Domenica was the first place winner of the IPWA Student Award of Excellence!

The International Poultry Welfare Alliance (IPWA) is a globally recognized organization that is working on developing key welfare indicators for poultry that can be standardized to use across the world. Each year, IPWA runs an essay award nomination for graduate students, and competition is very strong.

Domenica will be flown to Atlanta in September to present at the IPWA International Conference!

Congratulations to Domenica Medina on the successful defence of her MSc thesis today! This is a remarkable academic achievement and a testament to her dedication, curiosity, and hard work over the past 2 years.
Domenica’s thesis, “The effect of light wavelength in the performance, health and behaviour of beak-treated and sham-treated turkey hens,” explored an important area of turkey production. 
Under the supervision of Dr. Karen Schwean-Lardner, Domenica has demonstrated excellence in both research and scholarly communication. Completing a thesis of this scope requires perseverance, critical thinking, and a passion for discovery—all of which were clearly evident in today’s defense.
We celebrate this milestone and look forward to Domenica’s continued contributions to the field. Well done!

This was a busy week for our research team, with two students successfully defending their MSc theses!

Zoe Uhren defended her thesis titled "Does exposure to blue light (peak at 455nm) to 15 or 17 weeks impact leghorn pullet production, health, and welfare?"

Deliah McGregor defended her thesis titled " The effects of blue or white LED lighting, compared to darkness, during simulated transport on the welfare and productivity of broilers".

Celebrating Academic Excellence: Congratulations to Dr. Dilshaan Duhra!
We are thrilled to share that Dr. Dilshaan Duhra has successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation titled:
“Developing Diet Recommendations Regarding Starch-to-Lipid Ratio, Amino Acid, and Energy Content for Broilers Reared Under a Period of Cyclic Heat Stress.”
This groundbreaking research provides valuable insights into optimizing poultry nutrition under challenging environmental conditions, contributing to improved animal welfare and sustainable production practices.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Duhra on this incredible achievement!

Bailey Munson (MSc) and Dr. Sameeha Jhetam (PhD) convocated today.

The Poultry Science Association hosted their inaugural Pacific Rim Poultry Conference in Macau October 13-16.

Karen was part of the Organizing Committee and also co-organized a symposium -Animal Welfare around the world – Different perspectives on a shared goal. It was well attended and prompted an active question period for the panel of presenters!

​Additionally, this event served as a wonderful networking opportunity and many new connections were made.

Pictured below are the attendees from Canada!

We are thrilled to share that Karen was awarded Animal Health Canada's Farm Animal Welfare Leadership Award in Ottawa this week!

Karen has dedicated her career to advancing poultry welfare through research, guideline/policy development, and educating the next generation of poultry industry professionals. 

Read this WATTPoultry article for more details. 

Sameeha successfully defended her PhD Thesis on Sept 19: “Assessing Hatchery and Transport-Related Welfare of Leghorn Chicks”

We are so proud to share that Sameeha is now an Assistant Professor at the University of the Fraser Valley in Chilliwack, BC! We wish her the best in her new career and know she will be a wonderful addition to the Canadian poultry sector!

Many of our lab members attended the annual Poultry Science Association meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina in July.

Big congratulations to Sameeha and Zoe for being awarded Certificates of Excellence for their presentations!

Our fearless leader received the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Educator Award in Edmonton at the annual NACTA meeting. 

This award could not be more deserved! Everyone on our team has experienced first hand Karen's enthusiasm for teaching and her excellence in mentorship.