WINTER 2007- 2008 AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL … · 2015. 8. 11. · Higher Education...

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WINTER 2007- 2008

2 From the Dean’s Desk

3 Campaign McGill — History in the Making

4 Laying the Foundations for the Future

5 Distinguished Alumni Awards

6 Mac Experiment Yields Biofuel

7 Macdonald Innovation for Teaching Improvement

8 Notes from the Field

9 Around the Faculty

10 Development and Alumni Relations

T H I S I S S U E

AGRICULTURAL ANDENVIRONMENTAL

SCIENCESedition

Building on a legacy

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FACULTY OF AGRICULTURAL

AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Winter 2007-2008

Office of the Dean

Macdonald Campus

McGill University

21,111 Lakeshore

Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue

Quebec, Canada H9X 3V9

Tel.: 514-398-7707

Fax: 514-398-7766

www.mcgill.ca/macdonald/

Dean of the Faculty

Chandra A. Madramootoo

Editorial Contributors

Helen Cohen Rimmer, BA’76, MSc’79

Diane Lu-HovasseKathy MacLean, BSc(Agr)’81

Editorial Consultants

Helen Dyer Communications Officer,Development, Alumni and University Relations

Susan Murley Director of Strategic Communications, Development, Alumni and University Relations

ProofreadingMark OrdonselliCommunications Officer

Design and LayoutHelen Cohen Rimmer HCR Photo

AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 2

Dear Graduates and Friends,

It has been a most exciting time at Macdonaldover the past few months. On October 11, wehosted a visit from the Quebec Minister ofAgriculture, M. Laurent Lessard. We closed theCentenary celebrations with a spectacularHomecoming on October 20, and we honouredfive distinguished Mac alumni that day. We werefurther pleased to welcome Principal HeatherMunroe-Blum as the guest speaker at the SirWilliam Macdonald Luncheon. We turn to thenext centenary on a high note, realizing ourunlimited potential for the future.

The University launched the most ambitiouscomprehensive campaign in its history duringthe week of October 14. Macdonald was anintegral part of the Campaign launch. A cakecutting ceremony and community BBQ were held simultaneously on October 18 on bothcampuses. Chancellor Richard Pound and Provost Anthony Masi launched the Campaignfrom the Macdonald campus, and the event was webcast live to the downtown campus. Thiswas indeed history in the making for Macdonald.

The Campaign will lead to significant gains for Macdonald, as we advance our academicleadership in food and nutritional sciences, ecosystem science and management, and appliedbiosciences. Funding is being sought for the creation of endowed chairs and professorships,undergraduate student scholarships and graduate fellowships, new and innovative graduateand undergraduate programs which involve field semesters and internships in industry, and fornew interdisciplinary field research programs and international centres of excellence in water,nutrition and health. We will also upgrade our teaching and research infrastructure in theSoutham Food labs and complete the renovations to the Macdonald Library and LearningCentre, in order to provide our students with the hands-on learning experience that has alwaysbeen the hallmark of a Macdonald education. Our goals are ambitious and far reaching.

Investing in Macdonald’s future is both worthwhile and rewarding. Once again, this yearMcGill ranked as the top medical/doctoral university in Canada according to Maclean’suniversity rankings. Furthermore, McGill was ranked 12th in the world in the 2007 TimesHigher Education Supplement. It is news like this in the recent weeks that demonstrates howyour support has played such a vital role in helping Macdonald and McGill maintain theirposition of academic prestige and prominence both nationally and internationally.

I once again take this opportunity to thank you for your very generous support to Macdonald,and I invite you to work with me over the next few years in helping to achieve our goals forthe comprehensive campaign.

With my very best wishes,

Chandra A. Madramootoo, BSc(AgrEng)’77, MSc’81, PhD’85 Dean, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Dean Chandra Madramootoo

From the Dean’s Desk

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COVER PHOTO: A biography on SirWilliam C. Macdonald was released tocoincide with Centenary celebrations.The book is available at theMacdonald Bookstore. Please email [email protected]

PHOTO BY: C. CALLIGARIS

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At Homecoming 2007, McGill launched a campaign with a moreambitious starting goal than any other fundraising effort inCanadian university history. Campaign McGill is a comprehensiveeffort aiming to raise $750-million over the next five years.Themed “History in the Making,” this major effort will usephilanthropic investment to attract and retain top talent, increaseaccess to university education and enhance McGill’s ability toaddress critical global issues. In the three years before the publiclaunch, $325-million has already been raised.

With every faculty setting its goals for the campaign, Macdonaldaims to further develop a leadership position in the fields ofnutrition and health, food safety and quality, ecosystems andwater resources management. To that end, the faculty is seeking$12-million towards establishing new chairs.

Major debt-load after graduation can be a deterrent for bothgraduates and undergraduates. The faculty’s current level ofsupport for graduate students is cited by potential students asinsufficient to meet needs and a disincentive for further studies.In order to compete for bright problem-solvers at theundergraduate level, we are seeking funds to create undergraduatescholarships and needs-based bursaries as well as to providesupport to students who wish to participate in internshipprograms or take part in international field semester programs.The campaign is targeting $4-million for graduate fellowships and$1.2-million for undergraduate scholarships.

Campaign McGill is focused primarily on people and programs.New infrastructure is, however, also required to complete thenewly renovated library and learning centre and construct aninnovative food and dietetics teaching facility. The faculty isseeking $1.25-million for new academic infrastructure.

Externally our expertise will be extended to where it is needed –impoverished areas requiring nutritional and health support. Thefaculty is seeking an injection of $500,000 for communityoutreach.

For full details of the campaign: www.mcgill.ca/campaign/

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Participants at the “Healing Our World” symposium on Campaign launchday at the downtown campus: (left to right) Nigel Roulet, School ofEnvironment, Don Smith, Plant Science, Brian Ward, National ReferenceCentre for Parasitology, Jody Heymann, Institute for Health and SocialPolicy; moderator Wendy Thomson, School of Social Work. Informal paneldiscussions provided the sell-out audience with an overview of health andwellness, poverty and development in a context of our endangeredenvironment.

Campaign McGillHistory in the Making

A first for McGill — the Campaign kickoff is split between the twocampuses by simulcast. The Campaign launch was followed by CampusCommunity Barbecues. Over 400 faculty, staff, students and alumniattended the Macdonald event. Pictured here, from left to right, are DeanChandra Madramootoo, Howard Gumilang, BSc(AgrEnvSc)’05 (Macdonaldstudent representative to the Board of Governors), Chancellor RichardPound, Corina Tatar, BSc(NutrSc)’06 (president of the Macdonald campusGraduate Student Society), Provost Anthony Masi and Lise Cobitz(president of the Macdonald Campus Student Society).

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Campaign Priorities - Macdonald

For more than 100 years, Macdonald Campus has nurtured talented students and innovative ideas tobenefit society. Today, our research and training programs are rooted in the sweeping advances beingmade at the molecular level. The tools of biotechnology are being applied to plant, animal, food andenvironmental systems. The work of the Faculty is aimed at producing safe food products that meetthe nutrition requirements necessary for healthy populations, while minimizing soil, air and waterpollution.

Through the recently launched comprehensive campaign, and with the ongoing support of ouralumni and donors, Macdonald is seeking to attract world-class researchers and highly qualifiedstudents through endowed chairs, exciting new academic programs, fellowships and scholarships, andstate-of-the-art teaching and research facilities. The Faculty is poised to develop solutions to theglobal problems of food quality, resource conservation, nutrition and wellness, environmentaldegradation, climate change and other complex issues threatening the health and welfare of ourplanet and its inhabitants. Some of the priority areas for funding are described below.

Nutrition and Health

The School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition and the Institute of Parasitology are two of Canada’sleading institutions in the fields of nutrition and health. Researchers are working to identify the linksbetween nutrition and human health, address the obesity and diabetes crisis, and understand the tiesbetween under-nutrition, infant mortality, poor educational outcomes, increased morbidity, parasitesand human health. Cutting-edge research in clinical nutrition has resulted in new strategies tocontrol pain and improve nutrition before, during and after surgery. The Centre for IndigenousPeoples’ Nutrition and Environment (CINE) is leading major studies on indigenous peoples’ diets,nutrition and health, both in Canada’s North and overseas. This research is influencing nutrition-related policies and guidelines at both the national and international levels.

Novel Foods and Food Safety

The creation of a safe and secure food supply has become a global priority, especially in the wake ofemerging environmental contaminants and toxins. Training undergraduate and graduate students tounderstand the impact of the food chain on the health of both humans and animals and developinginnovative food manufacturing and preservation solutions are critical. High-pressure processing,microwave and other electro-technologies are being investigated. Macdonald staff and students aredeveloping tools to identify bacteria in clinical and food microbiology laboratories. Researchers arealso working to produce the next generation of food products, such as functional foods andnutraceuticals.

Ecosystem Science and Water Management

Macdonald has had a long tradition of studying environmental issues related to agriculture and theconservation of natural resources. Our researchers have advanced knowledge of biodiversity,community ecology and ecosystem processes, from building sustainable forest management practicesto understanding the impacts of climate change on plant and animal ecosystems. Ongoing research isexploring the use of crops to reduce greenhouse gases, provide alternative energy sources and mitigateclimate change. Macdonald staff and students at the Brace Centre for Water Resources Managementare playing a major role in teaching and research related to water quality and conservation.Macdonald professors are leaders in their fields and have conducted landmark work on watershedmanagement, irrigation and drainage. Our staff and students are conducting research to ensure a safeand secure water supply, both here at home and in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean.

Laying the Foundations for the Future

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The Special Centenary Distinguished Alumni Awards werecreated by the Macdonald Branch of the McGill AlumniAssociation to recognize graduates who have made outstandingprofessional accomplishments, achieved scholarly distinctionand/or demonstrated excellence in service to the community atlarge. The first Awards were presented at Homecoming 2006.This year’s recipients, announced during the Sir WilliamMacdonald Luncheon at Homecoming 2007, exemplify“Mastery for Service.”

Howard W. Hulan, BSc(Agr)’65, MSc’68, has made a significantimpact in the field of nutritional-biochemistry. It was largely onthe strength of his research in the mid-1970s that canola oil wasidentified as a nutritious dietary ingredient, promoting a billiondollar industry for Canada. In 1993, Dr. Hulan was appointedMinister of Fisheries, Food and Agriculture in Newfoundland, inPremier Clyde Well’s cabinet.

Murray D. McEwen, BSc(Agr)’52, DSc’93, has had a long andillustrious career in the Canadian food industry in some ofCanada’s best-known and successful companies, including GreenGiant, Seabrook Farms (Cavendish Farms) and St-Lawrence Sugar(Lantic). In 1976, Dr. McEwen joined Tate & Lyle, the parentcompany of Redpath Sugars, retiring as president and CEO ofRedpath and managing director for North America at Tate & Lylein 1991.

Elizabeth Moore, BSc(HomeEc)’58, became the first dietitian inCanada to establish a private practice, Elizabeth Hamilton &Associates, in Winnipeg in 1970. She has demonstrated acommitment to her profession, serving as president of both theManitoba Association of Registered Dietitians and Dietitians ofCanada. In 1994, Mrs. Moore was named a Fellow of the

Dietitians of Canada in recognition of her excellence inprofessional growth, career achievements, initiative andinnovation.

Aly M. A. Shady, MSc’73, is a distinguished Canadian publicservant who, over the past 26 years, has held numerous seniorpolicy positions with the Canadian International DevelopmentAgency (CIDA). He has developed and managed more than 85projects in 38 countries, with a value exceeding $1.5 billion.Thanks to his conviction that Canadian technologies andproducts in water and agriculture are among the best in theworld, Canada is now regarded as a major player in these fields.

The links between George D. Wright, BSc(Agr)’52, and SirWilliam Macdonald, brought to light by the Centenary awardsand the publication of Sir William’s biography, are trulyfascinating. Mr. Wright and Sir William were born exactly onecentury apart on farms in Prince Edward Island. A detailedbiography lists Mr. Wright’s participation, often in a leadershiprole, in six business organizations, seven governmentorganizations, five educational bodies ranging from rural schoolsto the University of Prince Edward Island and 15 service andcommunity organizations.


Homecoming 2007

Distinguished AlumniAwards 2007

Though often best remembered for the eponymous college he founded, SirWilliam C. Macdonald played a pivotal role in the evolution of McGillUniversity into the world-renowned institution it is today. That’s at least oneof the lessons contained in author William Fong’s recently released SirWilliam C. Macdonald: A Biography. Macdonald Stewart Foundationpresident Liliane Stewart, who commissioned the biography to coincide withMacdonald College’s Centenary, remarked that the Engineering building,where the launch was held—along with Physics and Chemistry and, later, thebuilding that today houses the McCord Museum—was among thephilanthropist’s first gifts to the University. Principal and Vice-ChancellorHeather Munroe-Blum further praised Macdonald as a man “of great stature”who helped to build McGill as a leading educational institution.

Award recipients and families. Seated (L-R): George Wright, Murray McEwen, Aly Shady, Elizabeth Moore and Howard Hulan.

Book Celebrates Sir William MacdonaldBy Michael Bourguignon

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Present at the book launch were Dean ChandraMadramootoo, Mrs. Liliane Stewart, Mr. Bruce Bolton,author William Fong and Principal Heather Munroe-Blum.

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Antioxidants & Biofuels

Mac Experiment Yields Biofuel… and Health FoodBy Mark Ordonselli

Who would have thought that better blueberry juice could alsomean a boon for the biomass industry?

The unlikely link was made by Dr. Michael Ngadi of BioresourceEngineering, as he hunted for a better way to extract nutrientsfrom blueberries and other produce. The William DawsonScholar and his team had found that zapping fruits and vegetableswith a pulsed electric field [PEF] made it easier to extractantioxidants and other nutritious goodies through juicing. ThePEF produces about 50 times as much electricity as a standardwall socket and breaks down cell membranes in plant matter. Asa result, when the veggies are compressed and the juice issqueezed out, more lycopene, beta-carotene and other mega-nutrients ooze out of the pulp and can be added to foods andbeverages or sold in concentrated form to health-conscious pill-poppers.

That in itself is a pretty neat discovery, but it turns out that theleftover plant matter just might be even more amazing than Dr.Ngadi’s antioxidant juice. While using the PEF process to extractprotein from alfalfa, he and his team stumbled upon somethingcompletely unexpected. “We compressed the samples to get thejuice,” he says, “and then basically just left them in the lab. Wecame back one day to examine the samples we had compressedand found that the ones we had treated with PEF remainedintact, whereas the ones that were not had ‘sprung back’.”

The tendency for compressed plant matter pellets to spring backto their expanded form has long been a headache for biomasscompanies, who market them as clean-burning biofuel and all-natural animal feed. With low mass but high volume, shippingbiomass pellets is generally inefficient and expensive, but Dr.Ngadi’s PEF process could soon change all that.

“The ideal way of treating them is to compress them – basicallydensify them. Normally when you do that they just spring back,so a number of chemicals are used to hold them together.”

Concerns exist, though, about feeding those chemicals to animals– and about pumping them into the atmosphere throughcombustion. Dr. Ngadi’s method is clean, green and chemical-free. “That’s the thing we’re really proud of,” he says. “We’requite excited about this.”

Not only will the denser, PEF-treated biomass be cheaper andeasier to ship, but pellet-for-pellet it could also provide morenutritional value or combustive energy than other compressedplant matter, since more mass can be crammed into the sameamount of space. Dr. Ngadi quickly recognized the significance

of his find and contacted McGill’s Office of Technology Transfer[OTT], which obtained a worldwide patent of his technology.

Patenting and managing 60-70 new McGill technologies annually,the OTT brings about $1.5-million into the University each yearin licensing fees. It’s always on the lookout for inventions withcommercial potential, and in Dr. Ngadi’s case, there’s certainlythere’s no lack of that – on the biofuel side alone, the globalmarket for plant-derived energy products is expected to hit $81-billion in just nine years. Thanks in large part to the innovationand hard work of technology transfer experts and researchers likeNgadi, McGill stands an excellent chance of grabbing a slice ofthat pie.

Top: Michael Ngadi in his lab.Bottom: Untreated to PEF-treated plant material.

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MiTi

Working on her master’s degree in Bioresource Engineering,Charlotte Yates was confident she knew her material. With aspecialty in water quality management for agricultural applications,Yates could analyze her way through the most complicatedcyanobacteria (blue-green algae) infestations — but figure out howto mark undergraduate assignments as a teaching assistant?

“I had never been a TA before,” admitted Yates. “So, when theMITI program came up, I thought why not take it?” Yates signedup for the Macdonald Innovations for Teaching Improvement(MITI), a new training workshop launched this fall, thanks to a giftfrom Ann and Stewart Brown and the Martlet Foundation.MITI models itself after T-PULSE (Tomlinson Project inUniversity-Level Science Education), an initiative funded in 2002by Canadian scientist and businessman Richard H. Tomlinson tofoster effective teaching skills for instructors in the Faculty ofScience.

At Macdonald, Marcia Waterway, associate professor and curatorof the McGill University Herbarium, undertook theimplementation of the program. “The donor wanted to improveteaching and this is a way to improve teacher training,” she said.

Coordinator Tracy Eades, BSc(Agr)’02, organized the first MITIworkshops, held on September 6 and 7 for about 36 eager TAs.

“We had 62 apply and could take 36 maximum,” said Waterway,“We had to split the group so we’ll have another workshop nextyear and we’ll still be taking applicants.”

“What was really great,” said Fréderic Thériault,BSc(AgrEnvSc)’04, a master’s student in Plant Science, “was thatthey [Tomlinson fellows] were putting into practice what they wereteaching in the workshop. I came out with lots of ideas how toteach.” Thériault described the Tomlinson Fellows as “energetic,motivated and well-prepared” and especially enjoyed how to adaptteaching to different abilities, such as students with a wide varietyof learning needs.

MITI is not just for students – it’s also ramping up the techno-savvy of profs. “Just-in-time” support provides personalized trainingfor lecturers to pump-up their knowledge of software.

“We’re learning WebCT [an online virtual learning-environmentsystem] and how to use and implement new teaching tools, such asquizzes and systems,” said Waterway. “Workshops for faculty arebeing held at Macdonald, and we have a technical trainer dedicatedto the campus.” This technical support can include teaching profshow best to design their own instructional material to promptstudent engagement and improve the absorption of information.

Waterway said the MITI program will be expanding to otherfaculty workshops with invited guests to demonstrate and train onnew technologies, such as the “Student Response System”.Sometimes called a clicker or “Personal Response Systems,” thisinteractive learning and teaching tool gives professors real-timefeedback and helps them gauge the students’ level ofcomprehension. The clickers have become highly popular withstudents.

Macdonald Innovation for Teaching ImprovementTraining the TrainersBy Diane Lu-Hovasse

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Notes from the Field


The Amundsen DiariesBy Jennifer Jamieson, BSc’02

September 26, 2007Arctic Bay, Nunavut–After waking up androlling out of my bunkbed, today feels like anyother day–well, any otherday onboard a CanadianCoast Guard icebreaker.This though, is the finalday of the 2007 InuitHealth Survey and we arein our last community.Arctic Bay is the 18thcommunity in Nunavutwe will visit. It’s hard tobelieve that we have beenonboard the Amundsenfor the past six weeks,sailing across the Arctic,in what has become ourhome away from home.

The day starts like anyother, lots of coffee and a quick breakfast before greeting our firstparticipants of the morning. As always, our morning participantsgreet us with warm smiles and handshakes despite the fact theyare fasting before morning blood draws and are up early to meetthe barge onshore.

After a visit to the nurse’s clinic for clinical tests (blood testing forheart disease risk, diabetes risk, nutrition, environmentalcontaminants, infections, as well as height, weight and bodycomposition measurements), I meet my first participant. Sinceshe is over 40-years old, she will also have a bone density scan,heart monitoring, and a carotid artery ultrasound performedwhile onboard. My role in the survey is to interview andadminister questionnaires. We spend more than an hour goingover her general health and family medical history, mental healthand community wellness issues, current dietary habits and usualconsumption of traditional foods such as beluga muktuk andcaribou meat. Though the questionnaires are demanding at times,I am struck once again by the commitment of the Inuit to dotheir part for the benefit of their people and communities. Evenwhen questions are personal or sensitive my participant is openand upfront with her answers. She wants to participate and give avoice to the issues people face in her community. For me, agraduate student whose training in research has mainly been in alab, it is a real honour to listen and share in her experiences.

As the day winds down we gather on the deck to watch our finalgroup of participants depart on the ship’s barge. It’s snowinglightly, which seems like an appropriate ending to our summervoyage through Nunavut. We wave goodbye with a sense ofsadness for the end of an amazing experience but also greatsatisfaction in all we have been able to achieve.

Between August 10 and September 25, 2007, second year PhD student Jennifer Jamieson joined Macdonald’s Centre for Indigenous Peoples’Nutrition and Environment (CINE) team aboard the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Amundsen to conduct the most comprehensive surveyof Inuit health and nutrition ever undertaken in Canada. Led by principal investigator Dr. Grace Egeland, the study put students face-to-facewith the people they want to help. Jamieson is the inaugural recipient of the Elizabeth and André Rossinger Fellowship in Canadian RuralSustainability. Here are her thoughts at the end of an enlightening journey.

Macdonald staff member shines in the 8th World Dragon Boat Championships

Anne McMahon, of the Macdonald Campus Library, was a member of Team Canada at the8th World Dragon Boat Championships in Sydney, Australia. Sixteen countries rounded outthe field of this competition in September. McMahon competed in the Grand Dragoncategory (50+) on both the mixed and women’s team. In five race categories ranging from200 to 2000-metre distances, her crew brought home two gold, two silver and one bronzemedal. Says McMahon, “when we were called to the podium to receive our gold medal itdidn’t seem real…. I wasn’t really prepared for how I would feel. When the Canadian flag wasraised in the centre position and our national anthem was played, the tears were rolling downmy cheeks—it was incredible, a once in a lifetime feeling. I was so proud to be a Canadianand so proud to be part of such an incredible group of people.” Way to go, Anne!

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Professor Vijaya Raghavan, Bioresource Engineering, received aDoctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from Tamil Nadu AgriculturalUniversity (TNAU) in India. He was recognized for his need-based initiatives for research, capacity-building and enabling theprocessing of agricultural produce in small communities. Hereceived the honour at convocation on November 13, 2007 inCoimbatore, India.

Professor Donald L. Smith, Plant Science, was recognized bythe Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas) for his“exceptional contribution to the field of environmental science.”The Michel Jurdant award was presented to Professor Smith atthe 63rd annual Gala de l’Acfas at the Centre des Sciences deMontréal on October 13, 2007.

Undergraduate student, Véronik Campbell was the recipient ofthe Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Award for Study in aSecond Official Language. Véronik is a third-year studentmajoring in Wildlife Biology for her BSc(AgEnvSc) and is on theDean’s Honour List. The award is given to young Canadians

wishing to improve their proficiency in their second officiallanguage while studying full-time at a university where thatlanguage is dominant. Besides good academic standing,candidates must demonstrate high motivation and adaptability.

Around the Faculty


K U D O S . . .

Alice Cherestes is the Freshman program advisor for theFaculty. She has a passion for improving scienceeducation from high school to CEGEP. However, shebegan in her doctoral and post-doctoral studies on Taxolchemistry, with a view to developing new breast cancerdrugs as well as to research the increased effectiveness ofdrugs such as selective estrogen receptor modulators. Shecontinues to work with ionic dendrimers, synthesis andanalysis.

Grant Clark, PhD’00, comes to Bioresource Engineeringwith a multi-disciplinary background. Hailing from amixed farm in central Alberta, his ecological engineeringdraws on both scientific computation and appliedmicrobial ecologies. A University of Alberta alum, withMcGill graduate work in biosystems engineering, hefocuses on the use of microbial technologies such ascomposting and biofiltration for agricultural andmunicipal waste management.

Mark Lefsrud’s training is in the disciplines ofBioresource Engineering and Plant Science. He iscurrently conducting research using mass spectrometryto determine protein expression in microorganisms,especially in fermentation, sludge, acid mine drainage,ocean, soil and plant microbe communities. He is alsoinvestigating methods to improve nutrient and lightdelivery for microbe and plant growth in controlledenvironments and field conditions.

Valérie Orsat, BSc(AgrEnv)’91, MSc’92, PhD’99,obtained her doctorate from McGill University in1999. Between 1999 and 2007, she co-ordinatedtraining for projects in China and India concerningpost-harvest engineering under the CanadianInternational Development Agency (CIDA). Currently,her research involves the preservation of nutrientintegrity post-harvest and the controlled application ofvarious treatments for higher nutritive value andproduct preservation. The findings may be adopted by thenutraceutical and food industries.

Bright Minds Invested at Mac

Macdonald Campus is pleased to welcome several new professors to the Faculty.

J.D. MacArthur, former curator of the Morgan Arboretum, picturedat right with fellow veterans during the Macdonald CampusVeterans’ Day Ceremony held November 8, 2007

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Landscape Project DedicationStuart Horne, BSc(Agr)’52, pictured topright with daughter and granddaughter, atHomecoming. Mr. Horne not only madethe Landscape Project possible but alsocontributed very generously to the libraryrenovations.

Former Athletics DirectorHonoured at HomecomingMore than 150 grads, spouses and friendsgathered to honour Bob Pugh, DipEd’52,Macdonald’s Athletics director from 1955to 1969, pictured at centre right withchief organizer Gerry Kelly, BEd’64,MEd’70, LLD’94. Kelly invited guests tocreate an $80,000 scholarship in Pugh’sname. Those wishing to help build thefund are asked to send their contributionsto Ron Henry at the MacdonaldDevelopment Office, c/o McGillUniversity, “Bob Pugh Fund - #03863,”Raymond Building, R03-019, MacdonaldCampus, 21,111 Lakeshore, Ste. Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9.

Class Reunion GiftsMacdonald Class of 1947: Long-timesupporters of Macdonald College, theirReunion Class Gift Project in celebrationof their 60th anniversary raised $15,000for the Macdonald Library and LearningCentre.

Macdonald Class of 1952: The class of’52 began raising funds for theirCentenary Reunion Class Gift in honourof their 55th anniversary of graduationthis summer. They have surpassed their

objective of $52,000 and have raised closeto $60,000 for the Macdonald Libraryand Learning Centre.

Macdonald Class of 1957: The class of’57 also began raising funds for theirReunion Class Gift this summer and haveraised close to $20,000 for theMacdonald Library and Learning Centre.

Scholastic Awards ReceptionThe 2007 Macdonald Scholastic AwardsReception, with its presentation ofmedals, scholarships, fellowships andawards, took place in October. More than$400,000 in awards and scholarships werehanded out to 115 deserving students.

This year, the Faculty was pleased topresent two new scholarships — theMacKenzie Family Scholarship inAgricultural and EnvironmentalSciences (see facing page) and the Villede Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Scholarshipin Agricultural and EnvironmentalSciences. The latter was established bySainte-Anne’s in recognition of the long-standing relationship between the Cityand the Macdonald Campus. Sainte-Annemayor Bill Tierney, pictured at bottomleft, was present to award the scholarshipto Sarah Lebel, a second-yearBioresource Engineering student.

Dean’s Honour List Fifty-seven outstanding students made theDean’s Honour List in 2007. Theyrepresent the top 10 per cent of studentsin the faculty.


Development & Alumni Relations

Donations to the Macdonald Alma Mater Fund and Gift Programs have a profound impact onlife at Macdonald and their effects cannot be overstated. They are vital to the Faculty’s ability toprovide an outstanding education, support students through scholarships, enrich programs,conduct cutting-edge research, and most of all, attract the best and brightest to the faculty andstudent body.

Macdonald benefits greatly from the generosity of its alumni and friends as well as that ofcorporations and foundations. Gifts designated to Macdonald, and particularly to the Dean’sDevelopment Fund, give the Faculty the flexibility to address immediate needs and meet newchallenges. With these unrestricted funds, the Faculty has been able to support unique studentinitiatives, encourage groundbreaking research, fund innovative emerging priorities, increasescholarships and bursaries for deserving students, and provide internships for students withvarious national and international agencies. Thank you for your continued support!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT

P. FOURNIER

C. CALLIGARIS

C. CALLIGARIS

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For Angus and Joan MacKenzie,Macdonald Campus has always been afamily affair.

During his 35 years at Macdonald,Professor Emeritus MacKenzie was one ofthe Campus’ best-known professors. Hiswife, Joan, MA’67, PhD’81, is a McGillalumna twice-over and their three children– Douglas, BEng’81; Susan, BEng’83; andKenneth, BEng’87 – all earned mechanicalengineering degrees at the downtowncampus. “We told our kids they could goanywhere they liked,” Joan laughs, “as longas it was McGill.”

In December 2006, Angus and Joanensured their familial connection to theUniversity will continue far into thefuture. They established the MacKenzieFamily Scholarship in Agricultural andEnvironmental Sciences, a $3,600academic award to be given annually to an

undergraduate in eitherBioresource Engineering orNatural Resource Sciences. The scholarship offered theMacKenzies an opportunitynot only to honour theaccomplishments of theirchildren – who have all goneon to successful careers – but also to saythanks to their second home. “McGill hasbeen a central focus of our life for manyyears,” explains Angus. “We’ve beeninvolved in its comings and goings, and it’salways been an intriguing place to workand study.”

Sophie Charvet, a U3 Microbiologystudent, is the award’s first recipient. Sheaccepted the scholarship at the ScholasticAwards Reception and Presentation onOctober 16. Having already obtained adegree at Université Louis Pasteur inFrance, she now researches how life

survives in extreme environments like theArctic.

“[The scholarship] gives me this feeling ofbelonging and being rewarded for myefforts,” she says.

Following the awards ceremony, theMacKenzies and Charvet exchanged e-mailaddresses. They plan on getting togetheragain the next time the MacKenziechildren visit Montreal. After all, thepromising young scholar needs to meet therest of the family.

Angus and Joan MacKenzie with scholarship recipient Sophie Charvet.

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MacKenzie Family rooted at MacdonaldBranches out with new undergraduate scholarshipBy Brett Hooton, Communications Officer

October 11, 2007. M. Laurent Lessard, Ministre de l’Agriculture,des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec, second from left,and M. Marc Dion, Sous-ministre adjoint de la Directiongénérale de l’innovation et de la formation, with David Wees,Dean Chandra Madramootoo and FMT students Eric Breaultand Amélie Lemire during a recent visit to Macdonald. M.Lessard discussed his ideas for promoting agriculture in Quebecwith the Faculty’s administration, and visited with FMT students.

Quebec Minister of Agriculture Visits Macdonald

macwinter2007.qxp 12/12/2007 12:05 PM

Please return undeliverable mail to / Retour des envois non-livrés à:

In Focus Editor, Development OfficeFaculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Macdonald Campus, McGill University21,111 Lakeshore Road

Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec H9X 3V9

Homecoming 2007...

Top: Dedication of the Landscape Project.

Centre left: Toast to Macdonald during the Sir William Macdonald Luncheon.

Centre right: Members of the Class of ‘57 donned their Macdonald sweatersfor the occasion.

Bottom left: Arch Jones, former curator of the Morgan Arboretum, with wifeHelen at the Gathering of the Clan BBQ.

Bottom right: Smiles were on everyone’s faces at the Athletics Dinner inhonour of Bob Pugh.

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