Congratulations!
Hearty congratulations to the following who successfully defended their M.Sc. theses over the summer:
Ms. S. Donato - Thesis: Habitat use and dietary habits of yellownose voles (Microtus chrotorrhinus ),meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus), and red-backed voles (Clethrionomy gapperi) in logged and mature black spruce stands in the claybelt of northeastern Ontario. Supervisor: Dr. G.M. Courtin
Ms. N.D. Grant - Thesis: Host choice of a generalist brood parasite, the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). Co-supervisors: Drs. F.F. Mallory, J. da Silva, (Penn. State), and S.G. Sealy (Univ. of Manitoba)
Ms. L.J. Landriault - Thesis: Nuisance black bear (Ursus americanus) behaviour in central Ontario. Co-supervisors: Drs. F.F. Mallory and J. Hamr (Cambrian College)
Mr. D. Shorthouse - Thesis: The diversity and succession of wandering spider communities on Inco Ltd. reclaimed tailings habitats. Supervisor: Dr. Y. Alarie
Mr. M. St. John - Thesis: Occurrence of Ca, Fe, K. Mg, N, Na, S, and P within rose-stem galls and ungalled wild roses: implications for the nutrition hypothesis of gall evolution. Supervisor: Dr. J.D. Shorthouse
Presentations
The Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists, held in June at the University of Guelph, was attended by Professors Ferroni and Leduc, Microbiology Technologist Ms. Irene McAuley, and graduate students Mr. Daniel Leduc and Ms. Sophie Léveillé. Two posters were presented: Quantification of bacterial populations indigenous to acidic drainage streams (Leduc, D., Ferroni, G.D. and Leduc, L.G.), and The effects of heterotrophic satellite bacteria on the recovery of iron-oxidizing bacteria from acidic drainage streams (Leduc, D., Ferroni, G.D. and Leduc, L.G.). At the same meeting, Dr. Ferroni gave an invited talk, Iron oxidation in Thiobacillus ferrooxidans: strain diversity and temperature considerations, in a symposium on Biochemical Interactions.
Dr. K. Nkongolo attended the Genetics Society of Canada Annual Meeting held in Edmonton, June 17-20, where he presented the paper, Optimization of RAPD patterns and analysis of phylogenetic relationships among spruce species using embryogenic lines and seedlings, coauthored with Graduate students, Messrs. Wayne Gratton and Paul Michael.
Dr. J.-F. Robitaille attended the Euro-American Mammal Congress, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, July 24-28, and presented one oral and two poster presentations within the symposium on Mustelids in a Modern World: Robitaille, J.-F. - American marten, Martes americana, winter habitat studies in Ontario, Canada; with Mr. K. Aubry - Micro-habitat use by American Martens, Martes americana, in Ontario's boreal forest; and with Mr. E.C. Cobb - Physical condition assessment in American Martens, Martes americana. Dr. Robitaille filled his late evening with lively euro-american discussions in local restaurants where queimada, a traditional liquor of roasted coffee beans and lemon, was being offered as a digestif. A book chapter on Conservation of Mustelids in eastern Canada is in the works.
Prof. Keith Winterhalder attended the 34th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, and presented a paper, Effects of cross-transplantation on growth and metal uptake by Agrostis capillaris L. (A. tenuis Sibth.) from copper-zinc smelter-contaminated soil in Creighton, Saskatchewan, and Deschampsia caespitosa (L) Beauv.from copper-nickel smelter-contaminated soil in Sudbury, Ontario.
Prof. Keith Winterhalder was an invited speaker on Land restoration in the north at the IV International Conference on The Development of the North and Problems of Nature Restoration, held at the Institute of Biology, Komi Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Syktyvkar, Komi Republic, Russian Federation, August 3-7. Field excursions in the Syktyvkar area included the local botanical garden and a 100 ha lumber and pulp mill complex that treats its own wastes along with those from the 250,000 residents of the city of Syktyvkar. The major field excursion was to the Komi Arctic Oil operation in the Upper Vozey Oilfield, north of Usinsk and within the Polar Circle, where the results of revegetation experiments on drilling pad sumps and oil spills were viewed.
Publications
Winterhalder, Keith. 1998. A guide to carrying out pre-mining baseline studies on vegetation and associated parameters. CANMET, Natural Resources Canada, 69 pp.
Nkongolo, K.K. and A. Comeau. 1998. Development and characterization of a wheat-rye substitution line tolerant to the Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus. Crop Sciences 38: 1411-1414.
Mallory, F.F., and T.L. Hillis. 1998. Demographic characteristics of circumpolar caribou populations: ecotypes, ecological constraints/releases, and population dynamics. Rangifer, Spec. Issue 10: 49 - 60.
Hillis, T.L., F.F. Mallory, W.J. Dalton, and A.J. Smiegielski. 1998. Preliminary analysis of habitat utilization by woodland caribou in northwestern Ontario using satellite telemetry. Rangifer, Spec. Issue 10: 195 - 202.
Thomson, F.W. and F.F. Mallory. 1998. A case of a double antler in moose. The Moose Call 7: 4.
Activities
Dr. M.A. Alikhan, this year again, participated as a volunteer teacher in the Summer 1998 Tuzla University (Bosnia & Herzegovina), during July 17-31. This year, Dr. Alikhan offered a course in "Advanced Histotechniques" for medical and Biology Students, as well as for practising professionals. He also helped set up a Histopathology lab at the newly-built clinic in the city of Tuzla.
In addition, Dr. Alikhan, with the assistance of his son (Hassan, a graduate of Laurentian University and a system manager with Brewers Retail Headquarters in Mississauga) and his daughter (N. Margaret A. McArthur, a recent graduate from the Laurentian University School of Nursing, and a Registered Nurse, who works as a Research Assistant with Dr. Baigri, a local cardiologist), provided many books and teaching aids to Tuzla University. Hassan also offered a course in "Computer Networking for Medical Students and Practitioners," and Margaret a course in "Post-war trauma."
Alumni News
Ms. Rosemarie DeClerck-Floate, LU Biology alumna, of AAFC, Lethbridge, Alberta, was an invited speaker in an international symposium on Biocontrol of Weeds, in which she spoke on Screening foreign insects for weed biocontrol: the growing emphasis on native, including threatened and endangered plant species. Also present was LU Biology alumnus Dan Archambault of the Alberta Research Council, Vegreville, Alberta.
Mr. Jeremy Niemi (B.Sc. 1996) is now a computer modeller with Enviromine Canada.
Mr. Ron Manitowabi is Coordinator, Fish and Wildlife, Wikwemikong First Nation.
Miscellany
On July 16, Prof. Keith Winterhalder led an edible wild plants hike as part of the nature interpretive program at Halfway Lake Provincial Park.
A number of Prof. Keith Winterhalder's "Before-and-After" photographs, spanning up to 20 years, are on display at the Art Gallery of Sudbury as background material to the current exhibition - Sudbury: The Industrial Landscape.