Next week’s IRES Seminar is back in the Beaty Museum Allan Yap Theatre.
November 7, 2024: IRES Student Seminar with Jerry Achar and Aaron Aguirre
Time: 12:30pm to 1:20pm
Location: Beaty Museum Allan Yap Theatre (Basement, 2212 Main Mall). Please check in at front desk on main floor before going downstairs.
No food or drinks allowed in the Theatre.
Click here for Zoom link. Zoom will be terminated if we encounter tech problems 5 to 10 mins into the seminar.
Conservative Consensus QSAR prediction of rat acute oral toxicity of chemicals: implication for decision-making under conditions of uncertainty
Talk summary:
Acute oral toxicity (AOT) is required for regulatory classification and labeling of chemicals according to the United Nations Global Harmonized System (GHS). With the advances in toxicology towards alternatives to animal testing, quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models have been developed to support AOT predictions. However, uncertainty associated with the use of these models hinders their utility for AOT predictions. Consequently, when used to assign health-protective (conservative) AOT values to chemicals, it is advised that one should apply a model with low incidences of predicting chemicals to be less toxic than the corresponding animal data imply. In this talk, Jerry will present a study that compares the prediction performance of a consensus approach (combination) of two QSAR models against these individual models for the prediction of conservative AOT of a diverse and large number of chemicals. To this end, the number of conservative predictions and prediction capacity for AOT hazard identification (according to the GHS criteria) will be used for the performance evaluation.
Jerry Achar, IRES PhD candidate
Bio:
Jerry Achar is a Ph.D. candidate in Gunilla Öberg’s Egesta Lab. His research interests intersect chemical risk assessment, human health, and toxicological risk prediction using new approach methodologies (NAMs). His Ph.D. research focuses on the application of in silico toxicology methods for chemical risk prediction and analysis of uncertainty associated with the methods and their predictions. This research is supported by the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program. Before UBC, Jerry completed his BSc. in Environmental Science from Kenyatta University and his MSc. in Environmental Engineering from Korea University.
The Twilight Zoning: Influences of Urban Land Use on Bat Activity in the Metro Vancouver Region
Talk summary:
Bats are facing conservation concerns ranging from disease, wind turbine collisions, and habitat loss. Urban greenspaces have been identified as hotspots for bat foraging during the reproductive phase of their life cycle. However, it is difficult to identify critical habitat for bat species due to limited information on how urban landscape features influence bat activity. Through a series of acoustic sampling across Metro Vancouver, we aimed to answer what landscape features are associated with high bat activity. Over 80,000 confirmed bat passes through two summer seasons at 21 parks and surrounding landscapes. The presence of a freshwater source and the amount of vegetation near parks were key landscape features in predicting bat activity. While greenspaces may provide habitat islands for some bat species, our results provide an opportunity to target urban bat management that can contribute actively to regional sustainability initiatives while also promoting human-wildlife coexistence in urban spaces.
Aaron Aguirre, IRES MSc student
Bio:
Aaron Aguirre (he/they) is a MS student in the Connected Human and Natural Systems Lab and the Mitchell Multifunctional Landscape Lab advised by Dr. Kai Chan and Dr. Matthew Mitchell. Prior to joining the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability (IRES), they received their BS in Fisheries and Wildlife. Their current research focuses on how urban bat populations are impacted by land-use with the goal to inform bat conservation with regards to land development and foster an appreciation for urban wildlife.
See you on November 7!
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Bonnie Leung
RES Program Support (she/her/hers)
Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES)
University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus | Musqueam Traditional Territory
Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory (AERL Building)
Room 429 – 2202 Main Mall | Vancouver, BC | V6T 1Z4 | Canada
Email: bonnie.leung@ubc.ca
Tel: 604-822-9249
