On Friday, May 5th, 147 graduates gleamed with pride as they walked across the stage of Langille Athletic Centre during NSAC’s 101st Convocation. The graduates and guests enjoyed various speakers, including Dr. Murray F. McLaughlin and valedictorian, Marco Gehrig.

Along with many student and faculty awards, Honourary Doctorates were presented at the ceremony to Mr. Dick Huggard (‘56) and Dr. Murray F. McLaughlin (‘66) who have made a significant impact on the agriculture industry. The Technician Award for Achievement in Teaching was presented to Ms. Gail Weeks-Bouma (’95) of the Department of Plant and Animal Science.

Grad Research Scholarships for NSAC M.Sc. Students

The NSAC Research & Graduate Studies Office is accepting applications, deadline June 1, 2006 and September 1, 2006 for the Graduate Research Training Initiative (GRTI) scholarship program.

If you know a student wanting to pursue M.Sc. studies at NSAC, who is also a resident of Nova Scotia and has achieved 75 percent or greater in his/her last two years of undergraduate study they may be eligible for this program.

The goal of the GRTI program is to provide scholarships to high caliber students who are engaged in a research-based graduate program at NSAC and who are conducting research that will benefit the Nova Scotia’s agriculture and agri-food industry. This initiative is intended to ensure a reliable supply of highly-qualified personnel to meet the future needs of Nova Scotia’s agri-food industry.

The value of the award is $15,000 per year for up to two years for full-time students and $7,500 per year for up to two years for part-time students. Application guidelines and instructions can be found on the NSAC web site at http://nsac.ca/research/graduatestudies/scholarship.asp.

For further information:
Jill Rogers
Manager, Research & Graduate Studies
902-893-6360 or jrogers@nsac.ca.

Dedications

Official dedications will soon take place for NSAC’s unique rock garden and Centennial Amphitheatre. Dates have not yet been confirmed, however, dedication for the amphitheatre will take place at the beginning of June and dedication for the rock garden will take place at the beginning of July.

The Centennial Amphitheatre, which was one of the Universities Centennial projects, was researched, designed and created by the class of 2005 as a class project. The theatre will be an outdoor centerpiece at NSAC for the next 100 years.

Designed by Dr. Bernard Jackson and financed by the Friends of the Gardens, NSAC’s rock garden began its construction during the summer of 2002. The garden contains 450 tons of local red granite and covers more than half of an acre.

More details on the dedications will soon follow.

Open House/Summer Reunion

NSAC’s Annual Open House will take place on Thursday, July 27th from 10am to 2pm. More details will soon follow. The class of 1951 and 1956 will be attending the event. If your class plans on attending the event, please contact Laurel Walker at (902) 893-7247 or by email at lwalker@nsac.ca

Water Symposium

NSAC is pleased to announce that they will be hosting a rural water policy symposium on November 8th, 2006 in the Alumni Theater. The symposium is a 50th anniversary project of NSAC’s class of 1956, in collaboration with the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. The objective of the symposium is to provide information that will help participants understand water management issues in the Maritime urban and rural areas.

The symposium will be open to the public and will feature keynote speakers from the Maritimes and elsewhere in Canada. Sessions will include talks on the water resources of the Maritimes, the public water policy development process, as well as socio-economic water issues. There will also be a presentation on farmers’ perspective of public water policy development in Ontario. A number of water policy case studies will also be presented during the symposium.

More information will be posted at nsac.ca/water as it becomes available.