The 2nd annual Academic Research Showcase was a full day of information-packed, interesting student and faculty research presentations – highlighting the many brilliant minds at Olds College of Agriculture & Technology.
With over 50 students presenting throughout the day, topics ranged from bedding in dairy barns to immigration policies for livestock operations to crop producers' participation in business risk management programs. Students participating in the showcase have spent the semester developing their research projects as part of their coursework in the Bachelor of Applied Science – Agribusiness program.
Many of the student research presentations worked with a wide variety of agricultural industries to help them gather data, and in part answering their research questions.
In a student-led research project titled Evaluating Carbon Performance Across Canadian Crop and Livestock Enterprises, students worked with Olds College Centre for Innovation (OCCI) and FCC AgExpert, looking at practices that impacted the amount of carbon dioxide emissions on three different beef and crop farms – the Olds College Smart Farm being one of them. OCCI is currently in partnership with FCC, as AgExpert Field is the farm management software used on the Smart Farm, which allowed these students to gather data for their research results. Another student research project worked with OCCI by utilizing real data collected on the Smart Farm to evaluate the feasibility and producer adoption of the Green Lightning Ag technology.
Another student research project compared the bedding options and welfare practices in freestall and pack dairy barns, highlighting a cost-benefit analysis for BC Dairy. Students also worked with Enriched Ag to compare on-ground cameras and satellite imagery for grazing.
While yet another student-led research project looked at the factors influencing crop producers’ participation in government business risk management programs by asking Alberta and Saskatchewan producers if they used AgriStability, AgriInsurance, AgriInvest and AgriInnovate programs.
“We have so many faculty members and students conducting exciting research at this College, and many members of our community don’t know about them,” said Keith Friedlander, Research and Scholarly Activity Lead in the Office of Research Services. “The Academic Research Showcase lets us celebrate their work and raise awareness of the variety of research being done by our academics.”
Over the lunch break, three student research groups displayed their poster presentations in the Werklund Agriculture and Technology Centre lobby, highlighting Mental Health in Agriculture, Perception of Digital Tools in Agriculture, and Cost Analysis of Agricultural Sharps and Disposal Methods Among Canadian Cattle Producers.
Throughout the event, four Olds College faculty members presented their ongoing research projects.
George Gaeke, a Land Use Planning and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) instructor at Olds College, highlighted his current research project titled: Using Earth Observation, GIS, Python and ChatGPT for Vegetation Identification.
Business Instructor at Olds College, Jennifer Hainsworth, highlighted the use of the MasterMind Method – a gamified experiential learning framework – she uses in her classroom to get past passive learning and into active critical thinking.
Dr. Tahmid Huq Easher, Instructor at Olds College, spoke about his PhD research that focused on a digital soil mapping approach titled: Disaggregating Soil Series Information from the AGRASID 4.1 maps in the Red Deer River Basin, Alberta.
Dr. Ken Fry, Entomology Instructor and commonly known as the “bug guy” at Olds College, presented on Alien Invasive Species Monitoring in Alberta.
“This event provides an excellent opportunity for students and faculty to explore their research curiosities, present their work, and reflect on their contributions to the agriculture industry,” said Nicole Zukiwsky, Associate Dean of the College’s Werklund School of Agriculture Technology."
Each presenter was given a certificate recognizing their participation in the showcase, and the two most outstanding awards were handed out for a poster and a presentation. The award for Outstanding Student Research Poster was awarded to Lacey Miller and Carli Miller for their poster on agricultural sharp cost analysis.
The award for Outstanding Student Research Presentation was awarded to Hailey Smygwaty, Anna Dau, Mackenzie Hunting, Sarah Dyckerhoff and Zeph Lajoie for their presentation, Comparative Study of Bedding Options and Welfare Practices in Freestall and Pack Barns: A Cost-Benefit Analysis.