About the Instructor

Norman Goodyear is an associate professor in the Plant Sciences Section of the Department of Plant and Animal Sciences at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College. He teaches students at various levels; technical, undergraduate and graduate, which gives an interesting dimension and range to his topics. His courses vary from basic introductory to the more advanced and complex. His particular interest and focus is in sustainable agriculture, more pointedly organic, both in the harsh Canadian climate and in southern climates. Norman has extensive experience working in South America and has just completed a 6-year project that focussed on the development of curricula in Sustainable Agriculture with a university in Colombia.

Norman completed his graduate studies at the University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada, in horticulture. He studied the effects of air pollutants (NOx and Ozone) on horticultural plants. After receiving his PhD, he remained at Guelph and completed a postdoc developing equipment and a protocol for studying the effects of enhanced UV-B on plant systems.

In the years between finishing his undergraduate and returning to graduate school, Norman worked as an Agricultural Representative (Agriculture extension agent) in his native province of Newfoundland, during which time he maintained a small organic farm. When arriving to Nova Scotia in the early nineties, he immediately became involved with the organic movement at the grassroots level. Those experiences have given him a unique perspective that continues to inform his work in the classroom, his international development initiatives and his work with the farming community.