By Tanya Ruscheinski (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: January 25, 2012
Although the UFV Pacific Berry Resource Centre has been up and running since November 2011, it will finally have a permanent home in the south end of UFV’s Chilliwack campus as of May or June 2012.
The centre is the result of the collaboration of many including the BC Ministry of Agriculture, the Fraser Valley Strawberry Growers Association, the British Columbia Blueberry Council, and the Raspberry Industry Development Council.
“It’s supposed to bring all the research together in one place,” explained Tom Baumann, agriculture department coordinator, full-time professor and current head of the centre. “It’s always been within the different organizations, [but] this is all supposed to come together now.”
According to Baumann, the centre will focus on three main goals: performing research, teaching students and providing extension service (i.e. pay compensation) to local growers who offer up their fields for research, highlighting the great amount of student involvement that takes place through the centre.
“We’re working together with students that are also producers in the field,” said Baumann. “We’re doing trials at their fields with their plants and [ultimately] working very closely with the growers.”
One of the most exciting features of the centre, however, is its independence from university control in determining what it does, noted Baumann.
“I fought hard for this because I don’t want the university to dictate what’s being done,” said Baumann. Rather, the centre is collaborating with the BC Agriculture Industry and a steering committee within it that will determine what the centre gets involved in.
“So the industry will actually be guiding the centre at UFV,” said Baumann, “which is a little bit different than normal but is great for the industry.”
By doing so, the centre is reflecting some of the top U.S. models for similar centres and is confident that the voices of growers will be heard. “We will be even more embedded within the industry and the industry will be looking to us as well,” Baumann further explained.
From a bigger picture perspective, the Pacific Berry Resource Centre is only one among many projects Baumann has planned for the rapidly growing UFV Agriculture Department.
Efforts to expand the amount of agriculture credentials available to students are in the works.
“As enrollment has increased drastically in agriculture we’re now looking at students who don’t just want to finish with a diploma, they want to go on to earn either a three or four-year degree,” said Baumann.
Expanding the department’s programs is something that not only students are asking for but that the industry is promoting as well, Baumann noted, making things look very hopeful for the future.
UFV already has two agriculture-related degrees, a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) of Agriculture Management and a pre-vet concentration under a Bachelor of Science (BSc) biology major. With an increase in demand, however, the department is now working with the dean of science, Ora Steyn, to come up with a planned science degree and a livestock degree. Baumann also highlights the potential for cross-program involvement with other UFV departments that will offer involvement for students outside the agriculture program.
“With the new degrees we’re going to be working closely with other departments like geography and biology,” said Baumann, “so anybody that has any interest work[ing] in the subject area of berries can get involved.”
Student involvement extends beyond the lifespan of the program, said Baumann. The opening of the Pacific Berry Resource Centre has resulted in the hiring of a few UFV graduates who Baumann hopes will come to play a large role in the centre’s operations. One of these hopefuls is Eric Gerbrandt, a former UFV student currently working on his Ph.D. in Saskatchewan is working closely with the Pacific Berry Resource Centre in his research. Another alumnus is Garion Loehndorf, who is involved in research at the centre and particularly in the matters of extension service. Lastly, Sarah Zonneveld is currently attending UFV for her horticulture certificate and is an assistant at the centre.
Baumann hopes that more of these students will be able to be hired at the centre in the future and highlights the longevity of opportunities available through the centre for students involved in agriculture and, of course, berries.
