Aquaculture Faculty Candidate Seminar-Dr. Oana Birceanu

Please join us for the second Faculty Candidate Seminar for the position in the area of Aquaculture.

Dr.Oana Birceanu will be delivering a seminar titled "From gene to whole organism: An integrative approach to addressing key areas of research in Aquaculture".

Aquaculture is a key contributor to the Ontario and Canadian economy, and continues to grow steadily, marking its place as an emerging agricultural opportunity in Canada and globally. The industry is quite diverse in the type of species cultured (finned fishes, shellfish and plants), it employs more than 56,000 Canadians, it is an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible practice, supporting rural and local communities. In this seminar, I will talk about major areas of research and interests to the aquaculture industry: increase production in a sustainable way, manage this increase in the light of major climate change challenges and engage with the public and non-governmental organizations. As a comparative fish physiologist and toxicologist with molecular and analytical chemistry training, I am in a unique position to address these major themes of research in an integrative way, by answering questions at various levels of animal integration: from gene to whole organism. In my seminar, I will touch on projects addressing how multiple stressors common to aquaculture impact the endocrine regulation of growth and stress response during fish development, and how these effects can be mitigated in the light of current climate change. The goal of my research is to make whole organism predictions that will help direct aquaculture management efforts and protect the sustainability of our aquatic environment. My passion for research also reflects into my teaching and mentorship approach. As an educator and mentor, I challenge the students to think outside of the box, to take risks and push boundaries, even if that means that they will make mistakes; I will be there to support them, guide their learning and elevate their strengths. I continuously work to develop my pedagogy, to become a better educator and mentor. My seminar will discuss my approaches to teaching and will describe several courses that I would like to develop as part of the Department of Animal Biosciences at University of Guelph, which involve community engagement and integrating Indigenous knowledge into my teaching practice. I am very enthusiastic about sharing my research, teaching and outreach ideas with the department and with the members of the University of Guelph and Agriculture community.

There will also be a meet and greet for faculty, staff students and guests from 2:15pm-3:15pm in ANNU 141.