Applied research opportunities through new partnership with EnviroScience
Fleming College will open new avenues for applied research and student learning through an innovative partnership with EnviroScience Inc.
The college’s partnership with the Ohio-based consulting company was officially formalized in a signing ceremony held at the Frost Campus on March 19. It will see the partners work together to culture the native milfoil weevil in an attempt to biologically control the spread of the Eurasian watermilfoil, an invasive aquatic plant found in lakes throughout the Great Lakes basin.
Mr. Kyle Borrowman, a Fleming graduate who works for EnviroScience, will set up culturing facilities at Frost Campus this summer to rear the native weevils. The weevils will then be stocked into infested lakes to reduce the densities of the unwanted, invasive plant.
“This represents a great opportunity for our students to gain meaningful, summer employment,” said Dr. Eric Sager, Coordinator of Fleming’s Ecological Restoration program. “It will also generate excellent opportunities from an applied research perspective to further our understanding of the ecology and management of the near-shore regions of our inland lakes in Ontario.”
“This partnership provides EnviroScience with the lab space that they need to conduct this research during the summer months when the campus has fewer students. Fleming faculty members and students will benefit by having the opportunity to engage in applied research activities related to their college program,” said Linda Skilton, Dean of the School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences.
“As a graduate of Fleming College’s School of Environmental and Natural Resources, I am excited to engage in this new partnership and to benefit from the quality training that Fleming staff provide to their students,” said Kyle Borrowman, Ontario Project Manager at EnviroScience.
EnviroScience, which has a long history of working with lake management issues and ecological restoration, has recently set up an office in Canada. It is the only company in North America that offers services toward the biological control of Eurasian watermilfoil. For more information on EnviroScience, please visit enviroscienceinc.com.
Located in the heart of Central Ontario, Fleming College has campus locations in Peterborough, Lindsay, Cobourg and Haliburton. Named for famous Canadian inventor and engineer Sir Sandford Fleming, the college features more than 100 full-time programs in Community Development and Health, Continuing Education, Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Justice and Business, Skilled Trades and Technology, General Arts and Science, and Visual Arts. Fleming College has more than 5,900 full-time and 10,000 part-time students, and more than 63,000 alumni.
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For more information:
Laura Copeland, Communications Officer, 705-749-5530 x 1370 or copeland@flemingc.on.ca