To Boldly Grow

BOLDLY GROW… TO

BY TAMMY MARLOWE JOHNSON

As colleges expand their collective universes to attract talented faculty and students, one Ontario college is boldly growing where no one has grown before in support of innovation in applied research.

In April 2022, the Centre for Natural Products and Medical Cannabis at Loyalist College received two Mitacs Accelerate funding awards to investigate the feasibility of growing cannabis/hemp on the International Space Station.

The applied research project is being conducted with Royal Development Group (RDG), a Canadian company that provides clients with research knowledge and portfolio strategy in commercialization of products in space.

“When Royal Development Group mentioned their vision, it was a project that I thought was pretty exciting and something I could see in the future – especially as we advance into the space era for humans,” said Josh Powells, head investigator on the project, who has a PhD in plant molecular biology.

“From a biological perspective, it truly is an amazing plant – it’s very active, it grows rapidly, you can use it as a textile source. Hemp has been used by human societies for over 12,000 years. It’s something that I think we should invest a lot more into as an agricultural industry.”

In 2017, Loyalist College became one of the first educational institutions in the country to receive approval from Health Canada for a Controlled Drugs and Substances Licence for the purpose of research and analysis using medical cannabis.

Carly Kelly, Loyalist’s manager of the Centre for Natural Products and Medical Cannabis, said the mid-size Belleville, ON, college saw the potential to be on the leading edge of research and development with the versatile product – and to leverage the opportunity to attract uniquely skilled faculty and staff.

“We were very industry responsive when the legalization was coming through, and we were the first college to receive our Health Canada licence. We were responsive to that industry need,” Kelly said.

“I think that has allowed us a niche that we have been able to actively attract students. It fits very well with the Loyalist strategic plan: to position ourselves as a national leader in applied research in Canada in order to be able to offer students a more holistic education.”

In addition to the new research studying the feasibility of growing hemp in space, Loyalist’s Centre for Natural Products and Medical Cannabis also offers a one-year course in Cannabis Applied Science for those who want to enter the job market in the burgeoning industry.

The college also has a shorter, three-week Cannabis Career Launch program that connects students looking for work directly to the sector, including industry placement.

Powells said Loyalist’s connection to the flourishing Canadian cannabis industry is a big draw for staff and students.

“We get to hire students straight into the research side of this industry,” he said. “We have a pool of talented students and graduates and we bring them on into the research lab and directly link them to industry experts.”

These innovative programs, as well as others on campus, earned Loyalist a spot as one of Canada’s Top 50 Research Colleges for 2022 (Research Infosource, Inc.).

Research Infosource said Loyalist’s surge in funding over the last year empowered the College to enhance its state-of-the-art facilities, equipment, and instrumentation, accelerating the growth and expansion of the College’s research capacity in natural products, applied biotechnology, and genomics.

“This is remarkable recognition for our exceptional team of students, faculty, staff and industry partners working with the Applied Research and Innovation Office, and demonstrates how being small gives us the power to do big things,” Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan, Loyalist College President and CEO, said at the announcement of the accolades in January.

“Loyalist’s rise in research rankings puts us on the national stage as a leader in natural products, which is why we have become a destination for businesses as they scale and compete in the global market.”

For staff and researchers with the Centre for Natural Products and Medical Cannabis, having the support of Loyalist College to explore divergent thinking with industry partners is the very definition of innovation.

“When I think of innovation, I think about it really being about thinking outside the box and being creative,” said Kelly.

“Innovation is not having boundaries… It is the uninvestigated, the implementation of a novel exercise,” added advancement officer Karly Beard. “We often talk about being small to do big things.

“We may be small, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be making really big impacts nationally. We leverage those small things to do really amazing things.” 

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college administrator The professional journal for Ontario college administrators | Vol. 17 No. 1 | Spring 2022

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