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Master of Science Biology student Portiaa McGonigal gives her winning 3MT presentation in front of a capacity crowd.
Graduate students compete for their share of $6,000
A compelling presentation of a topic all too familiar among Okanagan wine producers clinched the winning spot at last night’s seventh annual UBC Okanagan Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.
Portiaa McGonigal, a master of science biology student, captivated judges and audience members alike with her presentation, “Crown Gall Disease of Grapevine: Investigating Management Strategies and Biological Controls.” She took home first place and the top prize of $3,000.
“It feels so great to have won this amazing competition alongside so many brilliant minds,” says McGonical, a graduate student in the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences. “I was nervous, but the desire to communicate my research was greater than the nerves. It was so incredible to have the chance to share my research with people outside my field and broader community.”
Kelowna’s Innovation Centre was filled to capacity for the event, which saw 11 graduate students explain years of research in just three minutes to a diverse audience.
Interdisciplinary Studies student Meg Yamamoto was awarded second place and $2,000 for her presentation, “Documenting Experiential and Artistic Interpretations for a Local Flora and Fauna Online Archive.”
Abisola Kehinde, a master’s student in biochemistry and molecular biology, was the crowd favourite taking home $1,000 for the alumni UBC People’s Choice Award for her presentation titled, “Developing an Infant Formula from Breadfruit.”
“Getting the alumni UBC People’s Choice Award means so much to me. It’s so encouraging that I was able to communicate my research and people enjoyed it,” says Kehinde. “3MT is simply amazing. It taught me how to slow down and communicate my research effectively.”
As the winner of the 3MT final, McGonigal will travel to this year’s Western Regional 3MT Competition hosted by the University of Alberta on April 21.
From there, the top three presenters will win an opportunity to compete in the national competition, hosted by the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies.
About UBC’s Okanagan campus
UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.
To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca
The post Biology student captures top prize at UBCO 3MT final appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.
Master of Science Biology student Portiaa McGonigal gives her winning 3MT presentation in front of a capacity crowd.
Graduate students compete for their share of $6,000
A compelling presentation of a topic all too familiar among Okanagan wine producers clinched the winning spot at last night’s seventh annual UBC Okanagan Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.
Portiaa McGonigal, a master of science biology student, captivated judges and audience members alike with her presentation, “Crown Gall Disease of Grapevine: Investigating Management Strategies and Biological Controls.” She took home first place and the top prize of $3,000.
“It feels so great to have won this amazing competition alongside so many brilliant minds,” says McGonical, a graduate student in the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences. “I was nervous, but the desire to communicate my research was greater than the nerves. It was so incredible to have the chance to share my research with people outside my field and broader community.”
Kelowna’s Innovation Centre was filled to capacity for the event, which saw 11 graduate students explain years of research in just three minutes to a diverse audience.
Interdisciplinary Studies student Meg Yamamoto was awarded second place and $2,000 for her presentation, “Documenting Experiential and Artistic Interpretations for a Local Flora and Fauna Online Archive.”
Abisola Kehinde, a master’s student in biochemistry and molecular biology, was the crowd favourite taking home $1,000 for the alumni UBC People’s Choice Award for her presentation titled, “Developing an Infant Formula from Breadfruit.”
“Getting the alumni UBC People’s Choice Award means so much to me. It’s so encouraging that I was able to communicate my research and people enjoyed it,” says Kehinde. “3MT is simply amazing. It taught me how to slow down and communicate my research effectively.”
As the winner of the 3MT final, McGonigal will travel to this year’s Western Regional 3MT Competition hosted by the University of Alberta on April 21.
From there, the top three presenters will win an opportunity to compete in the national competition, hosted by the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies.
About UBC’s Okanagan campus
UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.
To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca
The post Biology student captures top prize at UBCO 3MT final appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.
UBCO faculty can speak about why this day is necessary
Professor Alison Conway
English and Cultural Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies
Phone: 250 807 9701
Email: alison.conway@ubc.ca
Research Interests: Woman’s literature; literary and cultural history of the long eighteenth century in Britain; narrative studies; and gender and sexuality theory.
Professor Sue Frohlick
Anthropology, Gender and Women’s Studies
Phone: 250 807 8525
Email: susan.frohlick@ubc.ca
Research Interests: Mobility, subjectivity, space, gender, and sexuality; transnational intimacies; immigration; tourism and travel; youth and youthhood; community-based research; urban and transnational anthropology; heterosexuality; ethnography.
Associate Professor Suzanne Gott
Art History, Creative Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies
Phone: 250 807 9671
Email: suzanne.gott@ubc.ca
Research Interests: Exploring issues of gender, comparative aesthetics, display, and performance; investigating continuities and/or transformations of precolonial art and aesthetics in colonial, postcolonial, and contemporary art and visual culture.
Assistant Professor Heather Latimer
Gender and Women’s Studies
Phone: 250 807 8153
Email: heather.latimer@ubc.ca
Research Interests: Reproductive technologies and politics, especially reproductive futurism; biopolitics; sexuality studies; science and technology studies; feminist new materialism and post-humanism; cultural studies; literature and film.
Associate Professor Ilya Parkins
Gender and Women’s Studies
Phone: 250 807 9625
Email: ilya.parkns@ubc.ca
Research Interests: Feminist theories, especially epistemologies; history and theory of fashion; theories of modernity and early twentieth-century cultural formations; femininities; periodical media.
Associate Professor Margaret Reeves
English and Cultural Studies; Gender and Women’s Studies
Phone: 250 807 9639
Email: margaret.reeves@ubc.ca
Research Interests: Early modern women’s writing; children’s literary cultures (early modern to contemporary); early modern childhood and youth; Milton and early modern political theory; satiric fiction; women’s literature; Medieval and Renaissance studies; 16th- and 17th-century literature; history of the novel; auto/biographical discourse; speculative fiction; feminist and queer theory.
About UBC’s Okanagan campus
UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.
To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca
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UBC Okanagan researcher argues against relying only on charismatic species the like grizzly bear for gauging habitat health.
Menagerie of several species to monitor habitat health offers better conservation outcomes
With habitat loss threatening the extinction of an ever-growing number of species around the world, many wildlife advocates and conservation professionals rely on the proverbial ‘canary in the coal mine’—monitoring and protecting a single representative species—to maintain healthy wildlife biodiversity.
But new research from UBC’s Okanagan campus suggests that habitats are better served if conservation efforts focus on a collection of species rather than a single ‘canary.’
“Efforts around the world are going into countering a decline in biodiversity,” says Adam Ford, study author and Canada Research Chair in Wildlife Restoration Ecology at UBC Okanagan. “While we would love to be able to protect all habitats for all species, organizations tend to focus their efforts on a few species and not everyone shares the same priorities.”
That, he says, is where the idea of surrogate species—or the canary in the coal mine—comes into play. But it’s not without its drawbacks.
“The problem with surrogate species is that people rarely agree on which species that should be,” says Ford. “And there is a tendency to favour charismatic species like grizzly bears and wolves, over lesser-known but equally-important species. These preferences are deeply rooted in cultural norms.”
To address that imbalance in selecting surrogate species, Ford and his team began looking at how to group species together to present a more objective and representative sample of the habitats that need protecting.
By combing through a public dataset of over 1,000 species and 64 habitats in British Columbia, they were able to compare the surrogacy value of each species—a numerical score based on the association of two species through their use of shared habitats.
They found that a mixture of five to 10 game and non-game species offered the best value as surrogates for biodiversity conservation.
“We discovered what we called an ‘all-star’ team of species for each of the province’s nine wildlife management units, as well as an all-star team for the province as a whole,” says Sarah Falconer, graduate student at Laurentian University and study co-author. “Our findings suggest that if we commit to preserving these collections of species rather than just the charismatic megafauna, we’re likely to achieve much better conservation outcomes.”
Ford is quick to point out that the mixture of game and non-game species in their all-star teams mean that seemingly disparate groups, ranging from hunters to bird-watchers to hikers, have a vested interest in working together to protect each of their species for the benefit of all.
“Perhaps we should not be focusing on figuring out which species is the best conservation surrogate, but which groups of species bring the most people together to protect the most biodiversity,” he says.
The study was published recently in the Canadian Journal of Zoology with funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canada Research Chairs program.
About UBC’s Okanagan campus
UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.
To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca
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When wine grapes absorb compounds from smoke, the grapes react by coating the compounds in sugar using their enzymes.
A common agricultural spray may be the key to preventing smoky flavour
It’s a problem plaguing grape-growers worldwide—in an ever-changing climate, how can they protect their crops from the undesirable effects of wildfire smoke exposure.
A recent study by a team of UBC Okanagan researchers has led to the development of a preventative strategy for protecting grapes from volatile phenols—flavoured compounds present in smoke that may be absorbed into ripening grapes and subsequently impact wine flavour.
“It’s definitely one of, if not the, biggest concern wine-making communities are facing today,” says Wesley Zandberg, assistant professor in chemistry at UBC Okanagan and study author.
“When you look at the catastrophic wildfire seasons California and British Columbia have experienced in recent years, and the season Australia is experiencing now, I don’t think a solution can come quickly enough,” he says. “Winemakers are under a lot of pressure to find a way to protect their crops.”
Zandberg and his team tested multiple substances and found that applying an agricultural spray composed of phospholipids—typically used to prevent cracking in cherries—to wine grapes one week before exposing them to simulated forest fire smoke significantly reduced the levels of volatile phenols measured in smoke-exposed grapes at commercial maturity.
“The results are encouraging,” says Zandberg. “This strategy has shown potential in its ability to protect crops.”
According to Zandberg, when wine grapes absorb compounds from smoke, the grapes react by coating the compounds in sugar using their enzymes. This sugar coating masks the smoky odour and taste of volatile phenols until it’s released again by yeast during the fermentation process.
“Many grape-growers don’t have the means to pay to test their crops, so since smoke-taint can’t be reliably detected until grapes are fermented, producers have to wait weeks to know whether their plants are suitable or not,” explains Zandberg. “Meanwhile, costs and risks mount as their crops sit on the vine.”
Zandberg adds that smoke-tainted crops can have a more devastating effect for some wine producers than others.
“A lot of wineries in the Okanagan Valley only use local grapes, so they don’t have the option of purchasing grapes from Washington or Oregon, as they wouldn’t be considered local,” explains Zandberg. “When your whole business model is fermenting what you produce, you’re in big trouble if your grapes are tainted.”
For Zandberg, it’s the people and their livelihoods that keep him determined to find a solution.
“In 2003, the wildfires in Australia cost their wine industry $300 million dollars in lost revenue, and I imagine they’ll experience a similar loss this year, if not more,” he says.
“Our team has developed a strategy that’s proven to be successful, but there’s still a long way to go,” admits Zandberg. “Now, we need to work on replicating and refining these results to alleviate crop losses experienced globally by the wine industry.”
About UBC’s Okanagan campus
UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.
To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca
The post UBC researchers develop strategy to protect wine grapes from smoke-taint appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.
Life Raft Debate makes experts defend their fields to a live audience
What: Life Raft Debate
Who: UBC professors debate their expertise during fictional zombie apocalypse
When: Tuesday, January 14, beginning at 7 p.m.,
Where: Room COM 201, The Commons building, 3297 University Way, UBC Okanagan, Kelowna
For many, the question of who to bring along in order to rebuild human civilization during a zombie apocalypse has gone unanswered for too long. Now, six UBC Okanagan professors, all from different fields of expertise, aim to settle the issue once and for all—or at least until next year—as they prepare for the second annual Life Raft Debate.
For event organizer and chemistry undergraduate student Jesse Lafontaine, the premise of the debate is simple. The audience is the last of humanity to survive a zombie apocalypse and there’s only one seat left in their life raft. Which UBC expert should they pick to join them and why?
“The concept is definitely absurd,” jokes Lafontaine. “But it’s also refreshing and entertaining to hear very accomplished UBC professors explain their expertise and argue how their work would help human civilization recover from such an unlikely disaster.”
Lafontaine adds that the lighthearted nature of the debate is what makes it so compelling while at the same time helps translate complex areas of study into something fun and accessible to everyone.
Stephen McNeil, chemistry professor and Life Raft Debate defending champion, agrees.
“As university professors, we’re used to speaking to students who are already interested in our fields of study,” says McNeil. “Defending the power of chemistry to a room full of people who probably aren’t as passionate as I am about organometallic reaction mechanisms is certainly humbling.”
He adds that offering this unique twist on academic debate is a great way to help people discover how different points of view and areas of expertise each make essential contributions to human society.
“Medicine keeps us healthy. Engineering builds the tools we need to survive. Anthropology understands how other cultures survive and thrive. Art is what makes us human in the first place,” he says. “It’s difficult to defend and advocate for just one.”
Lafontaine is quick to point out that the debate lineup is more than up to the task.
“We have heavy hitters from our campus this year,” says Lafontaine. “They include, among others, the director of the School of Engineering, who is a formidable engineer and researcher; the dean of the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, whose eloquence is unmatched; and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UBCO, who has been in charge of our campus for the last eight years and definitely knows how to win an argument.”
The list of debate participants also includes the role of ‘devil’s advocate’, whose job is to argue that none of the experts deserve a spot on the life raft.
While the topic may be lighthearted, Lafontaine says the debate is classically structured and the participants will make their arguments in earnest, with the audience voting on the winner.
McNeil is returning to defend his title. The key, he says, is communicating to as broad an audience as possible.
“I’ve been interested in science outreach for a long time,” he says. “But even with that experience, distilling the accomplishments and capabilities of the whole field of chemistry into a five-minute defense is no easy task.”
“My winning argument was that, as a chemist, I know how to take simple molecules and manipulate them into creating something new, like penicillin or steel. But now that we not only need to rebuild civilization but also survive a zombie hoard, I may need to up my game this year.”
The Life Raft Debate takes place on January 14, at 7 p.m. in the Commons lecture theatre at UBC Okanagan. The event is free and open to the public but registration is required at: https://students.ok.ubc.ca/life-raft-debate/
About UBC’s Okanagan campus
UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in 2005 in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose territory the campus resides. As part of UBC—ranked among the world’s top 20 public universities—the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley.
To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca
The post Make-believe zombie apocalypse puts UBC professors to the test appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.
Image credit: iStock
Meaningful social connections are key
It may be the season of sleigh rides, jingle bells and stunning holiday light displays, but stress can also accompany the holiday cheer.
Derrick Wirtz is a senior psychology instructor, director of the PhD program in psychological science and a happiness researcher at UBC’s Okanagan campus. He says overloaded schedules and over-limit credit cards can make this time of year more stressful than joyful for many.
To help navigate some common stress triggers, Wirtz shares his tips for boosting happiness and staying positive this holiday season.
Make the holidays about people
While exchanging gifts is often a happy holiday tradition, Wirtz says it’s important to remember that it’s not material items that make us happy.
“When we look at people who report high levels of happiness, research shows that 94 per cent of them have fulfilling social relationships,” explains Wirtz. “These deep connections to the ones we love are why we spend hours shopping and planning to try and find the perfect gifts—we feel it’s important to express our gratitude and show how much we care.”
Ironically, the stress we put on ourselves to find these perfect gifts can actually come at a cost to these cherished relationships.
“While we’re waiting in never-ending lines at department stores, and scouring the web for ideas, we’re missing out on rewarding social relationships,” he says. “The holidays are about spending time with loved ones and making memories—not what’s under the tree—the best thing you can give someone is your time.”
Savour the moment
While there can be numerous stressors over the holiday season, Wirtz says taking a few moments to reflect on what’s gone well—the positive moments—can help us to stay resilient when we’re feeling stressed about things like overspending and overindulging.
“Savouring positive moments helps us to focus more of our attention on what makes us happy,” explains Wirtz. “One of the best ways to savour is to share our joys with friends, family and acquaintances.”
Wirtz suggests that spending time with others increases positive feelings while decreasing negative ones.
“Sharing these positive experiences with others intensifies and prolongs them, buffering us from the negative effects of holiday stress,” he says.
Manage your expectations
Many people strive for perfection at the holidays, but Wirtz stresses that imperfect is okay and often makes for the best memories.
“I think we all have this image in our heads of what our holidays should be,” he says. “The perfect holiday party, the perfect presents, the perfect experience for our children, the perfect turkey dinner—we put a lot of unnecessary pressure on ourselves.”
Instead, Wirtz suggests showing ourselves compassion by appreciating that doing our best is enough.
“Remember to be kind to yourself at the holidays,” says Wirtz. “No one is going to remember if the turkey was a bit dry, or there was mismatching glassware at the dinner party—nobody’s perfect, and reminding ourselves of this fact can help us to feel happier and be less critical towards ourselves.”
Practice self-care
“The holidays are a hectic time and if we don’t take a moment to care for ourselves, there’s a higher chance we will become overwhelmed,” says Wirtz.
He adds that people often overlook themselves during this time of giving. While doing things for others is certainly beneficial to mental wellbeing, he says that people shouldn’t forget to be kind to themselves and to find the right balance.
“Take a walk in nature, make time for your preferred physical activity, practice mindfulness – find an activity that relaxes you and make time for it.”
About UBC’s Okanagan campus
UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world.
To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca
The post UBC happiness expert gives tips for a more joyous holiday appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.
Associate Professor of History Brigitte Le Normand is the academic director of UBCO’s public humanities hub.
Researchers bring reasoning into scientific, often polarizing, issues
In an era when divisions in society seem more prevalent than ever, two UBC humanities professors are using the power of arts, history and philosophy to build bridges and address the world’s most pressing issues.
UBC is putting a spotlight on the human side of research through the creation of a public humanities hub on both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. Associate Professor Brigitte Le Normand, director of the Okanagan hub, says this initiative is designed to bring the university’s brightest thinkers from the humanities together to explore emerging public policy questions.
“We’re faced with a number of critical problems and we have a tendency to turn to scientists and engineers for the answer,” says Le Normand. “Technology certainly has a lot to contribute, but humanists can step in by asking how can we even frame the problems in the first place and how does that shape the solutions we develop.”
Le Normand, a history professor, says research from the Public Humanities Hub will be interdisciplinary, bridging connections in faculties across both campuses. While it supports UBC’s research culture it will also publicize and organize humanities research and amplify the work of humanists on the Okanagan campus.
Adding critical thinking and reasonable voices to those solutions is part of the humanities mandate, says Greg Garrard, a professor of environmental humanities at UBCO. There is a need for different voices when it comes to research and problem solving, he says. Sometimes adding a humanist voice to the conversation can help change hearts and minds on issues that can polarize society.
“We might turn to technology to solve our issues but it may be that technological solutions are not the best for addressing the problem,” says Garrard. “Perhaps the problem is bigger than that and you need to find an opening for other kinds of conversation. This is a great example of where humanists can step in and change the terms of the discussion.”
While there are specific pillars of interest the hub will focus on—medical ethics, the environment, digital humanities and public history—both Garrard and Le Normand cite several examples of everyday situations where humanities can play a significant role in scientific conversations and resolutions including medically assisted death, justice by social media and climate change.
“One of the biggest challenges of our day is the climate emergency,” she says. “It’s polarizing and that very polarization prevents us from addressing problems. If you can step around that inherent conflict, you can change the very terms of the conversation. Suddenly the doors open for a productive conversation that didn’t previously exist.”
Over the next year, the Okanagan public humanities hub will host a speaker series, inviting the public to learn from experts about a number of topics. There are also plans for a conference in July where the researchers will highlight some of the work taking place at UBC. More information about the hub can be found at: public-humanities.cms.ok.ubc.ca
About UBC’s Okanagan campus
UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning in the heart of British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. Ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world, UBC is home to bold thinking and discoveries that make a difference. Established in 2005, the Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world.
To find out more, visit: ok.ubc.ca
The post Use the humanities to bridge cultural divisions, say UBC profs appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.
Both Kelowna ridings represented at on-campus event
What: Federal election meet and greet
Who: Candidates in Kelowna-Lake Country and Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola ridings
When: Friday, October 18, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Where: Fipke Centre foyer, 3247 University Way, UBC Okanagan
UBC Okanagan’s department of economics, philosophy and political science has organized a meet and greet for candidates and voters in the upcoming federal election.
The event will provide a venue for students and residents of the region to meet with the people running for the position of Member of Parliament in the ridings of Kelowna-Lake Country and Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola.
Guests are welcome to meet with candidates, ask questions and learn about the candidates’ backgrounds and their visions for the future of the region and Canada.
Hosted by Maxime Héroux-Legault and Halina Sapeha, assistant professors of political science, the event is non-partisan and includes candidates from all major parties.
The event is free and open to the public. Light snacks will be available.