Watch Mercury as it passes in front of the sun, Nov. 11 at the Keele Campus
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On Nov. 11, the Allan I. Carswell Observatory team at York University will set up special solar telescopes along Campus Walk on the Keele Campus so that students, faculty and staff can watch Mercury as the tiny planet passes in front of the sun.
The last time Mercury made the journey was in 2016, and Mercury won’t transit the sun again until 2032.
Observatory telescopes equipped with solar filters to allow for safe viewing of the sun will be available for anyone interested in watching this event. The telescopes will be set up (weather permitting) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This is a free public event, with knowledgeable students and faculty available to answer questions.
Mercury transits the sun, as seen from Earth in 2006. Credit: ESA NASA SOHO
Since the orbit of Mercury lies inside of Earth’s orbit, Mercury passes between Earth and the sun about 13 times per century. The combination of Mercury’s orbital period and orbital inclination with respect to Earth give rise to the relatively low number of such transit events. From Earth, observers will see this as a small black dot moving slowly in front of the sun. Toronto is well placed to observe the transit.
Aquatic Research Group Seminar to focus on the bioassessment of freshwater ecosystems
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Robert Bailey
The second event in the 2019-20 Aquatic Research Group (ARG) Seminar Series features Ontario Tech University biology Professor Robert Baileypresenting a talk titled “Bioassessment of freshwater ecosystems.” It takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 12:30 p.m. in 140 Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies Building (HNES). The seminar will be followed by a free lunch at 1:30 p.m. All members of the York community are welcome to attend.
The pan-Faculty ARG Seminar Series, organized by biology Professor Sapna Sharma in York University’s Faculty of Science, brings top ecologists from across the province to York to talk about their research in aquatic ecology and what’s causing stress in our waterways.
Professor Bailey came to Ontario Tech University from Cape Breton University in Sydney, N.S., where he was provost and vice-president academic and professional studies. His career as a professor and senior academic leader includes serving as the inaugural director of the interdisciplinary Centre for Environment & Sustainability at Western University in London, Ont.
At Cape Breton University, Bailey led an ongoing academic planning process that transformed the university’s research and educational culture. While at Western, he brought together more than 75 professors from five Faculties for the development and execution of Western’s environmental undergraduate, graduate and research programs.
Bailey received his PhD in zoology from Western University. He completed his MSc in zoology and his BSc in ecology at the University of Guelph.
Here’s a look at the rest of the ARG Seminar Series lineup:
Feb. 12: Assistant Professor Claire Oswald (Ryerson University), “Impacts of road salt inputs on GTA streams” (tentative title)
Feb. 24: Assistant Professor Carly Ziter (Concordia University), “Thinking beyond the park: landscape structure, land-use history and biodiversity shape urban ecosystem services”
March 11: Professor Karen Kidd (McMaster University), “Local through global influences of human activities on mercury in aquatic ecosystems”
Each seminar will start at 12:30 p.m., followed by a free lunch at 1:30 p.m. The seminars will all take place in HNES 140 except for the talk on Feb. 24, which will be in 306 Lumbers Building.
The ARG includes researchers who focus on aquatic science from the Faculties of Science, Engineering, Environmental Studies, and Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. The seminar series is designed to engage this multidisciplinary scientific community at all levels, including graduate and undergraduate students, both at York University and in the wider aquatic science community.
Update on the York University delegation attending COP25 of the UN Climate Change talks
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York University holds observer status at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as a registered member of the “Research and Independent Non-Governmental Organizations” (RINGO) constituency: https://ringosnet.wordpress.com. The RINGO is one of the nine officially recognized constituencies in the UNFCCC. As a RINGO, York University is represented at the United Nations Climate Change negotiations within civil society and non-governmental organizations for the purpose of research advancement and dissemination.
This year, the delegation from York University to the 25th annual Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (known as COP25), is comprised of 11 climate change researchers and students from across the University, along with alumni and colleagues from other Canadian institutions. This is York’s largest accredited delegation since the University obtained observer status for COP15 in Copenhagen, in 2009. It includes members of the York University community who hail from Chile and have provided logistical support and guidance, as COP25 was to be hosted by Chile in Santiago.
Unfortunately, due to ongoing civil society protests in Santiago, the UNFCCC Secretariat announced on Nov. 1 that COP25 would be moved to Madrid, Spain, while retaining the Chilean presidency. York University’s UNFCCC Focal Point, Faculty of Science professor Dawn Bazely and Head of Delegation, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies professor Idil Boran, have been working with delegates as they navigate this fluid situation with its complex logistics.
While this year’s delegation membership process is closed, organizers are aware that many members of the York Community are interested in learning more about opportunities to participate as members of civil society and the research community for positive action, engagement, and knowledge-sharing on Global Warming and Climate Change. COP26 is scheduled to take place Nov. 9 to 20, 2020 and will be hosted by the United Kingdom in partnership with Italy. No further details have been officially released by the UNFCCC. The process to form a delegation will take place in 2020 following the UNFCCC timeline and guidelines.
Following COP25, the York University delegation will hold a reporting back session for the York University community. The reporting back session will take place early in 2020.
Pioneering iron research has application in heart health and diabetes
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Iron is an important component of hemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to transport it throughout your body. However, it has an often-underestimated downside: it plays a role in cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and more. For example, an abundance of iron can contribute to heart failure.
A groundbreaking new study, led by science Professor Gary Sweeney, examined the impact of iron overload on insulin sensitivity. The study, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario, involved experimental work by PhD student James Jahng. It was undertaken in collaboration with the University of Ottawa and Ryerson University.
The researchers made a startling discovery, published in EMBO Reports (2019), that could affect future approaches and treatments for patients with heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
From left: Gary Sweeney and James Jahng
Sweeney (York Research Chair in Mechanisms of Cardiometabolic Diseases) and Jahng (recipient of CIHR’s Frederick Banting & Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship) sit down with Brainstorm to discuss the research and its far-reaching ramifications.
Q: What were the objectives of this research?
A: Autophagy is a cellular process: each cell has its own quality control mechanism so that if there’s some stress, some potential damage to the cell, then autophagy is induced to deal with that problem. It’s like a self-protective process that is able to turn on when stress occurs, and protect the cells in your body when necessary.
We wanted to test the regulation of autophagy by iron, and how it affects insulin-stimulated metabolism.
This research could lead to new treatments in metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease
Q: This is, in many ways, a continuation of your work to date, Professor Sweeney.
A: Yes. We have previously examined the importance of autophagy in regulating metabolism. This brings everything together, but this time in James’ paper (Jahng is the first author in this research article) we are looking at the direct effect of iron.
Q: Why focus on iron?
A: The reason we were looking at iron is this: in patients with diabetes and obesity, a lot of them actually have high levels of iron. There are also many genetic diseases of iron overload, which you may have heard of, such as thalassemia. Most of these patients die from heart failure, cardiomyopathy. That’s largely the result of severe iron overload.
It’s also well-established that in diabetes and obesity, there’s an increase in iron levels.
“York has a strong reputation. We now have a good cluster of researchers working in metabolic disease. This makes York a very strong leader in this area.” – Gary Sweeney
Q: How did you go about the work? Please describe the methodology and the timelines.
A: Over the last two years, approximately, we treated cells with a high dose of an iron solution for a 24-hour time period, then analyzed the results.
Q: What was the main finding? Anything unexpected?
A: The main finding is that iron caused insulin resistance in the muscle cells. It’s very simple but a strong finding.
It was a little bit unexpected because of the mechanism. When we looked deeper, we found that the cell seems to detect iron as a stress, and our data showed that there was an initial increase in this process of autophagy. But over time, after 24 hours, the iron had completely inhibited autophagy. That’s where we made the key link to iron overload stopping autophagy.
This was a very striking observation. The data was so clear. The dramatic effect we observed was somewhat unexpected.
“There’s exceptional research being undertaken here. The infrastructure, academic expertise and equipment are all superb.” – James Jahng
Q: What are the ramifications? How might this research one day benefit patients?
A: It could benefit patients in many ways. First, it could bring attention to the potential impact of high levels of iron on metabolic health. This has been known for decades, but it’s underappreciated. People know it occurs, as a small contribution, but research like this shows that we really must be careful when we consider the effects of high iron in the diet, ultimately in the body, on metabolic health. People could be more aware of iron status, and perhaps control that by dietary or pharmacological approaches.
Autophagy is a self-protective process that can switch on when stress occurs, and protect the cells in your body when necessary
There are a lot of pharmaceutical companies interested in drugs to manipulate autophagy. For example, there’s one, hydroxychloroquine, which is in clinical trials for cancer treatment right now.
As far as I know, there are no autophagy-targeting drugs in the pipeline for metabolic health. But I think this paper would suggest that one day it might be advantageous to consider autophagy-based therapeutics in treating metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
Q: These results made the research very attractive to a publisher.
A: Yes, these strong results led to publication in a journal with high reputation. Being accepted for publication in a journal like EMBO Reports was fantastic not only because of the journal’s impact factor, but also because of its worldwide reputation in the scientific community.
Q: Is York U a leader in this area?
A: York has a strong reputation, yes. In terms of cardiovascular research, which has been one of the strategic priorities at York, we now have a good cluster of researchers working in metabolic disease. There’s exceptional research being undertaken here. The infrastructure, academic expertise and equipment are all superb. This, collectively, makes York a very strong leader in this area.
To read the article, “Iron overload inhibits late stage autophagic flux leading to insulin resistance” (EMBO Reports, 2019), visit the website. To learn more about Sweeney, visit his Faculty profile page. To learn more, visit the Sweeney Lab.
To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity such as artificial intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic for a glimpse of the year’s successes.
By Megan Mueller, senior manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca.
York University celebrates Ada Lovelace with a Women in Science Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
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Ada Lovelace, English writer and mathematician (1815-52), daughter of Lord Byron and friend of Charles Babbage. BJ5F25 ADA LOVELACE
Ada Lovelace Day, an international celebration of women’s achievements in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), took place this year on Oct. 8. Lovelace was a 19th-century English mathematician and writer who also happened to be the very first computer programmer. She wrote what were essentially computer programs for the analytical engine that computing pioneer Charles Babbage was designing but never actually created. Her contributions were largely overlooked – an issue that continues to exist for women in many fields, especially science.
York University is joining the global celebration of the legacy of Ada Lovelace with a Women in Science Wikipedia Edit-a-thon on Friday, Nov. 1, from 12 to 4 p.m. in Room 021 (Basement Lab), Steacie Science & Engineering Library. Enter by way of the library rather than the stairs at either end of the building.
The Wikipedia Edit-a-thon focuses on improving Wikipedia articles about women in STEM fields, as well as related fields such as nursing and medicine.
STS Seminar Series examines agribusiness, activists and their shared politics of the future, Nov. 5
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Kelly Bronson
The fifth instalment of this year’s Research Seminar Series in Science & Technology Studies (STS) takes place on Nov. 5 and features Kelly Bronson, a professor in the School of Sociological & Anthropological Studies at the University of Ottawa.
Now in its 26th year, the series has hosted hundreds experts from across Canada and around the world presenting on a wide range of STS-related topics. The talks are free and open to the public, and STS majors are especially encouraged to attend. Refreshments are provided.
The Nov. 5 seminar, titled “Data-driven: Agribusiness, activists and their shared politics of the future,” will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in 203 Bethune College (Norman’s).
Innovations in big data and intelligent machines for mining them are expected to revolutionize food production. In this talk, Bronson will argue that there exists a widely shared, uninterrogated “imaginary” of data capable of driving social change unmediated by human intervention. This data-driven imaginary has social force – it helps gather support for the funding of technological research programs conducted by corporations and by activist scientists, and it is used to sell commercial tools to farmers. But it does something more: it depoliticizes big agricultural data by “invisibilizing” the human decision-making that is structuring the collection and use of agricultural big data, with negative consequences for the realization of diversity and equity in food systems.
This talk, and the larger book project it draws from, stands as Bronson’s attempt to make visible this imaginary, to describe its social force but also to undo some of that force by exposing the entanglement of personal history, economic interest, and technical and societal goals in the production of agricultural big data and their infrastructures.
Here’s a look at the rest of the STS Seminar Series lineup for Fall 2019:
Nov. 19: Kate Henne (University of Waterloo), “Grey Matters: Imagining Traumatic Brain Injury Through the Lens of Sex Difference”
Dec. 3: John McLevey (University of Waterloo), “Democracies in Crisis? Online Deception, Disinformation and Political Polarization in Comparative Perspective”
Unless otherwise specified, all seminars in this series will take place on Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 203 Bethune College (Norman’s).
Further details will appear in YFile prior to each talk, and the lineup for Winter 2019 will be released at a later date. This series is sponsored by York University’s Department of Science & Technology Studies, Faculty of Science, and co-ordinated by members of the department. For more information about the Research Seminar Series in Science & Technology Studies, contact Professor Conor Douglas at cd512@yorku.ca or visit sts.info.yorku.ca/seminar-series.
Nominations due Nov. 15 for Faculty of Science Excellence in Teaching Award
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Do you have a professor or teaching assistant in the Faculty of Science who was a great teacher and made an outstanding contribution to teaching and learning? Maybe it was someone who took the time to explain, helped you learn how to learn or expanded your ability to think critically.
If so, nominate your instructor for a Faculty of Science Excellence in Teaching Award. The deadline to submit a nomination is Nov. 15.
There are four award categories:
Senior Tenure-Stream Faculty (greater than seven years of undergraduate teaching experience at York as a full-time faculty member);
Junior Tenure-Stream Faculty (less than seven years of undergraduate teaching experience at York as a full-time faculty member);
Non-Tenure Faculty (includes contract/sessional faculty and contractually limited appointments); and
Physics Professor Joel Zylberberg appointed associate Fellow at CIFAR
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Joel Zylberberg
The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), a Canadian-based global charitable organization that brings the world’s brightest minds together, has named York University physics Professor Joel Zylberberg as a new associate Fellow.
Joel Zylberberg
The coveted honour places Zylberberg of the Faculty of Science at the heart of a community of Fellows working on the most pressing problems facing science and humanity in the world today. There are some 400 researchers from 22 countries, including 20 Nobel Prize recipients, at CIFAR.
Appointed a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar in 2016, Zylberberg is one of only four to be elevated to an associate Fellow. He joins the Information & Matter research theme in its Learning in Machines & Brains (LMB) program, looking at how we understand intelligence and build intelligent machines.
There are only about 40 members of the CIFAR LMB program, and they are considered collectively to be the world leaders in machine learning and neuroscience, and the intersection between those fields.
“This is indeed a high honour, and of great benefit to York,” said Marshall McCall, Chair of the Department of Physics & Astronomy at York. “Through Joel, we have gained a direct connection to the luminaries working at the cutting edge of research into artificial intelligence and, in turn, a significant stimulus to corresponding research here.”
The new appointment will give Zylberberg access to CIFAR catalyst funds for building collaborations among Fellows to work on today’s most important questions as well as the opportunity to attend the biannual LMB program meetings to discuss their latest research and potential areas of further collaboration.
“These are great idea generators for me and have already led to collaborative projects,” said Zylberberg.
Zylberberg is leading one of the first OpenScope projects at the Allen Brain Observatory – a shared high-throughput experimental platform – to understand how different parts of the brain are involved in visual system learning and how it relates to artificial intelligence deep learning principles.
His collaborators include DeepMind research scientist Tim Lillicrap, CIFAR Fellow Blake Richards of McGill University (formerly with University of Toronto Scarborough) and University of Montreal researcher Yoshua Bengio, CIFAR’s LMB program co-director. Both Richards and Bengio are also Canada CIFAR AI Chairs.
“I’m most looking forward to using the interactions at the LMB meetings to develop new ideas about how learning works in the human brain, and how to use those insights to make smarter machines,” said Zylberberg.
Nominations due Nov. 15 for Faculty of Science Excellence in Teaching Award
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Do you have a professor or teaching assistant in the Faculty of Science who was a great teacher and made an outstanding contribution to teaching and learning? Maybe it was someone who took the time to explain, helped you learn how to learn or expanded your ability to think critically.
If so, nominate your instructor for a Faculty of Science Excellence in Teaching Award. The deadline to submit a nomination is Nov. 15.
There are four award categories:
Senior Tenure-Stream Faculty (greater than seven years of undergraduate teaching experience at York as a full-time faculty member);
Junior Tenure-Stream Faculty (less than seven years of undergraduate teaching experience at York as a full-time faculty member);
Non-Tenure Faculty (includes contract/sessional faculty and contractually limited appointments); and
STS Seminar Series explores the significance of the IBM Images Archive, Oct. 22
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Zbigniew Stachniak
The fourth instalment of this year’s Research Seminar Series in Science & Technology Studies (STS) takes place on Oct. 22 and features Zbigniew Stachniak, a professor in the Lassonde School of Engineering’s Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science.
Now in its 26th year, the series has hosted hundreds experts from across Canada and around the world presenting on a wide range of STS-related topics. The talks are free and open to the public, and STS majors are especially encouraged to attend. Refreshments are provided.
The Oct. 22 seminar, titled “The IBM Images Archive,” will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 203 Bethune College (Norman’s).
Since its incorporation in 1917, IBM Canada has been documenting its corporate history as well as Canada’s evolving technological, cultural and social landscape in hundreds of thousands of photographs and films. A large volume of this material has survived, thanks to the collecting and curatorial efforts of several people at IBM Canada.
Now known as the IBM Images Archive, the size, scope and richness of the photographed themes make this archive one of the most significant records of Canada’s technological development in the past century. Recently donated to the York University Libraries, it will become part of the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections located in the Scott Library.
In this talk, Stachniak will discuss the content and significance of the IBM Images Archive. He will illustrate the presentation with a selection of photographs taken between the 1920s and ’80s.
Here’s a look at the rest of the STS Seminar Series lineup for Fall 2019:
Nov. 5: Kelly Bronson (University of Ottawa), “Data-driven: Agribusiness, Activists and Their Shared Politics of the Future”
Nov. 19: Kate Henne (University of Waterloo), “Grey Matters: Imagining Traumatic Brain Injury Through the Lens of Sex Difference”
Dec. 3: John McLevey (University of Waterloo), “Democracies in Crisis? Online Deception, Disinformation and Political Polarization in Comparative Perspective”
Unless otherwise specified, all seminars in this series will take place on Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 203 Bethune College (Norman’s).
Further details will appear in YFile prior to each talk, and the lineup for Winter 2019 will be released at a later date. This series is sponsored by York University’s Department of Science & Technology Studies, Faculty of Science, and co-ordinated by members of the department. For more information about the Research Seminar Series in Science & Technology Studies, contact Professor Conor Douglas at cd512@yorku.ca or visit sts.info.yorku.ca/seminar-series.
