Congratulations
Dr Peter Ryser (Biology, Laurentian University) and Dr Ewa Cholewa (Biology, Nipissing University) have been awarded an over $150 000 Collaborative Research and Development (CDR) grant from NSERC, with CEMI and Vale-Inco as partners, to investigate the effect of heavy metal contamination around a copper-nickel smelter on drought tolerance of young trees. Metal-contaminated sites are often prone to drought stress, and restoration activities on such sites are hampered by multiple stresses influencing plant growth. The investigations here will focus on costs and tradeoffs of heavy metal tolerance with respect to a plant's ability to tolerate drought, and apply this knowledge to improve restoration efforts with deciduous trees. The project will investigate stress responses of tolerant and non-tolerant populations of white birch and red maple to metal contamination and drought stress (1 Ph. D student, position still vacant) and the practical application of that knowledge together with industry to restore contaminated sites (1 M.Sc. student, position vacant for January 2011). Several research assistants will be involved in the project, the currently employed ones being Kierann Santala, Jennifer Matthews and Fallon Kierkey. For more information, please click here.
Laurentian University Nordic skier Mary Thompson has been riding a wave of success in Ontario University Athletics that will deliver her to China in late February. Thompson, a third-year biology student, has been recognized within the OUA Women of Influence program and has earned a spot on the Canadian university team for cross-country skiing and will compete in China in February at the 2009 Winter Universiade world university games. Good luck, Mary!
Theses defended
Congratulations to the following graduate students who successfully defended their theses:
Vivien Hoang (M.Sc. - February 27) - Immunosuppression after a closed head impact: Effects of a single injection of FK506 and dexamethasone on histological, physiological and behavioural outcomes after mild traumatic brain injury in female Wistar rats (Supervised by Dr. M.A. Persinger)
Catharine Song (M.Sc. - February 27) - Characterization of SWT, a traditional multiherbal medicine (Supervised by Dr. H. Lee)
Seminars presented
January 30 - Louis Imbeau (L'Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue) - Partial cutting: Is it always better for wildlife? An ecological evaluation of partial harvest in the boreal forest on the Clay Belt (Invited by Dr. J-F Robitaille)
February 6 - Bill Keller (Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit, Sudbury, ON) - Limnology in northeastern Ontario: From acidification to multiple stressors (Invited by Dr. J. Gunn)
February 13 - Darren Sleep (Senior Forest Ecologist, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Montréal, QC) - The essential role of science in sustainable forestry (Invited by Dr. J. Litzgus)
February 27 - Stacey Ritz (Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Sudbury, ON) - Air pollution and the 'epidemic' of hypersensitivity: Can air pollution cause allergy and autoimmunity? (Invited by Dr. P. Ryser)
Graduate Student Research Symposium - February 11-12, 2009
The following Biology students in the M.Sc. Program in Biology and the Ph.D. Program in Boreal Ecology presented seminars or posters at the Graduate Research Symposium held at Laurentian University, February 11 and 12, 2009. The complete program may be viewed here.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Amanda M. Bennett (Biology)
EFFECTS OF HABITAT FRAGMENTATION ON THE POPULATION ECOLOGY OF NORTHERN MAP TURTLES (GRAPTEMYS GEOGRAPHICA)
Jolene Laverty (Biology)
EFFECTS OF HUMAN RECREATION ON THE POPULATION ECOLOGY AND SPATIAL BEHAVIOUR OF TURTLES IN THE MASSASAUGA PROVINCIAL PARK, ONTARIO, CANADA
Michelle Martin (Biology)
SPATIAL BEHAVIOUR AND HABITAT USE BY ELK (CERVUS ELAPHUS) IN RESPONSE TO HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION
Megan L. Rasmussen (Biology)
IS SIZE EVERYTHING? THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ON HATCHLING FITNESS IN SPOTTED TURTLES (CLEMMYS GUTTATA)
Katharine Yagi (Biology)
SPATIAL ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOURAL THERMOREGULATION OF SPOTTED TURTLES (CLEMMYS GUTTATA) IN A SOUTHERN ONTARIO POPULATION
Mackensey Bacon (Biology)
DYING TO LEARN ABOUT RBM10?. AN INTRODUCTION INTO A NOVEL MODULATOR OF PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH
Katherine Garrah (Biology)
CLASSIFYING PLANT COMMUNITIES AS POTENTIAL REFERENCE SITES FOR THE RESTORATION OF ANTHROPOGENIC BARREN UPLANDS IN THE HUDSON BAY LOWLAND
Krista Gooderham (Biology)
THE POWER OF PARASITES: THE INFLUENCES OF MACROPARASITES ON THE REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS, STRESS LEVELS AND IMMUNE STATUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN RED SQUIRREL (TAMIASCIURUS HUDSONICUS)
Alison Buckner (Biomolecular Sciences)
A ROLE FOR FLAXSEED OIL IN CHEMOTHERAPY: ENHANCING TAXOL-MEDIATED CELL DEATH
Carly Buckner (Biomolecular Sciences)
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD EFFECTS ON MALIGNANT CELL PROLIFERATION ARE DEPENDENT UPON TEMPORAL PATTERNS
Jason Sprowl (Biomolecular Sciences)
TNFΑ RESISTANCE DURING THE ACQUISITION OF DOCETAXEL RESISTANCE IN MCF-7 CELLS
Neville Hewage (Biology)
ENZYME-BASED DETECTION AND DIFFERENTIATION OF ESCHERICHIA COLI AND TOTAL COLIFORMS IN DRINKING WATER
Pierre Echaubard (Boreal Ecology)
HABITAT FRAGMENTATION, GENETIC DIVERSITY AND AMPHIBIAN DISEASES
Darryl Edwards (Boreal Ecology)
SELECTION FOR NEST DEFENCE TRAITS IN AN ARTIC BREEDING SHOREBIRD
Andreas Luek (Boreal Ecology)
THE WEAKEST LINK: LAKE RECOVERY SLOWED BY INSUFFICIENT FISH FOOD RESPONSE TO HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION
Nadia C.S. Mykytczuk (Boreal Ecology)
THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING ACID MINE DRAINAGE BACTERIA
Lucy Patterson (Biology)
PERSONALITY AND MALE REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS IN EASTERN CHIPMUNKS (TAMIAS STRIATUS)
Ashley A. Smith (Biology)
INTERSTITIAL NITRIC OXIDE LEVELS DO NOT INCREASE FOLLOWING L-ARGININE OR ATP PERFUSION INTO THE INTERSTITIUM OF RAT HIND-LIMB SKELETAL MUSCLE
Erik Szkokan-Emilson (Biology)
HEALTHY LANDS PROMOTE HEALTHY WATERS: THE ROLE OF LAND RECLAMATION IN THE RECOVERY OF NEAR-SHORE AQUATIC COMMUNITIES
Amanda Voros (Biology)
THE ACID PH RESPONSE OF MYCOPLASMA CAPRICOLUM AT THE SECRETOME LEVEL
Posters/Affiches
Stephen Armstrong (Biology)
DEVELOPMENT OF CARBOPLATIN, DOCETAXEL, AND COMBINED CARBOPLATIN/DOCETAXEL DRUG RESISTANT OVARIAN CANCER CELL LINES
Andréane Chénier (Biomolecular Sciences)
A CELL SURVIVAL ADAPTATION RESPONSE TRIGGERED BY MICROMOLAR CONCENTRATIONS OF L-GLUTAMINE
Yi (Lisa) Zhao (Biology)
ELEVATED INTERSTITIAL ATP CONCENTRATIONS STIMULATE ADENOSINE PRODUCTION IN RESTING RAT SKELETAL MUSCLE
Publications
Hartel, T., S. Nemes, D. Cogãlniceanu, K. Öllerer, C. I. Moga, D. Lesbarrères and L. Demeter. 2009. Pond and landscape determinants of Rana dalmatina population sizes in a Romanian rural landscape. Acta Oecologica 35(1): 53-59.
Lesbarrères D., Merilä J. & Lodé T. 2008. Male breeding success is predicted by call frequency in a territorial species, the agile frog (Rana dalmatina). Canadian Journal of Zoology 6(11): 1273-1279.
Laurence, S., A. Bewick, D. Coltman, C. Davis, S. Elsasser, A. Kidd, D. Lesbarrères, and A.I. Schulte-Hostedde. 2009. Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci in muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus. Molecular Ecology Resources 9: 654-657.
Tasikas, D.E., E.R. Fairn, S. Laurence, and A.I. Schulte-Hostedde. 2009. Baculum variation and allometry in the muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus): a case for sexual selection. Evolutionary Ecology 23:223-232.
Schulte-Hostedde, A.I., and C.M.M. Schank. 2009. Secondary sexual traits and individual quality in male green frogs (Rana clamitans). Journal of Herpetology 43: 89-95