Dr Charles Holmes

Jim Davies

Cognitive Scientist and Professor at Carleton University, Jim Davies, gave very beneficial suggestions to propelling our project to the next steps. We discussed at length what an actionable implementation of our project would look like in terms of getting approval on a federal and environment level. Our main area of discussion was in regard to the use of a mesocosm facility where our project could produce quantifiable results in the real world. Jim Davies proposed we ensure the microcystins can be grown predictably; specifically, where we intend to grow it and the time at which it becomes microcystins. Lastly, we talked through having a cereal-delusion in order to set a minimum concentration needed to achieve our desired reduction.

Leighton Kolk

CEO of Kolk Farms LTD, and member of the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association (ACFA), Leighton Kolk was more than willing to discuss the impacts of our project on an agricultural and farming level. Leighton Kolk educated us on issues such as fungus overproduction on irrigation/dry land crops within the serial seed retail business, including ways of sustainability to combat these issues. Quite aware of the problem of blue-green algae, Mr. Kolk allowed us to consider any potential issues arising regarding public perception to implement our project; while he stated the importance of taking our time before its usage, he also stressed not taking too long so as not to lose momentum on our objective. As a farmer, we wanted to know how to mitigate the stigmatization around genetic engineering technologies to those unfamiliar on the topic. He stated that though farmers are not overly fond of experimental technologies, it was a necessity in producing high quality food and in the way there are a lot of misconceptions in terms of what farmers do, trusting science and the safety methods and preliminary tests and lab work goes a long way to success.

Dr. Jonathan Challis

Dr. Challis’s research on Pesticide was very helpful in terms of how we would go about with our delivery system to our waterways. As an environmental chemist and toxicologist who studies the state and behavior of contaminants in the environment and the impacts of these contaminants on organisms in the environment, he discussed in detail the importance in improving our understanding of when best to apply pesticides and in turn, our project’s delivery system. He highlighted the difficulty in mitigating the unforeseen effects of pesticide due to the nature of agriculture and the fact that it is directly implemented to the environment. As our project would also be directly set to an ecosystem, Dr. Challis noted that it takes practices and trails to make adjustments and create more specific and better application techniques