Stanford Blade

Dr. Stanford Blade, P.Ag. currently serves as Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences (ALES) at the University of Alberta. The Faculty is made up of 500 faculty members and staff, 1600 undergraduate students and 550+ graduate students. The six areas of education and research within the Faculty are: i) helping feed the world ii) improving human health through food iii) ensuring a healthy environment iv) nurturing biorefining innovation and v) improving personal and community well-being as well as the Devonian Botanical Garden. The ALES annual budget of $85m includes $43m+ of industrial research investment. Dr. Blade previously served as CEO of Alberta Innovates - Bio Solutions Corporation. Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions is a Government of Alberta corporation dedicated to investing in research and innovation for the benefit of the province's agriculture, food and forestry sectors. These industries contribute $25+ billion to the Alberta economy every year. Listen to a short interview given by Blade about AI-Bio on Innovation Anthology. He was formerly the Executive Director (2006–2009) of the Alberta Agricultural Research Institute (Government of Alberta). He was previously employed as the Deputy Director General (Research) for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) which is a research organization that is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. Dr. Blade serves as a Trustee on the Board of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation. He is also a Board Member of the following research organizations: Livestock Gentec, Phytola and the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. He is also an Associate Editor of the American Society of Agronomy's peer-reviewed international journal of agriculture and natural resource sciences-Agronomy Journal. In 2016 Dr. Blade was requested by the Government of Macedonia to serve as a Board Member of the Macedonia Fund for Innovation. In 2012 Dr. Blade was named one of Alberta's 50 most influential people by Alberta Venture magazine.

Blade was born in Alberta where he was raised on a dairy and grain farm. He attended the University of Alberta for his first degree (B.Sc.) in genetics. He obtained his M.Sc. (Crop Science) from the University of Saskatchewan for a breeding/physiology study on wheat. Blade’s doctorate was awarded by McGill University in Montreal for work done at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture on a Canadian International Development Agency Ph.D. Scholarship. The thesis topic was a plant breeding/farming systems approach to improving an indigenous grain legume (Vigna unguiculata L.) for use within the complex cereal-legume cropping systems of the West African savanna.

Blade has served in a number of leadership roles in Canada, such as the Director of the Crop Division of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (AAFRD), and Research Director of the Alberta Barley Commission. Dr. Blade provided direction for 200 staff people and four major research centers, as well as working with universities and the private sector to develop innovative technologies. Dr. Blade has also worked in the private sector as Research Director for the Alberta Barley Commission.

Blade’s own research successes have included the development and release of the high-performing Cutlass field pea. Blade has participated in the release of several field pea, lentil, cowpea and fenugreek lines. In addition, his research activities in crop diversification, such as his pioneering work on several new crops (low-THC hemp, medicinal plants, industrial crops, grain legumes) has created demand for Blade to serve as a global consultant and speaker. Blade has been invited to write and speak on crop diversification across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Scotland, Germany, Poland, Sri Lanka, Australia, Libya and several other countries. Blade currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Agronomy Journal.

Publications

Blade has published 70+ research articles (Cropping Systems), ten book chapters (Research for Development), 120+ conference abstracts (Bioeconomy Opportunities) and has edited four books (Alberta Hemp Symposium). He has been the winner of several awards from the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America. Blade is a member of several professional societies and international committees. He has served on evaluation committees for the European Union, Canadian Foundation for Innovation and Food and Agriculture Organization. Blade published an article on his interaction with Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug in The Globe and Mail-Canada's national newspaper.