Congratulations to Dr. Gerard Courtin, faculty member in the Department since 1968, who received a 2001 OCUFA Teaching Award, acknowledging the contributions he has made to teaching, at a ceremony hosted by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association (OCUFA) held on June 8, 2001, in Toronto. Dr Courtin won Laurentian University's Teaching Excellence Award for 2000-2001, in recognition of his qualities as an outstanding teacher, his strong mentorship role with his students, and his great communication skills, earlier in the year. Dr. Courtin, who retires at the end of this academic year, takes with him the congratulations and best wishes of colleagues and former students.
Dr. John Gunn has been appointed Full Professor (Affiliate) of Biology in Laurentian University. Dr. Gunn has led the Department's Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit since it was formed in 1989 by agreement of the University, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), and the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy (MOEE). During this period, Dr. Gunn held Adjunct Professor status in the University and has been heavily involved not only in his research but also in teaching and guiding undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Thesis defence
Mr. John W. Wilson
successfully defended his M.Sc. thesis "Habitat Characteristics
of Late Wintering Areas Used by Woodland Caribou (Rangifer
tarandus caribou) in Northeastern Ontario." Mr. Wilson
was supervised by Dr. Frank F. Mallory and the external examiner
was Dr. Jim Schaefer (Trent University).
Scholarships / awards / prizes
Ms. Kaela Beauclerc
has been awarded an NSERC scholarship to pursue a higher degree
with Dr. Brad White of Trent University.
Ms. Stacey Santi won the Murray Fallis Prize for the 'Best
student research given as oral presentation during the AGM in
the area of parasitology' at the Fortieth Annual Meeting of the
Canadian Society of Zoologists (CSZ) held recently at Laurentian
University (see below for more information).
Ms. Sophia H.L. George won the 2001 A.B. Lakshman Memorial
Award; she is pursuing a higher degree in the in the Molecular
and Medical Genetics program (Department of Microbiology and Molecular
Genetics) at the University of Toronto.
The winners of the Wynn Watson Biology Bursary for the 2000-2001
academic year are Mr. Kevin Jensen (Biomedical option)
and Ms. Carly Smith (Forensic Biology).
Messrs. Ray Gorzynski and Hassan Waberi Abdi have
been awarded the first Canadian Shield Trout Scholarship. They
study the restoration of brook trout populations in Junction Creek.
This scholarship, established through the generous support of
Dr. Paul Morgan, provides Laurentian University graduate and undergraduate
research students, studying native trout species, at $10,000 and
$2,500 per annum, respectively. For more information on this fund
you may contact Dr. J. Gunn (jgunn@nickel.laurentian.ca).
The Sudbury Game and Fish Protective Association Bursary has been
won by Ms. Liane Capodagli.
Ms. Tracy L. Hillis was shortlisted for the Hoar Award
(for the best student presentation) at the same CSZ meeting. Ms.
Hillis is a doctoral candidate in the Cooperative University of
Guelph/Laurentian University Doctoral Program and is co-supervised
by Drs. F. F. Mallory and J. Fryxell (Guelph).
Professor Emeritus M. Alikhan was awarded his MBA at the
Spring Convocation of Laurentian University. This just goes to
show that a grounding in invertebrate physiology is not so restricting
as is commonly thought.
40th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society
of Zoologists (CSZ)
The Department hosted the 40th Annual
Meeting of the Canadian Society of Zoologists / Société
canadienne de zoologie from May 9-12, 2001. It was attended by
about 300 zoologists from across Canada, the United States, and
elsewhere. The meeting featured 180 scientific presentations and
showcased important contributions from the host Department.
The Opening Symposium 'Living with Metals: Biological Insights
from Studying the Interactions Between Metals and Life' explored
biological discoveries made possible by research on metals and
their interactions with the living. The meeting had a special
focus on Sudbury , a major metal mining area, and the industrial
activities that have severely impacted
its terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. For more information on
the meeting and to examine abstracts go to: http://www.laurentian.ca/www/csz/cszhome.html
Sudbury Restoration Workshop
This annual workshop, held on February 22, 2001 at Laurentian
University, with the theme 'Climate Change and Ecosystem Recovery,'
attracted about 180 people. Among the contributions was the invited
presentation by Dr. Shelley Arnott, "The Influence
of El Nino on Boreal Shield Lakes."
BIOL 4035 presentations
As part of the requirements of the course BIOL 4035 (Thesis and
Seminar), final year students presented their work to the Department
on the March 16, 2001, in the following order:
| Kristi Hindle | Comparison of European alder stands (Alnus glutinosa) in relation to soil nutrients and metal contamination |
| Salohy Razanajatovo | Caractérisation de l'habitat du pékan dans différents secteurs de l'île Manitoulin |
| Sarah Rienguette | The effects of sinus worm (Skrjrabingylus nasicola) infection on brain case capacity in the short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) |
| Kevin Jensen | Further development and application of a physical condition index for the fisher (Martes pennanti) |
| Jason Stevenson | Calving behaviour of farmed wapiti cows and development of social behaviour in neonatal wapiti |
| Brian Solmes | Determining age at death through tooth root transparency |
| Sophie Cooper | Effects of dietary copper on fish condition and metabolic capacities in wild yellow perch (Perca flavescens) |
| William Dew | Attempted isolation of the gene coding for chitin synthase in the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) |
| Caroline Filion and Marc Filion | Preliminary assessment of allelic frequencies in two populations offishers (Martes pennanti) in Northern Ontario |
| Ken Steinberg | Integrin activation of the MAP kinase pathway and taxol resistance |
| Sophia George | HIV-Tat effects on human hematopoieticstem cell differentiation |
| Suleena Duhaime | The effect of the regulatory domain alpha on the cytosolic location of the protein kinase c alpha holoenzyme |
| Thierry Mvilongo | Protein domains involved in PKC - dependent growth inhibition in yeast |
| Donna Dinnes | Cell yield as a function of electron donor for the bacterium Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans |
| Isabelle Gariépy and Chadwick Leneis | Isolation of Leptospirillum ferrooxidans in acid mine drainage |
| Angélique Brazeau and Khaled Mahmoud | Leaching of a low-grade Moroccan ore by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans |
Drs. G.D. Ferroni
and L.G. Leduc were awarded an Equipment Grant of $54,303
for a high-speed refrigerated centrifuge, to be used in their
NSERC funded studies in microbiology, in the 2001 Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council competition. Operating grants
were awarded to Dr. Y. Alarie ($22,000 p.a., 4 years) for
studies in "Systematics, evolution and larval morphology
of world hydradephaga (Coleoptera)" and Dr. M. Anand
($15,000 p.a., 4 years) for studies in "Dynamics of ecological
complexity" in the same competition.
Dr. Madhur Anand has been awarded a one-year grant from
the Laurentian University Research Fund for her project "An
interdisciplinary approach to studying perturbed ecosystems"
in the amount $4000.
Dr. J.-F. Robitaille was recently awarded a one-year contract
with OMNR-Chapleau (c/o Ms. Lynn Landriault, alumna) for
a study of the diet of martens.
Drs. Yves Alarie, John Gunn, and Nelson Belzile
(Chemistry) have obtained a collaborative research grant (5 year,
$60,000/year) for an NSERC-funded initiative to study the interactive
effects of Se and Hg on invertebrates and fish in Sudbury lakes.
This is part of a recently-announced NSERC Hg network study for
Canada. These workers are members of a team of Laurentian researchers
(along with Drs. Shelley Arnott of the Cooperative Freshwater
Ecology Unit and Dr. Yuwei Chen of the Chemistry/Biochemistry
Department) forming part of the Collaborative Mercury Research
Network (COMERN), one of the new networks recently funded by NSERC
specifically to improve our general understanding of mercury in
ecosystems and the risks for those who eat fish. The network involves
50 researchers from 14 universities and three research centers
in seven provinces. Partners in the network include 15 government
and industrial organizations, as well as 12 First Nations communities.
The program will also provide high-quality training for 63 graduate
students and 26 post-doctoral fellows. NSERC's contribution to
the COMERN Network is $12.6 million.
Dr. Shelley Arnott has been awarded one-year funding as
follows: a Laurentian University Research Fund grant for studies
on "Developing indicators of climate change for littoral
invertebrate communities in lakes recovering from acidification"
in the amount $4000; an Environment Canada Science Horizons Youth
Internship Program grant to study "Indicators of Climate
Change in Littoral Crustacean Communities Across the Boreal Shield"
in the amount of $12,000; and, an Environment Canada, Environmental
Monitoring and Assessment Network grant to study "Using EMAN
sites on the Boreal Shield to Assess the Impact of Climate Change
on Lake Ecosystems" in the amount of $9,300.
Dr. K.K. Nkongolo
was re-elected (for another three years) as Coordinator in Canada
of the Crop Science Society of America and American Society of
Agronomy.
Dr. J.-F. Robitaille is the new Graduate Coordinator for
Biology; he takes up his duties July 1, 2001.
Dr. J.-F. Robitaille has been appointed co-chairman (with
Prof. C. Bernier, sociologie) of the Association Canadienne-Française
pour l'Avancement des Sciences (ACFAS), Sudbury Chapter, for one
year. Members of the scientific community can expect to be solicited
for an active participation (orals, posters) in ACFAS meetings
intended to promote and increase the visibility of French in science.
Dr. J.-F. Robitaille is now a regular reviewer for Acta
Theriologica, Poland.
Dr. M.A. Alikhan
chaired the session 'Terrestrial Isopod
Physiology' and presented the invited paper "The physiological
consequence of metals and other environmental contaminants to
terrestrial isopod species and effect of metal contaminants and
other pollutants on growth and fecundity in Porecellio spinicornis
(Isopoda, Crustacea)" at the 5th International
Symposium on the Biology of Terrestrial Isopods, Irakalio, Crete
(Greece), May 19-23, 2001.
Dr. M. Anand presented "Simple or complex? - a view
of the plant community" (to the Department of Plant Sciences,
McGill University, Canada) and "On ecosystem recovery, Markov
Chains and fluid flow" (at the Centre Nationale de Recherche
Scientifique, Laboratoire d' écologie et évolution,
Montpellier, France) in March and April, 2001.
Arnott, S.E., J. Gunn, and W. Keller presented
the invited paper "The Impact of Climate Change on Lake Ecosystems"
at EMAN, Calgary, 2001.
Dr. F.F. Mallory presented "Characteristics of predator/prey
systems: the wolf/ungulate model" to the Department of Environmental
Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, March 5, 2001.
Dr. K.K. Nkongolo attended the Crop Science Society of
America and American Society of Agronomy Annual Meeting held in
Minneapolis, November 1-6, 2000. He presented three papers: (with
L. Couture) "Fusarium headblight resistance in spring
wheat lines"; (with A. Deck) "Genetic analysis of tufted
hair grass populations growing in heavy metal contaminated areas
in Northern Ontario"; and "Genetic analysis of Cowpea
populations using molecular markers."
Dra. Catalina B. Chavez Tapia, Department of Zoology,
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México (Iztacala) presented
a seminar "Histoplasmosis in bats: a wildlife disease"
on March 13, 2001.
At the 18th National Meeting of the American Society for Surface
Mining and Reclamation, Albuquerque, June 3-7, 2001, Mr. Fred
Wilkinson (graduate student) presented "Aquatic plant
establishment on water-covered nickel tailings" (co-authored
with Dr. P.J. Beckett and Mr. P. St-Germain). Prof.
K. Winterhalder (retired), invited speaker and panelist in
a special session on biodiversity at the meeting, spoke on "The
roles of biotic and abiotic diversity in establishing ecosystem
integrity on reclaimed minelands, and strategies for their enhancement."
The meeting, student paper and poster competition was moderated
by Dr. P.J. Beckett.
Dr. Shelley Arnott of the Cooperative Freshwater Ecology
Unit gave the invited paper "Use of EMAN sites on the Boreal
Shield to assess the impact of climate changes on lake ecosystems"
at the 7th National Science Meeting of EMAN (Environmental Monitoring
and Assessment Network) in Calgary, May 1-5, 2001. At the same
meeting, Mr. Martyn Futter, soon to join the Cooperative
Unit, spoke on "Regional patterns and trends in the icewatch
database."
Dr. F.F. Mallory presented "The re-introduction
of elk into Ontario" to the Sudbury Game & Fish Protective
Association, Sudbury, Ontario, April 18, 2001.
The following presentations were made at the 9th North American
Caribou Workshop on Caribou and Man, April 23-27, 2001 at Kuujjuaq,
Quebec: Metsaranta, J.M., F.F. Mallory, and D. C.
Cross, "Multivariate comparison of vegetation characteristics
of woodland caribou use areas and areas disturbed by fire or logging";
Wilson, J.E., F.F. Mallory, and W. J. Rettie, "Habitat
characteristics of late wintering areas used by woodland caribou
(Rangifer tarandus caribou) in northeastern Ontario";
Brown, G.S., F.F. Mallory, and W.J. Rettie, "Spatial
distribution of female woodland caribou in the boreal forest of
northeastern Ontario"; and, Proceviat, S.K., F.F.
Mallory, and W.J. Rettie, "Seral changes in forage availability
for woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in northeastern
Ontario black spruce sites impacted by careful logging."
Alarie, Y., C.H.S.
Watts, and A.N. Nilsson. 2001. Study of the larval morphology
of the tribe Matini (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae, Colymbetinae): descriptions
of Batrachomatus daemeli, Matus bicarinatus, and
Allomatus nannup and phylogenetic relationships. The Canadian
Entomologist 133: 165-196.
Alarie, Y., P. Wood, A.M.H. deBruyn and J.G.M. Cuppen.
2001. Descriptions of larvae of Hydroporus ferrugineus
Stephens and H. polaris Fall (Coleoptera: Adephaga: Dytiscidae).
Aquatic Insects 23: 123-133.
Davé, N.K., A.D. Paktunc, and S. Nasserulla.
2000. Assessment of Physico-Chemical Stability of the Lower Williams
Lake Tailings Basin, Denison Mines, Elliot Lake, Ontario. CANMET
Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories, Ottawa. 3-volume, Report
MMSL 2000-57(CR).
Dixit, S., W. Keller, A. Dixit, and J.P. Smol. 2001. Diatom
inferred dissolved organic carbon penetration in Canadian Shield
lakes. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 58: 543-550
Gunn, J.M., E. Snucins, N.D. Yan and M.T. Arts.
2001. Use of water clarity to monitor the effects of climate change
and other stressors on oligotrophic lakes. Envir. Monit. Assess.
67: 69-88.
Larson, D. J., Y. Alarie and R. E. Roughley. 2000. Predaceous
Diving Beetles (Coleoptera:Dytiscidae) of the Nearctic Region,
with an emphasis on the fauna of Canada and Alaska. NRC Research
Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 982 pp.
Léveillé, S.A., Leduc, L.G., Ferroni,
G.D., Telang, A.J., and G. Voordouw. 2001. Monitoring of bacteria
in acid mine environments by reverse sample genome probing. Can.
J. Microbiol. 47: 431-442.
Nkongolo, K.K.. 2000. Genetic diversity in cowpea landraces
from an International Gene bank: gene flow among cowpea populations.
Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 95: 137-144.
Paiment, A., Leduc, L.G., and G.D. Ferroni.
2001. The effect of the facultative chemolithotrophic bacterium
Thiobacillus acidophilus on the leaching of low-grade Cu-Ni
sulfide ore by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. Geomicrobiol.
J. 18: 157-165.
Parker, G.H., and J. Hamr. 2001. Metal levels in
body tissues, forage and fecal pellets of elk (Cervus elaphus)
living near the ore smelters at Sudbury, Ontario. Environ. Pollut.
113: 347-355.
Polziehn, R. O., J. Hamr, F.F. Mallory, and C. Strobeck.
2000. Microsatellite analysis of North American wapiti (Cervus
elaphus) populations. Molecular Ecology 9: 1561-1577.
Snucins, E., J.M. Gunn, W. Keller, S. Dixit,
A. Hindar, and A. Henriksen. 2001. Effects of regional reductions
in sulphur deposition on the chemical and biological recovery
of lakes in Killarney Park, Ontario, Canada. Envir. Monit. Assess.
67: 179-194.
Ms. Ruthann Gal
(B.Sc. 1976 as R. Blundon) is Manager of the South Slave Research
Centre at Aurora College, Fort Smith, NWT, where she also teaches
GIS. Since leaving LU, she has completed an M.Sc. in Soil Science
from the University of Alberta, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate
in Fire Ecology, also at U. of A.
Mr. Jonathan H. Wiersma, M.Sc. candidate supervised by
Dr. F.F. Mallory, has been hired by the Provinical Government
as Head Statistician for the Ministry of Health, Kingston.