Early citizen scientists collected rare ice data, confirm warming since industrial revolution

In 1442, Shinto priests in Japan began keeping records of the freeze dates of a nearby lake, while in 1693 Finnish merchants started recording breakup dates on a local river. Together they create the oldest inland water ice records in human history and mark the first inklings of climate change, says a new report published April 26 out of York University and the University of Wisconsin.

The researchers say the meticulous record keeping of these historical “citizen scientists” reveals increasing trends towards later ice-cover formation and earlier spring thaw since the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Sapna Sharma, a York University biologist, and John J. Magnuson, a University of Wisconsin limnologist, co-led an international team of scientists from Canada, United States, Finland and Japan looking at this early data. Their findings are published in Nature Scientific Reports.

“These data are unique,” said Sharma. “They were collected by humans viewing and recording the ice event year after year for centuries, well before climate change was even a topic of discussion.”

The records from Lake Suwa in the Japanese Alps, says Sharma, were collected by Shinto priests observing a legend about a male god who crossed the frozen lake to visit a female god at her shrine. A local Finnish merchant initiated data collection on Finland’s Torne River because the river, and its frozen-or-thawed status, was important to trade, transportation and food acquisition.

Torne River, spring 2003 in Tornio. Photo by Terhi Korhonen
Torne River, spring 2003 in Tornio. Photo by Terhi Korhonen

Ice seasonality, or when a lake or river freezes over in winter or thaws again in spring, are a variable strongly related to climate, said Magnuson. And while such a long-term, human-collected dataset is remarkable in and of itself, the climate trends they reveal are equally notable. “Even though the two waters are half a world apart and differ greatly from one another,” he said, “the general patterns of ice seasonality are similar for both systems.”

Lake Suwi's Omiwatari, when the ice heaves in a line across the lake
Lake Suwi’s Omiwatari, when the ice heaves in a line across the lake

For example, the study found that, from 1443 to 1683, Lake Suwa’s annual freeze date was moving almost imperceptibly to later in the year – at a rate of 0.19 days per decade. From the start of the Industrial Revolution, however, that trend in a later freeze date grew 24 times faster, pushing the lake’s “ice on” date back 4.6 days per decade. On the Torne River, there was a corresponding trend for earlier ice break-up in the spring, as the speed with which the river moved toward earlier thaw dates doubled. These findings strongly indicate more rapid climate change during the last two centuries, the researchers report.

Postcard from 1906 taken in Happaranda
Postcard from 1906 taken in Happaranda

In recent years, says Magnuson, both waters have also exhibited more extreme ice dates corresponding with increased warming. For Lake Suwa, that means more years without full ice cover even occurring. Before the Industrial Revolution, Lake Suwa froze over 99 per cent of the time. More recently, it does so only half the time. A similar trend is seen with extremely early ice breakup on Torne River. Extreme cases once occurred in early May or later 95 per cent of the time, but they are now primarily in late April and early May.

“Our findings not only bolster what scientists have been saying for decades, but they also bring to the forefront the implications of reduced ice cover,” said Sharma. The consequences of less ice span ecology, culture and economy. “Decreasing ice cover erodes the ‘sense of place’ that winter provides to many cultures, with potential loss of winter activities such as ice fishing, skiing, and transportation.” Less ice and warmer waters also lead to more algal blooms and impaired water quality, she says.

The Priest Mr. Kiyoshi Miyasaki pointing out some of the records on lake ice and the omiwatari. His data sheet summarizing the records are on the table. Photo taken Nov 3, 2005 by JJMagnuson
The Priest Mr. Kiyoshi Miyasaki pointing out some of the records on lake ice and the omiwatari. His data sheet summarizing the records are on the table. Photo taken Nov 3, 2005 by J.J. Magnuson

The team of researchers say they are planning follow-up studies to better understand the ecological consequences of the big changes in these two water bodies.

Seminar inspires multidisciplinary focus on research and business

York University will host a multidisciplinary research and business seminar on May 5 that aims to bring forth new ideas, partnerships and networking possibilities.

Aimin Xu
Aimin Xu

The seminar, “Research or Business? You can do both!”, will be led by Professor Aimin Xu from the University of Hong Kong, and runs from 3 to 6pm in Seminar Room 105, Ground Floor, Life Sciences Building.

Xu has been highly successful in the academic field, and also in developing business via promoting the interface of both areas.

He is the director of State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, HKU; the director of Antibody and Immunoassay Services, HKU; and, the independent director of DAAN GENE.

Xu’s ideas, experience and knowledge on academia and business will benefit and inspire many students and staff at York to initiate or develop their careers in academia, in combination with business.

The event’s schedule includes an opening introduction, the seminar, and a reception.

The seminar may be of particular interest to faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, as well as undergraduates in the Faculties of Science, Engineering, Health and Business.

All are welcome.

The event is sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation.

York scientists partner with industry on $1.7 M grant for drug development

In partnership with Canadian pharmaceutical companies, researchers from York’s Faculty of Science have received a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Collaborative Research and Development fund to advance the R&D of biopharmaceuticals. The funding is valued at more than $1.7M, including industrial and in-kind contributions.

Derek Wilson
Derek Wilson

Professors Derek Wilson (Chemistry), Sergey Krylov (Chemistry) and Chun Peng (Biology) have the bioanalytical and research expertise and together with Sanofi-Pasteur, Sciex, and Fluidigm Canada, they are launching the “Technology- Enhanced Biopharmaceuticals Development and Manufacturing” project, which will aim to improve tests for early-stage candidate drugs.

“We will develop a platform to rapidly determine detailed information about biologic drug candidates, including the nature of these molecules and specifically how they interact with their targets,” explains Derek Wilson, director of the Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry and lead of the project. “Creating such a platform will allow pharmaceutical companies to greatly accelerate and improve the quality of their drug discovery and development processes, making it easier to bring much needed drugs to market.”

Sergei Krylov
Sergey Krylov

Wilson, Krylov and Peng are experts in the techniques required to carry out this project. The mass spectrometry and electrophoresis technologies that will provide the unique analytical backbone for the platform are products of Wilson’s and Krylov’s research programs. Peng will contribute her unique expertise in microRNAs to sub-projects related to vaccine development. From the industry perspective, Sanofi will share its drug development systems, Sciex will contribute its world-leading mass spectrometry instruments, and Fluidigm will offer their unique CyTOF technology.

Chun Peng
Chun Peng

“The project will enhance York’s research profile in biopharmaceuticals development and manufacturing and provide an exceptional, industry-linked training environment for graduate students and post-docs,” said Robert Haché, York’s vice-president research & innovation.  “In addition, the technology and training that will emerge from this collaboration will meet the needs of the growing Canadian biopharmaceuticals industry.”

Biopharmaceuticals are drugs manufactured from biological sources and now represent the fastest growing segment of the pharmaceutical industry. But there is a major bottleneck in their development. Due to technological limitations and the molecular complexity of biopharmaceuticals, important details such as what a drug-target complex looks like are usually not available. This makes it difficult for companies to decide whether or not to pursue further testing of candidate drugs and it slows down drug development.

Open Your Mind: A Q&A with biologist Dawn Bazely

Appearing at regular intervals in YFile, Open Your Mind is a series of articles offering insight into the different ways York University professors, researchers and graduate students champion fresh ways of thinking in their research and teaching practice. Their approach, grounded in a desire to seek the unexpected, is charting a new course for future generations.

Today, in honour of Earth Day, the spotlight is on York biology Professor Dawn Bazely.

Bazely’s work spans many fields and encompasses research into anti-herbivore plant defences, ecology and  sustainability. She is an ardent advocate of women in STEM. She conducts science policy work on human security, invasive species and climate change, and has mastered the use of social media and its power to communicate scientific discoveries.

Dawn Bazely
Dawn Bazely

Q. Please describe your field of current research.

A. My current research spans several fields, from arcane work on anti-herbivore plant defences to interdisciplinary work on the science policy interface where I ask more general questions. My research into microscopic fungal endophytes, which started in 1989, still fascinates me. Found in many grass plants, they manufacture toxic compounds which act as a deterrent to herbivores like locusts and sheep.

My science policy work, on topics such as human security, invasive species and climate change, got revved up in the early 2000s when I had a chance to collaborate with colleagues in the social sciences.

Q. What inspired you to pursue this line of research? Who or what sparked your interest in this line of inquiry?

A. Even though I grew up in London, England, observing what we now call “urban ecologies,” I have always been interested in nature. I was inspired by school trips to Kensington’s Natural History Museum in the 1960s and dreamed of doing fieldwork in Africa – this has not yet happened.

As well, I have been a political junkie since about the age of nine. Consequently, my ecological research has always tended to include an applied focus, even in the days when “pure” ecology research was considered more trendy and prestigious. For 35 years I have done field research on animal and plant species with an agricultural or management aspect, even though I often asked some quite “pure,” non-applied research questions.

Q. How would you describe the significance of your research in lay terms?

A. I’ve done lots of practical research. For example, my research into the impacts of high numbers of white-tailed deer on southern Ontario forests has been used by government agencies deciding how to manage forests and deer herds. This forest research included work on non-native invasive plants, which helps people decide what to plant in their gardens for biodiversity.

At a more abstract level, my science policy work, which came out of my sustainability research, is currently looking at how to make science more accessible through the open access system of publishing. I’m particularly interested in how Open Access can help local communities seeking to increase their resilience and ability to adapt to climate change.

Q. How are you approaching this field in a different, unexpected or unusual way? How does your approach to the subject benefit the field?

A. University Affairs magazine recently featured me as an academic who has switched disciplines mid-career, from biology to sustainability and science policy, but strictly speaking this wasn’t really the case. I always had applied research interests in science policy areas. What changed was my ability as a researcher in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) discipline to navigate the science policy interface more effectively.

Leading York University’s pan-university sustainability research institute (IRIS) for seven years (four terms) improved my skills and experience with collaborative team research. I enjoy the interdisciplinary research space and out-of-the-box, innovative, inclusive thinking. I’m comfortable with not being the expert in the room and with learning from diverse colleagues at all ages and career stages. At the same time, I have remained firmly rooted in plant ecology research.

Q. What findings have surprised and excited you (i.e. tell us about the most interesting finding, person and/or place you encountered while pursuing this line of inquiry)?

Moose lying down
In her research, Bazely uncovered some interesting aspects of moose drool

A. This example is from my plant ecology research. Without a doubt, the coolest, most surprising results were published in a 2014 Biology Letters paper with two of my former students: Mark Vicari, currently a contract lecturer at York University, and Andrew Tanentzap, currently a professor at Cambridge University, U.K. We discovered that moose saliva (spit) can detoxify the alkaloids produced by the mutualistic fungus found living inside some grass plants. These toxins function to deter grazing animals from eating the leaves.

This was a classic example of investigator-driven, “what if …” research. We’re now doing more research into saliva in my lab. My current students and I recently showed that there is something unique about herbivore (cow, reindeer etc.) saliva. We seem to have opened up a new field of ecology research that is very interdisciplinary. It will need biochemists and scientists from lots of other fields to get involved in order to figure out exactly what is going on and why. It’s exciting.

Q. Every researcher, from novice to experienced, encounters roadblocks and challenges during the process of inquiry. Can you highlight some of those challenges and how you overcame them?

A. I started fieldwork at the age of 19, running around the tundra, carrying a shotgun for protection from polar bears – which, in 1981, did eat my experiments. My field lab also burned down two weeks into the field season when I was 21, so I learned early on to be flexible and to deal with unexpected crises in isolated places.

These experiences made me more resilient. There will always be setbacks. When life gives you lemons, try to make lemonade from them. I would definitely say that having a mindset of persistence and being open to learning new things is key to overcoming roadblocks.

Q. How has this research opened your mind to new possibilities or new directions?

A. Getting back to interdisciplinary science-policy research: Since the mandate of IRIS was to undertake transdisciplinary, innovative and novel research, I got the opportunity to work with colleagues in the Schulich School of Business to learn about organizational behaviour, leadership and management. Even though IRIS has closed, I continue to bring all of this learning to my research.

Q. Are there interdisciplinary aspects to your research? If so, what are they?

A. Everything I do incorporates the interdisciplinary mindset, but then I have always had one. My undergraduate degree was in biogeography and environmental studies. My master’s degree was in botany and my doctorate, a DPhil (an Oxford PhD), was in zoology, looking at sheep behaviour from an economic modelling perspective. I like learning new things and have done fieldwork in grasslands and forests from the Arctic to the temperate zone. In ecology, this alone would be regarded as highly interdisciplinary by more narrowly focused researchers.

I led a team of graduate and undergraduate students at the recent York University Libraries Hackathon. The app that we developed to track new invasive species was rooted in an earlier app developed by Shawn Hao, a student in the School of Art, Media, Performance & Design’s York/Sheridan Program in Design. Shawn did his final-year project in my lab. This work is set to become part of a larger biodiversity project that includes computer science students, environmental NGOs and industry folk, plus some good old ecologists.

Q. Did you ever consider other fields of research?

A. If I hadn’t done biology, I would have liked to have been a historian.

Q. Are you teaching any courses this year? If so, what are they? Do you bring your research experience into your teaching practice?

A. I taught Plant Biology (BIOL 2010) and Plant Ecology (BIOL 3290) this term. In Plant Biology, we cover all organisms except animals: viruses, bacteria, fungi, seaweed, gingko trees, evergreens and flowering plants. I invited two colleagues who did their PhDs on fungi to give mini guest lectures – one of the reasons is that molecular biology researchers are constantly publishing new information about the evolutionary relationships among organisms. Even though we are using a fairly recent edition of the textbook (2013), some parts are already out of date. I wanted experts in this area, not me, to tell the students about the latest research, people like Professors Priti Mishra and Jennifer McDonald..

Students in Bazely's plant ecology course work in the greenhouse on York U's Keele campus
Students in Bazely’s plant ecology course work in the greenhouse on York U’s Keele campus

In Plant Ecology, students formed research teams where they designed parts of their experiments. They learned that science is a process and that data matters. They got to do a lot of statistics with large amounts of data that they collected themselves.

Q. You are well known on campus and beyond for your expertise both as a biologist and in social media. How are you bringing the two areas together in your research and teaching practice?

A. In my view, it is more essential than ever that all people in STEM, including our undergraduate students, learn to be better science communicators. Despite living in such a technology-heavy world, research shows that many people don’t have a good grasp of basic science.

Science is a process and a conversation. I would like our students to be able to have a conversation about science with their friends and families. One way to encourage this is through exposing them to the use of social media for learning about and communicating about science.

Another benefit of my social media assignments is that they help students to write more succinctly. There’s nothing more frustrating than a run-on sentence. Plant Ecology students also wrote a souped-up version of the letter to the editor assignment I introduced back in 2001 – as a blog. I gave students very specific feedback and they updated their letters. This really helped them improve their writing of well-structured paragraphs with clear topic sentences. I am quite obsessed with the idea that it’s my job to teach science undergrads to write well and to be comfortable around numbers.

Q. Your work is focused on invasive species. How are you bringing your experience in the field into the classroom?

A. Other than through (boring, to me) lectures, I bring my research interests into undergraduate courses mainly via the laboratories. The photo (above) of students is in the greenhouse, doing an experiment comparing flowering phenology (seasonal development) of native and non-native trees and shrubs. I also made a Vine of our seed bank experiment.

Q. What books, recordings or films have influenced your life?

A. Many – I’m an avid reader, and TV and film watcher. I really like “Bones,” which is in its 11th season, because it portrays more than one strong female scientist really well, as well as explaining the science.

Q. What are you reading and/or watching right now?

A. Right now, I’m reading Professor Hope Jahren’s new memoir, Lab Girl. She will be here on April 24 and 25 promoting the book. I enjoyed both “Murdoch Mysteries” and “Elementary” (a reimagining of Sherlock Holmes in NYC with Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson) this year because they had some great plant biology-related plots – from ginseng to toxic mushrooms to plant alkaloids. Both of these series also have strong female scientist leads.

Q. What advice would you give to students thinking of pursuing a graduate degree or embarking on a research project for the first time?

A. Do your homework and research. Also remember that life (and research) is one per cent excitement and 99 per cent tedium – persistence is key, as is recovering from failure. And please find as many mentors as possible (I did a Slideshare presentation on this).

Q. If you could have dinner with any one person, dead or alive, who would you select and why?

Above: Bazely with her daughters Carrie (left) and Maddy (right) show off their Heddy Lamar T-shirts
Above: Bazely with her daughters Carrie (left) and Maddy (right) show off their Heddy Lamarr Women in STEM T-shirts

A. It’s hard to choose, but after seeing the documentary Calling Hedy Lamarr last weekend, which was followed by a discussion panel with Ryerson’s Dean of Science and former chair of biology at York University, Imogen Coe, it would be Hedy Lamarr. She was a brilliant inventor, the most beautiful woman in the world and also a deeply unhappy person. I wonder if she might have been happier if she had connected with a network of female scientists and engineers.

Mulberries being prepped for jam
Mulberries being prepped for jam

Q. What do you do for fun?

A. Make jam and marmalade – I have located all the Mulberry trees on the streets in my neighbourhood.

Research out of York U creates new model for errors in visual response

New findings out of York University show that during a visual task, errors accumulate during a memory delay with more errors arising in the transition from memory to action. The research comes from Professor Doug Crawford’s Visuomotor Neuroscience Lab, with biology PhD candidate Amirsaman Sajad as first author.

Biology PhD candidate Amirsaman Sajad with Professor Doug Crawford
Biology PhD candidate Amirsaman Sajad with Professor Doug Crawford

The study, published April 16 in the online journal eNeuro, shows how neural activity in the frontal cortex initially reflects the visual goal accurately, but errors accumulate during a memory delay, and further escalate during the final memory-to-motor transformation.

“Think of all the times you see something and plan to act on it, but after only a short delay you make a mistake,” explains Crawford. “For example, before my morning coffee kicks in, I’m great at making silly mistakes, like putting the honey away in the fridge, instead of the peanut butter.”

The researchers recorded signals in the frontal cortex during the delay between target-related visual activity and intended gaze-related motor activity. The visual response and memory activity for the time in between was then analyzed.

“We looked at what happens from vision to memory to action, and how does the spatial code change through time in the frontal cortex,” says Crawford.

What they found, he says, was that frontal eye field delay activity shows a progressive transition through intermediate target-gaze codes. Further to that, they recorded the coding of the intended gaze position with no delay response. The analytical comparison identifies errors accumulating during the memory delay, and increased errors in the memory to motor function.

The findings are of particular significance to research in diseases affecting frontal cortex function, says Crawford, because “if errors accumulate in healthy individuals, the accumulations would be much worse with diseases that affect frontal cortex function”.

This type of finding, he says, can be used as a model for pharmacological research to see the influence of manipulating these same cells on error accumulation at the behavioral level.

The team continues to investigate and analyze data by recording from other parts of the brain, and looking at the outcomes when the brain endures more errors.

By Ashley Goodfellow Craig, YFile deputy editor

Symposium highlights ‘great harm’ caused by neonic pesticides

Poster for the pesticides symposimCanadian and international scientists are meeting at a symposium on April 19 in Toronto to discuss the latest research on neonicotinoid insecticides, or neonics, which have been linked to declines in global populations of bees, butterflies and other biodiversity.

The one-day symposium is being hosted by the David Suzuki Foundation and York University and will be attended by Canadian scientists and several members of the international Task Force on Systemic Pesticides (TFSP), whose groundbreaking research on neonics and other systemic pesticides has influenced policy and regulations in Ontario, Quebec and the European Union.

“The scientific body of evidence clearly documents that neonics are causing great harm,” said French researcher Jean-Marc Bonmatin, vice-chair of TFSP, which has analyzed more than 1,000 peer-reviewed studies into the impacts of neonics and other systemic pesticides. “We are witnessing the greatest threat to the productivity and the diversity of our natural and farmed environment since DDT. Far from protecting food production, the use of neonics is threatening the very infrastructure that enables it.”

The TFSP study, published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Pollution Research last year, concluded that large-scale, prophylactic use of neonics is having significant, unintended ecological consequences on non-target species, including honeybees, and across terrestrial, aquatic, wetland and marine habitats. A growing body of evidence also shows these chemicals pose risks to ecosystem functioning, such as pollination, which is necessary for about one-third of crops grown in Ontario.

Lawrence Packer
Lawrence Packer

“Bees are essential for agriculture worldwide—not just domesticated honey bees, but also the thousands of species of wild bee, which in many cases are doing the bulk of agricultural pollination without most people noticing their existence,” said Laurence Packer, professor of biology at York University.

The Ontario government brought in restrictions on neonicotinoid use last spring. New regulations prohibit the use and sale of corn and soybean seeds treated with three commercially available neonicotinoid pesticides, except under certain conditions. That means farmers will no longer be allowed to routinely plant neonic-treated seeds, starting this spring.

“The Ontario government is on the right track with its plan to dramatically reduce the use of neonics over a two year phase in period,” said Faisal Moola, Ontario director-general at the David Suzuki Foundation. “Evidence-based policy making is critical to the sound management of the environment and economy. We are encouraged by the participation of various government agencies, scientists and farming and conservation groups in today’s symposium.”

While mounting evidence has led some jurisdictions to reduce neonic use, the insecticides continue to be ubiquitously used in agriculture across the globe, as foliar sprays, soil drenches and seed treatments, in horticulture, turf grass production, golf courses and even in flea and tick treatments for pets. Five neonics are currently registered for use in Canada and are found in more than 100 pesticide products. The French National Assembly recently voted to ban all neonics, on all crops, starting in 2018.

Opening remarks will be given by Glen Murray, Ontario’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Speakers from the TFSP include: Maarten Bijleveld van Lexmond, Lorenzo Furlan, Kumiko Taira, Elizabeth Lumawig-Heitzmann and Jean-Marc Bonmatin. Also speaking are York University Faculty of Science Professors Laurence Packer and Amro Zayed; Professor Nigel Raine, University of Guelph; David Kreutzweiser, Canadian Forest Service; Charles Vincent, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; and many more.

The symposium will take place in Room 103, Life Sciences Building, Keele campus.

NSERC awards $1.65 million to York-led research partnership

Ray Jayawardhana
Ray Jayawardhana
Ray Jayawardhana
Ray Jayawardhana

An academic-industry partnership led by York University has received a total of $1,650,000 through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada‘s (NSERC) Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) Grants Program.

Ray Jayawardhana, dean of the Faculty of Science and a professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, is the principal investigator of the successful Technologies for Exo-Planetary Science (TEPS) program, which has been allocated $1.65 million over six years.

This innovative program will take full advantage of Canada’s major investments in such breakthrough facilities and missions as the James Webb Space Telescope, the OSIRIS-Rex Asteroid Sample Return and the Thirty Meter Telescope, as well as Canada Foundation for Innovation grants to co-applicants on the Canadian Planetary Simulator and the SPIRou infrared spectrometer projects, to position TEPS trainees at the forefront of the rapidly developing and exciting field of exo-planetary science.

The program will offer students and postdoctoral fellows innovative and collaborative training environments, incorporating internships, student mobility and professional training to address scientific challenges associated with Canada’s strategic research priority in Advanced Manufacturing. The program will also provide trainees with the breadth and depth of expertise and skills required to fill gaps in job markets, specifically in the key industrial sectors of robotics, aerospace, optical technologies and space exploration.

The co-applicants on the project team include eight researchers at seven Canadian universities –including John Moores, assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering at York University – as well as 16 other academic collaborators and seven non-academic partner organizations. The program will contribute to the training of 80 students and postdoctoral fellows over six years.

“We are delighted to provide a world-class training environment in the field of exo-planetary and planetary science through this program,” said York’s Vice-President Research & Innovation, Robert Haché. “The NSERC CREATE program supports industry-academic collaborations and provides an important opportunity for students and postdoctoral trainees to receive mentoring from leaders in the field.”

York U 3MT winner headed for provincial finals

Benjamin Voloh
Benjamin Voloh

Benjamin Voloh, a PhD student in biology, will represent York University at the provincial Three Minute Thesis (3MT) finals at Wilfrid Laurier University on April 14.

3MT is a research communications competition for graduate students. Developed in Australia by the University of Queensland in 2008, 3MT challenges students to explain their research to a non-specialist in just three minutes.

The 20 competitors in the provincial competition are all winners of local competitions hosted by every university in Ontario. Livestreaming of the event will begin at 10am via: livestream.com/cigionline/events/5142325.

The top three presenters, in addition to a participant’s choice award, will receive cash prizes as well as a chance to compete nationally in Canada’s 3MT competition hosted by the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) later this spring.

Voloh placed first in York’s regional competition for his talk “A spotlight in the brain: brain waves underlying the control of attention” which is based on his research on how the brain controls and switches attention in a dynamic and flexible way. In addition to being awarded a $1,000 cash prize, he was also awarded the People’s Choice Award – a $250 prize – as voted by his peers.

Voloh works in the Attentional Circuits Control Lab under Professor Thilo Womelsdorf.

“Attention is like a spotlight; it illuminates the things that are important to us, and overlooks the things that aren’t,” said Voloh. “The problem is that our spotlight can be turned towards the wrong things.

“This is a major problem in many different kinds of mental disorders – for example, in people suffering from depression, the spotlight is turned inwards towards negative thoughts and emotions, and so ‘overlooks’ positive thoughts.”

His research targets brain waves in the anterior cingulate cortex, to engage or disengage the attention spotlight at will in order to induce waves when an individual is focusing on something positive, or scramble the waves to prevent focus on something negative.

York University's 3MT finalists with the judges and Faculty of Graduate Studies deans
York University’s 3MT finalists with the judges and Faculty of Graduate Studies deans

Nada Elassal, a master’s student in computer science, placed second for her talk “Counting the Crowds” based on her work in the Human & Computer Vision Lab in the Centre for Vision Research. She was awarded a $500 prize.

“Crowd counting is vital for crowd safety in public places,” she notes. “Getting instant counts of people in sport stadiums, train stations and shopping malls is key to ensure that maximum capacity regulations are met. Furthermore, the size of a crowd attending political events, such as demonstrations, has major political implications.”

Elassal is building a computer algorithm for automated crowd counting, which works by finding motion regions in images and analyzing the shape and size of different clusters of individuals.

“In the end, my research is exploring whether we can ultimately build a machine that is capable of not only understanding one person, but understanding what happens when many people come together,” she said.

Amrit Dhillon, a master’s student in sociology, placed third for her talk “Lighten up: Skin Lightening and Canadian South Asian Women” based on her research examining the practice of skin lightening among this population. She was awarded a $250 prize.

“Skin lightening is a popular beauty practice taken up mostly by women of colour,” she said. It involves the use of products, treatments and procedures to lighten, whiten and brighten skin tone.

“I examine this issue through the lens of shadeism – discrimination based on skin tone,” she explained. “Shadeism has far-reaching implications among visible minority groups, particularly the South Asian community. This practice links into many transnational networks of beauty ideals, gender norms and ethnicity. My work contributes to a growing body of research that examines the implications of not only racial discrimination, but also discrimination based on skin tone.”

March Break Science Camp draws in 80 students

science camp student 2016This year’s March Break Science Camp at Science Explorations, hosted by the Faculty of Science, was a great success, drawing in 80 eager kids from across the GTA.

Participation in the camp that provides an enriched program focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) increased by 8 per cent over last year’s enrolment.

The camp, designed for kids in grades 3 to 8, supports the Ontario science curriculum where kids enjoy a break from regular school while enhancing their understanding of STEM through fun and engaging activities.

science camp 2016This year’s highlights included:

  • Grades 3 and 4 – Junior campers investigated properties of light and colour, aspects of biodomes, states of matter and more. They engineered their own biodomes, created rainbow paper and made rocket cars.
  • Grades 5 and 6 – Campers learned about and created their own sustainable houses. They explored solar energy, green living and wind power, among other topics. They were also immersed in learning about crystallization, electricity and flight.
  • Grades 7 and 8 – Campers discussed and engaged in activities connected to light, photovoltaic solar cells, water filtration and more. They also learned about hydraulic systems and worked in groups to create a hydraulic robot arm.

Both campers and parents had positive reflections on the experience, with one camper noting that during the one-week program they learned more than during six months of school this year.

science camp group 2016One of the parents commented that the camp provided an “interesting view into new topics” and enhanced their child’s knowledge with a “balanced mix of theoretical knowledge and hands-on activities”.

They also said the camp was “a parent’s wish delivered” and said their child couldn’t wait to get to camp in the morning and didn’t stop talking about the day’s activities on the way home.

Workshop for students focuses on bridging the gap between science and policy

York Science graduate students and post-doctoral fellows were invited to attend a workshop led by Maurice Bitran, CEO of the Ontario Science Centre, to learn about how to effectively bridge the gap between scientific research and policy formulation. The workshop took place April 5.

“There is often a disconnect between the languages spoken by scientists and public policy makers,” says Robert McLaren, professor and director of the Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry. “The intent of the workshop was to help students in understanding the process and factors that influence how government policy is made and importantly how the critical science is incorporated into that process. Thank you to Carol Weldon for organizing the event.”

Above: Maurice Bitran
Above: Maurice Bitran

The workshop was organized by the Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry in the Faculty of Science and funded by the NSERC CREATE Integrating Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics from Earth to Space program. It was open to all graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in Science.

Bitran delivered a compelling presentation that explored the policy development process, a framework for the development of science-based policies, and the communication of such policies. He presented from a unique perspective: he’s a scientist (with a PhD in radio astronomy), and before coming to the Ontario Science Centre he held various positions in government, the most recent being Assistant Deputy Minister of the Integrated Environmental Policy Division in the Ministry of the Environment.

One of Bitran’s take away messages was that in order to establish a science-based policy framework, it is critical to develop a common language between policymakers and scientists so that they can work together meaningfully.

The workshop closed with questions from the audience and an engaging discussion that inspired students to think about their future roles as scientists.