Trent alumna Dr. Linda Rutledge came to Trent to study under Dr. Brad White, chair of the Biology Department and director of the Natural Resources DNA Profiling and Forensic Centre. She received two years additional funding from NSERC (for a total of $42,000) to pursue her studies at Trent, graduating in 2010 with a Ph.D. in Environmental and Life Sciences.

While the opportunity to work with Professor White may have been the draw, having access to Trent’s research facilities was an unexpected bonus. “People who come here for genetics get the finest training,” states Dr. Rutledge unequivocally. “I’ve worked in other labs and I have no qualms about saying that the facilities and the faculty that we have here are world-class. We are spoiled with the equipment and infrastructure we have here, not to mention the tremendous intellectual resources.” Dr. Rutledge also cites Trent’s close ties with the Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) as setting Trent apart. “I couldn’t have done my research at any other place,” she concludes. “Only Trent has that connection.”

As a Ph.D. candidate, Dr. Rutledge did her thesis on a previously unidentified species of wolf that had been proposed by Prof. White and associate professor of Biology Dr. Paul Wilson’s preliminary research in 2000. Through her research she was able to find convincing evidence that the species does exist and has since produced a report on the species for the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).

Acknowledging that it is rare for a Postdoc to stay on where they completed their Ph.D., Dr. Rutledge admits that at the end of her degree she found she didn’t want to leave Trent. A generous $20,000 grant from Mountain Equipment Co-op allowed Dr. Rutledge to continue her Postdoc research into wolves and coyotes for another year, at the end of which, she found herself drawn up into Prof. White’s latest project on goat genomics.

Under the leadership of Prof. White, with significant grant of $50,000 from the Centre of Excellence in Goat Research and Innovation (COEGRI) and additional funds from the Canadian Livestock Genetics Association and from regional goat farmers, a team of Trent scientists are studying the unique Saanen goat, which produces higher volumes of milk than other goat species, and tends to produce multiple births as well. With much of the globe dependent on goat protein for survival, the project’s potential is enormous.

“Coming from a wildlife background I wasn’t sure I wanted to work with goats,” says Dr. Rutledge, but one year into the project Dr. Rutledge is a convert: “This is a really exciting project and has huge potential for a lot of people,” she avows. Moreover, Dr. Rutledge believes that the data the team is going to collect from the goats will be of interest to the international community. “I think goats just might save the world,” she laughs.

After many different stops along the way, Dr. Rutledge can now truly say that Trent feels like home. “When I was a high school student, Trent wasn’t on my radar,” admits Dr. Rutledge, “but having been a graduate student here and knowing what I now know about the faculty and the facilities and the great connection with the MNR, I would have told my younger self to definitely apply here. For a biologist to have all this ready and available at their fingertips - and integrated,” emphasizes Dr. Rutledge, “is rare. And that is what I think makes Trent such an attractive place.”