UNews - Faculty of Arts & Science

Research partnership spurs progress in study that sees seaweed added to cow diets

trevor.kenney — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:25:46 +0000

A partnership between the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) provides exceptional opportunities for students to conduct interdisciplinary research in state-of-the-art labs and deliver significant results that can impact the entire agricultural sector.

Dr. Jeffrey Tingley takes his study to the field.

“Our two institutions possess complementary research expertise,” says Dr. Trushar Patel, biochemistry professor and associate dean in the Faculty of Arts & Science. “Together, they not only foster the development of novel research programs but also provide unique training opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students.”

“AAFC and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge are aligned on agricultural research themes, which provides students and researchers with local access to cutting-edge research facilities,” says Dr. Wade Abbott, an AAFC research scientist and adjunct professor at ULethbridge. “Collaborating with the Patel lab over the years has provided a training environment that allows ideas to grow.”

That was certainly the case for newly minted PhD Jeffrey Tingley (BSc ’16, MSc ’20, PhD ’26). He was curious about how cattle and other ruminants digest seaweed, which has different cell walls than land-grown plants. While you won’t often see many cows in Alberta eating seaweed, research has shown that adding it to their diet as a supplement can help lower methane emissions and provide some health benefits.

"While the majority of my research was based at AAFC, the partnership with ULethbridge played a key role in my academic development by offering mentorship, access to equipment and travel opportunities,” says Tingley. “These projects were a team effort. My co-supervisor, Dr. Trushar Patel, provided valuable guidance on project and manuscript design and support for attending international conferences, including the International Gut Microbiology Symposium.”

Working with Abbott, his co-supervisor at AAFC, Tingley partnered with Queensland ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Technology, Norwegian ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Life Science and industry partners, Beaver Meadows Farm and Cascadia Seaweed Corporation. He explored how the ruminant microbiome responded to unique seaweed cell wall polysaccharides in two research projects.

“In both studies, we were able to identify microorganisms that could digest these seaweeds and the enzymes they used for this process,” says Tingley, who is currently engaged in postdoctoral studies with Dr. Phil Pope at the Queensland ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane. “These studies demonstrate that the ability to digest seaweed is widely dispersed as a latent trait.”

Tingley’s work resulted in two research articles in the prestigious journal Nature Communications titled: Distribution of microbial carrageenan foraging pathways reveals a widespread latent trait within the ruminant intestinal microbiome and Alginate foraging is conserved in geographically and taxonomically distinct ruminant microbiomes.

The results show that an underlying ability to digest seaweed is present across geographically diverse animal and human gastrointestinal microbiomes, suggesting the potential of locally sourced, sustainable feed options to help address challenges associated with raising livestock in a changing climate.

Social sciences and humanities researchers secure greater than $1.175 million from SSHRC

trevor.kenney — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:30:55 +0000

The breadth of research excellence at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is reflected in the latest funding announcement from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), with 10 ULethbridge researchers representing four Faculties and one School all earning support for their work.

On behalf of the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, Karim Bardeesy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, announced in Edmonton Tuesday more than $289 million in support for 1,788 social sciences and humanities research projects and partnerships across Canada. The funded projects span a diverse range of topics — including climate change adaptation, economic recovery, social justice and impacts of emerging technologies on society — that will generate new knowledge and enable partnerships to help translate insights into solutions for people and their communities.

“Research in the social sciences and humanities is the cornerstone of a resilient, forward-thinking society,” says Bardeesy. “This announcement reflects our deep commitment to Canadian research. By supporting these projects, we are empowering scholars to develop the vital insights and collaborative solutions needed to build a more resilient, equitable and innovative future for everyone.”

The ULethbridge Faculty of Fine Arts, Faculty of Education, Dhillon School of Business and Faculty of Arts & Science, along with the School of Liberal Education combined to earn $1.175 million in SSHRC funding support through Insight Grants, Insight Development Grants and Partnership Engage Grants.

“This funding announcement really highlights the excellent work being done throughout the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, ULethbridge Vice-President Research. “When students come to study here, they are being educated and work alongside nationally funded researchers across multiple disciplines, many of which lead their fields in research initiatives. Congratulations to those who earned this valuable support from SSHRC for their respective projects.”

McMartin also notes that Faculty of Education Dean, Dr. Lisa Starr’s project, was the top ranked SSHRC project in Canada, followed closely by Faculty of Fine Arts Dean, Dr. Heather Davis-Fisch, and her drama project.

Insight Grants

Dr. Heather Davis-Fisch’s (Drama, $413,116) project addresses the problem of English-Canadian theatre historiography's reliance on textual analysis, scripts, and print documents, which has marginalized historically significant practices, particularly from underrepresented communities. Her research team will partner with galleries, archives, and museums to explore how alternate performance histories emerge from the analysis of archival objects and materials.

Dr. Kaylan Schwarz (Liberal Education, $69,014) is investigating the construction of feminist identities, and the social contexts which inform them. Combining visual methods, participatory methods, and intergenerational approaches, her project seeks to develop understandings of feminist representation and placemaking in the Canadian Prairies.

In Sierra Leone, girls and young women are often trapped in a cycle of dependency, health complications and poverty. Dr. Lisa Starr’s (Education, $368,933) project is aimed at reshaping gender dynamics for young female teachers in Sierra Leone by redistributing resources, expectations and responsibilities among new teachers. The intent is to study the impact of an integrative approach on Gender Transformation in teachers' personal lives and teaching practice, including their sense of professional identity and agency.

Insight Development Grants

Dr. David Balcarras (Philosophy, $26,354) seeks to address a fundamental question in philosophy of language: how words come to have meaning. By combining historical perspective with technical analysis, his project aims to clarify how best to explain the unbounded nature of linguistic meaning in finite human terms. If successful, it promises a deeper understanding of what linguistic meaning really is and how language and thus inquiry itself are possible.

Dr. Katharina Stevens (Philosophy, $41,957) proposes a project that will establish the foundation for developing a normative theory of voice allocation in interpersonal argumentation. Decisions on whom we give voice to argue with us, who we listen to and to whom we respond meaningfully significantly impact the way in which deliberation in the private and civic sphere proceeds. Normative argumentation theory aims to provide guidance to everyday arguers that will enable them to argue well in all senses of the term, and in all contexts.

Dr. Abdlmutaleb Boshanna (Dhillon School of Business, $51,253), whose expertise includes corporate governance, corporate disclosure, sustainability, natural language processing (NLP), textual analysis, and machine learning, proposes a project investigating whether firms use tax sustainability disclosure (TSD) as a strategic communication mechanism to navigate fiscal uncertainty and signal investment intentions after major tax reform.

Dr. Rhiannon Mesler (Dhillon School of Business, $77,198) is delving into the world of AI-mediated systems, noting that everyday customer service decisions — such as refund approvals, late-fee enforcement, fraud flags, and service recovery responses — are increasingly shaped by these systems. The project advances the concept of moral outsourcing: the displacement of responsibility for unfavourable but procedurally defensible outcomes from human decision-makers onto AI systems.

Dr. Monique Giroux (Music, $34,275) is examining intergenerational music teaching and learning through an in-depth qualitative case study of the Kenosee Lake Kitchen Party and Fiddle Camp (KLKP), an intentionally intergenerational, community-centred fiddle camp in Saskatchewan. The central research question asks how intergenerational teaching and learning are enacted at KLKP, and how these practices may support both continued musical engagement and the care and continuity of traditions.

Academic Freedom (AF) is the focus of Dr. Dan O’Donnell’s (English, $75,000) project. Academic Freedom, as it is currently understood from a legal and policy perspective, assumed its current form in statements written in late 1960s and early 1970s. This model has recently struggled to accommodate a broader and more contested set of expectations surrounding freedom of expression and inclusivity — his project proposing to address contemporary questions by contextualizing the debate, intellectually, historically, and from a legal and policy perspective.

Partnership Engage Grant

Dr. Andrea Cuéllar’s (Anthropology, $48,825) and co-applicant Dr. Lars Hallström (Political Science), both with the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy, are partnering with the Oldman Watershed Council to co-develop the Socioeconomic Pillar of its updated State of the Watershed assessment. The project will analyze socioeconomic indicators relevant to watershed governance, develop reproducible open-source methods for future assessment updates, and translate the findings into accessible narratives and visualizations. It will also support the development of a First Nations-led framework to guide Watershed assessment. The resulting Socioeconomic Pillar will provide a fuller understanding of the social and economic factors influencing land and water stewardship across the Oldman watershed.

New NSERC-funded study to examine how ingesting microplastic particles can affect brain health

trevor.kenney — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 17:50:27 +0000

Plastics are a part of our daily lives, and most Canadians perceive plastics as inert and hygienic necessities, unaware of their toxicity or damaging effects on the health of wildlife and ourselves. A new ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge study, supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) grant in partnership with Environment and Climate Change Canada, proposes to examine how chronic ingestion of microplastic particles affects brain health.

Plastics are perceived as safe, inert necessities in our daily lives, but researchers are only now beginning to understand how chronic ingestion of microplastics is affecting our lives.

“Microplastics increasingly contaminate our food and water. Despite how common microplastics have become in our environment, we still understand very little about how chronic ingestion of these particles affects our behaviour and brain health,” says principal investigator Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk of the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN). “Over the next couple of years, we will address this large knowledge gap by examining how the brain and behaviour of rats is affected by ingestion of microplastics at similar levels to that found in bottled water.”

The study will address one of the key themes of the federal government’s initiative on Plastics science and innovation for a cleaner and more sustainable future.

“The proliferation of plastics and the resulting contamination of our food, water and environment by plastics has become a major environmental and political issue, but we need more research on how plastics affect the brain to develop better regulations,” says Dr. Rob McDonald (CCBN).

Iwaniuk and McDonald received a $300,000 NSERC grant for their project, Neurobehavioural effects of chronic PET exposure. Their research focuses on the effects of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, a clear, strong, lightweight polyester plastic that is widely used in fabrics and water bottles and one of the most common microplastics found in our water.

PET can occur at relatively high levels in saltwater, freshwater and sediments, resulting in chronic exposure to animals living in those environments. In humans, PET occurs in drinking water and can reach high levels in bottled water. There is even evidence that PET can accumulate in our brains, so the need to study the health effects of PET is critically important.

“Despite the prevalence of PET in water and its significant potential to affect brain function, there are few studies on the neurobehavioural effects of PET exposure,” Iwaniuk says. “A few published studies focused on only a few markers of dysfunction and use large, acute doses that do not accurately reflect how humans or wildlife are exposed to PET. We see a clear need for research on chronic PET exposure at environmentally relevant levels that address behavioural and neural effects.”

Microplastics ingestion causes damage to wildlife, as well as endocrine disruption, inflammation and stress effects that can result in poor reproduction and higher mortality rates. While there is some evidence that microplastics negatively affect brain function, data on how our brains are affected and if cognition and behaviour are impaired remains largely unknown.

“The chronic ingestion of microplastics, plastic particles smaller than 5 millimetres in size, is considered a significant health risk to both humans and wildlife, but what those health risks are have remained unclear,” adds McDonald. “The brain is extremely sensitive to most toxicants and compromised brain function can result in behavioural dysfunction, impaired physiological functions and increase the risk of diseases, like Alzheimer’s disease.”

A research team assembled by Iwaniuk and McDonald will provide rats with water containing levels of microplastics like that found in bottled water for many months to simulate exposure levels humans experience. They will then test the rats’ learning, memory, fear and other behaviours and examine their brains for evidence of neurological damage.

“We know that environmental conditions can affect the brain, but we lack sufficient data on how contaminants in our environment affect brain health. Our research represents a critical step in understanding how microplastics affect brain health. Without this information, we could be damaging ourselves, and local wildlife, far more than we thought,” concludes Iwaniuk.

Dr. Joy Morris to receive Canadian Mathematical Society award

caroline.zentner — Thu, 21 May 2026 21:13:00 +0000

Dr. Joy Morris, a professor of mathematics at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, is this year’s recipient of the Canadian Mathematical Society’s (CMS) Graham Wright Award for Distinguished Service.

The award recognizes individuals who have made significant and sustained contributions to the Canadian mathematical community and particularly to the Canadian Mathematical Society.

“It’s a big honour,” says Morris, who joined ULethbridge in 2000 after completing her PhD at Simon Fraser ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. “It’s an important award to the Canadian Mathematics Society, as it is one of two awards that automatically give you the honour of becoming a fellow of the society.”

In Morris’s case, she served on the society’s executive and was instrumental in helping the group navigate through some troubled waters. Morris is a member of the CMS executive committee, where she is vice-president (west). Her leadership of an ad hoc human resources committee helped guide the CMS through a complex governance process. The award acknowledges her contributions to the CMS and the Canadian mathematical community. She will also be named to the 2026 Class of Fellows.

“Service isn’t always the most recognized part of what we do in our work at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, but it’s always been very important to me,” Morris says.

Morris had excellent role models for service in her parents. Her father was a sociology professor at York ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, and her mother was a social worker.

“When I was little, I made a rule that she wasn’t allowed to be out more than three evenings a week at meetings,” she says. “She was always very dedicated to service and eventually became a member of the Order of Canada.”

Service has also been a theme throughout Morris’s life. When she was a student at Simon Fraser ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, she served on the Student Union executive and then on the executive of the Canadian Federation of Students. She did presentations on student debt and met with former Prime Minister Paul Martin, who was the finance minister at the time.

When a friend with a middle-school-aged child confessed to having frustration when trying to help with math homework, Morris created evening sessions for parents to help them understand the math curriculum. She worked with ULethbridge math education students to establish an outreach program called Parent Math Help. A student who participated had high praise for the endeavour:

“It was an obvious privilege to experience Joy’s instructional excellence at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, but Joy’s community impacts stretched much further,” wrote Kailee Jacobson (BSc/BEd ’18). “Watching Joy interact with the parents who attended her sessions arguably taught us more about how to reduce the stigma of mathematics and increase someone’s self-confidence than our textbooks ever did.”

The Lethbridge School District No. 51 honoured the initiative with a Friends of 51 award. The evening sessions had been running for five years when the COVID pandemic restrictions forced them to close.

At ULethbridge, Morris has also received service awards. In 2002, she received Prairie Baseball Academy’s Professor of the Year teaching award. She was presented with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Students’ Union Excellence in Teaching Award in 2018, a testament to her prowess in the classroom. In 2022, Morris received the Sutherland Service Award from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty Association. The award recognizes someone who goes above and beyond in support of the academic staff at ULethbridge.

Morris will receive the Graham Wright Award at the society’s winter conference in December in Montreal.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge to publish philosophy journal

caroline.zentner — Wed, 20 May 2026 21:59:27 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has become the new publisher of Informal Logic, one of the most reputable journals in the field of Argumentation Theory.

Dr. Katharina Stevens, a ULethbridge philosophy professor, joined the journal’s editorial team in 2018 and recently began the process of moving the journal to ULethbridge. The journal has been awarded a three-year Aid to Scholarly Journals grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The approximately $127,000 grant will help ensure a successful transition for the journal and allow ULethbridge students to be hired as interns. At ULethbridge, the journal will be associated with the Critical Thinking & Civic Engagement Lab.

From left to right are Drs. Katharina Stevens, Michael Baumtrog (Toronto Metropolitan ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ) and Christopher Tindale (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Windsor), co-editors of the journal.

“This is the field-founding journal in Informal Logic and one of Argumentation Theory’s most important journals,” says Stevens. “With this journal, a lot of attention from Informal Logic, and more generally from the Argumentation Theory and Critical Thinking communities will now be directed to Lethbridge.”

Two undergraduate students, who are now being trained, have been hired as editorial assistants. Once an article has been accepted for the journal, the students will edit the copy, communicate with authors, assemble the issue and upload it to the website.

“They will also, through their copy-editing, receive an education in cutting-edge Informal Logic, Critical Thinking and Argumentation Theory scholarship,” Stevens says.

Informal Logic is a peer-reviewed academic journal now in its 47th year of publishing, having first existed as the Informal Logic Newsletter. The journal’s first home was the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Windsor, where subscriptions and small grants from the university financed it. A series of SSHRC grants beginning in the late 1990s allowed the editors to hire student interns. In 2008, Informal Logic became an open-access online journal, a move that expanded readership. The journal has since established a strong reputation and attracts high-quality submissions and an ever-growing readership.

The journal publishes four issues a year and is the only open-access journal in Argumentation Theory. Informal Logic, which focuses on understanding reasoning in everyday conversations, is a subdiscipline of Argumentation Theory, which studies how people use reasoning, logic and dialogue to challenge claims and resolve disagreements.

Stevens expects the first Lethbridge-based edition of the journal will be published in June.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscientist receives Canada Research Chair

caroline.zentner — Tue, 19 May 2026 16:54:27 +0000

Dr. Roberto Budzinski, assistant professor at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, has been named a Tier II Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Spatiotemporal Dynamics and Neural Computation — one of 25 chairs recently announced across the country.

The five-year appointment comes with $100,000 in annual funding, plus approximately $39,000 in infrastructure support through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund.

“I am deeply honoured to receive this award,” says Budzinski. “The support I have received from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and the Department of Neuroscience has been invaluable, and I look forward to building my research team and advancing our understanding of how artificial and biological brains work.”

Budzinski is an emerging international leader in network theory, complex systems, computational neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI). His research tackles one of the biggest challenges in modern AI: opening the “black box” of neural networks to understand not just what they do, but how they do it.

Neural networks — the machine learning models that power everything from medical diagnostics to financial tools — are remarkably good at recognizing patterns and solving complex problems. But their inner workings often remain opaque, even to the researchers who build them. Budzinski’s work develops new mathematical tools to investigate these internal processes, which could increase trust in AI outputs and help researchers build more reliable and transparent systems.

Beyond AI, his research bridges the gap between artificial and biological brains. While scientists have a broad understanding of which areas of the brain govern which functions, individuals can vary significantly in how their brains are organized. Current models don’t always capture this variability. Budzinski’s approach is designed to work at the individual level, a step toward building personalized brain models that could open new doors in neurological health and treatment.

His CRC project will develop mathematical frameworks for studying how both biological and artificial networks organize their activity, with the goal of solving longstanding problems in neuroscience and AI that stem from this individual-level variability.

Digital extremism research project receives Canadian Heritage grant

caroline.zentner — Wed, 13 May 2026 17:04:40 +0000

Dr. Amy Mack, an assistant professor of New Media and Canada Research Chair at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, and her research team have been awarded a Canadian Heritage grant worth approximately $227,000 to further their research into digital extremism.

The project seeks to understand the rise of disinformation influencers who create and spread online disinformation about gender and sexuality. This content is typically misogynistic, transphobic and homophobic. Mack and her research team, which includes Dr. Emily Gale (Music), Bryn Hewko (New Media), A.J. Lowik (Sociology), Brent Saccucci (Education), ULethbridge students, external collaborators at other universities and non-profit organizations, will also use the media technologies employed by disinformation influencers to counter their rhetoric.

“The disinformation spread about gender and sexuality by social media influencers contributes to a toxic ecosystem that is both harmful and a threat to Canada’s democracy and social cohesion,” says Mack. “In addition to being harmful in its own right, online rhetoric can affect policy and legislation, impact access to health care and educational supports, and most disturbingly, incite offline violence.”

Combatting digital extremism has become increasingly urgent. Evidence shows that young people, especially cisgender boys and men, are at higher risk of becoming radicalized via social media that promotes toxic masculinity influencers who espouse hateful speech and incite violence against women and girls. The content produced by disinformation influencers also increasingly targets young cisgender girls and women.

“This project will add crucial insights into the Canadian context and respond to the needs of frontline workers such as educators, social workers, pro-social influencers and non-profit organizations as they confront increased radicalization of young people in classrooms and communities,” says Mack.

The goals of the research project are to understand why disinformation influencers are so effective at radicalizing young people in Canada, and to use those new media techniques and practices to produce new media outputs that counter disinformation. Working with ULethbridge students, the research team will develop a series of media-based campaigns to counter the disinformation and a guidebook for stakeholders on best practices for producing similar content.

Leading hydrodynamics researcher, Dr. Borries Demeler, earns Speaker Research Award

trevor.kenney — Wed, 13 May 2026 16:23:54 +0000

A research scientist of the highest calibre, Dr. Borries Demeler established the Canadian Center for Hydrodynamics at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, a world-leading research institute for the study of nanoscale materials, while excelling as an exemplary educator, researcher and mentor to students from high school to post-secondary levels.

Demeler has been named the winner of the 2026 ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Speaker Research Award.

Dr. Borries Demeler champions the idea of mentoring at all levels.

“Dr. Demeler’s arrival as a Canada 150 Research Chair was a massive win for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and opened an entirely new area of expertise within our research program,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, ULethbridge Vice-President (Research). “By establishing the Canadian Center for Hydrodynamics, expanding his research group and mentoring and training students at all levels, Dr. Demeler epitomizes the ideals of the Speaker Research Award.”

The Speaker Research Award recognizes the importance of research, scholarship and performance to the philosophy and goals of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

Demeler will be presented with the Speaker Research Award at Spring 2026 Convocation, Ceremony I, on Thursday, May 28, at 9 a.m. in the Co-op Centre for Sport & Wellness gymnasium.

Dr. Borries Demeler

Dr. Borries Demeler is regarded as a world leader in the field of hydrodynamics, excelling as a distinguished professor, researcher and mentor whose contributions to biophysics, analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) and computational biology are unparalleled. That he found his calling and became an international expert in such a highly specialized discipline only after he could not find enough work as a carpenter is similarly remarkable.

Born and raised in Germany, Demeler first came to North America as a teen, visiting an exchange student from Toronto he’d met earlier. Determined to get back to Canada, he began building staircases and sailboats to fund his eventual return. While he did get back to Canada, he ended up living in Butte, Montana but could not find enough work as a carpenter. His focus turned to school and with the help of his father, he attended the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Montana where he studied chemistry, physics and mathematics.

To say that Demeler excelled is an understatement and before long, he narrowed his focus on biophysics and AUC. During graduate school at Oregon State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Demeler tackled the challenge of digitizing an aging AUC instrument so that it could be read by a computer. What ensued was the development of UltraScan, a revolutionary software package that has become the worldwide standard of data analysis for hydrodynamic data from AUC experiments.

First released in 1990, UltraScan established Demeler as an emerging innovator whose expertise would revolutionize research in biochemistry and biophysics performed with AUC. As his research group grew, the funding and partnerships followed and in 2018 he earned a prestigious Canada 150 Research Chair appointment at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. His was one of only three Canada 150 Chairs in Western Canada.

His work at ULethbridge began by establishing the Canadian Center for Hydrodynamics. Since joining the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, he has published more than 70 research articles, trained and mentored countless researchers and collaborated with research programs and industry partners throughout the world. His cross-disciplinary work continues to engage the pharmaceutical industry, health and virus research and biotech companies. Demeler’s success at securing external funding has exceeded $6.5 million, of which more than $5 million has been earned at ULethbridge.

Keenly focused on his students, Demeler champions the idea of mentoring at all levels, helping train students from high school to PhD levels. He actively supports giving opportunities to underrepresented and minority populations and has worked extensively with Blackfoot students on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border.

Demeler was named the 2018 Fulbright Specialist Scholar, the 2023 Erskine Visiting Professor Award from New Zealand’s ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Canterbury and the 2019 Svedberg Prize lifetime achievement award by the AUC community.

Dr. Greg Patenaude named 2026 Board of Governors Teaching Chair

trevor.kenney — Tue, 05 May 2026 21:08:49 +0000

An excellent instructor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Dr. Greg Patenaude has a proven record of leadership in advancing teaching practices and supporting fellow ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ while going beyond expectations to create challenging, meaningful, hands-on learning experiences for students.

Patenaude is being recognized for his dedication to student learning and advancing teaching across the institution by being named the 2026 Board of Governors Teaching Chair.

The Board of Governors Teaching Chair recognizes teaching excellence and the scholarship of teaching and learning at ULethbridge.

The Board of Governors Teaching Chair recognizes teaching excellence and the scholarship of teaching and learning at ULethbridge. Patenaude will be recognized at Fall 2026 Convocation.

Dr. Greg Patenaude

Dr. Greg Patenaude readily accepts failure from his students; in fact, it is when his students try and fail that he believes the most effective learning is achieved. Trial and error —learning by doing, failing, and re-doing — provides students the opportunity to reflect and reassess their process and, in the end, perform their task with a different and effective outcome.

An instructor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Patenaude believes that good teaching facilitates how students learn, and good teaching provides opportunities for students to make mistakes. To make mistakes in chemistry is to work on problems, so Patenaude implements a flipped classroom, whereby students view pre-recorded lecture videos and read theory as preparation for class and actually do their homework (problems) in class. This allows him to observe students working on their problems and offer feedback in real time.

The flipped classroom concept is just one innovative technique Patenaude utilizes to help students find success in their studies. Teaching every level of class from entry to senior, he understands uniquely the challenges students face and the learning progression from year to year. He’s developed worksheets for students in organic chemistry who need extra practice on concepts, and organized the Ochem Club, a series of unofficial tutorial sessions for students studying organic chemistry — which he wasn’t even teaching at the time. He also created a new course, Chem 2320 – History of Chemistry, as a liberal education-qualified course.

Patenaude is also keenly engaged in advancing teaching across the institution, and as a Teaching Fellow (2016-2018) he initiated the Peer Mentorship Program, which he continues to lead. This program fosters cross-department and cross-faculty collaboration and supports new instructors in developing their teaching practice. He works closely with the Teaching Centre and is actively involved in the Instructional Skills Workshops (ISW).

A Bachelor of Science graduate from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph, Patenaude earned his PhD in Main Group Chemistry from ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria before serving as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Université de Montréal. He joined the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in 2004.

In his Board of Governor’s Teaching Chair Research Proposal, Patenaude is focusing on researching the impact of the Peer Mentorship Program and looking to identify areas where the program can be improved to ensure its longevity. He will also continue his involvement with and support for Teaching Centre programs and initiatives.

Dr. Stacey Wetmore wins prestigious Montréal Medal

caroline.zentner — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 19:52:08 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge computational chemist Dr. Stacey Wetmore has been awarded the Montréal Medal by the Chemical Institute of Canada. The Montréal Medal is presented annually to an individual from among the thousands of chemists and chemical engineers across the country as a prestigious mark of distinction and honour for significant leadership and outstanding contributions to the chemistry profession.

Dr. Stacey Wetmore

“My first reaction was disbelief,” Wetmore says. “If you look at the list of previous recipients, they have been from big universities or companies. The fact that I could achieve everything here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and have the support to do so speaks volumes about the university. It was really humbling on one hand and rewarding on the other to know you can have an impact on a field, no matter where you are.”

Computational chemistry uses physics, mathematics, chemistry theories and computer programming to study chemical systems. Wetmore’s lab used computers to study the chemistry of biosystems, that is, the chemistry that happens inside our cells, including how DNA is damaged from exposure to toxins in the environment.

“We are also interested in how enzymes that repair DNA damage function or misfunction, which is related to human disease,” she says. “Additionally, we are investigating how to design drugs based on nucleic acids, where you introduce modifications. Many people understand mRNA vaccines now, after the pandemic. There are other types of RNA-based drugs, and we’re studying how those work and how to design better therapeutics.”

Because of the invaluable support she received from her supervisors when she was a student, mentorship has always been close to Wetmore’s heart. Beyond working with many students in her research lab, she was instrumental in establishing a student group devoted to inclusivity and creating a safe place for everyone in chemistry. The group brings in speakers who talk about the challenges they’ve faced as chemists and hosts events to build an inclusive environment.

Wetmore is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair and is highly sought after to serve on national and international research, policy and editorial boards, peer-review panels, society committees and conference panels. She also chairs national grant selection committees and holds leadership roles in scientific publishing. She advocates for equity, diversity and inclusion in all these roles.

As a high school student, Wetmore thought she’d become a math teacher. She enrolled in math classes at university, but also took chemistry. After her first year, the chemistry department sent her a letter, telling her she did well and asking if she’d consider doing a chemistry degree. The following year, she took as many math and chemistry courses as she could to continue her studies in either discipline, depending on her final decision. After a summer spent working with a mathematician, she knew she didn’t want to be a math teacher. The next summer, she worked in an experimental chemistry lab and found she wasn’t totally comfortable there either. But when she learned about doing chemistry by computer, she was immediately interested — and the rest is history.

Wetmore earned a BSc from Mount Allison, a PhD from Dalhousie and completed postdoctoral studies at the Australian National ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. She accepted a faculty position at Mount Allison and subsequently moved to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Wetmore will deliver a plenary lecture and receive the Montréal Medal at the Institute’s annual conference in Toronto in May.

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