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Spring
2017
grainswest.com37
Breanne Tidemann likes to know her work is making a
difference. She grew up on a grain farm in Saskatchewan, but
decided to study biological sciences on her way to becoming
an orthodontist. Two years into her studies, she found out she
didn’t like teeth, triggering an early-life crisis.
Her interest in agricultural research was sparked when she
went home that summer and got a job at Agriculture and Agri-
Food Canada’s (AAFC) Scott Research Farm, 10 minutes down
the road from her family’s farm.
“I fell absolutely in love with agriculture research. For me,
it was an applied way to use my science background,” said
Tidemann, adding that she sometimes struggled to see the
point of some of the pure science work she did in school.
“Agriculture research was still science—it was still asking
the questions and trying to figure things out—but with a direct
application where I could see that if we work on this new
herbicide, or this new fertilizer rate, this could help my dad on
his farm,” she said.
Tidemann completed her undergraduate degree and spent
some time working in different areas of agriculture before
deciding to pursue a master’s at the University of Alberta in
weed science. It proved to be a good fit, and veteran research
scientist Neil Harker recruited her to AAFC’s Lacombe
Research and Development Centre, where she was offered an
opportunity to work full time while she completed her PhD.
“My primary area of interest has been weed science and
looking at new ways of managing, in particular, herbicide-
resistant weeds. In places like Australia and the U.S., they’ve
had a more significant problem with herbicide-resistant
weeds than what we have, but we expect our problems to
continue increasing as long as we rely solely on herbicides
for weed control,” said Tidemann. “In my master’s, I was
BREANNE TIDEMANN
Research scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
looking at new
herbicide molecules
we could use, and
then I got into more
non-chemical control
measures in my PhD.”
As she wraps up
her PhD, Tidemann is
excited about what
the future holds. She
has been hired as
a research scientist
to replace John
O’Donovan, who
retired last year from
AAFC’s Lacombe
agronomy
program, and she
will continue the
weed program
in Lacombe after Harker retires. She said she is grateful for the
opportunity she has had to work on and learn the programs
while she completed her PhD, as well as the continuity of the
technical staff who support the programs.
Despite the challenges of establishing networks, and trying
to secure project funding when you’re starting a career,
Tidemann said she has been greeted warmly by the industry.
“People have been very willing to provide information, advice
and guidance,” she said. “It can be a bit tough to break into the
typical collaborations—you have to be a bit more outgoing than
I necessarily expected. You have to be the one to reach out and
say ‘I’m here and I’m looking for projects.’”
Growing up in a rural setting doesn’t necessarily mean you
will know a lot about agriculture. That was the case for Laurel
Perrott, until she connected with a group of agriculture students
while she was working on her undergraduate degree in science
at the University of Alberta.
“I knew farming existed and thought it was great, but it never
occurred to me that I could do that as a profession,” Perrott said.
“I didn’t understand that there was a whole industry behind it.”
The budding researcher transferred into the crop sciences
LAUREL PERROTT
Crop researcher, Lakeland College
program at the university, then worked for Cargill in Vermilion
for a year-and-a-half after graduation before she decided to go
back for a master’s degree in barley agronomy.
Since her discovery of agriculture, Perrott has made the
most of her time in the field. While she was still working on her
master’s research, she accepted a full-time job to start up the
crop research program at Lakeland College.
“When I came to Lakeland College, they had just started
thinking about doing small-plot research and they had