Natural Resource Sciences - News

Macdonald Scholarship Reception

��VR��Ƶ — Tue, 05 May 2026 14:12:10 +0000

The most recent Macdonald Scholarship Reception was held with a shared sense of honour and pride on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. The occasion brought together members of the Macdonald community to celebrate both the excellence of its student awardees and the generosity of its donors, whose commitment continues to shape meaningful academic pathways.

Moderate UV light is best when it comes to boosting the vitamin D content of edible mushrooms, ��VR��Ƶ study finds

��VR��Ƶ — Mon, 04 May 2026 14:00:59 +0000

Researchers at ��VR��Ƶ have discovered that moderate ultraviolet (UV) light exposure is best when the technique is used to enhance vitamin D₂ in edible mushrooms. Excessive exposure leads to nutrient degradation or a plateau effect, they found. The paper also provides quantitative guidance.

The researchers’ work supports efforts to address vitamin D deficiency, which affects between 30 and 50 per cent of the world’s population, as well as enhance the nutritional value of mushrooms more broadly.

The Macdonald Campus Community Pays Tribute to Professor Varoujan Yaylayan

��VR��Ƶ — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:59:41 +0000

The Macdonald Campus community gathered on Friday, April 10, to celebrate the life and legacy of the late Professor Varoujan Yaylayan, PhD., who was a cherished faculty member of the Faulty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences’ Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry.

Study finds treating peanuts with cold plasma could make them less allergenic

��VR��Ƶ — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:16:33 +0000

Researchers at ��VR��Ƶ have found that briefly treating peanuts with cold plasma, an ionically charged gas that triggers chemical changes, reduces their potential to cause allergic reactions. The researchers say this is probably because the process causes changes to the protein structure, the part of the peanut that can trigger an immune response. The technology was also shown to improve functional properties important for food manufacturing.

��VR��Ƶ opens state-of-the-art greenhouse and research platform

��VR��Ƶ — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 19:42:42 +0000

��VR��Ƶ has officially opened a new teaching greenhouse and advanced plant phenotyping facilities at its Macdonald Campus, marking a major investment in climate-focused agricultural education and research. Designed for hands-on undergraduate and graduate training, the sustainable greenhouse features controlled growing bays, teaching labs, tissue culture facilities and classrooms, giving students direct experience with modern, climate-smart production systems.

NRS M.Sc. Linda Nong Wins ��VR��Ƶ’s English 3MT Competition

��VR��Ƶ — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 19:36:14 +0000

��VR��Ƶ’s annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) and Ma thèse en 180 secondes (MT180) competitions showcased the diversity of graduate research, with finalists presenting complex topics in just three minutes to a general audience. Held on April 1 at the Faculty Club, the event highlighted research ranging from neuroscience and mental health to musicology and ecology.

��VR��Ƶ inaugurates new facilities at Macdonald Campus to advance teaching and research on climate‑resilient agriculture

��VR��Ƶ — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 10:32:51 +0000

��VR��Ƶ today inaugurated state‑of‑the‑art teaching greenhouse and plant phenotyping research facilities at its Macdonald Campus in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. These represent major investments in teaching and research focused on food security, crop resilience and sustainable agriculture.

Food Science Students Selected as Finalists in IFTSA Student Competitions

��VR��Ƶ — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:23:50 +0000

��VR��Ƶ’s Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry is celebrating an outstanding achievement by its students: all three ��VR��Ƶ teams entered into this year’s Institute of Food Technologists Student Association (IFTSA) competitions have been selected as finalists. The teams will represent ��VR��Ƶ at the IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo in Chicago in July 2026—one of the largest and most influential gatherings in the global food science community.

Building Canada’s Future Environmental Leaders

��VR��Ƶ — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 13:40:22 +0000

A new NSERC CREATE initiative, MIXCHEM, is reshaping how Canada prepares researchers to confront the growing challenge of complex chemical mixtures in the environment. Prof. Stéphane Bayen, a leading voice in Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, is helping drive this interdisciplinary program, which blends cutting‑edge analytical training with hands‑on experience across industry, government, and academia.

��VR��Ƶ researchers optimize process for converting human urine into clean energy

��VR��Ƶ — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 15:07:32 +0000

Researchers at ��VR��Ƶ have improved the efficiency of a method for converting human urine into clean energy.

The method employs microbial fuel cells (MFCs), which use bacteria to turn organic waste into electricity, providing a sustainable and low-cost means of treating wastewater while generating energy from an abundant source. The ��VR��Ƶ research provides insights into which urine concentrations are optimal for this process.

In polar regions, microbes are influencing climate change as frozen ecosystems thaw, ��VR��Ƶ review finds

��VR��Ƶ — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 16:35:08 +0000

Microbes across Earth’s coldest regions are becoming more active as glaciers, permafrost and sea ice thaw, accelerating carbon release and potentially amplifying climate change, according to a new international review from ��VR��Ƶ.

��VR��Ƶ researchers create shapeshifting materials that could power the next generation of soft robots

��VR��Ƶ — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 15:59:18 +0000

��VR��Ƶ engineers have developed new ultra-thin materials that can be programmed to move, fold and reshape themselves, much like animated origami. They open the door to softer, safer and more adaptable robots that could be used in medical tools that gently move inside the body, wearable devices that change shape on the skin or smart packaging that reacts to its environment.

��VR��Ƶ researchers identify a range of unexpected chemical contaminants in human milk

��VR��Ƶ — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 15:45:07 +0000

An interdisciplinary team including researchers at ��VR��Ƶ has found a range of unexpected chemical contaminants in human milk samples from Canada and South Africa. The chemicals include traces of pesticides, antimicrobials and additives used in plastics and personal-care products. The findings were published across five papers.

��VR��Ƶ professor awarded one of the eight science diplomacy chairs newly created by the Fonds de recherche du Québec

��VR��Ƶ — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 18:31:34 +0000

Ebenezer Miezah Kwofie, based at Macdonald Campus, will work to advance food sustainability in Africa

Ebenezer Miezah Kwofie, Assistant Professor in the Bioresource Engineering Department, has been awarded one of eight science diplomacy chairs newly created by the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ).

Microencapsulated B-vitamins help dairy cows produce more milk with fewer emissions

��VR��Ƶ — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 16:38:40 +0000

A new international study led by ��VR��Ƶ in collaboration with Jefo Nutrition shows that supplementing dairy cow diets with microencapsulated B-vitamins can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions while increasing milk yield and quality. The use of the feed additive cut global warming potential, an internationally standardized measure of climate impact, by up to 18 per cent across seven countries.

Scientists decode the full range of oat genomes, opening the door to more nutritious, climate-smart crops

��VR��Ƶ — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 14:16:51 +0000

Researchers have cracked one of agriculture’s most complicated genomes, revealing long-hidden DNA rearrangements that could help scientists breed oats that are more resilient, nutritious and sustainable.

The study, by an international consortium that included researchers from ��VR��Ƶ and published in Nature, presents the first-ever “pangenome” and “pantranscriptome” of oats. These map all known oat genes and track how they behave across 33 varieties that grow around the world.

Sacrifice Zones: Life along the fenceline between the land and industry

��VR��Ƶ — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 15:21:51 +0000

In a recent article exploring the environmental and health impacts of plastic pollution on Indigenous fenceline communities in Canada—residential areas that sit next to facilities that emit pollutants like noise, light, odours, chemicals, and even traffic—Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) spoke to Kanien’kehá:ka environmental advocate Lynn Jacobs about how plastic waste and industrial pollution have turned Indigenous homelands into “sacrifice zones.” Jacobs, who is pursuing a Ph.D.

Natural Resource Sciences - News

Macdonald Scholarship Reception

Moderate UV light is best when it comes to boosting the vitamin D content of edible mushrooms, ����VR��Ƶ study finds

The Macdonald Campus Community Pays Tribute to Professor Varoujan Yaylayan

Study finds treating peanuts with cold plasma could make them less allergenic

����VR��Ƶ opens state-of-the-art greenhouse and research platform

NRS M.Sc. Linda Nong Wins ����VR��Ƶ’s English 3MT Competition

����VR��Ƶ inaugurates new facilities at Macdonald Campus to advance teaching and research on climate‑resilient agriculture