However, if you add the stored thermal energy variable to the equation, that time is reduced to about 12 seconds. “It significantly changes the results,” concludes Song. “The thermal stored energy can release to the human skin even after exposure. That’s why people feel like they got burned or injured after the accident or incident.” Song is working with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) to incorporate his findings into the voluntary standards established by the society and lead to better and more efficient protective clothing systems for firefighters.
New tool untangles mysteries of carbon markets A new tool will enable forest managers to determine how carbon offsets might influence their bottom line. Renewable Resources professor Glen Armstrong developed the tool to better see the influence of different variables in a hypothetical carbon market. The tool incorporates biomass, dead organic matter and forest products. Armstrong says it focuses on improved forest management scenarios and users are able 20
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to see how various techniques might influence the uptake of carbon on forested lands. Users can input projected increases in planting costs under a given scenario and see if the money gained through the sale of carbon offsets and improved timber yields would be greater than the added cost of planting. As he developed the tool, Armstrong noticed that the most important variables to consider when developing a
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carbon market are setting a reliable baseline, recognizing the influence of variability and understanding the influence of rotation age. He suggests these variables are critical to understand if forest carbon offsets truly contribute to reductions in atmospheric carbon dioxide. To download the tool visit the Optimal Forestry Laboratory at http://optforlab.ca/ demos.html and look for the Forest Carbon Offsets Game.
The bottom line: Glen Armstrong’s tool determines the financial implications of carbon offsets.
Tough to be green in the ’burbs
Being green: Emily Huddart found it’s harder to be green living in the suburbs.
Environmentally friendly families have a tougher time living a sustainable lifestyle if they make their homes in the suburbs, a study shows. Graduate student Emily Huddart and her supervisor Naomi Krogman, of the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology, compared environmental practices between the suburban neighbourhood of Terwillegar Towne with the older, more central community of Mill Creek. She found interested families in the suburban area had the same
willingness but less opportunity to live a greener lifestyle. Huddart discovered those living in Mill Creek were better able to follow environmentally sound practices, such as not owning a vehicle, growing most of their own food and using renewable energy. This was in part because of stronger social networks where people were better able to share vehicles and ideas about saving energy as well as making cultural shifts, like walking to stores or biking to work. People living in Terwillegar Towne were more isolated from like-minded families, and as a result, practiced sustainability on a smaller scale, by buying organic products or recycling household waste.
Fish oil’s surprising benefits Daily doses of fish oil improve the efficiency of chemotherapy, may contribute to increased survival and help prevent muscle and weight loss that commonly occurs, according to new research. Vera Mazurak, a nutrition and metabolism expert in the Dept. of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science, led studies that examined various effects of fish oil, specifically the two fatty acids in fish oil, on lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. She found that most patients taking fish oil experienced a reduction in the size of their tumour, gained
muscle mass and maintained their weight whereas a majority of those who did not take fish oil lost weight and didn’t experience a tumor reduction. The findings are particularly relevant given that, according to the National Cancer Institute, 20 to 40 per cent of cancer patients die from malnutrition as opposed to the tumour. Mazurak says that fish oil may be beneficial to patients with other forms of cancer and other chronic diseases that are associated with malnutrition, as well as to elderly individuals who are at risk for muscle loss.
Fighting cancer: Vera Mazurak has found fish oil helps lung cancer patients. Fall 2011 |
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AFTER GRAD
Rustling cattle down under By Kelly Brouwer, BSc(Animal Science) ’10
I flipped the tassel of me still romanticizes on June 13, 2010 with about the events, the my BSc in hand and other half realizes embarked on a journey that I can fend for where I would face myself in both the challenges I could never urban and brutally have imagined. isolated regions of an I had decided to spend unknown country. It six months in Australia has granted me a boost on cattle stations and of confidence that I applied online in early could not have paid for July to a cattle station anywhere else. by the name of Lake One phrase that Nash in the Northern stuck with me was Territory. They something my head reluctantly accepted stockman told me my application as they when I broke a few were concerned for my ribs after being ability to cope with rammed by a bullock. the searing summer He said, ‘Mate, this heat. I boldly reassured place’ll kill ya, and them that I had worked when it bites, the forest fire lines and only thing you can had fair knowledge and do is take a teaspoon capacity to tolerate the of cement and temperature. harden up.” Life is Confidence builder: After six months of gruelling 18-hour days rustling cattle in the outback, Kelly Brouwer feels she can do anything. That was until I a lot like that. That disembarked from the man, Nick Handley, at 10 p.m. What you would do in that airplane and was greeted by a brick was unforgiving, hard, calloused but 17-hour day consisted of hard labour wall of staggering heat that threatened humorous and natural. True Australia riding horses over tens of kilometers, to press me back into the comfortable in one man. I have now lived the best of man-handling Brahman cattle climate-controlled fuselage. At 46 both worlds: my academic role models through processing, shoeing horses degrees, my body was clearly stating that I found in my professors at the and manoeuvring around flies, snakes, this was out of our realm of experience university and the men of Australia spiders and poisonous plants. But at and possibly survival. But I had not with their not-so-common sense. the end of the day, the stars of the travelled in a congested metal drum As I write this after my Australian Australian sky would greet you. for 18 hours to simply turn around so adventure and some time spent fighting The simplicity of that lifestyle still I hoisted by travel pack and found my Alberta forest fires, I stand eager head-stockman in the terminal. He was causes a dull ache in my heart. The to contribute to our already strong surprised, as was the rest of the crew, to station took care of your meals, there agricultural sector by joining a team was no cellular service, no internet. Just that is focused on enhancing the find that a girl would be joining them. you, your horse (best friend) and the There was much scepticism. international opinion of Canada as a wide open space. So while a certain part high-quality resource provider. Each day began at 4 a.m. and ended 22
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Upcoming
events
Bentley Lecture in Sustainable Agriculture Soil and Water: Our key to survival William Shotyk Bocock Chair in Agriculture and the Environment October 13, 2011 3:30 p.m. Myer Horowitz Theatre
Forest Industry Lecture Series The Global Competition for Land: The four Fs (food, feed, fibre and fuel) Don G. Roberts Vice Chairman, CIBC World Markets November 10, 2011 3:00 p.m. Myer Horowitz Theatre
Bar None Alumni Dinner November 19, 2011 5:30 p.m. Shaw Conference Centre
Alumni Weekend
September 22-25, 2011
Devonian Botanic Garden Tour and Lunch Friday, Sept. 23 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (bus departs from the Agriculture/Forestry Building at 11:00 a.m.) Devonian Botanic Garden $25/person (includes lunch and bus transportation)
Human Ecology Clothing & Textiles Collection Tour Friday, Sept. 23 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. (tours depart every half hour) Human Ecology Building Alumni Brunch Saturday, Sept. 24 9:00 a.m. Agriculture/Forestry Centre
The E.L. Empey Lecture New Dimensions in Apparel: Research on, with and around 3-D body scanning Dr. Susan Ashdown Professor, Cornell University Saturday, Sept. 24 2:00 p.m. Room 150, TELUS Centre
www.ales.ualberta.ca Fall 2011 |
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alumninews 2-14 Agriculture/Forestry Centre University of Alberta Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5
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