Dean's message
Dean Angela Bedard-Haughn reflects on the past year.
Each year, when I sit down to write my “dean’s message” for Agknowledge, it is a time of reflection.
This year, I’m also thinking back on my first five-year term as dean (2020-2025) and about how far we’ve come, both literally and figuratively, from my first year as a “COVID dean” (2020-2021) ensconced in my home office, to the remarkable achievements of recent years. We remain deeply rooted in Saskatchewan and are so proud of the local impact of students, faculty, staff and alumni.
In this issue, you can check out the work of Rebecca Zanello, who received a prestigious national scholarship to support her PhD research on business risk management programs in the cowcalf sector. You can learn more about alumnus Colin Rosengren (BSA’97) and Three Farmers, and how Bob Mason (BSA’65) and Cora Greer (BA’70) were inspired to support the college.
Locally, we also strive to respond to student and community needs. For example, our newly launched Certificate in Introductory Agriculture can be done online or in-person. It was designed for non-ag professionals needing a better understanding of agriculture in the Canadian Prairies, new and current students across disciplines, educators who want to deliver science-based agriculture programs in primary and secondary schools, and individuals seeking entry level, non-professional agriculture employment. We want to create as many opportunities as possible for our community to learn more about ag!
Our impact extends beyond the local, though! Globally, we are ensuring that the world understands the strength of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources (AgBio) and indeed the strength of our sector; there’s no better ambassadors than our students, faculty and alumni! Some examples you’ll see in this issue include Alex Silvestrini, a PhD student studying plant genetics who took advantage of the McKercher travel award to do lentil research in the Czech Republic; Dr. Karen Tanino (PhD) recently received the J.W. George Ivany Internationalization Award for her efforts to facilitate student learning in Japan and to bring Japanese students to USask; and alumna Jenna Sarich (BSc(AnBiosc)’19, MSc’23) has become part of the global community of Nuffield Scholars. In addition, his fall, three of AgBio’s excellent centres were invited to be part of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Seeds to Food Global Expo in Rome, including the Crop Development Centre, the kihci-okāwīmāw askiy Knowledge Centre, and the new Nutrien Centre for Sustainable and Digital Agriculture.
It’s accomplishments like this that strengthen our global reputation, which has also allowed us to attract some exceptional new faculty as part of our recent hiring (14 new faculty in the last three years!), and you can learn more about a few of them here, including Dr. Deborah Adewole (PhD), Dr. Bryan Mood (PhD), and Dr. Ana Vargas (PhD).
As I roll into my second term as dean, and the college embarks on strategic planning to identify our key priorities for the coming years, I am encouraged by the continued support of our community—by all of you. From local to global, the College of Agriculture and Bioresources continues to thrive. Thank you for being part of our success!