Reem Ghaleb

Jamie's Bio

Jamie Gervais Rietveld is a passionate advocate for food literacy and positive societal impact. With a degree in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Alberta, Jamie focused in nutraceuticals, complimenting earlier studies in dietetics at Southeast Missouri State University.

In response to a corporate takeover, Jamie founded FoodImpact, an initiative that delivered nutrition and food education to Alberta’s elementary schools for 11 years until the 2020 pandemic disrupted operations. During this period, Jamie pursued further education in Marketing at the University of Calgary, gaining experience in product development and social media marketing. This sparked an interest in psychology, leading to studies at Athabasca University in decision-making, behavioral science, and learning psychology.

Currently, Jamie is a graduate student in Transdisciplinary Research and a graduate research assistant at the University of Calgary, where her research bridges marketing, public health, and education to explore decision-making around food choices for youth. To address reduced funding for food education in low socioeconomic status communities, Jamie established the Food Discovery Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing food literacy education to children and disabled individuals in need.

Jamie’s enthusiasm for learning, exploration, and creating meaningful change continues to shape her impactful journey.

FOOD IMPACT

Boyd's Bio

Dr. Boyd Mori is an Associate Professor and NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Agricultural Entomology in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta. His research group focuses on developing integrated pest management strategies for insect pests of field and horticultural crops. Boyd combines foundational and applied research incorporating behavioural, chemical, and molecular ecology to understand and exploit the biology of insect pests, their host plants, and natural enemies.

Boyd has worked on insect pests across a wide variety of field crops including alfalfa, canola, quinoa, red clover, pulses, and wheat. He has garnered over $4.1 million in research funding since 2019. Recently, a major focus of his research group is investigating the impact of generalist predators and the potential threat of insecticide resistance across prairie cropping systems.

He currently leads a laboratory consisting of 10 graduate students (6 PhD, 4 MSc), 2 postdoctoral fellow, 2 full-time technicians, and numerous undergraduate research assistants.

Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science

Semeton's Bio

Semeton Amosu is a Research Associate and Soil Scientist in the Crop Research and Environmental Stewardship departments at OCCI. Semeton is passionate about best agricultural practices, digital agriculture, soil health and environmental management. He’s currently developing research project proposals in agrivoltaics. He’s also looking into research and academic program opportunities in soil health at Olds College.

Semeton has been involved in agricultural and environmental research for over 23 years with academic and field training in West Africa and South America. He obtained his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.

Before joining Olds College in 2024, Semeton worked as a research officer with the National Horticultural Research Institute in Nigeria for over 17 years and he was the head of the Fruits Research Program. He focused on designing and conducting field research on the agronomic improvement of tropical fruits.

Prior to his research experience, Semeton worked as an agricultural consultant. He established farms for clients, performed soil surveys and conducted land use evaluation projects. He also organized and facilitated agricultural workshops and seminars. As a project manager, he has coordinated government-funded agricultural projects and participated in other internationally funded projects, including a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded project. 

Outside of work, Semeton prioritizes God, family and friends. He’s happily married with three teenage kids and currently resides in Calgary. Semeton likes soccer, he has played the sport and is a supporter of Arsenal F.C. in England. He’s currently gaining an interest in hockey, which is a sport he had a brief stint with in high school. The Calgary Flames seem to catch Semeton’s attention these days.

Olds College

Kelsie's Bio

Kelsie has a background in human ecology and has worked in the agriculture industry, dairy specifically, for over a decade, specializing in agriculture education and industry advocacy among students and consumers. Kelsie leads Alberta Milk’s communications with producers and stakeholders, and is passionate about sharing information about the Canadian dairy industry! When not at work, she enjoys exercise, gardening, and spending quality time with her husband and two small children.

Alberta Milk