Category: Final Project

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Final Project Interview Project Issues in Science Public Engagement Science Communication Science in the News

The Bottle-Neck Effect


 

Photo of Killer Whale courtesy of http://www.maniacworld.com/killer-whale.htm

 

Over 500 species of plants and animals are considered at risk in Canada. The 2003 Species At Risk Act (SARA) was implemented to protect these species. However, out of those 500 species that are currently listed, only 150 have recovery strategies and only four have implemented recovery action plans.  It is clear that this act must be improved if Canadian species are going to be protected. This was the motivation behind the November 2010 paper, “Science, Policy and Species at Risk in Canada” by Dr.Jeannette Whitton et al. This paper took an in-depth look into how SARA works and how to improve it.   (See video for an overview of the paper.)

 

 

Video: The Bottleneck Effect

 Issues with SARA:

Listing stage

 

  • Lack of expertise
When the Committee On the Status of Endangered Wildlife In Canada (COSEWIC, www.cosewic.gc.ca) prioritizes the species that are more likely to go extinct, the species for which there is less expertise ends up being classified as “data deficient,” and most likely do not get listed. The government has no obligation to conduct further research or assessment on them, so “data deficient” species remain unaccounted for. This may become a bigger problem in the future as the focus switches to listing invertebrates, where there is even less knowledge.
  • Timing is Everything

Status assessment by COSEWIC and legal listing by the federal government are currently two separate steps in SARA. Unfortunately, this structure gives the government “an opportunity to avoid or delay the costs and consequences of protecting imperiled wildlife species.” This may explain why the federal government chose not to list 23% of the species recommended by COSEWIC between 2003 and 2007. On the other hand, this separation “allows a time window for stakeholders and civil society to become more involved in the legal listing process” and “allows for a transparent separation of science and policy.” Researchers believe these benefits far outweigh the negative effect of separation.

  • Economics vs. Science

Governments have to take into account the financial impacts of their decisions, and Canada’s government is no exception. The government relies on economic impact analysis to decide which COSEWIC-recommended species should be labelled “at risk” but researchers see their analysis as “incomplete.” Economic concerns make up “50% of the cases in which listing has been denied outright [by the government].” For this reason, researchers question the effectiveness of the current structure, stating that the “economic analysis is not supplied as independent science advice but rather is embedded in a nonscientific policy-based framework.” They suggest that the analysis comes too early in SARA’s evaluation process and thus economic concerns end up outweighing scientific considerations and dominating the listing process.

 

 

Recovery strategies: Ineffective meshing of science and policy.

 

  • Lack of Clarity
Creating recovery strategies has been “slow and problematic.” Scientific assessments and socioeconomic considerations quite often end up contradicting each other and therefore it should be made clear which is considered the most important in each case.
  • Lack of Definitions
To help at risk species survive and recover, we need to explicitly define these terms. The Canadian government has suggested survival “would mean maintaining the current population in the ‘short term’.”  But it is open to interpretation what represents ‘short term’ in Canadian policy? Also if this was the case, for a species at risk of extinction, merely maintaining its population in the short term “would provide little assurance of continued survival.” Recovery has been defined as “long-term persistence” or when decline is “arrested or reversed.” The ‘or’ in this definition allows the government to choose the easier option of arresting decline rather than reversing it.  Do you think stopping decline is enough to be classified as recovery?
  • Defining Habitat Issues

Classifying the critical habitat of species has been highly controversial. The law to identify critical habitat “to the extent possible using the best available information” is not reflected in how many habitats have actually been identified; habitat has only been defined for 23 of the 104 species with finalized recovery strategies. However, researchers think this may improve in the future as a result of two court cases in 2009 that successfully challenged recovery strategies that omitted known critical habitat from the final strategy.

  • Conflicting Interests Overshadow Scientific Content
The biggest issue in preparing recovery strategies is that the government ministries that currently oversee the process “may have conflicting interests.”  To prevent this influence from distorting scientific assessments, researchers propose the science should be presented separately from governmental assessment in a new two-step listing process.  The proposed differences can be seen in figure 1 below.
Current and suggested structures of SARA "Science, Policy and Species at Risk in Canada"

 

 

Suggestions for Improving SARA
In conclusion, the current Species at Risk Act is leading to a bottleneck effect; only 4 species have recovery action plans even though over 500 species are listed as ‘at risk’.  SARA considers both scientific and economic concerns, but it is not always clear which of these two factors is viewed as the most important. To improve the number of action plans being finalised, the researchers make a number of suggestions.

 

The paper’s suggestions:

  1. creating a mandated framework with a two-step listing process to separate independent science and government policy decisions.
  2. incorporating timely independent, non-governmental peer review of decisions.
  3. defining important terms more clearly to avoid misinterpretation and taking shortcuts.
  4. making the whole process more transparent.

 

One of the researchers, Dr. Jeannette Whitton thinks the transparency of science is especially important during the creation of recovery strategies. It needs to be clear what the ideal situation for the recovery of a species is, what the most realistic scenario will be, and why these two assessments differ.  The taxpayers are funding this process and therefore they have a right to see what is happening.  The government is currently conducting a long overdue review of SARA and the researchers hope that their suggestions will be taken into account.

 

See the SARA website http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/default_e.cfm for up to date information on the Species At Risk Act, new listings and recovery strategies.

 

Banff Spring Snail Photo © Mark and Leslie Degner
Podcast – Detailed information of specific species
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 A discussion with Dr. Whitton about specific species at risk
References
  • Movie by: Grace Jauristo
  • Script by: Grace, Maki, Matt and Junaid
  • Blog by: Maki Sumitani and Matt Wagstaff
  • Podcast by: Junaid Sargana
  • “Science, Policy, and Species at Risk in Canada” by Arne O. Mooers, Dan F. Doak C, Scott Findlay, David M. Green, Chris Grouios, Lisa L. Manne, Azadeh Rashvand, Murray A. Rudd, and Jeannette Whitton.  Published in BioScience, Vol.60 No.10, November 2010
Thank you!
  • We would like to thank Dr.Jeannette Whitton and Geoff Hoare for their contributions
  • Thank you to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC and the Vancouver Aquarium for allowing us to film and take photos
  • Thanks to the science 300 professors, Eric Jandciu and Jackie Stewart for all their help and advice.
  • Take a look at this link for some more information: endangered species in Canada
Categories
Biological Sciences Final Project Interview Project Issues in Science New and innovative science

Unraveling the Web of Alzheimer’s Disease

In January 2010, Dr. Cheryl Wellington and her team of researchers at the University of British Columbia made great strides by determining a potential treatment to relieve the loss of brain function caused by Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. It is an incurable disease that progressively deteriorates mental function and causes memory loss as well as an inability to effectively communicate, reason and use one’s problem solving skills. Currently, over 26.6 million people suffer from it worldwide.

From a scientific point of view, Alzheimer’s is caused by an accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain. When these misfolded proteins group together, they produce plaques. As a result, these plaques can cause swelling and damage to the brain, which leads to the symptoms seen in Alzheimer’s patients. In the most severe cases, not only does AD inhibit mental function, but it also interferes with how the body regulates its basic functions (e.g. respiration and heart rate), and this can cause death.

 

AD-2 by Flickr user Zerd: The image above illustrates plaques (red) and tangles (green) in a brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

 

In the podcast below, Dr. Cheryl Wellington gives more insight into Alzheimer’s and how it progressively disables mental function in a patient. She also outlines the steps that people can take in their mid-life to help prevent the onset of the disease.

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As mentioned in the podcast, there are currently no drugs on the market that can stop the disease in its entirety. However, this is where Dr. Wellington’s research fills a knowledge gap and sets the foundation to find a potential drug that can be marketed to all AD patients.

 Wide Brain by Flickr user Enrique T: An image illustrating the plaque deposits present in an AD mouse.

 

In this video, we introduce Cheryl’s research, explain the drug that she works on and illustrate how she uses mice models to determine the drug’s effect on Alzheimer’s disease.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= q2IZW1fvz2M&w=640&h=385]

 

One of the major difficulties that Alzheimer’s presents is its target population: a majority of people diagnosed with AD are over 65 years old. For this reason, the sufferers heavily rely on caregivers and close relatives for assistance. Consequently, the disease can create extreme stress and hardships within a family and financial burdens on our healthcare system. To this end, even though Cheryl’s research is promising, it is important to remember that Alzheimer’s isn’t part of normal aging: steps can be taken to prevent this disease altogether. By maintain a healthy lifestyle and exercising on a regular basis (especially in your 40’s and 50’s), you can diminish the likelihood of Alzheimer’s taking root in the brain and starting the plaque-building process. But don’t wait until your 40’s to start exercising!  Develop these habits at an early age – you’ll thank yourself later!

 

Further reading:

http://www.cfri.ca/our_research/researchers/search_researchers/researcher_detail.asp?ID=146

Dr. Wellington’s original research paper:

http://www.jbc.org/content/285/44/34144.short

 

Categories
Biological Sciences Final Project Interview Project Issues in Science

DNA, Prepare To Be Eaten!

DNA Uptake
Can you imagine working on something that is neither a plant nor an animal? Dr. Rosemary Redfield makes it her mission to study bacteria. Too small to see with the naked eyes, bacteria are unicellular microorganisms that do not have organelles or a nucleus. Some bacteria can be harmful to humans, whereas others can be beneficial. For example, some bacteria cause infections such as a strep throat whilst others aid in our digestion.

 

Many scientists commonly believe that it must be beneficial for bacteria to incorporate  DNA sequences into its own genome. They believe that this process of acquiring the DNA from the environment exists to make new random combinations of genes. These new combinations would replace the genes currently residing within the cell. However, Dr. Redfield did not simply accept this theory to be true; she began to question exactly what the purpose behind this process is. To her, the idea that the bacteria would take up genes lying around in the environment is not probable. One possible explanation is that the foreign DNA is left behind by dead cells; thus, they are unlikely to be useful. Dr. Redfield proposes that regardless of whether the DNA uptake will be beneficial to the bacteria or not, the accumulation of the DNA sequences in the cell would still occur.

The Redfield Lab

Dr. Redfield hypothesized that the bacteria were either making new combinations of the genes by accident or it could have been a side effect from another important process. Nevertheless, Dr. Redfield believes that the bacteria uptake DNA for food, which is a radical idea for many scientists.

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Haemophilus influenzae bacteria By SCIENCE PHOTO

 

 

To test her theory, Dr. Redfield needed to choose a type of bacteria that were “picky eaters.” Most bacteria do not have a preference for the DNA sequences that they uptake. However, she found two unusual types of bacteria that turned out to be picky eaters: Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria gonorrheae. They both have a preference for the specific sequences of the DNA that they will accumulate; and these chosen sequences are similar to their own.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoQ16P0K4b0&feature=g-upl

How is Dr. Redfield’s research relevant to you?
Her research probably will not impact you drastically in your daily lives, but that does not mean that it will never affect you in the future. Scientists are now interested in how and when bacteria are able or unable to reproduce. Once they discover the types of DNA the bacteria eat and how they acquire their food, scientists will be able to control their growth.

Further research on this field will prove to be very essential for medical purposes.The knowledge of how bacteria work is crucial to humanity. Bacteria are all around us and they deserve our time for they can be beneficial, and yet harmful to our society.

Photo with Dr. Rosemary Redfield Taken By: Hanna Oh at The Life Science Building

 

Credits for Podcast:
Script written by: Hanna Oh, Cha Tumtaweetikul, Jacyln Wiebe, Steven Xian
Interviewee: Dr. Rosemary Redfield
Narrated by: Hanna Oh, Cha Tumtaweetikul, Jacyln Wiebe, Steven Xian
Soundtrack credits to: suonho, Puniho, FreqMan, mansardian, BristolStories, digifishmusic, milton. and Setuniman.
Editted by: Steven Xian
Equipment and advices: Bruce Dunham, Eric Jandciu, Jackie Stewart, Andrew Trites from SCIE300.

 

Resources:
We would like to thank Dr. Rosemary Redfield for her interview and her Uptake Video animation and also the SCIE300 professors and teaching assistants: Bruce Dunham, Eric Jandciu, Jackie Stewart, and Andrew Trites for their advice.

 

For References and More Information, Check out Dr. Redfield’s Lab:
http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~redfield/index.html
Categories
Final Project Interview Project

Steller Sea Lions: How can we help?

 

Steller Sea Lions live in the Pacific Rim from Japan to California with 70% living in Alaska. Sadly, their population has been drastically declining since the 1970s due to many reasons:

  • predation by killer whales,
  • increase in parasites and diseases
  • nutritional stress due to competition for food with humans.

Some fishing companies even deliberately kill these animals since they view them as competition and a threat to fish stocks. Currently, the western stock is endangered and the eastern stock is listed as threatened.

Check out our video below for what Beth Young and her colleagues are doing now to save the Steller sea lions and to meet these friendly animals!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcueT8-PTPE

 

What is the government doing?

Because Steller sea lions are endangered, several laws have been implemented to protect their survival.

  • Fisheries Act: a license is required to operate a fishery, and records of transactions and operations must be produced on demand of a fishery inspector or conservation officer.  This practice keeps fisheries from over harvesting, which would harm the Steller sea lion population.
  • Endangered Species Act: ensures that federal agencies do not harm any listed species which includes the Steller sea lion. Habitats where the listed animals are found are protected by the Habitat Conservation Plan.
  • Marine Mammal Protection Act:  provides population censuses, health assessments, development of conservation plans, and protection regulations.  This act also appoints staff to conserve and manage the populations of marine mammals that are at risk.

 

What about other animals?

Steller sea lions aren’t the only animals that can benefit from Beth’s research…

 

California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) on Morro Strand State Beach, Morro Bay, CA. Photo by Mike Baird.

 

 

The California sea lion is a close cousin to the Steller sea lion. Currently classified as low risk concern on the IUCN endangered species red list, with time, they may become just as threatened as the Steller sea lion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northern fur seal at the New England Aquarium, Boston, Massachusetts. Photo by flickr user cphoffman42.

 

Another species that could benefit from Beth’s findings is a much smaller second cousin: The Northern Fur Seal. Currently listed as at risk for endangerment on the IUCN list, they are experiencing a downward population trend.

 

 

 

 

 

With Beth’s results, we could ensure the food requirements of these species are met so they don’t become a forgotten fossil.

 

Check out the SCIE 300 communicating science podcast for more information on the Steller sea lion species, how Beth believes her findings could be applied to other species, and potential sources of error in her experiment.

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Interview with Beth Young

 

In Conclusion…

The Steller sea lion plays an important part in the delicate balance of the ecosystem. Every species of life that it interacts with, from the food it eats, to its natural predators, will be greatly affected if the Steller sea lion population continues to decrease. We hope that our various media (the above video, podcast, and this blog post) are able to convey some of the latest research findings on Steller sea lions in a clear and understandable manner, and bring more attention of this matter to the public eye.

More information on why Steller sea lions are endangered, as well as summaries of the latest research findings made at the Open Water Research Lab can be found at the Vancouver Aquarium website.

 

Categories
Environment Final Project Interview Project Issues in Science Science Communication

The Lower Fraser Valley Warms Up to Ozone – The Warning of the Global Warming

In Dr. Down Steyn’s research paper, “Impact of Climate Change on Ozone Pollution in the Lower Fraser Valley, Canada,” he analyzed climate patterns to determine which types led to elevated levels of ozone. His analysis allowed him to predict if there would be an increase in episodes of elevated ozone levels in the future (2046-2065). Dr. Steyn used different statistical techniques to capture the climate pattern, and applied these to forecast the future of air quality in the Lower Fraser Valley. According to Dr. Steyn, episodes of elevated ozone levels will increase to a dangerous amount due to global warming, and as such actions must be taken to address this problem. 

 

Environmental Canada: The image of Lower Fraser Valley

 

Air quality and Health affects

Ozone is a molecule consisting of three oxygen atoms. Despite its benefits in the upper atmosphere as a shield to harmful UV radiation, it is a pollutant in lower atmosphere. Addressing such a study is important because ozone is damaging to plants and poses certain health risks to humans. Such risks include lung inflammation, lung diseases, premature death, heart attack, and stunting the plant growth.

 

What affects the air quality?

There are three components to look at: temperature, wind, and pressure.

William M. Connolley: the image of atmosphere pressure pattern

1) Temperature has a significant relationship with the production of ozone. Ozone is generated by a chemical reaction and the rate of this reaction is temperature dependant. Thus, higher temperatures equate to abundance in ozone.

 2) The wind is what mixes the atmosphere. Mixing causes dilution and as a result, lowers the amount of pollution.

 3) In summer, a high pressure system develops in the Lower Fraser Valley. High pressure makes the atmosphere heavy, resulting in the sinking of the whole atmosphere. This sinking then causes the increase in temperature with its height and the vertical mixing is reduced.

 High Temperature + Light Wind + High Pressure System

= Pollution level ↑

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Y0juwbHcU

How was the study conducted?

In order to analyze the climate pattern, Dr. Steyn used different statistical techniques and the following podcast will explain the specific tools used to analyze the pressure patterns such as:

–       Canadian Climate Model

–       Program for atmospheric pressure pattern

–       Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition

–       Clustering (grouping of pressure patterns in six dimensions)

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Dr. Steyn concluded that in the future, the weather types are going to be the same while the temperature will be warmer due to global warming. In other words, global warming is the main factor in increasing ozone level.

 We thank Dr. Steyn for giving us an interview and explaining his research. We also would like to thank our SCIE 300 instructors for designing the science outreach project.

 

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