December 22, 2006
U of S Led Team Examines the Value of CWB Single Desk to Barley Producers
Posted December 22, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Friday, December 22nd, 2006
2006-12-06-AG
An in-depth analysis of Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) marketing of barley by a research trio from the University of Saskatchewan and two U.S. universities shows consistent benefits for producers under the single-desk system.
The Canadian Wheat Board and Barley Marketing report was completed for the CWB.
"Given the upcoming barley plebiscite in January, we thought it was important to provide these research results to producers," said U of S agricultural economist Richard Gray, who co-authored the report.
The report provides an overview of world barley trade for both malting and feed barley and has a review of recent feed barley studies. Analysis looked at actual CWB sales contract data for the 1995/96 to 2003/04 crop years. Major findings include:
* $59 million: annual loss in barley producer revenues if a multiple-seller structure had been in place over the 1995/96 through 2003/04 period
* $35.25 per tonne: annual average price difference between what the CWB received for six-row malting barley and what a multiple-seller structure could have earned from 1995/96 to 2003/04
* $40.29 per tonne: annual average price difference between what the CWB received for two-row malting barley and what a multiple-seller structure could have earned from 1995/96 to 2003/04
* CWB is able to exercise market power which creates more sales revenue for Western Canada's farmers
* Benefits of the CWB single-desk seller marketing system are largest for malting barley
* At least since 2000, Canada's feed barley prices have been consistently higher than those in the United States
Gray's co-authors on the report are Andrew Schmitz (Ben Hill Griffith Chair, University of Florida) and Troy G. Schmitz (Associate Professor, Arizona State University). Copies are available for download at www.kis.usask.ca.
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For more information, contact:
Richard Gray
Department of Agricultural Economics
College of Agriculture & Bioresources
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4026
Andrew Schmitz
University of Florida
(392) 352-1845 Ext. 415
Michael Robin
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2427
Dr. Colleen Dell Named Project Hope Research Chair in Substance Abuse
Posted December 22, 2006
The Government of Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan have released the following news regarding the naming of a Research Chair in Substance Abuse.
For further information, please note the following:
http://www.gov.sk.ca/newsrel/releases/2006/12/21-919.html
December 21, 2006
Saskatchewan Universities Awarded $2 Million for High-Performance Computing
Posted December 21, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Thursday, December 21, 2006
20006-12-05-AR
Today Saskatchewan's universities were awarded about $2 million in federal funding for high-performance computing (HPC) equipment for applications ranging from genetics to environmental modeling and to allow researchers to collaborate in real time with colleagues across the country.
"This investment opens the door for U of S researchers to have better access to powerful computing resources, allowing them to compete on a more level playing field with the rest of the world," said Raymond Spiteri, associate professor in the department of computer science and U of S representative with WestGrid, Canada's largest HPC consortium.
WestGrid includes 14 partner institutions in the four western provinces, including all universities in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba as well as the Banff Centre. The consortium was awarded $26.1 million of the $88 million awarded across the country today. About $2 million of this is expected to come to Saskatchewan, although the precise institution-by-institution breakdown is still being determined.
WestGrid is one of seven HPC consortia representing 61 institutions across the country.
Today's funding is awarded through a new National Platforms Fund (NPF), built on $78 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and $10 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).
"This represents a major leap forward for Canada's HPC community," said Dr. Eliot Phillipson, President and CEO of CFI. "This investment will provide researchers with the tools to solve large-scale computational problems that we could not even have imagined tackling 10 years ago."
The National Platform Fund supplies up to 40 per cent of project costs. The balance of funding for these national projects, which are collectively worth nearly $180 million, is expected to be contributed from provincial and industry sources.
"Today's announcement is a historic day for Canadian research," said Jonathan Schaeffer, a WestGrid co-principal investigator who led efforts to secure NPF funding. "When combined with provincial and industry matching funds, WestGrid will acquire more than $50 million of computing infrastructure to support research in areas such as climate modeling and prediction, deciphering the human genome and solving compelling problems in science and engineering."
This is the first time CFI has identified a specific research infrastructure of strategic priority for the country and brought together all stakeholders - universities, provincial and federal funding agencies - to develop a shared pan-Canadian resource.
The process has mobilized Canada's entire HPC community - previously operating as separate regional consortia competing for resources - to work together on a unified HPC strategy for Canada. More than 6,000 investigators performing intensive computationally-based research across the country are poised to benefit.
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For more information:
Raymond Spiteri
Department of Computer Science
College of Arts & Science
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2909
raymond.spiteri@usask.ca
Michael Robin
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2427
michael.robin@usask.ca
Jana Makar
Communications Manager
Netera Alliance (on behalf of WestGrid)
(403) 210-5489
jana@netera.ca
Douglas Lauriault
Director, Public Affairs
Canada Foundation for Innovation
(613) 996-3193
douglas.lauriault@innovation.ca
December 07, 2006
U of S Awarded $1.5 Million for Research into Synthetic Chemistry, Advanced Materials, and Aboriginal Peoples' Urban Experience
Posted December 07, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Thursday, December 7, 2006
2006-12-03-OTHER
Three University of Saskatchewan researchers will receive a total of $1.5 million over the next five years from the federal government to further research into advanced synthetic chemistry techniques for medicine, synchrotron-based analysis of materials for next-generation technologies, and mapping tools to guide service delivery for Aboriginal Peoples in Western Canadian cities.
Bernhard Kraatz (CRC in Biomaterials), Alex Moewes (CRC in Materials Science with Synchrotron Radiation), and Evelyn Peters (CRC in Identity and Diversity: the Aboriginal Experience), all had their appointments renewed for another five years.
"These chair renewals allow our faculty to build upon their growing foundations of world-leading research, enhancing the international prominence of this university in both the physical and social sciences," said U of S Vice-President Research Steven Franklin. "Our students will continue to benefit as they learn from these leaders in their fields."
The renewals are included in an announcement of new appointments and renewals across the country made today at the University of Ottawa by Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canada Research Chairs program.
"The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of investing in university research," Bernier said. "This investment will enable our universities to develop the expertise and innovative ideas that fuel economic competitiveness and create new jobs for Canadians."
Associate professor of geography Evelyn Peters is using custom-built computer modeling tools and population statistics to produce maps that reveal how Aboriginal people are integrating into Western Canadian cities, to guide city planners, community groups, and First Nations agencies providing programs and services.
In her first term as CRC, Peters worked with PhD student Oksana Starchenko to produce the Atlas of Urban Aboriginal Peoples, an extensive online resource that provides population distribution and socio-economic data for six major Prairie cities. Starchenko is one of nine graduate students to benefit from Peters' supervision. Her award-winning work also includes one volume of an international peer-reviewed journal, one edited book, 20 papers, and 15 national and international conference presentations. She is co-leader of a comparative study of Aboriginal issues in New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. Her work is a key component in launching an Institute of Aboriginal and Indigenous Graduate Studies and Research at the U of S.
Peters has found Aboriginal people are steadily diffusing into Prairie cities as their economic situation improves, but there are still major challenges with no easy answers.
"Aboriginal households living in areas of extreme poverty talk about fear, housing inadequacy, and problems their children face," Peters says. "But the areas where Aboriginal people live in Prairie cities are not like U.S. ghettos. We cannot assume we know what's going on by analogy with the U.S. situation. We need a made-on-the-Prairies perspective."
Chemistry professor Heinz Bernhard Kraatz works at the intersection between bioscience and materials science, aiming to understand and replicate complex molecules such as bioconjugates and biomaterials for sensing and materials' applications. In the process, he is discovering how to custom-build molecules to act as potential drug delivery systems and biosensors, including an application that may lead to a device to sniff out chemical weapons.
In his first term as CRC, Kraatz published more than 70 papers and reviews, including co-authorship with fellow CRC Moewes on the first peer-reviewed paper based on data collected at the Canadian Light Source synchrotron. He also published a book, and has five patents published or pending. The Canadian Society for Chemistry honoured him with its 2006 Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry, recognizing his world-leading achievements such as the first artificially designed "beta barrel," a tube-shaped molecule that in nature passes nutrients and other molecules through the cell wall.
Kraatz's team currently includes nine PhD students, two postdoctoral fellows, and three undergraduate students, as well as summer students. Everyone, including the undergraduates, participates in research.
"The only way to get them interested is to make them responsible for their own projects," Kraatz says. "It helps them become independent researchers."
Physics professor Alexander Moewes uses synchrotron light to study the electronic properties of materials, that is, how they conduct or resist electricity. His work, conducted both independently and with a world wide network of collaborators, is shedding light on materials that could be used in super-durable electronics for extreme environments, or as molecular "wires" in nanotechnology applications.
In his first term as CRC, Moewes published 80 papers and gave 10 invited talks at international conferences. He is co-leader of the REIXS beamline project at the Canadian Light Source, and promotes synchrotron research through workshops, outreach, and teaching. His research group, collectively known as the Beam Team, published the first peer-reviewed paper based on data collected at the Canadian Light Source synchrotron. This study, co-authored with fellow CRC Kraatz and graduate student Regan Wilks, described the electronic properties of protein fragments called peptides.
"This is very substantial work," Moewes says. "This project has both experimental and theoretical significance in biology and materials science."
The Beam Team has graduated five MSc students and one PhD student - two of which, Wilks and Janay McNaughton - have received national and international recognition and awards for their work. Currently, the team includes an undergraduate student, four graduate students, and a post doctoral fellow.
The U of S has so far named 28 Chairs under the $900-million Canada Research Chairs program, created to enhance universities as centres of world-class research excellence by attracting and retaining excellent researchers in Canadian universities. For profiles of U of S Canada Research Chair holders, visit www.usask.ca/crc or the national website at www.chairs.gc.ca.
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For more information, contact:
Heinz Bernhard Kraatz
Department of Chemistry
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4660
bernie.kraatz@usask.ca
http://rincewind.usask.ca
Alexander Moewes
Department of Physics and Engineering Physics
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-6431
moewes@usask.ca
http://beamteam.usask.ca
Evelyn Peters
Department of Geography
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-5639
evelyn.peters@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/crc/profiles/peters.php
Michael Robin
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2427
michael.robin@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research
