All News & Events
Vision centres of blind person’s brain recycled to help other senses
By Thandi Fletcher, Vancouver Sun April 28, 2010, p. B 3
Despite popular belief, blind people don’t have a better sense of smell than people with sight, a Canadian study suggests.
University of Montreal graduate student Mathilde Beaulieu-Lefebvre debunked the myth that blind people have a more acute sense of smell, finding instead they simply are more conscious of odours around them.
“The urban legend is not true,” Beaulieu-Lefebvre said.
It’s not their sense of smell that’s different, but rather the way blind people use their noses, she said. For example, while a sighted person can simply look at food and tell if it’s gone bad, a blind person relies solely on smell to recognize good food from spoiled food.
“In the absence of vision, [blind people] have to rely on other cues, like smell or sound,” Beaulieu-Lefebvre said.
However, the study did find that blind people process odour information in their brains differently from sighted people.
Using a type of MRI scan, the researchers discovered that when blind people smell something, they use the part of the brain connected to the nose more than other people. They also found that—despite having lost their sense of vision—blind people still use the occipital cortex, the part of the brain used for vision.
“This part of the brain is sort of recycled to do tasks other than vision, such as smelling or touching or hearing,” explained Beaulieu-Lefebvre.
The study’s findings can help researchers better understand how the human brain works, Beaulieu-Lefebvre said.
“This gives hope to blind people in understanding that the brain is not hardwired,” she said. “It can be reorganized to do different tasks.”
The research can also help to develop a rehabilitation program for the blind, where they can learn how to navigate through an environment based on smell, she said.
Mike Potvin, who lost his vision at 25 to a rare hereditary disorder called Leber’s optic neuropathy, is not surprised by the study’s findings.
Beaulieu-Lefebvre will be presenting her findings in June at a conference for the Organization for Human Brain Mapping.
UBC’s Amanda Vincent Named Finalist for the 2010 Indianapolis Prize
Award Celebrates Outstanding Achievement in Animal Conservation
Amanda Vincent, Ph.D., is the reason seahorses are on the global conservation agenda. She was the first person to study seahorses underwater, document their extensive commercial trade and initiate a seahorse conservation project. Because of her tireless devotion, including 12-hour stints underwater and equally long hours in policy negotiations, Vincent, a professor at the University of British Columbia and co-founder of Project Seahorse, is one of six contenders for the $100,000 Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation.
The other Prize finalists are Gerardo Ceballos, Ph.D., leader in conservation strategy; premier elephant expert Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Ph.D.; Rodney Jackson, Ph.D., founder of the Snow Leopard Conservancy; famed cheetah researcher Laurie Marker, D.Phil. and Blue Ocean Institute founder Carl Safina, Ph.D.
“The passion and energy of these six finalists are the essence of the Indianapolis Prize. Their ability to connect conservation with the community has established hope for all species, including us,” said Indianapolis Prize Chair Myrta Pulliam.
“Amanda is a real pioneer and an innovator. Her dedication has helped ensure that marine fishes are now considered wildlife as well as important resources, and seahorses have become a notable flagship for marine conservation,” said Heather Koldewey, curator of aquarium projects at the Zoological Society of London.
Vincent holds the Canada Research Chair in Marine Conservation at the University of British Columbia’s Fisheries Centre and is considered the leading authority on seahorse biology and conservation. She has mobilized a wide array of partners and, with them, made active gains in seahorse and marine conservation, from initiating protected areas and developing alliances of impoverished fishers to regulating international trade in seahorses. Her work has been a reflection of countless hours of underwater and trade research, intense consultation with communities and consumers and dialogue with all levels of government. One result of her pragmatic idealism has been measurably more fish in the ocean.
Vincent was born in Vancouver, Canada, and has lived in other parts of Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario (Canada) and her doctorate from the University of Cambridge (UK). She currently resides in Vancouver, Canada.
The winner of the 2010 Indianapolis Prize receives $100,000, along with the Lilly Medal, to be awarded at the Indianapolis Prize Gala presented by Cummins Inc. The Gala is scheduled for September 25, 2010, at The Westin Hotel in Indianapolis.
The biennial $100,000 Indianapolis Prize represents the largest individual monetary award for animal conservation in the world and is given as an unrestricted gift to the chosen honoree. The Indianapolis Prize was initiated by the Indianapolis Zoo as a significant component of its mission to inspire local and global communities and to celebrate, protect and preserve our natural world through conservation, education and research. This award brings the world’s attention to the cause of animal conservation and the brave, talented and dedicated men and women who spend their lives saving the Earth’s endangered animal species.
Ottawa lays charges against fish-farming company
Justice Department takes over private prosecution launched by biologist
By Judith Lavoie, Vancouver Sun – April 21, 2010, p. A9
Charges of unlawful possession of wild salmon and herring have been laid against Marine Harvest Canada, the largest fish-farming company in B.C.
A private prosecution previously laid by biologist and activist Alexandra Morton was taken over by the federal Justice Department Tuesday, said federal prosecutor Todd Gerhart.
“New information charges Marine Harvest with four counts and deals with two incidents,” he said.
The first incident involves juvenile wild pink salmon, which were mixed in with farmed Atlantic salmon as they were taken off a Marine Harvest vessel in June, and the second incident involves herring, which were discarded from pens in October.
The charges say the company failed to report incidental catches of wild fish and, having caught live fish, the company failed to return them to the ocean in a manner that would have caused the least harm.
Marine Harvest will next appear in court June 22 and Clare Backman, the company’s director of environmental compliance and community relations, said no decision has yet been taken on a plea.
“We will have to wait until we see the information,” Gerhart said.
Morton, an unflagging campaigner against open-net fish farms, is jubilant that the Justice Department has taken over the prosecutions.
“For decades we have heard reports of wild fish trapped in fish farms, eaten by the farm fish and destroyed during harvest,” she said.
Information about specific incidents was passed to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, but they refused to act, Morton said. “Now, government is finally doing its job. This is enormous.”
Honorary SCWIST member Dr. Barbara Moon says you can believe in both evolution and religion
Dr. Barbara Moon recently retired after teaching biology at UFV for more than 30 years. During that time she has had many conversations with students about the debate surrounding evolution and creationism. She says you can believe in both. Since 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, it seemed appropriate to feature the issue in our Sound Off column.
By Dr. Barbara Moon
A scientific theory is a comprehensive explanation of observed natural phenomena that is supported by a large body of evidence. As such, scientific theories only concern the
natural world (e.g., atomic, gravity, evolutionary theories). They can be used to make testable
predictions about natural phenomena or about phenomena that have not yet been observed.
Scientists use the scientific method as an effective way to study the natural world and to develop and test theories. A key point aboutscientific theories is that they are practical
only when they deal with natural causes.
Evolutionary theory provides an explanation for why there are so many different kinds of organisms on earth, how all organisms on earth are related and how they share an original common ancestor. In common with other scientific theories, it does not and can not
investigate supernatural causes of life on earth.
An examination of the various perspectives on creation and evolution has convinced me that the relationship between evolution and creationism is a continuum, not a dichotomy between two irreconcilable opposites. The perspectives range from literalist traditions, which interpret scripture as equivalent to scientifi c explanations of origins, to atheistic ultra-evolutionism, which proposes that the natural world is all that exists and thus nothing supernatural exists. The extremes are indeed incompatible, but there are many positions in between where scientists and people of faith agree. I do not have the space here to go into a description of all the perspectives along the continuum.
You can get detailed explanations in my Powerpoint lecture, which can be found as a link off the following web page: http://www.ufv.ca/biology/Darwin.htm
Theistic evolution is a perspective of which many people are unaware yet is a position where people of faith and evolutionists can come together. It is a view in which God created the laws of nature and thus events in the universe generally unfold with no further divine intervention. This is a view held by many Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish, and Christian biologists. Their approach to science uses the scientific method.
Such a view accepts all the results of modern science, including the Big Bang, random mutation, and Darwin’s notion of descent with modifi cation through natural selection. Furthermore it is the position of most Protestant and Catholic churches (and many other religions) and is the perspective taught at their seminaries. I encourage alumni to not reject evolution without investigating the theistic evolutionary perspective. Many theistic evolutionists are working biologists who uphold both the authority of scripture and the integrity of the scientifi c process. One online group (An Evangelical Dialogue on Evolution) is trying to get
beyond the warring positions of “evolution or God” and to critique the commonly voiced positions in which “evangelicals condemn evolutionary science as atheistic; evolutionists mock evangelicals as being little better than medieval religious nutcases” (from Evangelical Dialogue on Evolution website). I invite you to do the same.
The evolutionary perspective holds sway in the modern world for several reasons. First, it is supported by a large array of data collected over centuries. Second, it is accepted by scientists across all fields. Third, it is a highly productive theory that has enabled us to rapidly advance understanding of the natural world. Modern medicine is now at an exciting stage in which the basis of many human diseases and conditions is starting to be understood. However, this knowledge did not arise from the study of humans alone but from experimental analysis of a whole range of organisms such as bacteria, fungi, plants, and small mammals. The findings from these studies are often directly applicable to humans because, since we are all interrelated via common descent, we share most of the molecular systems taking place within our cells. Once a molecular mechanism is found in experimental organisms, there is a good chance it will be similar in humans. The latest manifestation of this process is in the ongoing analysis of the human genome: sequencing the genome was a wonderful technological accomplishment but useless without analyzing gene function.
By comparing a human gene with the evolutionarily similar gene from an experimental organism, a reasonable function can be attributed in humans, and the basis for a disease understood. Some people see the theory of evolution as an amoral position, but evolutionists can have just as strong a moral compass as deists. I also contend that looking at the world through an evolutionary lens can lead to new moral insights. Once one understands that all creatures are interrelated via evolution, one sees that we are all cousins who are very much in the same boat together. This can inspire a desire to care for the earth and everything in it. I
challenge you to investigate further.
Univeristy of the Fraser Valley Alumni magazine Aluminations Fall 09 Volume 10 Issue 1
SCWIST Celebrates National Volunteers Week!
Thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers during National Volunteers Week – you make SCWIST what it is. We couldn’t do it without you. Thank you!
Congratulations to ms infinity program coordinator Monique Desroches
Monique was awarded with the Kevin Brown Hero Award at the BC Persons With AIDS Society’s AccolAIDS gala on April 18, 2010. The award was established in memory of one of BCPWA’s founding members and the first Chair of the Board of Directors.
Congratulations Monique!
Congratulations to Anne Condon, Sara Swenson & Dawn McArthur on 2010 YWCA Women of Distinction Noms
Honorary SCWIST member Dr. Anne Condon and SCWIST members Sara Swenson and Dawn McArthur have been nominated in the Education, Training & Development category for a 2010 YWCA Women of Distinction Award.
Dr. Condon is a Professor of Computer Science and Associate Dean of the Department of Computer Science at UBC. Dr. Swenson is a Senior Research Grants Facilitator at SFU. Dr. McArthur is a Senior Research Development Facilitator at the Child & Family Research Institute. Drs. McArthur and Swenson received a co-nomination. Congratulations to all and best of luck!
The event will be held June 1, 2010. For more information please click here.
Nominee Profiles
Dr. Anne Condon A gifted Professor of Computer Science and Associate Dean of Science at UBC, Anne has led several successful initiatives aimed at broadening participation in science and engineering, with a particular focus on women in computing. As the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada/General Motors Canada Chair for Women in Science and Engineering, she created a regional community of leaders who support girls and women in exploring non-traditional career goals and funded nationwide research and mentoring programs for women undergraduates in computing. Anne initiated the development of policies at UBC’s Faculty of Science that strengthen mentoring practices and support faculty who take maternity or parental leaves. Anne is an inspiring mentor and role model to countless students and faculty across North America.
Connecting the Community Award quote: “Education in computer science offers incredible opportunities for everyone to make a positive difference in society. I choose to support early learning and care for children so that our children can be curious, yet secure, in exploring the frontiers of tomorrow’s world.”
Drs. Dawn McArthur and Sara Swenson More than ten years ago, searching the Internet for “research grants facilitator” provided only two names: Dawn McArthur and Sara Swenson. Since then, almost every university and research institution in Canada has embraced Sara and Dawn’s model of research support. Dawn and Sara are scientists who love research, educators who love teaching and writers who love using language as a tool. They are out-of-the-box thinkers who play multi-faceted roles as advisors, collaborators, mentors, teachers and coaches. Dawn and Sara both have long histories supporting young women in science and scholarship and are both former Presidents of the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology.
Connecting the Community Award quote: “Reducing child poverty is one of our greatest social challenges; raising healthy children, one of our primary social responsibilities. I choose this area because the YWCA takes on the challenge of child poverty directly at the grassroots level—where services have the most impact—by providing community-based resources to support the essential daily needs of vulnerable children and women.” Dawn McArthur
Connecting the Community Award quote: “As the mother of three children—two sons in university and a daughter in high school—I understand how difficult it is to help youth make the transition from childhood to adulthood and the challenges that many youth face. I choose to support the YWCA program supporting healthy choices for youth which empowers young people to become self-confident, healthy, socially responsible adults.” Sara Swenson
International Engineering Careers - May 6, 2010
WIE – Women in Engineering (Vancouver Region) in collaboration with SCWIST invites you to a workshop on International Engineering Careers presented by Margaret Malewski.
Are you hoping to work abroad as part of your engineering career?
Do you work as part of an international team of engineers?
If so, this workshop is for you!
For those of you who wish to go abroad, we’ll look briefly at the main ways of getting an international position, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such a career move. We will also look at some of the common work and personal challenges involved in working abroad.
For those of you who wish to work as part of an international team, we will discuss some of the rewards and challenges of doing so.
The session will begin with a short presentation, and then will follow into group activities and questions from the audience.
May 6, 2010
6:30-9:30 pm
YWCA Welch Rooms 1 & 2
535 Hornby St. – 4th floor
Vancouver
Advance Registration: $8 Please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) prior to May 5th to reserve your seat and bring your cash payment with you to the event. Exact change is appreciated.
Margaret Malewski is the author of “GenXpat: The Young Professional’s Guide to Making a Successful Life Abroad”. She has lived, worked and studied in over 10 countries in the past 15 years. Born in Canada, she completed a M. Eng. in Warsaw, Poland and later an MBA at INSEAD in France and Singapore. She is currently CEO of Liquivision Products, Inc, a manufacturer of technical diving computers, based in Burnaby BC.
Sandwiches, snacks and hot and cold beverages will be provided.
For more information visit http://www.wievr.ca, or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
SCWIST Newsletter - April 2010
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Grey whale victim of suspected orca attack, zoologist says
By Sandra McCulloch, Vancouver Sun – April 6, 2010, p. A7
A grey whale that has attracted hundreds of people to an East Sooke beach could have died as a result of an orca attack, a Victoria zoologist suggested Monday.
An autopsy on the whale, known as a necropsy, would have to be done to narrow down the cause of death, said Anna Hall, “but I would think that based on the wounds that I saw it was killer whale predation.”
Friday’s intense windstorm may have been another factor that led to the near-adult male getting beached at East Sooke Park, said Hall.
But the wounds on its belly seem to indicate it was preyed on by an orca.
“It has a couple of wounds that need to be verified by a killer whale expert,” Hall said.
“I do think it was a natural event.”
It’s not clear when or even if government biologists will carry out a necropsy. Calls to Fisheries and Oceans Canada were not returned Monday.
Laura Verhegge, a marine science teacher at Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific, saw the whale Sunday.
“Grey whales wash up fairly frequently. They feed by going to beaches and taking a mouthful of mud. They filter the mud out and eat little shrimps.”
Grey whales usually winter in Baja California and migrate north from May to October.
This whale, at 9-10 metres in length, is “pretty close” to full grown, said Verhegge: “That’s almost adult size.”
Verhegge will take her observations back to the classroom. “It’s quite the opportunity to see an animal that is so big.”
Jason Drewery brought his three kids out to see the whale Monday after seeing news reports on its location.
“When you see pictures, you don’t really grasp the size of it.”
Ken Froggatt of Red Deer, Alta., took a side trip to East Sooke while holidaying in Victoria. “It’s pretty impressive,” he said.
Breast cancer linked to chemical exposure
Study points to synthetic fibres, petroleum products
Vancouver Sun – April 1, 2010, p. B2
Exposure to certain chemicals and pollutants before a woman reaches her mid-30s could triple her risk of developing breast cancer after menopause, Canadian scientists said on Thursday.
In a study in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, a British Medical Journal title, the researchers found that women exposed to synthetic fibres and petroleum products during the course of their work appeared to be most at risk.
“Occupational exposure to acrylic and nylon fibres, and to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons may increase the risk of developing post-menopausal breast cancer,” they wrote.
But some experts commenting on the study expressed caution, saying such links can crop up by chance.
“In a study of this sort, positive associations often occur simply by chance,” said David Coggon, a professor of occupational and environmental medicine at Britain’s Southampton University. “They carry little weight in the absence of stronger supportive evidence from other research.”
The Canadian scientists conceded their findings could be due to chance, but also said they were consistent with the theory that breast tissue is more sensitive to harmful chemicals if the exposure occurs when breast cells are still active—in other words, before a woman reaches her 40s.
The researchers, from Montreal’s Occupational Health Research Institute based their findings on more than 1,100 women, 556 of whom were diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996 and 1997 when they were aged between 50 and 75 and had gone through the menopause.
A team of chemists and industrial hygienists investigated the women’s levels of exposure to around 300 different substances during their employment history.
After taking account of the usual factors associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, the analysis indicated a link between occupational exposure to several of these substances, the Montreal team wrote.
Compared with the comparison group, the risk peaked for exposures before the age of 36, and increased with each additional decade of exposure before this age, they found.
This meant women who were exposed to acrylic fibres appeared to run a seven-fold risk of breast cancer, while those exposed to nylon fibres almost doubled their risk.
The scientists said more detailed studies focusing on certain chemicals were now needed to try to establish what role chemical exposure plays in the development of breast cancer.
Reuters
The study Postmenopausal breast cancer and occupational exposures is authored by France Labrèche (Occupational Health, Quebec National Institute of Public Health, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Départements de Médecine sociale et préventive et de Santé environnementale et santé au travail, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Mark S Goldberg (Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Marie-France Valois (Division of Clinical Epidemiology, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and Louise Nadon (INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, Laval, Quebec, Canada) and can be found at Occup Environ Med 2010;67:263-269. The abstract is below.
Abstract
Objective To determine whether exposures in the workplace to organic solvents and to other agents, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are associated with increased risks of developing postmenopausal breast cancer.
Methods Between 1996 and 1997 a case–control study was conducted in Montreal, Quebec. Cases comprised 556 women, aged 50–75 years, with incident malignant breast cancer, and their controls were 613 women with other cancers, frequency matched for age, date of diagnosis and hospital. An expert team of chemists and industrial hygienists translated their job histories into exposure to about 300 agents.
Results Odds ratios (ORs) were increased for the usual risk factors for breast cancer and, adjusting for these, risks increased with occupational exposure to several agents, and were highest for exposures occurring before age 36 years. Increased ORs were found for each 10-year increment in duration of exposure, before age 36 years (OR<36), to acrylic fibres (OR<36=7.69) and to nylon fibres (OR<36=1.99). For oestrogen-positive and progesterone-negative tumours, the OR doubled or more for each 10-year increase in exposure to monoaromatic hydrocarbons, and to acrylic and rayon fibres. The OR<36 also doubled for exposure to organic solvents that metabolise into reactive oxygen species, and to acrylic fibres. A threefold increase was found for oestrogen- and progesterone-positive tumours, with exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from petroleum sources.
Conclusion Certain occupational exposures appear to increase the risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer, although some findings might be due to chance or to undetected bias. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that breast tissue is more sensitive to adverse effects if exposure occurs when breast cells are still proliferating. More refined analyses, adjusting for hormonal receptor subtypes and studies focusing on certain chemical exposures are required to further our understanding of the role of chemicals in the development of breast cancer.
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Collider’s first test a smashing success
Data collected will help to explain how the universe works
By Margaret Munro, Canwest News Service – March 31, 2010, p. B3
Isabel Trigger and her husband Rob McPherson were a bit sleep-deprived after the much anticipated and oft delayed collision in the tunnel under the Swiss-French border Tuesday.
But the physics power couple, key players on the Canadian team involved with the unprecedented international experiment, are ecstatic to see the Large Hadron Collider finally smashing subatomic particles.
“It really is fantastic,” Trigger said from the TRIUMF national physics laboratory at the University of B.C. after Tuesday’s collision in Europe.
The protons collided 100 metres underground just after 1 p.m. Central European time.
Whoops and cheers filled the crowded control room at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, near Geneva and were echoed by physicists from Tokyo to Toronto.
“This is the breakthrough movement we have all been waiting for,” says McPherson, a professor at University of Victoria and principal investor of the Canadian team that helped design, build and commission the most complicated machine ever.
The Large Hadron Collider is designed to collide proton beams at energies not seen since the milliseconds after the Big Bang—prompting some to dub it the Big Bang: The Sequel.
The scientists were marvelling Tuesday over the quality and volume of the data from the “events” generated as the machine finally went live.
“The amazing thing is not that they got them to collide,” says Trigger, “but that since then we’ve had in the order of a million events in ATLAS.”
ATLAS is one of the cathedral-sized detectors inside the collider that runs in a circular 27-kilometre long circular tunnel under the Swiss-French border. Scientists have spent almost 20 years designing and building the collider that ran into serious problems when it was first fired up in 2008, resulting in an explosion. They are taking it slower this time and will run the collider at half power for the next year and half.
The detectors will record everything that happens when proton beams collide. There is so much data that it is being been sent to a network of “computing farms” around the world, including one humming away at a processing centre at TRIUMF, which is tucked in the woods on the edge of the UBC campus.
Nigel Lockyer, TRIUMF’s director, says it is all pretty remarkable.
“The protons beams collide in Geneva, they go through this incredible detector with millions of sensors, then the electronic signals are transferred to computers that end up sending light signals across the Atlantic and across Canada all the way to TRIUMF,” he says. “And then, if somebody in Japan wants to access data, they have to cross the Pacific to get to Canada.”
Canada’s contribution to the project has cost close to $100 million over the last 15 years, which Lockyer describes as “an absolute steal for Canada.”
About 200 people are currently involved, including 100 graduate students who will be among the first to “study matter at this new energy frontier,” says McPherson.
Researchers are hoping for new understanding of how the universe works. They hope to discover new forces, new dimensions, and perhaps even find the Higgs boson, a theoretical particle that may be responsible for mass.
“With a little luck, nature will be kind to us,” says Trigger, group leader of the ATLAS team at TRIUMF. She likens the task to looking for needles in a haystack because there will be so much data to sift through.
