Theses Defended
Congratulations to the following graduate students who successfully defended their theses:
Natalie Carreau (M.Sc.- September 10, 2007) - The ontogeny of chemically-mediated antipredator responses of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) (Co-supervised by Dr. M. Martinez and Dr. G. Pyle)
Erin Raynard (M.Sc. - September 14, 2007) - The role of phenotypic plasticity in interdemic variation in Barbus neumayeri (Co-supervised by Dr. M. Martinez and Dr. D. Lesbarrères)
Jude Delparte (M.Sc. - September 18, 2007) - Sudden infant deaths (SIDS) and geomagnetic activity: Is there a ‘learned’ component affected by weak physiologically patterned magnetic fields? (Supervised by Dr. M.A. Persinger)
Fred Wilkinson (M.Sc. - October 11, 2007) - Submerged macrophytes establishment and growth on flooded nickel tailings
Vanessa Wall (M.Sc. - October 15, 2007) - Effects of the PYK2 gene on monocyte LPS-dependent signalling (Supervised by Dr. R. Lafrenie)
Seminars
On September 14, Dr. Jim Quinn (McMaster U., Hamilton, ON) presented a seminar entitled "Air pollution induced germ-line mutations following ambient exposure of mice and gulls." Dr. Quinn was co-hosted by Dr. T. Merritt and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Kevin Judge (Ph.D. candidate, University of Toronto) gave a seminar on September 28 entitled "Survival, song and sexual selection in the fall field cricket, Gryllus pennsylvanicus." He was invited by Dr. A. Schulte-Hostedde.
Dr. Josef Hamr (Cambrian College., Sudbury, ON) presented a seminar on October 5 entitled "Population dynamics of elk introduced to the Burwash/French River area ." He was invited by Dr. J. Litzgus.
Dr. Andrew Smith (Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, ON) visited the Department on October 19 and gave a seminar entitled "Explorations of the biodiversity and evolution of scarab beetles in the southern hemisphere." He was invited by Dr. A. Schulte-Hostedde.
Activities
Field Camp 2007
Students of BIOL 4016 (Field Camp and Report) attended a field biology session at Grundy Lake Provincial Park during the first two weeks of September under the guidance of faculty members. Each student then submitted a report based on field camp activities. These reports were compiled into a book.
Please have a look at our poster (pdf) that outlines the areas studied at Field Camp 2007.
Field Camp participants, from left to right:
Bottom row - A. Scanlon, C. Lemire, J. Tsang, S. Castillo, J. Fiorita, E. Wyszynski, E. Vandermarel, Dr. D. Lesbarrères
Middle row - M. Prévost, H. Filion, J. Pillarella J. Wood, B. Ross, L. Cosentino, T. Fenske, S. Hubert, J. Borho, J. Fenske, S. Aitken, E. McLarnon
Top row - M. Shaw, R. King, M. Akelaitis, D. Ferris, C. Laurin, A. Lük (T.A.), A. Kidd (T.A.).
Publications
Lesbarrères D., Schmeller D.S., Primmer C.R. & Merilä J. 2007. Genetic variability predicts common frog (Rana temporaria) size at metamorphosis in the wild. Heredity 99: 41-46.
St-Amour V. & Lesbarrères D. 2007. Detecting Ranavirus in toe clips: an alternative to lethal sampling methods. Conservation Genetics 8: 1247-1250.
Bowman, J., A. Kidd, R. Gorman, and A.I. Schulte-Hostedde. 2007. Evidence for a large impact by feral mink within continental North America. Biological Conservation 139: 12-18
Fairn, E.R., Y. Alarie and A.I. Schulte-Hostedde. 2007. Sexual size and shape dimorphism in Dineutus nigrior Roberts (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae). Coleopterist Bulletin 61: 113-120
Fairn, E.R., Y. Alarie and A.I. Schulte-Hostedde. 2007. Sexual size dimorphism in the diving beetle Laccophilus maculosus Say (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae). Coleopterist Bulletin 61: 409-418.