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Research Sampler
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Research profiles are posted regularly on www.unbc.ca/media.
The site also provides links to news releases, experts, high-resolution
photos, and how to access broadcast-quality video footage.
The bullets at left provide access to just a sample of UNBC research, organized under a few key headings. Search the online database at www.unbc.ca/research for more. |
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The Environment
Across Canada, UNBC is an environmental leader. In fact, according to
the most recent data from Statistics Canada, the proportion of students
in environmental programs at UNBC is about 20-times the national
average. This strong environmental focus is also present at the
research level: of our 13 research chairs, 11 are directly concerned
with environmental issues. Therefore, I’ll start with some
environmental research.
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As of 2006, the mountain pine beetle had devoured 9.2 million hectares of BC forest, making it one of the largest insect infestations in recorded history. In Prince George alone, more than 50,000 dead pine trees have been removed from city-owned land and school grounds – not including the trees removed from private property!
UNBC is located near the epicentre of the beetle’s attack area and is engaged in a variety of research projects related to the insect, what to do with the trees left behind, and how to control it in the future. Here are some examples:
- Forestry professor Kathy Lewis uses tree-ring analysis to precisely date time-of-death to assess the shelf life of trees killed by the pine beetle. Her research has found that most of the blue stain and internal cracking occurs in the first two years after attack. Read more at: www.unbc.ca/media/2006/10_lewis.html.
Kathy Lewis
- Environmental Science & Engineering professor Peter Jackson has used a small net attached to the wing strut of a plane to determine the elevation and flight patterns of pine beetles. He has proven that they can ride air currents up to one kilometre above ground and travel up to 80km in one day. Using computer-generated models of the atmosphere, this research has pinpointed where beetles are most likely to land in the greatest numbers as they cross the Rocky Mountains into Alberta. Read more at: www.unbc.ca/media/2006/10_jackson.html.
Peter Jackson
- Part of understanding the distribution of pine beetles involves genetics. An analogy with human diseases is relevant: new outbreaks are quickly genotyped to determine the strain responsible and how it has spread from previous outbreaks. This information is critical for effective human disease control. In the case of MPB, there is a complete lack of information on the genetic relationship of the current outbreaks in different parts of BC and Alberta. This project will provide information that will lead to insights about the historic relationships of current outbreaks and provide new information about MPB dispersal. To undertake this genotyping, researchers are collecting pine beetles from various sites. These regions will include the current epidemic outbreak in the Central Interior, areas of infestation predating the current outbreak (primarily Southern BC), and newly detected populations in northeastern BC and along the western slope of the Rockies.
Brent Murray
- Entomologist Staffan Lindgren is conducting research this summer aimed at understanding how and why the mountain pine beetle is also able to attack and kill spruce trees. While pine is the most popular tree species in BC, spruce is a close second and any evolution of the pine beetle that potentially makes it fatal to spruce trees is a big concern for the province’s dominant industry.
The
research is assessing whether pine beetles are able to kill healthy spruce
or only those that were on the verge of dying anyway.
Staffan Lindgren (250) 960-5846
lindgren@unbc.ca
- Ecosystem Science and Management professor (and Canada Research Chair) Dezene Huber studies the chemical warfare that exists between insects (like the pine beetle) and plants (like pine trees). He has been studying the chemical interaction between pine trees and beetles to determine a) why the pine beetle also seems to be able to attack some spruce trees and b) whether the pine beetle will adapt to jack pine and possibly spread across Canada’s entire boreal forest. The research may lead to novel treatments that can target the pine beetle’s particular biochemical make-up.
Dezene Huber
- Forestry professor Ian Hartley has been investigating the structural nature of beetle-infected pine to determine novel uses for the wood fibre. One of the research projects has determined that infected trees have excellent potential as an aggregate in concrete, replacing stones/gravel and providing a unique look that may be desirable in various architectural applications. The research has demonstrated no negative effects in the structural quality of the concrete.
Ian Hartley
- Another potential use of beetle wood is in the production of ethanol. This is Environmental Science professor Steve Helle’s expertise. While extracting ethanol from wood is more difficult than extracting it from crops such as corn, wood can produce much more energy. For example, while an acre of corn can produce about 1130 litres of ethanol, an acre of pine trees could produce about 10,000 litres. Helle is exploring different techniques for extracting cellulose that can be converted into sugar and fermented into ethanol. Read more at www.unbc.ca/releases/2007/06_19ethanol.html.
Steven Helle
- Forestry professor Art Fredeen is leading research aiming to determine how the massive beetle-infected forests affect carbon and hence the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Living forests can be incredible carbon sinks, but the scale of the beetle epidemic means that millions of trees are no longer able to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. 50m towers have been erected north of PG and near Mackenzie to gather data related to CO2 levels in the atmosphere, humidity, sunlight, infrared energy, and wind speed/direction to determine the level to which dead forests are sources (as opposed to sinks) of carbon dioxide. The research will also compare the results from standing dead forests to clear-cut areas where salvage logging has taken place. The data collection is beginning this summer and some preliminary results are expected by the fall. Read more at www.unbc.ca/media/2007/07_fredeen.html.
Art Fredeen
Climate Change
It’s common knowledge that around the world, temperatures are rising the fastest at the high latitudes; Canada Research Chair Stephen Déry is determining if that is also true at the high altitudes. Stephen is working at three sites in the Cariboo Mountains northeast of Williams Lake and comparing his results to the old records from Barkerville – some of the oldest (and highest-elevation) weather records in the province. See www.unbc.ca/media/2006/11_dery.html.
Stephen Déry
(250) 960-5193
Researchers from UNBC are involved with a major research program examining the retreat of BC’s glaciers. This summer, they will be placing weather stations on the Lloyd George Icefield northwest of Fort St. John to accurately measure snow accumulation, temperature, and other factors that affect glacial retreat. Researchers have already been analyzing satellite and airplane images and it’s estimated that the glacier (the largest in the Northern Rockies) has lost about 14 metres of its length every year since the mid-1980s. Six other glaciers around BC are part of the study, from the Coast to the Kootenays. Read more at www.unbc.ca/releases/2006/05_23glacier.html.
Brian Menounos
Forestry professor Art Fredeen and grad student Darren Janzen are exploring how partial-cutting (as opposed to clear-cuts) can ensure that forestry activity can be carbon neutral. They are also using their results to develop a model that will allow resource managers to use laser images to monitor carbon stocks without needing to take measurements in the field.
Wind Energy
UNBC is home to the Centre for Wind Energy and the Environment and one of its projects is based in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, near Chetwynd. Led by Biology professor Ken Otter, the research team is using radar and other on-the-ground tracking systems to better understand how migrating birds use the landscape around proposed wind farms; this knowledge will be used to ensure that turbines are placed in locations that will minimize disturbance to important bird migration corridors. See cwee.unbc.ca for more info.
Ken Otter
Fish and Wildlife
The big WAC Bennett Dam in northeastern BC supplies much of BC’s power but it has also altered fish habitat. Biology professor Mark Shrimpton has been leading research using genetics and the mineral/chemical signature from small bones located in the inner ear of fish (specifically, arctic grayling) to assess fish distribution through Williston Lake. They have determined how the flooding of the reservoir has affected habitat in the Upper Peace River watershed.
Mark Shrimpton
There are close to 10,000 animal-related collisions per year in BC, worth about $23 million in claims. In the North alone, about one-quarter of all collisions are with wildlife. UNBC researchers are pairing technology with truckers in an attempt to reduce collisions throughout the Central Interior. Transport trucks are equipped with modified GPS units that allow truckers to record sightings of moose and deer – dead or alive – along the area’s highways. The unit records the precise location, time of day, and date for downloading to a computer where the “hotspots” are mapped. Thousands of sightings have already been mapped and will lead to the development of effective counter-measures. Read more at www.unbc.ca/releases/2006/10_31wildlife.html.
Roy Rea
Laurie Chan, a BC Leadership Chair in Aboriginal Environmental Health, is a world leader in how environmental contaminants affect the health of people (especially First Nations) who consume local food. Laurie was part of an international declaration on mercury pollution, which follows his research on how even very small concentrations of mercury can affect communication between brain cells (read more at www.unbc.ca/media/2007/03_chan.html). He is also leading research on how the sinking of the Queen of the North is affecting the local aboriginal food supply.
Laurie Chan
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Health
With the addition of the Northern Medical Program, a biochemistry and
molecular biology degree, and the expansion of the Nursing program,
UNBC is emerging as a national centre in rural health research.
Cancer
Biochemistry professor Chow Lee is leading a group |
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of student researchers who have made some important cancer discoveries. The group has discovered an enzyme that can prevent the creation of proteins that make cancer cells grow rapidly and be resistant to treatments such as chemotherapy. The group is continuing their research on the topic to see if the successes they’ve already had in the lab can also be applied to real people. Read more at www.unbc.ca/media/2007/01_lee.html.
Chow Lee
Fellow Biochemistry professor Stephen Rader focuses his research on RNA, the important – but largely unknown – partner to DNA. By actually using the genetic code found in DNA to make proteins, RNA is vital to life. It can also be where things go wrong Errors can occur when parts of RNA are “cut” to create new proteins. This splicing activity is the focus of Dr. Rader’s research, which examines the molecular level to understand how splicing actually works. Errors in the splicing process are believed to cause diseases such as cancer and cystic fibrosis. Read more at www.unbc.ca/media/2006/08_rader.html.
Stephen Rader
Rural Nurses
No one knows more about rural nursing in Canada than Martha MacLeod. The long-time UNBC Nursing professor has surveyed thousands of rural nurses across Canada to better understand the nature of nursing practice and how the education system can better prepare nurses for employment in small, rural hospitals and health clinics. For one thing, nurses in rural hospitals have less support and more varied responsibilities than nurses in big, urban hospitals. The research has partly been used to adjust the UNBC curriculum, including a first-in-Canada program for current nurses to gain special certification in rural acute care nursing. Read more about some of Dr. MacLeod's reasearch in UNBC's UPDATE Magazine: www.unbc.ca/update/spring2005/nursing.html, and www.unbc.ca/assets/update/fall2002/fall2002.pdf (PDF).
Martha MacLeod
Health care in northern and rural areas is often as much about geography as it is about science and medical expertise. UNBC researchers used computerized mapping techniques to actually measure the access northern residents have to emergency services. The research found that many communities in northern BC fall far short of provincial standards. In fact, while the BC Ministry of Health aims to have no more than 5% of BC residents more than one hour away from emergency services, 11% of people in northern BC are outside of this ‘golden hour’ benchmark.
Neil Hanlon
If someone is seen to be in pain, how do you react? Psychology professor Ken Prkachin wants to understand how and why people react differently. Why, for example, do some people respond with sympathy and concern when they see someone who has experienced an injury, while others simply say “grin and bear it.” Generally, people underestimate pain in other people. In fact, this underestimation bias actually seems to become stronger among health care professionals. What are the effects of this in health care settings? In this project, researchers are developing a test to measure how sensitive people are to the pain of other people and how different personality characteristics influence this bias.
Ken Prkachin
So is sex good for your well-being, or what? Some UNBC research is looking at the touchy-feely side of casual sex encounters. The rising profile of sexually transmitted diseases has tended to reduce the risks associated with casual sex to physical consequences but what about the emotional risks? Results from a web-based survey indicate that anticipated post-casual sex emotional responses are generally tied to young adults’ underlying motives for casual sex and styles of romantically relating to others. Young adults that are preoccupied with being involved in an intimate relationship and subsequently engage in casual sex for psychological reasons (e.g., to affirm self-worth or experience an intimate connection) seem to be at the greatest risk for experiencing negative emotions following a one-night stand. Alternatively, young adults who devalue intimate relationships and engage in casual sex to avoid such relationships report more positive emotions following a one-night stand. In fact, men placed more importance on building a long-term relationship from casual sex than women. These findings are important in that they show how facets of personality may predispose young adults to endorse certain sexual motivations, and in turn, influence their emotional well-being following a casual sex encounter.
Sherry Beaumont
Give Me a Hand
Right or left? This isn’t a political question; it refers to which hand you prefer. Anthropology professor Richard Lazenby is looking at the bone structures of skeletons to understand precisely when humans developed the preference for one hand over another. Because the preference for handedness is located in a region of the brain that is very close to the part responsible for speech, he thinks the two may be linked. Read more here: www.unbc.ca/media/2006/08_lazenby.html.
Richard Lazenby
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Community Sustainability
The North is a vast part of Canada yet the overwhelming majority of
university research funding is spent in a few metropolitan centres.
UNBC is uniquely positioned to explore the issues that affect Canada’s
heartland.
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There was a time when everyone knew and recognized that the North’s natural resources powered the national economy. Sadly, this isn’t the case anymore. Government policy is increasingly favouring the big cities where most of the people – and most of the voters – now live. As a result, Geography professor Greg Halseth, a Canada Research Chair in rural and small town studies, is keen to enable northern and rural communities to chart their own futures. He conducted research in 40 communities around northern BC to craft a unique, region-wide approach to its future prospects. He found the region’s assets are its resource of wealth, lifestyle, social networks, and regional connectivity. Barriers to development include limited entrepreneurial and leadership capacity, fragile or non-existent governance institutions, limited re-investment, little cooperation between communities, and the general uncertainty facing resource-based communities.
Greg Halseth
For a decade now, many communities in rural Canada are going through the longest period of population decline in their histories. Prince George is only one example. Who’s still in the North? UNBC researchers are providing answers:
- There are fewer international immigrants. Geography professor Catherine Nolin and Greg Halseth are working in various communities in Northern BC to gauge services for immigrants and understand how and why immigrants are increasingly being attracted to metropolitan centres.
- The population is aging. Social Work professor Dawn Hemingway is leading research on the experiences of people who are caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s Disease, how caregivers can be supported by new advances in communications technology, and how an aging population is putting stress on a health care and social service network that is already stretched.
Dawn Hemingway
(250) 960-5694
- The proportion of First Nations is rising. What are their educational needs? How can their languages and cultures be preserved? What health services are most appropriate? UNBC researchers are exploring these and other issues. For example, Health Sciences professor Henry Harder is working with Carrier Sekani Family Services to reduce the incidence of teen suicide among aboriginal youth. Native youth between the ages of 15-30 are 5-6 times more likely to commit suicide than non-Native youth, with Native girls having an 800% higher risk of dying than their non-Native peers.
Henry Harder
Resource Management
For all northerners – Aboriginal or not – the land sustains communities and local economies. UNBC and the Tl’azt’en Nation are partnering in the management of North America’s largest research forest, located near Fort St. James. Research underway is exploring co-management techniques, the resurrection of aboriginal place names, incorporating traditional ecological knowledge into land management practices, cultural ecotourism, and using the research forest as a means of exposing aboriginal youth to the natural sciences.
Many communities are looking to tourism to recover at least some of the jobs that have been lost in the resource sector. These days, so many tourists are packing their house with them. In fact, 1 in 10 Canadian families now owns an RV. Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Management prof Anne Hardy led what is believed to be the biggest study ever undertaken of RVers to assess demographics and tourism expectations. The study involved surveying 900 RVers at Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek during the summer of 2006. In summary, RVers are technologically savvy, they actively seek out RV-friendly destinations, and they’re not affected by rising gasoline prices. Dr. Hardy hopes the research will be a wake-up call for communities to start recognizing the value of RVers to local economies. Read more here: www.unbc.ca/releases/2007/07_25rv.html.
Anne Hardy
(250) 960-5622
Farmers’ markets are of appeal to tourists, but they’re also vital to community-building, local food security, and the economy. So says professor David Connell of the UNBC Environmental Planning program, who studied 28 markets throughout the province and found that they contribute more than $118 million per year to the BC economy. Together with student researchers they surveyed 7100 market customers from Terrace to White Rock. Read more here: www.unbc.ca/releases/2006/11_09markets.html.
David Connell
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