The aquaculture industry is constantly growing worldwide. Vast arrays of fish species are farmed in freshwater, brackish, and marine systems. In farms, fish reach high-population densities, which facilitates the outbreaks of infectious diseases. This is a big challenge for the aquaculture industry, particularly in the case of viral pathogens because there are few, if any, efficacious treatments against emergent and re-emergent fish viruses. Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) is an emerging viral pathogen that causes high economic losses in the salmon farming industry.

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common childhood brain cancer. Current treatment for these tumors is invasive involving irradiation of the entire brain and spine. Although some types of MB respond well, others have an abysmal prognosis, and the lack of less invasive therapies means that children undergoing treatment suffer from severe developmental defects and reduced quality of life.

Many people in Canada are aging and/or may be living with a disability. These people often have to rely on caregivers, and are limited in what they can do independently. Novalte has developed a SMART technology system that connects to WiFi devices in the home to allow someone living with a disability more independence and control over their home and space. This project will involve creating implementation and knowledge translation frameworks to support a larger research project on the system and help in its rollout to a larger number of users.

The American Eel is a species of significant ecological, social and commercial value and a species of conservation concern in part due to reduced habitat connectivity to both freshwater habitat as juveniles, commonly known as glass eels or elvers. During the proposed research period the intern will work to quantify passage of elvers through existing infrastructure that is representative of the majority of infrastructure within Ducks Unlimited projects within Atlantic Canada.

In response to the antimicrobial resistance crisis, several nations (including Canada, U.S., and Europe) have drastically limited the use of medically important antibiotics for livestock production. As a result, alternative methods must be explored for disease prevention and treatment in animals from bacterial infections. The intern will explore the effects of using toxic proteins that destroy bacteria derived from viruses that only infect and kill bacteria as a plausible alternative. The benefit of this research to Cytophage Technologies Inc.

This project involves designing a portable device for measuring concentrations of certain metabolites in a person’s blood or urine. This is an easy-to-use device that connects to a smartphone to display a final result based on measurements of multiple components to generate a specific health diagnosis. Different tests can be run on the same device. The device works by loading custom-made fluidic chips into the device which contains dried chemical reactions.

Estimates of the population density of marine mammals in an area and the change in population over space and time are critical inputs for managing the interactions of human activity and mammal populations. Visual surveys from boats, shore stations, and aircraft have served as the basis for most population estimates currently used by managers. However, these survey methods are generally only performed in good weather conditions and require many trained observers. These factors make visual surveys expensive and reduce the temporal and spatial coverage of population estimates.

This project addresses a major challenge in ensuring the sustainability of the salmon aquaculture industry: how to reliably monitor the effects of organic waste (excess feed and feces) on the surrounding marine environment, in an environmentally-friendly way.

Prescribed fire and mechanical removal of woody vegetation have become popular disturbance methods for restoring globally rare alvar and grassland habitats that support many species at risk, such as reptiles. However, the effects that these restoration efforts have on rare reptiles is largely unknown. This study will identify alterations in habitat usage of endangered snake species by monitoring their presence within habitats, surveying vegetative structure, and monitoring environmental temperatures both before and after management across multiple locations with grassland-alvar habitat.

Most of the medicines available today are either purified from plants or derived from compounds produced by plants. The Cannabis (marijuana) plant in particular produces an enormous variety of molecules that have valuable pharmaceutical potential – in addition to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the primary psychoactive molecule in the pant, the cannabis plant produces dozens of other molecules with poorly understood effects on animal cells.