During photosynthesis, plants remove CO2 from the atmosphere. At the same time, the decomposition of dead plant tissue by soil organisms, including bacteria, fungi, earthworms, ants and others, produce CO2 and release it back into the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide is released during irrigation with lake water

In a new study from UBC’s Okanagan campus, researchers have discovered a surprising new source of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emmissions—bicarbonates hidden in the lake water used to irrigate local orchards.

“We have been studying the carbon content of soil for some time,” says Melanie Jones, professor of biology and study lead author. “This large natural carbon store is hugely important in combatting rising atmospheric CO₂ levels and it’s essential to understand all the carbon transactions that take place in soil.”

During photosynthesis, plants remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and convert it into plant tissue such as roots, leaves, fruit or bark. At the same time, Jones explains, the decomposition of dead plant tissue by soil organisms, including bacteria, fungi, earthworms, ants and others, produce CO₂ and release it back into the atmosphere.

Critically, some of the CO₂ that was removed from the atmosphere by plants can also be converted into soil organic matter by soil organisms, where it can remain in the soil for hundreds of years,” says Kirsten Hannam, an agroecologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and a co-author on the study. “So major research efforts are underway to figure out how to increase soil organic matter content.”

Hannam says greater organic matter in soil has the benefit of sequestering greater atmospheric CO₂ and helping to combat climate change while also improving the ability of the soil to grow crops – an outcome she describes as a clear win-win.

As part of this research effort, Jones, Hannam and fellow UBC Okanagan soil scientist Andrew Midwood have been analyzing the chemical forms of CO₂ that leave the soil surface during irrigation.

Working in a drip-irrigated apple orchard, the study involved continuous measurement of air coming from dynamic soil respiration chambers placed in the orchard. This allowed for high-frequency monitoring of the soil surface and air. The tests were repeated with different water supplies, using irrigation water or de-ionized water, and the results were remarkably different.

“It turns out that some of the CO₂ released after irrigation comes from the natural salts—bicarbonates—dissolved in water from Okanagan Lake as it is applied to the soil,” says Midwood. “It’s a process we had not considered until we noticed some unusual results when we traced the source of the CO₂.”

Midwood is quick to point out that understanding the processes that drive the release of CO₂ from the soil is essential in combatting rising atmospheric greenhouse gases.

“This is a natural process,” says Hannam. “Our results have to be considered in a broader context. Irrigation is essential to fruit production in the Okanagan Valley. Along with causing the release of CO₂, from bicarbonates in the water, irrigation is also promoting the removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere by encouraging plant growth. It’s a balance and to understand the balance, you need to know all the component parts.”

Their research has practical applications for any agriculture-based community in any arid region, especially if the main source of irrigation is from an alkaline lake. As irrigation needs to expand across arid and semi-arid regions, CO₂ emissions originating from irrigation water may climb.

Their work was funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s, Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Program and was recently published in Geoderma.

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world.

To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca.

The post UBC researchers explore an often ignored source of greenhouse gas appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

When it comes to freshwater availability, more than 50 per cent of the world’s total water supply is found in only three countries—China, Canada and Kyrgyzstan.

Canada and Russia have the most to lose or gain, say researchers

According to a new article published in Conservation Biology, the potential for large countries to contribute to environmental protection is being overlooked.

The researchers, spanning 13 universities and three countries, were led by UBC Okanagan’s Laura Coristine and Adam T. Ford. They recently examined the leverage an individual country has when it comes to protecting ecosystem values. And they say it isn’t—nor should it be—a level playing field.

“Loss of habitat is currently the single biggest threat to biodiversity and is being driven by an ever-expanding human footprint,” says Coristine. “We asked which countries had the most to contribute to protecting nature and important environmental values.”

Ford, a Canada Research Chair in Wildlife Restoration Ecology, says the researchers calculated the land mass of the world’s countries and then compared this to the availability of ecosystem values. The eight largest countries—Russia, Canada, America, China, Brazil, Australia, India and Argentina—account for 50 per cent of the Earth’s land area. However, those same countries represent barely three per cent of the world’s nations.

“Larger countries accumulate greater amounts of ecosystem values,” says Ford, and so, the power to make decisions that affect the world’s environment — for better or worse — is concentrated in the hands of only a few nations.

For this latest research, the team evaluated six globally significant ecosystem values for all of the world’s countries: intact lands, freshwater availability, productive marine environments, breeding habitat for migratory wildlife, soil carbon storage and the potential for range shift in the face of climate change. By closely examining these specific values, Coristine says the team revealed several overlooked opportunities for high-impact contributions to global conservation.

For example, when it comes to freshwater availability, Coristine explains that more than 50 per cent of the world’s total water supply (surface and glacier stored) is found in only three countries—China, Canada and Kyrgyzstan. How these countries manage and protect these water supplies matters to the world as a whole.

“The water policies of these three nations control half of the world’s ‘tap’ of water and will have consequences not only for the global persistence of a wide variety of ecosystems,” Coristine says, “but also for global water security.”

The same argument can be used when it comes to the continental shelves. Generally, the management of continental shelves belongs to the adjacent nation. That country’s domestic policies can have a tremendous impact on the sustainability of marine resources, with trickle-down effects to nations with much smaller contributions to the continental shelf area.

The countries that are the largest contributors to the global supply of continental shelf area are Russia, Canada, Australia and the USA. Russia and Canada top the list when it comes to intact wilderness and half of the world’s least impacted lands occur in those two countries.

The authors conclude that the domestic policies of a few nations, including Canada and Russia, can disproportionately influence the global supply of ecosystem values. At the same time, the national policies of these nations can have environmental repercussions for the rest of the world.

“Conservation superpowers—like Canada and Russia—have much greater leverage than we would predict based on their land mass,” says Coristine. “They have tremendous potential to impact global conservation outcomes through accumulation of ecosystem values and through policies that support conservation.”

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world.

To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca.

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Lonesome George was the famed last representative of a giant tortoise species once found on the Galapagos island of Pinta. Image credit: Mark Putney

Even after death, Lonesome George’s genome provides clues to longer life

Ever since Darwin’s first steps on the Galapagos Islands, understanding the adaptations that offer the giant tortoise its extended lifespan has been a tantalizing scientific pursuit.

And now, new research by an international team including researchers from UBC’s Okanagan campus has used the DNA from one famous giant tortoise to uncover the genes that are associated with their longevity. The discovery provides clues to better understand aging in humans and may help preserve the species, says Michael Russello, study co-author and biology professor at UBC Okanagan.

“Giant tortoises are among the longest living vertebrate animals and have become an interesting model for studying longevity and age related-disease,” says Russello. “Even though they’re one of few animals that can live longer than 100 years, there has been surprisingly little research into the giant tortoise genome.”

To help identify the genes that give the giant tortoise its extended lifespan, the researchers compared the complete DNA sequence from two long-lived giant tortoises. They used samples from Lonesome George–the famed last representative of a species once found on the Galapagos island of Pinta–and from another giant tortoise species found on the Aldabra Atoll, a coral island in the Indian Ocean.

By comparing the giant tortoise genomes with those from other species, including humans, they found interesting variation within genes linked to DNA repair, immune response, and cancer suppression not possessed by shorter-lived vertebrates. None of those genomic variants had been previously associated with aging, offering new avenues for further study.

While individual tortoises have remarkable longevity, Russello says the Galapagos giant tortoises do not, with all living species considered threatened or endangered. He says the results of their study could provide clues into the biological processes and adaptations that gave rise to giant tortoises in the first place, while helping to better protect these animals on the verge of disappearing altogether.

“Lonesome George was a very interesting character in his own right, embodying the plight of endangered species until his death in 2012,” says Russello. “While he inspired many while he was alive, his legacy now lives on through a story written in his DNA.”

The study was published last week in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world.

To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca.

The post Giant tortoise provides insights into longevity and age-related disease appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

Everything that grows in the Okanagan will be impacted by climate change, population growth, consumption, production and changes in land use. Learn more at the Okanagan Research Forum on December 3.

What: Okanagan Research Forum
Who: UBC Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services and UBC Okanagan Institute for Community Engaged Research
When: Monday, December 3 from 8:45 a.m. to 6 p.m.; keynote lecture at noon
Where: Summerhill Pyramid Winery ballroom, 4870 Chute Lake Road, Kelowna

The Okanagan Research Forum invites the community to listen to experts and take part in an open discussion about the future of food production in the Okanagan.

The forum is hosted by UBC Okanagan’s Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services (BRAES) and the Institute for Community Engaged Research (ICER). It’s a collaboration with partner organizations in an effort to share information and encourage conversation between the community, government and academia.

Presenters from local organizations include Westbank First Nation, the Certified Organic Association, the City of Kelowna, the Central Okanagan Food Policy Council, the B.C. Wildlife Federation, the En’owkin Centre and the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems.

This year’s theme is to explore changes in local food systems and will consider issues such as climate change, access to land, consumption, sustainable food production and future land use.

Four expert panels will discuss agricultural land use, policy, production and consumption. Each panel will be moderated by a UBC Okanagan professor or alumnus, and include farmers, representatives from relevant organizations and other experts. The goal is to explore how 'eating the Okanagan' applies to social, cultural and ecological systems. The day will conclude with a research poster session accompanied by a wine and cheese event.

The afternoon keynote lecture on indigenous plant foods will be presented by Nancy Turner, emeritus professor and ethnobotanist from the University of Victoria. All four panel discussions and the keynote lecture are open to the public. There is a nominal registration fee for the day to cover the cost of food and beverages.

This year’s forum is sponsored by UBC Okanagan’s BRAES, ICER, the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, the College of Graduate Studies and the BC Institute of Agrologists.

To register, or get more information, visit okresearchforum.geolive.ca or contact Carolina Restrepo at carolina.restrepo@ubc.ca.

About UBC's Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Public is invited to discussion about extinction and our peril

What: The great dying: The modern extinction of species and humanity’s peril
Who: Professor Corey Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Fellow in Global Ecology Flinders University, Australia
When: Tuesday, November 20, from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
Where: Library building, room LIB 305, 3333 University Way, UBC Okanagan

Conservation ecologist Corey Bradshaw, professor at Flinders University, comes from an eclectic background. Growing up as the son of a trapper in Canada, he had the opportunity to form a unique view of the environment. From his childhood experiences, he learned that without intact environmental functions, precious resources quickly degrade or disappear. This appreciation of natural processes later led him into academia and the pursuit of reducing the rate of the extinction crisis.

He is now based at Flinders University in Australia and has a vibrant research lab where he applies quantitative skills to everything from conservation ecology, climate change, energy provision, human population trends, ecosystem services, sustainable agriculture, human health, palaeoecology, carbon-based conservation initiatives and restoration techniques.

This event, sponsored by the UBC Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience and Ecosystem Services, is free and open to the public.

For more information contact: carolina.restrepo@ubc.ca

About UBC's Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Lavender is known for its purple colour and pleasant aroma.

UBC Okanagan researchers say discovery could lead to better smelling lavender

For many, summer isn’t complete without fields of purple and the sweet smell of lavender. Valued especially for its pleasant aroma, a new study from UBC’s Okanagan campus has discovered the gene that gives lavender its iconic smell and researchers hope that one day it might lead to a super-smelling plant.

Lavender essential oil contains many different types of compounds, but one in particular—S-linalool—is responsible for giving the plant a well-known sweet aroma.

“There are many desirable compounds within the flowering body of lavender that produce its essential oil, each controlled by a host of different genes,” says Soheil Mahmoud, associate professor of biology at UBC Okanagan and study lead author. “Scientists have been trying to identify and sequence the gene responsible for the oil’s sweet smell for years, especially given its obvious application in the cosmetic industry.”

The problem is that the genetic instructions that produce the sweet compound have been poorly understood. Mahmoud explains that the gene, which is responsible for a protein that synthesizes the valuable compound, is rarely expressed and produces only very small quantities of the sweet molecule. That has made it difficult to isolate and study.

But Mahmoud and his team were able to overcome the challenge by sequencing an RNA copy of the gene—a temporary blueprint that gets copied and released into a cell as it gets turned into a functioning protein. From there, they were able to sequence the gene and model its function.

“Now that we have the gene sequence and understand how it works, the next step is to engineer a version of the gene that produces even more of the valuable S-linalool,” says Mahmoud. “Lavender essential oils rich in S-linalool are extremely expensive, so a super sweet-smelling lavender plant would certainly be appealing to the cosmetic and fragrance industries.”

“It’s exciting to find the mechanism that gives one of my favourite plants its wonderful smell.”

The research was published in the journal Planta with funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

The post New study discovers gene that makes lavender smell sweet appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

Iconic Canadian species like the boreal woodland caribou are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss, climate change and loss of connectivity through their migratory routes. (Jean Polfus photo)

Scientists identify hotspots for Canada’s protected areas

Location, location, location is not just a buzzword for homebuyers.

A new study, by 17 conservation scientists and environmental scholars, say the exact location of protective wild spaces is just as vital as committing to set these areas aside.

“Where Canada protects land is a significant decision,” says UBC Okanagan researcher Laura Coristine, the study’s lead author. “We wouldn’t build a school in the highest traffic density area in a city—especially if few children live there. Selecting a site for a protected area similarly needs to guard against current threats to species and safeguard biodiversity into the future.”

The research provides a first-ever framework to identify geographical hotspots that have the ecological potential to protect wild places and species from biodiversity loss associated with the global extinction crisis. The study, “Informing Canada’s Commitment to Biodiversity Conservation” uses five key ecological principles to guide the creation of the next generation of Canada’s protected areas: preserve habitat for species at risk, represent Canada’s diverse ecosystems, conserve remaining wilderness, ensure landscape connectivity, and protect areas that are more resilient to climate changes.

“Canada is a country rich and diverse in natural beauty, wildlife and resources,” says Coristine. “As one of the largest countries in the world, Canada’s commitment to protect 17 per cent of our land and inland water areas by 2020 is of global consequence. However, the Canadian government currently has no systematic, scientific way of accomplishing this goal to maximize conservation benefits.”

Coristine is a Liber Ero postdoctoral researcher at UBC’s Okanagan campus. She works out of the Wildlife Restoration Ecology research lab with Assistant Professor Adam T. Ford, who teaches biology in the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences.

“The world’s wildlife is in rapid decline,” says Ford, a Canada Research Chair in Wildlife Restoration Ecology. “Decisions about where land is protected and the extent of protection are of paramount importance.”

Canada and 167 other countries are signatories to the international Convention on Biological Diversity, which pledges to reverse trends in species decline. Increasing the amount of protected lands is one way to do this.

“The framework provides a first step in the broader process of protected area decision-making and is intended to help identify the best ecological opportunities to protect Canada’s rich natural heritage, explains Ford.

“Our research brings into focus the tough choices that need to be made—do we protect species at risk or pristine environments? Do we focus on the present day or ensure connectivity in a changing world?” says study co-author, Sally Otto, at UBC’s Vancouver campus. “Or, as presented in our paper, do we strive to balance each of these needs?”

The paper states that Canada, a diverse land with 194 unique ecoregions, is home to much of the world’s remaining intact wilderness. But most of this country’s at-risk species live in the highly-populated south. Hundreds of bird, mammal and fish species have declined in population—in many cases due to habitat loss—and more than 735 species are at risk of extinction. Because climate change is causing additional problems, the report stresses the importance of connecting areas for migration while also protecting areas that are more resilient to climate change.

“Now is a critical time for the country to decide what is it that we most want to protect,” says Coristine. “What we choose not to protect, we risk losing; what we protect remains a legacy for the future.”

The study provides maps where protected areas would best meet conservation goals and an online tool where people can identify protected area sites using their own criteria (climaterefugia.ca/research/canada-target-1).

Coristine is one of 13 of the 17 co-authors who are members of the Liber Ero Fellowship Program, which supports emerging environmental leaders and their research. Details can be found at: liberero.ca

The study is funded by the program and will be published Monday, May 15 in the Canadian journal FACETS.

Polar bears are listed as a species of ‘special concern’ in Canada. Their numbers are declining from the combination of losing habitat and feeding opportunities related to climate change. (Evan Richardson photo)

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

The post New research says location of protected areas vital to wildlife survival appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

Industrial Research Chair partnership will advance sustainability measurement and management

As a leading Canadian expert in sustainability, UBC’s Nathan Pelletier has been awarded a prestigious Industrial Research Chair by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The award will advance Pelletier’s research activities that focus on sustainability measurement and management, life-cycle thinking and resource efficiency, with an emphasis on the Canadian egg industry.

Pelletier, an assistant professor at UBC’s Okanagan campus, teaches in both the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences and the Faculty of Management. He has spent roughly a decade researching the science of sustainability, with a focus on food systems. Since 2016, he has collaborated with Egg Farmers of Canada as their Research Chair in Sustainability, exploring opportunities to improve resource efficiencies and reduce the environmental impact of egg supply chains.

“I am passionate about the development of food systems that are environmentally sustainable, economically viable and that contribute to our health and well-being,” says Pelletier. “Achieving this in modern food systems requires considering food supply chains in their entirety, from the beginning of production to the consumer’s end use of a product—in other words, a truly holistic evaluation of sustainability risks and opportunities.”

Only a handful of researchers are awarded an Industrial Research Chair from NSERC each year, making it a great honour for Pelletier, explained Marc Fortin, VP Research Partnerships at NSERC. This support will allow Pelletier to grow his research program as the first-ever NSERC/Egg Farmers of Canada Industrial Research Chair in Sustainability.

“NSERC’s Industrial Research Chair program provides for dynamic research and development collaborations between Canada’s brain trust and partners,” says Fortin. “We are proud to support this chair, which is developing the knowledge and supporting innovation necessary to advance the success of the sector and improve the sustainability of that production. The results this team will deliver could have broad benefits across Canada.”

“We are very proud that Nathan is doing his innovative work at UBC Okanagan,” says Phil Barker, Vice-Principal and Associate Vice-President, Research at UBC’s Okanagan campus. “His insights on sustainability and agriculture are benefiting industry, our community and the environment. This cutting-edge and relevant research will have direct impacts on our region and on global production methods. His work is a wonderful example of the outstanding and impactful research performed at UBC’s Okanagan campus.”

“Food systems sustainability is a subject of increasing importance. Egg Farmers of Canada strives to promote innovation and the continuous improvement of egg production through the latest scientific research,” says Tim Lambert, CEO of Egg Farmers of Canada. “His work helps us understand the link between environmental sustainability and egg production, while developing processes and technologies with environmental and social impacts in mind.”

Local MP Stephen Fuhr also wanted to highlight the significance of the partnership and the good work coming out of UBC Okanagan.

“Food systems and sustainability are two topics that are very important to our government,” said Fuhr. “We know that partnerships like the one between UBC Okanagan’s Nathan Pelletier and Egg Farmers of Canada, supported by organizations like NSERC, lead to discoveries that benefit all Canadians.”

Nathan Pelletier, Endowed Chair in Bio-economy Sustainability Management, Egg Industry Chair in Sustainability

Marc Fortin, VP Research Partnerships at NSERC, Tim Lambert, CEO of Egg Farmers of Canada, Nathan Pelletier and UBC Okanagan’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal Deborah Buszard at this week’s funding announcement.

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

The post UBC researcher receives federal support to research egg industry sustainability appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

UBC researcher Bryn Crawford holds a sample sheet made with flax bio-waste. The black spots on the sheet indicate mould growth.

Mould on a substance will affect its strength and durability

When something goes mouldy in the fridge, it is annoying and wasteful.

However, at UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering, mould is proving increasingly important in the domain of engineering materials and can lead to early deterioration and structural failure. This is especially the case as manufacturers adopt more bio-derived materials in the drive towards a greener future, explains researcher Bryn Crawford.

At UBC’s Okanagan campus, a multi-disciplinary team of researchers from the Composites Research Network and the Department of Biology, in collaboration with MIT and the National Research Council of Canada, have been studying the development and application of bio-sourced composites—specifically flax and hemp fibres. These materials are plentiful in Canada and can be mixed with other materials to create cheaper, recyclable, and effective composite material products that are used by a range of industries, including in transportation.

“Canada has a lot of biomass that can be used to produce materials that are both light and inexpensive,” explains Crawford. “We’re looking at ways of using biomass in engineering, but there is a level of natural deterioration in these products that is still not fully understood.”

In the study, researchers conducted a number of experiments to determine if and when mould will grow on bio-materials and how it might affect the final product.

“When we bring microbiology into engineering, it raises some extra questions; some questions we’ve never thought about before,” says Crawford. “But because we’re now using biological matter, we have to think of fungal growth and how this fungal growth will affect a product.”

The research team examined flax and hemp fibres alongside other natural materials to determine what would happen over time to these fibres. They created ‘fibre sheets’ and then added fungi to some, water to others, and left another group of sheets untreated.

Crawford says they are not surprised that the materials grew mould; the idea of the project was to determine the types of environment where the fungal spores would grow and then test mechanical properties of the affected materials. The team conducted a variety of tests examining them for strength, stiffness, or the amount of energy that can be absorbed before the materials failed. They also used scanning electron microscopy to take an extreme close-up of the interior of the sample to determine fungal growth patterns, examine fractures, and failure zones.

“It was a huge experiment and we found that in both the hemp and flax fibres, when no fungi were added, we still had fungi growing,” Crawford adds. “Basically, when raw natural fibres are exposed to high relative humidity, mould will grow and the potential for premature structural failure can occur.”

Crawford says that this susceptibility to mould growth is important for supply chains and factories to understand and manage in order to ensure they’re creating robust products.

“Bio-composites made from natural fibres are good for both the environment and the economy and could help usher in the next revolution in manufacturing. More inter-disciplinary research of this kind is vital to producing high-quality and durable bio-materials that help make that leap.”

The research was recently published in Materials and was partially funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Fonds de recherche du Québec—Nature et technologies. It was conducted in collaboration with Sepideh Pakpour, Negin Kazemian, John Klironomos, Karen Stoeffler, Denis Rho, Joanne Denault and Abbas Milani.

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

The post New research finds that mould can infiltrate and weaken bio-composite materials appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

Cannabis flower. Credit: Antoine Collet/Flickr

Partnership with licenced industry grower expands research potential

Researchers at UBC Okanagan and Thompson Rivers University have teamed up with an industry partner to investigate the many useful products that can be made from cannabis.

Dubbed the Cannabis Bio-products Toolbox, the collaborative research project will explore the vast range of bioproducts that can be made from the plant—these include pharmaceuticals, nutritional products, and industrial fibre.

“Cannabis is a source of many potentially valuable products,” says UBC Okanagan biology professor Michael Deyholos. “But because of its prohibition over the past decades, development of new products from cannabis has lagged behind other crops.”

Deyholos, whose research explores the potential of flax and hemp, says on the medicinal side of cannabis there are dozens of compounds in the plant that may have specific health benefits. The researchers want to breed strains that are enriched in various combinations of these compounds, tailored to needs of specific patients.

“Besides these pharmaceutical compounds, there are healthful oils and proteins in the seed that we would like to enrich,” he adds. “All of this requires a better understanding of the genes and chemicals already present in different strains of cannabis, and that is what this project is designed to do.”

Deyholos says while cannabis is best known as a source of THC—the principal psychoactive ingredient—the plant produces at least 90 other cannabinoids, many of which have potent biological activities. Some of these compounds are being examined for the treatment of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and other serious health conditions.

“Our team has experience in the characterization of a range of relevant biosynthetic pathways in cannabis stems, flax seeds, and terpenoid-producing tissues of lavender,” he adds.

Deyholos is joined by UBC Okanagan biology professor Soheil Mahmoud—who studies the potential of lavender, UBC chemistry professor Paul Shipley—whose lab examines the chemistry of medicinal plants, and Thompson Rivers University chemistry professor Bruno Cinel —a natural products chemist who specializes in the use of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for structural determination and chemical analysis. Together with a team of post-doctorate fellows and graduate students, they will work at the laboratories of industrial-based companies Valens AgriTech and Supra THC Services—both of which are fully licensed by Health Canada to conduct research and analysis on cannabis plants and byproducts.

Deyholos notes that neither university has a licence to grow or store cannabis on campus but the industrial partner has facilities and licenses to grow more than 4,000 plants for research purposes.

“The facilities available at Valens Agritech and the analytical capabilities of Supra THC Services are truly state-of-the-art,” he says. “Having access to properly licensed facilities within an industrial setting will enable our talented interns to gain critical skills in a rapidly growing industry.”

Work at the industrial site will be supervised by Rob O’Brien and Yasantha Athukorala.

“It is an honour to be associated with such a collection of accomplished scientists,” says Valens AgriTech President and Chief Science Officer O’Brien. “The research derived from this funding will provide insights into the complexity of gene expression in cannabis and will help produce new varieties that can have a greater health impact.”

The Cannabis Bio-products Toolbox was awarded a three-year $330,000 Mitacs research grant.

About Valens AgriTech, Supra THC Services and Valens GroWorks Corp.

Valens GroWorks Corp. is a CSE-listed company (VGW:CSE) with an aggressive buildout strategy in progress. The Company seeks to capture a broad spectrum of medical cannabis users and adult recreational users once legalized, as well as clinical trial and R&D clients, in pursuit of its ambitious seed-to-sale and farm-to-pharma objectives.

The Company has two wholly-owned subsidiaries based in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia: 1) Valens Agritech Ltd. (“VAL”) which holds a Health Canada Dealer’s License, enabling cultivation and R&D and 2) Supra THC Services Inc., a Health Canada licensed cannabis testing lab providing sector-leading analytical and proprietary services to Licensed Producers and ACMPR patients.  Supra has collaborated with Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mississauga) Inc. to develop a “Centre of Excellence in Plant-Based Medicine Analytics” centred in Kelowna, British Columbia.

For more information, visit:

• valensgroworks.com
• www.valensagritech.com
• www.suprathc.ca

About Thompson Rivers University

Thompson Rivers University is committed to participating in community partnerships that drive the knowledge and innovation economy in British Columbia’s Southern Interior.

Named after the view from its main Kamloops campus overlooking the junction of the North and South Thompson rivers, TRU is proud to support the nearly 26,000 students on its campuses in Kamloops and Williams Lake, and in online programming through TRU Open Learning.

With a 45-year history of excellence in education in the BC Interior, TRU prides itself on providing students with access to a research-informed education, and providing our communities with access to the benefits of scholarly, research, and creative activities that solve community problems and enrich community life.

About UBC’s Okanagan campus

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.

Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is a globally recognized research-intensive institution whose Okanagan campus was established in 2005.

The Okanagan campus emphasizes smaller class sizes, experiential learning, and research activity for students, combining a world-class UBC degree with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community.

As part of North America’s most international university, the campus is home to 9,000 students representing 98 countries.

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