PRESCIENCE [pre • science] – noun – having foresight or foreknowledge
FACULTY OF SCIENCE NEWSLETTER
VOL. 8
PSYD PROGRAM RECEIVES CANADA’S HIGHEST ACCREDITATION LEVEL 11 TEACHING AND LEARNING 3 RESEARCH 5 STUDENTS 18 FUNDING 26 DEVELOPMENT 31 ALUMNI 34 FACULTY 38
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FROM THE DEAN
THE UNIQUE CLIMATE and geography of Newfoundland and Labrador has molded this province in many ways. It has also defined our university. The vast, resource-rich expanse of cold ocean and the near Arctic that has shaped the history, culture and economy of the province is also reflected in much of Memorial’s research and development activities. In the Faculty of Science, our faculty and students are undertaking some of the world’s most ambitious research aimed at unlocking the secrets of the North Atlantic. In this issue of Prescience magazine, you’ll read about some of this work, including the search for solutions to common issues in the aquaculture industry and ways to protect marine life, as well as highlighting the impacts of climate change on our marine protected areas.
generations goes beyond an interest in the deepest ocean. We are also working to understand and protect our natural heritage in this province and around the globe through research on animal impacts on the carbon cycle, the importance of lichen diversity in our boreal forest and improved testing for bee-harming pesticides. In fact, our focus goes even further afield, with an eye to investigating the causes of space storms on Saturn and calls for the protection of significant geological features on celestial bodies throughout the solar system. The Faculty of Science at Memorial University is proud of the active research our students and faculty are engaging in on land, sea and in space. I hope you enjoy their stories.
Our desire to ensure a clean, safe and sustainable environment for future
PRESCIENCE
Prescience is a publication of Memorial University’s Faculty of Science. We welcome all comments, submissions, story ideas and letters.
EDITOR: Kelly Foss, communications advisor
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Kristine Breen
COVER PHOTO: Matthew Manor
709 864 2019, kfoss@mun.ca
CONTRIBUTORS: Jeff Green, Rebecca Cohoe, Michelle Osmond, Lisa Pendergast, Mandy Cook, Jill Hunt, Jackey Locke, Kristine Power, David Sorensen, Courtenay Alcock, Susan Flanagan, Jacqueline Lewis. Faculty of Science, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X7 | Tel: 709 864 8153 or 8154 | Fax: 709 864 3316
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WEBPAGE: www.mun.ca/science EMAIL: science@mun.ca
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Dr. Brent Snook Mike Ritter photo
PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR SUPERVISION DR. BRENT SNOOK, a professor of psychology, has been recognized by the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools (NAGS) with the Geoffrey Marshall Mentoring Award. Given for outstanding support of a graduate student, or students from course completion through research and placement, Dr. Snook was selected over nominations from prestigious universities such as Yale, Dartmouth, Princeton and Columbia.
He uses the apprenticeship model – everything he does, he gives his students an opportunity to be involved. If he has to write a grant, he shows them what he is doing and asks for advice. If he has to give a keynote speech, he asks them to review it and make comments. If he is teaching a class, he invites them to give a guest lecture. Much like in a family, Dr. Snook strives for equality: making sure everyone is given the same opportunities to provide input and participate.
Dr. Snook’s continued relationship with his students after they graduate was one of the things that stood out to the committee. He stays in regular contact with them, both on a research and personal level. His efforts appear to be working. Graduate students from his lab have received numerous accolades, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Talent Award.
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TEACHING AND LEARNING
From left are project team members Drs. Piotr Trela, Sally Goddard, Margaret Caldwell and Jane Costello (Absent: Dr. Anna Rissanen) Rich Blenkinsopp photo
ONLINE RESOURCES INTEGRATE ACTIVE LEARNING IN LARGE CLASSES BIOLOGY HAS TACKLED a big issue for students taking its introductory course. On average, there are 200 students in each section of Biology 1001 sitting in a fixed-seat lecture theatre with one professor to teach them. As such, it is difficult for instructors to engage students and provide additional help or identify and address challenges students have with tough concepts. The result is poor class attendance, attrition and concerning failure rates. Dr. Anna Rissanen, an instructor in the Faculty of Science, and Dr. Jane Costello, senior instructional 4
designer with the Centre for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL), conceived an idea to develop resources to address such challenges A study showed that by increasing active learning in a large classroom, student attendance increased and so did students’ understanding of course concepts. Together they wrote a proposal to develop open, personalized and self-paced learning resources for students in introductory biology and were awarded funding through Memorial’s Teaching and Learning Framework St. John’s Funding Competition.
The group deployed a series of videos, games, reflection questions and quizzes aimed at providing a flexible learning environment and bridging the knowledge gap for students. Students are encouraged to access the tutorials as needed, either as an introduction to a topic, or to supplement existing materials. Beyond addressing challenges in introductory biology, the outcome of this project can inform potential initiatives in Chemistry, Mathematics and Statistics, Physics and Physical Oceanography and Earth Sciences, which also struggle with similar problems.
RESEARCH
BIOLOGIST PUBLISHES RESEARCH ON ANIMAL INFLUENCE ON THE CARBON CYCLE Murres on Funk Island Submitted photo
Montevecchi featured on Funk Island research and education website FUNK ISLAND, A small ocean rock outcrop, is a spectacular and remote seabird breeding site in the North Atlantic. Located 40 kilometres off the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland, it is home to massive colonies of murres and gannets.
Moose eat 10 kilograms of dry matter a day and have the potential to alter forest carbon storage. Eric Lebel photo DR. SHAWN LEROUX, an associate professor in the Department of Biology, says animals influence carbon cycling across landscapes in ways that can impact climate change. While predicting and managing the global carbon cycle requires an understanding of the ecosystem processes that control carbon uptake and storage, current models only focus on the exchange between plant and soil pools and the atmosphere, and don’t account for the role wild animals play. Dr. Leroux and researchers from the United States and Brazil have looked at examples from marine and freshwater systems and boreal, tundra, tropical and savannah ecosystems. Animal species such as sharks, sea otters, caribou and geese, among others, were included in their analysis.
Some of these animals have huge migration patterns, ranging over thousands of kilometres, so they can influence the distribution of carbon over large areas. Some also use multiple ecosystems. With these movements, animals transfer carbon across ecosystem boundaries and their movements should be incorporated into carbon cycling models and understanding of climate change. However, predicting and measuring carbon cycling under such variability is a challenge. Field work can be demanding, so mathematical modelling and spatial analysis are important. Dr. Leroux hopes to develop models taking the abundance, diversity and movement of animal species across landscapes, as well as different animal traits, to decipher key factors driving animal impacts on carbon cycling.
Dr. Bill Montevecchi, a Memorial Distinguished University Professor of psychology, biology and ocean sciences and respected seabird scientist, has helped launch a new YouTube educational and research information exchange website, www.funkisland.ca. The website reveals some of the work that happens on Funk Island and why it is, “a marvelous, terrible place.” Funk Island is a protected site which few can visit, so the website details the ecology of the island, the birds that breed and raise their young there, and the work of research scientists who visit there. The island is a source of seabird resilience and productivity where murres, gannets, razorbills, puffins, fulmars, kittiwakes and gulls congregate to mate and rear their young. Dr. Montevecchi’s research on the massive colonies of seabirds on Funk Island sparked a focus on seabirds as monitors of fish and the ocean environment, and Memorial University continues to have a core group of world-class marine scientists recognized as leading authorities on the North Atlantic Ocean environment and marine species.
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RESEARCH
Genetic analysis gives insight into island caribou population
SONGBIRDS AT THE BOTANICAL GARDEN SPILL THEIR LOVE SECRETS ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR RESEARCHER Dr. David Wilson says Memorial’s Botanical Garden is an excellent spot to look at and, more importantly, listen to local birds like chickadees and dark-eyed juncos as they go about the business of matching and hatching.
Caribou on the Island of Newfoundland Isabelle Schmelzer photo
A GENETIC STUDY has given Memorial researchers new insight into the origin and evolution of the Island of Newfoundland’s caribou population. The findings are based on Corinne Wilkerson’s (M.Sc.’10) thesis and a paper that was co-authored with Dr. Steve Carr, Department of Biology, and Shane Mahoney (B.Sc.(Hons.’77), M.Sc.’80), a conservationist/wildlife manager. It marked the first extensive genetic analysis of caribou in Newfoundland, which aimed to understand the relationships of Newfoundland caribou among themselves and in relation to mainland caribou. DNA sequence data revealed four genetic groups. Three, which represented the majority of samples, were distinct from mainland caribou. That supports the hypothesis that Newfoundland caribou are a separate subspecies, Rangifer tarandus terranovae. While distinct, they did prove to be distantly related to caribou in Labrador and Quebec, suggesting the island animals originally crossed 6
the Strait of Belle Isle and spread northwest to southeast. The smallest group, just three individuals, were found on the Great Northern Peninsula. They were more closely related to Labrador caribou and distinct from the island groups. They appear to have arrived in Newfoundland later and may indicate that movement across the strait is ongoing. The team also looked at the genetic structure across herds and regions on the island. Several populations were introduced by provincial wildlife staff to regions that previously had no caribou, specifically Merasheen Island, the Cape Shore and St. Anthony. Testing was also unable to find any reindeer genomes among the more than 200 caribou examined. Introduced to the island in the early 20th century as a source of food, Eurasian reindeer were thought to have all been removed, killed or died from a parasitic brain worm they brought to the island. If the reindeer had bred with local animals, the researchers believe they would have found evidence of it.
These “backyard” birds don’t go in for the elaborate visual displays of their counterparts in the tropics. For them, singing is key to all of the most important aspects of life — from courtship and mating to finding food and maintaining their territories. Dr. Wilson, an assistant professor in Memorial’s departments of Psychology and Biology, says there is no lack of birdsong at the Botanical Garden. He’s been using it as a living laboratory for his research. He and his students constructed an aviary across the street and have been using the Garden’s birds as a research population. They’ve banded as many birds as possible and are using parabolic microphones to amplify and record bird songs, which are then digitized and analyzed. The songs can identify acoustic traits linked to female preferences, or even a rival male’s likeliness of starting a counter attack. The benefit of banding the birds and working with established populations, like the ones at the Botanical Garden, is that Dr. Wilson’s team is able to consider both the differences between individual birds and greater population trends. They can identify traits that are adaptive, giving them good insight into the evolutionary processes that shape the way the birds act.
RESEARCH
New paper says race to conserve marine biodiversity may backfire DR. RODOLPHE DEVILLERS, a professor of geography and an expert in marine protected areas (MPA) and their effectiveness, has joined researchers from across the country in reviewing Canada’s efforts to meet commitments made to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss around the world. In 2010, Canada signed on to a global effort to protect biological diversity by achieving 20 objectives known as the Aichi Targets. In particular, Target 11 intends to improve the status of biodiversity through
protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, or OECMs. Target 11 asked countries to increase protected area coverage in terrestrial and inland water and coastal and marine ecosystems with high ecological integrity to 17 and 10 per cent, respectively, by 2020. However, the researchers say Canada is exploiting a loophole in a last-minute attempt to reach its commitments by the deadline.
area from less than one per cent to about eight, the majority of those are OECMs, which can be established much quicker and with less consultation than the more arduous process of declaring an area an MPA. Scientists say those areas are likely to provide lower levels of protection than marine protected areas and believe these targets and time frames encourage countries to take shortcuts that are not necessarily to the benefit of nature.
While Canada has increased its declared protected marine
Primnoa gorgonians and Geodia sponges in the Hatton Basin marine refuge ARCTICNET/CCSF/DFO photo
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RESEARCH
Physics researcher creates model to explain Saturn’s space storms THE STRANGE, HEXAGONSHAPED jet stream circling Saturn’s north pole and a huge, hurricane-like vortex at the pole have inspired many theories.
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Pictures also show much smaller vortices covering the entire surface of the gas giant.
Convection currents are formed when heated, and therefore less dense, air rises to the surface while colder, denser air sinks to the bottom — a cycle which can lead to hurricanes. Tilted convection occurs when buoyancy forces do not align with the planet’s rotation axis.
Dr. Iakov Afanassiev, a professor in the Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, is known for his research on the dynamical processes that govern the behaviour of stratified and rotating fluids that comprise the Earth’s oceans. He believes the smaller storms are due to tilted convection.
Dr. Afanassiev started doing experiments in the lab with a cylindrical water tank that was heated at the bottom, cooled at the top and spun on a rotating table and discovered that the warm rising plumes and cold sinking water generated small anti-cyclonic and cyclonic vortices similar to Saturn’s storms.
Furthermore, the experiments were supported by numerical simulations which showed smallscale convection leads to largerscale cyclonic flow at the surface and anti-cyclonic circulation at the bottom of the fluid layer, with a polar vortex forming from the merging of smaller cyclonic storms that are driven polewards. He believes the whole circulation is created by the collective dynamics of these tiny vortices, and they join together because they are attached to convecting air parcels.
Saturn’s cloud belts generally move around the planet in a circular path, but the planet’s wandering, hexagon-shaped polar jet stream is a reminder that surprises lurk everywhere in the solar system. NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE photo
RESEARCH
MASTER’S STUDENT DISCOVERS LICHEN DIVERSITY IN N.L.’S BOREAL FOREST LICHENS PLAY AN important role in Newfoundland and Labrador’s approximately 38 million hectares of boreal forest. About 10 per cent of the biodiversity in the boreal forest is lichen, which contribute to the environment in a variety of ways — a year-round food source and habitat resource for many mammals and insects. Biology graduate student Rachel Wigle says while lichens grow very slowly, they are great indicators of environmental change. City parks are home to lichen species not found in the forest and when pollution increases, they grow bigger and produce more oxygen, helping mitigate the effects of pollution. In disturbed habitats, lichens are some of the first organisms to move in and start breaking down old material to make new soil, acting as ecosystem
pioneers and getting the environment ready for the next organisms to come along. Ms. Wigle has studied lichen on the Avalon, observing their abundance, how much of a tree they cover and identifying the different species. She’s also taken note of the characteristics of the forest, including tree height, canopy cover, density and the site slope and aspect, recording information about which trees were home to lichen, measuring the bark pH and size and even taking straw-size tree cores in order to count the growth rings. She found the rarest lichen on old growth yellow birch trees, which are also very rare. She worries that without more research, these species could be lost without ever knowing what value they could add to the ecosystem.
PHYSICIST COLLABORATES WITH AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY TO IMPROVE THERMAL IMAGERS DR. TODD ANDREWS of the Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography has partnered with colleagues from the University of Western Australia on a novel technology that could greatly increase the speed and sensitivity of thermal imagers. Thermal imagers are devices that improve the visibility of objects in a dark environment by detecting the objects’ infrared radiation and creating an image based on that information. The work investigates a new technology to increase the sensitivity and speed of
A thermography apparatus used for measuring thermal properties of porous silicon. Rich Blenkinsopp photo
thermal imagers using porous materials — specifically, porous silicon. It’s a form of the chemical element silicon which has nanopores in its microstructure, giving it a large surface to volume ratio. To develop the porous materials, researchers will study the interdependence of optical, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties at the micro- and nanoscale. Changing the porosity allows control over these properties which can be changed over a wide range using an electrochemical etching technique. Most thermal imagers use ultra-thin amorphous silicon layers, leading to low manufacturing yield and higher electrical noise in the resulting devices. Porous silicon layers can be made much thicker, providing potentially higher yield as well as the ability to form complex layers not possible in thin amorphous silicon.
A healthy yellow birch tree covered top to bottom in lichen. Submitted photo
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RESEARCH
Daniel Dupont and Dr. Eric Vander Wal
Are spider crabs a cure for a common Bahamian aquaculture problem?
Rich Blenkinsopp photo
Power line corridors and how they affect wolf-moose interactions DANIEL DUPONT, a part-time PhD candidate in the Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology interdisciplinary program and a provincial wildlife biologist in Manitoba, has been working with that province’s Indigenous and other communities to find out why Manitoba’s moose population is on the decline in some areas. He’s been tracking wolves to get a sense of what they eat at different times of the year, to see if it differs between areas and what kind of impact that may, or may not, have on moose. He’s also working with Manitoba Hydro to determine the potential impacts of new and existing transmission lines on the moose population. Dr. Eric Vander Wal is a wildlife ecologist with the Department of Biology and Mr. Dupont’s supervisor. He says linear features on landscapes, like transmission lines or logging roads, open up the landscape and that may help predators like wolves move faster. The faster a predator can move the more likely it’s going to encounter prey. The researchers are also looking into whether that translates into increased kill rates of moose.
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Mr. Dupont is an expert in wolf kill sites and has investigated more than 1,000 of them. Kill sites can reveal the species, age and sex of the kill and whether there was an underlying reason which would have made that prey more susceptible to predators.
A FIVE-MONTH SABBATICAL in the Bahamas led to a new research area and a new graduate student for Dr. Iain McGaw. The Department of Ocean Sciences researcher used the research facilities at the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) to investigate the biology of the West Indian spider crab (Mithrax spinosissimus), a very large crab that, unlike others, grazes on seaweed. Dr. McGaw was interested in determining if the crustaceans could be utilized to solve a common problem with aquaculture pens. Seaweed and encrusting animals grow on the pens, which cuts down on water flow through the mesh. As a result, fish become starved of oxygen, or the pens become so heavy they sink to the bottom.
The pens then have to be raised and power washed, which is time-consuming and expensive, and the seaweed and animals fall to the seabed and rot. The bacterial breakdown of this material, in turn, leads to “dead zones” on the ocean floor. Dr. McGaw wants to place adult spider crabs in the pens as a biological control— the crabs would graze on the encrusting organisms and remove them. In turn, the crabs would grow, potentially leading to another revenue stream if the crabs could be sold as food. While at CEI, Dr. McGaw worked with New Zealand research technician Logan Zeinert. The two became partners on the spider crab project and Mr. Zeinert is now completing a master’s degree at Memorial under Dr. McGaw’s supervision.
Crabs were placed in wire cages on top of aquaculture pens, with the idea that they would graze upon, and remove, encrusting organisms. Daisy-May Buzzoni photo
RESEARCH
PsyD program receives Canada’s highest accreditation level MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY’S DOCTOR of psychology (PsyD) program has been awarded the highest level of accreditation in Canada. This is the first time a PsyD program outside of Quebec has received accreditation from the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) and the first PsyD program the organization has recognized at a university that did not already have a CPA-accredited PhD program in clinical psychology. The five-year term is retroactive to the application submission in May 2017.
CPA found the program to be in compliance with 10 comprehensive standards relating to the quality of infrastructure and training, as well as its ability to graduate students in a timely manner and for them to be able to successfully register as psychologists in a Canadian province. To be accreditable, a program must be a part of a nationally, or provincially, chartered university and be fully housed in and managed by a psychology department. The CPA also requires a minimum number of core clinical
faculty with doctoral degrees in clinical psychology. The department’s six clinical psychologists include Drs. Kellie Hadden, Jacqueline Carter-Major, Julie Gosselin, Sheila Garland, Nick Harris and Joshua Rash. Their practices and research interests include child, adult and family psychology with particular interests in eating disorders, addictions and gambling, psychotic disorders, sleep disorders, psychosocial adjustment to family transitions and health psychology.
The department’s six clinical psychologists include Drs. Nick Harris, Kellie Hadden, Julie Gosslin, Joshua Rash 11 and Sheila Garland. Missing from photo is Dr. Jacqueline Carter-Major Rich Blenkinsopp photo
RESEARCH
New research shows early organisms grew big to spread offspring SOME OF THE EARLIEST complex organisms on Earth — and possibly some of the earliest animals to exist — got big not to compete for food, but to spread their offspring as far as possible.
They found the most successful organisms living in the oceans more than half a billion years ago were the ones that were able to throw their offspring the farthest, thereby colonizing their surroundings.
was no correlation between height and competition for food. Different types of organisms did not occupy different parts of the water column to avoid competing for resources — a process known as tiering.
Dr. Charlotte Kenchingon, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences, and Dr. Emily Mitchell of Cambridge University examined fossils from the Mistaken Point UNESCO World Heritage site in Newfoundland and Labrador, one of the richest sites of Ediacaran fossils in the world.
During the Ediacaran, large, complex organisms first appeared, some of which grew as tall as two metres. As they got taller, body shapes diversified, and some developed stem-like structures to support their height.
However, one likely function of stems would be to enable the greater dispersion of offspring, which rangeomorphs produced by expelling small propagules. The tallest organisms were surrounded by the largest clusters of offspring, suggesting that the benefit of height was not more food, but a greater chance of colonizing an area.
Using spatial analysis techniques, Drs. Mitchell and Kenchington found there
A group of Ediacaran specimens of Fractofusus and Plumeropriscum from the ‘E’ surface, Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve. E.G. Mitchell photo
LUMPFISH AND THE EYE DOCTOR A LUMPY BOTTOM feeder is the subject of innovative research being conducted at Memorial that will assist the aquaculture industry and provide insight into dietary effects on vision. Dr. Robert Gendron, a professor of cancer and cardiovascular biology with the Faculty of Medicine, has teamed up with Dr. William Driedzic, a marine bioscientist with the Department of Ocean Sciences, to study the effects of dietary vitamins on the vision health of lumpfish. 12
New advanced retinal imaging instrumentation at the university is being used to conduct ophthalmologic research on ocean fish. The same equipment can also be used on humans so the results could apply to both. Since the diet of cultured lumpfish is controlled, researchers can study and even improve their diet, particularly their consumption of vitamin A, and monitor any changes in retinal structure, or function. The eyesight of lumpfish is important. In addition
to their commercial value, they are also used as a means of de-licing aquaculture salmon. The better they see, the more useful they are to the aquaculture industry. Since vitamin A metabolism is central to a range of human retinal diseases, understanding how lumpfish might manage vitamin A metabolism in the face of stress could help researchers better understand how the human retina handles vitamin A during stress and disease.
RESEARCH
AquAdvantage juvenile salmon
Chemistry team develops ‘intelligent’ material to test for bee-harming pesticides
Alexi Hobbs photo
Investigating optimal conditions for raising GE salmon A MEMORIAL MASTER’S student is helping AquaBounty Canada determine the best growing conditions for transgenic Atlantic salmon. The first genetically modified animal approved as food by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and engineered at Memorial University, is now on Canadian dinner tables after 25 years of working its way through the approval process. AquaBounty Canada is the Canadian subsidiary of AquaBounty Technologies, an American company that produces the salmon. While working there as an intern, Eric Ignatz reached out to Dr. Matt Rise of the Department of Ocean Sciences about beginning an M.Sc. in aquaculture part-time via online education. The work would be done from the AquaBounty facility on Prince Edward Island under the supervision of Dr. Rise and Dr. Jillian Westcott of the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University. Mr. Ignatz has been tasked with investigating a variety of factors, including the impact of temperature on the growth, nutritional composition and gene expression of AquaBounty’s AquAdvantage salmon, to determine the optimal conditions for raising them so they grow as fast as possible.
A REPORT FROM the European Food Safety Authority is pointing at neonicotinoids as a major cause of the dangerously low global bee population. Neonicotinoids are some of the world’s most widely used insecticides, and in Canada, no federal regulations currently exist regarding their use, despite many attempts at establishing environmental limits. Jeremy Gauthier, a master’s student in the Department of Chemistry, says one factor holding up regulation is that the scientific community can’t sample neonicotinoid pesticides effectively. The environmental concentrations are too low to be detected by current methods but could still be high enough to affect bees. He’s been working with his supervisor, Dr. Christina Bottaro, to develop intelligent materials that can selectively test for the pesticides in honey and aqueous samples, including river and lake water. These thin films, made from molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), have molecule-sized cavities that can pick up compounds of interest. Their test is giving better results than the “rudimentary” sample analysis currently being done worldwide. The material is also more sustainable, requiring a smaller sample for testing and using less solvent during the analysis, rendering it faster, cheaper and greener, which they hope will encourage more sampling. The pair are currently working to patent the MIP formulation and develop it for commercialization.
Jeremy Gauthier Rich Blenkinsopp photo
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RESEARCH
Marine protected areas vulnerable to climate change Dr. Sheila Garland Mike Ritter photo
Study’s co-investigators bring credibility and trust to research process DR. SHEILA GARLAND, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, is involved in unique research that focuses on the experience of patient advisors. The CHoosing Options for Insomnia in Cancer Effectively, or CHOICE, study is a comparative effectiveness trial comparing acupuncture with cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia in cancer survivors. It’s patient advisory board consisted of eight individuals who had been diagnosed with cancer. The board members helped ensure the project was patient-centred. Members developed the research questions and approach and wrote the resulting paper for an academic journal. It allowed them to contribute to the science in a meaningful way and have their work side-byside with other published work by academics.
DR. AMANDA BATES, Canada Research Chair in Marine Physiological Ecology with the Department of Ocean Sciences, warns that marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly at risk from climate change. Although MPAs are a primary management tool for mitigating threats to marine biodiversity, Dr. Bates says the warming associated with continued “business as usual” emissions will likely result in further habitat and species loss. She helped a team of researchers pull data from MPA sites around the world to create a global framework to examine environmental conditions in MPAs. Results indicated that sites were undergoing rapid warming, the same as in other areas. Under these conditions, they predict the sea-surface temperature and oxygen concentration will exceed natural
variability by mid-century and believe if MPAs are rearranged to reduce exposure to one stressor, that may increase exposure to another. Changes to species distribution and composition are also expected as populations track the geographic movement of their thermal niches and shift to higher latitudes. These shifts will likely lead to changes in species interactions and food-web dynamics, losses of foundation species such as kelps, and invasions of new predators, competitors and parasites. Dr. Bates says if we put all of our resources into MPAs, knowing that these areas are likely to be hit by extreme events, we can lose what we’ve put significant energy and effort into protecting. The one guaranteed way to stop the huge shifts expected in MPAs is to prevent and reduce carbon output.
Dr. Garland believes having the board members directly involved in the study added a certain level of credibility and trust for other patients. The project also had a long-term influence on her own work as a principal investigator on other studies. It taught her what patient-oriented research is, and that engaging participants, or patients, in the research process, and ensuring they are equal contributors on the research team, changes the dynamics of how research is conducted — making it a less hierarchical and more collaborative approach. 14
Dr. Amanda Bates Rich Blenkinsopp photo
RESEARCH
OCEAN SCIENCE CENTRE LAUNCHES REEF LIFE SURVEY CANADA MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY HAS launched a Canadian branch of the Reef Life Survey (RLS). The RLS program started at Australia’s University of Tasmania and is a volunteerdriven citizen science program in which trained divers undertake biodiversity surveys of coral and rocky reefs from 54 countries around the globe. However, since the program began 10 years ago, there has been limited survey data collected from Canadian waters. RLS Canada is hoping to change that.
The launch comes after months of planning by Dr. Amanda Bates, an associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Marine Physical Ecology in the Department of Ocean Sciences, and a dedicated team of PhD students. It will involve training SCUBA divers from Dr. Bates’s Physiological Diversity lab, Memorial University’s Field Services Unit, and Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
species to the global database and provided data for the colder parts of the northern hemisphere which have been underrepresented in the global picture. The hope is that the establishment of ongoing monitoring locations around the world will help track biodiversity change from varied reef systems in a standardized and informative manner.
Canada represents a new frontier for the RLS, with only a few surveys previously done in the west. The team added new
A diver collects data on the diversity of species along the rocky coastline of Newfoundland and Labrador. George Bishop photo
CORAL REEFS LOSING ABILITY TO KEEP PACE WITH RISE IN SEA LEVELS DR. EVAN EDINGER, a professor of geography, biology and Earth sciences, is part of an international team that believes coral reefs will be unable to grow fast enough to keep up with rising sea levels, leaving tropical coastlines and low-lying islands exposed to increased erosion and flooding risk. The growth of coral reefs is strongly influenced by the amount and types of coral living on the reef surface.
This growth is being hampered by combinations of coral disease, deteriorating water quality, fishing pressure and coral bleaching caused by global warming. Coral cover — the proportion of reef surface covered by live stony coral — is a strong predictor of the extent to which rates of reef growth will lag behind sea-level rise, and how much additional submergence will occur.
Healthy reefs can easily keep up with sea-level rise, but researchers have found the numerous threats to coral reefs are keeping the amount of live coral cover low enough they’re not able to keep pace with natural calcium carbonate loss. Dr. Edinger helped to design the protocol used for measuring how fast the reefs can produce limestone and helped collect and analyze the data from the Caribbean sites.
This dead coral colony on the Belize barrier reef has been overgrown by sponges that break down the coral skeleton. Submitted photo
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RESEARCH
Memorial scientist calls on world to act on conserving space sites DR. JACK MATTHEWS, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences and research fellow at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, says global action is required to protect significant geological features on planets and celestial bodies. As nations and private companies explore and develop outer space, there is a growing threat to extraterrestrial environments. Research conducted by Dr. Matthews and Dr. Sean McMahon of the U.K. Centre for Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh suggests a new global agreement is needed to protect important sites before it’s too late.
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They want the conversation to begin now, so sites can be protected before missions are planned that put them at potential risk. With so many celestial bodies dominated by rock formations, rather than life, or water, they feel the existing theory and practice of geoconservation should be extended from Earth to the rest of the solar system. Geoconservation has already led to the protection of geological sites such as the Mistaken Point UNESCO World Heritage site in Newfoundland and Labrador, home to fossils of the oldest large, complex organisms known.
The solar system holds billions of years of geological heritage, and the pair say the world owes it to future generations not to squander this inheritance. They argue a new international agreement and what they call “exogeoconservation” could be based on the existing Antarctic Treaty System. The proposed strategy wouldn’t outlaw exploration and resource extraction but would recognize and conserve the most important features seen in the solar system, for the good of science and society.
This self-portrait of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle on Vera Rubin Ridge. NASA photo
RESEARCH
RESEARCHER PART OF ‘DREAM TEAM’ INVESTIGATING OPIOID PRESCRIBING DR. JOSHUA RASH, a clinical health psychologist in the Department of Psychology, is a member of a dream team of Canadian researchers and partners investigating health-care provider knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices surrounding the prescription of opioids for the management of chronic non-cancer pain. The team is trying to understand the extent of clinical inertia, or failure of health-care providers to follow clinical practice guidelines when prescribing opioids for long-term use. Doctors in Canada prescribe more opioids per capita than any other country, but Dr. Rash says there’s evidence to suggest long-term opioid use doesn’t have a large benefit on pain, or function, and higher doses don’t equate to greater benefit.
Dr. Ian Fleming and Shahinur Islam with a tank of hybrid farmed-wild salmon. Rich Blenkinsopp photo EXPERTS IN THE Department of Ocean Sciences’ are working to identify the impacts of escaped hatchery fish and providing information to industry regulators, so they can better manage those risks. The overall project, led by Dr. Ian Fleming, is divided into three components. The first is undertaken by Dr. Mark Abrahams, dean of the Faculty of Science and a professor of ocean sciences and biology, and Mike Piersiak, a PhD candidate in ocean sciences. They are investigating the probability of escaped hatchery fish surviving and getting to a spawning site. Mr. Piersiak collects data using fish tagging to track fish as they move through different aquaculture sites and monitors them
National guidelines for the management of chronic pain recommend non-opioid therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, because they have fewer risks and offer comparable long-term benefits for pain and function. He says a lack of awareness regarding the long-term effectiveness of opioid medication, disagreement with current guidelines and cognitive biases may be some of the reasons why providers find it difficult to adhere to guidelines. Dr. Rash will investigate the scope and extent of clinical inertia in the prescription of opioid medication for chronic pain — specifically, the provider-level factors and influences making it challenging to adhere to opioid-prescribing guidelines for chronic non-cancer pain.
The ultimate goal of this work is to optimize prescribing practices in order to prevent opioid-related morbidity and mortality without restricting a health-care provider’s ability to select the most appropriate treatment for an individual patient.
Dr. Joshua Rash Rich Blenkinsopp photo
SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE: IDENTIFYING THE IMPACTS OF ESCAPED HATCHERY FISH using a mobile hydroacoustic platform that uses sound beams to paint a picture of what’s going on below the surface.
escaped salmon in wild populations and determine the relative survival of hybrid offspring in nature.
In partnership with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), led by Dr. Dounia Hamoutene, and the aquaculture industry, they have conducted a series of experimental releases of aquaculture fish in Fortune Bay to simulate escapes in a Canadian fjord.
The final piece, undertaken by Dr. Fleming and Shahinur Islam, an ocean sciences PhD candidate, is exploring the consequences of interbreeding on trait expression and competitive interactions. Using a series of farmed-wild fish crosses in the lab, they are investigating their differences.
The second component, by Dr. Ian Bradbury, a DFO research scientist and adjunct professor of ocean sciences, and post-doctoral fellow Dr. Brendan Wringe, is aimed at developing genetic/genomic tools to identify and document the successful breeding of
Knowledge from the data being collected will help industry regulators with planning and design of sites, including where cages should be placed and in what density, and how to minimize impacts if, and when, escapes happen.
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STUDENTS
Leanna Lewis, Mark Hewitt, Hayley Mercer, Josh Conway, Julia Greenham, Brianna King and Adam Brown Submitted photo
THE DEPARTMENT OF Psychology held its ninth annual Psychology Research Day.
Psychology recognizes students, staff research and achievement 18
The event included morning talks from undergraduate honours and graduate students and afternoon research poster presentations from 42 honours students. The day concluded with an awards ceremony where Leanna Lewis received the Best Graduate Student Talk award for Can the FEO ameliorate the deleterious effect of circadian rhythm disruption in an animal model of social jet lag? Mark Hewitt received the Best Honours Poster award for Can our perceptions of social mobility affect how we feel about immigrants? while honours student Josh Conway was awarded the Robert Adamec Award for Best Neuroscience Poster for The neurobiology of addictiondepression comorbidity. This year, for the first time, two prizes were awarded for best honours thesis. They went to Hayley Mercer and Brianna King.
STUDENTS
Memorial students dominate in Atlantic math competition four years running FOR THE FOURTH year in a row, Memorial University students have taken the top prize at a regional math competition held in Moncton, N.B. Each year the Science Atlantic Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Conference opens with problem-solving and computer programming competitions. The math competition gives teams of two from universities across Atlantic Canada three hours to solve eight questions with nothing but pencils and paper. This year’s winners, Sam Bauer and Andrew Dawson, beat 20 other teams for first place. The original award was provided by Dr. William (Bill) McKim. Ms. Mercer was recognized for her outstanding cutting-edge research in her thesis, Using transcranial magnetic stimulation to predict cognitive and physical impairments in people with multiple sclerosis; and Ms. King, whose thesis, Preconception paternal stress results in sex-specific increases in anxiety-like behaviour and an increased vulnerability to a mild stressor in second generation mice, was selected for her ability to communicate a tremendous amount of information and make it accessible.
Both are in their second year of study in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. The pair was selected to represent Memorial at a qualifier on campus in September, an annual competition open to all students at Memorial, not just those working on math degrees.
After placing in the qualifier, the men worked with Drs. Mikhail Kotchetov, Tom Baird and Graham Cox, all faculty members with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, to prepare for the Science Atlantic conference. Mr. Bauer was also a member of Memorial’s 2017 team, along with Mason Nolan (B.Sc.’18). Other members from the university’s four-year winning streak include Noah MacAulay (B.Sc.(Hons.)’17) and Leah Genge (B.Sc.(Hons.)’17) in 2016 and Noah MacAulay and Michael Sullivan (B.Sc.’16) in 2015. It’s an impressive feat, but Memorial teams have placed in the competition’s top three every year for the last decade. And, in the history of the competition, which has run since 1978, only one university has managed to win four years in a row on one other occasion. Guess which one? That’s right: Memorial University. That streak has been unbroken since 1985.
The Psychology Society Award was presented to Julia Greenham based on her academic merit as well as her involvement with the department, the Psychology Society and in the community while the Rennie Gaulton Award for Excellence in Teaching was presented to laboratory instructor, Adam Brown. 19
Sam Bauer and Andrew Dawson Rich Blenkinsopp photo
STUDENTS
Single parent, PhD student finds personal and professional support IN 2012 HAYLEY Alloway was living on a small farm outside of Cleveland, Ohio, and homeschooling her children – aged six, four, two and five months. She’d been a stay-at-home mom for seven years following her graduation from the University of Washington with a master’s degree in animal behaviour, but decided it was time to go back to graduate school. Recalling a paper she had read in 2000 by Dr. Anne Storey of Memorial’s Department of Psychology she decided to apply to the faculty’s Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology PhD program. By the time she was accepted and made the move to St. John’s, she had
become a single parent and the family’s sole financial supporter. And while her academic career has sometimes been a challenge, and her PhD has taken longer to complete than she would like, she says it’s been a wonderful opportunity – finding a school, a program and an advisor who were supportive of all aspects of her life. Her youngest child often attended classes with her when he was an infant, as she tried to fit his naps around her schedule. Along the way, Ms. Alloway says she’s become a master at managing chaos and getting things done. Her life has also been a lesson in not being too proud to ask for help.
Hayley Alloway Rich Blenkinsopp photo
Earth sciences graduate student mapping ore deposits in real time AN EARTH SCIENCES graduate student has been helping gold prospectors in Central Newfoundland zero in on new deposits — and fast. Sam Ybarra hails from Columbus, Mississippi and uses infrared spectroscopy to collect mineralogical and geochemical data in real time.
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Sam Ybarra Submitted photo
hydrothermal alteration. Mr. Ybarra maps these fluid pathways, and the distinctive mineralogical and chemical changes in rocks surrounding the Pine Cove gold deposit in Baie Verte, to help determine how close or far away the ore may be.
Working with his supervisor, Dr. Steve Piercey, Mr. Ybarra has mapped fluid rock, ore-forming footprints in Baie Verte, N.L., in partnership with Anaconda Mining.
Testing for those specific minerals using spectroscopy can quickly create an overall footprint of an area and is an effective way of mapping something you might not be able to see with your naked eye or with a hand lens.
Orogenic gold is formed when rocks along faults in the Earth’s crust fracture and release water. As the fluid escapes, it scavenges gold from the rocks it passes and, when a favourable location is found, the gold is deposited. The fizzy, carbon dioxide- and gold-bearing hot water also reacts with the rocks themselves, forming new minerals — a process called
Only a handful of spectral studies have been done on fault-related gold systems globally, and few have integrated fieldwork through to the laboratory the way Mr. Ybarra does. The data he has generated for Anaconda Mining led to so many advances for the company that they expressed interest in funding more work on other deposits.
STUDENTS
Larry Sandoval, Francis Mujica, Daniel Sivira and Jenny Kim Submitted photo
GRADUATE STUDENTS BEST IN THE WORLD IN FIELD DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE A TEAM OF Memorial graduate students won the 2018 European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers’ Laurie Dake Challenge. The Memorial Aion Energy Team was one of eight international teams that presented fully integrated development and evaluation plans to a jury at the event in Copenhagen, Denmark. Memorial was one of two Canadian universities to compete in the final challenge. The Laurie Dake Challenge began in 2011 to promote cross-disciplinary geoscience and engineering integration within universities.
Multidisciplinary teams, comprised of full-time geoscience and petroleum engineering students and one PhD student, compete for a grand prize and worldwide recognition. Memorial teams have participated in the competition in the past but have never made it past the first round. Until now. Students Jenny Kim and Daniel Sivira, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, and Larry Sandoval and Francis Mujica, Faculty of Science, now hold the championship title in Memorial’s name. The 2018 challenge began with 41 teams. Each was asked to submit a report of a development plan for a
geological data set to evaluate possible opportunities in an oil field. All teams were given the same data, which is provided by a different company each year. The Memorial group was one of 10 successful teams to advance to the next round, where the challenge was to create a three-minute video. The team members say the final round was the most challenging. They received additional data three weeks before the final challenge and were required to update their volumes, development plan and economics in time for the championship.
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STUDENTS
Lauren Winsor Mike Ritter photo
Team effort to ensure student graduates with her class — and picks up her Governor General’s award AT 5:05 P.M. ON Friday, May 25, Memorial’s Office of the Registrar received Lauren Winsor’s grades from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, paving the way for her to graduate a mere four days later at Memorial’s spring convocation ceremonies. Ms. Wellesley’s schedule for the winter semester ran from late January to late May and the B.Sc. (Hons.) psychology student had just completed her term on May 22. She was participating in the Killam Fellowship, an exchange program that allows exceptional 22
undergraduate students to participate in a bi-national academic exchange between Canada and the United States. Partway through the semester, Ms. Winsor received acceptance into the doctor of medicine program at Memorial’s Faculty of Medicine, which meant added pressure to graduate on time. The day before she was scheduled to receive her diploma, Ms. Winsor received confirmation that her transcript was received, her transfer credits granted and that she was approved to graduate.
That same day, she received a call from the Scholarships and Awards Office informing her that she would receive the Governor General’s Academic Medal at convocation. The award recognizes an undergraduate student with the highest standing in their entire graduating class. Ms. Winsor praised the team effort of the university, which saw Graduation, Admissions, Student Recruitment, Scholarships and Awards, Marketing & Communications and Printing Services all work together to ensure she could celebrate with her friends and family.
STUDENTS
Dean of Science Book Prize winners Rich Blenkinsopp photo
Students, staff and faculty honoured at Faculty of Science awards
of the head of the department on the basis of demonstrated academic excellence in the declared major. He also presented the Lou Visentin Award to 23 students. This is the highest award for undergraduate achievement in the faculty, recognizing students who have held a place on the Dean’s List for four consecutive years.
THE ANNUAL FACULTY of Science Dean’s Awards ceremony saw Dr. Mark Abrahams, dean of the Faculty of Science, recognize 282 students representing the top 10 per cent in the faculty.
Nicholas Fanella was the recipient of the Science Co-op Student of the Year Award, recognizing a co-operative education student who has demonstrated exceptionality in all aspects of his or her academic program and work term.
Dr. Abrahams also presented 11 Dean of Science Book Prizes, awarded annually to one student in each department offering a bachelor of science program. It is awarded based on the recommendation
Dr. Abrahams also honoured Nicholas Ryan, an employee with the Department of Chemistry, with the Dean of Science Distinguished Service Award. It recognizes service
to the faculty superior to the normal expectations of the position. The Dean of Science Distinguished Scholar Medal recognizes an individual with a sustained, outstanding record of both research and teaching at Memorial. It was given to Dr. Peter Pickup, a university research professor in the Department of Chemistry. The Dean of Science Distinguished Teacher Award recognizes faculty members with an extended record of excellence, creativity and commitment to teaching and learning in the Faculty of Science. This year the award was presented to Dr. Kris Poduska, a professor and the current head of the Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography.
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STUDENTS
Jenna MacKinnon Submitted photo
GRADUATE STUDENT NABS TOP PRIZE IN NATIONAL VIDEO RESEARCH CONTEST MASTER’S STUDENT JENNA MacKinnon won a $3,000 prize as part of a national video contest highlighting research in the North.
of phytoplankton and their ability to make healthy fats, passing them to higher levels in the food chain.
Ms. MacKinnon claimed the special jury prize in the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Science Action! contest, which challenged post-secondary students to demonstrate the impact science and engineering has on improving our lives. Her video showcased her research on healthy fats at the base of marine food webs.
Ms. MacKinnon’s research is also part of a national collaborative project with the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe), which is housed at Memorial and led by Dr. Paul Snelgrove. Her research will be paired with other data to create a more complete picture of our Northern region.
Ms. MacKinnon is completing her master’s degree under the supervision of Dr. Chris Parrish, Department of Ocean Sciences. Her research focuses on the importance
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NSERC’s Science, Action! contest challenged post-secondary students to film a 60-second video of the people, research and innovations that are transforming the way Canadians live and work.
STUDENTS
Art and words welcome Indigenous students at QEII Library INUIT ARTIST AND biology student Jessica Winters has painted a concrete pillar in the Queen Elizabeth Library with symbols representing three Indigenous groups in Newfoundland and Labrador. The commissioned piece features a tent, evergreen trees and, facing north, an inukshuk. Above the swirling images is the phrase: “Let’s study.” It is written in Mi’kmaq, Inuktitut, Innuaimun and English.
Ms. Winters says it is important that Aboriginal people feel like there is a bit of home on campus and that they belong here. Through her art she tries to preserve the Inuit way of thinking and she believes growing up in Makkovik, and having hands-on experience with nature and wildlife, is what got her interested in biology. Ms. Winters was also invited to submit a piece for The Wish 150 cod mosaic created by TakingITGlobal in
partnership with Fishing for Success. The mosaic was unveiled at The Rooms Art Gallery in St. John’s. Her piece used intricate pieces of seal skin to create images that depict and celebrate Inuit life and ingenuity. Ms. Winters completed the piece as she worked multiple jobs, including facilitating science camps for children all over Labrador during her summer break from her bachelor of science program.
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Jessica Winters Rich Blenkinsopp photo
FUNDING
OCEAN SCIENCES NETS $1.3 MILLION TO SUPPORT INNOVATIVE FISH AND SEAFOOD SECTOR THE DEPARTMENT OF Ocean Sciences received more than $1.3 million from the Atlantic Fisheries Fund (AFF) to research solutions to sea lice in salmon aquaculture operations. The money was announced as part of a $10.2 million investment in federal-provincial funding for research and projects at Memorial contributing to a more sustainable fish and seafood sector in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Ocean Sciences is developing innovative and green solutions for the Atlantic salmon aquaculture sector. Cleaner fish, such as lumpfish, are being used as a more environmentally friendly way of reducing sea lice. This project allows the department to continue to demonstrate the effectiveness of lumpfish in sea cages and is a step toward wider adaption of cleaner fish for the Canadian aquaculture industry.
Cold ocean salmon cage site in N.L. Submitted photo
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Through its partnership with Cold Ocean Salmon, a subsidiary of Cooke Aquaculture Inc., Ocean Sciences researchers are working with Cooke’s vice-president of research, Dr. Keng Pee Ang, to develop the largest, fully integrated demonstration trial in North America using cultured lumpfish to mitigate sea lice in salmon farms.
FUNDING
Emerging science researchers net nearly $300,000 in lucrative federal funding Kori Andrea Rich Blenkinsopp photo
Dr. Robie Hennigar Submitted photo
BLACK HOLES AND green chemistry are the focus areas of two early-career researchers receiving prominent academic awards totaling nearly $300,000.
of Waterloo. He will be mentored by Drs. Ivan Booth and Hari Kunduri. As part of his research, he is studying the thermodynamic properties of black holes.
Dr. Robie Hennigar is the recipient of a 2018 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, valued at $70,000 a year for two years. He joins the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
Kori Andrea, a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry, is the recipient of a 2018 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, valued at $50,000 a year, for three years.
The Banting fellowship provides funding to national and international top-tier postdoctoral researchers, who will positively contribute to Canada’s economic, social and research-based growth.
Launched in 2008, the Vanier scholarship aims to strengthen Canada’s ability to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and establish Canada as a global centre of excellence in research and higher learning.
Dr. Hennigar, a theoretical physicist from Chester Grant, N.S., recently completed his PhD at the University
Ms. Andrea, originally from North Sydney, N.S., began her PhD studies
at Memorial two years ago under the supervision of Dr. Fran Kerton, Department of Chemistry. She is studying a metal-free catalyst that is commercially available and capable of performing better than traditionally used metal catalysts. Memorial also has ties to another newly announced Vanier Scholar. Maegwin Bonar recently completed her master’s in biology under the supervision of Dr. Eric Vander Wal. She is currently completing a PhD at Trent University in Ontario. She continues the incredible winning streak of the Vander Wal Wildlife Evolutionary Ecology Lab. Fellow graduate students Christina Prokopenko and Quinn Webber received the prestigious scholarship in 2017 and 2016, respectively. 27
FUNDING
Significant federal investment fuels discovery research More than 60 projects at Memorial are sharing roughly $8.8 million from the Government of Canada.
Mark Berry, Biochemistry, Control of homeostasis by trace amine-associated receptors
The funding comes from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and supports early-career and established researchers, as well as the next generation of innovators.
William Driedzic, Ocean Sciences, Glucose metabolism in aquatic animals
The new funding comprises the 2018 competition results for NSERC’s Discovery Grants, Discovery Accelerator Supplements, Research Tools and Instruments Grants and Ship Time Grants as well as Canada Graduate Scholarships, NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships and Postdoctoral Fellowships.
A list of the NSERC award recipients from the Faculty of Science can be found below. DISCOVERY GRANTS Valerie Booth, Biochemistry, Bridging molecular studies of model and real biological systems with biophysics experiments on complex samples Robert Brown, Biochemistry, Dissection of the effects by extracellular hydrolysis products of triglycerides and phospholipids on cellular functions Javier Santander, Ocean Sciences, Investigating the mechanisms of bacterial-fish host interaction Kapil Tahlan, Biology, Regulation and biosynthesis of bioactive secondary metabolites in Streptomyces clavuligerus and other related streptomyces species
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Dawn Bignell, Biology, Secondary metabolism in plant pathogenic streptomyces species
William Montevecchi, Psychology, Disentangling fisheries by-catch: Re-thinking seabird x fish x fisher interactions Graham Bodwell, Chemistry, Aromatization-based approaches to designed pi systems with unusual structures and properties Huck Grover, Chemistry, Modern synthetic methods and their application to the synthesis of bioactive target molecules Ivan Booth, Mathematics and Statistics, Black holes: boundaries, interactions and physics Hari Kunduri, Mathematics and Statistics, Characterizing the moduli space of black hole solutions of the Einstein equations Guy Quirion, Physics and Physical Oceanography, Investigation of frustrated antiferromagnetic compounds using ultrasonic velocity measurements Kristin Poduska, Physics and Physical Oceanography, Multiscale studies of defects in solids Colin Farquharson, Earth Sciences, Development of new, integrated computer modelling and inversion methods for applied geophysics and for joint geology-geophysics Earth modelling Lev Tarasov, Physics and Physical Oceanography, Examining the glacial cycle phase space through dataintegrated glacial systems modelling
Rachel Sipler, Ocean Sciences, Exploring the sources, sinks and uptake of carbon and nitrogen in the coastal ocean Susan Ziegler, Earth Sciences, Source, transformation and fate of organic matter in boreal forest watersheds Duncan McIlroy, Earth Sciences, The evolution of organism sediment interactions in the early benthos Michael Slawinski, Earth Sciences, Waves and rays in anisotropic and inhomogeneous Hookean solids: Mathematical formulation and empirical evaluation Ronald Haynes, Mathematics and Statistics, Analysis and implementation of parallel solvers for PDE based mesh generation and coupled systems Wolfgang Banzhaf, Computer Science, Emergence and open-ended evolution in genetic programming Mikhail Kotchetov, Mathematics and Statistics, Algebras with action and coaction of Hopf algebras Deping Ye, Mathematics and Statistics, Analytic and geometric aspects of convexity theory with applications Eduardo Martinez Pedroza, Mathematics and Statistics, Aspects of the coarse geometry of discrete groups DISCOVERY ACCELERATOR SUPPLEMENTS Duncan McIlroy, Earth Sciences, The evolution of organism sediment interactions in the early benthos RESEARCH TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS GRANTS Yolanda Wiersma, Biology, Terrestrial and freshwater ecology field research vehicle SHIP TIME PROGRAM FACULTY OF SCIENCE/FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Evan Edinger, Biology and Geography,
FUNDING Vulnerable marine ecosystems in the northern Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay: biodiversity, longevity, paleoceanography, microbiology, and conservation. NSERC POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS CANADA GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS DOCTORAL (CGS D- $35,000 per year) Kori Anne Andrea, CGSD3, Chemistry
Dr. Matthew Parsons Jennifer Armstrong/HSIMS photo
Maegwin Bonar, CGSD3, Biology Jillian Kendrick, CGSD3, Earth Sciences POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS – DOCTORAL PROGRAM (PGS D – $21,000 per year)
Federal funding to provide research infrastructure
Brandon Furlong, PGSD2, Chemistry Mackenzie Patrick, PGSD3, Earth Sciences Xi Xue, PGSD3, Ocean Sciences CANADA GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS MASTERS (CGS M – $17,500 per year) Samantha Crowley, Ocean Sciences Victoria Downing, Chemistry
THE LATEST RESULTS of the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) saw $277,353 go toward the acquisition of a two-photon microscope — the first of its kind in Newfoundland and Labrador. The high-tech machine will be used for research such as the better understanding of neurodegenerative diseases and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Benjamin King, Ocean Sciences Courtney Laprise, Chemistry Anna MacDermid, Psychology Leah Walker, Geography In addition, included in this announcement is a Postdoctoral Fellowship Program award, valued at $45,000 per year.
The work is led by Dr. Matthew Parsons, assistant professor of biomedical sciences (neurosciences) in the Faculty of Medicine and an alumnus of the Faculty of Science. The project’s co-principal investigators are Dr. Jacqueline Blundell, Department of Psychology, and Dr. Sukhinder Cheema, Department of Biochemistry. The brain is a challenging organ to image as fatty tissue in brains
scatters light in all directions, making it difficult to construct high resolution images beyond the very surface of the brain. Two-photon microscopes use technology that avoids this issue and have become the gold standard for high resolution imaging deep in the brain, accelerating neuroscience research in many leading research institutions around the globe. The CFI funding supports research focused on increasing the understanding of neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases, as well as PTSD, with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets that can prevent and/or reverse disease symptoms. The JELF Fund provides institutions with critical funding to attract and retain top researchers, affording them with the foundational research infrastructure required to be leaders in their fields.
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FUNDING
Non-profit organization awards support to salmon researcher
FEDERAL, PROVINCIAL INVESTMENTS BUILD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH
DR. CRAIG PURCHASE, associate professor, Department of Biology, cross-appointed to the Department of Ocean Sciences and the School of Fisheries, Marine Institute, has received a $25,000 grant from the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation for his study, Salmon gametes as a source for research, restocking and public engagement. Dr. Purchase says the foundation’s grants have been critical to his recent research program. He is using Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation money to support several highly qualified personnel and for other projects. He has also piggybacked most of his Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada-funded projects on top of the opportunities that the foundation’s money has created. The foundation was created in 2007. It is a non-profit charitable organization with the mission of promoting enhanced community partnerships in the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon and its habitat in Atlantic Canada and Quebec.
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Dr. Dave Churchill Mike Ritter photo GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH IN fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) are helping to create a more robust, innovative Atlantic economy. Through investments from the governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador, Memorial is collaborating with the business community to help address technology challenges using AI. The funding includes $67,000 from Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s (ACOA) Business Development Program and $60,000 from InnovateNL. The investments enable Memorial to undertake a three-year research initiative focused on areas such as real-time search and planning used in systems like Google Maps and robot navigation; reinforcement learning, which teaches AI systems how to make decisions based on past experience; and deep neural networks focused on learning
Dr. Craig Purchase Angie Bishop photo
about large data sets by creating AI based on the human brain. Researchers in the Faculty of Science, including Dr. David Churchill, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, will use computer games and simulations as test beds for developing and testing new artificial intelligence techniques. The research will have business applications across a variety of sectors. AI, at its core, is about developing computer technologies that make intelligent decisions to help solve problems not only in academia, but in many industrial sectors as well. AI is predicted to become one of the largest economic sectors in the world and establishing a state-of-theart AI research lab at Memorial University will help promote innovation, motivate future students, and have long-term benefits for the province.
DEVELOPMENT
The gift of science DR. SEÁN BROSNAN, who cemented his legacy as a researcher and educator, has retired after 46 years with the Department of Biochemistry. Dr. Brosnan was thinking about retirement when he learned of Memorial’s Voluntary Retirement Program (VRP). Offered in phases to approved academic and non-academic staff members, the VRP was a payment of one month of salary per year of service, up to a maximum of 12 months, and required employees to retire on, or before Dec. 31, 2018. Dr. Brosnan decided to participate — but with a generous twist. He donated the majority of his lump-sum severance payment to create the Brosnan Lecture
in Biochemistry Endowment Fund. The resulting fund will enable the Department of Biochemistry to annually invite a renowned biochemist to deliver one or more lectures on biochemical research and/or on the history of biochemistry. The lecturer will also have an opportunity to meet and interact with the department’s research students and faculty, a format Dr. Brosnan believes will have the greatest impact on students. Dr. Brosnan and his wife, fellow Memorial faculty member and research partner, Dr. Margaret Brosnan, have been continuously funded since they first came to Memorial in 1972. Leaders in their field, the Brosnans have jointly
Drs. Seán and Margaret Brosnan Submitted photo
published 66 papers in the areas of nutrition and metabolism and have received numerous awards.
THE LASTING LEGACY OF EDITH AND ROBERT SKINNER THE SKINNERS WERE a quiet couple, but their generosity knew no bounds. Married for 64 years, Edith and Robert Skinner spent most of their married life in Pasadena where they successfully operated the Lakeland Lodge and Motel, as well as hunting and fishing camps in Labrador. Mr. Skinner was a Memorial graduate who started his career as a teacher. His wife worked as a nurse until the couple ventured into the tourism industry. Now generations of Memorial University students and researchers will benefit from their legacy. The impact of their gift reflects their many interests and includes research in aquaculture, wildlife ecology, fish stock assessment and sustainable harvest in the Faculty of Science and at the Marine Institute.
A significant portion of the estate gift has been designated to create funding for four research chairs, two with the Faculty of Science and two at the Marine Institute. Research chairs strengthen institutional research capacity, enhance teaching and create new opportunities for innovation and collaboration, all of which appealed to the Skinners. The funding for these chairs provides researchers with leverage to receive additional grants that could exponentially increase the impact of the gift. Dr. Noel Cadigan has been appointed as the first Ocean Choice International Research Chair in Stock Assessment and Sustainable Harvest Advice for Northwest Atlantic Fisheries at the Marine Institute. Work on the other three chairs is ongoing.
Edith and Robert Skinner Submitted photo
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DEVELOPMENT
Alexandra Hayward and Kelly Young Rich Blenkinsopp photo
SCIENCE STUDENTS RECOGNIZED FOR COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENT A PROVINCIAL CONSERVATION organization has recognized two Memorial University science students for their volunteer efforts. NatureNL presented Wild Things Scholarships, valued at $1,000, to Alexandra Hayward and Kelly Young. The scholarship recognizes the enthusiasm and efforts of students whose volunteer activities have helped conserve, or enhance nature in Newfoundland and Labrador. The scholarship is funded by Wildland Tours and St. John’s businessman Dave Snow, a 32
well-known local conservationist and Memorial alumnus who passed away in 2017. Mr. Snow (B.Ed.’85, B.Sc.(Hons.)’85) was one of the first in the province to embrace nature-based tourism when he established Wildland Tours in the 1980s. A decade later, he approached NatureNL with the idea of establishing a scholarship for young adults committed to the environment. To date, the scholarship has awarded more than $25,000 to students. After Mr. Snow’s passing, the group decided to award an extra scholarship in his memory.
This year’s recipients both have a long history of volunteering and a deep desire to leave the province in better shape than they found it. Ms. Hayward is from Mount Pearl and is completing a B.Sc. in biology (ecology and conservation) with a geography minor. She hopes to pursue studies in environmental law. Ms. Young is from Stephenville. She has completed a B.Sc. in biology with a minor in geography and is working on a master of environmental science degree at Memorial.
DEVELOPMENT
Joyce Family Foundation bursary creating conditions for success ADRIANNA WARREN HAS encountered a great deal of adversity in her life. However, thanks to a strong work ethic, positive attitude and the help of the Joyce Family Foundation Bursary, the biology student is rising above that adversity and exploring opportunities she once believed were out of reach. The Joyce Family Foundation, created by the late Canadian entrepreneur Ron Joyce, presented Memorial with a $5 million gift in 2014 to create a bursary for students demonstrating critical financial need and experiencing other obstacles beyond their control. Even though Ms. Warren experienced financial struggles and housing insecurity in her young life, university was always a goal. Since graduating from high school, the child of a single parent has worked two, sometimes three, part-time jobs to help with bills and save for education — all while volunteering and participating in student leadership activities.
The bursary is available annually to students entering Memorial University who are in their final year of high school, or have graduated within the last 12 months from a high school in Newfoundland and Labrador. Each award is valued at $5,000 annually and is renewable for up to three additional years. Students must commit to working with a mentor throughout their program of study who will provide guidance and support. In their second year of studies at Memorial, recipients are also offered on-campus employment opportunities. The fact that tuition and a portion of Ms. Warren’s housing costs have been taken care of has made an internship in Germany possible — giving her the flexibility to allocate savings for the experience rather than living expenses.
Adrianna Warren Chris Hammond photo
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ALUMNI
Matthew Downer Rich Blenkinsopp photo
PSYCHOLOGY ALUMNUS OFF TO OXFORD AS N.L.’S LATEST RHODES SCHOLAR MATTHEW DOWNER’S curriculum vitae is longer than that of most people twice his age. He holds a bachelor of science in psychology (B.Sc.’17), specializing in neuroscience, and is currently enrolled in the doctor of medicine program at Memorial. He’s now been named Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2019 Rhodes Scholar, which means he will join other outstanding young people from around the world for full-time postgraduate study at the University of Oxford.
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The St. John’s native hopes to one day be both a clinician and researcher in the field of rehabilitation medicine and is looking forward to being a graduate student in medical sciences and diving into some new research. Mr. Downer has already been recognized with the 2018 Memorial University Award for Outstanding Self-Directed Learning, the Captain Robert A. Bartlett Convocation Award for Science and the Colbourne Family Scholarship, among others – and spent three years on the Faculty’s Dean’s List.
The second-year medical student has been involved in five peer-reviewed papers in clinical rehabilitation — with more on the way — was a clinical research intern at American University Human Neuropsychology Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and a clinical research assistant in Dr. Michelle Ploughman’s Recovery and Performance Laboratory. He also received a Fulbright Canada Killam Fellowship for his research.
ALUMNI
Michelle Saunders Rich Blenkinsopp photo
Labrador Institute International Indigenous intern announced MICHELLE SAUNDERS, A 22-yearold biology graduate from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, is the 2018 Labrador Institute International Indigenous Intern. The internship gives the Inuit woman an opportunity to live and work abroad while gaining a perspective on Indigenous cultures in Norway and Finland, which she will share throughout Labrador schools, as well as a university class, when she returns. The internship means she will spend two-months in Rovaniemi, Finland, with the University of the Arctic, located at the University of Lapland, and two months in Tromsø, Norway, with the
Arctic Council Indigenous People’s Secretariat. Her passion for combining Western, scientific and traditional Indigenous knowledge has led her to work on a field guide of the birds of Nunatsiavut. A grant from the Tradition and Transition Partnership allowed her and her co-investigator, Dr. Ian Jones of the Department of Biology, to conduct field work along Labrador’s north coast. They conducted community meetings, photographed regional birds and gathered traditional knowledge from community residents to be included in the guide.
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ALUMNI
SCIENCE ALUMNA JOINS ‘SEA WOMEN’ ON ARCTIC VOYAGE
Sarah Walsh Submitted photo
A FACULTY OF Science alumna has joined an all-female Arctic expedition to participate in snorkelling safaris and ocean education programs with Inuit youth and Elders in Nunavut and Greenland. Sarah Walsh was the only Newfoundlander among the Sedna Epic Expedition’s 16-member team of volunteers that hailed from Canada, the United States and Mexico. The team of “sea women” included a geologist, remotely operated vehicle instructor, paramedic, videographer, diving instructor and maritime archaeologist. Ms. Walsh is a multidisciplinary hydrographer in St. John’s with the Canadian Hydrographic Service. She completed a Marine Institute (MI) diploma program in ocean mapping and a bachelor of technology and holds a bachelor of science in marine biology. 36
One of the expedition’s goals was to scout and document the impacts of global warming on sea ice, the Arctic ecosystem and Indigenous Peoples’ traditional way of life. Another is to introduce Inuit girls to the possibilities of ocean-related careers. In consultation with Inuit advisors, the Sedna team delivered experiential ocean education programs in Nunavut communities using mobile aquariums to display marine life and ran workshops on how to build remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). They also used an ROV on loan from MI to provide livestream underwater images of what’s happening along the shores of each community. The team also led Inuit girls and Elders on diving and snorkelling safaris in Arctic waters and under the supervision of diving masters.
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Dr. Mark Abrahams (centre), dean of Science, with Paul Antle and Bethany Downer Dennis Flynn photo
Memorial pays tribute to remarkable science graduates THE 37TH ANNUAL Alumni Tribute Awards were held at the Emera Innovation Exchange on the Signal Hill campus, a fitting venue for alumni and friends to celebrate two of Memorial’s incredible Faculty of Science graduates. The awards are the highest honour bestowed by alumni on exceptional Memorial graduates for their career achievements, as well as contributions to their communities and alma mater. The 2018 Alumnus of the Year is Paul Antle, B.Sc.’85. A highly successful entrepreneur, the chemistry alumnus is known as a pioneer of environmental technology
in the province and is president and CEO of Pluto Investments Inc.
by a Memorial graduate under the age of 35.
Mr. Antle was a member of the Prime Minister’s National Round Table on the Environment and Economy for five years and was one of Canada’s representatives at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. He promotes entrepreneurship through scholarships and the province’s angel investor network, which he co-founded, and still finds time to volunteer with several community groups.
The geography alumna has completed a master of science in space studies from the International Space University and is currently working in the European space sector where she has founded Reaching Space Science, an online science and technology communication platform. She is the first person from this province to attend astronaut training with Project PoSSUM in Florida and is the founder of One Step Shoe Recycling, which has redistributed more than 15,000 shoes worldwide and diverted 16,000 pounds of waste from Canadian landfills.
Bethany Downer, B.Sc.’16, is this year’s Alumni Horizon Award recipient, which recognizes exceptional achievement
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ALUMNI
Alzheimer’s researcher named 2018 Terra Nova Young Innovator A LUCRATIVE FACULTY award is empowering a Memorial researcher to better understand — and potentially find a cure — for the world’s most common neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Matthew Parsons is this year’s recipient of the $50,000 Terra Nova Young Innovator Award, which recognizes and supports outstanding young faculty members whose research is particularly innovative or has real potential to make a significant impact on society. Dr. Parsons is an emerging researcher in the Faculty of Medicine where he is
an assistant professor of biomedical sciences (neurosciences). The Department of Psychology alumnus is leading a pioneering research study aimed at understanding how a healthy brain works and what goes wrong in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. The brain is the body’s most complex organ. It is estimated to contain 100 billion neurons that form 100 trillion connections with each other. At least an equal number of non-neuronal cells, known as glial cells, also exist in the brain and these cells play important roles in healthy brain function.
In Alzheimer’s disease, the brain experiences a slow accumulation of toxic chemicals. Unfortunately, the source of these toxic chemicals remains unknown, making it difficult to design therapeutics that reduce their production. Dr. Parsons and his team have recently characterized a technique that can distinguish the source of toxic chemical release in the brain and plan to study how it is regulated in a healthy brain and how it is altered in the context of Alzheimer’s disease.
Biology master’s degree graduate mentors, inspires young women in science AS ONE OF few women in a field dominated by men, Maegwin Bonar, a recent master of science graduate, has been a positive example for young women interested in biology and ecology. The wildlife biologist’s research on hooved mammals such as mules, whitetailed deer and caribou regularly takes her out in the field to set up study sites. She says it’s a job unlike any other, but she enjoys showing other women that it’s possible and fun, and that they shouldn’t be afraid to be a woman in wildlife.
Maegwin Bonar Submitted photo
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While completing her master’s at Memorial, Ms. Bonar mentored female undergraduate students and participated in Let’s Talk Science, a program through
which she hopes to have inspired young girls to get involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She is currently completing a PhD at Trent University and was the only student put forward by the university for a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Government of Canada. The award, which she won, recognizes leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies. Ms. Bonar continues the winning streak of Dr. Eric Vander Wal’s research group. Former lab mates Christina Prokopenko and Quinn Webber received the prestigious scholarship in 2017 and 2016, respectively.
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Marine biology alum makes plan to protect, conserve right whales STACEY REHEL HAS helped develop a marine spatial plan to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales off Canada’s east coast. Marine spatial planning brings together many ocean users — fisheries, shipping, energy sector, conservation organizations, tourism operators, recreational groups and governments — to protect the marine environment and sustainably share marine resources and space by avoiding user conflicts. The project was part of an internship for the marine biology alumna’s master of marine studies program at the Marine Institute. Ms. Rehel worked with Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Moncton, N.B., on the development of a plan aimed at the protection and conservation of the North Atlantic right whale population in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Ms. Rehel mapped vessel traffic in the gulf region, identified the risk of vessel-whale collisions and assessed other jurisdictions’ experiences with marine spatial plans. The main driver of the project was the number of right whale deaths in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in recent years. Following collisions with large ships, 12 died while another five were entangled in fishing gear and released. Other whale deaths and entanglements occurred in U.S. waters. While right whales winter off Florida and Georgia, their summer feeding grounds are in busy shipping lanes and fishing grounds off North America’s northeast coast. Ms. Rehel says that acoustic disturbance is another major threat and can cause habitat displacement, behavioural changes and increased stress. She believes collaboration and participation are key aspects of marine spatial planning in order to reduce conflict among the shipping, tourism and fishing industries that utilize the same space as right whales.
Stacey Rehel Submitted photo
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FACULTY
MEMORIAL HONOURS EXCEPTIONAL FACULTY AND STAFF DR. GARY KACHANOSKI recognized the Faculty of Science’s outstanding educators, researchers, staff and community partnerships during the 2018 President’s Awards. Dr. Bill Montevecchi, a university research professor of psychology, biology and ocean sciences, was presented with the John Lewis Paton Distinguished University Professorship. It recognizes faculty who embody the university’s mission by demonstrating exceptional teaching, world-class research and sharing their knowledge and expertise widely. Dr. Yuanzhu Chen, Department of Computer Science, received the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, while Beth Ann Austin, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, received the President’s Award for Outstanding Teaching
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(Lecturers and Instructional Staff). The awards recognize teaching excellence in the university community. Dr. Ronald Haynes, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, received the President’s Award for Outstanding Research, recognizing young researchers who have made significant contributions to their scholarly disciplines.
collaborations in keeping with the goals of Memorial’s Public Engagement Framework. This year’s award was presented to Young Adults With Cancer In Their Prime: A Patientoriented Collaborative Study. The research team was led by Dr. Sheila Garland, Department of Psychology, along with community partners Geoff Eaton and Karine Chalifour of Young Adult Cancer Canada.
Dr. David Pike, also of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, was honoured with the title, University Research Professor, a designation above the rank of professor given to faculty who demonstrate a consistently high level of scholarship and whose research is of an international stature.
Mary Flinn, Department of Chemistry, received a President’s Awards for Exemplary Service. The award is presented to employees who have demonstrated outstanding service, or have made significant contributions to the university community beyond that normally expected for their positions.
The President’s Awards for Public Engagement Partnerships celebrate exemplary community-university
Dr. Gary Kachanoski, Geoff Eaton, Karine Chalifour and Dr. Sheila Garland
Dr. Ron Haynes, Beth Ann Austin and Dr. David Pike
Rich Blenkinsopp photo
Rich Blenkinsopp photo
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Dr. Bill Montevecchi
MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY RECOGNIZES PROFESSORES EMERITI
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TWO FACULTY OF Science professors have been accorded the designation professor emeritus/emerita, an honour reserved for highly distinguished faculty members.
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Drs. Gerard Martin and Anne Storey, both of the Department of Psychology, were recognized at a session of fall convocation. A professor emeritus or emerita is a retired member of faculty who has served at least 10 years as a regular full-time faculty member and held the rank of professor upon retirement. The prime criterion for nomination is a sustained and superlative record as a scholar, teacher or academic administrator. Gerard Martin During Dr. Martin’s 38-year career at Memorial he spent 20 of those years as a full professor. His innovative research program in comparative cognition and learning enabled him to identify important behavioural and brain processes in spatial problem-solving across many mammalian species. Dr. Martin was very committed to teaching. He led a full range of courses from introductory to graduate. He served as associate dean of the Faculty of Science (research and graduate), interim associate dean (administration
Dr. Gerard Martin and Dr. Anne Story Rich Blenkinsopp photo
and undergraduate) and provided departmental leadership as head. Dr. Martin also received his bachelor and master degrees from Memorial. Anne Storey Dr. Anne Storey joined Memorial as a post-doctoral researcher and was appointed assistant professor. She worked for 38 years with nearly 20 of those as professor. Among the most notable of her accomplishments is Dr. Storey’s innovative, interdisciplinary research program on parenting, particularly in males, that cross-cut a variety of species from humans to meadow voles. She served on many departmental and university committees and was instrumental in developing and growing the successful interdisciplinary graduate program in Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology, serving as chair for many years. Dr. Storey also holds the special designation of Honorary Research Professor at Memorial. 41
FACULTY
New Canada Research Chairs bolster Memorial’s international profile
FOUR NEW CANADA Research Chairs (CRC) — one of the country’s highest honours for research excellence — have been appointed in the Faculty of Science at Memorial. Two have been named tier 1 chairs, which are seven-year awards of $200,000 per year with the possibility of one seven-year renewal; while two were named tier 2 chairs, a fiveyear award of $100,000 per year with the possibility of one five-year renewal. Dr. Uta Passow is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Biological Oceanographic Processes with the Department of Ocean Sciences. Her research will increase understanding of the impacts of climate change and oil, or plastic pollution on marine ecosystems and allow development of mediating measures. She joins Memorial from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dr. Uta Passow Submitted photo
Dr. Amanda Bates Rich Blenkinsopp photo
Dr. Sue Ziegler, a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Boreal Biogeochemistry with the Department of Earth Sciences, is investigating the chemical clues uncovered from organics in soils, streams, rivers and coastal ecosystems in order to determine how boreal landscapes are responding to climate change and what impacts those responses have on aquatic and marine ecosystems. She previously held the position of Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Environment Science at Memorial from 2006-16. Dr. Amanda Bates is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Marine Physiological Ecology with the Department of Ocean Sciences. Her research focuses on developing novel theories and approaches for managing and conserving marine living resources. She joins Memorial from the University of Southampton.
Dr. Sue Ziegler Rich Blenkinsopp photo 42
Dr. Rachel Sipler Rich Blenkinsopp photo
Dr. Rachel Sipler, a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Ocean Biogeochemistry with the Department of Ocean Sciences, is focusing on identifying the physical and chemical factors controlling ocean productivity now and how they may change in the future. Prior to joining Memorial, she was a research scientist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary.
FACULTY
DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES RECOGNIZED FOR LEADERSHIP DR. AIMÉE SURPRENANT has been recognized for her outstanding leadership. The professor of psychology and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Memorial received the 2018 Richard Tees Distinguished Leadership Award from the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS) at their annual meeting. The award recognizes extraordinary leadership to the CSBBCS community and other factors, such as contributions to the training of students and technical staff, advancement of research and scholarship and contributions to Canadian journals of psychology. An outstanding researcher,
Dr. Surprenant was selected for her important contributions to the understanding of human memory and for her exemplary service to the CSBBCS. She is considered an outstanding supervisor, having mentored dozens of highly successful graduate and undergraduate thesis students in her laboratory. As the current dean of Graduate Studies, she plays an important role in the success of hundreds of graduate students. In 2012, she was honoured with the Memorial University Outstanding Contribution to Student Life Award, recognizing faculty and staff members who go above and beyond the call of duty in helping their students achieve success both inside and outside the classroom.
Dr. Aimée Surprenant Chris Hammond photo
MEMORIAL HOUSES CANADIAN CHAIR, OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL OCEAN DRILLING PROGRAM MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY IS the new home of the Canadian Consortium for Ocean Drilling (CCOD).
chair and Canada’s representative to the IODP. He’s been a member of the Canadian consortium for several years.
Formerly housed at the University of British Columbia, the organization is made up of the Canadian universities and government agencies that facilitate Canada’s participation in the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP).
The IODP provides member countries access to two permanent drilling vessels, the M/V Joides Resolution, managed by the United States, and the M/V Chikyu, managed by Japan. Canada is part of the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD), which sees European countries pooling their money to rent mission-specific platforms, such as an icebreaker or another ship chosen to fulfil a particular scientific objective.
IODP is a marine research collaboration that explores the Earth’s history and dynamics. It uses ocean-going research platforms to recover data recorded in sea floor sediments and rocks and to monitor subsea floor environments. Dr. John Jamieson, assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and the Canada Research Chair in Marine Geology, is the new drilling consortium
As chair of the drilling consortium, one of Dr. Jamieson’s major goals will be to get the Canadian government to begin paying membership fees again to the European consortium in order to participate in the program.
Dr. John Jamieson Chris Hammond photo
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