Water Management: Understanding Issues in the Rural Context
A Maritime Event Rural Water Policy Symposium
November 8, 2006

NSAC recognizes the considerable challenges that exist with respect to the management of water resources in our rural communities. As a result, NSAC is pleased to announce that it is hosting a water policy symposium on November 8, 2006. The symposium is being supported through the NSAC Class of 1956, as part of their 50th anniversary activities, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada and the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture. Please click here for complete article.

Funding for the symposium is provided by the Agricultural Policy Framework, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.

More information is available, including registration and program details at: http://nsac.ca/water/ or by contacting Terra Jamieson at (902) 956-0580 or nsfa_jamieson@hotmail.com

Homecoming Weekend 2006

NSAC alumni and their families are welcomed back to NSAC on October 20 and 21, 2006 for Homecoming Weekend. This weekend is a great way to bring you together with students, alumni, family and freinds. We wish you a welcome back to NSAC and hope that you will take this opportunity to renew your ties to the NSAC community and enjoy the exciting events and activities planned. The Reunion Program will honour graduates from Class years ending in 1 and 6. If you would like any help getting your class organized please let us know at alumni@nsac.ca. The Homecoming schedule is available at
nsac.ca/alumni/Homecoming/homecomingSchedule.asp

NSAC Agricola News

The summer 2006 edition of the NSAC Agricola News is now available online at the following link nsac.ca/alumni/agricola_news.asp

Class of ’56 reunites at NSAC Open House

Twenty three members of the Class of ’56 met in Truro during the NSAC Open House event and visited that weekend, bringing along their spouses to catch up with old friends and professors. Celebrating their 50th reunion, class members came from BC, Alberta, Ontario, NB and across NS. One class member even came all the way from Connecticut.

The group gathered to take in the festivities of the Open House event and held a class meeting that evening. One highlight of the reunion was a visit to the Bio-Environmental Engineering Centre at the AgriTech Park where Dr. Rob Gordon, with other speakers, outlined many of the programs and projects undertaken by BEEC. The Class of ’56 is a sponsor of a Water Quality Management Symposium to take place November 8th and 9th.

Several former professors were guests at the anniversary dinner held in Jenkins Hall Friday evening and a brunch was held Saturday morning at the home of Douglas and Shirley Byers in West New Annan which brought the reunion to a delicious close.

Plans have been made to hold an informal gathering next summer in New Brunswick.

Where are they now?

Laura Byrne (Hooper) completed her B.Sc in Pest Management at NSAC in 1995 and lived in Chapman House during her Freshman year. Here is what Laura has been up to recently.

Name: Laura Byrne (Hooper)

Education: Class of 1995 B.Sc. Pest Management (MSc 1997 from Memorial University)

Hometown: Shubenacadie Nova Scotia & Current Residence: Sooke, British Columbia

Plans for the Fall: Well, I had a baby and that has been a great adventure but we have only traveled as far as the mailbox. The beach is on our doorstep and I live in one of the most beautiful parts of the county so there is no need to go too far! This summer I won the 2006 Biodiversity Conservation Award from the District of Saanich. Fall plans include running our Bed and Breakfast (Quail's Roost) and enjoying our baby Camille.

Plans for the future: I will be returning to work in the spring to carry on conservation efforts for species at risk in the Garry Oak Ecosystem.

Favorite NSAC Memory: My favorite memory isn't any single event - though so many great instances enter my head. I think my favorite memory of NSAC is the feeling of the place and the time. The feeling of being part of a family, pride in a school and a way of life, and the feeling of home. I miss the feeling of NSAC the most.

What did you enjoy most about your time at NSAC? - All of the extras that NSAC had to offer -organizing the woodsmen competition, working at the athletic centre, soccer, rugby, weed science club etc. All of these extras, and what I was able to take away with me from those experiences, have made the most difference in my life. The quality of education goes without saying!

Laura and Mike Byrne
Quail's Roost Bed and Breakfast
7046 Richview Road, Sooke, BC, Canada
V0S 1N0 250.642.2406

NSAC’s Atlantic Canadian Centre for Poultry Research

With the walls now raised, construction for NSAC’s Atlantic Canadian Centre for Poultry Research is well underway.

The Centre will provide research capabilities in all phases of poultry production from hatching to value added product processing. It will also provide facilities for the Atlantic Poultry Research Institute to coordinate poultry research among scientists from Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, University of Prince Edward Island and NSAC.

The core of the research facilities is a complex that will house poultry under commercial conditions with state of the art environmental controls and computerized data collection to facilitate science research. New to NSAC will be a fully functional hatchery for generating research stock and a federally inspected processing facility to facilitate food safety and meat quality research.

The combination of these animal facilities and current laboratory capability will allow fundamental research on nutrition, physiology, poultry waste management, post-slaughter muscle metabolism, food safety, and provide opportunities for the development of new and innovative research directions important to support the Atlantic Poultry Industry.

Contractors are running on schedule and expect the facility, which is estimated to cost 11 million dollars, will be complete by the end of this year.

Atlantic Agricultural Hall of Fame Nominees Announced

Truro, NS - The Atlantic Agricultural Hall of Fame was established by the Atlantic Livestock Council in 1968 as a means of honouring individuals in Atlantic Canada for their contribution to the development of the livestock industry in the region. Each year, one person from each of the four Atlantic Provinces is honoured at an induction ceremony and reception held at the NSAC during the month of October.

The 2006 nominees include Jack Johnson, NS; Robert Acton, NB; Walter Fiander, NL; and the late Colburne Clow, PE. Click here for the complete article

Induction ceremonies will be held on Thursday, October 26 beginning at 1:00 p.m. in Alumni Theatre, on the NSAC campus. The Atlantic Agricultural Hall of Fame operates as a result of the support given by agricultural organizations, public agencies, corporations and private individuals.

Make Way for Youth

Make Way for Youth is a pilot initiative based on Place Aux Jeunes; a youth attraction program running successfully in Quebec for over 15 years. The program is funded through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Nova Scotia Office of Economic Development and the Rural Secretariat. The cornerstone of the program are the Exploratory Weekends in which youth, who are from here or away, will be brought together over three exploratory weekends to learn more about the community, business opportunities and employment in Colchester.

Applications are now available for youth interested in participating in the Colchester Exploratory Weekends. Applications are on line at www.corda.ca/youth.html and printed copies are at the CoRDA front desk.

Deadline for applications, Sept 20, 2006

NSAC Seminar Series

Join Dr. Georgia Mason, Canada Research Chair in Animal Welfare, from the University of Guelph for a seminar entitled:

Why do captive animals perform stereotypic behaviours?

September 22, 2006 11:00 a.m. - Noon Haley Institute, Room 200

Stereotypies are repetitive behaviour patterns which serve no obvious function such as pacing and tongue rolling. Join Dr. Mason to learn more about these behaviours exhibited by pets, and farm and zoo animals.

This seminar is sponsored by the Canadian Centre for Fur Animal Research and the NSAC Seminar Committee.