Sutherland makes top 50 list

trevor.kenney — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:17:34 +0000

Dr. Robert Sutherland, a neuroscience researcher at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN), is among 50 people named by Alberta Venture Magazine as their 50 Most Influential Albertans for 2011.

Sutherland made the list for a breakthrough discovery last year in which he and his team confirmed the re-generation of cerebral cortex cells in adult mammals.

The research focused on a part of the brain called the hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped region of the brain responsible for short- and long-term memory storage and retrieval. This is an area that is especially sensitive to illnesses or injuries that can create memory loss, explains Sutherland. It's also a part of the brain that throughout adult life spontaneously creates new cells that are able to easily find their correct position in the brain's circuitry.

The team began by killing off about half of these cells by depriving them of corticosterone, an important hormone the cells need to function, causing the rats to develop memory issues very similar to humans suffering with dementia. Through a combination of a specific protein therapy, an enriched living environment and exercise, the researchers were able to re-grow the lost brain cells and prove that the rats had regained their memory function.

Regenerating brain cells is a problem neuroscientists have been struggling with for many years, with limited success. The challenge stems from the nature of the brain itself. "If you open up a laptop and take a look at the circuit board, every portion you look at has a sophisticated set of connections with other pieces," says Sutherland. "The brain is even more complicated."

For more on this discovery, follow this link.

Other persons honoured by Venture include U of L Honorary Degree recipients Gwyn Morgan and David Schindler. While previous U of L connections to the Alberta Venture list include Sutherland's colleague Dr. Bruce MacNaughton, sociology researcher and trend tracker Dr. Reg Bibby, and U of L Chancellor Emeritus Richard Davidson.

Read the Alberta Venture profile and additional biographies of the other 49 individuals by following this link.

Byrne film an environmental landmark

trevor.kenney — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:29:29 +0000

This story first appeared in the Lethbridge Herald

By SHERRI GALLANT

An educational film with algae-filled Lake Winnipeg as its focal point appeals to farmers and city dwellers to change their ways and help the country's watersheds to heal.

Choking Lake Winnipeg, a 25-minute documentary available free online, was screened Thursday at Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs. Produced by Jim Byrne, U of L prof and Chair of Geography, and his wife, Leanne Little, it includes interviews with many of the nation's top environmental scientists, including David Schindler, Killam Memorial Professor of Ecology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, and Joe Rasmussen, Canada Research Council Chair in Aquatic Ecosystems at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

An original soundtrack for the film was created by Stephen McGlenn, a U of L grad who attended COP 16 in Cancun — the United Nations Conference on Climate Change — as a Canadian Youth Delegate.

"We're looking to change a political/social approach to the way we deal with environment," said Byrne. "I went to some of my very favorite colleagues, Canada Research Chairs in many locations, outstanding and brilliant colleagues."

Byrne's expertise is in global environmental change. He was the lead scientist, originator and co-producer of the 2002 award-winning television series Global Change and the 2004 TV series Water Under Fire.

"Our goal was to inform people in a qualitative way and let them know that not only do we have this very challenging environmental problem, but we have some suitable solutions if we just have the political will."

Comparisons can be made with conditions in southern Alberta, where chemical runoff from farming and manure from beef, chicken and hog operations makes its way into the Oldman River watershed. Farmers, said Byrne, can go to zero-tillage practices which holds moisture in the soil and doesn't allow erosion and runoff; while city dwellers can take steps that include conserving water, being aware of what they shouldn't flush down their toilets, and using less — or zero — herbicides and pesticides on their lawns.

The film shows how massive blue-green algae blooms have appeared in Lake Winnipeg and other water bodies across the Canadian prairies. Eutrophication (when water is depleted of oxygen by algae, killing the body of water) is fast becoming a problem; not just in Canada but in the most heavily-populated parts of the industrialized and developing world.

To learn more, visit www.scientia.com.

UNews - David Schindler

Sutherland makes top 50 list

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Byrne film an environmental landmark

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