Research and Wool: Collaborating with UQAR on Sheep Enhancement
Sheep farming and textile processing are not just economic activities: they also raise fascinating scientific questions that deserve serious research attention. It is with this in mind that Makeloo Studio has been collaborating since 2023 with a team of researchers from the Université du Québec à Rimouski, on a project entitled "Valuing Sheep."
This collaboration is part of UQAR's Department of Anthropology and Natural Sciences, a disciplinary combination that truly reveals the richness of the subject: valuing sheep is not just a matter of animal husbandry or production efficiency. It is also a cultural, historical, and social question, touching on the place of sheep farming in rural Quebec, and the ways in which a traditional agricultural resource can be reinvented to meet contemporary challenges of sustainability and the circular economy.
For Marcelo Ribeiro Martins, this participation as a research team member is a natural fit for his background, which already combines university training in sociology and linguistics with in-depth practical expertise in spinning and textile processing. This dual competence—academic and artisanal—allows the research team to gain a field perspective rarely available in a purely academic context, while in return benefiting from methodological rigor that enriches Makeloo Studio's daily practice.
Why should this scientific collaboration interest you, who may work with wool for purely creative or practical reasons? Because it illustrates an often-overlooked dimension of the Quebec wool sector: behind every processed fleece, there is still largely untapped knowledge potential on the best ways to valorize this resource, both economically, environmentally, and culturally.
This participation in university research also indirectly strengthens Makeloo Studio's institutional credibility with financial and governmental partners, who see this commitment as additional proof of the rigor and seriousness with which our company approaches all its activities—well beyond the simple artisanal processing visible in the shop.
Source: Makeloo Studio Laine Québec Inc. Business Plan (2026); Université du Québec à Rimouski.