Diploma in Animal Science Technology - Dairy Major

at Lakeland College - Vermilion Campus Canada

Environmental monitoring and protection emphasizes water quality protection, a growing area of employment and environmental concern.  You'll learn how to protect and sustainably manage both water and land resources through field procedures and best practices such as protecting surface water and riparian habitats. 

Whether on a field trip or in a lab, your hands-on training uses modern field equipment to learn how to do full environmental monitoring, field surveys and protection programs for water and soilsstudents measure water flow.  You’ll be job ready on two fronts: practical job skills and industry-required safety certification. That includes safe ATV and boat operation.

You’ll develop employable skills in environmental sampling, site assessment and waste management. They include:

• Surface water, ground water, air, vegetation and soil monitoring & sampling techniques
• Field techniques in biomonitoring and habitat assessment
• Phase I and II site assessments in upstream oil and gas, commercial and industrial settings

Focus on the beef industry with Lakeland’s new animal science major
In the beef science major you’ll study both commercial and purebred cow/calf operations as well as feedlots. You’ll start at calving and go through the complete production cycle. You’ll finish with beef products – one of your courses is meat science.

Hands-on and student-led experiences are the bedrock of this program. You’ll grow both knowledge and skills related to:

• Herd health
• Nutrition
• Animal handling
• Finance
• Marketing

Your Student-Managed Farm (SMF) powered by New Holland choices include purebred, commercial or livestock research units. Or, you may choose a student-led practicum.
Through labs and student-managed opportunities you’ll have a thorough and practical understanding of the beef industry. You’ll be ready to start your career in any industry sector, or on your own farm or ranch.

Through our program you’ll gain skills and experience to ensure industry and the environment can coexist. This means either reclaiming disturbed lands or minimizing industry’s effects on natural habitats

You’ll learn how to

• Classify, manage and conserve soils
• Recognize and understand a variety of ecosystems
• Do detailed site assessments
• Apply reclamation regulations, guidelines and techniques to disturbed lands

You’ll visit and study forested, mined and cultivated lands as well as native and reclaimed areas.

On field trips , you’ll see current industry practices and technologies. In hands-on field labs you’ll develop and practice more than 20 applied skills industry wants.

You’ll start by learning a wide range of environmental concepts related to water, soil and plants. You start in the classroom, but you’ll be in outdoor labs within your first month.

Your training is fun, hands-on and useful. You'll apply and practice what you’ve learned using real-life situations. These are the same skills you’ll use throughout your career; skills that employers will notice. They include:

• Aquatic habitat assessments
• Wetlands & soil classification
• Water monitoring and sampling
• Environmental site assessment
• Plant identification

As you work towards your one-year certificate or two-year diploma, you’ll learn about:

• Human development
• Health, safety and nutrition to support child development
• How to create a creative and developmentally-appropriate curriculum and design a safe and inviting space for children
• How to support children with exceptionalities
• The business side of running a childcare practice.

Each semester has a practicum. Your third practicum is unique to Lakeland. You and your classmates will set up and run a play program. Together, you’ll:

• Create a parent handbook
• Plan the activities, snacks and schedule
• Create a dynamic theme for the space
• Put your theory into practice

A computer lab with specialized design software is just for your program. So is a plotter, a sample room and a work room. All are available 24 hours a day.

Along your two-year college journey, you’ll develop practical skills such as drafting and rendering.
You’ll also learn:

• Design fundamentals
• History
• Space planning
• Materials
• Sustainable building practices
• Residential construction
• Finishes

Spend a year putting theory into practice and earn a general agricultural certificate.

Focus on either crop or livestock production. Whatever your choice, you’ll learn common skills for modern agricultural operations:

• Computer training
• Keeping accurate business records
• Using up-to-date technology for precision farming

Half of your time will be on college farm putting theory into practice. Our Student-Managed Farm – powered by New Holland includes:

• Beef and dairy herds
• Range land
• Crop land
• Facilities such as the [Dairy Learning Centre] and Agricultural Technology Centre

On the crop side you’ll learn practical field skills such as how to

• Identify weed and plants
• Assess pest problems

On the livestock side, develop basic production skills for dairy, cow-calf, and sheep.

You’ll likely want to stay another year. Earn a [crop technology] diploma or choose one of our animal science technology diploma majors.

Focus on the creatures that live in our forests, lakes, prairies, rivers and wetlands as you prepare to be an accredited wildlife and fisheries technician.

You’ll learn to identify-- by sight, sound or sign-- the smallest creatures in a pond to the largest animals on land. That means you’ll learn how to:

• Use spotting scopes and trail cameras
• Identify songbirds to owls, and frogs to toads by their calls
• Identify wildlife by tracks, scat, burrows, nests and chews

You’ll spend lots of time in the field learning and practicing applied skills such as electrofishing, GPS operation and live trapping. You’ll earn outdoor certificates including wilderness first aid, bear awareness, and quad/snowmobile/watercraft operation.

In class, you’ll learn about:

• Both animal and plant biology and ecology
• Conserving species-at-risk
• Protected areas, and conserving and enhancing habitat
• Game and harvest management
• Wildlife diseases

• Take the next step in your environmental career with Lakeland's applied degree.
• Choose to major in either reclamation and remediation or monitoring and environmental protection. Get equipped to be a project manager, inspector, or specialist.
• Whether you come from a diploma or degree program, this applied degree will build on and add to your practical skills
• In the first year you’ll build advanced technical and field skills. You’ll also connect with industry on field trips.
• In the second year you’ll put your knowledge to work in an 8-month placement.
• You complete the program with a capstone presentation about your practicum.

Lakeland's Bachelor of Agriculture Technology prepares you to take on the challenges of this rapidly evolving sector.

Integrating computer technologies and the Internet of Things has transformed agriculture. At Lakeland, you'll be immersed in those kinds of hands-on, real world experiences--experiences that bring together ag tech with production and business management. You'll use the latest in:

• Ag equipment and its tech
• Software
• Hardware
• Digital devices

 You'll learn:

• On our Student-Managed Farm–powered by New Holland
• In your lab, the new ag tech centre
• From your industry practicum

 Graduate with expertise and technical skills including:

• Precision data systems
• Machinery learning
• Artificial intelligence
• Robotics
• Bioengineering