Biology Department

Newsletter /Bulletin

January-February 2006 / Janvier-Février 2006

Awards and Achievements

Congratulations to Dr. Jackie Litzgus who has received $30,000 from the NSERC PromoScience program for a collaboration with Sciensational Sssnakes!! entitled "Reptiles at Risk on the Road."

Dr. Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde has been appointed Associate Editor for the journal Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology. Congratulations!

Seminars

On January 13, Marc Lajeunesse from Cornell University presented his seminar entitled "Host range evolution in avian brood parasites."

On January 27, Glen Brown (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) presented a seminar entitled "Habitat selection of woodland caribou in managed boreal forest of northeastern Ontario."

Publications

Belzile, N., Y-W. Chen, J.M. Gunn, J. Tong, Y. Alarie, T. Delonchamp, and C-Y. Yang. 2006. The effect of selenium on mercury assimilation by freshwater organisms. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 63: 1-10.

Conferences and Presentations

Co-op Unit students and faculty presented the following papers and posters at the Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research (CCFFR) and Canadian Society of Limnology (SCL) meeting in Calgary, January 5-7, 2006:

Johnston, T.A., Whittle, D.M., and M. Power - Response of native fishes to salmonid cage aquaculture in Northern Lake Huron

Ramcharan, C.W., Keller, B., and N. Yan - Stability of ecosystem function in acid-stressed lakes

Linley, R.D., and C.W. Ramcharan - A mesocosm study on the effects of fish and macroinvertebrate predators on zooplankton communities in relation to biological recovery from acidification

Kaufman, S.D., Morgan, G.E., Malette, M.D., Lowman, D., and W. Selinger - Comparing lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and walleye (Sander vitreus) angling effort in Northeastern Ontario: When, Who, and How?

Genrich, E. and J.M. Gunn - Testing the use of benthic macroinvertebrates as an indicator or recovery for acid and metal damaged aquatic ecosystems in Sudbury, Ontario

The 2006 Sudbury Restoration Workshop took place February 22 and 23 at Laurentian University. Plenary speakers included Dr. Frank Mallory, Dr. Liette Vasseur, and others. The Workshop was hosted by the Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit and Dr. John Gunn and attracted upwards of 300 delegates from across Ontario and beyond. This year’s theme “Industrial Development of the Boreal Shield: Environmental Challenges” fit in well with the newly-established Ph.D. program in Boreal Ecology and showcased the work of the students enrolled in the program to industry, government and academia working in the field of environmental recovery and restoration. Carole Chueng of Queen’s University was awarded the prize for best poster at the Conference. Ms. Chueng’s poster, entitled “Scaled chrysophytes as paleoindicators of the timing and spatial variability of taste and odour events in Ontario lakes”, was one of 19 posters from 5 universities displayed at the conference. Ms. Chueng is seen here receiving her award of $500 from Dr. Joe Shorthouse, Chair of the Department of Biology at Laurentian.