While the mountain pine beetle has attracted most of the attention from forest managers and researchers over the past several years, research on a different forest pest with a voracious appetite has earned a UNBC student the top prize in a national research competition.
 
Gareth Hopkins has been exploring the feeding preferences of the Warren root collar weevil, which lays its eggs around the base of coniferous trees. When the eggs hatch, the larvae munch around the root collar, killing young trees. It's feared that the weevil's appetite for young trees will thwart reforestation efforts in large areas that have recently been replanted in response to the pine beetle epidemic. Gareth's research demonstrated that the weevil would rather eat pine and Douglas fir than spruce or aspen, implying that planting mixes of these species may help to combat the spread of the weevil. His research, with graduate student Matthew Klingenberg, has been supervised by Brian Aukema, a Natural Resources Canada researcher based at UNBC.
 
Gareth's research won first prize in the "Rising Stars of Research National Undergraduate Research Poster Competition," held at UBC. Almost 500 students applied for participation, but only 90 students – including five from UNBC – were invited to compete. In addition to Gareth's first place finish, fellow UNBC student Eunice Kim, who works with Biochemistry professor Chow Lee, received an honorable mention. Eunice developed a fluorescence-based method to study the activity of a UNBC-discovered enzyme that may help to control the growth of cancer cells.
 
"It's UNBC's small class sizes and great interaction with professors that have provided me with the opportunity to be involved with research," says Gareth, who is from Richmond and is in his fourth year of studies at UNBC, pursuing a joint major in Biology and Wildlife and Fisheries. "Attending UNBC has been a tremendous experience for me, and given me the edge I need to pursue scientific research as a career."
 
"Congratulations to Gareth, Eunice, and the other students who competed recently in Vancouver. Their success is a testimony to UNBC and the faculty who take such pleasure in involving students in research," says Gail Fondahl, UNBC's Vice-President Research. "We're so lucky here to be able to involve undergraduate students in research. It's great for their education but it also helps to pay the bills. Last year, about 500 students were employed from funding provided for research."

Contact:
Rob van Adrichem, Director of Media and Public Relations, UNBC – 250.960.5622 

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