For the purpose of graduate studies on agricultural development across northern Canada, through the NSERC-CREATE program, Rose has partnered with our team as our intern and science consultant. Take a minute to learn more about Rose and why her work matters.

Since beginning her graduate studies at McGill University in Bioresource Engineering, Rose Seguin has participated in several projects aimed at developing sustainable solutions in agricultural practices. She advocates for the collaboration between academia and business since the alliance is where our much-needed solutions get put into practice.

Over the course of her studies, she’s worked on a range of different projects and recently spent time in various northern communities, examining the unique agricultural challenges they each face. Most are specific to their own region or territory, but the scarcity of food and other goods is something they all share.

“You have a shorter growing season on top of everything else and sometimes there’s more of a reliance on technology but there might not actually be the technology in place to support them.”

The distance that goods travel before getting to consumers is a sizeable one. This problem is shared around the world, and for Rose, it’s an important one to address. Clean technologies like Nutritower allow people in harsher agricultural conditions to grow fresh produce all year long.

“When you look at the distance travelled for any good that you’re consuming, whether it’s food or anything you consume on a day to day basis, reducing those miles is something consumers and producers are getting more interested in, so it’s important that academia and other systems adapt to accommodate that.”

Diminishing our footprint in any way is a necessary effort that we can all contribute to. Reducing the miles travelled for our goods is at the core of the solution. Food-Tech like Nutritower and practising reusability are two of the best ways of achieving this.

The realities of population growth and rapid urbanization are challenging our resources, and a sustainable future means these challenges require solutions like Nutritower, which puts people like Rose in high demand.

Now at the tail end of her academic trajectory, Rose is getting geared up to start a professional career with companies that are applying these new sustainable practices.

When looking at job boards, she finds it very encouraging to see that many types of organizations are looking for people with her expertise, and as the demand for these skills is increasing, universities are listening.

“McGill is looking to recruit a professor position for urban agriculture. They’re starting to recognize that need a lot more, it’s really popping up now”

The urgency for a healthier planet is understood by more people every day all around the world, and it’s encouraging to see academic institutions address these urgencies through research and collaboration with companies like Nutritower.

It’s important that the knowledge, the experience and the breakthroughs coming from academia transfer into businesses so they can confidently tackle problems like food accessibility — it’s one of the reasons why we are honoured to be a part of Rose’s graduate studies.

We will be following Rose’s journey and sharing her insights along the way. Stay tuned!

Happy Growing,

The Nutritower Team.