UNews - Alberta

IME up and running with new director at the helm

trevor.kenney — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 19:44:07 +0000

For the first time since the program’s introduction, the Faculty of Management’s Integrated Management Experience (IME) is under new stewardship.

Management professor Mike Madore is now at the helm of the highly regarded experiential program, taking over after 15 years of leadership by Dan Kazakoff. Madore is energized by the opportunity.

“The entire crux of the program is giving students the opportunity to use what they are learning in the classroom in an applied fashion, in a real-life situation,” he says. “That is something I’ve always tried to incorporate in my classes. As early as I can, I try and get students out using the theory they’re being taught in class and applying it in a real business setting.”

Mike Madore's IME class will be focussing its efforts on assisting Harbor House this year.

Madore has been at the U of L since 2003, first as a sessional instructor and then, for the past eight years, as a full-time educator. Previously, he taught at the secondary school level as well as for several other post-secondary level institutions.Madore also has experience as a business consultant and worked as a commercial lender with BMO for four years. The focus of the IME program, which is built on a solid foundation of community engagement, theory and practice, mirrors his philosophy on the role of the Faculty of Management in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and southern Alberta as a whole.

“I really think it’s important that we have a strong connection with the local business community, and I’ve always looked at ways to try and engage the community,” he says. “It’s really a win-win when you can involve students with the business community. They get an opportunity to work on real problems that businesses are struggling with and the businesses benefit because they get consulting advice from students who are being educated with the latest expertise.”

IME involves students enrolling in two management modules, Mgt 3091 and Mgt 3092. In the first semester, Madore meets with representatives from a selected community organization and gains an appreciation for a challenge they are facing from a managerial perspective – essentially a business case problem the students work to solve. The second semester sees the students coordinate a sponsorship activity that raises funds for the selected entity.

“In the short term, I’m not going to move away from that model too much because I like the concept,” says Madore. “One thing we’re trying to do with the students is add additional factors, such as social media, and take advantage of that to promote IME not only a little more internally here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ but outside to the general public as well.”

This year’s chosen organization is YWCA’s Harbor House. Madore says that as the program continues to evolve, he’d like to keep the focus on non-profit organizations that simply do not have the funds or expertise to manage their affairs as efficiently as possible.

“Many non-profits don’t have big budgets and are run on a volunteer basis,” he says. “As IME continues to evolve, I’d like to capture some of the lesser known non-profits in the Lethbridge area and give them an opportunity.”

With a cohort of just 22 students this year, Madore says he’d like to see that number climb back to its capacity of 36. He can’t overstate the value it brings to their educational experience, and with the majority of students who participate in IME in their third year of study; it creates meaningful pathways into the business world.

“IME allows students to flex some of the theory that they have captured in class in a real world setting,” he says. “At the same time, we’re a liaison or bridge to the community and the non-profit sector. We want to make sure we do the best we can for our partners in the community.”

To learn more about IME, visit the program’s website at ulethime.com or contact Madore at 403-329-2439 or michael.madore@uleth.ca.

Expert in American water law to study Alberta’s water rules as Fulbright Visiting Research Chair at the U of L

caroline.zentner — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 17:29:40 +0000

The hot, dry summer across western North America was a reminder of the importance of carefully managing the water supply but it’s something Reed Benson, a faculty member in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of New Mexico School of Law, has been aware of since his earliest days growing up on the American plains.

“I have always felt that water was important not just to societies and communities and ecosystems, it was also important to me. I went to law school thinking I could learn something to help me play a role in how water was managed. That’s always felt like the best use of my time,” he says. “I’ve spent my career working on issues of water and the environment.”

Benson will be spending the fall semester in southern Alberta as he conducts research into water law as the Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Water and the Environment. He was drawn to the U of L because of its focus on water research and the expertise available here.

“I have always focused on the water challenges of the western United States and there are enough similarities in southern Alberta, both on the water supply and demand side and the legal aspects, that I thought I could learn some relevant lessons here,” says Benson.

In the western United States, as in southern Alberta, water was historically allocated without much thought about environmental impacts. Most of the widely available water has already been allocated, largely for irrigation purposes, says Benson. Now, it’s better understood that taking too much water out of a river damages aquatic and riparian ecosystems and the challenge is to develop water management practices that take the health of the river into account, along with the needs of society and the economy.

While some similarities exist between water laws in the United States and those in Canada, Benson is particularly interested in how Alberta changes operating plans for water projects like dams and reservoirs in light of changing needs for water, increasing scientific knowledge, and the expected effects of climate change. In the western U.S., the federal government operates many of the major dams.

“The practice has really been not to revise the operating plans for these reservoirs even though all of those things are changing and they’re not required to revise them,” he says. “It makes a lot of sense to engage the public and stakeholders to talk about how a dam should be operated in the future. In Alberta, there seems to be more willingness to be flexible in looking at some of these same issues.”

Benson will be studying developments in the Oldman and Bow river basins. In addition to collaborating with researchers at the U of L, Benson will also connect with law professors at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta.

“With the Rockies and the plains, this is a beautiful, interesting part of North America and I am excited to have the chance to spend a few months here,” he says.

Fulbright Canada is a not-for-profit organization with a mandate to identify the best and brightest minds in both the United States and Canada and engage them in academic exchange. Fulbright Canada provides support to students, teachers and independent researchers through a variety of programs, including the Fulbright Visiting Research Chairs Program.

Summer time is research time for six local high school students

caroline.zentner — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 18:03:15 +0000

Summer time usually gives high school students a break from learning, but six local students have spent most of their summer getting educated about research instead.

The Heritage Youth Researcher Summer (HYRS) program, funded by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (AIHS), gives students in Grade 11 the chance to spend six weeks participating in health-related scientific research labs and research centres at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Grace Forster, who will be entering Grade 12 at Lethbridge Collegiate Institute in September, is one of six HYRS students at the U of L this summer. She applied to the HYRS program because she enjoys the sciences and thought the program would help her find out if she enjoys laboratory work and whether she wants to study science after high school.

She began working in Dr. Gerlinde Metz’s lab on July 8, analyzing data from a research study into the effects of travel stress on mice.

“We do a lot of stress research in the Metz lab. One of the things that isn’t typically controlled very well is shipment stress,” says Forster. “Almost every laboratory gets animals shipped because most don’t have the capacity to maintain breeding colonies that will be big enough. We’re essentially looking at how shipment stress affects basic motor function in adult mice.”

To gauge motor function, Forster took measurements of stride length, distance between the hind feet and rotation of the feet in a sample of travel-stressed mice. These measurements were compared to those gathered from a sample of mice bred in house. Forster spent the first three or four weeks completing the data set, which involved a lot of painstaking hand measurements.

“We found that the shipment-stressed animals had significantly shorter stride lengths, which indicates they would have less postural stability and slower walking speeds,” says Forster. “They would respond differently to the behaviour and motor tests.”

The results show that findings from research studies could be skewed if both in-house mice and shipment-stressed mice are used in the same project. Forster says the results point to a need to use only one kind of mouse in a research project to ensure consistency.

During the HYRS program, Forster helped out with a variety of other projects, too. She learned how to handle mice, weigh pups and mothers and measure their body circumference. In addition, the HYRS students took part in educational tours, attended brown bag lunches with panels and presentations, and heard from university professors and university students about their scientific careers.

“We had the opportunity to visit the gross anatomy lab in Calgary (the cadaver lab at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary medical school), which was very interesting,” she says. “That was one of the coolest experiences.”

The HYRS students also had some fun — Forster’s favourite activity was The Great Escape, a live-action, escape-the-room adventure.

She wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the HYRS program to other high school students.

“I don’t think there’s anything else like this program that can give high school students the type of experience in the sciences that can make an impact on their university education or their careers,” she says.

Other HYRS students at the U of L include Eyram Asem, a Winston Churchill High School (WCHS) student, who worked in Dr. Robbin Gibb’s lab and Kai Bailey, from Chinook High School, who worked in Dr. Bryan Kolb’s lab. Kate Chua, from Catholic Central High School (CCHS), spent time in Dr. Robert Sutherland’s lab and Anileen Pageni, a WCHS student, worked in Dr. Ute Kothe’s lab. Daniel Rocca, a student from CCHS, worked in Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden’s lab.

Sexual and reproductive rights to be examined during conference

caroline.zentner — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 21:01:44 +0000

Alberta has its own dark history of controlling sexuality, starting with the Alberta Sterilization Act enacted in 1928. While the act was repealed more than 40 years ago, organizers of the Controlling Sexuality and Reproduction conference felt it was time to explore the current situation concerning people’s sexual and reproductive rights.

“It’s a human right to have access to sexual and reproductive autonomy, to have the capacity to make choices about your sexuality and your family life,” says Dr. Claudia Malacrida, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge sociology professor who, with Dr. Suzanne Lenon of the Women and Gender Studies department, is organizing the conference set to run from Aug. 12 to 14. “We’re seeing that in new ways around things like gay marriage but there have always been groups of people for whom such autonomy is not permissible.”

Organizers of the Controlling Sexuality and Reproduction conference include, from left to right, Drs. Claudia Malacrida and Suzanne Lenon, and Tiffani Semach, Sociology department project co-ordinator.

Such groups can include people with disabilities or mental health problems, people with non-heterosexual practices or identities, transgendered people, First Nations people, those who practice polygamy or polyamory, and impoverished people.

“People who were targeted 100 years ago are every bit as likely to be targeted in this era. It’s just a leopard that doesn’t change its spots in a lot of ways,” she says. “The hidden message is that there is an ideal citizen who is entitled to emotional relationships, committed sexual encounters and the capacity to have children and raise them.”

The Controlling Sexuality and Reproduction conference will bring together presenters in a variety of disciplines, including history, sociology, women and gender studies, anthropology, law, and disability studies, from around the world.

“We have people from all of those disciplines represented, speaking about varied ways of constraining perceived troubled sexuality and reproduction,” says Malacrida. “The conference really does address all kinds of notions about what ‘normal’ looks like and what kinds of privileges are conferred upon those deemed to be normal, while the rest are left to struggle to obtain their rights.”

The conference opens on Aug. 12 with a keynote speech from Dr. Paul Lombardo, a professor of law with Georgia State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ who has written about the legal history of the American eugenics movement. The next two days will be filled with almost 60 presentations, poster displays and several workshops. Presentation topics include everything from transgender reproduction to the birth control movement in China. In addition, an information and book fair will be available Thursday. Closing keynote speaker Dorothy Roberts, a professor of law and sociology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Pennsylvania and author of ‘Killing the Black Body,’ is a social justice advocate whose work touches on law and the intersections of race, class and gender.

In addition, a gala on the evening of Aug. 13 will showcase performance-based artists, poets and dancers. Included in the lineup are CRIPSiE, an Edmonton-based inclusive dance organization, and Kathy Austin, a spoken word artist.

The opening reception, keynote speeches, academic talks and the information and book fair are open to the general public.

“We organized this conference not just to have a bunch of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ standing at a podium giving a talk, but to show that change is being produced at the grass roots level and that academic work matters,” says Malacrida.

Tickets to the gala evening and performances are available online through Conference Services. Conference events can be followed using the Twitter hashtag #controllingsex2015.

Sharing the prairie landscape with rattlesnakes

caroline.zentner — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 16:09:43 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is built into the coulee slopes along the Oldman River, an area that’s also habitat for the prairie rattlesnake.

Rattlesnakes are periodically seen on campus during the spring, summer and fall months as they travel in search of food. This fall, the rattlesnakes will migrate back to their den site for the winter but they may appear on campus over the next couple of months. A locally made video of a recent rattlesnake relocation can be found on YouTube at Rattlesnake at Piikani House.

“Rattlesnakes are cold-blooded and rely on external sources to regulate their body temperature. They cannot tolerate extreme hot or cold for very long and, because of this, most human encounters with rattlesnakes occur before noon as the day heats up and again in the evening when it cools down,” says Ryan Heavy Head, ecological consultant for the City of Lethbridge.

The prairie rattlesnake can be identified by its arrow-shaped head and its olive green, yellow and brown colouring.

Often the first indication of a rattlesnake is the sound of its rattle. Rattlesnakes are shy by nature and will retreat rather than strike if they have the choice. But if they are surprised, cornered or stepped on, they can strike at a distance of up to half their length. Their venom is not especially lethal and no one in Alberta has died from a prairie rattlesnake bite.

If you encounter a rattlesnake on campus, back away slowly, remain calm, and give the snake plenty of space. Call U of L Security Services at 403-329-2345 and they will stand by and make arrangements for the snake to be relocated.

In the event a rattlesnake bites you, remain calm and get to a hospital as soon as possible. Do not try to suck or cut the venom out as it is quickly absorbed into the blood stream. Early treatment of rattlesnake bites usually results in a full recovery.

In Alberta, it’s illegal to kill a rattlesnake, possess rattlesnakes or their parts, or damage their denning areas.

More information is available on the City of Lethbridge website and information pamphlets are available at U of L Security Services.

U of L researchers benefit from Canada Foundation for Innovation funding

caroline.zentner — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 17:06:33 +0000

Projects that involve the quest for new cancer-fighting drugs, the preservation of floodplain forests, and the creation of a digital library to support thousand-year-old crosses got a boost today with the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund announcement.

The Honourable Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), announced $30 million for research infrastructure in support of projects across the country, which is allowing scientists to expand their knowledge in aquaculture and other areas as diverse as architectural history and chronic pain. At the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, more than $200,000 will go to three research projects.

Drs. Larry Flanagan and Stewart Rood, both biology professors, will receive more than $81,000 to establish an ecosystem-scale flux system to make long-term measurements of water vapour, carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in cottonwood riparian forests. The measurements will help them define how much river water is used by cottonwood trees in the extensive floodplain forests that line southern Alberta rivers. River waters are facing increased demands from a growing population, more economic development and for agricultural irrigation. Flanagan and Rood want to determine how much water needs to be left in southern Alberta rivers to sustain a healthy aquatic and riparian ecosystem.

“Proper management of river water resources is of fundamental importance to our citizens because most of Canada’s municipal areas are located along rivers. Effective management of river flows to allow removal of water for agricultural and industrial activities, while still leaving enough water to sustain our aquatic and riparian ecosystems is a high priority for all citizens,” says Flanagan.

Dr. Roy Golsteyn, a biochemistry professor and cancer researcher, will receive slightly more than $91,000 for laboratory infrastructure for his Prairie to Pharmacy research program dedicated to investigating the cancer-fighting properties of prairie plants such as the buffalo bean. The plant has shown promising signs of medicinal properties and, this summer, Golsteyn and his team identified six other prairie plants to investigate for anti-cancer effects.

“The award includes a new cancer cell imaging system that will watch hundreds of cells around the clock as they are treated with prairie plant extracts,” says Golsteyn. “It will be great for training students as they will have access to leading-edge equipment.”

Combined with gifts-in-kind from suppliers and a commitment from the province for matching funding, the award could total $250,000. Golsteyn says early support from the U of L allowed his lab to reach the level necessary to be selected for a national award. Now, the new equipment will help attract international research companies to work with Golsteyn and his team. Local donors, whether organizations or private individuals, who would like to help advance Golsteyn’s work are always welcome.

Dr. Daniel Paul O’Donnell, an English professor with expertise in Digital Humanities and Old and Middle English language and literature, will continue research on the Visionary Cross Project thanks to an infrastructure support award worth slightly more than $28,000. The award was the only one of its kind in Canada this year under the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) competition in association with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). This is the third award the project has earned this year. O’Donnell has also been awarded a four-year, $233,000 Insight award from SSHRC and a one-year $9,000 allotment from the Graphics, Animation and New Media (GRAND) National Centre of Excellence.

Dr. Daniel Paul O'Donnell, right, and James Graham scan a fragment from the Ruthwell Cross in April, 2012. (c)Visionary Cross Project, 2012, CC-BY.

“These funds will be used in the development of a digital library to support the cultural and textual heritage and multidisciplinary research on objects belonging to the Visionary Cross tradition in Anglo-Saxon England,” says O’Donnell.

The Visionary Cross Project focuses on the Ruthwell and Bewcastle stone crosses in Northern England and Scotland, the Brussels reliquary cross in Belgium, and the ‘Dream of the Rood’ and ‘Elene’ poems from the Anglo-Saxon Vercelli Book manuscript in Italy. These objects are all more than a thousand years old and are closely related to each other. The crosses have carved panels that depict scriptural scenes, and are bordered by inscriptions in Latin, Runic and Old English. These inscriptions have similar wording to that found in the Vercelli book.

Combining technology such as 3D modeling and gaming, the Visionary Cross Project will give scholars the chance to study these artifacts in a unique way and advance knowledge in the Digital Humanities and Anglo-Saxon studies. U of L professors Wendy Osborn and James Graham were co-applicants on the grants. Osborn will be responsible for developing the digital library, including metadata, cataloguing and organization of 2D and 3D data for user-centered retrieval. Graham is developing online and interactive virtual environments.The Visionary Cross team has been collecting digital representations of these objects over the last eight years.

“We would like to bring these diverse and informally catalogued collections together to form an organized, multimedia Digital Library accessible to all and able to be expanded in the future,” says O’Donnell.

Study shows Battle River clam populations in drastic decline

caroline.zentner — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 16:14:25 +0000

Freshwater mussels in Alberta spend their lives out of sight but a Finnish researcher who has studied them since 1993 hopes they don’t stay out of mind.

The results of a study by Dr. Jouni Taskinen, a professor from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Jyväskylä in Finland who is a world expert on freshwater mussels, and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge biology professor Dr. Cam Goater, point to a troubling trend.

Taskinen and Goater have studied the Battle River southeast of Edmonton, a river that hosts the highest diversity of freshwater clams in Alberta.

Dr. Jouni Taskinen, holding a quadrat that will cordon off a section of the riverbed, prepares to take a sample of the clam populations in the Battle River.

“There’s some good news and some bad news,” says Taskinen. “The good news is that we could find small, one-year-old individuals of even the rare species. That shows that even the rarest species are reproducing in the river. It is a good sign of current reproduction, but the bad news is that there has been a drastic decline in clam density.”

Taskinen says similar results are being reported in many other areas of the world, making freshwater mussels one of the most endangered aquatic organisms.

“It’s quite a universal phenomenon that almost everywhere, native freshwater mussels are declining and there are probably several reasons that act together,” he says.

Those reasons include the building of dams, which affect the mobility of fish, increasing amounts of silt on the river bottom from human activities like construction, toxic contaminants in the water, or hot, dry weather that reduces water flows. Natural enemies like clam-eating muskrats, dam-building beavers and sterilizing parasites are also on the list. Fortunately, the exotic, invasive mussel species like the zebra mussel are not yet a problem in Alberta.

Taskinen and Goater were post-doctoral fellows at the same lab at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta when they first began studying clams in the Battle River. They decided to conclude their study this year since Taskinen is on sabbatical leave. In early June, Taskinen, his wife and four daughters arrived in Lethbridge to continue the study and to explore southern Alberta.

The Battle River is a hotspot of clam diversity in Alberta, likely because the river, which doesn’t originate in the mountains, has a more stable bottom environment that isn’t subjected to spring flooding. Taskinen and Goater have taken samples from the river every 11 years to assess clam biodiversity in the river and to evaluate changes in the density and age structure of clam populations.

“We don’t usually even see them but they are important players in the river or lake ecosystem,” says Taskinen. “They collect material from the water column and transfer it to the bottom where it is a good food source for insect larvae, for example. The insect larvae, on the other hand, are food for fish. Mussels provide all sorts of ecosystem services, including cleansing of water.”

Alberta is home to four main species of freshwater mussels, including the fatmucket, the most common clam, the white heelsplitter, the giant floater and the creek heelsplitter.

The life cycle of the clam begins with a larval stage. The adult female releases larvae called glochidia that attach themselves to the gills or fins of fish. Under normal circumstances, they don’t hurt the fish, but stay attached for two weeks to a month as they metamorphose into juveniles and then drop off to settle on the river bottom. If they happen to settle into a suitable environment, a new mussel bed is formed.

From left to right are a giant floater, creek heelsplitter, white heelsplitter, female fatmucket and male fatmucket. Photos courtesy of Jouni Taskinen.

As filter feeders, a mussel can filter 10 to 30 litres of water per day, cleaning it in the process. They eat microscopic algae but collect all sorts of particles from the water and what they don’t eat, they pack into a ball of slime that they spit out onto the river bottom.

The distribution and occurrence of clams in Alberta, and in many other parts of the world, haven’t really been mapped out because they are not easy to find. But scientists do know that 40 species, out of 400 to 500 species of clams in the world, have gone extinct in the last century and many others are close to extinction.

“Mapping the distribution and densities of clams in Alberta rivers is a top priority for the management and conservation of this important but poorly known part of biological diversity. That’s one of the directions that we would like to take our research in the future,” he says.

Taskinen and his family will return to Finland at the end of July but they’ve used their time in Alberta to visit mountain and prairie landscapes alike.

“We have enjoyed being here and the weather in Lethbridge has been so nice while it’s been cold and rainy in Finland,” he says.

U of L biology students receive honours at Canadian Society of Zoologists meeting

caroline.zentner — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 17:11:43 +0000

A group of five ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students, working under the tutelage of Dr. Cam Goater of the Department of Biological Sciences, distinguished themselves at the recent Canadian Society of Zoologists meeting in Calgary.

Led by award winners Stephanie Reimer and Bradley Van Paridon, the group presented papers in a variety of sections and garnered significant attention for the research work being done at the U of L.

“I am extremely proud of the remarkable successes of our students at this conference,” says Goater, a foremost expert in the study of parasitism. “These competitions for Best Student Paper are getting more and more competitive, so to have two different students win two different competitions was a real thrill for our group.”

Left to right are Natalia Phillips, Brad van Paridon, Dr. Cam Goater, Melissa Beck, Stephanie Reimer and Zach Dempsey.

Reimer, who defended her Master of Science in April 2015, won the prestigious Cas C. Lindsey Prize for the best student presentation within the fields of behaviour, ecology and evolution. She is a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Post-Graduate Fellowship winner as well, and competed against master’s and PhD students from across the country for the Lindsey Prize.

Reimer’s presentation, Ecological Epidemiology of an Emerging Virus in Tiger Salamanders in Southern Alberta, discusses how emerging infectious diseases are a leading cause of global declines in amphibian populations.

“The emergence of Amybstoma tigrinum virus (ATV) in tiger salamander populations in southern Alberta has led to concerns regarding the population status of this prairie icon,” says Reimer. “Results from a longitudinal survey of a larval salamander population in Livingston Lake, Alberta showed that ATV transmission is strongly seasonal, increasing in prevalence from 0 to 100 per cent between early July and the timing of metamorphosis in mid-August. Despite consistency between years in the seasonal pattern of transmission, variability in annual ATV-induced mortality was extremely high. Our early results suggest that ecological factors that influence host quality act in addition, or synergistically, to ATV exposure to contribute to the magnitude of ATV-induced outbreaks within larval salamander populations.”

Van Paridon, who is in the midst of his PhD, won the Murray Fallis Award for the top student presentation in the fields of parasitology and immunology.

“He uses modern molecular tools to understand how invasive parasites enter host populations, how they spread, and the consequences they have on their new hosts,” says Goater. “The parasite he is studying is best known for its bizarre ability to turn one of its hosts (ants) into zombies that cling tightly onto vegetation at night.”

Van Paridon splits his time between the U of L and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and recently won a fellowship from the National Center for Veterinary Parasitology in the United States. His paper was titled, Invasion Pathway, Life-cycle, and Host Utilization of Emerging Liver Fluke, Dicrocoelium dendriticum, in Wildlife and Cattle in Cypress Hills, Alberta.

“The lancet liver fluke emerged in Cypress Hills Park (CHP) in the 1990s. Results from annual host surveys show that 60 to 90 per cent of sympatric elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer and beef cattle are infected, with individual hosts often harbouring more than 1000 gravid worms,” says Van Paridon. “At this site of emergence, the life-cycle involves at least three species of Formicid ant as second intermediate host and one species of terrestrial snail (Oreohelix) as first host. Using two molecular markers, mtDNA gene sequences and microsatellites, we genotyped samples of adult worms from hosts in CHP, two other invasion sites in North America, and sites in Europe. Our results are consistent with invasion of CHP from multiple sources, likely via trans-border movement of domestic stock. An understanding of invasion pathway, life-cycle and host utilization patterns provide important tools for mitigating future spread of liver fluke to comparable sites in North America.”

Three of Goater’s other graduate students presented papers at the conference as well. Master of Science students Zach Dempsey and Natalia Phillips each presented, as did PhD student Melissa Beck.

“Melissa was selected to compete for the William S. Hoar Award for overall Best Student Oral Presentation,” says Goater. “Students have to submit separate proposals to compete for what is considered the most prestigious award of the annual meeting and she was one of six students selected to present, which is a real honour. She did not win, but it was a thrill to see her compete against students from the biggest and best-known labs in the country.”

The annual meeting once again highlighted the outstanding, national-level research work being done by ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge graduate students.

FNMI Centre’s first director links ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and traditional knowledge

caroline.zentner — Fri, 10 Jul 2015 16:42:46 +0000

Dr. Martha Many Grey Horses has come full circle with her appointment as director of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit Centre.

Originally from the Kainai First Nation, Many Grey Horses lived, studied and worked in the United States for many years before returning to Canada and more recently to southern Alberta.

“I feel very excited that the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has taken on this initiative. I feel it is a big step forward for the education of First Nations, Métis and Inuit people,” she says.

Many Grey Horses’ duties include managing Iikaisskini, the U of L’s FNMI Gathering Place, and co-ordinating initiatives across the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, with institutional partners and in the broader community.

Her own educational journey has given her experience, insight and wisdom that will benefit U of L Aboriginal students as they embark upon, continue and complete their post-secondary education.

A descendant of Chief Red Crow, she grew up with parents who demonstrated a traditional spiritual life. Her father, Alphonse, was the leader of societies and her mother, Ruth, supported the responsibilities that came with leadership. Her parents were keepers of the medicine pipe bundles and, as a child, she saw many ceremonies taking place in her home and spent time in the company of elders.

The residential school system, which she entered at age five, did not provide a positive association with education. She persisted nonetheless, completing her primary education at residential school and graduating from public high school in Cardston. While her parents encouraged their children to get an education, they also urged them to continue their spiritual development.

“We were living at a time when, as a teenager and even as a child, our personal cultural identity as nations was not nurtured by the government or by the society in general,” she says. “My parents understood that those traditional values were strongly connected to our personal cultural identity and that we must have a strong cultural foundation in order to survive or to function in this world out here.”

After high school, Many Grey Horses didn’t imagine she would go to college. She wanted to be at home where she could devote herself to her two passions — riding horses and sewing dresses. After staying at home for a while, her parents told her it was time to go to college. She began her studies at Mount Royal College and quit during the first semester.

“I went back home and informed my parents I had quit. I thought life would return to normal,” she says. “One day, my father was going to town and I hopped in without asking permission. Then he asked me ‘What are you doing?’ I said ‘I’m going to town with you.’ He said ‘No, you’re not coming to town with me. You decided to quit school. You find your way to town.’”

Her father’s words proved to be a turning point. She thought about them all day and by the time he arrived back home, she had made up her mind to return to school.

After completing two years at Mount Royal, she went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in social work at Montana State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and a master’s degree in social work at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Denver. She also completed a fellowship in Washington, D.C., and another master’s degree in educational administration and human development at National ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in San Diego. Many Grey Horses went on to achieve a PhD in educational thought and social cultural studies from Arbor ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Arizona.

“My education was not handed to me on a silver platter. I didn’t have a lot of money as a student so earlier on in my life I knew that I had to rely on my academic abilities,” she says. “The sacrifices I made through all those years, the loving discipline of my parents as a child — being on task, being on time, listening and completing assignments— all those life-enhancing values kicked in for me.”

Her early negative experiences with education were transformed when she began attending universities in the United States. There, she was greeted by a welcoming atmosphere and, coupled with the pride of identity shown by her American Indian peers, her perception of her cultural identity began to shift.

“To me that was the turning point. I found I had a strong desire to strive for academic excellence,” she says.

Being able to nurture the same desires in today’s students by building a community that brings together academic studies and traditional indigenous teachings drew Many Grey Horses to apply for the position of director at the U of L FNMI Centre.

“The U of L’s emphasis on creating an environment that is conducive to the personal, social, academic and cultural aspirations of students, staff and faculty is broad and very inclusive and that’s what I like about it,” she says.

Open Mike - May 2015, Change is afoot

trevor.kenney — Mon, 11 May 2015 21:24:56 +0000

The end of the spring semester is already upon us and as we prepare to celebrate our graduates at what promises to be another fantastic Convocation, I’d like to thank everyone for their tremendous efforts throughout the past year.

Over the course of the last few weeks, there have been some significant changes both here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and as well in the provincial political landscape.

Here, we’ve introduced a new Vice-President (Research) in Dr. Erasmus Okine, who comes to us very highly regarded from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta. I look forward to working with Dr. Okine in the future and am confident he will quickly feel comfortable as a part of the U of L family.

I am extremely grateful to Dr. Lesley Brown, who took on the role of Interim Vice-President (Research) this past year and led some very important initiatives. In particular, Lesley spurred the development of AGILITY and played a major role in the success of its recent launch. Her passion for entrepreneurship and innovation will see her play a lead role in the continued development of AGILITY as we move forward.

I also want to thank those on campus who did such a fine job in responding to the water line break we recently experienced. Their swift action and professionalism undoubtedly limited the damage to the affected areas.

Provincially, a massive shift in the political landscape has taken place and while it is too soon to tell how this will affect the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in particular and post-secondary education in general, we look forward to working with the new government and our new minister.

We believe that a post-secondary education continues to be a vital part of the future of Alberta in terms of economic development and diversification, strengthening our communities and improving the quality of life of all Albertans and we will continue to carry that message to the Alberta government.

We will also continue to work on the development of the Destination Project. It remains the most important capital project for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and now that the election is over, we will be circling back to continue to have conversations with the new government about how we can move this project forward.

There is also change at the national level, where recently, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) repositioned itself as Universities Canada. More than a cosmetic name change, this move was done to clarify our mandate and as one element of a broader advocacy strategy on a national level to try and position universities as positively as possible, in particular, on the eve of a federal election.

You will see more change at this spring’s Convocation ceremonies as we welcome a new chancellor into the fold, Janice Varzari. I urge everyone to come out for her installation and to attend any of the events associated with Convocation. Convocation is, without a doubt, the highlight of any academic year and always leaves me feeling a great sense of pride in our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. I look forward to seeing you there.

UNews - Alberta

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