Preparing, Deploying, and Maintaining Burkard Spore Samplers Across Southern Alberta

Monitoring the air for plant pathogens is a promising avenue of research for developing disease management tools. One of the main technologies used to capture air samples is the Burkard multi-vial cyclone sampler, manufactured by Burkard Manufacturing in the UK. Our lab has deployed these machines for several years across southern Alberta, however during that time they have performed inconsistently and required plenty of maintenance which was not previously accounted for in the research program. Because these samplers are located in remote locations, monitoring them to ensure they are working correctly has become an onerous task which we are not prepared for, both in terms of man hours and technological expertise. It is AAFC objective to contract with a company that will prepare, deploy, and maintain up to twelve Burkard spore samplers across southern Alberta. We are looking for a company that has the experience and resources to provide robust trouble shooting. The end goal is to obtain a consistent, reliable set of data from the spore samplers, which will enable the lab to fulfill its research duties.