Jon Vyskocil

Carving knife in hand, fourth-year microbiology student Jon Vyskocil slices into the belly of a walleye – but it’s not for lunch. The fish lying on the “operating table” is one of about 120 specimens that have arrived today to be dissected in Prof. Roselynn Stevenson’s lab, which studies the microbial pathogens of wild and farmed freshwater fish.

The fish come from the hatchery program operated by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR). The spawn of wild fish, hatchery fish are raised for conservation and remediation programs. Under its fish disease control program, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission prohibits the release of diseased fish into water bodies of the basin, so the fish need to pass a health exam first.

“We’re looking for specific disease agents amongst all of their hatcheries plus any wild fish they collect,” says lab technician Steve Lord. Although OMNR sends mostly healthy fish to the lab, he adds, “If they do have a disease situation in the hatchery, they will send fish to us, and we’ll try to diagnose it, which is usually the more fun part of the job.”

The lab looks for a list of pathogens in fish specimens. The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and international trade agreements require that fish be tested for certain types of diseases before being moved across borders. “You can’t ship fish that are carriers of particular diseases,” says Stevenson, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. “Most of the concerns are viral diseases.”

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus, which had never been seen before in Canadian or American inland waters, caused major fish losses in 2006. That’s why the lab is always on the lookout for new and emerging disease threats. “Pathogens are becoming more global,” says Lord. Although ballast water from ships has been suggested as a source, some disease agents may have always been in the local environment.

Some pathogens are believed to live inside amoebas after being consumed. When the amoebas are stressed, they enter a resting phase, encasing themselves in a protective cyst. The cyst also protects any pathogens hiding inside the amoebas, making them resistant to disinfection methods such as chlorination.

The lab uses bacteriology, parasitology and virology to identify pathogens. Improving detection methods such as molecular techniques is important to pinpoint those pathogens faster.

Aside from disease detection, the lab also studies how these diseases spread and how they survive in the environment. “Where are they when they’re not causing disease or not in fish carriers?” says Stevenson. “Why doesn’t the fish get rid of them through its normal immune process? Are they particularly structured so that they can sneak around the immune system of the fish?”

Some diseases can be transmitted from the parent fish to their eggs and milt (sperm). Both parents are tested for diseases before their offspring hatch so that potentially infected eggs can be eliminated. Fish can also pick up pathogens when they eat fecal matter from infected fish. Although fish need water to survive, it can also be their worst enemy. “Almost all pathogens can survive in water, which fish live in, breathe and drink,” says Lord. “They’re living in a good transfer medium.”

Fish can be pathogen carriers without showing any symptoms until they become stressed by such factors as overcrowding, being handled or moved, or warmer water.

Vaccination is one approach to protecting against infection. But various species of fish have different types of immune systems, which means that vaccines need to be tailored to their particular immune response. “They have antibody-producing cells,” says Stevenson, “and they have cellular immunity, which is important for protection against viruses.”

Specimens arrive weekly in coolers from OMNR’s fisheries across Ontario. Lab members dissect each fish and take tissue samples from filtering organs such as the gills, spleen, liver and kidneys. To isolate any viruses, the researchers homogenize and centrifuge the samples and pass them through a membrane filter. The viruses are then cultured in live fish cells. If the cells die, the lab needs to identify whether the cause was a toxin or pathogen.

Lord, B.Sc. ’83, describes himself as a “lifer” in Stevenson’s lab: he has been working there for more than 25 years, and he’s also a former student of hers. After graduation, he was offered a temporary position that never ended. He took to his new job like a fish to water, but it wasn’t fish that drew him to the lab; it was microbiology.

Master’s student Iwona Skulska, B.Sc. ’10, also works in the lab. “I’ve always been interested in marine microbiology,” she says. She did her undergraduate research project with Stevenson on Yersinia ruckeri, a bacterium that causes enteric redmouth disease in salmonids. She’s now studying gill disease, in which bacteria coat gills and cause the fish to suffocate.

“Bacterial gill disease is certainly one of the biggest threats in the hatcheries, and it drives a lot of the research that’s done here,” says Lord.

Dissecting fish on a regular basis in the lab comes in handy at the dining table, Stevenson jokes: “We know where the bones are.”

The current issue, available online, includes articles from the 2011 and 2012 conferences.

Submissions for the 2013 issue are being accepted now, said educational development assistant Janet Wolstenholme.  Articles may be submitted by presenters from the annual conference, held this year on May 1, although the journal will be expanded beyond the conference. Articles should be between 2,000 and 4,000 words in length and will be peer-reviewed.

Submissions will be accepted until July 30. Information is available online or by calling Wolsternholme at Ext. 58084, or email to jzkwolst@uoguelph.ca.

U of G’s Aboriginal Resource Centre celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, beginning with its annual student banquet in April and looking toward Aboriginal Awareness Week in October.

Ten years ago, there were 68 students at U of G who identified themselves as aboriginals to the newly established Aboriginal Student Association. By contrast, there were nearly 400 aboriginal students registered for the University’s fall 2012 semester, and the student association is celebrating 10 years of success in supporting and engaging aboriginal students on campus.

In April 2003, a group of First Nations and Métis staff, students and community members met with University administrators to share ideas about how to support U of G’s aboriginal students. One of those students was Cara Wehkamp, now manager of the Aboriginal Resource Centre (ARC). As a result of those discussions, the centre was opened in October 2003 to provide a meeting place on campus for aboriginal students.

ARC’s first manager and U of G’s first aboriginal student adviser was Jaime Mishibinijima; when she left campus two years ago, Wehkamp took up the position at ARC.

The centre kicked off its 10th anniversary celebration last month at its annual dinner and celebration of aboriginal achievement.

The celebration is an opportunity to showcase the accomplishments of U of G’s aboriginal students. “Aboriginal youth take up post-secondary education at lower rates than the rest of the population,” explains Wehkamp. “There are not many role models for them. Events like our celebration show them that, in fact, there are many aboriginal students in post-secondary education and alumni who are accomplishing important things.”

The event was attended by almost 100 people and was opened by Dan Smoke, one of the elders who often works with students at ARC. Wehkamp says he carried his eagle staff at the head of a grand entry of alumni and graduating students.

Elder Dan Smoke leads a procession to open the Aboriginal Resource Centre’s celebration of student achievement in April. Photos courtesy ARC.

Later in the evening, Mackenzie Lespérance, an M.Sc. student in plant agriculture, was presented with the Kishaadigeh Award. This award was created in honour of Mishibinijima (now Jaime Cidro) for her role in guiding ARC. In Ojibway, the award’s name means “she who guards the lodge.”

Lespérance was described to those in attendance as “taking responsibility to sit with elders with respect and openness as she strives to understand herself and her impact on others as integral aspects of her personal growth. In addition to being passionate and taking responsibility for her own learning, Mackenzie acts as a role model for and encourages other aboriginal students to become involved in learning more about their people.”

Cidro was keynote speaker for the evening. She received a PhD in rural studies from U of G and is now an assistant professor at the University of Winnipeg in its department of anthropology.

Like Cidro, Wehkamp stresses the value of the resource centre in helping students. “Our tagline is ‘your home away from home,’” Wehkamp says. “We want this to be a place where aboriginal students are comfortable being themselves as they explore or maintain their cultural traditions.”

She points out that education has not always had positive connotations in aboriginal communities because of past practices of removing children from their homes to attend schools where their traditions and culture were rejected. She says it’s important not only for U of G students to have this support, but for the wider community to see that aboriginal culture is acknowledged and shared through ARC.

“This is a place for the community to experience aboriginal traditions and to learn about them in an environment where we welcome open and respectful dialogue,” says Wehkamp.

The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by the increasing number of people using the centre: in 2009, about 300 people visited; so far in 2013, more than 2,300 students and community members have been involved.

“The elders are a significant part of what makes ARC successful,” Wehkamp adds. With their help, the centre is able to offer more programming, and the elders are valued resources for students and others, she says. “We have been very fortunate to have these people step forward and return year after year to engage with our students. The students often tell us that the elders remind them of their aunties or uncles or grandparents at home.”

ARC has also benefited from strong support from Student Affairs and the Aboriginal Advisory Council, which includes U of G alumni, University administrators, student representatives and aboriginal community members. The council meets three or four times annually to help provide direction and develop programming.

“When I was a student, the centre provided me with a lot of support,” says Wehkamp. “Now it has come full circle for me, and I am able to support the new students and see the success of our communities grow.”

Nicholas Miniaci

The Gay Pride parade in Toronto has often been seen as controversial, but in 2010 it was hit by an unusual controversy when the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid wanted to march in the parade with a banner. Others in the city, including some parade sponsors, argued against allowing the group to participate. The parade committee went back and forth between allowing the group and banning them, leaving many people puzzled and confused by the issue.

The controversy still swirls as Toronto readies for this year’s Gay Pride parade on June 30. The Toronto Star reported last week that the activist group plans to participate in this year’s Pride festival.

“It’s a really complicated issue and not easy to grasp,” says Guelph history student Nicholas Miniaci. He presented a paper on the topic last semester at U of G’s Middle Eastern Scholars Society (MESS), which is supervised by Prof. Renee Worringer.

Miniaci told the campus group that “Israel, and especially Tel Aviv, promotes itself as a hot spot for queer tourism. Tel Aviv Pride is one of the largest pride events in the world, and there is a lot of advertising about queer tourism at other pride events.”

According to Miniaci, the Queers Against Israeli Apartheid group is made up of politically-active Toronto residents who disagree with Israeli policies. They don’t feel that Israel should be promoting itself as supporting queer rights while, at the same time, denying rights to Palestinians.

“The Toronto group says that queer people should be looking out for the rights of all people,” says Miniaci. “They call it ‘pinkwashing’ – trying to hide or distract attention from other human rights violations by promoting gay rights. The argument is that it is wrong for queer people to take advantage of rights given to them when similar rights are not given to others.”

Not everyone agrees, however. Miniaci says Israel is the only country in the Middle East that supports gay rights, and that at least one other country in the area actually has a policy of executing those known to be gay. There is also a perception that many Palestinian Muslims would not support rights for queer people, but Miniaci says that the participants in Queers Against Israeli Apartheid feel that they should nevertheless support Palestinian rights.

Miniaci says those who disagree with the Toronto group have expressed concerns that using the word “apartheid” is a form of anti-Semitism. Some argued that the group should be banned from marching for that reason; others believe this is actually a hate group. A report from City of Toronto manager Joe Pennachetti, however, determined that it was a reasonable expression of free speech and that it was not anti-Semitic to express concerns about the policies of the Israeli government.

Opponents were also concerned about the potential impact on funding. Miniaci says most floats in the Gay Pride parade are sponsored by businesses, and the event brings in about $136 million to the Toronto area each year. He says some organizers had concerns that this kind of controversy would decrease sponsorship and attendance – both of which would have a significant effect on the city.

Miniaci adds: “The marketing of queer tourism is a really big industry. There is the perception that queer couples have more disposable income and more interest in travel.” He mentions a large event called Queer Whistler, for example, that was highly promoted, and vacation cruises that are marketed to a queer audience.

He feels that there are several lessons to be learned from the Queers Against Israeli Apartheid controversy. One is that marketing efforts should never be blindly accepted: it’s important to consider other aspects of the company or country’s policies and behaviours that might influence your decisions. For the queer community, says Miniaci, it can seem like such a positive step to have marketing directed at them that they may ignore other concerns.

Secondly, Miniaci sees the controversy as a sign of the maturing of the Toronto queer community. “I think it says something positive about our situation in Canada when people are at the point of being concerned about other international issues and causes. Most queer communities in other countries are of necessity more focused internally on trying to deal with their own human rights issues.”

Miniaci’s next steps will probably take him abroad. He’s planning to attend graduate school in Germany or Turkey, where he can continue to develop his interests in Middle Eastern studies. He also gave an informal presentation at the Great Lakes Ottomanist Workshop at the end of March that focussed on a Scottish chapbook he discovered in the U of G archives. Dated 1801, it is titled The Turkish Lady and reveals a romanticized view of women from Turkey.

In addition to preparing presentations, Miniaci has also served as Worringer’s assistant, helping to organize both the Ottomanist workshops and the MESS meetings.

Zafir Syed

His Guelph undergrad degree first gave Zafir Syed a close-up look at the human brain. Now as a master’s student on his hometown campus, he hopes to help develop novel ways to treat brain cancer.

Syed studies therapeutic vaccines for treating cancer with Prof. Byram Bridle, who joined the Department of Pathobiology in early 2012.

Mention vaccines, and many people might think of preventive measures such as flu shots. No one is working on a handy jab to ward off cancer, says Syed.

“The flu vaccine is prophylactic,” he says. Referring to his work combining viruses and the body’s immune system to treat existing tumours, he adds, “This is therapeutic.”

Researchers in Bridle’s lab aim to treat cancer with a one-two punch.

They use antigens from an existing tumour to prime the body’s immune defences to fight the disease. And they harness oncolytic viruses, which prefer to invade cancerous cells rather than normal ones.

Bridle says this approach holds promise for a highly specific therapy to target cancer cells while leaving normal cells undamaged. Immunotherapy might also help doctors treat patients without some of the toxic side effects of other forms of therapy, notably chemotherapy and radiation.

“We will use parts of the tumour in a vaccine and hopefully retrain the immune system to see and attack the tumour itself,” says Syed.

So far, the team has worked only with mice, although they plan to test cats and dogs.

Syed is interested in brain cancer cases, especially in children. The young brain poses unusual challenges compared to other organs and tissues, he says. “Every case is different.”

Encased in the skull, the brain hides many physical symptoms that might show up more readily in tumours elsewhere. Often brain tumours develop for a long time before they’re found, reducing the chances for successful treatment.

The blood-brain barrier makes it difficult to treat these cancers with chemotherapy. In young survivors, both chemo and radiation affect rapidly growing cells in ways that might pose health problems years after treatment. Surgery can remove the primary tumour but not any metastatic cells moving to other parts of the body.

Syed has always been interested in science, particularly neuroscience. Several close family members have had neurodegenerative disease, he says. “I love learning about the brain.”

He had still been a student at Guelph’s Centennial CVI when U of G students visited to talk about the human anatomy program on campus.

He enrolled in engineering but switched to human kinetics. His brother, Imad, completed an engineering degree here in 2006.

Zafir ended up in that anatomy program himself, where he had a chance to dissect a donor cadaver’s brain. He says that course was especially valuable: not only did he learn about human anatomy, but he also helped instruct other students in turn.

He also volunteered with the Library’s Supported Learning Groups. A big U of G booster, he says the campus is large enough to attract and sustain high-quality researchers but small enough that students can get to know their classmates and professors.

He completed his undergrad in 2012. That year, he served as president of both the College of Biological Science Student Council and the Muslim Students Association, and received a “Be the Change” award from Student Life.

Born in Dubai, he came to Canada with his family at age nine and lived in Brampton, Ont., before moving to Guelph while in middle school. He plans to apply to medical school.

Founded in 1974, the institute brings together academics, economists and policy analysts from around the world to provide market-based solutions to Canadian public policy strategies.

“Prof. Fox is one of North America’s leading thinkers on issues of agricultural and natural resource policy,” said Jason Clemens, executive vice-president at the Fraser Institute. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Fraser Institute and we’re honoured to announce his senior fellowship.”

A U of G professor since 1985, Fox researches property rights and natural resource stewardship, regulatory takings, trade and environment, technological change and transaction costs.

Fox previously taught economics at the University of Western Ontario. He completed a PhD in agricultural economics at the University of Minnesota.

At Guelph presents this story as part of a series that highlights University of Guelph leadership in teaching excellence and the scholarship of learning. Writer Corrine Bent-Womack conducted the interview while completing a service-learning placement at U of G as part of her master’s program in higher education at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Master’s student Michael Moore is revising the introduction to a chemistry lab manual as part of his work as a teaching assistant. Photo by Susan Bubak

Chemistry grad student Michael Moore says he’s a better teacher because of the Graduate Student Teaching Development Program (TDP) co-ordinated by Open Learning and Educational Support (OpenEd). “I am now able to employ teaching methods backed by research, instead of just doing what I figure would work, or worse, blindly repeating how I was taught.” Moore adds that he’s also a more confident teaching assistant (TA) since completing the seminar program.

TDP is designed to support graduate students in their personal development as university educators, explains Gavan Watson, an education developer in OpenEd. The program gives them practical tools, techniques and strategies to employ as TAs and later as professionals pursuing careers in academia. Helping TAs become more effective educators also supports the University’s commitment to providing quality undergraduate education, says Watson.

TDP workshops introduce graduate students to knowledge and experience within the profession of teaching and learning, he adds. The program helps future academics develop classroom skills and a host of long-term transferable skills such as facilitation, effective teaching philosophies, and a wide variety of communication and management skills.

“Each workshop is designed to address active learning,” says Watson, “providing graduates with new learning experiences, hands-on opportunities to test their skills and strategies, the chance to learn from others, and the opportunity to meet graduates from other colleges across the institution.”

Graduate students who complete at least 12 hours of TDP workshops receive a recognition certificate from Teaching Support Services (TSS). A TDP passport allows them to document and track their participation in events offered as part of the program. Available workshops include the TSS interdisciplinary workshop series, the fall conference on university teaching and the winter teaching workshop program. Passports can be obtained at any of the workshops or in U of G’s Teaching Resource Centre in Day Hall.

Moore says completing the 12-hour teaching passport program gave him many tools to employ in the classroom and in the lab. With an undergraduate degree in nanoscience and chemistry, he says improving his teaching skills is also benefiting his master’s research, because he spends much less time putting together talks and teaching sessions.

“I would consider gaining knowledge of teaching tools – the ability to apply them and knowing when to apply them – is one of the primary skills I’ve gained through this program,” he says. “Learning how to set up an effective lesson that encourages participation and how to assemble a teaching dossier were also invaluable skills I gained as a result of the series of workshops.”

Kristy Erickson, a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry, has also completed the program and describes the major benefits of the TDP passport as two-fold: adding the participation certificate to her CV helps her stand out as a candidate for future teaching employment, and she gained valuable hands-on workshop experience.

“The workshops were designed to assist both graduate students and faculty members with developing a diverse skill-set and to spark ideas for effective teaching strategies,” she says. “Without the passport program, I’m not sure that I would have even considered taking these workshops or becoming involved in the teaching assistant advisory council at the University of Guelph.”

Both Moore and Erickson agree that the teaching development passport program demonstrates that U of G acknowledges the importance of and promotes quality seminars for graduate students, which underscores the University’s commitment to undergraduate success.

Visit the Open Ed website to learn more about the Graduate Student Teaching Development Program, or contact Natasha Kenny, an educational development associate in TSS, at nkenny@uoguelph.ca.

The National Food Security Forum 2013 will take place in two parts. Faculty from the University of Guelph will visit Saskatoon May 15 to17 to discuss agricultural production, biotechnology, food safety, environmental stewardship, changes in agribusiness and challenges faced by farmers. The second forum will occur in Guelph in December.

Prof. Sylvain Charlebois, forum co-chair, will be joined in Saskatoon by Profs. John Cranfield, Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics; Rene Van Acker, associate dean (external relations), Ontario Agricultural College; Art Hill, Food Science; and Evan Fraser, Geography.

“The sustainability of agricultural production is by no means assured; in particular, precious soil and water resources remain threatened worldwide,” says Charlebois, associate dean of the College of Management and Economics at Guelph.

“Obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease have become a global epidemic. Food authenticity and provenance have been eroded by globalization demands, threatening developing and ancient food cultures as well as choice for consumers worldwide. There is a need for action in Canada to connect agriculture and food communities together.”

Both events will help attendees learn about and address the world’s food issues, added Charlebois. “With this forum, we can explore, learn, innovate, commercialize and make positive change to improve food quality, security, sustainability, appreciation and healthfulness around the world.”

Dates for the Guelph forum will be announced later this year. Organizers plan to release a public report and conceptual framework on Canada’s role in global food security after the Guelph symposium.

Agriculture and Food Laboratory research scientist Shu Chen. Photo by Martin Schwalbe

Timing is everything, especially when contamination of food with Listeria bacteria is suspected. Public health and food inspection agencies need to act quickly, and knowing what kind of Listeria they’re dealing with helps protect Ontario consumers by stopping outbreaks at the source.

The current standard method, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, is effective in bacterial strain tracking but can be cumbersome because of time limitations. There is a need for a faster method of developing molecular fingerprints.

That’s why scientists at U of G’s Agriculture and Food Laboratory (AFL) are creating a cost-effective Listeria strain characterization tool and database that will allow food and health agencies to quickly and accurately identify and track specific Listeria strains in the event of contamination or an outbreak.

Shu Chen, a senior scientist and manager at the laboratory, is leading a research team to develop a multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) methodology and database for Listeria monocytogenes. The MLVA database is similar to a criminal fingerprint database, except that it catalogues, tracks and identifies the strains of the roughly 2,500 L. monocytogenes isolates that have been collected at AFL over the past 15 years through partnership programs with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) and other testing programs.

“We’re trying to create a more proactive approach to Listeria testing,” says Chen. “We shouldn’t be waiting until after an outbreak has already happened to know which strain of Listeria we’re handling.”

She and her colleagues obtain Listeria isolates from samples from industry partners or government agencies such as OMAF and the Public Health Agency of Canada; they also receive Listeria isolates from Public Health Ontario and Health Canada. From there, using a technique called polymerase chain reaction, they generate an MLVA fingerprint for each isolate.

This technique allows a researcher to analyze multiple well-defined regions within each Listeria strain’s genetic code to determine its genotype.

Once they’ve analyzed the Listeria strain, an MLVA string number, similar to a barcode, is calculated and used to assign its genotype. This string number and relevant information such as the type of food product, swab or sample the isolate was obtained from are entered into the database.

Chen and her AFL team plan to make the MLVA methodology and database available for use by related government agencies. Each agency’s lab will be able to use the tool to analyze Listeria isolates and add the MLVA information to the database.

“We want to build a cross-laboratory network that will contribute to and strengthen the database on an immediate, real-time basis,” says Chen.

This MLVA tool will allow food inspection and public health agencies to quickly and easily identify the subtle differences between Listeria strains. It will also help Chen’s team and others identify the source of a Listeria infection or outbreak.

Collaborating agencies are OMAF, Public Health Ontario, Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. AFL is funded through the OMAF-U of G Partnership.

Rachel Salt

A month on a fishing boat? It wasn’t quite as relaxing or exotic as it might sound. The boat was a craft borrowed from a Guelph professor, and the fishing involved catching mostly unpalatable invertebrates around Georgian Bay in Lake Huron.

Still, Rachel Salt enjoyed her sampling field trip last August for her master’s degree in the School of Environmental Sciences. Along with Profs. Neil Rooney and Paul Sibley, she’s looking at food webs in lakes to learn more about human impacts over time.

Invasive species, development and climate change are among the threats to Georgian Bay, a complex, diverse ecosystem that is home to many species at risk.

She hopes to develop tools to help assess human impacts and protect natural ecosystems. She’s already found evidence that we need to pay attention to slow-acting, cumulative changes caused by humans in ecosystems.

“Small anthropogenic stresses accumulate over time,” says Salt.

She studied eight sites around Georgian Bay with varying human impacts. Besides nearby farming, the area attracts cottagers and water sports enthusiasts.

The bay also has cultural significance for First Nations, notably the Saugeen Ojibway First Nation, who are partners in her research.

Last summer and fall, Salt collected organisms from around the bay to gauge how many different species live in deep and shallow habitats.

She then analyzed tissue samples from those organisms, using stable isotope analysis. Relative amounts of carbon and nitrogen in tissue can tell biologists where different species feed and their place in the food web.

By learning about food web structure, Salt intends to develop diagnostic tools to assess human impacts on aquatic ecosystems. More simple or more complex food webs can point to more or less stable ecosystems, with varied vulnerability to human impacts.

Her work might also help pinpoint the effects of invasive species, such as the goby. “This would act as a diagnostic tool” for assessing ecosystem health and anthropogenic impacts, she says.

Salt says it’s too early for her to pronounce judgment on Georgian Bay. She has collected data from eight locations but has analyzed only three sites so far, including Wiarton and Owen Sound. She hopes to return this summer for more sampling.

You need not fish for creatures in the bay to get a sense of changes in the area. On aerial photographs from 1958 and 2008, Salt points out how the shoreline has receded and how farms, homes and roads have replaced much of the earlier forest.

These stressors are not all equal, she says. Farming affects the entire watershed. Runoff from urban development might affect only the nearby water. Put them together, and they might have a larger impact on the ecosystem than a single major development such as a hydro dam or a nuclear power plant.

Besides looking at food webs, she will use DNA barcoding to identify organisms and learn more about the diversity of living things in the bay.

For her biomonitoring project, Salt also works with a group called Georgian Bay Forever.

Recalling occasional childhood vacations there, she says, “I’ve always loved that area.”

She says her work might be adapted for other areas around the Great Lakes, and even in food webs based on land.

That might extend to the harbour in Hamilton, Ont., where Salt grew up.

“I think Hamilton Harbour is beautiful,” she says, referring to the mix of natural and industrial landscapes around the city. Moving to Grimsby for grade school, she saw a similar land use conflict play out as development tussled with farming.

She says her parents encouraged her to ask questions and look at the big picture. “I’ve always been interested in natural history and environmental sciences.”

During her undergrad in environmental sciences, she worked with integrative biology professor Kevin McCann on invasive species and food web structure. “Guelph has an amazing environmental science program,” she says.