Western Grains Research Foundation agronomy chair Maryse Bourgault (submitted photo/USask)

By Alice McFarlane

Research Chair

New agronomy research chair for Saskatchewan

Mar 2, 2020 | 10:39 AM

The first Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) integrated agronomy chair at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) has been recruited from the United States.

Crop scientist Dr. Maryse Bourgault said she will work with farmers and researchers to work toward improving soil management and increasing crop production potential and sustainability.

“There are a lot of questions that would surely benefit from having several different specialists looking into it together,” Bourgault said in a news release. “But I’m planning on taking the time to talk to farmers to understand what they feel might be the most pressing issues and the solutions that might have the greatest impact.”

Bourgault said current cropping systems will be reviewed to identify new technologies and practices that are environmentally and economically sustainable.

“I’m hoping that we will be able to contribute to industry knowledge by taking a step back and looking at the various components of the production system to see how we can understand how different practices might work together or against each other,” Bourgault said. “Then, we might be able to propose the best ways to foster the synergies that arise and minimize the negatives.”

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WGRF is providing $2 million in funding over seven years.

College of Agriculture and Bioresources dean Dr. Mary Buhr said Bourgault will hold a joint appointment in the plant sciences and soil science departments.

“All of us in agriculture are increasingly aware of how any one thing we do can have vastly different outcomes depending on a myriad of other things,” Buhr said. “Having a bright young mind dedicated to helping integrate those myriad of things is a huge benefit to prairie agriculture and ecosystems, and we are deeply grateful to WGRF for their help in bringing Maryse into our USask Agro family.”

Bourgault is a crop physiologist with a background in environmental sciences. She grew up in Victoriaville, Quebec and earned her PhD in plant science at McGill University.

Her research work has taken her to Australia and Montana.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF