Science Archives | Research & Innovation /research/tag/science/ Wed, 29 Jan 2025 19:57:50 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Explore health research Friday, from elite athletes to impacts of oil and gas /research/2014/03/06/explore-health-research-friday-from-elite-athletes-to-impacts-of-oil-and-gas-2/ Thu, 06 Mar 2014 10:00:00 +0000 /researchdev/2014/03/06/explore-health-research-friday-from-elite-athletes-to-impacts-of-oil-and-gas-2/ Explore health, environmental studies and science based-research at a celebration highlighting Healthy Individuals, Healthy Communities and Global Health. The celebration is being co-hosted by three of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculties and Glendon College, in collaboration with the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation Friday, March 7. The event will highlight the research of five 91亚色 scholars, […]

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Explore health, environmental studies and science based-research at a celebration highlighting Healthy Individuals, Healthy Communities and Global Health. The celebration is being co-hosted by three of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculties and Glendon College, in collaboration with the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation Friday, March 7.

Robert Hache

Robert Hache

The event will highlight the research of five 91亚色 scholars, on topics ranging from healthy aged-care in long-term care settings to how human security provided a chart for assessing the impacts of oil and gas development in the northwestern Canadian Arctic. It will also delve into what elite athletes can tell us about maximizing health and changes in long-term care witnessed in Ontario over the years and more.

鈥淭丑别 Healthy Individuals, Healthy Communities and Global Health celebration highlights the range and diversity of health research at 91亚色 and its connections to other disciplines including science and environmental studies research. It also gives a glimpse into the health research taking place on both the Keele and Glendon campuses,鈥 said Robert Hach茅, vice-president research & innovation. 鈥淎ll 91亚色 students, staff and faculty are invited to attend.鈥

The celebration will take place from 2 to 4pm in the Life Sciences Building Lobby.听The event will feature mini-research byte presentations followed by Q&As from the audience.

Featured presenters will include: Professor Joe Baker of the School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health; Professor Dawn Bazely of the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, who is also the director of the Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability; Professor Martin Bunch, associate dean research of the Faculty of Environmental Studies; Professor Tamara Daly of the School of Health Policy & Management, Faculty of Health; and Professor Guy Bernard Proulx, CIHR Research Chair in Gender, Work and Health, of the Department of Psychology, Glendon College.

The event will be available for .

Martin Bunch

Martin Bunch: Ecohealth: Using complexity science to inform an adaptive ecosystem approach to environment and health in informal settlements in Chennai, India
Informal settlements (鈥渟lums鈥 in Asian and United Nations parlance) are characterized by extremely poor living conditions. They are located on marginal and often dangerous sites; lack urban amenities; housing is dense and substandard; residents almost always lack tenure and are subject to eviction; and they are the location of poor, vulnerable and marginalized populations. Unfortunately, attempts to address problems of slums demonstrate that slum settlements are resilient and resistant to change. 听In May 2004 a Canadian and Indian project team began working with NGOs and two community partners to explore the efficacy of applying an adaptive ecosystem approach, which draws upon complexity theory and resilience thinking, to environment and health in those communities. Bunch will discuss how the perspective of complexity and self-organization helped to understand why these communities can be so perversely resilient, and identify key relationships and processes that should be either undermined or promoted to encourage this social-ecological system to evolve to more desirable configurations.

Tamara Daly

Tamara Daly

Tamara Daly: Healthy Public Policy for Living and Working in Long-term Care
Daly will discuss how an ethos of care must inform public debate about healthy aged care, drawing on her local and international research in long-term care settings. She will highlight some challenges in long-term care settings and raise questions about how to create healthy care communities that include a focus on the needs of residents, families and workers.

Dawn Bazely

Dawn Bazely

Dawn Bazely: Navigating the waters of transdisciplinarity and interdisciplinary collaboration
Bazely鈥檚 presentation will explore how human security provided a chart for assessing the impacts of oil and gas development in the northwestern Canadian Arctic. 听She will also discuss how human security has provided a map for supporting local peoples,听both in Canada听and elsewhere in the world, who are facing the consequences of climate change. Her presentation will briefly highlight the lessons learned and exported from the IPY GAPS project: International Polar Year, Gas, Arctic Peoples and Security (2006-11).

Joe Baker

Joe Baker

Joe Baker: Optimal function and optimal health: What elite athletes can tell us about maximizing health
Elite athletes can inform our understanding of the limits of human potential, which may have particular relevance for older adults. Masters athletes typically show exceptional maintenance of cognitive and physical function compared to the normal aging population and challenge our notions of what older adults are capable of doing.

Guy Proulx

Guy Proulx

Guy Proulx: 听The Shifting Borders of Cognitive Aging
The field of cognitive aging is changing rapidly. Half of Canadians born in 2012 can expect to live to 100 years and the hope is that their 鈥渉ealth expectancy鈥 could be as long. The presentation will contrast changes in long term care witnessed in Ontario the last decades and the need for more applied research addressing the wide variability within the normal aging population.

Please .

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91亚色 Senate approves the University's new strategic research plan /research/2013/05/02/york-senate-approves-the-universitys-new-strategic-research-plan-2/ Thu, 02 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000 /researchdev/2013/05/02/york-senate-approves-the-universitys-new-strategic-research-plan-2/ After听eight months of consultation with the community, as well as internal and external research partners, the 91亚色 Senate has unanimously approved the University鈥檚 new strategic research plan, "Building on Strength". 鈥91亚色鈥檚 new strategic research plan commits to building research on our strengths and provides a strong aspirational vision for the development and recognition of 91亚色鈥檚 […]

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After听eight months of consultation with the community, as well as internal and external research partners, the 91亚色 Senate has unanimously approved the University鈥檚 new strategic research plan, "Building on Strength".

鈥91亚色鈥檚 new strategic research plan commits to building research on our strengths and provides a strong aspirational vision for the development and recognition of 91亚色鈥檚 research over the next five years,鈥 said Robert Hach茅, vice-president research & innovation.听 鈥淚 would like to thank the entire 91亚色 community for your positive response to the consultation process and earnest engagement that made such important contributions to the development of the plan.听 We will continue to invest in the growth and development of our research as a foundational part of our efforts to grow our academic reputation as a recognized leading research-intensive university.鈥

RobertHacheRobert Hach茅

The plan supports the University鈥檚 research vision to better understand the human condition and the world around us and to employ the knowledge gained in the service of society as described in six intersecting themes:

  • advancing fundamental discovery and critical knowledge,
  • analyzing cultures and mobilizing creativity,
  • building healthy lives and communities,
  • exploring the frontiers of science and technology,
  • forging a just and sustainable world,
  • integrating entrepreneurial innovation and the public good.

The plan also articulates five areas of opportunities that complement past accomplishments, new developments, momentum and timing to provide particular opportunities for building research success.听 They include:

  • digital cultures,
  • engineering research that matters,
  • healthy individuals, healthy communities and global health,
  • public engagement for a just and sustainable world, and
  • scholarship of socially engaged research.

Through this plan, the University is implementing the objectives set out for research in both the University Academic Plan and the Provost鈥檚 2010 white paper, which identify research intensification as a key University goal and recognize research as a core endeavor that broadly enriches the institution. The plan is meant to be a living document, responsive to the University's successes, as well as being sensitive to a rapidly evolving landscape.

Through a strategic combination of broadly based and focused investments over the course of the next five years, 91亚色 will continue its impressive development as a leading Canadian research university whose scholarship enhances our culture and improves society.

To view the full plan, click .

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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Gairdner lecturers present leading research to GTA students /research/2012/11/26/gairdner-lecturers-present-leading-research-to-gta-students-2/ Mon, 26 Nov 2012 10:00:00 +0000 /researchdev/2012/11/26/gairdner-lecturers-present-leading-research-to-gta-students-2/ More than 200 local high school science students visited 91亚色鈥檚 Keele campus this fall to attend a lecture delivered听by two award-winning scientists as part of the Gairdner Foundation High School Outreach Program. Accompanied by their teachers, the students listened to two leading scientists听discuss their research,听potential discoveries and why they chose a career in science. This […]

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More than 200 local high school science students visited 91亚色鈥檚 Keele campus this fall to attend a lecture delivered听by two award-winning scientists as part of the Gairdner Foundation High School Outreach Program. Accompanied by their teachers, the students listened to two leading scientists听discuss their research,听potential discoveries and why they chose a career in science.

This year's lecturers were Professor听Michael Rosbash, 2012 Canada Gairdner International Award Recipient, andProfessor Cheryl Arrowsmith, Canada Research Chair in Structural Proteomics and a member of the Gairdner Awards Medical Review Panel.听

Michael Rosbash

Rosbash, a researcher with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and professor in the听Department of Biology at听Brandeis University in听Waltham, MA, has pursued two fields of research: studies concerning the metabolism and processing of RNA, and the molecular basis of circadian rhythms.

It is听his work delving into circadian rhythms 鈥撎齮he built-in 24-hour biological clock that regulates sleep and wakefulness, activity and rest, hormone levels, body temperature and other important functions 鈥撎齠or which he received the Canada Gairdner International award, along with his colleagues听Brandeis University Professors Jeffrey Hall and Michael Young. Rosbash's discoveries could lead to the development of drugs to treat insomnia, jet lag and other sleep disorders.

Rosbash encouraged students to听pursue science as a career, but also told them of the importance of finding balance in their pursuits. 鈥淪cience, and life in general, is balancing means and ends. Like lab experiments, life is not about the outcome, but about the journey and process of discovery. Find something you love and you will be much better for it, 鈥 he said.

Arrowsmith, a professor and researcher in the Department of Medical Biophysics in the听Faculty of Medicine at the听University of Toronto, is head of the Arrowsmith Lab and the senior scientist in the Division of Molecular & Structural Biology, Ontario Cancer Institute and at the (SGC), a not-for-profit, public-private partnership. 鈥淪cience is a highly rewarding team effort. Be passionate about your research, share your data with others and you鈥檒l see the world,鈥 Arrowsmith told students.

Cheryl Arrowsmith

As part of her lecture, she demonstrated a portion of her work with the SGC which creates 3D models of proteins that represent potential drug targets. Knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of proteins involved enhances our understanding of the molecular basis of cancer and pharmaceutical agents that could impede disease processes. Arrowsmith encouraged students to 鈥減lay鈥 with the structures as they are all available online at the website.

Following the lecture, many of the high school groups stayed on campus for a presentation by 91亚色鈥檚 recruitment officers. Students also took tours of campus guided by 91亚色 Student Ambassadors and remained on campus for lunch.听Participants were encouraged to fill out reply cards to be kept up-to-date about admission events.

The lecture, which took place Oct. 24, is part of an annual event that brings high school science students to the Keele campus to hear lectures delivered by the world's top scientists and medical researchers.

Visit the website to learn more about the foundation, its work and awards.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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91亚色 prof president of Royal Canadian Institute /research/2012/05/09/york-prof-president-of-royal-canadian-institute-2/ Wed, 09 May 2012 08:00:00 +0000 /researchdev/2012/05/09/york-prof-president-of-royal-canadian-institute-2/ University Professor Emeritus Ronald Pearlman of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science & Engineering has been named president of the prestigious Royal Canadian Institute (RCI) for the Advancement of Science. Pearlman, currently first-vice-president of the RCI, is the director of 91亚色鈥檚 Core Molecular Biology/DNA Sequencing Facility and former dean and associate dean of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Graduate […]

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University Professor Emeritus Ronald Pearlman of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science & Engineering has been named president of the prestigious Royal Canadian Institute (RCI) for the Advancement of Science.

Pearlman, currently first-vice-president of the RCI, is the director of 91亚色鈥檚 Core Molecular Biology/DNA Sequencing Facility and former dean and associate dean of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Graduate Studies. He will be formally inducted at the institute鈥檚 Annual General Meeting on Thursday, May 10.

Ron Pearlman

The is the oldest scientific society in Canada, founded in Toronto in 1849 by a small group of civil engineers and surveyors led by Sir Sandford Fleming. Its mission is to enhance public awareness about science, and听it is best known for its free public lecture series held on Sunday afternoons in the fall and winter on the University of Toronto campus, and similar free lectures on Thursdays at the Mississauga Public Library.

鈥淚鈥檓 grateful to have this opportunity to lead an organization with such an important mission,鈥 Pearlman says. 鈥淪cience impacts our lives on a daily basis, and in all areas. We need to have a science-literate population, and in a civil society we need a vibrant science culture.鈥

As president, Pearlman will continue to build on public outreach initiatives, such as making public lectures available via webcasts produced by 91亚色. Recent lectures have included top scientists like the University of Toronto鈥檚 Shana O. Kelley discussing the latest nanotech tools for diagnosing disease, and 91亚色鈥檚 own Ellen Bialystok on reshaping the brain through bilingualism. For a full list of lectures available online, click here.

鈥淥n behalf of the 91亚色 research community, I would like to congratulate Dr. Ron Pearlman, University Professor Emeritus of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science & Engineering, on his appointment as president of the Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science,鈥 says Robert Hach茅, 91亚色鈥檚 vice-president research & innovation. 鈥淎s a leading expert in the field of genomics, with a long-standing successful career, Ron has worked to advance scientific research on an international scale and has been a phenomenal ambassador for 91亚色 research. This prestigious appointment is well deserved.鈥

Pearlman was recently recognized with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his outstanding contributions to the RCI, and his support of science culture and literacy in Canada. In addition to his role at 91亚色, he is also associate scientific director of the Gairdner Foundation and co-ordinates its student outreach program. His research interests include molecular biology and biochemistry, cell biology and genetics utilizing the new genomic and proteomic technologies.

The RCI and 91亚色 are also among the sponsors of the upcoming , an annual cross-country event that brings science and technology face to face with the Canadian public in a non-intimidating, festival atmosphere at many academic institutions as well as in public spaces.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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91亚色's rover team finishes second in Mars challenge /research/2011/06/07/york-universitys-rover-team-finishes-second-in-mars-challenge-2/ Tue, 07 Jun 2011 08:00:00 +0000 /researchdev/2011/06/07/york-universitys-rover-team-finishes-second-in-mars-challenge-2/ The 91亚色 Rover Team 鈥 just call them YURTs 鈥 maintained their record of excellence at the international University Rover Challenge (URC) on the weekend, finishing in second place to a team from Poland in the hot deserts of Utah. (CBC also covered the team's success). Above: Members of the 91亚色 Rover Team […]

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The 鈥 just call them YURTs 鈥 maintained their record of excellence at the international (URC) on the weekend, finishing in second place to a team from Poland in the hot deserts of Utah. ( also covered the team's success).

Above: Members of the 91亚色 Rover Team pose for a group photo in the cool of the evening at the Mars Research Station, Hanksville, Utah

91亚色 first entered the challenge, sponsored by TASC (The Analytic Sciences Corporation) Inc., four years ago and has finished in the top three every year, including a first-place finish in 2009. The challenge: "Design and build the next generation of Mars rovers that will one day work alongside human explorers in the field."

Above: EVE travels the hostile clime of the Utah desert

The closest race came between the second and third place teams, and Oregon State University, who were separated by only 16 points.听 All together, the top three teams of 2011 were the same top three from 2010, but with different results.

鈥淭丑别 level of sophistication shown by these teams was overwhelming,鈥 remarked URC director Kevin Sloan.听 鈥淭丑别se teams poured themselves into their rover projects over the past year, and it clearly showed.听 The level of competition was taken to an entirely new level this year.鈥

Above: EVE (Enhanced Vehicle Explorer)

The 91亚色 team left Toronto with its EVE (Enhanced Vehicle Explorer) on May 27 and drove for three days to Hanksville, Utah, arriving early to ensure they could put in some field test time in the environment.

鈥淭丑别 past few days have been intense with emotional highs and lows,鈥 said team member Shailja Sahani. 鈥淓very team member has been putting in at least 20-hour days to make the competition a success, with some sleeping only five hours in the last three days.

鈥淓veryone came together as a team with no prodding from the leadership; they simply picked up tools and got to work. Although we were well prepared before the competition, the desert environment and harsh operating conditions required many last-minute repairs and alterations.

"Our success came from our ability to fix the rover in situ and get back to the task, while other teams were left stranded,鈥 said team member Jordan Bailey.

Bailey, one of two students responsible for the team's finances and marketing, told CBC News he thinks the current rover is the team's "best one yet." Last year, the team faced multiple equipment failures as a result of the record temperatures, which soared to 38 C in the shade. This year's model has a more robust suspension, a finer control system and better temperature regulation than its predecessor, Bailey said.

Above: Jordan Bailey & Isaac DeSouza work into the night to get EVE ready

The rover cost about $13,000 to build, slightly below the $15,000 maximum allowed. The YURT is sponsored by 91亚色, and . The faculty advisers from 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering were Professor Michael Daly and Professor . The engineering adviser was graduate student Mark Post.

The participants included three teams from Poland, three from the United States and two from Canada. By the end of the competition, one team from each country had placed in the top three.听 The Magma2 team from the Bialystok University of Technology in Poland pulled away from the other two teams to an impressive victory.

Magma2 was the first European team to win URC.听 They also were the first team to ever deploy an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as part of the competition.

For more information, visit听the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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91亚色 participating in Science Rendezvous festival in Markham May 6-8 /research/2011/05/04/york-university-takes-part-in-science-rendezvous-festival-in-markham-may-6-8-2/ Wed, 04 May 2011 08:00:00 +0000 /researchdev/2011/05/04/york-university-takes-part-in-science-rendezvous-festival-in-markham-may-6-8-2/ Have you ever wanted to make a DNA banana necklace, watch a robot chasing light or attempt to walk on water? Asked 91亚色Region.com May 2: Science Rendezvous, Ontario鈥檚 largest public science festival, returns to Markham Village next Saturday, with the goal of making science more accessible. 鈥淭his is bringing science to the community as opposed […]

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Have you ever wanted to make a DNA banana necklace, watch a robot chasing light or attempt to walk on water? Asked :

, Ontario鈥檚 largest public science festival, returns to Markham Village next Saturday, with the goal of making science more accessible.

鈥淭his is bringing science to the community as opposed to having the community come to a hospital or university site,鈥 said Corinne Sperling, outreach manager for the Faculty of Science & Engineering at 91亚色.

The Markham Village BIA co-organizes the event and pays for the bulk of the cost, but the University and the Town of Markham鈥檚 economic development department contribute as well.

For some people, science is intimidating, Ms Sperling said. 鈥淲e want to be engaging, interactive." The event caters to all ages.

. . .

Science Rendezvous will share space with the official grand opening of Main Street Markham Farmers Market. You听can听do your Saturday local produce and prepared foods market shopping while enjoying the science entertainment. The opening begins at 11 a.m. The event will also feature live entertainment and a barbecue.

Science Rendezvous runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 132 Robinson St. at Main Street North, two lights north of Hwy. 7. The Photovore Maze Race is 1 to 3 p.m. at Markham Sylvan Learning Centre at 96 Main Street N. (Lower Level).

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

 

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91亚色 partners with life science trade mission to Israel /research/2011/03/21/york-partners-with-life-science-trade-mission-to-israel-2/ Mon, 21 Mar 2011 08:00:00 +0000 /researchdev/2011/03/21/york-partners-with-life-science-trade-mission-to-israel-2/ Members of Markham council will go on a trade mission to Israel to participate in the Israel Life Science Industry Biomed conference in Tel Aviv, May 20 to 29, wrote 91亚色Region.com March 17: The May business mission is a partnership between the Town of Markham, the Regional Municipality of 91亚色, 91亚色 and Miller Thomson […]

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Members of Markham council will go on a trade mission to Israel to participate in the Israel Life Science Industry Biomed conference in Tel Aviv, May 20 to 29, wrote :

The May business mission is a partnership between the Town of Markham, the Regional Municipality of 91亚色, 91亚色 and Miller Thomson LLP. It will focus on positioning the Markham Convergence Centre as the launching pad for graduates of Israel's technological incubators seeking to enter the North American market.

Strategically located in 91亚色 Region, (IY) is the between 91亚色 researchers and their applied research partners who will collaboratively grow their ideas and introduce new products and services to the marketplace.

Part of the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, IY is primarily based in the .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile , 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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November is Research Month: 91亚色 celebrates with a series of events /research/2010/10/28/york-celebrates-research-with-a-month-of-events-2/ Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:00:00 +0000 /researchdev/2010/10/28/york-celebrates-research-with-a-month-of-events-2/ Research Month celebrates the achievements and diversity of 91亚色鈥檚 research community. Throughout November, the Vari Hall Rotunda will play host to displays and demonstrations featuring our faculty and graduate researchers. Drop by between 10 am and 2 pm each Wednesday to learn what 91亚色's researchers are doing. The Research Month index on 91亚色's Research […]

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Research Month celebrates the achievements and diversity of 91亚色鈥檚 research community.

Throughout November, the Vari Hall Rotunda will play host to displays and demonstrations featuring our faculty and graduate researchers. Drop by between 10 am and 2 pm each Wednesday to learn what 91亚色's researchers are doing.

The Research Month index on 91亚色's Research website contains complete information about the researchers, research centres and research support groups participating in the event.

Social sciences and humanities research 鈥 Nov. 3

Confirmed participants include:

Science and engineering research 鈥 Nov. 10

Confirmed participants include:

Health research 鈥 Nov.17

Confirmed participants include:

Fine and performing arts research 鈥 Nov. 24

Confirmed participants include:

Want to participate?

Do you have completed works, prototypes, technology, or works in progress that you could demonstrate? Do you have graduate/undergraduate students working with you who could assist and help talk about the work? If you have other ideas, we would love to hear about them.

Interested faculty members or research centres should contact Elizabeth Monier-Williams in the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation at ext. 21069 or eamw@yorku.ca. Please note that space is limited and allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Other research-related events

These research-related events will also be running in November:

  • Nov. 6 鈥 , featuring Professor Poonam Puri听from听Osgoode Hall Law School and Professor Steven Gaetz听from the Faculty of Education among other speakers.
  • Nov. 10 鈥 Toward a Behavioral Neuroscience of Parenting, sponsored by the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Health.
  • Nov. 24 & 25 鈥 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (by invitation only).
  • Nov. 26 鈥 Campus visit from Suzanne Fortier, president of the .
  • Nov. 30 鈥 Campus visit from David Malone, president of .

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer

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Institute for Science & Technology Studies launches inaugural lecture series today /research/2010/09/30/naomi-oreskes-author-of-the-emmerchants-of-doubtem-to-lecture-at-york-today-2/ Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000 /researchdev/2010/09/30/naomi-oreskes-author-of-the-emmerchants-of-doubtem-to-lecture-at-york-today-2/ Considered to be one of the world鈥檚 leading historians of science, University of California, San Diego history and science studies Professor Naomi Oreskes will be at 91亚色 today to deliver a special lecture听at 12:30pm in 320 Bethune College (The Delaney Gallery) on 91亚色鈥檚 Keele campus. Left: Naomi Oreskes Oreskes, who is听an adjunct professor of […]

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Considered to be one of the world鈥檚 leading historians of science, University of California, San Diego history and science studies Professor Naomi Oreskes will be at 91亚色 today to deliver a special lecture听at 12:30pm in 320 Bethune College (The Delaney Gallery) on 91亚色鈥檚 Keele campus.

Left: Naomi Oreskes

Oreskes, who is听an adjunct professor of geosciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and provost of Sixth College at UC San Diego, began her career as an exploration geologist working in the mining industry in the Australian outback. For the past 20 years, she has studied the process of consensus and dissent in science.

The central questions that inform her research are: How do scientists decide when a fact is established? How do they judge how much evidence is sufficient to deem something scientifically demonstrated? And what happens when scientists can鈥檛 agree?

Oreskes will be at 91亚色 to talk about her new book,听Merchants of Doubt (Bloomsbury Press, 2010).

In the book, Oreskes and her co-author Erik Conway, an historian of science affiliated with the California Institute of Technology, explore how a loose-knit group of high-level scientists, with extensive political connections, ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades.

In seven chapters addressing tobacco, acid rain, the ozone hole, global warming and DDT, Oreskes and Conway roll back the rug on this dark corner of the American scientific community, showing how the ideology of free market fundamentalism, aided by a compliant media, has skewed public understanding of the most pressing issues of our era.

Oreskes鈥 lecture marks the official launch of 91亚色鈥檚 new Institute for Science & Technology Studies.听The institute, which launches today, was created to be a focal point for science听and technology studies in Canada. Science听& Technology Studies is听a burgeoning field not only in Canada, but also the world, as scholars in humanities and social studies develop increasingly sophisticated intellectual and methodological tools for engaging with techno-scientific knowledge, practice and artifacts.

For more on the new institute, visit the Science & Technology Studies website.

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91亚色 opens Sherman Health Science Research Centre, specializing in neuroscience, kinesiology and psychology research /research/2010/09/15/new-sherman-centre-is-a-powerplay-of-research-excellence-2/ Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000 /researchdev/2010/09/15/new-sherman-centre-is-a-powerplay-of-research-excellence-2/ Originally the site of some of 91亚色鈥檚听most memorable听hockey moments and reputed to have the best arena ice in the province, the former 91亚色 Ice Arena, known as听the Ice Palace,听is now home to a new kind of dream team. The Keele campus building's transformation from a听hockey rink into an innovative new health science research centre […]

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Originally the site of some of 91亚色鈥檚听most memorable听hockey moments and reputed to have the best arena ice in the province, the former 91亚色 Ice Arena, known as听the Ice Palace,听is now home to a new kind of dream team.

The Keele campus building's transformation from a听hockey rink into an innovative new health science research centre was made possible听by a $5-million leadership gift from听91亚色 Foundation board member Honey Sherman and her husband Dr. Barry Sherman, the chairman and CEO of Apotex Inc., the largest pharmaceutical company in Canada.

鈥淲e are extremely thankful to Honey and Barry Sherman for their generosity,鈥 said Mamdouh Shoukri, president听& vice-chancellor of 91亚色. 鈥淭his unique new facility will strengthen our university鈥檚 research capacity, and enhance collaboration between researchers in the health, science and engineering fields.鈥

Conceived as a hub of vision and neuroscience excellence, the new听Sherman Health Science Research Centre, which officially opened last night, brings together researchers in 91亚色's top-ranked with those in kinesiology and psychology.

Above: The new Sherman Health Science Research Centre at 91亚色

"The Sherman family gift is strategically important. It provides state-of-the-art infrastructure to keep our vision science and health science researchers at the top of their game," says Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation (VPRI) at 91亚色. "We will break new ground at 91亚色 as we increase the intensity of research being carried out in the new facilities, recruit top faculty and graduate students, and undertake research that will lead to new discoveries that impact areas such as health diagnoses and treatments, and safety in space travel."

To change the hockey听arena, which was built in 1968,听into听a highly sophisticated research centre, staff in 91亚色鈥檚 Campus Services & Business Operations听incorporated green building design and construction elements and worked closely with researchers and professional staff in the Office of the VPRI, , , and the Toronto-based NXL Architects.

The building was gutted and the external shell retained. Salvaged materials from the internal demolition were reused throughout the structure to add design interest.

Right: The interior of the Sherman Health Science Research Centre

Anchoring the new facility is a functional magnetic resonance imager (fMRI), notes , director of CVR. "The new fMRI provides researchers with a critical infrastructure for neuroscience for neuroscience research. It provides the opportunity to see, in real time and in-depth, how the brain functions when undertaking various tasks in both normal and clinical recovery states. The addition of the new fMRI to the facility positions the University as a centre for health sciences as our research partners will also be able to access the facilities while collaborating with 91亚色 researchers."

Housed in the former arena's locker-rooms, the fMRI resides in a specially reconstructed and reinforced facility. The equipment's powerful magnet requires that the room be shielded to protect individuals with pacemakers and other sensitive electronic equipment. The floors in the fMRI room are reinforced with rebar and specialized construction techniques to ensure that vibration and noise are kept to a minimum. Change rooms were reconfigured to be fully wheelchair accessible.

The centre's first floor houses research rooms containing specialized laboratories and equipment used by CVR researchers. As well, researchers from the School of Kinesiology & Health Science can now work in expanded movement analysis laboratories that feature raised听floors with moveable steel reinforced plates and rigging. Robotic cameras move around test subjects in the space allowing researchers to obtain an unprecedented view of how the body moves.

Green features and repurposed material

The听concrete ice pad was removed, broken up and used around the perimeter of the building to create a man-made alvar to assist with drainage and storm water management, and to add landscape interest.听The alvar is used for testing robots designed in the on the first floor, and as听part of the recreational patio.

Hardwood from the arena鈥檚 ceiling was refinished and used in the internal staircases leading from the first floor to a newly created second floor suite of offices and research laboratories.听The arena's dark, cavernous space听was converted into a light and airy place for researchers through the addition of large windows and skylights.听The windows illuminate the building鈥檚 indoor street of offices and allow natural light to flood into the second floor. This in turn reduces the need for 24/7 artificial lighting and the sunlight helps heat the space during the winter months. Additional energy-efficient light fixtures were added to the area to light it for evening use.

Left: The spiral stairs lead to a catwalk to facilitate the movement of important research equipment

Radiant heating incorporated into the low maintenance, polished concrete flooring offers an energy-efficient way to maintain the building鈥檚 internal temperature in the winter and cools the space during the summer months.

Other sustainable features include the use of internal paints that are low in volatile organic compounds, which听limits off-gassing of fumes and preserves the building鈥檚 internal air quality. Carpet tiles, manufactured using processes that require very little water, make use of recycled materials and,听in the case of damage or spills, only the affected tiles are removed, which again preserves the internal air quality.

"The Sherman building is a great example of when vision and programming fuse to create a unique working environment," says Patrick Saavedra, manager of planning & architectural design. "In this case the adaptive reuse of the facility is an exemplary way to be sustainable by not constructing a new building while at the same time re-energizing and giving new life to an older building; not to mention our carbon foot print got smaller as a result".

A collaborative effort, the extraordinary design and function of the Sherman Health Science Research Centre is听the result of extensive consultations with the scientists and researchers in vision research, kinesiology and psychology.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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