Media releases

• New Brock program to give boost to early-stage entrepreneurs

  Monday, December 12, 2022 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 12 December 2022 – R0135

  A new Brock University program will put budding business ideas to the test, with the goal of setting new entrepreneurs up for success.

  Welcoming its first cohort in January, NAVIGATE is designed to support students — as well as alumni and community members — who are looking to explore and develop their business ideas.

  Run by the Brock LINC, the program is built around the ‘lean startup’ methodology, which focuses on testing and iterating a business idea through extensive customer feedback.

  “The NAVIGATE program is an evolution of the entrepreneurship programs we’ve traditionally offered at Brock,” says Cassie Conte, Program Manager at the Brock LINC, the University’s hub for creativity, innovation, research and entrepreneurship. “This is less about the steps to starting a small business and more about how to set up the right foundation for your business idea to succeed.”

  The intensive 11-week program will guide participants through the lean startup process. This includes talking to 10 customers each week and then modifying the business idea based on insights and information gathered during those interviews. As part of the program, students will work weekly with Brock LINC staff, external mentors and other entrepreneurs in the program.

  NAVIGATE will conclude with a demo day and pitch competition, where student participants will vie for the Dobson Entrepreneurial Excellence Prize of $5,000 — a new student award from the John Dobson Foundation.

  “The John Dobson Foundation is delighted to support entrepreneurship at Brock University,” says Rand Kelly, Chairman of the John Dobson Foundation. “The Dobson Entrepreneurship Excellence Prize will recognize entrepreneurial excellence and hopefully assist student entrepreneurs in moving their projects successfully forward.”

  While primarily intended for students, NAVIGATE also welcomes alumni and community members to participate, though they are not eligible to pitch for the prize. All participants who fully complete the program are eligible to receive a certificate of completion, and students who complete the program will get credit towards the Innovative and Creative Thinking domain in the Campus Wide Co-Curriculum.

  Conte, who has been developing and co-ordinating entrepreneurial programs at Brock for the past 10 years, says NAVIGATE is a valuable opportunity for early-stage entrepreneurs to actively engage with potential customers to get feedback on their business idea.

  The program will consist of asynchronous learning components and weekly in-person sessions where entrepreneurs will share their progress and receive feedback and mentorship.

  NAVIGATE will be offered in person at Brock University on Wednesdays from 3 to 5 p.m. from Jan. 18 to April 5. There is no cost to participate, though enrolment in the program will be limited to ensure small groups and personalized feedback and mentorship.

  Applications are open until Wednesday, Jan. 11. Anyone with questions about the program can contact Conte at cconte@brocku.ca or visit the NAVIGATE website.

  For more information on all entrepreneurship programs offered by the Brock LINC, visit the Brock LINC website.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock team researching agriculture’s impact on nearby water sources

  Thursday, December 01, 2022 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 1 December 2022 – R0134

  While farms provide food, employment and tranquil scenery, they can also have the unintended effect of altering the chemistry of local water sources.

  Brock University fourth-year undergraduate chemistry student Adithya Sethumadhavan is aiming to find out how agriculture-related practices impact streams in the Kawartha Lakes and Durham Region.

  Sethumadhavan is testing water samples he collected from 30 sites to look for levels of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the water.

  “We’re comparing what the carbon fingerprint looks like in forested areas to regions that have been heavily disturbed by agriculture,” he says. “We think there will be more fragments from trees and other organic substances in the molecules of water found in undisturbed areas.”

  These tree fragments would include compounds called polyphenols that influence how metals move from land to aquatic environments, says Assistant Professor of Chemistry Vaughn Mangal, Sethumadhavan’s supervisor.

  “We are particularly concerned with how metals are transported to aquatic systems after the use of metal-containing fertilizers in agriculture,” he says.

  Mangal explains that in natural environments, rainfall carries and deposits carbon molecules from leaves and soil into local water sources, giving the water a “brown tea-like” colour.

  But with trees being felled and soils disrupted by constant tilling and crop growth, these and other “human-driven disturbances” transfer organic carbon that was stored on land into the water. Inorganic contaminants from fertilizer use also enter the water.

  “Certain micro-organisms consume organic carbon as their main food source,” says Mangal.

  The more organic carbon they consume, the more these streams emit greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide — those associated with climate change, he says.

  Sethumadhavan hopes the research results, expected early next year, will guide discussions on agricultural and land-use policies.

  Tanner Liang, Water Quality Specialist at Kawartha Conservation, says Sethumadhavan and Mangal’s research will help identify locations at high risk of being contaminated by agricultural sources.

  “With increased urban development and agriculture in the Kawartha and Peterborough regions, understanding the extent of contamination in southern Ontario watersheds can serve as an informative benchmark of how ecosystems may change, and allow for proactive mitigation,” says Liang. 

  Although the research is taking place in the Kawartha Lakes and Durham Region, the findings will be equally applicable to Niagara, a region highly dependent on agriculture, says Mangal.

  Mangal, who is new to Brock, focuses his research on how fertilizers are impacting soil chemistry and plans to work with farmers to implement sustainable, environmentally driven farming practices.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases