Carleton Chemistry Prof. J. David Miller spoke at a major funding announcement for a $3.2 million facility that will move his work out of the laboratory and into the world. The state-of-the-art laboratory in Sussex, N.B. will produce inoculum for up to 30 million seedlings a year from nurseries in eastern Canada. J.D. Irving President Jim Irving, N.B. Premier David Alward and ACOA Minister Rob Moore also spoke about the importance of science in addressing serious problems in the forestry sector in innovative ways.
Spruce budworm is one of the most devastating insect pests in Canada, causing cyclical epidemics every 50 to 100 years for the past 8,000 years. The last epidemic was in the mid-1970s and was managed by large-scale spraying of pesticides to prevent forests from dying.
Miller, who has been studying the problem for 25 years, has been working with J.D. Irving Ltd., to uncover links between trees and the fungi that make their homes in them. The secret to reducing the risk of future epidemics and reducing defoliation lay in fungi that live in the needles of conifers called “endophytes”. Miller and collaborators found that some of these endophytes produce natural toxins that slow the growth of the insect. But some cheat: the tree gives them a home but gets nothing in return.
The new facility will be completed this year. The federal government is providing $982,000 for construction of the 7,200-square-foot lab, while the province is contributing $500,000.
“First, this demonstrates an important enhancement to the seedlings that emerge from nurseries in eastern Canada- the resulting stands will be more tolerant to spruce budworm,” says Miller. “Secondly, as a public scientist, this represents a great example of getting research out of the lab to benefit the economy. Combining the skills of biological chemistry at the university, and seedling production technologies and tree genetics at J.D. Irving, a hidden aspect of life in the forest has been uncovered. I believe that this understanding will benefit future generations of Canadians who want a sustainable, well-managed forest industry.”
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