Category Archives: Outreach project

Just Another Seal? A look at the Northern Fur Seal

Posted on April 9, 2014 by icarion | Leave a comment

Climate change is a looming reality that we are all faced with. We are all aware that the earth is warming, but what you may not have considered, is how animals and their habitats will be affected. In this article we will look at how the results of climate change may influence Northern Fur Seals and their conservation.

So what is a Northern Fur Seal?

Northern Fur Seal

Northern Fur Seals are marine mammals who differ from other seals in that they have a thick fur coat. They eat mostly squid and fish such as pollock, herring, and anchovies. Their habitat ranges in the North Pacific from the coast of California, up to the Bering Sea and over to Russia and Japan. They spend their winter at sea, while during the summer they migrate to islands such as the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea to breed.

In the past the population of Northern Fur Seals has faced many challenges. They were commercially hunted for their fur which resulted in almost wiping out the species. Here an audio clip of our podcast which explains the how Northern Fur Seals were affected by the Fur Trade.

Seal FM Radio Podcast

As you have heard in the podcast, despite the fact that Northern Fur Seals are no longer hunted, their population is still declining. It has been estimated that since 1998 there was has been an annual decrease in their population by about 6%. One possible factor which may greatly affect their ability to survive is climate change. Northern Fur Seals are only able to live in a specific temperature zone, without expending energy. This ability to convert stored energy into a warming or cooling mechanism is called thermoregulation. We interviewed Dr. Rosen, a researcher at the UBC Marine Mammal Research Unit to learn a bit more about how thermoregulation works:

As you have learned from our video, thermoregulation is a factor essential to the survival of Northern Fur Seals. However, in view of the changing climate they may be forced from their natural habitat. This would additionally affect the distribution of their prey, potentially making it much harder for them to obtain food. Can you imagine how difficult it would be if your grocery store kept moving to a new location without you knowing?

Julia, Vishav, David and Rubeen

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Posted in Biological sciences, Issues in science, Outreach project, Science communication, Science in the news

Tagged climate change, fur trade, Northern Fur Seal, thermoregulation

Saving the Reef: A new Method for an old Problem

Posted on April 9, 2014 by tonycaputo | Leave a comment

Naturally as humans, we tend to abuse any resource we can get our hands on. We exploit most of our planets natural resources (but that’s another story), as well as over consume many species that benefit us. Currently it is estimated that over 75% of the world’s fish stocks are being fished faster than they can be replenished, and that if we fail to change our ways we could be facing a global fish collapse by the year 2050. Looks like we could be eating jellyfish before we know it.

Indonesian fishing boats
Image courtesy: Dr. Divya Varkey

However, in light of this dooming news, there may be a solution. Recently Dr.Varkey, a Postdoc working on resource management from the University of British Columbia, has developed a method to help solve this issue. By analyzing coral reef communities in Raja Ampat (Indonesia), she has created a model that analyzes a bunch of different local factors and produces an outcome that is suited for both the community, and the fish.

Simplified version of the Bayesian Decision Network model
Image courtesy: Dr. Divya Varkey

To understand how this model works, we have a podcast performed by Dr.Varkey. She will help simplify the different complications of the model, so we can get a better grasp as to how this model works.

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Now that we understand how this model works, we can begin to see its many capabilities. Especially for smaller communities that rely heavily on fishing as a means of revenue, being able to balance the peoples needs and conservation can be extremely difficult. Like we heard Dr.Varkey explain, it can take everyone’s interests into account, and produce a result that is equally fair to everyone, while also conserving fish populations.

Local fishing boat in the community of Raja Ampat
Image courtesy: Dr. Divya Varkey

To understand more as to how this affected the community of Raja Ampat, as well as the conflicts between fisheries and conservation, feel free to watch this video to learn more about the community of Raja Ampat.

Now that we have seen how this model works, and how it can solve conflicts between different groups in a community, we can see the potential of this model in different ecosystems. Not only are the capabilities of this model powerful, but essentially it can be applied anywhere. Simply by deconstructing the model and recreating it for the desired ecosystem, we could apply it to any community where conservation is an issue. Locally, we could apply this model to sockeye populations, which reached populations so low in 2009 that salmon fisheries ended up closing.

Failure to change our current ways of exploitation could lead to a future without fish. Applying Dr.Varkey’s model could prove to be a simple method in reducing our over consumption of fish, leading to a more sustainable future.

Otherwise, we may be enjoying a lot more jellyfish in the near future.

-Raymond Quan, Madeleine Tsoi, Leticia Munoz, Tony Caputo

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Posted in Biological sciences, Issues in science, Outreach project, Public engagement, Science in the news

Tagged Dr.Varkey, fish, Indonesia, Overfishing, Raja Ampat, Resource Management, UBC

DNA Barcoding: The Blueprint for Fungi and Beyond

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Sydney Honsberger-Grant | Leave a comment

Whether it is taking antibiotics to combat bacterial infections, relaxing at home sipping on drinks like wine or beer, or simply baking a delicious loaf of bread, we have fungi to thank.

At the University of British Columbia, Anna Bazzicalupo and her team are hard at work uncovering the mystery that are fungi. The importance of Anna’s research on fungi cannot be understated. Some of humanity’s most important innovations have utilized fungal research. One critical example is the discovery of the antibiotic Penicillin, perhaps the greatest innovation of the modern medical world. Anna’s research is crucial in finding new species and even lineages of fungi that we’ve never before stumbled upon. Applications of fungal research do not end there, as right in our classroom another Scientific Outreach team is studying the ways in which fungi might be the key to solving malaria.

Check out this podcast to learn more about Fungi:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ofn134

A class of life we know very little about, fungi are gold mines for researchers like Anna. So what is it that Anna and her team is doing to mine these mines?

Anna Bazzicalupo at work. Photo by Jessy Duhra.

To dig into the specifics of the research, Anna and her team of researchers are studying fungal communities by examining the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of fungal samples through what is known as next generation sequencing. To fully appreciate the value of this technique, we must recognize that DNA, the specific fingerprint for every form of life on Earth, is perhaps the best way to identify an organism. Next generation sequencing works by gathering a test sample and getting in return the entire collection of DNA strands that are in the sample. The video below gives a more detailed overview of the research:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5EcBE3WLZM&feature=youtu.be

Anna Bazzicalupo, armed with the weapon that is next generation sequencing, is on a mission to open the floodgates of fungal applications. With over five million species of fungi and many new species yet to be discovered, the possibilities of its applications are essentially limitless. We are headed in the right direction thanks to Anna and her team’s hard work on digging the fungal gold mine.

Jessy, Kevin, Shamim, Sydney

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Posted in Biological sciences, Outreach project

Tagged DNA, DNA barcoding, fungi, genetics

The Battle Against Malaria

Posted on April 9, 2014 by jastejsidhu | Leave a comment

Roughly half the world’s population is at risk of malaria. Children, under the age of five, account for 86% of malaria-related deaths in 2010. It is imperative that we find a solution to this mosquito-borne infection.

Malaria is found everywhere throughout the world, but sub-Saharan Africa, and tropical regions are most affected. In a World Health Organization (W.H.O.) report there were 207 million reported cases of malaria in 2012, with an estimated 3.4 billion people at risk.

Mosquito feeding on a human host.
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Malaria is a parasitic infection. Transmission of malaria begins with a single mosquito bite from an infected female Anopheline mosquito. With this exchange of malaria parasite for the victim’s blood, the parasites travel to the liver via blood cells. From there, the infection takes hold and the production of thousands of new malaria micro-organisms will begin. These mature malaria parasites make their way to the circulatory system where they invade red blood cells and eventually cause the red blood cells to burst. In short, malaria kills the blood supply to vital organs.

Symptoms of malaria range from headaches to fevers, to swelling of the spleen and death. These symptoms are due to the toxins released from ruptured red blood cells.

This podcast discusses the impact of malaria on a communal level, including causes for concern, as well as a malaria survivor’s ordeal.

Podcast

There are many reasons why malaria research is important. Preventative measures such as anti-malarial medicine has proven to be ineffective because malaria parasites are so complex. In fact, there is no effective vaccination against malaria. These parasites are capable of becoming resistant to anti-malarial drugs through point mutations, which are slight changes in its DNA. Their ability to evolve hampers prevention efforts and further complicates the mission for malaria control.

Researchers are looking into other ways to eliminate malaria. A few researchers from Maryland modified a fungus called Metarhizium anisopliae and discovered that it was able to combat the malaria parasite in female Anopheline mosquitoes. This fungus stops the transmission from mosquito to human by killing the malaria parasite in the mosquito.

Metarhizium Anisopliae
Source: Dan Johnson, University of Lethbridge

Dr. Daniel Coombs
Source: UBC Department of Mathematics

Dr. Daniel Coombs, a Mathematical Biologist, and his research team at the University of British Columbia used this finding and developed a mathematical model.

“The question is do you then start treating with the fungus and what you’re basically doing is changing the infected compartment of the mosquitoes and if you’re just curing the malaria, you’re just decreasing that,” says Dr. Coombs, adding that this is what his team set out to determine.

This video discusses Dr. Coombs’ research.

While this research is still in its infancy, this mathematical model could also be used to improve and develop other methods of controlling malaria. Knowing that these parasites can develop resistance to treatment and insecticides, it is crucial that we continue to find or develop affordable, effective methods to either control or eliminate malaria.

By: Gregory McMaster, Brenda Nguyen, Jastej Sidhu

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Posted in Biological sciences, Issues in science, Outreach project, Public engagement, Science in the news

Tagged fungus, health, malaria, mosquito, world

Southern Elephant Seals: Catching Climate Change in the Act

Posted on April 9, 2014 by nakisa kiai | Leave a comment

Southern Elephant Seal Image Courtesy of: Christophe Guinet

Many people have yet to wonder how seals can make an impact in local marine environments. Naturally, the cute appearance of a marine animal comes to mind from our exposure to pictures or visits to aquariums. However, few of us know about the behaviour of seals, that in the way they catch their prey can actually provide valuable insight into the process of global warming. The research underway by Dr. Christophe Guinet and his team of researchers may be the missing link.

Tracking the fine movements of the elephant seals with data loggers allow researchers to measure the behaviour of the seal while underwater. It also gives us evidence on how climate change is directly affecting this important marine predator.

With advancements in technology, electronic devices have opened the doors to many new possibilities to research on foraging behaviour. This allows for the collection of data on these marine predators in their natural environment. Through an in-depth analysis on how these data loggers work, measurements on behavioural (location, diving depth, prey capture) and environmental (temperature, light) parameters gives us a chance to reference these results to the possible aspects of how seal foraging relates to global warming.

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Southern elephant seals are important top predators to tag with data loggers because despite spending most of their time underwater and out of sight, they can dive depths ranging 1,000 – 2,000 feet and can even go as deep as 5,000 feet! Because they can spend up to 10 months at sea, they are able to collect a lot of data about the ocean and bring it back for the researchers to analyze.

Southern Elephant Seal tagged with Data-logger Image Courtesy of: Christophe Guinet

Though we are making advances, humans are still limited by technology. This means that sometimes the equipment we have does not allow us to reach certain parts of the ocean. Southern elephant seals are helping us overcome this problem. Not only can they dive to depths that we have been unable to sample, but the seals also return to the same beach every year to molt and breed, which makes it easy for the scientists to come back each year to re-examine the data without having to capture the seals out at sea. Some researchers have organized the temperature data collected by the elephant seals into a format that other oceanographers can use and even uploaded it on the the World Ocean Database. Millions of new data points are made available to scientists worldwide thanks to the southern elephant seals.

Climate change will have an effect on all of us in our lifetime. Knowing what the ocean can tell us and who the key players in helping collect this data are will be instrumental to fixing this global challenge. Understanding southern elephant seals may be a major step in understanding our changing environment.

Posted by: Nakisa Kiai, Alice Koh, Gurdas Panesar, Jean Wang

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Posted in Biological sciences, Outreach project, Public engagement, Science communication

Tagged climate change, elephant seals, oceanography, researchers, seals, technology

The Sharp Truth of the Hook

Posted on April 9, 2014 by monicaleslie | Leave a comment

An alien planet lives closer than we ever would’ve expected. Not far beneath the surface of the water lies a mostly undiscovered world, complete with its own set of aliens.

Leafy Dragon (Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia Commons)

Coral reefs may look like they don’t belong on our own planet, but this world is not as isolated as we may think. In fact, our actions, above and below water, can have drastic consequences on their world.

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The Giant Clam is only one of many species being affected by human activity. Coral reefs and their marine inhabitants around the world are in serious danger of being lost forever. Unfortunately, it has already begun to happen. Reefs face

Giant Clam (Photo Courtesy of: Monica Leslie)

many challenges today, including increasing sea temperatures due to climate change as well as increasing ocean acidity. In addition, pollution and larger sediment loads on the reefs are also causing stress to the ecosystem. However, according to Krista Greer, it is overfishing of these reef ecosystems that often push them over the edge. Greer, a researcher for The Sea Around Us Project says:

“There are all sort of outside stresses, [and] maybe the reef can handle one or two of them, but when you also add overfishing, there’s a breaking point.”

We often think of commercial and industrial fishing as being the major cause of overfishing, but even smaller scale fishing practices can impact the ecosystem. Due to this manner of thinking, many places around the world are unaware that they’re fishing to a point beyond what is sustainable for the reef. This is the case with many island communities, such as Cocos (Keeling) Island.

Although not every species is affected by human fishing activity, the loss of even a single species can lead to an overall decline of ecosystem health. Overfishing is the final straw that can cause the delicately balanced ecosystem of coral reefs around the world to collapse.

Cocos (Keeling) Island Locals (Photo Courtesy of: Saripedia)

The first step in remedying this situation is implementing appropriate management of fisheries throughout the world. However, it is not enough to simply create laws and policies regarding fishing. Education is crucial, especially in small island communities as the local people need to understand the consequences of their actions. Krista Greer says,

“In order for it to actually work … they need the local population to be on board. They’re not going to be there to watch and regulate and enforce, so they need … the local population to do that.”

A global effort is needed if we are ever to start on the road to recovery. If our current actions don’t change, we risk losing this mysterious and enchanting world forever, before we have a chance to fully discover it. Can we really live with the sharp consequences that our hooks cause?

-Monica Leslie, Richelle Eger, Justin Sidhu

Audio Credits:
Sound Effects/Music Courtesy of: iMovie, Garage Band Narrated By: Richelle Eger

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Posted in Biological sciences, Issues in science, Outreach project, Science communication

Tagged Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Island, Coral Reefs, Fishing, Giant Clam, Overfishing, Reef Species

Perfect Pitch by Popping a Pill?

Posted on February 3, 2014 by monicaleslie | 1 comment

Have you ever wanted to win that karaoke contest on Saturday night, but just couldn’t seem to stay on key?

Photo Courtesy of Flickr Commons: Encore Entertainment

Well, you may be in luck! Researchers have recently found that you can learn how to detect and produce absolute pitch, even as an adult, with the help of a pill. In this study it was demonstrated that the ability to achieve absolute pitch could still be learned as an adult (with the aid of a pill) even though there is normally a critical period (usually early in life) for being able to learn this type behaviour.

Absolute pitch is the ability to identify or produce a tone without the aid of any reference tone and it is estimated that only 1 in 10,000 people actually have the ability to do this. Although it is believed to be a genetic trait, it was previously thought that if absolute pitch was not learned during the critical period (from birth until around age 7) that it could never be obtained. However, with the help of a medication this critical period can be reopened and allow us more time to learn absolute pitch.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr Commons: Yngve Bakken Nilsen

Valproate, or valproic acid is normally used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder and migraine headaches. However, in the study mentioned earlier it was individuals taking valproate that were able to learn to identify pitch significantly better than individuals taking a placebo. Takao Hensch, a professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University, says:

“It’s quite remarkable since there are no known reports of adults acquiring absolute pitch.”

Valproate is thought to be able to achieve these results by modifying the brain’s plasticity to a more juvenile state. As we age, our neuroplasticity decreases and that’s what causes these critical periods to exist. So, a higher plasticity in adulthood allows us to learn things we were once only able to learn as a child. It makes the brain “young again”.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr Commons: Jean-Etienne Minh-Duy Poirrier

What does this mean? Well, being able to win that karaoke competition may only be the start of it. Critical periods exist for a wide variety of other things including language development. This discovery could also potentially enable us to learn new languages more effectively. The possibilities are truly endless.

However, Takao Hensch warns:

“…Critical periods have evolved for a reason and it is a process that one probably would not want to tamper with carelessly … If we’ve shaped our identities through development, through a critical period, and have matched our brain to the environment in which we were raised … then if we were to erase that by reopening the critical period, we run quite a risk as well.”

Although this finding seems to have incredible potential, would winning karaoke really be worth losing part of your personality?

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Posted in Biological sciences, Outreach project, Science in the news

Tagged absolute pitch, critical period, medicine, neuroplasticity, pitch, valproate

Is the majority of heat lost through the head?

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Leticia | Leave a comment

Imagine forgetting your fuzzy woolly hat at home today. As a result, would most of your body heat be lost? While many continue to think that the majority of body heat dissipates through the head, some people saying even up to 80% is lost this way, this has been found to be a myth.

If this myth were true, then wearing nothing but a hat would as sufficient in defending from the cold as wearing clothes and no hat. Dr. Richard Ingebretsen, a professor at the University of Utah, says:

“The real reason we lose any heat through our head is because most of the time when we’re outside in the cold, we’re clothed. If you don’t have a hat on, you lose heat through your head, just as you would lose heat through your legs if you were wearing shorts.”

Photo Courtesy of Flickr commons by sand_and_sky

In fact, with the head having about 7% of the total surface area of the body and keeping in mind that temperature change of any object is dictated by the ratio of its surface area to its mass, we can deduce that the head should not lose any more than 10% of total body heat, even with the assumption that the body is equally insulated. Therefore, even if you were to forget your favorite woolly hat, it would not make much of a difference.

While the amount of heat you lose is proportional to the skin exposed, it also depends on a variety of factors, such as the type of clothing you wear, type of physical activity being done, and the various bodily functions that govern temperature regulation. Although, it is possible to have a situation where you lose most of your body heat through your head (such as when it is the only part of the body being exposed) it is not true to say that the amount of heat loss is dependent on the head alone.

In conclusion, the head is not a significant area of concern for major heat loss, at least no more than if the equivalent amount of skin on other parts of your body were to be exposed.

For more information, check out this video by regarding how temperature is regulated by the body.

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Posted in Issues in science, Outreach project, Public engagement, Science communication, Science communicators, Science in the news

Tagged body heat loss, hat, head, myth, physics, Richard Ingebretsen, skin

Category Archives: Outreach project

Just Another Seal? A look at the Northern Fur Seal

Saving the Reef: A new Method for an old Problem

DNA Barcoding: The Blueprint for Fungi and Beyond

The Battle Against Malaria

Southern Elephant Seals: Catching Climate Change in the Act

The Sharp Truth of the Hook

Perfect Pitch by Popping a Pill?

Is the majority of heat lost through the head?

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