UNews - Faculty of Arts & Science

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students dive into biochemistry

caroline.zentner — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 20:25:06 +0000

Two ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students dived into biochemistry in a big way over the summer and became the first Indigenous undergraduate students to work at the Canadian Center for Hydrodynamics (CCH) with analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC).

Demetra (Demi) Good Rider and Thunder Crowshoe completed the Indigenous Student Success Certificate (ISSC) earlier this year. The certificate is designed to help Indigenous students make a smooth transition to university life. They enjoyed their biology and chemistry courses, and Crowshoe jumped at the chance when Beth Grier, a student recruitment officer, informed him that biochemistry professor Dr. Borries (Bo) Demeler was seeking students to work at the CCH.

Demi Good Rider, at left, and Thunder Crowshoe posed for a photo at Sunshine Point in Glacier National Park following the Salish Kootenai College conference in Montana.

“I just emailed Bo and we set up a meeting time,” says Crowshoe. “He took me around his lab and showed me the type of stuff he does and the AUC. He was also looking for more students.”

Crowshoe and Dr. Michelle Hogue, a professor and coordinator of the ISSC, recommended Good Rider, who also accepted Demeler’s offer. She signed up for a co-op position through Career Bridge, while Crowshoe did an applied study in the lab, along with another applied study already underway with Jennifer Burke, a biology instructor, in the ULethbridge herbarium.

“It was a great enrichment for our lab to be joined by Demi and Thunder this summer; they are wonderful teammates,” says Demeler. “They not only impressed us with their scientific acumen, but also generously shared their culture with all of us and invited our lab to their tribe’s powwow in Brocket — a wonderful experience for everyone. We now look forward to opening up the world of biophysics to other interested Indigenous students.”

At the CCH, Crowshoe’s project focused on the purification of DNA and RNA. Good Rider’s project involved creating a plasmid design to develop a calibration standard for the AUC instrument.

“Coming into a biochem job like this, I had no idea what was going to be happening or what I was going to be doing,” says Good Rider. “I’ve done both biology and chemistry, but I’ve never done them together in this sort of sense. It was really interesting to see all the things that we were able to accomplish this summer.”

“I was looking for a job like this because I love science and especially mathematics,” says Crowshoe. “I have Crohn’s disease, and it can affect me in a way that I can’t do physical work. This job was a good fit, and it really opened the door for me.”

In addition to working on their projects, Crowshoe and Good Rider travelled to Missoula, Montana, twice over the summer. They presented posters about their projects at Day of Discovery, a science conference, in Pablo, MT, which is the headquarters for the Flathead Indian Reservation and home to Salish Kootenai College, which hosted the conference. They also participated in the annual AUC workshop at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Montana.

Both students decided to continue their practical work experience at ULethbridge this fall. Good Rider, a kinesiology major, is doing a co-op work term with the Building Brains Together team, teaching traditional Indigenous games to children. Crowshoe will continue his work in Demeler’s lab and has decided to switch his major to biochemistry. He’s also a recipient of an I.D.E.A.L. Scholarship through BioTalent Canada. The scholarship is designed to promote inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility leadership in STEM studies in Canada.

“This fall, I’ll be able to be in charge of my own project, with a little supervision, and run experiments in the AUC, continue my career in the lab,” he says. “Crohn’s disease can actually attack everything in your body; it’s not just your gut. They don’t really know the cause of it; it hasn’t really been researched that much, so maybe for my PhD, I can pursue that as research.”

Good Rider chose kinesiology after learning that her grandfather had once been diagnosed with diabetes and how his walking habits, from one side of the city to the other, contributed to the reversal of his diabetes.

“That’s when I started thinking about First Nations health and kinesiology,” she says. “There are so many unanswered questions around Indigenous health that I would like to explore.”

Canadian Space Agency grant will help further research into the health effects of space travel

caroline.zentner — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 16:35:05 +0000

Dr. Gerlinde Metz, a neuroscientist at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, and a team of researchers have received a $225,000 grant from the Canadian Space Agency to build a better understanding of how the human body adapts to life in space.

The grant was announced recently by the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, as part of $2.8 million in research grants to 14 Canadian post-secondary institutions.

“Canada’s investments in astronomy and planetary science are a powerful catalyst for scientific advancement and innovation,” said Joly. “These strategic commitments will empower Canadian researchers with the tools and opportunities they need to develop world-class expertise, driving cutting-edge discoveries and technological breakthroughs right here at home.”

“We are grateful for this funding, as it will allow us to determine the complex biological responses to long-duration spaceflight over time,” says Metz. “Our previous research has shown that space travel resulted in sex-specific changes in metabolites involved in energy metabolism, which may be linked to bone loss, muscle regulation and immunity dysfunction.”

Space travel imposes stresses on astronauts, including noise, vibration, loss of G forces and radiation exposure. Numerous studies have revealed physical complications from spaceflight, including loss of bone and muscle mass.

The grant enables the research team, including Tony Montina from ULethbridge’s Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and a collaborator from NASA/Pittsburgh, to participate in NASA’s first comprehensive multi-level analysis of the world’s largest existing group of astronauts.

The research project could also help identify protective factors and ways to counteract the negative effects of spaceflight.

Powerchair hockey tournament coming to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge

caroline.zentner — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 21:09:12 +0000

Powerchair athletes will descend on Lethbridge for the first-ever Alberta Powerchair Hockey Tournament at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Centre for Sport and Wellness from Aug. 8 to 10.

Powerchair hockey players display their jerseys while coach Chase Petruska holds the trophy.

Chase Petruska (BSc ’23, MSc ’24), a doctoral student studying neuroscience under Dr. Gerlinde Metz, has organized the tournament, and he expects 32 athletes with physical disabilities from Grand Prairie, Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Ontario will participate in the tournament. Hosted at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, the tournament is being run by the Lethbridge Powerchair Sports Association. The Calgary Flames and the Lethbridge Hurricanes are supporting the tournament by supplying jerseys for two teams each, as well as MVP awards, like signed game pucks and water bottles. The Calgary Powerchair Hockey League and the Alberta Cerebral Palsy Sports Association are also behind the tournament as they endeavour to grow the sport of powerchair hockey.

Petruska became interested in powerchair sports because he wanted to help his brother, who has cerebral palsy. His brother plays in the Calgary Power Hockey League, which Petruska coaches. Seeing his brother and the other players smiling, laughing and having a good time inspired him to conduct research into finding ways to support people with physical disabilities in participating in team sports.

He established the Lethbridge Powersoccer Program nearly four years ago, after his research found that individuals with physical disabilities were more susceptible to stressful situations like social isolation.

“Since starting up Lethbridge Powerchair Soccer and while coaching powerchair hockey in Calgary, I’ve seen players gain confidence, form close friendships, and feel a stronger sense of purpose and inclusion,” says Petruska. “Team sports can offer life-changing benefits for people who are often excluded from traditional athletics. One of the biggest inspirations for me is seeing these players come out every week, and, even with all the adversity they have to battle through, their faces still light up with joy whenever they make a save, a block, a pass or score a goal.”

Petruska plans to conduct research on the tournament to examine the immediate effects of powerchair sports as part of his PhD thesis. Along with collecting heart rate data and saliva and urine samples, the athletes will be asked to complete a questionnaire to assess how powerchair sports affect their stress levels, mood, social well-being and physiological responses. The goal is to deepen understanding of how adaptive team sports influence the mental, social, and biological health of individuals with physical disabilities.

In his previous research, Petruska has found heartening results. A study soon to be published, which examined the impact of powerchair sports over four months of participation, revealed a trend in increased social support and a significant metabolomic change with promising biological markers for positive social support and mental health outcomes.

The findings are confirmed by what Petruska sees on the court and the possibilities he envisions for powerchair sports.

“Seeing every player’s resilience, how they work together, encourage one another, and help each other grow both on and off the court, has made a significant impact on me,” he says. “As a result, we’ve begun expanding to other sports through my non-profit Lethbridge Powerchair Sports Association. We are running powerchair hockey in the fall, soccer in the spring and boccia in the summer. All events will be hosted at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and directly tied to my research."

The tournament begins Friday, Aug. 8, with an optional practice at 4 p.m., dinner from 5 to 6 p.m. and the first game at 6 p.m. between the Flames and Blasty. The tournament continues Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The finals are scheduled for Sunday, with the gold medal game from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. All games will be held in the north gym at the Centre for Sport and Wellness.

Comparative neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk revels in unlocking the what, how and why of bird behaviour

trevor.kenney — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 20:49:02 +0000

Have you ever wondered how hummingbirds can hover in place or fly backward; seen chickadees and blue jays tucking away food for winter snacks; or questioned the ability of birds to problem solve their way into garbage and food containers?

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge professor Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk (Department of Neuroscience), a Board of Governors Research Chair in Comparative Neuroscience, has seen it all when it comes to bird behaviour — but more importantly, he’s studied the brains of these incredible animals to understand why and how they perform these remarkable tasks.

Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk with a wedge-tailed eagle at Lamington National Park in Queensland, Australia.

It was the lack of information on bird brains that intrigued Iwaniuk when he first took up studying the creatures. He originally had done extensive research work on the feeding behaviour of wallabies, kangaroos and their relatives while completing an honours thesis at Monash ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Australia and then on the feeding behaviour of carnivores for his Master of Science at ULethbridge.

“I realized we knew all these things about the anatomy of mammal brains but there was this whole group of other animals that shared a number of behaviours with mammals,” he says. “Birds have complex social relationships, they have biparental care, they use tools, they can solve problems and then they have other behaviours that are entirely unique like migrating between the poles, being able to fly and being able to survive in a range of different conditions that essentially mammals just cannot.”

Birds, and their behaviours, have been experiencing a surge in popularity in recent years, born out of the pandemic when people, confined to their homes, started to notice their surroundings more — and one commonality was the presence of birds.

“There’s a lot more citizen science happening now than ever before,” says Iwaniuk, who says he is regularly asked questions about birds by community members if he’s observing them or taking pictures while walking his dogs.

“We’ve also seen a lot of public media campaigns in recent years about our effects on birds, which has raised awareness. There’s a lot more concern about window collisions and what happens with birds landing in tailing ponds, as well as the efforts of wildlife rehabilitation centres.”

Iwaniuk and colleague Dr. Georg F. Striedter (professor of neurobiology and behavior, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of California, Irvine) have co-authored a new book that “marries the enthusiasm of bird enthusiasts for the what, how and why of avian behavior with the scientific literature on avian biology, offering the newest research in an accessible manner.”

Bird Brains and Behaviour is published by MIT Press and available Aug. 5.

“We’ve tried to aim for people with some science background, people who are keenly interested in birds and who may have some familiarity with the basics of evolutionary biology or bird behaviour,” says Iwaniuk.

The book delves into the process of how birds have evolved, what makes them different from other types of invertebrate animals and then examines the components of the bird brain and how it differs from the mammalian brain.

“What’s the most quintessential feature of a hummingbird — hovering. There's obviously a motor component to that, but in order to maintain that really stable position is dependent on their vision, and that is dependent on a very specific brain region that responds to how an animal is moving through space,” explains Iwaniuk.

He compares how the hummingbird moves to that of humans as they walk or ride a bike.

“We’re tracking our movement through space, feeding that information into spatial memory networks so we can work out where we are and where we’re going. This allows us to figure out whether we’re accelerating, decelerating, turning, all that essential feedback for how our eyes are moving and how we’re detecting things with our semicircular canals, which gives us a sense of balance. When you compare that to the brain of a hummingbird, you find that region of their brains is hugely enlarged and that’s what is allowing them to maintain their position.”

This, of course, is incredibly important because if hummingbirds could not maintain their position while feeding, they would pierce the flowers they feed on and lose the nectar they need to survive.

This is just one example of the fascinating behaviours his research has detailed and opens the door to many more explored in depth within the book.

“We started talking about putting this book together in 2022 and it took us a while to write up the first few chapters but when we shopped that around, MIT Press was very interested,” says Iwaniuk. “It’s exciting to have it finished and we’re really happy with MIT Press because they allowed us to add some features like QR codes throughout the book where you can scan them to link to videos that highlight specific behaviours and interviews with neuroscientists who actually work on bird brains.”

The ebook is available for free from MIT Press and the hard copy is available through most online and local bookstores.

High school students don lab coats in pursuit of research

caroline.zentner — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:53:18 +0000

Some of southern Alberta’s top high school science students will get the opportunity to work with leading ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers this summer as ULethbridge hosts the annual High School Youth Research Summer (HYRS) program.

Students in last year's HYRS program worked in labs across the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

One of the most influential summer development programs for high school students, HYRS has proven to be a launching pad for exceptional science students and future post-secondary researchers.

“This is such a great opportunity for young people interested in science to really see their studies in action and take their learning to another level,” says Steph Elder, Manager of Destination Exploration, ULethbridge’s youth outreach program. “The hands-on work they’re involved in and the high-end lab facilities they get to work in really spark their curiosity and creativity. It gives the students invaluable experience they can build on as they finish their high school studies and take with them into a post-secondary setting.”

In just the last year, three local-area students who had the opportunity to train with ULethbridge researchers in the summer HYRS program won medals at the Canada Wide Science Fair. Fatema Riaz (Medicine Hat High School) earned a gold medal at the national science fair after being mentored by Dr. Dylan Girodat (chemistry & biochemistry); Mehnaz Khan (G.S. Lakie Middle School) earned a bronze medal after working with Dr. Matthew Bogard (biological sciences); and Nycea Hazelwood (Lethbridge Collegiate Institute) received the award for the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association after studying with Dr. Kim Stanford (biological sciences).

“One of the greatest strengths of the HYRS Program is the exceptional quality of researchers the high-school students are paired with from multiple departments,” says Dr. Trushar Patel, Canada Research Chair in RNA and Protein Biophysics and associate dean in the ULethbridge Faculty of Arts & Science. “These dedicated scientists not only lead cutting-edge research, but they also take the time to mentor and inspire the next generation of leaders. For high school students, this is a truly unique opportunity to learn from some of the brightest minds in their fields."

HYRS is a six-week consecutive program that runs annually at ULethbridge, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary. Students receive a stipend of $3,000 for six weeks of training and get the opportunity to participate in hands-on research work with Alberta Innovates-funded research groups.

“Students will join research teams that include PhD, master’s and bachelor students, get full lab access and work on projects in fields such as genetics, neuroscience, bioengineering, molecular imaging, recreational therapy, health-care policy and more,” adds Elder.

In addition, students get the chance to hear guest speakers talk about their research careers and participate in a term-end research symposium where they can showcase their work to parents, mentors and members of the public. This year’s HYRS program runs July 4 to Aug. 15, with the research symposium taking place Thursday, Aug. 14, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in Science Commons Atrium.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers awarded federal research grants worth more than $3 million

caroline.zentner — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 21:50:59 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are among the successful applicants for federal grants announced by The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, and the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health.

The more than $1.3 billion in funding supports over 9,700 researchers and research projects in Canada through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

“From brain plasticity and the mechanism of low-dose radiation to supporting newcomers through mentoring, these grants illustrate the diversity of research being done at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, vice-president of research. “This funding not only helps established researchers continue their work but also helps our early career researchers build their research programs. Ultimately, our students benefit with increased opportunities to engage in research throughout their post-secondary careers.”

In total, ULethbridge received funding from NSERC for nine Discovery Grants and two Discovery Development Grants. The Discovery Grants will bring in nearly $475,000 a year for the next five years. The research projects include the following:

Dr. Gerlinde Metz (Neuroscience) will receive $96,000 per year for a study looking at the social determinants of experience-dependent brain plasticity.
Dr. Stacey Wetmore (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $89,000 per year for a project involving computer modelling of modified RNA.
Dr. Olga Kovalchuk (Biological Sciences) was awarded $55,000 annually to study the fundamental mechanisms of low-dose radiation.
Dr. Borries Demeler (Chemistry & Biochemistry) is set to receive $47,000 yearly for solution studies of interacting biopolymer systems.
Dr. Hadi Kharaghani (Mathematics & Computer Science) will receive $32,000 a year for his project on special orthogonal matrices.

The remainder of the NSERC recipients are four early career researchers, each of whom received a Discovery Launch Supplement of $12,500 in addition to their Discovery Grant.

Dr. Corina Birghila (Mathematics & Computer Science) was awarded a yearly amount of $31,000 for a project titled Optimal Decision under Uncertainty.
Dr. Jessica Willi (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $44,000 annually for a project on ribosome functions through synthetic biology.
Dr. Vineet Rathod (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $38,000 annually to examine the structure-function relationship of natural and engineered amyloid proteins.
Dr. Dylan Girodat (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $42,000 per year for a project on the structural dynamics of ribosomes during translation.

In addition, Discovery Development Grants, worth $22,000 each, were awarded to Drs. Christopher Hopkinson (Geography & Environment) and Marc Bomhof (Kinesiology and Physical Education).

Hopkinson will use remote sensing to model vegetation and snowpack response to wildland fire in headwater basins.
Bomhof intends to look at the interplay between exercise and dietary factors on appetite regulation.

ULethbridge social science and humanities researchers were awarded $645,000 in SSHRC Insight Grants.

Dr. Daniel O'Donnell (English) will work on a project involving Research Data Management and Research Data Infrastructure by humanities researchers.
Dr. Scott Rathwell (Kinesiology) wants to enhance sport participation, promote physical activity and improve health outcomes for aging adults by establishing a framework for effective sport programming in middle-aged and older adults.

Several ULethbridge researchers are the recipients of Insight Development Grants totalling more than $291,000.

Dr. Toupey Luft (Education) has designed a project to address the gap in understanding how arts-based mentorship may enhance a sense of belonging for newcomer young adults.
Dr. Kenneth Holyoke’s (Geography & Environment) project investigates the nature and scope of climate impacts on the Wolastoqiyik and Wabanaki archaeological record in New Brunswick.
Dr. Justin Raycraft’s (Anthropology) objective in this project is to increase understanding of the social dimensions of human-carnivore coexistence in the Tarangire ecosystem of northern Tanzania.
Dr. Jeffrey MacCormack (Education) will develop a professional development intervention consisting of a community of practice for teachers and principals where they learn evidence-based practices to support students with profound and multiple disabilities.
Dr. Miranda Leibel (Liberal Education) will examine how the creation and maintenance of postal services are an important component of Canadian state- and nation-building.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers earn Digital Research Alliance grants

caroline.zentner — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 17:51:01 +0000

Four ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge scholars have received $35,000 from the Digital Research Alliance (DRI) of Canada for projects advancing equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) in digital research infrastructure. The funding, announced earlier this year, is part of $2.87 million awarded to EDIA Champions across the country.

From left to right are Toyin Aladejebi, Chiedozie Alumona, Frank Onuh and Dr. Nathan Woods.

“To have four scholars from ULethbridge receive these grants is an indication of the excellence in research, and it is worth celebrating,” says Martha Mathurin-Moe, vice-provost of Accessibility, Belonging and Community. “Investing in this type of research is crucial for creating an inclusive, innovative and diverse research ecosystem where students are able to connect deeply, learn from multiple perspectives and address critical research problems. These research projects will continue to strengthen and broaden the research landscape, but also create meaningful opportunities for all our diverse students to contribute their unique perspectives and talents.”

“Digital research infrastructure is transforming the way we conduct and share scholarly work,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, vice-president of research. “By leveraging digital tools and resources, these researchers can overcome traditional barriers, collaborate more effectively and drive innovation across disciplines. Not only did we see strong interest in this inaugural call for proposals, our success rate reinforces the quality of our research environment.”

Toyin Aladejebi, a PhD student in Population Studies in Health, focused her project on empowering graduate women researchers to build networks that enable them to find and share data and collaborate with other researchers in Canada and around the world.

Chiedozie Alumona is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Health Sciences studying under Dr. Olu Awosoga. Alumona’s project aims to train racialized scholars in the Faculty of Health Science in using digital research infrastructure.

Frank Onuh, a PhD student, conducts research at the intersection of information disorder, decoloniality and artificial intelligence (AI). His doctoral research centres on decolonizing information verification practices in Africa to leverage the insights and findings to develop appropriate intelligent systems for automated fact checking that capture and represent the African experience.

Dr. Nathan Woods, a postdoctoral fellow in the Humanities Innovation Lab, conducted a needs assessment study that looks at barriers and opportunities for humanities researchers to work with the Canadian digital research infrastructure.

Read the full story.

Dr. Gerlinde Metz honoured with Chair in Neuroscience

caroline.zentner — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 19:57:34 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscience professor Dr. Gerlinde Metz has been named the Dr. Bryan Kolb Chair in Neuroscience.

The professorship honours the legacy of Kolb (DSc '15), one of the most influential figures in establishing the study of neuroscience and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience. The chair provides a seven-year, research-focused term with the option for reappointment once to a second seven-year term.

“The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is thrilled to bestow this tremendous honour on Dr. Gerlinde Metz,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, vice-president (research). “Gerlinde’s research is making impacts on both fundamental understandings of the brain, as well as applied analyses and identification of key biomarkers regarding stress impacts and how intergenerational trauma response is transmitted across generations. She is widely viewed as a leader in her field and a highly sought-after expert worldwide.”

“I am deeply honoured to be named the Dr. Bryan Kolb Chair in Neuroscience,” says Metz. “This recognition is especially meaningful to me, given Dr. Kolb’s extraordinary legacy in shaping the field of neuroscience and his role in building the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience. I am humbled to carry forward this legacy through research that advances innovation and translational impact in neuroscience, both in Canada and internationally.”

Metz’s research investigates the influence of experience and environment on behaviour and brain plasticity, and how the effects of stress can be effectively prevented. Her work has shown that stress affects the motor system, and that adverse experiences can become predisposing factors for motor system diseases such as Parkinson’s and stroke.

Many groundbreaking insights have emerged from her research, including a study that found touch therapy helped the brain recover from stroke and that male experimenters make female rats uneasy.

Working with a rat model, Metz and her team have become internationally recognized as pioneers in studying how prenatal stress can affect health over a lifetime. Metz discovered that the effects of prenatal stress can also be transmitted from one generation to the next, influencing the health of future generations. Her research has examined the impact of war trauma on biological health in the next generation, and the long-term health effects of natural disasters like Quebec’s ice storm in 1998 and the Calgary flood in 2013. Recently, she has been studying the effects of space flight on astronauts. This research is leading to the discovery of chemical signatures for risk prediction and early diagnosis of common human diseases.

Metz is also an adjunct professor with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta. In 2023, she was named a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, a first for a ULethbridge professor. In addition to being a neuroscience professor, Metz held a Board of Governors Research Chair in Healthy Futures and is one of the founders of the Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre.

After completing a BSc at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Giessen in Germany, she pursued graduate studies, earning a PhD from ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Switzerland. She also completed her habilitation in medicine at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Jena in Germany. Habilitation is the top level of higher education in Germany and some other countries; it qualifies individuals to independently teach and conduct research in the context of a university professorship.

Local researchers connecting physical activity to cognitive function invited to European conference

trevor.kenney — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 16:45:33 +0000

Three research projects exploring the connection between physical exercise and cognitive function, led by a Lethbridge Polytechnic instructor and two ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students, and supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Councill (SSHRC) Exchange grant, have been selected for presentation at the European College of Sports Science (ECSS) annual conference in Rimini, Italy next month.

Researchers involved in the study, from left to right, are Xander Fox, Simon Schaerz and David Selles.

The projects are a result of collaboration between the polytechnic’s Centre for Health and Wellness, Centre for Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and students and alumni from both Lethbridge Polytechnic and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Dr. Simon Schaerz, instructor, Lethbridge Polytechnic Centre for Health and Wellness, and researcher, Centre for Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, says all three projects demonstrate that physical activity aids in building cognitive skills, particularly in youth.

“Physical exercise teaches more than just running and sports; it teaches teamwork, focus, problem solving and adapting to changing situations,” says Schaerz. “These are key concepts in cognitive development that could increase proficiency in tasks among youth, adults and elders.”

Schaerz will present a research project he led that considered the use of physical activity to improve executive function, including inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility, for the polytechnic’s esports team. Following moderate intensity cycling, participants were given skill testing tasks and then engaged in simulated gameplay.

Physical exercise can enhance cognitive development.

“Preliminary results show inhibitory control and working memory saw noticeable improvements,” he says. “These improvements, while telling, highlight the need for further assessment of the connection and significance between the two tasks.”

David Selles, a Lethbridge Polytechnic graduate (Digital Communications and Media, 2018) and current kinesiology student at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, developed a separate project that focused on creating a framework to help teachers in training develop physical education programs that support students’ executive function. Selles says by designing activities that challenge both body and mind, teachers can contribute to the growth of both students’ physical and cognitive development.

He adds previous research has shown how curriculum development and content integration can help educators merge exercise science with classroom instruction.

"Our goal with this research is to better equip teachers with an understanding of activities that not only provide executive function benefits but also align with current physical activity curriculum standards.”

Xander Fox, a recent bachelor of science graduate of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s kinesiology program, completed a project examining the use of progressive overload in long term exercise intervention trials to improve executive function. He describes progressive overload as the process of increasing physical challenges over time to enhance outcomes.

“We know resistance training can improve executive function,” says Fox. “While many studies have looked at long-term effects of variables, like frequency, intensity, time and type of exercise, few have considered dynamic adjustments of these variables, known as progressive overloads, and how they impact executive function.”

Fox performed a scoping review of published research and noted a lack of content for resistance training. Out of 493 articles initially screened, just two articles were found to specifically investigate the issue.

“Most research in this area tends to focus on older individuals and youth, particularly looking at cognitive decline and development, respectively,” he says. “Our hope is this work brings to light the gap in existing research.”

The ECSS annual conference runs from July 1 to 4.

*This story was first published by Lethbridge Polytechnic

Unique research collaboration sees fine arts summer class support neuroscience project

trevor.kenney — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 17:33:57 +0000

Instead of preparing for the stage, students in drama instructor Dave Smith’s summer class are practicing for brain health research in an innovative research collaboration between the fine arts and the sciences at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Smith’s course, Theatre for Scientific Purposes, is a hands-on class that has fine arts students writing, designing and executing structured scenes in support of Dr. Chelsea Ekstrand’s (neuroscience) research project.

Fine arts students run through a scene that will be viewed by study participants.

“What’s really cool about this class is we have students with all different focuses enrolled,” says Smith. “Some are designers/technicians, some are performers/directors but all of them are contributing to the project in every capacity. They come ready to work, and really show their dedication to the class, and more importantly, to the project.”

Ekstrand is studying how memories are formed and the processes used to retrieve memories in real-world environments. She received a $100,000 Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research grant in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to support her work.

“This collaboration is an exciting step into a new kind of research, one where science and storytelling come together, and where we study the brain not in isolation, but in the richness of real life,” says Ekstrand. “By working together, we’re making the science feel more grounded, more powerful, and more deeply connected to what it means to be human.”

The goal of Ekstrand’s work is to better understand the neural processes behind memory formation in both healthy older adults and individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition that frequently precedes dementia.

Study participants wear body cameras to capture scenes played by drama students in Smith’s course. Participants then recall the scenes while in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine to compare brain activity during real-life experiences with passive viewing of the same scenes on a screen.

“If we really want to understand how people think, remember and connect, we need to move beyond the lab and into the kinds of everyday experiences that actually shape our lives,” says Ekstrand. “Working with the artists in this class has been a powerful reminder that human experience is more than what we can quantify. They bring emotional insight, nuance and a sense of narrative that challenges me to think differently about how we study memory and connection. For the students, I think it’s a rare opportunity to step into the world of science while using their creativity to create scenes that are both emotionally rich and scientifically rigorous.”

For multidisciplinary student Danica Sommer, contributing to leading-edge research and expanding the ways theatre can be utilized is something in which she feels lucky to contribute.

“This course has put me in a unique professional context that is both challenging and rewarding. Working as a team, being flexible and delivering results under a time crunch are experiences both theatre professionals and scientific researchers are familiar with.”

Smith adds that theatre and drama programs tend to be more cross-disciplinary than commonly thought.

“The number of students who leave our drama program and get jobs in all kinds of positions not just pertaining to theatre is remarkable,” he says. “Having courses like this help to articulate the need for creative minds to mix with analytical minds.”

Neuroscience student Zeth Stewart is bridging the educational gaps between art and science and bringing depth and meaning to the scientific method.

“We can’t forget that the arts are a fundamental part of life. This course brought those personal, lived experiences into the conversation in a meaningful way, while still grounding the discussion in the scientific method,” Stewart says. “As a student with a passion for both understanding human behaviour and theatrically expressing it, this class was a wonderful blend of empirical analysis and the subjective experience.”

“Collaborations like this spark the kind of innovation that just wouldn’t happen if we stayed in our separate lanes,” concludes Ekstrand. “It pushes us all, students and faculty alike, to get a little uncomfortable, take risks and discover new ways of thinking and creating.”

Once Ekstrand’s research has concluded, she anticipates sharing her results in scientific journals, presenting at research conferences and developing community resources to share with the public.

This research collaboration is an example of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Strategic Plan in action under the strategic direction to Challenge Boundaries and Inspire Curiosity. In teaching and learning, ULethbridge takes a liberal education approach that fosters valuable interdisciplinary exchanges, connections and discoveries.

This project has been made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) and Brain Canada Foundation, in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

UNews - Faculty of Arts & Science

��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students dive into biochemistry

Related Topics

Canadian Space Agency grant will help further research into the health effects of space travel

Related Topics

Powerchair hockey tournament coming to the ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge

Related Topics

Comparative neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk revels in unlocking the what, how and why of bird behaviour

Related Topics

High school students don lab coats in pursuit of research

Related Topics

��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers awarded federal research grants worth more than $3 million

Related Topics

��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers earn Digital Research Alliance grants

Related Topics

Dr. Gerlinde Metz honoured with Chair in Neuroscience

Related Topics

Local researchers connecting physical activity to cognitive function invited to European conference

Related Topics

Unique research collaboration sees fine arts summer class support neuroscience project

Related Topics

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students dive into biochemistry

Powerchair hockey tournament coming to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers awarded federal research grants worth more than $3 million

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers earn Digital Research Alliance grants