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, […]

Vehicle emissions make up a significant amount of air pollution in urban environments. Planners and engineers use numerical models to estimate and predict how much pollution is generated from cars, however these models typically rely on the assumption that all traffic flows smoothly and without interruptions. Real lifedriving varies greatly based on time of day, […]

Biobased products, mostly derived from plant biomass, have the potential to improve the sustainability of Canada’s natural resources and environmental quality while competing economically. Plant biomass, composed primarily of cell walls and modification of cell wall properties has the potential to improve biomass conversion to biobased products such as biofuels. Progress towards achieving this goal […]

With the increasing scarcity of water resources throughout the globe, many jurisdictions have turned their attention to the protection, remediation and enhancement of existing freshwater sources. The primary aim of this research will be to develop and assess a novel roadside treatment system which has the capacity to capture, detain, and infiltrate the suite of […]

I am exploring the use of restricting blood flow from muscles (using a tourniquet or blood pressure cuff) to better prepare an athlete’s body for competition. This technique, known as ischemic preconditioning (IPC), has demonstrated enormous potential for improving the performance of already well-trained athletes. Preliminary work has shown a 1-3% improvement in performance in […]

Vibrio parahemolyticus represents the most rapidly increasing foodbourne illness encountered in foods. Whereas cases of more commonly encountered pathogen such as Salmonella have remained static, those associated with Vibrio have increased over the last 20 years. Part of the increased incidence is due to better diagnostics but also warming of sea via climate change have […]

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 […]

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 […]

“Functional foods and cosmetics contain physiologically active compounds. However, many active ingredients are susceptible to degradation and/or are not efficiently absorbed by the body. It is increasingly recognized that the composition and physical structures of the products, and interactions between ingredients in the matrix can impact the stability and availability of active ingredients. Encapsulation is […]

This research project is intended to take the first steps forward in breeding hardier, disease resistant Atlantic salmon. Infectious salmon anemia is a disease of Atlantic salmon that has led to millions of dollars of losses within the aquaculture industry yearly on a global scale. Through a combination of genomic data and disease trial data, […]

Omega-3 fats are good for our health. When a person has low levels of omega-3s, this can lead to a number of serious health problems, such as heart disease. The typical diet in North America doesn’t have much omega-3 fat, meaning that most people have low levels of these important fats. The existing tools to measure […]

Sound barriers can be seen beside highways across Ontario and are designed to protect residents from the noise produced by traffic. However, these barriers do little in the way of protecting residents from the pollution produced by nearby vehicles. This project combines a novel sound barrier design with a new pollution control technology that will […]