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F A C U L T Y
O F
S C I E N C E
A L U M N I
VOLUME 28, No 1, SPRING 2013
M A G A Z I N E
www.science.ualberta.ca
ConocoPhillips CEO Ken Lueers
on the science of energy leadership
A Century of EAS
Always at the forefront of research and innovation
Alberta’s
Energy Powerhouse: U of A and the deep understanding of its continental roots
message from the dean Leading the way in Science – premier Dino 101 MOOC coming soon In case you haven’t heard about MOOCs, let me give you a short primer. A MOOC is a Massive Open Online Course. The first large-scale MOOC was offered in September 2011. The third-year computing science course offered at Stanford University attracted 100 students paying for course credit in the classroom—and an international audience of 160,000 taking the course for no cost or course credit. In the end, 20,000 of those students followed the course through to completion. There are two interesting points to note. First, the top 400 grades for the course were for students not at Stanford. Second, in the 29 years I have been teaching at the University of Alberta, the total sum of all students in all courses I have taught does not come close to approaching 20,000. When it comes to MOOCs, the Faculty of Science is leading the way at the University of Alberta. Come September, we will be offering at least one—possibly several—courses as MOOCs. These courses will be offered in the form of an in-class experience as usual, but also will be made available to the world. The marquee course will be what I colloquially call “Dino 101”—dinosaurs! Actually, it will be a new course with the formal
designation of PALEO 200, a second year paleontology course. The Faculty of Science and the University of Alberta have made a large commitment to ensure this course has the highest possible production values. After all, this is a reputational matter—and we want to establish a reputation of quality. Dino 101 is a joint effort of the paleontology faculty members in Biological Sciences and Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, machine learning researchers in Computing Science, assessment specialists in the Faculty of Education, videography expertise in the Faculty of Arts, and numerous people from University Digital Strategy. When the formal announcement of Dino 101 comes, please spread the word. We think there is an enormous potential audience for this course, including high school students, university students, and lifelong learners. Better yet, consider signing up to take the course yourself—after all, it is free. There is no denying that MOOCs have already had a real impact. When else in the past few decades have you seen issues relating to the quality of teaching and learning in academia appearing as front-page stories in the New York Times? Jonathan Schaeffer Dean of Science
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Science Contours is published twice a year by the Faculty of Science Office to provide current information on the many activities of Faculty and alumni. The magazine is distributed to alumni and friends of the faculty. Dean of Science Jonathan Schaeffer Editor Sandra Robertson Associate Editor Kristy Condon Graphic Design Studio X Design Inc. Contributing writers Kristy Condon, Lucas Habib, Omar Mouallem, Julie Naylor, Julia Necheff, Scott Rollans Student Contributors: Emerson Csorba, Akila Gopalakrishnan, Ross Lockwood, Sydney Rudko, Alan Shapiro Photography James Balog, Chris Bolin, Ross Lockwood, Dale MacMillan, Scott Persons, Michael Ranger, John Ulan, University of Alberta, Martyn Unsworth
Send your comments to: The Editor, Science Contours Faculty of Science 6-197 CCIS, University of Alberta Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E9
Publications Mail Agreement No: 40063605
/UofAScience @ualbertaScience
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contents 4
11
science bases
features
1 Science in the News
7 Leading in energy
Bio-physics student wins Rhodes scholarship to study solar energy, two Sloans are better than one for science power couple, swimming dinosaurs, an international award for finding a greener way to make everything from drugs to shampoo and caffeine to fight cancer.
4 Upcoming Events
in the Faculty of Science
21
innovation, tapping the natural heat of the Earth’s core
8 The man with the
answers: Peter Tertzakian, geophysicist and energy futurist on what’s ahead for Alberta
9 The secrets held in
rocks: checking in with PhD grad, Lynn Dafoe of the Geological Survey of Canada
10 A new kind of
scientific literacy
14 Getting the scoop on geo fingerprinting
for science students— citizenship and change agency
14 An ear to the ground to reduce impacts from fracking
11 EAS at 100
—scientific leadership to build a resourceful province
15 Mike Ranger’s eye-opening geo-art: data visualization for hunting for oil and gas
12 EAS looking ahead
to the forefront of research and innovation
17 Taking another look
at tailings ponds, ducks, and cannons
13 The real social
science: how citizen
19 Feelin’ the heat —U of A grad harnesses the
science is changing the research game
sun with new polymer
20 Translating
continental drift
into Alberta energy with Alex MacNeil of Osum Energy
5
cover story
21 Dr. Kickstarter: Michael Serpe on how the crowd can push environmental research into application
The Science of Leadership
23 Brian Krausert and
CEO of ConocoPhillips Ken Lueers reflects on lessons learned in geology—persistence and following your passion.
the maverick story of the first Alberta-owned drilling company, Beaver Drilling
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o S C I E N C E IN THE NEWS
Physics Grad Student and Tolkien Enthusiast Nets Rhodes Scholarship Megan Engel (BSc ’12), an honours astrophysics grad from the U of A and now a master’s student in biophysics, has been awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, the fulfillment of a goal she set for herself when she was 15. “J.R.R. Tolkien is my hero. I’ve been profoundly influenced by his writing, and when I found out he studied and taught at Oxford, I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” says Engel. “Tolkien saw creativity and art as acts of discovery and that our most important human duty is to use our gifts to their utmost potential, ideas that have stayed with me.” At 15 she was already living by that principle, first introduced by her father. “I was lucky when I grew up. My dad, Kevin Engel, a high school physics teacher, was always so excited about physics and what it means to the world. He explained that when Newton theorized about gravity, he created a revolution, and when Einstein theorized about general relativity, he revolutionized a revolution.” The challenge of understanding deep design principles continues to hold her captive. “The creative process of research galvanized my desire for an academic career. Pulling apart a single molecule held in the vise of a beam of light reinforced my awe of the universe and my faith in God.” When she begins her PhD in the fall of 2013, she’s
going to continue pushing her talents to their limits by exploring the design principles in nature to guide the way for advances in energy research. Engel credits her success to the holistic education she has received, the incredible facilities at the U of A and the National Institute for Nanotechnology, and her professors and advisors who have guided and inspired her to achieve her long-cherished dream. She says her next big goal is to one day earn a faculty position at the U of A so that she can continue her research, volunteering, and outreach through programs such as WISEST. She also plans to return to The Last Alliance: the University of Alberta Tolkien Society, unique in Canada, which she co-founded on the U of A campus in 2009. The Rhodes Scholarships were established in 1903 in the will of Cecil Rhodes and are considered among the most prestigious graduate scholarships in the world. According to the Rhodes Trust, “Rhodes Scholarship selection committees will be seeking young women and men of outstanding intellect, character, leadership and commitment to service. The Rhodes Scholarships support students who demonstrate a strong propensity to emerge as ‘leaders for the world’s future.’”
Swimming Dinosaurs Help Researchers Track Evolution Dinosaurs are long extinct but their role in understanding life on Earth in the 21st century is vital, says a dinosaur researcher at the University of Alberta. “Humans have been around for about 200,000 years; dinosaurs ruled for Earth for 160 million years,” says U of A paleontologist Scott Persons. “From dinosaurs we’ve learned about colour vision in some of today’s animals, and the ancient animals are linked to the evolution of other life we take for granted, like birds and flowering plants.” Persons’s newest PhD research has produced some of the strongest evidence ever found that dinosaurs could paddle long distances. Persons arrived at that conclusion after examining unusual claw marks on fossilized rocks found in China.
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Persons’s swimming-dinosaur study involved working with an international team of researchers in China’s Szechuan Province, where they determined that a series of claw marks found in now well-known dinosaur tracks were left by the tips of a two-legged dinosaur’s feet. “The dinosaur’s claw marks show it was swimming along in this river and just its tiptoes
were touching bottom,” said Persons. The claw marks cover a distance of 15 metres, which the researchers say is evidence of a dinosaur’s ability to swim with coordinated leg movements. Persons says the tracks were made by a carnivorous, twolegged dinosaur he estimates to have stood roughly one metre at the hip. Preserved in the sandstone of a prehistoric river bottom, this series of eight tracks records the dinosaur swimming for nearly fifteen meters.
Professor Recognized for Prize-winning Paper Dennis Hall (chemistry) outshone 1,300 other research paper submissions to earn the 2013 Outstanding Author of the Year award by the prestigious Journal of Organic Chemistry from the American Chemical Society, the largest chemical society in the world. Hall and his team won kudos for a research paper detailing a new greener and safer way to produce amides, a class of compounds vital for the manufacture of everyday items ranging from prescription drugs to shampoo. Hall says the team developed a catalytic process so simple that even an inexperienced
undergraduate chemistry student could use it to produce amides. “Our process is also more sustainable than existing alternatives,” he explains. “It does not require expensive, complicated, and potentially toxic reagents. It occurs at ambient temperature, and the only byproduct of our catalytic process is water.” Hall credits the U of A’s commitment to fundamental, curiosity-based research for enabling his team to produce a safe and simplified process for producing a widely used class of chemical compounds using a new mechanism.
“Funding agencies place an increasing emphasis on applied research or focused research for a specific end use, but people have to realize that fundamental or curiosity-based research can have long-term payoffs. Plastic, computers and cellphones—technologies we take for granted—are the result of fundamental scientific research. No one knew at the time where that research would lead to, and it changed the lives of everyone on this planet.” Hall was quick to share the accomplishment with his two co-authors, post-doctoral fellow Nicolas Gernigon and PhD student Raed Al-Zoubi. Spring . 13
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o S C I E N C E IN THE NEWS
Researchers Abuzz over Caffeine as Cancer-cell Killer Researchers from the University of Alberta are abuzz after using fruit flies to find new ways of taking advantage of caffeine’s lethal effects on cancer cells—results that could one day be used to advance cancer therapies for people. Previous research has established that caffeine interferes with processes in cancer cells that control DNA repair—a finding that has generated interest in using the stimulant as a chemotherapy treatment. But given the toxic nature of caffeine at high doses, researchers from the Faculties of Science and Medicine & Dentistry instead opted to use it to identify genes and pathways responsible for DNA repair. “The problem in using caffeine directly is that the levels you would
need to completely inhibit the pathway involved in this DNA repair process would kill you,” says Shelagh Campbell (biological sciences), co-principal investigator. “We’ve come at it from a different angle to find ways to take advantage of this caffeine sensitivity.” Lead authors Ran Zhuo and Xiao Li, both PhD candidates, found that fruit flies with a mutant gene called melanoma antigen gene, or MAGE, appeared normal when fed a regular diet but died when fed food supplemented with caffeine. On closer inspection, the researchers found that the mutant flies’ cells were super-sensitive to caffeine, with the drug triggering “cell suicide,” known as apoptosis. Flies that were fed the caffeine-laden diet developed grossly disfigured eyes. Through this work, the research team identified three genes responsible for a multi-protein complex, called SMC5/SMC6/MAGE, which regulates DNA repair and the control of cell division. Neither process works properly in cancer cells. Co-principal investigator Rachel Wevrick explains that this finding is significant because it means that scientists one day could be able to take advantage of cancer cell sensitivity to caffeine by developing targeted treatments for cancers with specific genetic changes. Along with Wevrick and Campbell as lead investigators, the project also included biological sciences professor Kirst King-Jones and medical geneticist Sarah Hughes.
Science Power Couple Receives Prestigious Sloan Fellowships John P. Davis (physics) and Juli Gibbs-Davis (chemistry) both received a Sloan Fellowship, the U of A’s first in over 40 years. Nominated by their peers and chosen by a distinguished panel of senior scholars, the Sloan Research Fellows represent the next generation of leaders in the natural sciences, economics, and mathematics. Fellows have gone on to win 38 Nobel prizes, 14 Fields Medals (mathematics), and eight John Bates Clark awards (economics). Gibbs-Davis found out about the Sloan results when her husband called to say he won it. “My first thought was—that’s fantastic! My second thought was—I didn’t win one. He said they’d e-mailed so I checked my e-mail while he was on the phone and sure enough I had received one too. Both winning in the same year is seriously very, very cool.” Gibbs-Davis’ research focuses on the interplay between understanding and controlling molecular recognition, research that has led to exciting discoveries in areas ranging from fundamental surface science to DNA detection. Davis studies low-temperature physics, the hub of which is a lab built in the sub-basement of the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS)—the lab will have the distinction of being the coldest laboratory in Canada at -273˚C. “That kind of temperature gives us access to superconductivity research, which is the transmission of electric current with absolutely no resistance,” Davis says. He explains that one goal of superconductivity experiments is to find materials that one day could be made to work with zero electrical resistance at more practical temperatures.
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Upcoming Events
James Balog
in the Faculty of Science
Meltdown: Is our planet in crisis? Wednesday, June 12, 2013, 7 p.m. Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS) 1-430 FREE (pre-registration required) Please join us on June 12 when the U of A’s own Dr. Ian Stirling and expert glaciologist Dr. Martin Sharp will share what they’ve learned. The two leading northern researchers will be joined by the award-winning film-maker James Balog at a free public presentation and forum. Free and open to the public. Seats are limited, so please book early at www.science. ualberta.ca/meltdown.
Alumni Weekend 2013
Alumni Starry Night Tour, Lecture, and Dean’s Reception Friday, September 27, 2013 Tour: 4 p.m. Reception 6 p.m. CCIS – Meet at main floor Student Services Office (CCIS 1-001) Free (pre-registration required) Science alumni and guests are invited back to campus for a family-friendly evening of discovery, including a behind-the-scenes tour and a chance to hear about the exciting new research taking place in Science. Afterward, join Dean Jonathan Schaeffer in the Observatory to reconnect with faculty and classmates over complimentary hors d’oeuvres and refreshments. Visit www.ualberta.ca/alumni/weekend for details.
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The science of leadership:
Ken Lueers CEO of ConocoPhillips Canada (CPC) By Julia Necheff
It was the mid 1980s and perhaps not the best time to be pursuing one’s dream—if one lived in Alberta and that dream was related to the oil patch. The National Energy Program had come down on the province like a hammer and the oil industry was crippled. Jobs were few and far between. Ken Lueers (‘85 BSc) was in his last two years of university, newly married to his wife Deb, and there wasn’t a lot of money. “But I had this passion around geology, and my folks always said ‘if that’s what interests you then chase after it.’” It’s a story with a happy ending. With the support of his wife and parents, Lueers followed his heart and graduated from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Science with a geology degree, landed his first job with Texaco, and the rest is history. Today, he is the president of ConocoPhillips Canada, one of the largest oil and natural gas companies in the country—and he and Deb will be celebrating their 30th anniversary this summer. With fond memories of his time at the U of A, he singles out three faculty members who played an influential role in his university education: Fred Longstaffe, who taught him minerology; Charlie Stelck, who taught stratigraphy; and Brian Jones, who was a stern taskmaster as he supervised 5
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Lueers during field work. “They imparted a work ethic, a way to think, and created an opportunity for me; I’ll be indebted to them forever,” says Lueers. “I’m not sure I’d be here today in this position without the U of A. Being a student there was a key stepping stone in my career.” When Lueers was working on his bachelor’s thesis, Longstaffe helped him by running his rock samples through an XRD machine, a piece of equipment used to determine the elements contained within a sample. Lueers says when he was on a tour of the Faculty a few years ago, he was quite surprised to see it was still using the same piece of equipment—so ConocoPhillips made a donation that allowed the faculty to buy a new XRD machine. Lueers describes the relationship between his company and the Faculty of Science as collaborative, supportive, and a worthwhile investment. “When we talk about giving back to communities, one of the cornerstones is
Ken Lueers, leading CPC on the strengths of the lessons learned from Alberta’s geology icons.
education. Education translates itself into wealth, whether it’s for the individual or the community. It just benefits everybody.” By being actively engaged with the faculty and helping with the design of its technical programs, Lueers believes ConocoPhillips can also be part of the solution in the overall need for skilled Canadian workers. A departure from how business has been done in the past, companies now cannot be successful unless their functions and staff are closely integrated. Says Lueers, “When I look back, the functions were really siloed.” His advice for students and new graduates who want to be successful in the energy industry is to make
sure they learn to work effectively in teams and to think broadly. Lueers is upbeat about what lies ahead for his company and the Canadian resource industry in general. At present, most of the product ends up in the U.S., but Lueers believes Canada will become an increasingly important global energy player. There are still challenges to work through— including relatively weak commodity prices, the need for better market access, and finding sufficient skilled workers. He adds that it’s also important that the manufacturing sector in other parts of Canada is able to share in the benefits. “We have the opportunity to make Canada an even
His advice for students and new graduates who want to be successful in the energy industry is to make sure they learn to work effectively in teams and to think broadly.
more outstanding country than it already is. We have the science, the skills, and the commitment to develop these resources responsibly.” The times and the energy industry have also changed in that respect, says Lueers. In addition to economic and business considerations, the industry now also requires a social license to operate. “There’s a lot of focus now on sustainable development and safety. That didn’t happen when I was starting out in my career. But today, the communities we operate in expect it,” he says. “We need to continue to grow these principles [because] we recognize we do have an impact in the communities where we live and work.” Spring . 13
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Martyn Unsworth
And speaking of the future:
Tapping the natural heat of the earth’s core By Lucas Habib Northern Alberta’s oil sands region gets a lot of bad press for its high carbon emissions. A big part of that is the volume of natural gas used to heat water for bitumen processing, which accounts for about six per cent of total Canadian consumption. But what if the oil sands could be powered by green technology? 7
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Martyn Unsworth and Inga Moeck are exploring the potential of using geothermal energy to generate power for the oil sands region. Unsworth, jointly appointed to the departments of physics and EAS, is an expert in natural geothermal exploration with years of experience working with volcanoes in Latin America and around the world. Moeck’s (EAS) expertise is in geothermal energy
production. Together, they are working under the umbrella of the Helmholtz Alberta Initiative—a collaboration between the U of A and the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Germany’s premier scientific institute. Moeck is currently splitting her time between Potsdam and Edmonton, but will be in Alberta most of the time in the coming years after receiving a new Campus Alberta Innovation Program Chair in Enhanced Geothermal Energy Systems in EAS. “There are lots of benefits that I bring from Germany,” she says. “Geothermal is more advanced there and there is a lot of experience that we can input into our research here.” So far, Unsworth and Moeck have spent three years trying to determine if geothermal energy can benefit the oil sands, with plans for another five years of collaboration. To date, they have mapped geothermal potential in the Fort McMurray area as well as in the Peace River oil sands region. As geothermal resources (warm rock and hot water) in northern Alberta are much deeper in the Earth than in naturally volcanic regions, Unsworth and Moeck are proposing an “enhanced geothermal system,” or EGS. This technique involves fracturing the rock and pumping water through in order to harness the heat, demonstrating that fracking can also be used for green purposes. “Even if the heat we extract isn’t sufficient for energy generation, we can still use that hot water for direct use in heating,” points out Unsworth. So far, though, EGS has not proven to be economically viable for the oil sands, mostly due to depressed natural gas prices. “EGS is nearly economic, but not quite,” states Unsworth. “If natural gas prices rise again, or if we ever get a realistic carbon tax, geothermal energy will have an edge.” However, there have already been a host of other benefits to the study. “We’ve had so many requests from companies that want to develop and use EGS in Alberta,” says Unsworth. “They want to generate geothermal energy, but they don’t have the expertise.” Again, this highlights the value of pure academic research to industry and society. “In Alberta, geothermal is really intriguing for this reason,” adds Moeck. “Energy companies use water to flush out oil, and hot water comes out of the well. This tie-in between the conventional energy industry and geothermal potential is a magic thing and is unique to Alberta.”
The Man with the Answers:
Peter Tertzakian geophysicist turned energy futurist By Julia Necheff
“At one point I came to a crossroads where I was either going to continue working and specialize as a geophysicist or broaden my horizons and keep myself competitive and unique through cross-disciplinary training in economics and a Management of Technology degree.” Tertzakian is a big believer in differentiation, whether he’s talking about the provincial economy, organizations or individuals. He’s also a believer in the value of science education in providing students a solid base as they move into the workplace. They should either become the best experts in their field, preferably in an area where there aren’t a lot of experts, or they should “layer other social science-oriented disciplines on top of a good mathematics or science foundation,” he advises. It was probably the most unconventional question that energy analyst Peter Tertzakian (’82 BSc) has ever been asked—but this was no typical interview. “How long do we have before masked madmen roam the cities with AK-47s, Mad Max style?” asked host Jon Stewart of the wildly popular satiric TV program The Daily Show, to peals of laughter from the studio audience. Although clearly a serious-minded man, the quiet-spoken Tertzakian laughed, too. Without missing a beat, he went on to talk with Stewart about his acclaimed book A Thousand Barrels a Second: The Coming Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing an Energy Dependent World. Tertzakian describes his 2006 appearance on The Daily Show in the U.S. as a definite highlight in his career—a career that has taken the Faculty of Science alumnus from his first job as a newly graduated geophysicist involved in seismic oil and gas exploration, to the world of corporate boardrooms and energy finance. Tertzakian credits his science degree from the U of A as paving the way for his future success. His undergraduate studies were concentrated in physics and math, and then he added geology
courses—this was Alberta, after all, and the jobs were in the oil patch. “I wouldn’t say I had a grand plan when I was a science student,” he says. The route he took was driven by opportunities that came up at the time. “At one point I came to a crossroads where I was either going to continue working and specialize as a geophysicist or broaden my horizons and keep myself competitive and unique through cross-disciplinary training in economics and a Management of Technology degree.” Today Tertzakian is the chief energy economist and managing director of ARC Financial Corp., a private equity fund management firm based in
“It’s an exciting time to be in the energy field. It is a very hightech, science- and engineering-based business. It’s also very financially sophisticated.” Calgary that specializes in energy investments. Along with being an influential analyst and author, Tertzakian is also a widely regarded energy historian and futurist. Although the world’s energy future may be far from certain, Tertzakian is optimistic about the future of Alberta. Alberta is a desirable
Energy thought leader Peter Tertzakian , Chief Energy Economist & Managing Director at ARC Financial Corporation, an energy-focused private equity firm.
place—young, energetic and entrepreneurial, and the energy industry attracts a wide diversity of talent, he says. “It’s an exciting time to be in the energy field. It is a very high-tech, scienceand engineering-based business. It’s also very financially sophisticated.” It is often suggested Alberta should work at diversifying its economy, but Tertzakian says he’s not convinced there needs to be a conscious effort to diversify. “Just make sure the incentives are there and continue to build the infrastructure so people will want to come work here and set up here.” He adds that Alberta’s two biggest cities have already reached that critical mass of a million people and have the infrastructure to be able to attract other types of industries. The argument can also be made that Alberta should focus on being even better at what it’s good at—being the best in the world at natural resource extraction and processing. “We don’t hear about Silicon Valley wanting to diversify. They just want to be the best in the world at what they do. That’s the route that served me,” Tertzakian notes. “Just don’t be like everyone else with a generic set of skills that everybody else has.” The same goes for organizations, whether they are companies or universities: They have to work toward being the best they can be, and that could involve making strategic choices, he says. Upon final reflection, Tertzakian says he thinks the role of a university is to inspire passion in students to be creative in whatever they do. “I certainly came out (of the Faculty of Science) inspired in my 20s.” The key is to somewhere along the way learn how to apply that passion in the real world. Spring . 13
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Lynn Dafoe (right), at Spencer’s Point, Nova Scotia with Ken Adams from the Fundy Geological Museum. Dafoe translates and integrates masses of scientific data into a story that helps government and industry develop offshore oil reserves.
secrets
held in rocks
The By Sydney Rudko
Lynn Dafoe (’03 BSc, ’09 PhD) is helping to find offshore oil reservoirs with the Geological Survey of Canada (Atlantic). On a daily basis, this translates to a complex and multidisciplinary task. She takes in data collected by scientists and integrates it into a story—one that helps government and industry in developing offshore oil reserves. Dafoe’s current project involves the Orphan Basin off the coast of Newfoundland—a basin Dafoe finds particularly fascinating, since it dates back to a time when the Atlantic Ocean was just forming during the Jurassic period, more than 150 million years ago. The basin is massive, extending thousands of meters below the ocean floor. Dafoe’s work on projects like this requires her to utilize a variety of interdisciplinary skills—everything from analyzing core samples to analyzing and interpreting geophysical, geochemical and seismological data. After completing her PhD, Dafoe took on a wide range of projects. Although she primarily studied sedimentology, her passion for science 9
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and research also led her to study trace fossils, burrows, and tracks produced by the small organisms—an ambitious project by all standards. She explains simply, “the more rocks you see, the better.” It has been this attitude propelling Dafoe to success in her graduate work, and which continues to further her career. For students today, Dafoe suggests that regardless of their interests, they should gain a multitude of experiences, work between disciplines in class or in research, and get a good grasp on both industry and research. Dafoe’s passion for science and her broad approach to learning is a reminder that lifelong learning, whether it be taking on an extra project as a graduate student,
“Students should gain a multitude of experiences, work between disciplines in class or in research, and get a good grasp on both industry and research.” or taking a few extra classes as an undergraduate, is important for success in any position. Sydney Rudko is a fourth year science student studying infection and immunity. She loves all things science, and especially loves sharing this interest in her capacity as one of the editors of the Wanderer Online. Upon graduation, Sydney intends to pursue a Master’s of Science. Her current research focuses on Vibrio cholerae and the type-six secretion system.
Back row (l to r): Arlette Magbity, Shubham Shan, Cynthia Agwo, Betty Wang, Ines Zuna, Shauna Regan, Gaurav Luthra. Front row (l to r): Jill McCann (peer mentor), Katherine Fizell (peer mentor), Ghasak Hussain, Damanjit Goondi, Dr. Glen R. Loppnow (instructor), Taylor Robertson, Nicola Mulberry. Not shown: Natasha Hawryluk
Mobilizing
Science Change-Agents: New Science Citizenship class signals a new kind of technical literacy
By Ross Lockwood
Science Citizenship, a course introduced in September 2012, has just rolled out for the first time and the results are uplifting. This course is not like other courses offered by the Faculty of Science; here, experimental methods and theoretical constructs are directed to teaching student scientists how to turn their talents into real-world solutions to global problems. A small cohort of students, along with their intrepid instructor, Dr. Glen Loppnow, have embarked into uncharted territory to expand the scope of what it means to be a science student at the U of A. Based on the successes of unconventional courses like Science 100, an integrated cohort based first-year science program, and Computing 250, a multidisciplinary game development course that integrates music and art, Science 299—Science Citizenship—is a course aimed at getting science students fired up about global problems. 299 students are asked to choose a global problem and develop a strategy towards a real-world solution, including a thorough review
of the scientific literature and their solution that can be implemented as a local solution. As a further departure from regular science class, in Science 299, there are no formal exams, assignments or even lectures (there is, however, class time dedicated for group work and review). Grades are assigned through peer review and instructor assessments based on the significance of the problem in the global arena, the scientific foundation that their solutions are based upon, and most critically, the creativity of their presentation and solution. “Creativity is so fundamental to their future career as scientists. We always have to try to find very creative solutions to the things we are trying to study. It’s not something that we typically emphasize in our normal science undergraduate curriculum,” adds Loppnow. This year, the breakdown of the students in
the course was primarily students of Chemistry, Biology and Psychology, with representatives from Physics, Physiology and Pharmacology. In the future, Loppnow envisions a more diverse breakdown of science students, including Math, Earth Sciences and Computing Science and expects that in the coming years, the course will grow into more of a mainstream option for science students, and that their projects will go on to have influence throughout Alberta and the world at large. Ross Lockwood is a U of A PhD Candidate (physics), focusing on light emissions from silicon quantum dots. While completing his studies, Ross also played a key role in the Observatory’s community outreach efforts and founded the Overheard @U of A Facebook group. You can follow Ross’s discussions about science and public engagement at spincrisis.net (Twitter: @spincrisis).
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For one hundred years now, the Economic Growth of Alberta and Canada has been inextricably linked to the DEPARTMENT OF
EAS
“The department’s influence can be seen in every area of natural resource development in our province, from the early phases of exploration for energy and mineral resources.”
–Martin Sharp, chair of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences It is without question that the work undertaken in EAS has enabled the province to maximize its resources as a powerful economic engine for Canada. Founded and led by Canadian-born John A. Allan—of Mount Allan fame in 1912—the department contributed such fundamental work for the resource sector as surveying the Drumheller Coal Field in 1922, publishing the first map of Alberta’s coal fields (still in use by the Energy Utilities Board, and updated regularly), and publishing the first geological map of Alberta in 1925. As the department grew, scientific icons like 11
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Charles R. Stelck, a founding father of Alberta’s petroleum industry, persisted in exploring for hydrocarbons during the challenging times of World War II while also teaching hundreds of future oil hunters the secrets of the sub-surface world. Along with Allan and Stelck, Robert E. Folinsbee joined the department to lead in the spheres of base metals, gold, uranium, and diamonds. Jozsef Tóth, still active in the department today, made major breakthroughs in the early 1960s on gravity-driven groundwater flow—another critical contribution to the province.
Their ground-breaking work put the department on a trajectory of breakthroughs in earth sciences that include such pivotal revelations as the discoveries of gold in Yellowknife and oil under Leduc. The vision, dedication, and spirit of discovery of these EAS researchers, and those who have followed in their footsteps, have laid the foundation for the international reputation the department holds today that continues to be felt as we move forward into the next century.
Always at the Forefront of
Research and Innovation
“EAS is focused on monitoring and reducing the environmental impact of resource development through processes like carbon capture and storage, and most recently through attention to the planning issues associated with resource development.”
—Martin Sharp
The Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences (EAS) at the U of A has grown to become the largest of its kind in Canada, based on a reputation for excellence and for its responsiveness to the ongoing needs and challenges of resource-based industries, the environment, and government. This enduring success is founded on the principles of research and teaching excellence that were laid when the department was established—principles that it continues to celebrate and carry forward as it marks this centenary. Researchers like George Pemberton, for example, an expert in the field of ichnology, the investigation of animal-sediment interactions in both recent and ancient environments. This important research program— the impact of which is felt throughout the province and further afield—is applying a deep understanding of trace fossils in sequence stratigraphy to guide the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons and coal throughout Alberta. Another example is Ben Rostron’s internationally acclaimed work in carbon capture and sequestration, which has significant implications for global warming and the oil industry. Rostron’s work has been a part of a project that started in 2000 to investigate the technical
and economic feasibility of storing the gas in a partially depleted oil reservoir in Saskatchewan. So far, the team has demonstrated that it is possible to safely capture and store carbon dioxide that would otherwise go back into the atmosphere, enabling wider application in other parts of the
country and the world. In looking forward to Alberta’s resource and energy future, Sharp says the department will continue to innovate in oil and gas exploration, work to mitigate and remediate the environmental effects of this work, capture and store carbon, and lead in hydrogeology and diamond mining—areas where the U of A already has a strong international reputation. “Our researchers are fully engaged with what is going on in industry, and the students that graduate from our programs go on to make valuable contributions in an incredibly wide variety of fields,” says Sharp. To build even stronger support for industry, EAS has joined with Physics to create the Integrated Petroleum Geosciences (IPG) master’s degree program, now in its fourth year. Program director David Potter says the initiative was created as a direct response to an appeal from industry. “We are the only one of our kind in Canada—possibly North America,” says Potter. “The support and input of industry has been essential and the results speak for themselves.” This interdisciplinary approach for petroleum exploration and production is increasingly recognized as an imperative for meeting emergent challenges which require the wide perspectives of geophysicists, geologists and petroleum engineers. In terms of other resource industry leadership, the recruitment of Graham Pearson as a Canada Excellence Research Chair in Arctic Resources has also enhanced the international profile of EAS. Diamond exploration and mining has been one of the main drivers of economic development in Canada’s North during the past decade, accounting for more than $2 billion in annual economic activity. To sustain this level of economic growth beyond the predicted 10- to 20-year life spans of the current mines, more diamond deposits must be discovered. Pearson is working on the first detailed picture of rock formations hidden deep under the Earth’s crust in Canada’s Arctic region, revealing new data on the landmasses where diamonds are formed. The efforts of faculty today to train and inspire the next generation of researchers and industry leaders will ensure earth and atmospheric sciences at the U of A continues to build on its already great reputation. Spring . 13
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The Associated Press
Approximately 7,000 people gather on Independence Mall in Philadelphia on the first Earth Day—April 22, 1970.
Thehow real social science: citizen science is changing the research game By Akila Gopalakrishnan There’s a revolution going on, and your pocket is taking a part in it—or at least your cell phone is - as powerful cellular networks and social media have revolutionized sharing accurate information reliably and instantly. This opportunity that has not been lost on science as fieldwork research that has traditionally been conducted only by scientists is now being transformed into community-based science projects, involving science-loving, non-scientist volunteers called “citizen scientists”. U of A scientists like Dr. Erin Bayne, Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, are tapping this opportunity - stepping out of their research laboratories and getting social— while teaching their students to do the same. Bayne, along with his undergraduate conservation biology students collaborated with over 1800 citizen scientists to collect data on avian mortality in Edmonton, the results of which are published in Wildlife Research (2012). Bayne is enthusiastic that “academicians can now use technology to easily train interested [citizen scientists] to collect large amounts of data that would otherwise be impossible to do them ourselves”. But he cautions, “Citizen Science efforts without a good under13
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standing of scientific principles of data collection and experimental design are doomed to failure”. Citizen scientists have access to some incredible mobile apps and premade kits to share
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead
collected data with scientists, who can then compile and analyze statistical trends to make the data publishable in refereed scientific journals and conferences. These engaged volunteers are more than just data collectors—they also have ideas to share. Suhel Quader is heading two such assignments in India: Seasonwatch, a 20 year project studying changes in seasonal cycles
of plants and Migrantwatch, a published 4-year research effort studying migratory patterns of birds indicative of seasonal changes. On the advantages of citizen science, he says “they help by adding to the scientific knowledge base and also change us as citizens—to care about the environment and develop a relationship with what is around us.”
What’s next for citizen science? From FrogWatch Canada μBiome, which populates microbial data from hundreds of human volunteers to understand dietary and lifestyle impact on human health to gaming in the EyeWire Project as players map their retinal neuronal cells to study brain functions - more citizen science projects are invigorating societies, engaging in real life scientific projects, transforming the way science is perceived and performed. Akila is a doctoral student in Molecular Biology and Genetics, focusing on cholesterol metabolism genes and nuclear receptor biology in fruit flies. She is also an avid photographer and a trained vocalist in Indian Classical music. Actively involved with many science outreach programs such as Let’s Talk Science and WISEST, Akila is also passionate about science communication.
And Speaking of the Future:
Geo Fingerprinting By Lucas Habib Karlis Muehlenbachs (earth & atmospheric sciences) began his studies in the field around 1994. Earl Jensen, an engineer for the oil company Amoco (now part of BP), called him to discuss the problem of abandoned oil wells near Lloydminster that were leaking gas. “I had no idea it was even a problem,” Muehlenbachs recalls. As he began to investigate, he and his graduate student Kathleen Rich developed a way to identify the layer in the geological strata from which a gas is emerging. Using stable isotope analysis—a technique increasingly used in ecology, archaeology, law enforcement, and many other fields—they were able to “fingerprint” a gas and peg it to a unique depth in the Earth’s layers. In the Amoco case, Muehlenbachs and Rich determined that the gas leaking to the surface
wasn’t from the production target area, but instead from shallower depths due to leaks higher up in the well. They then developed a technique to improve the sealing of the well columns, which has since been commercialized by an Edmonton company. In recent years, Muehlenbachs has been able to apply this same analytical system to methane leaking from fracking operations. Muehlenbachs believes that this is a perfect case for the value of academic research. “We have a vast pool of knowledge that industry can draw on to solve an actual problem, based on pure academic lilywhite research,” he says. “Society doesn’t always value scientific research, but you need that knowledge to tap into— using theoretical insights, you can solve huge engineering problems.”
“Society doesn’t always value scientific research, but you need that knowledge to tap into—using theoretical insights, you can solve huge engineering problems.”
An ear to the ground to reduce impacts from fracking By Lucas Habib Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, is getting an awful lot of press these days. It’s been lauded for opening up unconventional gas reservoirs to development—the reason that some are predicting the US will achieve energy independence in about 20 years. But it has received plenty of criticism as well for negative environmental effects—clandestine chemical compounds being pumped into the ground where they could be affecting groundwater reservoirs. Two University of Alberta researchers are working to reduce some of the negative outcomes of fracking by helping industry to minimize unintended consequences. Geophysicist Mirko van der Baan (physics) is a great listener. For 15 years, he’s been using microseismology to eavesdrop on oil and gas production deep beneath the ground. When energy companies use hydraulic fracturing, they inject large quantities of highly-pressurized water and chemicals into the earth to shatter the rock, creating permeable pathways for gas to trickle back to the well. All that pressure can also affect the geology of the remaining rock through compaction and shearing, which can have implications for
a gas field’s future production. Van der Baan, though, has helped develop a technique to monitor these “miniature earthquakes” happening underground and to determine how they change the geology and
“Geophysics puts a lot of emphasis on critical and analytical thinking—we need people from many different disciplines who are interested in every aspect of this research.” mechanics of the reservoirs and rock surrounding them. Along with collaborators from industry, the University of Calgary, and a team of 30 graduate and undergraduate students, van der Baan is con-
ducting experiments that he hopes will increase the energy industry’s efficiency. In August, the team installed geophones— miniature versions of the seismographs used to monitor earthquakes—into a borehole on a ConocoPhillips wellsite a few weeks before hydraulic fracturing began. Since then, they have been monitoring microseismic activity during fracking, after fracking has ceased, and before it began (natural background microseismic activity). “It has really let us see how the whole cycle works,” says van der Baan. He hopes that once they understand the process, they will be able to make key recommendations to industry on how to optimize water usage—it’s possible, for example, that far less water could be used to achieve the same results. Van der Baan also hopes that their results will help optimize horizontal well spacing on the landscape. “We hope to predict how far from the wells a reservoir will be drained, which may result in a reduction in the number of wells,” he says. “Geophysics puts a lot of emphasis on critical and analytical thinking—we need people from many different disciplines who are interested in every aspect of this research.” Spring . 13
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The big eye-opener of
Mike Ranger’s Geo-Art Data visualization tells the whole story on oil and gas reserves By Scott Rollans
“When I’m working on a new project, I collect all the data and distill it down to mappable parameters. And the first time you map it up, it’s always a big eye-opener, just to see what the picture looks like.” At first glance, you might not peg Mike Ranger (’94, PhD) as an artist. As he sits in his Calgary home office, crunching oilfeld data on his trusty Mac, he definitely doesn’t fit the stereotype. But if art is about making the invisible, visible (as Marcel Duchamp once observed), Ranger certainly qualifies. Ranger spends much of his time processing data from well logs—records stored after a well has been drilled and abandoned—and reviewing core samples in order to produce detailed maps of the Athabasca oil sands subsurface. With the help of Ranger’s maps, producers can get an accurate picture of the bitumen and heavy oil resources—and a lot more, besides. “Not just how thick the oil sands are,” says Ranger, “but, if you have water underlying the oil or on top of the oil, you want to know how thick it is. And, if you’ve got gas associated with the oil, which is not that uncommon, where is that gas? How extensive is it? Is it something that’s going to worry you when you start drilling these wells for bitumen?” Although his clients are just after results, Ranger enjoys the entire process. “It’s one of the things I really love—basic mapping,” he enthuses. “When I’m working on a new project, I collect all the data and distill it down to mappable parameters. And the first time you map it up, it’s always a big eye-opener, just to see what the picture looks like.” To Ranger’s eye, that picture is almost always beautiful. “None of this in the subsurface is 15
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random. It all has a prescribed pattern from nature—whether it’s an ancient shoreface or an ancient river valley. You really don’t know what it’s going to look like until you actually map it out.” Ranger graduated in 1994 after completing a PhD (under supervisor George Pemberton) based on a subsurface basin study of the southern part of the Athabasca oil sands. His timing could hardly have been better, as oil sands recovery was just then rapidly becoming more economically feasible. On top of that, he had computer programming experience extending all the way back to his undergraduate days in the 70s, in the era of punch cards. “That’s where I kind of stand out,” he observes. “I’m able to extract the data, because of my digital computing background.” Instead of signing on with a single employer, Ranger decided to take the freelance route. As a result, he has been able to spread his talents around. “I’ve worked with everybody, from Syncrude, Suncor, Statoil—just about everyone out there,” he says. “The list goes on and on.” As a result, Ranger enjoys a broad perspective on the industry as a whole. “You get a good sense of what’s going on in the whole basin. If you work for just one company, you have extreme familiarity with your own leases, your own land area, but you may not be as familiar with your neighbour with the lease next to you.” In recent years, Ranger has spent much
Mike Ranger studied under George Pemberton, PhD – considered a leader in subsurface basins, critical for understanding the Athabasca oil sands.
“When I’m working on a new project, I collect all the data and distill it down to mappable parameters. And the first time you map it up, it’s always a big eyeopener, just to see what the picture looks like.”
of his time as an expert witness, as Alberta’s government mediates between companies that hold natural gas rights and those that hold bitumen rights. “When you produce natural gas, you end up lowering the pressure in the reservoir,” he explains. “If you depressurize the reservoir, you could actually sterilize the bitumen resource that lies beneath.” His role may continue to shift, as the industry matures and exploration becomes less necessary, but mapping will always remain at the centre of Ranger’s career—and his heart. “To me, these maps are like works of art. It’s a combination of science and art. It’s really satisfying.”
Bitumen deposits of Alberta in various shades of green, are contained in Lower Cretaceous sands and in the Paleozoic carbonate rocks that underlie the Cretaceous. The sub-Cretaceous Paleozoic formations are shown in various shades of blue and purple (white labels). The origin of the oil is believed to be the organic-rich Exshaw and Gordondale Formations shown in black, -and possibly the deeper Duvernay Shale. Source data was digitally derived from over 60,000 wells and 30,000 cores.
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Taking another look at
Tailings Ponds, Ducks, and Cannons
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By Alan Shapiro
Colleen St. Clair (biological sciences) studies human-wildlife conflicts—such as the infamous incident that killed the 1600 ducks that landed in the Syncrude Tailings ponds in 2008. The deaths led to an intense effort on the part of the government and U of A researchers to find ways to mitigate the consequences of humanwildlife interactions through the Research on Avian Protection Project (RAPP).
Top photo: Bottom photo: RAPP Team (L to R) Sarina Loots, Colleen St. Clair, PhD, Elizabeth Beck, Ffion Cassidy
RAPP came about when St. Clair, a professor in the department of biological sciences, was asked to work with the courts to design a creative legal sentence which imposed a fine that was partially allocated to the creation of RAPP. The ongoing research is shedding light on the interactions of birds and tailings—waste from bitumen refining composed of sand, clay, water, and residual bitumen that are stored in large open-air ponds. The ponds are widely criticized as a significant environmental hazard, especially given the proximity of industrial operations to the Athabasca River, a major migratory corridor, and the risk of bitumen fouling the feathers of birds. Over the past three years, St. Clair has identified tens of thousands of bird landings every year, but found fewer than a hundred dead birds. This interpretation is supported by experiments with captive ducks that were exposed repeatedly to tailings pond water with no measurable health effects. These findings could play an important role in redefining deterrent systems—instead of preventing birds from landing on ponds altogether, a more effective and cheaper alternative could be to reduce landings in bitumen. This can be accomplished by confining the bitumen, and distributing deterrent systems accordingly. As deterrents go, Long-Range Acoustical Devices (LRADs) have become increasingly popular since they can be deployed automatically and emit a variety of programmed sounds. However, St. Clair warns that the cure may be more harmful than the disease itself. Her research has shown that sound waves from LRADs travel into the surrounding boreal forest, potentially harming birds and other animals. As alternatives, the team is experimenting with
coloured lasers and with robots that mimic predators. They hope to identify solutions that pose less harm, while offering significant savings to industry. In the oil sands and elsewhere, birds seem to be attracted to artificial lights, particularly on dark, overcast nights. Birds trapped by the lights at mine sites may be more likely to land in bitumen. A simple solution, employed on offshore oil platforms, is to replace conventional illumination with green lights, which are less attractive to birds. St. Clair’s work exemplifies the role of science
Over the past three years, St. Clair has identified tens of thousands of bird landings every year, but found fewer than a hundred dead birds. in informing decision-making and her students have gone on to work in the private sector, government, environmental NGOs, academia, and even ethical farming. She refers to the relationship between government, industry, and academia as a three-legged stool, where each leg must fulfill its role in order for the system to function effectively. She believes that if these complementary roles are clearly defined and a positive relationship is maintained between the three bodies, science can play an important role in identifying actions that balance the needs of industry and the environment.
Alan Shapiro has just completed his honours BSc in Environmental Earth Sciences and is headed to Columbia University in the fall to pursue a Masters in Earth and Environmental Engineering. His research focuses on water resource management in Alberta. Alan is a writer for the science column of The Wanderer, an online student-run journal at the University of Alberta. Spring . 13
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Heat
Feelin’ the
U of A grad harnesses the sun with a new polymer By Emerson Csorba
The materials breakthrough Brian Worfolk (’13 PhD) had been leading during his time as a student in Jillian Buriak’s chemistry lab may change the game in solar energy. Originally interested in nano medicine, Worfolk encountered Buriak in his undergrad—that’s when his life trajectory took a sharp turn and things started to happen. Worfolk’s undergraduate research with Buriak, coupled with happening upon a seminal paper by scholars Nathan Lewis and Daniel Nocera (where he learned that enough light hits the Earth in one hour to power the world for an entire year), have played key roles in making Worfolk one of
Canada’s most promising photovoltaic technology researchers. These chance encounters could see him fundamentally alter Canadian households in decades to come. But it’s Worfolk’s PhD work, and his discovery of a polymer, which stands out as a career high-
light. “Originally we had synthesized the polymer for another project, but decided to try it out in our devices. Typically plastic photovoltaics can die within a day,” he explains. “We tested our devices after twenty-four hours and it had maintained its original efficiency. We continued to test the devices every day—fully expecting the device to suddenly die—but it maintained its performance for over two and a half years (and counting).” These breakthroughs could define one’s
“Any time you have a breakthrough in materials technology, you open up a whole new world of applications.” —Peter Hackett, Alberta School of Business, and National Institute of Nanotechnology (NINT) fellow
career, but Worfolk’s seems to remain on the rise. In his time at Stanford, where he is currently a post-doc, he has been researching organic electronics—lightweight materials for the phones, batteries, and sensors that we use on a daily basis. For undergraduates aspiring to take full advantage of their University of Alberta experience, Worfolk encourages them to “never be afraid to contact a professor or someone in industry. Usually these people are excited about their work, and are eager to discuss it with others.” He views a good life as one where one desires to “race to work every morning,” along with a healthy dose of mountain biking, snowboarding and in California, surfing. Good advice from a go-for-it grad now making his mark in Silicon Valley. Emerson Csorba is a fourth-year student in Sciences Politiques, who serves as an editor for the Wanderer Online. He contributes to several local and national magazines and enjoys running through Edmonton’s river valley.
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Alex MacNeil faces the challenges of extracting bitumen from the Grosmont by taking a hands-on role at Osum where ideas roll quickly into action.
Translating Continental Drift into Alberta Energy by Scott Rollans
Alex MacNeil (MSc ’01, PhD ’06) is an expert in something you might not even know Alberta has—ancient reefs. Ancient reef systems are important for understanding how corals and reefs have evolved through time, and how different types of carbonate platforms existed at different times in Earth’s history helping us to better understand things like global mass extinction events. Conveniently for Alberta, the ancient reefs hold more than geological data. “Significant amounts of oil and gas in Alberta are hosted in carbonate deposits,” MacNeil explains. “So, if you understand where different animals live on a carbonate platform and the types of sediments that are associated with those different environments, and if you understand how those different sediments alter with time, you can predict things like porosity and where oil would be hosted in those deposits, deep down in the subsurface.” MacNeil first became fascinated with geology while an undergraduate at the University of Saskatchewan. He came to the U of A for his graduate work after stumbling across a research project with professor Brian Jones. He spent two years working on his master’s with Jones (“A
great mentor,” he reflects) in the Cayman Islands, studying relatively recent carbonate deposits near the surface. From there, MacNeil unpacked his toque and went on to his PhD, studying Devonian stratigraphy on a project based out of Hay River, Northwest Territories.
If you know nothing about geology, you might be surprised to learn what a huge role ancient coral and sponge reefs play in Alberta’s economy— and not incidentally, in Alex MacNeil’s career.
Today, MacNeil works with a small private company, Osum Oil Sands. Osum is exploring bitumen opportunities in the southern portion of the Grosmont platform—the same carbonate platform MacNeil studied for his thesis. “The Grosmont today hosts more bitumen than any other carbonate field in the world. It’s a giant oil sands opportunity,” says MacNeil. “So, my PhD research is one of the key things I bring to the business here at Osum.” Extracting bitumen from the Grosmont, however, isn’t easy. Companies like Osum must confront and overcome a number of technical challenges if the field is to become economically viable. Although MacNeil has worked for much larger companies, including Imperial Oil, he loves being able to play a more direct, hands-on role at a smaller operation like Osum. “You’ll sit in a meeting, and you’ll be discussing ideas, and six months later the plan’s actually happening.” MacNeil also loves working in an environment that, at times, feels like an extension of his days in the Earth Sciences building. “Calgary is full of U of A grads, especially Earth Sciences grads,” he says. “I routinely work with U of A grads, and I see people I actually went to school with every week, if not more frequently. It’s quite a close-knit community.” Spring . 13
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Dr. Kickstarter Michael Serpe and how the crowd can push environmental research into application
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By Omar Mouallem
Serpe wonders if the future might lie in micro-funding systems similar to those artists use in order to crowd-source money, like Kickstarter. Chemistry professor Michael Serpe has no problem saying he’s trying to solve the world’s problems. He also has no problem turning a jar of stinky white powder (a nearly unpronounceable polymer) into a biosensor that could change colours under the influence of disease markers or environmental toxins—a potential solution that may be able to predict diseases and track contaminants within two years. That’s the easy part. The hard part, he says, is connecting his discovery research with the people who can bring it to market. “I really think it’s a universal problem,” says the leader of the Serpe Research Group at the U of A, which is focused on polymer application. “We don’t know what the industry needs, wants,
and vice versa. Industry doesn’t know of our capabilities and what we’re willing to collaborate on.” Even though he was one of 15 applicants to win $100,000 from the Grand Challenges Canada—a competition hoping to send first-place ideas to third-world countries—Serpe views this disconnect as his real grand challenge. Enter Reg Joseph, a young professional with loads of experience working for NASDAQ-traded corporation Life Technologies (formerly InvitroGen). There, his job was to lead academics to the invisible hand. Now the CEO of U of A biotech offshoot Metabolomic Technologies, Joseph and Serpe were set up on a “blind date” through a colleague. “There was no angle other than he’s finding cool stuff—and you should talk because you know about business and commercialization,” recalls Joseph. The connection was a sort of discovery research in itself, and the direct translation has been to create a network of industry and academic people who might connect like the antigens and antibodies in Serpe’s polymers.
Last August, they hosted a mini-conference on diagnostic innovation at the university. “I wanted everybody together,” says Serpe, “people who hold the purse strings, people who need the technology and the people who develop it. The grand goal was to find ways that we can collaborate and get money from our governments to collaborate on research to solve big problems.” He pauses. “We didn’t get there.” Though it hasn’t yet yielded the success he hopes for, he’s confident he’ll get there—and is kicking around some other ideas in the meantime. Trying to avoid grant systems that reward only the boldest application promises and forces researchers to make their proposals “sexy” for funding, Serpe wonders if the future might lie in microfunding systems similar to those artists use in order to crowd-source money, like Kickstarter. But until then, he’s found that going to business events— “even those that seemed out of place”—has been most fruitful. He already has a few interested partners from separate fields that see possibilities in his polymers that he never could.
Serpe and Joseph team up to answer some outstanding questions. “We don’t know what the industry needs, wants, and vice versa. Industry doesn’t know of our capabilities and what we’re willing to collaborate on. We can close that gap.”
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Brian Krausert credits his education at the U of A for giving him a foundation for his life that extends beyond the concepts learned in geology classes and as he marks the 40th anniversary of his graduation— he has been inviting many of his former classmates back to reconnect.
Creating a Legacy from the Ground Up:
Brian Krausert and the maverick story of Beaver Drilling By Kristy Condon
If there were such a thing as a first family of energy in Alberta, it would be the Krauserts. Founders of the first Canadian drilling company, the family dramatically altered the Alberta energy landscape in 1965 when they cracked the American monopoly of the Canadian drilling market. 23
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Today, Brian Krausert (’73 BSc) is leading Beaver Drilling—the largest family-owned and operated drilling company in Canada—in his father Sam’s footsteps. The long-term success of the company is built on the founding principle that hard work makes anything possible—a tenet Krausert internalized even more intensely as a
geology student at the U of A. He says his time as a geology student provided so many important life lessons that he’s carried with him—where he counts Charles Stelck—a founding father of petroleum geology in Alberta, as one of his key influencers. “Charlie was one of the innovators who helped me understand how this whole world works,” says Krausert of his friend and mentor. Stelck’s research in fossilized reefs in the arctic led to the founding of some of Alberta’s largest oil reserves. Stelck himself is credited with discovering the Fort St. John and Monkman Pass gas fields, with his pupils also striking black gold in Devon— namely the Leduc No. 1 and Pembina oil fields. While Alberta’s oil and gas sector has been good to the Krauserts, he admits the future didn’t always look so bright. He says he feels lucky to have been given the opportunity to meet some industry experts while studying at the U of A who had a more optimistic outlook on the industry. Today, Krausert points out that the energy sector in Alberta is still going strong because we all enjoy warm showers in the morning. “I can’t see that we’re going to get rid of electricity anytime
soon,” he laughs. By way of looping back to honour a legacy, Krausert has been a strong supporter of a research chair that was founded in his mentor’s name, the C.R. Stelck Chair in Petroleum Geology. “I’m a big fan of the Stelck Chair, because I’m a big fan of Charlie Stelck.”
Alberta energy is in his blood. Brian Krausert, now at the helm of Beaver Drilling has been working in oil and gas for most of his life. In fact, Krausert was recently reunited with his former teacher at a small gathering where Stelck, Krausert, and Professor George Pemberton—the incoming Chair holder—met to mark their shared commitment to drive the energy industry forward through a strong, ongoing research program.
And as in times past, Stelck took the opportunity to seize a teachable moment for his former student and younger colleague, sharing some new research he’d uncovered and one of his most valuable lessons—that the most important thing in life is the friendships you make and keep.
About the C. R. Stelck Chair in Petroleum Geology The future of Alberta’s energy industry lies in nonconventional reservoirs, and the research program of the C.R. Stelck Chair in Petroleum Geology will continue to optimize Alberta’s most valuable resource in innovative ways. This ongoing research will provide vital knowledge about the predictability of the variations in reservoir quality embedded in the stratigraphic context, and can be used to predict sweet spots in time and space. For more information about Stelck Chair, contact the Faculty of Science at (780) 492-9983.
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contours SCIENCE
Faculty of Science 6-189 CCIS University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6G 2E1
40063605
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science? Check out our spectacular summer camps for junior scientists ages 6-17. July and August 2013
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