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Spring
2017
Grains
West
38
BOYD MORI
Entomologist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Sometimes it’s the little things that really captivate people. For Boyd
Mori, he followed his interest in insects into a career in agricultural
research.
Mori grew up in Abbotsford, a mid-sized city in the middle of British
Columbia’s berry belt. No one in his family farmed, but like many
young people in the area, he picked berries when he was in high
school, and even worked on a daffodil farm in the Fraser Valley.
“I had no idea I would end up working in agriculture,” said Mori,
who did his first degree in immunology at the University of Alberta.
“I took a few courses in entomology and plant science that I really
enjoyed, so I went back and did a second
B.Sc. in animal sciences
with a focus on entomology. The research kind of drewme in.”
Entomology, the study of insects, offers a diverse array of
opportunities for study, from horticulture and agriculture to
medical and veterinary entomology. After completing an
undergraduate honours project on the mountain pine beetle,
Boyd decided to pursue a master’s degree.
“My supervisor, Maya Evenden, had an opportunity for a
M.Sc.student to start a funded project to work on red clover
in the Peace Region. From that point forward it has all been
agriculture,” said Mori, who subsequently went on to complete his
PhD as well.
Mori is currently an entomologist with AAFC at the Saskatoon Research and
Development Centre. His work is primarily focused on the swede midge, a small fly
that affects canola and other brassicas.
“Swede midge is devastating in Ontario, and turned up in Saskatchewan in
bought a combine, but that was
about it,” said Perrott. “We got a first
season under our belt last summer.
We did a few of our own trials and
collaborated with Linda Hall from the
U of A on some plant growth regulator
work. It launched us off, got us some
experience collaborating and got our
name out there.”
The program has taken off since
Perrott joined the applied research
team to expand the crop research
program. She has been able to use
her relationships and expertise to set
up more collaborative projects for
the 2017 growing season with Hall
at the University of Alberta and Sheri
Strydhorst at Alberta Agriculture and
Forestry, looking at forage agronomy
and cultivar-specific wheat agronomy.
Perrott will defend her master’s thesis
this spring, and said she will likely take a
break before considering a PhD.
“What excites me about the future with
agriculture research is that I know the
career is always going to be challenging
and changing,” she said. “It’s always
striving to discover new and valuable
things for farmers that drives me.
“I’ve been living on a mixed farm with
my fiancé for the past few years, so I have
a foot on the farm and a foot in research.
It helps me identify where we should be
researching and what challenges farmers
are running into.”
As someone who wasn’t raised
farming, Perrott said it took time and
a concerted effort to learn about the
business and the culture of the industry.
She sought out learning opportunities
and asked her friends if she could
help on their farms. Throughout this
learning process, she has developed
an appreciation for how much there
is to know and the importance of
communication.
“To farmers, researchers are getting
better at working with them and
understanding on-farm logistics and
what drives the management decisions
that might counter what we find in
research,” she said. “I think it would be
valuable to have a more open dialogue
between farmers and researchers.
Farmers are smart people—they have
a lot of good ideas and recognize
production challenges on their farm.
If those ideas are shared more, they
will turn into research. More cross-
communication will benefit everyone.”