AIC Monthly Report November 2011

AIC Monthly Report

November 2011

In This Issue

News and Notes

Honours and Awards - Recognizing People Who Make A Difference

Soil Scientist Named as NSERC Chair for Women in Science and Engineering

In Memorium - Elwood Stringam, FAIC

News and Notes

Advisory Council Meeting

The AIC Advisory Council, comprised of nominees from stakeholder groups, along with AIC Board members and staff, met by teleconference on November 17 to continue discussions on restructuring. A sub-committee was established to complete the design of a new governance structure, incorporating feedback received from stakeholder groups.

The Advisory Council also recommended a survey of members to learn more about who they are and the programs and services they would value. Recognizing that professional organizations are increasingly challenged to attract young members, an effort will also be made to survey non-members to learn what would attract them to membership.

The Advisory Council supports AIC seeking funding to support development of a database of researcher and researchers in Canada, as well as an assessment of human resource capacity in the agricultural sciences.

Scientific Journals News

The AIC Scientific Journals Committee (SJC) held its 2011 meeting and agreed to the following changes to the journals operations beginning in January 2012:

All review papers will be open access as soon as they are published on the web;
All papers will be open access after one year (currently two years);
The cost of immediate open access option for authors will be reduced from $1,000 to $750.

The journal editors are recommending to their respective societies that the best papers emanating from the competitions at their annual meetings/conferences 0.9491525423728814 be published in the journals, with page charges waived.

The SJC also began discussions on ways to increase marketing of the journals.

Roundtable for Women Working in Agricultural Sciences

AIC and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Chair for Women in Science and Engineering for the Prairies, Dr. Annemieke Farenhorst, are sponsoring a roundtable discussion for academic and professional women working in agricultural sciences in Manitoba, on December 6, 2011 in Winnipeg. The roundtable is an opportunity to network and discuss programs, activities and action items relevant to women in agriculture. For further information, click here or contact Dinah Ceplis, P.Ag.

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Honours and Awards - Recognizing People Who Make a Difference

AIC encourages members to begin thinking about nominees for our Fellowship, Sustainable Futures Award, and International Recognition Award.

J. Kennelly FAIC 2010

Ruby Larson, FAIC 1977

AIC's highest honour, Fellow of the Agricultural Institute of Canada, recognizes an individual AIC member who has made a distinguished contribution to Canadian agriculture through contributions to building scientific capacity for societal good, integration and collaboration between disciplines and sectors, and communications.

Chris Cutler, 2010 Recipient

The Sustainable Futures Award recognizes tomorrow's leaders in agricultural innovation: young women and men who are advancing and applying innovative scientific knowledge on the sustainable use of agricultural resources for societal good. People who believe agricultural resources can answer challenges in human and animal health, food security, climate change, energy demand and environmental health.

Asia Kapande, 2011 Recipient

The International Recognition Award honours individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the improvement of agriculture in the Developing World.

Guidance statements for each of the awards can be viewed in the awards section of our website.

The deadline for submission of nominations, and nomination forms for each of the awards, will be made available in January 2012.

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Soil Scientist Named as NSERC Chair for Women in Science and Engineering

Karin Wittenberg, Annemieke Farenhorst,

Isabelle Blain, Digvir Jayas (see below)

Dr. Annemieke Farenhorst has been announced as the Prairie region's new Chair for Women in Science and Engineering by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) at an event held at the University of Manitoba (U of M) on November 10, 2011.

Dr. Farenhorst's education includes a B.Sc. in Physical Geography and Soil Science (University of Amsterdam) and a Ph.D. in Soil Pesticide Chemistry (University of Toronto). She joined the Department of Soil Science at the U of M in December 1997. Her current research focus is on pesticide monitoring in air, rainfall, dust particles and wetland water; experimental studies of pesticide sorption and degradation in soils; and computer programming to incorporate atmospheric deposition and probabilistic modules into the Pesticide Root Zone Model. Her team is also developing research activities surrounding emerging agrichemicals such as natural steroid estrogens and antibiotics.

In addition, since 2005, she has been leading a Central American project in collaboration with a team of about 30 project investigators in Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua. About 350 farm families (women, men and their children) in rural communities have collaborated with the team on this project. In addition, because of this project, about 1,000 students and technicians have been trained on quantitative and qualitative research methods for community-based research, and on beneficial agricultural management practices, particularly on safer practices surrounding pest control management. Annemieke has received various awards for her teaching excellence, research and outreach.

In 2000, Dr. Farenhorst served as the first female president of the Manitoba Soil Science Society since the inception of the society in 1957. She is an invited member of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Subcommittee on Crop Protection Chemistry. She is an Associate Editor for both the Canadian Journal of Soil Science and the
Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part B.

In the press release from the U of M, Dr. Farenhorst is quoted as saying, "We anticipate this new Chair will make an impact in promoting science and engineering opportunities to women and Aboriginal women in particular, as well as increasing public and institutional awareness of mechanisms that influence the participation of women in these fields and encouraging enhanced role modeling for women."

The Chair for the Prairies is being supported by a total of $1.4 million over the next five years from NSERC and funding partners including the Manitoba Pork Council, University of Saskatchewan, Province of Manitoba, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Manitoba, Manitoba Institute of Agrologists, Canadian Society of Soil Science, the Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences at the U of M, and the University of Manitoba.

The Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering program is regional, with one Chair for each of the Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairie, and British Columbia and Yukon regions. Dr. Farenhorst joins Dr. Tamara Franz-Odendaal (Department of Biology at Mount Saint Vincent University), Dr. Catherine Mavriplis (Department of Mechanical Engineering at University of Ottawa), Dr. Nadia Ghazzali (Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Université Laval) and Dr. Elizabeth Croft (Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia).

Visit Dr. Farenhorst's NSERC Women in Science and Engineering (Prairie Region) website.

Dr. Farenhorst and AIC will be jointly hosting a roundtable discussion in Winnipeg for women working in agricultural sciences in December 2011.

Dinah Ceplis, International Program Gender Equality Officer

Photo courtesy University of Manitoba

Karen Wittenberg, Associate Dean, Research, Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences, University of Manitoba

Annemieke Farenhorst

Isabelle Blain, Vice President, Research Grants and Scholarships, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research council of Canada

Digvir Jayas, Vice President (Research and International), University of Manitoba and President, AIC

Sources:

Research Chair: Women in Science and Engineering

Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering - Current Chairholders

Chairholder Profile

University of Manitoba, Department of Soil Science

A. Farenhorst Biography

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In Memorium - Elwood Stringam, FAIC

Dr. Elwood Stringam, FAIC and AIC Past President, passed away on July 9, 2011. Dr. Stringam began his academic career at the University of Manitoba as an Assistant Professor (1948-1951) and the University of Guelph as an Associate and Full Professor (1951-1954). In 1954, he returned to the University of Manitoba as Professor and Head, Department of Animal Science.

One of the most dynamic periods in the Department occurred during his period as Head (1954 to 1973). Dr Stringam had a vision for the Department and worked relentlessly to achieve his goal. The new Animal Science building was opened in 1962 with spacious offices, laboratories, lecture rooms and bright and pleasant courtyard, the envy of many. This building provided a more than ten-fold increase in teaching and research capacity. Almost concurrently, two poultry research units, one sheep unit and a feed mill were constructed on campus, and new swine, dairy and beef units were established at the Glenlea Research Station. At the same time, Dr. Stringam negotiated for and recruited eight new academic staff needed to initiate the new programs envisioned, including the Ph.D. program. This development also resulted in a substantial increase in undergraduate students.

As a scientist, Dr. Stringam authored or co-authored more than 60 publications and was frequently interviewed on radio and TV regarding livestock production and agricultural education.

He served as a Director (1961-1963), Vice-President (1962-1963), President-Elect (1965-1966) and President (1966-1967) of the Agricultural Institute of Canada (AIC) and Registrar (1950-1951) and President (1956-1957) of the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists.

Dr. Stringam has received many honours and awards including a Fellowship in AIC (1969), honorary life membership in the Canadian Society of Animal Science (1985), the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal and the Canadian Feed Industry Association Golden Award. Upon his retirement, the University honoured him with the title Professor Emeritus, and his colleagues and friends established the E. W. Stringam Award for Excellence in Animal Science to be awarded to a graduating student.

Excerpted from a memorium prepared by W. Guenter for the Canadian Journal of Animal Science

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Frances Rodenburg, Editor news@aic.ca