#GBW2026 | Accelerating Agricultural Innovation: Industry Applications of the Canadian Light Source
Luncheon
Date: September 23, 2026
Time: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Location: Candle Room, Innovation Saskatchewan R+T Park Saskatoon
Canada’s agriculture and biotechnology sectors face growing demands to improve crop productivity, enhance food quality, strengthen resilience to environmental stress, and develop more sustainable value-added products. The Canadian Light Source (CLS), Canada’s national synchrotron, provides industry and research partners with advanced imaging and analytical tools capable of revealing the chemical, structural, and biological processes that drive innovation across the ag-biotech value chain.
In this presentation, Chithra Karunakaran, Director of Science and Innovation, and Erika Bergen, Industry Services Manager, will highlight how synchrotron-based techniques are being applied to address real-world challenges in agriculture, food processing, and plant biotechnology. Drawing on recent examples, they will demonstrate how CLS capabilities help researchers and companies visualize nutrient distribution in crops, understand plant responses to environmental stress, characterize plant-based food ingredients, analyze crop quality, and develop new value-added products. CLS-enabled research has contributed to advances in areas such as pulse crop utilization, plant-based food innovation, crop nutrition, and the development of climate-resilient agricultural systems.
The talk will provide an overview of the specialized tools available to industry users, discuss pathways for accessing the facility, and showcase how collaborations with CLS can accelerate research and development, reduce technical risk, and support commercialization. Attendees will gain insight into how synchrotron science can help transform complex biological and agricultural challenges into practical innovations that strengthen competitiveness, sustainability, and food security.