UNBC Ecosystem Science and Management Assistant Professor, Dr.Lisa Wood recently received funding to continue her research into the longterm effects of glyphosphate-based herbicides.
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Grant will be used to further research the potentially harmful long-term effects of the herbicides commonly used in the forests of northern BC.
These glyphosate-based-pesticides have been used for decades in BC forests and mainly in the northern and interior portions of the province, which Wood claims make UNBC the “perfect centre for this type of research.”
“A lot of the $132,000 will go to graduate students’ wages which will be crucial when collecting all of the data and developing all the experiments that we need,” she added.
Wood and her collaborators received an additional $149,226 Research Tools and Instrument Grant, which will be used to purchase three new growth chambers to support her research.
The research will assist Dr.Wood and her colleagues in understanding multiple aspects of the long-term effects of the pesticide, such as how it affects pollen and pollinator visitation to plants native to BC.
Wood then explained, “We expect to have them (growth chambers) in place by the end of the year, and will be pursuing a project that looks at how the intensity and duration of glyphosphate-based herbicide actions are altered by changes in the environment.”
– with files from Dione Wearmouth, MyPGNow.com staff