UNews - Craig Wheaton

Chinook Symposium winners announced

trevor.kenney — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:20:35 +0000

Craig Wheaton won the first-ever Loren Hepler Gold Medal for PhD research excellence as the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry held the 3rd Annual Chinook Symposium for Chemistry and Biochemistry in early October.

The symposium and associated poster prize is held to recognize undergraduate and graduate students performing original research in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The Chinook Poster Prizes have been established at the undergraduate and master's levels, but new this year was the addition of the Loren Hepler Gold Medal for PhD research excellence. Two people gave presentations about their PhD research, with Wheaton winning the gold medal and Jeffrey Fischer placing second.

Judges for the annual contest included: Dr. Peter Dibble, Gary Knox and Jared Nieboer (Richardson Nutrition) for the Chemistry prize; Dr. Steven Mosimann, Dr. James Thomas and Sandor Dudas (ADRI) for the Biochemistry prize; Dr. Rene Boere and Dr. Brent Selinger for the PhD prize.

Following are the winners from the 3rd Annual Chinook Symposium for Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Chemistry – Undergraduate
First - Cassandra Churchill
Second - Shayne Rybchinski

Chemistry – Master's
First - Jennifer Przyblski
Second - Kevin Johnson

Biochemistry – Undergraduate
First - Mackenzie Coatham
Second - Michael Shields

Biochemistry – Master's
First - Evelina De Laurentiis
Second - Jessica Durand

PhD Presentations
First - Craig Wheaton
Second - Jeffrey Fischer

Probing beneath the surface

trevor.kenney — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:10:28 +0000

While you cannot see individual waves of light, they collectively compose a spectrum that allows our eyes to perceive emerald hills and brilliant blue oceans.

Digital photography has opened up ways of capturing light and colour far beyond what the human eye detects, but traditional formatting methods (like JPG) have limited the information the camera preserves to keep files small, explains ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumnus Christopher Myhr (BFA '08).

This changed several years ago with the emergence of RAW: a format that captures unadulterated digital images in still photography. The result? Greater editing options and the ability to shoot images that were previously too difficult or expensive.

While professionals jumped on board, academia and the art community has been slow to explore RAW's full range of possibilities. Myhr has been working to fill this void. As an undergraduate student in the Department of Art, he systematically explored the tool's technical possibilities, largely by incorporating new techniques in his own works. His accomplishments earned him the J. Armand Bombadier CGS Masters Award.

This fall he'll start his master's degree at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where he hopes to examine RAW's impact on society and the art world.

"Essentially, digital technology is now ubiquitous – it's everywhere. I'm interested in looking at how tools like RAW are affecting people and the history of photography," he says.

Like Myhr, Craig Wheaton has focused his studies on an often overlooked subject: the creation of biodegradable plastic.

Wheaton, a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is working to develop catalysts – chemicals that trigger particular reactions – involved in the creation of polylactide polymer.

Derived from renewable resources like wheat and corn, the plastic is currently on the market (it can be found in certain kinds of food packaging), but there's a need to create cheaper, more efficient ways of producing it. A better chemical catalyst can make this happen, says Wheaton, who recently earned a doctoral scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).

"I really believe in the development of plastics made from renewable resources - this is a sustainable way of developing materials. I'm really quite interested in environmental issues, and I would like to do a little bit to make a difference if I can."

Wheaton, who published six times as an undergraduate and master's student, chose doctoral studies at the U of L over larger institutions. "It has a good balance between the resources of a large school and the atmosphere and learning environment of a small school."

Ambra Gullacher has also aligned her academic career with a strong drive to make a difference. The undergraduate health sciences student is gearing up for a career in nursing and says recent research experience has changed her view of the profession.

Gullacher has been participating in an interdisciplinary, international research study of the impact of wildfires on rural communities. Led by nursing researcher Dr. Judith Kulig, the research team represents a wide range of disciplines and locations (Canada, the U.S. and Australia).

"What we're looking at, on a community collective scale, is what has t

he community's response to the fire been both immediately and in the aftermath?" says Gullacher. Gullacher has been working as an undergraduate project leader on a program examining two communities which experienced wildfires in the last decade: La Ronge, Sask., and Barriere, B.C. In 2003, Barriere was evacuated for a month when forest fires ripped through BC's interior. La Ronge was affected by forest fires in 1999, though the impact has been long-lasting. "Some people talk about it as if it happened yesterday," she says.

While the SSHRC-funded research is ongoing, some themes have already emerged.

"A lot of people have identified a sense of community as a factor in resiliency," she says. "When you live in a community that's smaller and is farther away from the city or other services, you're more dependent on each other. And because of that dependence, there's a bond there."

She's been amazed to discover that in some ways, the fires ben

efited the communities.

In Barriere, a mill where most of the community worked was slated to be shut down before the fire, and property values were expected to plummet.

When the fire destroyed the mill, it didn't re-open, but ex-employees received insurance and relief money from the loss of their homes, and were able to either relocate or rebuild.

"There's been a bit of a rejuvenation – a reclaiming of the community's sense of pride and spirit – whereas before there was a sense that things were going downhill."

Gullacher's work has earned her a Canadian Institutes for Health Research Health Professional Student Research Award and an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Summer Studentship Award. It's also taught her that health isn't just a matter of physical well-being; it's impacted greatly by how a community affects people emotionally and socially.

"Being able to see how a community works together, and how it acts as its own little organism gives me a better perspective."

Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick Vice-President (Research)

trevor.kenney — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:18:19 +0000

Welcome to the fall 2008 issue of FIAT: Furthering Innovation and Teaching

The U of L's growth as a comprehensive academic and research institution is reflected by our growth in research performance: the recruitment of 10 research Chairs; the development of the Prentice Institute for Global Population and our first endowed research Chair; and the evolution of the graduate program to embrace doctoral studies.

This year again, we have been successful in many provincial and national competitions, including those of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and others. In addition, eight successful applicants received awards from the newly established Community of Excellence in Research Development Opportunities (CREDO) program to further their endeavours in social science and humanities research. A listing of all our accomplished scholars is included in this issue. We applaud each of you and wish you continued success.

Breakthroughs in knowledge increasingly require the ability to address problems that cannot be solved by a single discipline. We must facilitate and invest in new models of collaboration and cooperation that enable us to engage partners in problem-solving and knowledge translation. The U of L remains committed to supporting multidisciplinary teams and projects that are both relevant and beneficial to our community. This issue of FIAT showcases a sampling of our collaborative success stories and the difference their research is making in the community.

Research excellence at the U of L is not limited to our faculty however. This year, 83 student recipients will share an average $12,863 in funding in 14 award categories. Three of them are featured on our back cover: Ambra Gullacher, an undergraduate student completing her studies in health sciences; Christopher Myhr, who through his studies here, has received a Fine Arts award to pursue a master's degree; and Craig Wheaton, who specifically chose our PhD program in chemistry and biochemistry.

Congratulations to all our successful ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and students. I hope you enjoy reading about some of their research in this issue of FIAT.

UNews - Craig Wheaton

Chinook Symposium winners announced

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Probing beneath the surface

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Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick Vice-President (Research)

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