UNews - Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

Foreign study placement leads to post-doc at Princeton

caroline.zentner — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 16:40:17 +0000

For Connor MacNeil, graduate school turned out to be the tale of two Pauls.

While doing his undergraduate degree in chemistry at New Brunswick’s Mount Allison ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, his research supervisor, Dr. Steve Westcott, suggested he call the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Dr. Paul Hayes, who had also been a student of Westcott’s. Westcott mentioned they had similar research interests and thought they would get along.

Photo by Jon Darmon

“I could tell right away it was going to be a good fit,” says MacNeil. “It’s an important part of starting grad school. If you don’t get along with your supervisor, then it can be a really unpleasant few years.”

Hayes was on study leave in Germany when MacNeil first called but that didn’t stop him from moving across the country to start working as a research associate in Hayes’ lab in the U of L’s Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. The year was 2014 and MacNeil had heard about plans to build a new science building. He wanted to get in on the ground floor.

“Seeing how the department has evolved physically and, with the new talent that we’ve brought in, securing a Canada Research Chair in organofluorine chemistry and the friends I’ve made along the way, it has been a great experience,” says MacNeil.

MacNeil is pursuing a PhD, now in its final stages. He wanted to focus on problem solving during his graduate studies and that’s what he found in Hayes’ lab — a team of problem solvers who ask interesting questions and have their eye on how chemistry can play a role in solving global challenges like climate change and developing new pharmaceuticals.

“The things I’m focusing on specifically in my PhD research are reactions pertaining to the hydrogen economy,” says MacNeil. “I’ve shown that organic molecules containing element-hydrogen bonds react with a metal complex to release hydrogen gas. When you break it down, hydrogen is a versatile reagent in all kinds of chemistry and my PhD research looks at new methods to generate hydrogen from common organic molecules in a straightforward way.”

“It has been a true pleasure working with Connor over the past few years,” says Hayes, who is also a member of the Canadian Centre for Research in Advanced Fluorine Technologies (C-CRAFT). “We both enjoy brainstorming ideas and often find ourselves drawing out new chemical reactions long after most of our colleagues have gone home for the evening.”

While working away at his own research, MacNeil was also following the work being done in Paul Chirik’s lab at Princeton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Princeton, New Jersey. Chirik’s expertise is in organometallic chemistry, using environmentally friendly catalysts made from abundant earth elements including iron and cobalt.

“I’d been interested in the work that Paul Chirik was doing at Princeton since I started graduate school and it had always been a dream of mine to work in that area of chemistry,” MacNeil says. “I never thought it would be possible for me to work in that lab at Princeton.”

Because MacNeil received the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s (NSERC) Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship, he was able to secure the prestigious Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement. He contacted Chirik, who was enthusiastic about MacNeil spending the fall semester in his lab.

“It was a bit surreal because you hear about all the amazing research that this group does and then, all of a sudden, you’re dropped in and you’re a part of the group and conversing with people that you’ve admired,” he says. “Everybody at Princeton is at the top of their game and that was a world I wanted to immerse myself in.”

MacNeil focused on doing the best he possibly could with the time he was given. The first month brought a lot of trying and failing. He persevered and often found himself working away in the lab near midnight with a smile on his face because there was nowhere else he wanted to be.

“I think I made a positive impact on the group and, in the four months I was there, I was able to complete a project and actually publish a paper in Angewandte Chemie,” he says. “I’m going back — I was offered a post-doctoral position at Princeton after I conclude my studies here. My time there was highly productive and Paul Chirik and I got along really well. The way he thinks about science is something that fits well with my goals.”

“Connor has really matured as a scientist, so when the opportunity came along to work with Prof. Chirik at Princeton I knew he was well prepared for the challenge,” says Hayes. “Thus, it was not a surprise that he was an outstanding ambassador for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and that he flourished in the high-pressure environment. His future is incredibly bright and I look forward to following his career and continuing to bounce ideas back and forth.”

MacNeil is currently working on writing his PhD thesis and plans to finish it this summer. He says he hopes to spend time with family in New Brunswick before moving to Princeton at the end of the summer, depending on border restrictions and public health directives.

“I definitely miss being in the lab and I miss seeing people working on science,” he says. “If there’s one thing I learned during this time alone is that science is collaborative in nature.”

CREATE grant funding to support development of RNA Bioengineering and Innovation Network

trevor.kenney — Mon, 16 Jul 2018 17:25:35 +0000

The Government of Canada announced Monday that the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, in partnership with the Université de Sherbrooke, has been awarded $1.65 million over the span of six years to develop the RNA Bioengineering and Innovation Network Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE).

The U of L’s principal investigator on the project is Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden.

The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, announced $29.7 million in CREATE grants to 18 Canadian research teams across the country that are working to further discovery and innovation in areas such as environmental protection, green energy and advanced manufacturing. The teams include a wide range of collaborators from several countries, including Germany, France, Australia, the United States, Switzerland and Brazil.

“When young Canadians choose science, programs like CREATE empower them to pursue their ambitions and gain the hands-on experiences they need to launch their careers,” says Duncan. “Thanks to the worldwide interdisciplinary connections they will build through this program, these talented young researchers will further Canada’s reputation as a leader in research and innovation.”

The CREATE Program improves the mentoring of, and training environment for, the Canadian researchers of tomorrow by improving areas such as communication, collaboration and professional skills, and providing experience relevant to both academic and non-academic research environments.

The U of L’s principal investigator on the project is Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, a Alberta Innovates Strategic Chair in RNA Bioengineering, Tier I Board of Governors Research Chair in Biomolecular Design and Function and the founding director of the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI). He maintains, due to the fundamental role that RNA-mediated processes play for all living systems, that the next revolution in biotechnology will be the age of rationally designed Ribonucleic acid (RNA)-based systems, molecular machines and devices. Wieden points to the emergence of commercially-successful RNA-based therapeutics and pesticides as examples.

“As manufacturing and production floors become higher tech through advances in biology, materials science and computer applications, it is critical that trainees receive the most advanced and broad education possible in order to be leaders in their careers,” says Wieden. “Compounded by the labour shortage projected by the Government of Canada in this key economic sector, we propose to establish an industry-driven Bioengineering and Innovation Training Network with emphasis on innovative RNA-based technologies.”

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and the Université de Sherbrooke are recognized as the country’s leading RNA-research institutions and through this grant, look to jointly train job-ready leaders and innovators in the emerging biotechnology field.

“The innovation potential of RNA Bioengineering has implications in an incredibly diverse range of applications including bioconversion for renewable energy sources, detoxification, recovery from mining tailings, green chemistry and environmental monitoring,” says Wieden.

The institutions propose to establish entrepreneurial research and development challenges, coupled with an extensive internship program that strongly integrates private sector participation.

“The focus here will be on knowledge transfer and migrating students/trainees into the workforce who are job ready,” he says. “This is a critical aspect for accessing the many applications of RNA-based technologies that are developed in our research institutions.”

The timing for the grant support is ideal. With the completion of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s new Science and Academic Building on the horizon, the new RNA Bioengineering and Innovation Network CREATE will greatly benefit the new facility, the Synbridge Maker Space and the transdisciplinary integration of research activities.

U of L researchers receive $2.6 million in NSERC funding

caroline.zentner — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 16:13:41 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers in biology, chemistry and biochemistry, geography, mathematics and computer science, physics and psychology will be able to pursue diverse areas of inquiry thanks to $2.64 million in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).

Canada’s Minister of Science, Kirsty Duncan, announced today $515 million in support for fundamental research through the NSERC 2017 competition for the Discovery Grants program, scholarships and fellowships.

“The Government of Canada is committed to investing in fundamental research and engineering that will improve and enrich our country’s knowledge economy,” says Duncan. “We believe in encouraging scientists’ cutting-edge ideas that will lead Canada to greater social and economic growth. I am particularly proud of the support offered to postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows who, thanks to today’s investment, will be exposed to advanced training experiences that will prepare them for the jobs and opportunities of tomorrow.”

“At the core of every research project, every laboratory and every discovery, there are people,” says Dr. B. Mario Pinto, NSERC president. “NSERC empowers these people to build an innovative, prosperous and inclusive society. NSERC Discovery Grants, scholarships and fellowships provide thousands of top researchers, students and fellows with the foundation they need to concretize their research ambitions and explore the unknown.”

“We are very proud of our researchers and this level of funding from NSERC clearly demonstrates the valuable work being done at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge,” says Dr. Erasmus Okine, vice-president (research). “The funding is also spread throughout a number of disciplines, reflecting the strength of research activities across campus.”

Thirteen faculty members will receive Discovery Grants worth $2.16 million over five years. Their research projects include topics like human cell division. Dr. Roy Golsteyn (Biology) is investigating prairie plant extracts that inhibit cell division to better understand how cell division occurs. Dr. Philip Bonnaventure (Geography) studies mountainous terrains with the goal of advancing knowledge of the relationship between climate, topography and geology in these regions. Dr. Jacqueline Rice (Mathematics and Computer Science) will conduct research into how people use artificial languages, like those used for writing software, with the goals of improving software quality and readability.

Dr. Chris Hopkinson (Geography) is the recipient of a Discovery Accelerator Supplement worth $120,000 over three years. He is using satellite data and a Dynamic Ecosystem Landcover Transitions Assessment (DELTA) program to examine how forests and wetlands respond to disturbances in the climate system.

Drs. Fangfang Li (Psychology) and Saurya Das (Physics and Astronomy) will each receive Discovery Development Grants for research projects dealing with speech production in children and Quantum Gravity theory, respectively.

In addition, four students, namely Ryan Kung, Taylor Sheahan, Douglas Turnbull (Chemistry and Biochemistry) and Matthew Robbins (Physics and Astronomy) will receive $63,000 each over a period of three years in scholarships and fellowships.

“We pride ourselves in creating opportunities for our students to excel in their research endeavours. Their ability to seize these opportunities while working under the tutelage of world-class supervisors is rewarded in these scholarships,” says Okine.

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.

Southern Alberta students benefit from youth science outreach funding

trevor.kenney — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:59:07 +0000

More southern Alberta students will experience science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs thanks to a Government of Canada investment that supports the Actua network, including the Destination Exploration program at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

The Government’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) announced $3.6 million in PromoScience support to 66 recipients engaging over a million young Canadians. Further, the government will be increasing its support for science promotion activities to $10.9 million per year.

For the U of L’s Becca Bouchard, acting manager of Destination Exploration, a youth science outreach program, the $28,900 grant will allow the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ to expand its offerings.

“Last year, we reached just over 20,000 students throughout southern Alberta and we’ve been growing steadily every year by about 2,000 to 4,000 kids,” says Bouchard. “Our funding will be used for a program expansion, allowing us to purchase some new equipment that will keep us in step with the ever-changing world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as hire some staff to run the programs.”

Science outreach activities at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ have been ongoing since 2003 and currently include a host of activities. In addition to weeklong summer camps, Destination Exploration goes into area schools with two-hour workshops in the months of May and June. Throughout the school year, Wednesday and Friday science clubs are available and weekend science-themed birthday parties have proven to be extremely popular. The program is available from kindergarten to grade 8.

“Every camp or club experience that we do, there’s always this ‘Wow’ from the kids and they get really excited about science,” says Bouchard. “We get a ton of positive feedback from teachers and parents and often see a lot of kids repeat the program year after year. So we’re constantly updating the things we do to keep them engaged and interested.”

The NSERC PromoScience grant will support Actua and its network members located at universities and colleges across Canada in the delivery of STEM outreach programming, annually engaging 225,000 youth in 500 communities across every province and territory. Specifically, it will support Actua’s work in breaking down barriers to STEM studies and careers for youth who remain significantly underserved and underrepresented in these fields.

Each year, Actua and its network members will engage and inspire over 5,000 girls in all-girl initiatives, 30,000 Aboriginal youth in community-based and culturally-relevant programming, and another 30,000 at-risk youth facing other socio-economic challenges.

“This is critical work”, explains Jennifer Flanagan, Actua’s President and CEO, “because

Canada needs the perspectives of women, of Aboriginal peoples, and of others to truly achieve its innovation potential.”

Bouchard says the U of L has a similar focus with its programming.

“We’re lucky to be able to partner with Actua,” she says. “With our program, we are able to go into middle schools and work with girls there to bring them hands-on science and technology opportunities. We are also currently going out to Brocket to deliver workshops to that student population.”

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Destination Project, which will see the construction of new science facilities that will house a significant portion of the science teaching and research activities on campus, is also focused on further expanding community engagement and outreach.

In addition to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Destination Exploration, Actua network members receiving NSERC PromoScience funding include: Discovery Western (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Western Ontario); Engineering Outreach (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto); Geering Up! (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia); Mini ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (Brandon ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ); Science Explorations (York ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ); Virtual Ventures (Carleton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ); and WISE Kid-Netic Energy (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba).

Iwaniuk named a Tier II Canada Research Chair

trevor.kenney — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 16:20:06 +0000

Leading neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk, one of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s emerging young researchers, has been awarded a Tier II Canada Research Chair for a research program aiming to understand how the brain evolves into different sizes and forms in different species.

One of the U of L's emerging young researchers, Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk's research program aims to understand how the brain evolves into different sizes and forms in different species

The Canada Research Chairs program announced a total of 137 new and renewed research Chairs at 34 post-secondary institutions Thursday, committing $118 million to the program, with an additional $7.9 million in infrastructure support provided by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The Canada Research Chair program awards $500,000 over five years for Tier II awards.

“Since coming to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Dr. Iwaniuk has consistently advanced his research program, all the while providing exceptional training for undergraduate and graduate students as well as post-doctoral fellows,” says Dr. Lesley Brown, the U of L’s Interim Vice-President (Research). “His program is an excellent example of the interdisciplinary work conducted on campus and encouraged between faculty members because he combines methods of diverse disciplines, specifically evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology and neuroscience.”

Over the past five years, Iwaniuk, now a Canada Research Chair in Comparative Neuroanatomy, has secured over $1.2 million in funding through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Alberta Ingenuity Fund, CFI and matching funds.

Toronto born, Iwaniuk grew up in Edmonton, Alta. and completed his undergraduate studies at Monash ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Australia. He made his way back to Alberta to study under Drs. Sergio Pellis and Ian Whishaw at the U of L, completing a master’s degree in psychology, before earning his doctorate upon return to Monash. He then worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and Smithsonian Institution before joining the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge as a faculty member in 2008.

Through his research work, Iwaniuk has received international recognition as an expert in evolutionary neurobiology. At over 500 specimens representing 160 species, he boasts the largest comparative brain collection in Canada and the largest collection of bird brains in the world. One of his more recent studies found that a single brain region that processes visual motion is greatly enlarged in hummingbirds, thus allowing them to maintain a stationary position while feeding. This was the first evidence that hummingbird flight involves neural adaptation.

He says that despite decades of intense neuroscience research, how the brain evolves into different sizes and forms in different species remains a mystery.

“My research aims to resolve this mystery by specifically examining how the brain evolves and why, using a series of cutting edge technologies and analytical methods,” says Iwaniuk. “The results of these studies will yield new information on how the brain evolves, what evolutionary changes in brain anatomy have occurred and why these changes are necessary, all of which are fundamental to understanding brain function in all animals, including humans.”

By better understanding how the brain evolves, Iwaniuk will be able to provide new insights into what makes the human brain unique and why.

Faculty members at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge consistently demonstrate that they are among the very best researchers in Canada. Iwaniuk’s appointment as a Canada Research Chair in Comparative Neuroanatomy brings to 33 the number of research Chair appointments at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. More information on U of L researchers is available on the U of L research website.

Influential researcher Pellis earns Ingrid Speaker Medal

trevor.kenney — Tue, 27 May 2014 17:37:22 +0000

Dr. Sergio Pellis’s influential research on animal behaviour and behavioural neuroscience has received international recognition. It has also earned him accolades at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, where he was named the 2014 winner of the Ingrid Speaker Medal for Distinguished Research, Scholarship, or Performance.

His research, focussing on investigating the development of play and mastering the evaluation of movement, has received local, national and international attention.

Pellis came to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge psychology department in 1990, and eventually moved to the Department of Neuroscience in 2005. His research focuses on investigating the development of play and mastering the evaluation of movement. He and other researchers found that play can be seen in animals other than mammals. Play changes the brains of mammals and is critical for normal social development. He has amassed a rich collection of data on primates and rodents, resulting in several fascinating conclusions on the role and purpose of play in mammals. He is, arguably, the world’s foremost expert on social play behaviour.

His second major research area is behavioural analysis, and employs several notational systems to describe movement. After receiving his PhD, Pellis received a postdoctoral fellowship to study the deficits in movement seen in people with Parkinson’s disease. He collaborates with colleagues from other departments to continue this line of work at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Studying how movement is affected in people with neural damage benefits those with Parkinson’s and enhances our knowledge of normal behaviour. In his research, he looks for general principles of behaviour that underlie movement, and may eventually contribute to the development of robotics. He seeks to understand how individual and environmental factors influence the evolution of brain and behaviour.

Pellis’s research has attracted attention on local, national and international stages, and has received funding from such notable agencies as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. He has made more than 180 conference presentations, and his 2009 book, The Playful Brain, prompted an invitation from a Minister of Alberta Education policy advisor to a workshop on investigating educational policy. He was also part of a series of workshops in Lethbridge about fostering early learning. He has written more than 175 papers, inspiring more than 3,500 citations and 25 book chapters. Over the past decade, Pellis has been cited an average of 200 times per year, and he was appointed a Board of Governors Research Chair in 2007.

Graduate Studies celebrates student research

trevor.kenney — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:38:03 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's School of Graduate Studies celebrated the achievements of some of its top student researchers at the 10th Annual Celebration of Graduate Students' Research Excellence on Wednesday, Jan. 23.

A total of 33 students were recognized for the outstanding calibre of their research projects, all of which have been granted significant external funding support.

"The evening was a celebration of the excellent research our graduate students continue to be involved in," says School of Graduate Studies Dean, Dr. Robert Wood. "To see major awards from agencies such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council given to our students, demonstrates the work they are doing is of national importance."

Of the awards being recognized at the celebration was a $35,000 Alexander Graham Bell Graduate Doctoral Scholarship NSERC award to Ashley Moore (Biological Sciences), working under the supervision of Dr. Anthony Russell.

Chenyuan Hu (Mathematics and Computer Science, Dr. Hua Li supervisor), Andriy Bilichak (Biological Sciences, Dr. Igor Kovalchuk supervisor), Farhad Faghihi (Chemistry & Biochemistry, Dr. Paul Hazendonk supervisor) and Aki Matsuoka (Biological Sciences, Dr. Igor Kovalchuk supervisor) all received funding in excess of $30,000 from Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures.

"The level of research our graduate students undertake is exceptional, and these awards reflect not only the commitment from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ to continue to build its research portfolio, thereby making it a destination university for graduate students, but the commitment of our faculty to actively engage and support graduate student research opportunities," adds Wood.

The complete awards list can be found here.

5 Questions with Dr. Claudia Gonzalez

trevor.kenney — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 21:36:24 +0000

Dr. Claudia Gonzalez (MSc '00, PhD '04) is a Canada Research Chair in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education. Born and raised in Mexico, she earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the National Autonomous ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Mexico before continuing her education at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge where she earned both her master's and PhD degrees in neuroscience. She has taught and researched at the U of L since August 2009, and is funded by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

What first piqued your interest in your research discipline?

Ever since I can remember, I was interested in science. I was, and still am, fascinated by animal behaviour, particularly human. In middle school, I remember spending hours simply watching people. Later on it became a habit to observe people's actions and to wonder what led those people to act in a certain way. I decided to take psychology in university and it became clear that if I wanted to understand behaviour I had to first understand the brain. I pursued a career in neuroscience and I continue to be baffled by how the brain – a mere three pounds of mush – determines the complexity of our thoughts and actions. My research looks at multi-sensory integration like eye-hand coordination and sensory and cognitive interactions such as visuospatial abilities.

Dr. Claudia Gonzalez looks to unlock the mysteries of how the brain controls movement.

How is your research applicable in "the real world"?

I often tell my students that I do science for the love of science. My research is motivated by the big question of how the brain works to produce behaviour. In the lab we ask questions such as how does the brain compute the location, size and orientation of an object so that every morning you can pick up your cup of coffee with remarkable ease. We use cutting-edge technology that allows us to break down a hand or an eye movement into hundreds of components so that we can take a really good look at how it is executed. In addition, we look at how these visuomotor interactions are modulated or affected by cognitive functions such as attention and spatial abilities. We are starting to conduct research in neurological populations (i.e.: stroke patients) hoping to gain some further insight into the neural mechanisms underlying visuomotor and visuospatial functions. At the end of the day we hope to understand how the brain integrates sensory, motor and cognitive information. With this knowledge we can begin to develop strategies that translate into better outcomes for patients suffering from neurological conditions.

What is the greatest honour you have received in your career?

I guess that was when I overheard one of my supervisors say: "she will do fine" when discussing my future in science. Really, as a scientist I am very proud when my work is published, cited or funded. Also, it is always a pleasure and an honour to receive inquires from students who want to know about the work that I do and whether they can volunteer or work in my lab.

How important are students to your research endeavours?

Students are the heart and soul of my research program. Students' curiosity and excitement about learning and discovery is the best motivating force in the lab. Students don't only carry out the experiments but they help in the design and interpretation of them. It is often in the latter that students' contributions are invaluable; they bring a fresh and unbiased perspective to science and research.

If you had unlimited funds, which areas of research would you invest?

Two: Early education and translation. "Scientia potentia est" which commonly translates from the Latin as "knowledge is power". So I would invest in teaching children from an early age about their brain and how to take care of it. I think that if children learned some general principles of brain function early in their life, they would be less likely to engage in activities that would endanger their brains such as drug use, or checking from behind in a hockey game.

With respect to translation, I recently spoke to a medical doctor from a different country who told me that she goes to international conferences and brings back with her what she has learned to apply it directly into her patient population. Her story got me thinking that perhaps we don't do enough of that. As a basic scientist I would like to see that more of our findings could be put into practice, which is ultimately where it matters most.

Each month, the Legend will present 5 Questions With . . . one of our researchers. For a look at the entire catalog of 5 Questions With . . . features, check out the Office of Research and Innovation Services website at www.uleth.ca/research/research_profiles. If you'd like to be profiled, contact Penny Pickles at pickpj@uleth.ca

This story first appeared in the November 2012 issue of the Legend. To view the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Dr. Zen makes his pitch

trevor.kenney — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 21:10:20 +0000

He's got a cool name, a quirky video, is plugged into social media and is looking for your support. It might not sound like a pitch for a scientific study but
Dr. Zen Faulkes (BSc '89) is like any other researcher – he's just found a new way to grab your attention.

Faulkes, an associate professor of biology at The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Texas-Pan American, has just concluded his second SciFund Challenge fundraising project through the crowd-funding site rockethub.com. On each occasion, Faulkes earned enough donated cash to fund his projects, which involve the behavioural characteristics of crayfish and sand crabs.

"It's a concept that every charity has been using for years," says Faulkes, whose interest in aquatic species was cultivated at the U of L by Dr. Jennifer Mather (psychology). "It's pretty simple, get everybody to kick in a small amount of cash and then pool the money for a common aid."

It's a model that has been adopted with great success by artists, and one that science is just beginning to test.

"It is an ideological change in that there has been some resistance to self promotion to people outside of your professional community," says Faulkes of the public pitch concept. "It's not a change in that pretty much every scientist is going to tell you the importance of self promotion, networking and getting your work out there. The only difference is a slight shift in target."

Dr. Zen Faulkes with one of his Amazon Crayfish.

Faulkes uses an Indiana Jones-themed video in one of his pitches (Doctor Zen and the Amazon Crayfish Civilization) and admits it is offbeat.

"It's goofy, quite intentionally so, but that's just me and I'm not pretending that my approach is going to be the right approach for everyone," he says, adding that people don't necessarily have to understand your science to fund it, rather they might just follow it because it's cool.

"That's something I think we have undervalued in the past. People will support stuff just because they think it's cool," he says. "I think that has been highly underestimated, the willingness of people to support things just because."

Originally from Lethbridge, Faulkes moved around a lot as a kid before eventually returning to take his undergraduate studies at the U of L. He credits Mather for setting him on his career path, when he simply expressed an interest in the pending arrival of some octopuses for one of her studies.

"I was just talking to her about class and she mentioned she was getting some octopuses in and I made the mistake of saying, "That sounds interesting", and suddenly the door closed behind me and before I knew what was going on, she had recruited me," he laughs.

She later nominated Faulkes for a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) grant and he was on his way. That opportunity to participate in research as an undergraduate student would shape his studies years later.

"I'm in a university that has, in some ways, a similar kind of mindset to the
U of L," says Faulkes. "It has graduate studies but is still mostly an undergraduate institution, and people wondered how I could conduct studies without doctoral students at my disposal. I told them I came from a place where you can work with undergraduate students and have a research career and you can do research that's the equal of any place in the world. That's one of the things I learned from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge."

Faulkes will head to Florida in November to conduct his research funded by the SciFund Challenge. His website at doctorzen.net details his studies, while his SciFund projects can be viewed at www.rockethub.com.

This story first appeared in the June 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the entire issue in flipbook format, follow this link.

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