Biology
Queen's University
Queen's Biology - News and Events Archive
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Shaun Nowickyj (MSc), Mike Tyshenko (MSc), Virginia Walker, Gerry Wyatt and their Queen's colleagues report in PNAS on the first positive identification of some vitamin A derivatives in any embryo. Thus the importance of this vitamin in embryonic development appears to be conserved and ancient, and no mother grasshopper has to tell her nymphs to eat their greens!...more | July 2008 |
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The Economist (12 July) features a report from the Public Library of Science that an antifreeze protein gene has been acquired by lateral transfer between fish species. The PLoS article, by Laurie Graham (Biochem), Steve Lougheed (Biol) and Peter Davies (Biochem/Biol) and colleagues, hints that genetic engineering of animals actually might mimic a natural process...more | July 2008 |
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Many thanks to the Kingston Field Naturalists (KFN) who have endowed a fund for students working at the Queen’s University's Biological Station (QUBS). Established in memory of Robert Stewart, former head of Queen's Microbiology and president of the KFN, the fund will provide a $1,000 annual award for an undergraduate studying conservation science or natural history at QUBS. | |
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Science Daily (29 June) reports on a study published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology by Laurene Ratcliffe, Joe Nocera (NSERC postcdoc) and colleagues, showing that songbirds gather useful information from local birds when they migrate through the locals' territories...more | July 2008 |
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In the latest issue of New Phytologist, Chris Eckert and former students Karen Samis (PhD) and Emily Darling (BSc) show for the first time that natural selection gives a boost to the seed dispersal traits of plants growing at the edges of their natural ranges...more
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June 2008 |
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Congratulations to Bill Plaxton's students who won awards at the recent Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists conference: Sam Gennidakis (MSc) — Ragai Ibrahim Award for best student paper published in 2007; Brenden Hurley (MSc)—best student oral presentation; and Allison Gregory (BSc)—runner-up for best student poster | June 2008 |
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'Skinky sex' says the cover of the latest issue of J Biogeography, highlighting a study by Steve Lougheed and former PhD student Briar Howesshowing that peripheral populations at the species range limits have reduced genetic diversity | June 2008 |
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Congratulations to brothers John Smol and Jules Blais on being named the 2008 Environmental Scientists of the Year by The Royal Canadian Geographical Society...more | June 2008 |
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In a paper just published in PNAS, Paul Martin and colleagues argue that the narrow thermal tolerances of tropical insects and other ectotherms will augment the impacts of global warming in the tropics....more
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May 2008 |
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Shelley Arnott's research on the spiny water flea, a small invertebrate predator that has invaded more than 100 North American lakes in the past 30 years, is highlighted in the Kingston Whig Standard...more |
May 2008 |
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The second edition ofJohn Smol's textbook POLLUTION OF LAKES AND RIVERS: A PALEOENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE has just been published by Blackwell's...more |
May 2008 |
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Congratulations to Shelley Arnott on being one of 5 recipients of this year's Chancellor's Research Awards, given annual by the university to the most promising young researchers to help them support and train graduate students.....more Apr 2008 |
Apr 2008 |
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An article in the latest issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology highlights recent research by Craig Hawryshyn, with collaborator M Kamermans (Netherlands Inst Neuroscience) and graduate students, providing new insights into how the fish retina processes ultraviolet polarized light....more Apr 2008 |
Apr 2008 |
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Congratulations to Troy Day (cross-appointed to Biology from Math and Stats) who won a Steacie Fellowship for 2008, for his excellent work on the evolution of infectious diseases. See, for example, the entry right below this one...more
Mar 2008 |
Mar 2008 |
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PhD student Nicole Mideo and Dr. Troy Day report in Proc. R. Soc. B. on some new insights into peculiarities of the life history of malaria parasites, suggesting a key target for intervention strategies. Photo by John Findlay shows a mosquito midgut full of malaria oocysts. ...more
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Mar 2008 |
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Grad students Corinne Rodgers, Gary Armstrong and John LaBrie, along with research assistant Kelly Shoemaker and Drs Chris Moyes and Mel Robertson have found that the way locusts react to stress may provide an important clue to understanding what causes human migraines (published in PLoSone)...more
Feb 2008 |
Feb 2008 |
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A new study in PNAS by Drs Bill Bendena, Ian Chin-Sang,Steve Tobe (Univ Toronto) along with technicians Jeff Boudreau, Tony Papanicolaou, undergraduate Matt Maltby on the genes influencing foraging behaviour in the nematode C. elegans sheds new light on the genetic roots of obesity ....more |
Jan 2008 |
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On 21 Jan, John Smol gave the UK-Canada Rutherford Lecture at the Royal Society, London on 'Arctic Environments, lake mud, and climate change: A window on the past and a view to the future' and Bob Montgomerie gave the Excellence in Research lecture entitled 'Beauty and the Bird' at Queen's. Jan 2008 |
Jan 2008 |
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The Autumn 2007 edition of the Biology Newsletter, summarizing news and events in the department over the past year, was distributed to over 4500 Biology alumni ... [more] Autumn 2007 | Autumn 2007 |
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Congratulations to Dr. Vicki Friesen, Dr. Andrea Smith,and their international colleagues on their recent publication 'Sympatric speciation by allochrony in a seabird' to appear in PNAS. Nov 2007 |
Nov 2007 |
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Congratulations to Chris Moyes and Trish Schulte (UBC) on the publication of the 2nd edition of their undergraduate textbook, Principles of Animal Physiology, published by Pearson/Benjamin Cummings. | Oct 2007 |
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Congratulations to Bob Montgomerie on winning two major awards from the university this month: the Prize for Excellence in Research, and the Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision. Both awards will be presented at the upcoming convocation ceremonies on 25 October. | Oct 2007 |
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Two new Biology professors, Frances Bonier(adjunct) and Paul Martin, describe in the 29 of August issue of Biology Letters that broad environmental tolerance may predispose some birds to thrive in urban habitat … [more] Aug 2007 | Aug 2007 |
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Gary Armstrong and Mel Robertson along with their collaborators Ken Dawson-Scully, Clement Kent and Marla Sokolowski (UTM) report in the 22 of August issue of PLoSONE their discovery of a novel cellular pathway involved in protecting nervous systems from heat stress ...[more] Aug 2007 |
Aug 2007 |
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Congratulations to Dr. Linda Campbellwho is a recipient of an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation ... [more] Aug 2007 | Aug 2007 |
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Dr. William Bendena will serve as acting head of the Biology department while Dr. Mel Robertson is on sabbatical. July 2007 |
July 2007 |
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Dr. John Smol and former Queen's graduate Marianne Douglas describe the startling results of more than two decades of work in the Arctic, showing that many ponds are now beginning to desiccate completely during the polar summer ... [more] July 2007 | July 2007 |
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The work of former Ph.D. student Rachel Vallender was featured on the cover of Molecular Ecology ... [more] |
May 2007 |
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John Smol was awarded an honorary PhD from the University of Helsinki for his outstanding contributions to aquatic sciences. May 2007 |
May 2007 |
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Congratulations to Chris Eckert who has been awarded a Discovery Accelerator Supplement to his NSERC grant ($120,000 over 3 years). The program is new and is meant to provide resources to outstanding scientists to maximize the impact of their research programs ... [more] |
May 2007 |
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Congratulations to John Smol who has just been awarded the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award from the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. This award recognizes outstanding contributions in aquatic sciences... [more in the L&O bulletin] Feb 2007 |
Feb 2007 |
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An international team of biologists led by Dr. Yuxiang Wang has published a groundbreaking study revealing an unanticipated way freshwater fish may respond to water diversion and climate change ... [more] |
Jan 2007 |
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Recent work by M.Sc. student Joseph Brown has been featured on the cover of a January issue of Molecular Ecology. This work is a population genetics study into the consequences of the DDT bottleneck on Canadian peregrine falcons ... [more] 12 Jan 2007 |
Jan 2007 |
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Very many congratulations to Linda Campbell whose research potential has recently been recognized by a Chancellor's Research Award. This $50,000 award is intended primarily for graduate student support, providing junior researchers with the means to achieve a significant impact on their disciplines. 11 Jan 2007 |
Jan 2007 |
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Congratulations to Dr. Bill Leggett, the new chair of the Board of Directors of CFI. 8 Dec 2006 ... [more] |
Dec 2006 |
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Dr. Raleigh Robertson is the 2006 recipient of the Canadian Council of University Biology Chairs Career Achievement Award, presented on November 3. This award was given in recognition of Raleigh's research contributions, his efforts training students, and the development of QUBS throughout a 35 year period. 7 Nov 2006 |
Nov 2006 |
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Congratulations to Dr. Paul Groganon receiving the Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI). This award aims to help promising, recently-appointed Ontario researchers build their research teams of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research associates. |
Nov 2006 |
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A doubleheader of teaching prizes for Dr John P. Smol, as he was presented with both the Chancellor A. Charles Baillie Teaching Award, and the inaugural Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision in the Life Sciences, Natural Sciences and Engineering at Queen's Fall Convocation |
Oct 2006 |
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Dr Ian Chin-Sang is the featured researcher on the Canadian Cancer Society website. Ian's research examines how cells move inside a microscopic worm to identify the genes and cellular signals involved when cancer cells invade neighbouring tissue and distant organs... [more] |
July 2006 |
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Come celebrate the Queen’s University Biological Station’s Diamond Jubilee by joining us for the 2006 Annual Open House on July 2nd, starting at noon, rain or shine...[map, etc] |
June 2006 |
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Congratulations to Tristan Long (sv Montgomerie & Chippindale) on receiving the Genetics Society of Canada's Margaret Thompson PhD Thesis Award for 2005. Tristan's thesis is on 'Adaptive responses to reproductive competition and conflicts in animals' |
June 2006 |
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Congratulations to Chris Eckert on being awarded a Fulbright Visiting Research Chair at UC Santa Barbara where he will conduct research on the evolutionary biology of the beach evening primrose Camissonia |
April 2006 |
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Congratulations to Adam Chippindale on winning the W. J. Barnes Teaching Excellence Award fron the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society for his teaching in BIOL-210 (Biology of Sex) and BIOL-206 (Evolution and Population Genetics) |
Mar 2006 |
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Renowned endocrinologist/primatologist/author Robert Sapolsky (Stanford Univ) is this year's Brockington Visitor in Psychology and Biology. He will give public lectures at 1:30 and 7:30 pm on 16 Mar in Humphrey 102...[more] |
Mar 2006 |
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Laurie Graham (Biochem) and Peter Davies (Biochem/Biol) reported in Science (21 Oct 05) about their discovery of a very active, antifreeze protein in snow fleas collected at QUBS. The glycine-rich protein sequence indicates that there have been multiple independent origins for these ice-binding macromolecules in arthropods… (more) 7 Feb 2006 |
Mar 2006 |
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Ahmed Mohamed and Ian Chin-Sang report in the 1 Feb 2006 issue of Developmental Biology their findings from the molecular and genetic analysis of a Receptor Tyrosine Kinase in C. elegans. They show this receptor functions to guide axons and neurons to their correct locations...[more] | Jan 2006 |
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Research by Bob Montgomerie, Stéphanie Doucet and their colleagues, on the colour-producing mechanisms in satin bowerbird feathers, is featured on the 15 Jan 2006 cover of the Journal of Experimental Biology...[more] | Jan 2006 |
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Congratulations to Jie Zheng (PhD with Laurent Seroude) on receiving the Age Plus Award by the CIHR Institute of Aging for their paper in PNAS (see below). Lie is studying cell death across the lifespan of the fruit fly (Drosophila). Her findings finding will be useful in developing interventions to delay the decline of locomotory functions in the elderly | Jan 2006 |
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Congratulations to Troy Day (Math & Stats, cross appointed in Biology) on winning the 2005 Steacie Prize 'for his outstanding contributions to the field of mathematical biology'. Troy's research on the evolution of virulence has already made an important contribution to the emerging field of Evolutionary Medicine....[more]
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Dec 2005 |
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Studies by Peter J.v.C de Groot, Brenda Saunders, Candace Scott and Peter Boag on the mating systems of polar bears and rhinoceros are featured on this month's cover story in Canadian Geographic..."[more] |
Nov 2005 |
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Jie Zheng, Scott Edelman, Grace Tharmarajah, Laurent Seroude and colleagues report in PNAS that programmed cell death in fruit flies may play a role in the aging process. This finding presents an attractive mechanism to account for the decline of locomotor functions and muscle loss in the elderly
...[more]
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Sept 2005 |
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Congratulations to Chris Moyes and Trish Schulte (UBC) on their new undergraduate textbook, Principles of Animal Physiology, published by Pearson/Benjamin Cummings...[more]
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Aug 2005 |
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Simona Ghenea, Jeff Boudreau, Nick Lague and Ian Chin-Sang report in Development that two C. elegans membrane receptors function together to control cell movements and axon navigation. Both receptors are highly conserved throughout evolution, including humans …[more] |
Aug 2005 |
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July 2005 |
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John Smol, Bronwyn Keatley, and their collaborators, report in Science that seabirds spread contaminants in the Arctic through their droppings.... [more] |
July 2005 |
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Raleigh Robertson, Wallly Rendell and an international team of collaborators report in Nature that long-term studies of birds are needed to show how populations change in age structure. ... [more] |
July 2005 |
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Bruce Tufts is the new director of the Queen's University Biological Station (QUBS). Raleigh Robertson, who has held this post for >30 years, has stepped down in anticipation of retirement. |
July 2005 |
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Bill Leggett and collaborators report in Science on the ecosystem consequences of the collapse of cod in eastern Canada...[more] |
June 2005 |
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The Queen’s University Biological Station will hold its annual Open House on Sunday, July 3, 2005 from noon to 3 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Tour the facilities, take in displays of current research and enjoy some refreshments ... [more] |
July 2005
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Congratulations to Bob Montgomerie who has just been awarded a Queen’s Research Chair. This is a well-deserved honour for Bob ... [more] |
June 2005
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John Smol, has just been announced as the 2004 Herzberg winner. Accepting accolades in the balcony beside Smol were the U of T team of physicist Sajeev John and chemist Geoffrey Ozin ... [more] |
June 2005
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