UNews - Investigator

Matisz looking to make an impact

trevor.kenney — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:07:19 +0000

When Chelsea Matisz (BSc '05, MSc '09) began her academic journey at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in 2001, she wasn't sure what she wanted to be – knowing only that she loved studying biology and was good at it. Ten years, plenty of hard work and several incredible opportunities later, Matisz is a PhD student with a passion for parasitology, ecology and evolution who has earned the distinction of being an award winning research scientist.

Matisz began her research career during the summer of 2003 when she landed a job collecting data for one of her professors, Dr. Andrew Hurly.

"I spent the summer in a cabin at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's field research station collecting data about the foraging behaviour of hummingbirds," recalls Matisz. "Once I realized that there were professors with different research projects going on and that they were looking for keen students to collect data, it was just a dream come true. I was amazed that I could get this kind of job and that I could get paid for it."

Alumna Chelsea Matisz recently won the prestigious Ashton Cuckler New Investigator Award.

During a course with Dr. Cameron Goater, Matisz became interested in parasitology so she jumped at the chance to work with parasites in Goater's lab. She spent a summer working as Goater's lab research assistant before completing her BSc in December 2005. The relationship she established with Goater led to Matisz pursuing a master's degree with Goater as her supervisor.

"We have a very unique situation in the Goater lab in that we can rear a parasite with a complex life cycle in the lab and we are able to control the age and density of the parasite; that offers some exceptional research avenues," explains Matisz.

Using the flathead minnow as an intermediary host, Matisz studied why two parasites migrated to specific areas (one to the minnow's brain, the other to its liver), how the parasites migrated and what the minnow's response was once the parasite made itself at home.

In 2007, Matisz was awarded the Meritorious Student Paper Award, after presenting her research at the First North American Parasitology Congress in Mexico. She continued to receive accolades for her work and in June this year she will be the first graduate student to be presented with the prestigious Ashton Cuckler New Investigator Award from the American Society of Parasitologists for work at the master's level. The award has previously gone to recently graduated PhD students only.

"This award means so much to me because it is validation for the work I have done. I feel immensely proud to get this," says Matisz.

Goater, who nominated Matisz for the award says, "There could be no better ambassador for our graduate program and for our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. I am thrilled to see her waive the U of L flag at the annual meeting in Anchorage."

Now that she is studying for her PhD at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, Matisz looks back on her graduate studies at the U of L with some degree of amazement.

"I had a great experience at the U of L. I was given such incredible resources in terms of support and expertise. Generating three publications for my masters was simply amazing. I don't feel like I could have done better anywhere else," she says.

Matisz admits there were times throughout her thesis project when she needed to clear her head, so she attended a variety of different lectures on campus.

"The lecturers reminded me why I was doing what I was doing. Seeing their passion was really motivating and helped me keep trucking on, although, there have been times in desperation that I've seriously considered abandoning research to be a musician or write fiction," laughs Matisz.

She completed her masters of science in biology with a 4.0 GPA in 2009. For nine months she worked as a research associate at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ through the Canadian Water Network, before spending another three months at the Alberta Provincial Laboratory for Public Health in Edmonton in advance of her PhD studies at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary. Currently she is studying with Dr. Derek Mackay and Dr. Keith Sharkey, researching host-parasite interactions of the rat tapeworm in a mouse and how this can affect or modulate joint inflammation.

"I hope that my studies will one day have an impact on human health. It's amazing that parasites can potentially have a therapeutic role for inflammatory diseases – and I hope I can be a part of elucidating those mechanisms. That would be amazing," she says.

GET THE FACTS

· Matisz also won the 2010 Medal of Merit and was a finalist for the Gold Governor General Award

· Matisz had her own radio show on CKXU, Music Soup, while she was at the U of L

· Matisz designed the cover for the edition of the International Journal of Parasitology which housed her very first publication

· Matisz has been awarded scholarships/grants in excess of $114,000

This story first appeared in the Legend. To view the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Campus Kudos - April

trevor.kenney — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:00:35 +0000

Alumna Chelsea Matisz (BSc '06, MSc '09) was recently named the winner of the Ashton Cuckler New Investigator Award. This award is handed out by the American Society of Parasitologists and is given to the top graduate student in the field, based upon the quality of research accomplished during a candidate's graduate studies. In the past, this award has gone to a recently-graduated PhD student, while Matisz is currently in a PhD program at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary. She will be honoured at the Society's annual meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, in June.

Soprano Acacia Doktorchik (MMus) presents her final Graduate Recital on Apr. 14 at 8 p.m. in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Recital Hall.

Mart Blicharz (MFA New Media) has an exhibition entitled, Breaking The Spell: Work in Progress, showing at the U of L Penny Building until Apr. 15.

Tasha Diamant (MEd student) was invited to present a Human Body Project event at the Union Theological Seminary, a graduate degree-granting seminary associated with New York's Columbia ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Her presentation included a live Human Body Project performance followed by a discussion with faculty and students. The Human Body Project is the subject of Diamant's MEd research project, which mostly consists of a 53-minute documentary film, and is under the supervision of Dr. Erika Hasebe-Ludt and Dr. Leah Fowler.

Nicholas Louma (BFA '08) had artwork in the exhibition, Mind the Gap, at the Art Gallery of Swift Current in March.

Anna VanderHeide (BMus/BEd) sang in a Tribute to Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin organized by the newly formed Lethbridge Jazz Society in April.

Mike Pinder (Operations Co-ordinator, Sport and Recreation Services, BSc '04) was given a Lethbridge Sport Council Achievement Award for coaching excellence. Pinder is an assistant swim coach with the LA Swim Club, and in addition to coaching Youth Olympic medalist Rachel Nicol, is highly respected by athletes and parents for his dedication and commitment to the sport of swimming.

Ken Allan's (Art) article, Barnett Newman's The Wild: Painting as Spatial Intervention, has been accepted for publication by the American journal October, published by MIT Press.

Taras Polataiko (Art) had work displayed in the group exhibition, Delinear, at the Barbara Edwards Contemporary in Toronto.

Knud Petersen, a longtime supporter of Pronghorns Athletics through the Horns Booster Club, Operation Red Nose, Pronghorn Dinner & Auction, Casino Chair and Adopt-A-Horn programs, was given a Lethbridge Sport Council Achievement Award for Spirit in Sport.

Collin Zipp (MFA Art) is participating in a residency, culminating in an exhibition, at Daimon Video in Gatineau, Que.

Soprano Rachel Sinnott (MMus) presented a Masters Recital on Apr. 7 in ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Recital Hall.

Pronghorns thrower Heather Steacy was given a Lethbridge Sport Council Achievement Award as Senior Female Athlete of the Year in 2010. Steacy, who took a year off of Canada West competition, devoted her time to the Canadian National Track and Field team, winning a gold medal at the North America, Central America, and Caribbean Championships (NACAC) where she threw a personal best of 67.20 m in the hammer throw.

Billy McCarroll (Professor Emeritus), on bass, and Dale Ketcheson (Music), on guitar, perform at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG) at a Happy Hour performance sponsored by the Lethbridge Jazz Society on Apr. 15 from 5-8 p.m. McCarroll's artwork is presently on display at SAAG.

Jazlyn Dow (BFA '10) has just been accepted into the Master of Arts in Visual Culture: Costume Studies program at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

International Management students Kayley Fulton and Aamna Zia have each been awarded a $3,000 Export Development Canada (EDC) International Business Scholarship. Fulton completed a work exchange in Spain in 2010 while Zia, an Edmonton Campus student, is currently on work exchange in France.

Darcy Best (Mathematics and Computer Science) bettered his score from last year to set a new school record for his performance in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition. Best joined nearly 4,296 North American students in a six-hour, 12-problem contest, earning an overall ranking score of 527.5, leaving him one point out of the top 500.

For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Alumnus headlines SACPA event

trevor.kenney — Wed, 26 May 2010 18:02:36 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumnus Rick Soop (BA'81) will address the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) Thursday, May 27 as the topic of closing the Kainai Corrections Centre is addressed. The title of the SACPA event, Is Aboriginal Justice Being Served?

In the early 1990's, each of the three prairie provinces held judicial inquiries into aboriginal justice. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples followed these inquiries with a national analysis. All of these important studies reviewed the disproportionate representation of aboriginal peoples in the Canadian Justice System.

At present about 20 per cent of federal offenders are aboriginal. On the prairies, provincial aboriginal incarceration rates range from 35 per cent in Alberta to 80 per cent in Saskatchewan.

In the words of Justice Cawsey from the Alberta Inquiry: "The only things that have worked for Natives have come from Natives".

Since his graduation with a political science degree from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in 1981, Rick Soop has worked in the criminal justice system and witnessed first hand the disproportionate representation of aboriginal peoples.

For the last 10 years, Soop has been the director of the Kainai Community Corrections Society. He is an active participant on various boards and committees for the Blood Tribe, and is helping to develop the Kainai Peacemaking Centre.

There are consistent statistics demonstrating the decreased rate of reoffending or recidivism where Aboriginal offenders have gone through Aboriginal programming including healing lodges, ceremonies and opportunities to commune with Elders.

Just this past winter, Howard Sapers, Correctional Investigator for Correctional Services of Canada underlined these facts. Mr. Sapers emphasized the need for urgent action to improve support programs for Aboriginal prisoners or face a potential crisis.

In the face of these truths and the young and vulnerable demographic of the Aboriginal population, it defies logic that the Alberta Government would suddenly and arbitrarily decide to close the Kainai Minimum Security Corrections Centre and cut Aboriginal Correctional Programming on Reserves.

It is in the interests of everyone in Alberta that these worthwhile programs on Kainai and other reserves be supported. The Director of Kainai Corrections will speak to this issue, its implications and what can be done about it.

Moderated by James Moore, Thursday's SACPA event is from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Country Kitchen Catering. Admission is $10 and includes lunch.

UNews - Investigator

Matisz looking to make an impact

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Campus Kudos - April

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Alumnus headlines SACPA event

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