September 2019 – Café Scientifique Vancouver

October Café Scientifique with Leonard Foster

Our next café will happen on Tuesday, October 29th at 7:30pm in the back room at Yagger’s Downtown (433 W Pender). Our speaker for the evening will be Dr. Leonard Foster from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UBC.

Breeding stronger bees by shortcutting nature

Dr. Leonard Foster’s laboratory at UBC has been involved in a Canada-wide project aimed at bringing modern molecular technologies to bear on the selective breeding of honey bees that are better able to resist disease and stress. They use molecular fingerprinting and genomics to identify stronger bees, enabling their selective breeding. This brings up several controversial topics, including whether these bees are “natural”, whether selectively bred bees could/should be patented and how far away direct genetic modification of honey bees will be. Dr. Foster will describe the state-of-the-art in bee genetics and where the future may lie here.

Dr. Leonard Foster is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Foster comes from a family of beekeepers and got his introduction to academic bee research at Simon Fraser University while doing his Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry – at SFU he worked with Drs. Winston and Slessor on honey bee pheromones, particularly the components of queen mandibular pheromone. He then did a Ph.D in Toronto a post-doctoral studies in Denmark before starting his current position in 2005. The first independent operating grant that Dr. Foster secured was to study how bee pathogens were able to manipulate the protein machinery within bee cells. Since that time he has led three very large-scale projects that have investigated some of the molecular mechanisms behind disease resistance in bees. This effort has recently moved into trying to apply this knowledge by using the information they have learned to guide selective breeding for hygienic behavior in honey bees. He is very active in extension and frequently engages the public on various aspects of honey bee biology. He currently lives in Richmond and keeps bees himself.

September Café Scientifique with Katie Gibbs

Our next café will happen on Tuesday, September 3rd from 6:00-8:00pm at Mahoney & Sons (601 Stamps Landing). **NOTE: THIS IS A SPECIAL EVENT SO PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF TIME AND VENUE** Our speaker for the evening will be Dr. Katie Gibbs from Evidence for Democracy.

Science and the Federal Election

Science doesn’t usually get a lot of attention during federal elections. Katie Gibbs from Evidence for Democracy will share the new #VoteScience campaign that aims to change that.

With a federal election quickly approaching in October, this is an important time to encourage all political candidates to support policies that strengthen science, evidence-informed decision-making and a culture of transparency and openness for Canada.

#VoteScience is a national, non-partisan campaign to mobilize Canadians that understand the value of science and innovation to advocate for science during the federal election, and empower Canadians with the tools they need to do so.

Come by the back of Mahony & Sons, 601 Stamps Landing from 6-8 PM to hear Katie speak, participate in group-based discussion and learn how you can engage with policymakers to promote evidence-based decision making in the Canadian government.

Katie Gibbs is a scientist, organizer and advocate for science and evidence-based policies. While completing her Ph.D. at the University of Ottawa in Biology, she was one of the lead organizers of the ‘Death of Evidence’—one of the largest science rallies in Canadian history. Katie co-founded Evidence for Democracy, Canada’s leading, national, non-partisan, and not-for-profit organization promoting science and the transparent use of evidence in government decision making. Her ongoing success in advocating for the restoration of public science in Canada has made Katie a go-to resource for national and international media outlets including Science, The Guardian and the Globe and Mail. Katie has also been involved in international efforts to increase evidence-based decision-making and advises science integrity movements in other countries and is a member of the Open Government Partnership Multi-stakeholder Forum.