Bats are fascinating animals that provide many ecological services by regulating insect populations. They can eat about 600 insect per hour! Since the introduction of white-nose syndrome in 2006, bat populations in North America have become increasingly threatened. This fungal disease has caused dramatic decreases in many bat populations. Without a cure for white-nose syndrome, […]

The BC Ministry of Agriculture & Lands (MAL) monitors antimicrobial resistance of bacteria found in chickens, swine, cattle and other farm animals. The program uses a complex sampling scheme to select animals to be tested, and tests for resistance to several different bacteria. For E. coli and Salmonella, resistance and MIC values for 17 anti-microbial […]

The project will utilize basic research to understand the target and time of action of the organic materials which will be used to guide the implementation and management plan for a new blossom thinner. The intern will test the efficacy of twenty candidate organic materials to act as blossom thinners and develop a management plan […]

Various species of mites pose significant challenges for apple growers worldwide. In order to control the mite infestations, miticides can be sprayed or predators can be introduced. The latter option leads to a complex ecology characterized by predator-prey relationships. Multiple species, with varying behaviours, give rise to complex population dynamics that must be better understood […]

Feedlot Health Management Services is a comprehensive beef industry consultancy, providing veterinary services, herd health programs and computerized health-recording systems and other informational tools to producers. Fat yield, lean yield, meat tenderness, carcass marbling and carcass grading are some characteristics of cattle that are measures of beef quality. Thus, the goal of this project is […]

The intern will collaborate with MGS Horticultural, a major supplier of fertilizer and pest management controls, to study the relationship between scent and pollination success in commercial greenhouses. Previous (unpublished) research has suggested that scent is an integral component of pollination in greenhouse tomato, and that scent can be affected by growth conditions within a […]

This project will provide information to Canadian chicken producers and processors that will help them to produce high-quality chicken more efficiently. This objective will be achieved by rewarding producers for their quality-contributing production efforts. The analytical emphasis will be on reviewing and assessing selected, successful quality-rewarding pricing schemes in the poultry industries outside of Canada, […]

Prepared samples of different metals with simple geometries will be worn in a lab‐based soil tillage operation. The conditions of the tillage operation will be maintained within defined limits (soil moisture content, compaction, and soil texture). At regular intervals of travel, the amount of material removed from the samples during the tillage operation will be […]

One of the principle drawbacks to the production of biofuels is the competition that is created with traditional food crops for land. The potential for decommissioned municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills to support energy crop production has been left largely uninvestigated in Canada and other parts of North America. One of the primary obstacles to […]

This internship is with EcoSafe Natural Products Inc., a consulting and contract R&D company specializing in research and development for companies in pesticides, fertilizers, personal care and other specialty areas of industry. In this project, the research team will study the vitalization of different constituents of botanical pesticides over time; the emission pattern and persistence […]

Assisted reproductive technologies can provide unique alternatives for wildlife managers interested in preserving genetically valuable individuals. The Canadian wood bison, currently listed as threatened, will benefit greatly from the use of in vitro fertilization and embryo banking as a method for producing genetically healthy, disease‐free herds. However, minimal or non‐existent knowledge of the fundamental aspects […]

Animal heath surveillance is concerned with not only the disease in animal populations, but also with animal pathogens and diseases that affect humans. The objective of this project is to develop a system which can model the livestock production activity data, flow, weather pattern and disease history appropriately so that events can be more easily […]