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UBC PRISM Lab Ph.D. Project: Alternative Biomass Resources for Sustainable Livestock Production (funded, $30,000 annually for 4 years)
UBC PRISM Lab

UBC PRISM Lab

Ph.D. Project: Alternative Biomass Resources for Sustainable Livestock Production (funded, $30,000 annually for 4 years)

Kelowna, Canada

PhD

4 years

English

Full time

On-Campus

Key Summary

    About : The Ph.D. Project: Alternative Biomass Resources for Sustainable Livestock Production focuses on exploring innovative biomass options to support sustainable practices in livestock farming. This program is funded, offering $30,000 annually for four years. Students will engage in research that contributes to environmentally friendly livestock production methods.
    Career Outcomes : Graduates of this program may pursue careers in academia, research institutions, or agricultural consultancy. Potential roles include livestock production specialists, environmental policy advisors, or researchers in sustainable agricultural practices.

Cultivating and processing animal feed contributes a disproportionate share of the resource and environmental impacts of livestock production. Social license for the livestock sector will also likely be increasingly predicated on its ability to reduce direct competition for arable land and human-edible feed resources. This four year, funded Ph.D. project will answer this challenge by:

  1. Identifying and mapping the availability of alternative feed resources for the poultry industry in Canada, including (for example), single-cell proteins from forest industry residues, insects meals, and food waste-to-feed products;
  2. Undertaking detailed environmental life cycle assessment and techno-economic assessments of each feed resource pathway, and
  3. Assessing their potential for contributing to sustainable poultry production based on a combination of environmental, economic, and nutritional objectives and constraints.

Project outputs will include a Ph.D. dissertation, presentation of results at poultry industry association professional meetings, conference presentations, and submission of study results for publication in peer-reviewed venues.

This project will begin in September 2022.