Dr. Mehdi Sharifi has been appointed as Trent University’s Canada research chair (CRC) in Sustainable Agriculture, one of two professors named in an official CRC announcement on October 12, 2012 by the Honourable Gary Goodyear, minister of State (Science and Technology). Also named was Dr. Paul Wilson, renewed the Canada research chair in DNA Profiling, Forensics and Functional Genomics.

As the new Canada research chair in Sustainable Agriculture, Professor Sharifi will receive $500,000 over five years for his research on refining nutrient management practices within agroecosystems to improve environmental sustainability, as well as protecting the quality of soil and water. This innovative research program will place Trent University on par with leading sustainable agricultural research centres nationally and internationally.

“Meeting the food demands of a global population will require major changes in agricultural production systems,” Prof. Sharifi said. “Sustainable agricultural systems can maintain acceptable crop yields while reducing the environmental impacts of farming and enhancing food quality. Improving nutrient management is necessary to increase crop productivity without further degrading soil and water resources.”

Prof. Sharifi’s research program will enhance training opportunities for students at Trent, with a goal of supervising a post-doctoral fellow, eight graduate students and seven undergraduate research students over five years.

To facilitate his research, Prof. Sharifi will establish a sustainable agriculture laboratory at Trent University that will provide him with an outstanding opportunity to work on collaborative research projects with other researchers, research centres and institutes at Trent University, as well as other institutions and agencies in the region. The new sustainable agriculture laboratory will be crucial to develop the newly established Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems program at Trent University.

To advance his research program, Prof. Sharifi will have access to several advanced research groups already established at Trent University, including the Water Quality Centre, the Institute for Watershed Science, the James McLean Oliver Ecological Centre and the Canadian Centre for Environmental Modelling and Chemistry. Trent University’s Microenvironmental Laboratory and the Trent Centre for Biomaterials Research will also complement Prof. Sharifi’s research program.

Peterborough’s agricultural industry will greatly benefit from Prof. Sharifi’s research program and the establishment of a Sustainable Agriculture Laboratory at Trent University. The long-term objective of Trent University is to create a new centre of research excellence in sustainable agriculture.