BIO-BULL
January 17,
2003
Welcome to the new year and a
new departmental project. Bio-Bull
was first published in March of 1975 and ran for a year. We're hoping this attempt will have a
longer duration. The resurrection
of this little rag is the idea of Sylvia Foran. A valiant effort was made last
year to start a departmental newsletter again, but met with little
success. During a meeting of the
Collegiality Committee, when suggestions were made for fostering better
relations within the department, the idea was brought up again and unanimously
agreed upon. Unfortunately Sylvia
retired last year and couldn't be part of this start up edition. So this issue is dedicated to Sylvia,
good ideas don't die, they wait until nobody's looking!
This is the first issue and while the subjects covered will
hopefully continue in future issues, the newsletter is not limited to these
only. If you have any ideas,
information about what you or a colleague is doing or an article you would like
to submit please send them to bio-bull@sfu.ca. This issues contributors were Jeff Ball (article), Larry
Dill (article research), Leslie Dodd (editor and articles), Steve Halford
(graphics), Allison Henderson (article), Bruce Leighton (article), Jen Perry
(article) and Derek Steel (layout). LD
...AND A COLLEGIAL TIME WAS HAD BY
ALL
Steve, Alex, Sharon, Bruce, Cheryl,
Leslie
The great success of this year's Christmas party can only
be attributed to the efforts of the many volunteers that made it such a special
event. Thanks to Arne Mooers and
Joline King for organizing the event and for their persuasive recruitment of
volunteers. Ticket sales boomed
with Joanne Finlay in the box-office and thanks go to Jim Mattsson for
arranging the wide choice of refreshments. Sharon Hope, Leslie Dodd, Faith Rapchuk, Tammy McMullan,
Steve Halford and Bridgete Fox get the thanks for the festive decorations. The food was brought by all and made
for delightful stand up
dining. The smoked salmon was
superb and the wine, while only a naðve domestic, amused everyone with its
presumption. The music and
entertainment, organized by Iöigo Novales Flamarique and Joline King, were
artfully performed by the department's impromptu musicians and carolers. The technicians astonished everyone
with their rendition of a traditional carol sung in a remarkable number of keys
and attire, earning the crew pictorial documentation. The professors won't be
giving up their day jobs after joining the action with a special song they had
written. Despite earlier fears
that he would frighten the children, Aaron Wirsing gave credence to the role of
Santa Claus and doled out dozens of presents to young and tenured alike. The evening was kept in motion by the
masterful emcee talents of Norbert Haunerlandƒand a collegial time was had by
all. BL
NEWSWORTHIES
Leah Bendall-Young was named to the Vancouver Sun's
list of 10 Lower-Mainland people to watch in 2003 for her work on the impacts
of shellfish farming on BC shores. (Van. Sun 11/01/03) Dov Lank's research on marbled murrelets
will be featured on the 4th episode of "The Leading Edge"
a Knowledge Network production on research and innovation at BC universities
(The series runs on Tuesdays at 7pm) Bernard Crespi and Stevan Springer have published their research on
social interactions in slime molds in Science (Jan 3rd 2003 issue).
MMB neighbor Bruce Brandhorst was a guest on Rafe Mair's radio show to answer questions
about human cloning (CKNW Jan 9, 2003).
Carl Lowenberger and Doug Wilson will be honored at the SFU Awards Ceremony on Thurs February 6th. Doug won the SFU Excellence in Teaching
Award 2002 and Carl will be recognized as holding the Canadian Research Chair
in Parasitology and Vectors of Disease.
BL
ANY INFO, ARTICLES OR
IDEAS CAN BE SUBMITTED TO bio-bull@sfu.ca
CONFERENCES
PACIFIC
ECOLOGY CONFERENCE
This
annual conference for grad students from western Canada and the US is sponsored
by SFU this year and will be held at Bamfield Marine Station Feb 14-16. Topics include behaviour ecology, population
biology, evolution, conservation, ecology genetics, molecular ecology and
community ecology. This is an excellent opportunity to hear about the current
advances in ecology research and to meet fellow grad students. Apparently, the nightly activities are
a tradition! For more information
check out the website http://www.sfu.ca/~rvosa/PEC/index.html LD
GRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
The Department of Biological Sciences will be hosting the
Graduate Research Symposium. On February 5th, a career seminar will
take place in the Images Theatre 4:00 - 6:30pm. Invited speakers have been asked to share their perspective
on working in their particular field and some of the qualifications their
employers seek in prospective candidates.
Representatives from academia, government, industry and consulting are
expected. A more social atmosphere
will be found at the poster session being held on February 7th, 4:30
Ü 8:30pm in the James Douglas Cafeteria.
Labs are encouraged to create a poster showing faces, names, and
descriptions of the work that their members are involved in. Individuals, new students in
particular, are also encouraged to display posters highlighting their current
project. This is an excellent
opportunity to meet your peers and for everyone to learn more about what
research is being conducted in our department. JB
WHO ARE YOU?
PETER HOLLMANN
Who is that person? Faculty? Staff? Grad Student? Read on my friendsƒthis space is going
to be used to figure out who all these familiar faces wandering the halls are.
Peter Hollmann just started in December filling Nora's shoes as Molecular
Biotechnology and Microbiology Lab Instructor. But if you've been here for more
than three years you may recognize him. But let's start at the beginning. Peter hails from Dawson Creek and came
to the, ehmmm, sunny south to attend U Vic for his undergrad. He studied in Stephen Lee's lab and
although a masters in Biocontrol of Forest Vegetation sounds like a walk
through the woods, Peter is definitely a lab man. During his time here he
discovered two personal truths. To
make ends meet, like most grad students, he became a TA and learned he loved to
teach. He also learned that
the weekly commute to Hope every week wasn't so bad. You see, his wife, Kim, whom he met in U Vic's pub (and he
looks like such a nice guy) has a teaching job in Hope and so every weekend he
made the trip home to be with her and their growing family. After graduating, he became a lab
technician at the University College of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford. When
the position of lab instructor came available at SFU, he saw the opportunity to
take things to a new level and completed a circle. He instructs at a university level now and has taken up his
weekly commute to Hope again. When
he's not working or enjoying his 3 kids, he finds some time to hit the slopes,
skiing, mountain biking or pursuing his newest sport, snowboarding. LD
GRADS, GRADS, GRADS
DEFENDED IN
2002-3:
*Sarah
Bates (PhD - Borden): Post doc at Cornell University Agricultural Research
Station in Geneva, NY
*Laurence
David (MET - Nicholson): At SFU in the MET program.
*Mistianne
Feeney (MPM - Punja): Working in the Punja lab.
*Todd
Gillis (PhD - Tibbits): At the University of Washington School of Medicine.
*Chris Lee
(MSc - Farrell): Writing papers in the Farrell lab.
*Kris Palma
(MSc - Kermode): PhD student at UBC.
*Albert
Ryan Loveridge (MSc - Kennedy): Working in California.
*Tara
Siemens (MET - Kennedy): Working for a risk assessment company.
*Brian
Spears (MSc - Lesack): Now in Scotland.
*Jonathan
Stecyk (MSc - Farrell): Doing his PhD in the Farrell lab.
NEW
STUDENTS IN 2003-1:
*Lillian
Cesh (MET)
*Adela
Danci (MSc - Gries): Worked for Pherotech in Romania.
*Melanie
Hart (MSc - Gries)
*Tyler
Lewis (MSc - Ydenberg)
*Brian Ma
(PhD - Roitberg): MSc from the University of Toronto.
*Claudia
Ratti (MSc - Winston): BSc from an Ontario university
UP-COMING
DEFENCES:
*Alice
Sinia (MPM - Dr. Roitberg) Jan 31st 10am in B9242
Effect
of plant feeding on predation and forage behaviour of Dicyphus hesperus. AH, JP