Students in the BITS program have the opportunity to design and carry out their own research projects that solve real-world problems related to agricultural production, food, sanitation, environment and health issues in Barbados. Every 2-4 students form a project group and work directly with mentors from designated host institutions in Barbados. Students dedicate Mondays and Tuesdays all summer long towards their respective projects. Previous projects done by McGill students include constructing a Naturally Ventilated Augmented Cooling Greenhouse, finding alternative propagation methods of plants, making Bajan yogurt and ice cream with goat milk, improving the local rabbit meat industry, and many other exciting projects. Please check out the project summaries and videos for more details.
Internship Summaries and Video Links
Summer 2024
- Anaerobic digester effluent | VIDEO
- Flower forest botanical garden | VIDEO
- Efficacy of Vinasse for use as fertilizer: Mount Gay Distilleries | VIDEO
- Testing vegetables for bacterial contamination | VIDEO
- Queen's Park tour: a short walk through the park’s history and greenery | VIDEO
- Infinity deck at Andromeda Botanic Gardens | VIDEO
Summer 2023
- Measuring the Growth Performance of Blackbelly Sheep (Ovis aries) Fed with Substituted Local By-products | James Carcano, Rachel Chiazzese | VIDEO
- Development of the Ethnobotanical Garden at the Andromeda Botanic Gardens | Delaney Nicol, Elliot Miville-Deschênes, and Valeria Munoz | VIDEO
- Improving the Education and Inspiration of Youth to Revitalize Barbados’ Honeybee Populations: An Analysis of the National Conservation Commission’s Junior Beekeeping Program | Grace Mango, Muskaan Bhaidani, Eleanor Barlow | VIDEO
- Development of Educational Materials for Flower Forest Botanical Gardens | Alexandra Douglas, Sylvain Bazinet, Mia Mouget | VIDEO
- Testing Fish Markets for Bacterial Contamination | Isabel Ines, Willow Lane, and Katie Liakin | VIDEO
- Developing the Ultimate Virtual Trail Tour for the Barbados National Botanical Gardens | Nadia Fekih, Rashi Lalan and Xianglin Xie | VIDEO
- Enhancing Production and Marketability of Vinca and Zinnia Through Experimental Design at the National Conservation Commission in Barbados | Eryn Genge, Véronique Londei, Haotian Xu | VIDEO
Summer 2019
- Monitoring of nearshore waters in Barbados from a microbiology perspective | Marianne Beaulieu, Nkonye Campbell, Jessica Di Lorenzo, Neela Todd | VIDEO
- Is biodigester effluent a suitable replacement for commercial fertilizers? Assessing the efficacy of liquid biogas digestate for cultivation of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) crops in Barbados | Emily Hooton, Yu-Shing Ni, Coco Wang | VIDEO
- Eco-tourism marketing project: Farley Hill National Park, Barbados | Shuang Liang, Sabrina Gill, Francis Tersigni | VIDEO
- Heat and Healthy Milk: Determining the optimal pasteurization method of goat and blackbelly sheep milk for labelling recommendations at the Greenland Livestock Research Institute, Barbados | Tarini Gupta, Myriam Driss, Elaina Grimm | VIDEO
- Development of a sustainable potting soil mix for the NCC Nursery | Sophia Jones, Julia Kossakowski, Siri van Gruen | VIDEO
Summer 2018
- Addressing the plastic bag issue of Barbados through education and policy recommendations | Stephanie Leandri, Eva von Jagow, Sydney Westra | VIDEO
- Air quality and health impacts from the transportation system in Barbados | Chloé Allard, Tuviere Onookome-Okome, Hang Yin | VIDEO
- Development of large-scale composting techniques at the SBRC | Sreedurga Cherukumalli, Audrey Woo, Cindie Berthiaume | VIDEO
- Environmental impact assessment of aquatic weed removal at SBRC, Pond B | Paula Figueroa Delgado, Anna Tokunaga | VIDEO
- You’ve GOaT to try this milk! | Christine Ha | VIDEO
- Nectar availability for honey bees at Walkers Reserve | Erin Jefferies, Liana Fortin-Hamel | VIDEO
- Landscaping for climate resiliency at the Bellairs Research Institute | Sunayana Sashikumar, Jessie Green, Chelsea Kingzett | VIDEO
Summer 2016
- The Naturally Ventilated Augmented Cooling Greenhouse | Jessica Xavier, Rhys Burnell, Rachael Warner | VIDEO
- Bioassay: Tomato and Okra Growth Evaluation on 5 Soilless Potting Mixtures in Barbados | Luisa Sarmiento, Keitaro Hirano, Fengge Sun | VIDEO
- Vegetative Propagation of Limonia and Pittosporum spp. | Joseph Jarry, Yangjing Pu | VIDEO
- Improving the Profitability of the Rabbit Meat Industry in Barbados | Naila Al Kharusi | VIDEO
- Goat and Barbados Blackbelly Sheep Milk Bajan Ice Cream | Olivia Watson, Jasraj Kaur | VIDEO
- Maximizing Growth Rates of Various Lettuce Cultivars in an Aquaponics System | Alexia Bertholon, Shae-Lynn Roberts, Ananka Shah | VIDEO
Summer 2015
- Introducing Local Goat Yogurt Production on Small-Scale Farms in Barbados | Simran Chhina, Michelle Colvin, and Stefany Ildefonso | VIDEO
- Optimal Propagation Conditions of Mussaenda in Barbados | Angelica Bourgeault, Jingyi Zhang, and Melanie Marshall | VIDEO
- Natural Ventilation Augmented Cooling (NVAC) Greenhouse | VIDEO
- Analysis of the Health Status and Adaptability of New Zealand Red Rabbits in Barbados | Jerome Gélinas and Raina Fan | VIDEO
- Making Use of Sargassum in Barbados | Sophie Baker, Elena Cabot and Kisa Giebink | VIDEO
- Establishment of a Medical and Native Plant Garden for the Welchman Hall Gully | Jessica Hillman, Katie Simmons, & Sage Szkabarnicki Stuart | VIDEO 1 | VIDEO 2
Summer 2014
- Agricultural Tourism in Barbados.pdf | Alexander Cooper, Aaron Friedland, Marie-Sophie Iredale and Sharon Lopez | VIDEO
- Organic Waste Management in Barbados.pdf | Kesner Dabady, Priyanka Kapadia and Twisha Kini
- Naturally Ventilated Augment Cooling Greenhouse.pdf | Dillon Fields, Zainab Iqbal and Ryan Knight | VIDEO
- A Density Data Survey of Lionfish in Barbados.pdf | Alexander Wieb, Aaron Friedland, Manuela Vernaza and Lourace Trebble (UWI)
- A Comparative Study on Propagation of ficus alii.pdf | Miriam Belhadfa, Joelle Dahm and Aurelie Hawes | VIDEO
Alternative Feed Substitution for Blackbelly Sheep in Barbados | Marie-Pier Bolduc, Laura Lasry and Vijayeta Patel | VIDEO
Summer 2013
BITS won a Project Award from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA Canada) this year!
- A Preliminary Survey of Rubble Organisms at Two Disturbed Areas in Barbados .pdf | Alexandre Ferrari-Roy, Stephanie Maasik and Juliana Rosario | VIDEO
- Feed Substitution in Barbados Blackbelly Sheep Production - Weaning the Industry off of Expensive Imports.pdf | Jacqueline De Santis, Cullen Heater and Stephanie Trempe | VIDEO
- Studies in Solar Water Heating at Solar Dynamics Ltd.pdf | Michael Buckler, Matthieu Saive and Gabriel Wetzel
- Leucaena as an Alternative Forage and Concentrate Substitute for Barbadian Dairy Goats.pdf | Zachary Goldberg, Erik Hauner and Natasha Salter | VIDEO
- Raising New Zealand White Rabbits in Barbados_-_Analysis of the Environment Feasibility and Growth Rate.pdf | Diane Hardy, Kevin Drouin-Leger and Amaury Berteaud
- Bitter Melon (Momordica_charantia) in Barbados.pdf | Sarah Fioravanti, Dominique Souris (University of Waterloo) and Vivien Underdown
Summer 2012
BITS won a Project Award from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA Canada) this year!
- Bajan Achatina An Alternative Control of the Giant African Snail through Human Consumption in Barbados.pdf written by Asma Babar, Nathaniel Freeman, Christie O’Loughlin and Aileen Shu-Yu Wong
- An Organic Permaculture Demonstration Garden at the Future Centre Trust.pdf written by Paula Hincapie and Julia Poetschke
- Barbados Giant African Snail as a Component of Commercial Broiler Feed.pdf written by Marianne Roaldi and Tamara Skootsky
- The Mechanics of the Bounty System: Public Collection and Population Estimations of Achatina_fulica.pdf written by Heather Cross and Colin LaRoche
- Rats, GAS and Nematodes: Interactions in Barbados.pdf written by Clare Buchanan and Madeline Stark
- Trapping the Achatina fulica in Barbados and beyond: an assessment of trap design effectiveness and potential.pdf written by Brenna Coleman, William Dreyer and Forrest MacDonald
Summer 2011
BITS won a Project Award from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA Canada) this year!
Read about the Giant African Snails (GAS):
- Gas as Chickenfeed.pdf written by Thomas Dashwood, Anne Reglain and Margot Roux
- Traps for GAS.pdf written by Anna Kalkanis-Ellis, Martin Legault and Tamara Provencher
- Gas: Potential Health Effects and Efforts to Control Snail Population.pdf, written by Sarah Cascarino, Dominique Murray and Neha Paliwal
Summer 2009
- The Economic Benefits of Backyard Gardening in Barbados.pdf written by Katia Colton-Gagnon, Lauren Forbes and Annelise Miller
- Photovoltaic System Design at Kendall Dairy Farm.pdf written by Alenjandro Jaul, David Gourlay and Gauthier Derrien
- The Use of Herbal Remedies and the Perception of these Practices in the Barbadian Population.pdf written by Annie Lallement and Sariné Willis-O’Connor
- Overall Cost and Viability Analysis of a Solar Energy Installation at Foursquare Rum Factory.pdf written by Emma Brown and Edouard Michaux
- Body Composition and Dietary Intake Patterns among Barbadian School Students.pdf written by Stacey Carter and Sarah Levesque