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Exploring the LEAP Project – Leveraging Ecosystems to transform Agriculture on the Prairies

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12 Noon PST / 1pm MST / 2pm CST / 3pm EST / 4pm AST / 4:30pm NST

Virtual Event Virtual Event

January 9 @ 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm America/Vancouver


The NFU is a partner organization to the Leveraging Ecosystems to transform Agriculture on the Prairies (LEAP) Project at the University of Manitoba. The LEAP Project seeks to explore agricultural intensification strategies and design farming systems that use technology and nature-based tools to reduce GHG emissions, capture carbon, support biodiversity, and help agriculture mitigate and adapt to negative effects of climate change. The Project encompasses five activities: Farmer Engagement, First Nations Self-Determined Farming Systems, Landscape Analyses, Net-Zero Farming Systems, and Future Farm Scenarios.

This NFUniversity session explores the work being completed in the Landscape Analyses and Future Farm Scenarios activities. The Landscape Analyses activity evaluates how perennialization strategies already being implemented in the eastern Prairie region may help to shift agriculture to net-zero using data collected on farms. The Future Farm Scenarios activity uses Agriculture and Agrifood Canada’s Holos model to answer “what if?” questions regarding land management decisions that affect a farm’s GHG emissions

Event Presenter(s)

Dr. Joanne Thiessen Martens is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Soil Science at the University of Manitoba, and is the activity leader of the Landscape Analyses activity of the LEAP Project. Dr. Thiessen Martens’ research focuses on nutrient flows and dynamics in agroecosystems, specifically on closing nutrient cycles at the local and regional level, and improving soil fertility management in diversified cropping systems.

Dr. Marcos Cunha Cordeiro is an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Manitoba, and the activity leader of the Future Farm Scenarios activity of the LEAP Project. Dr. Cordeiro’s research is focused on using cutting-edge data analysis and modelling tools to enhance productivity and sustainability of agroecosystems.

Dr. Michelle Carkner is the Director of Research and Partnerships for the LEAP Project and a research associate at the University of Manitoba’s Department of Plant Science.Her past work as the coordinator for Canada’s first nationwide Participatory Plant Breeding program was integral to her PhD research in crop physiology and agronomy. Her current research projects are related to diversified cropping systems and crop adaptation to low-input and high stress environments.

Event Materials