The Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions would like to congratulate Isabelle Thibout of Calgary, AB, who has won the second-annual AdvancingAg Future Leaders Program essay contest.
“I am very happy to have won the contest,” said Thibout, who works as a Solutions Centre Specialist at Corteva AgriScience. “I look forward to sharing my presentation with farmers at the Prairie Cereals Summit.”
The theme of this year’s essay contest was “Ag Policy” – specifically related to the cropping sector. The contest was open to all Class of 2019 participants in the AdvancingAg Future Leaders Program.
Thibout’s winning entry focused on the active ingredient atrazine in corn and how its regulation affected the cropping sector in Eastern Canada. It also dove into how this issue could impact Western Canada in the future.
“I believe that we need to be proactive about solving the problems of tomorrow,” Thibout explained. “Living in the European Union, a strongly-regulated agricultural environment, taught me that we need to anticipate regulatory issues. This is why I thought my essay topic was important.”
The second-place finisher was B. Pratyusha Chennupati, who submitted an entry on how Canada can succeed in agricultural trade. Marissa Gehlert took home third-prize for her essay on regulatory policy on genetically modified organisms in Canada.
“I am very proud of all the participants in the essay contest,” added Kevin Bender, chair of the Alberta Wheat Commission and a member of the AdvancingAg Selection Committee. “It is always inspiring to see future agriculture leaders weigh in on the pressing issues we face today as a cropping industry.”
As winner of the contest, Thibout will present her essay to attendees at the upcoming Prairie Cereal Summit in Banff on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2018.
To learn more about the AdvancingAg Future Leaders Program and how to apply as a mentor or mentee, visit www.advancingag.ca.
