How do you support the fastest growing municipality in a largely rural region as it works through its growing pains? What happens in a rapidly growing community that’s been recognized as one of the best places to live as it tries to keep up with labour demands, changing demographics, and challenges to the enabling infrastructure […]

Many thermal power plants, including Bruce Power, rely on once-through cooling using water from the Great Lakes. The warmer water that is released back into the lake has the potential to impact temperature sensitive aquatic species that occupy the near shore water close to the discharges. The proposed research will investigate the genetic population structure […]

Life on the planet has evolved in constant presence of radiation, some of which comes from space, and some of which comes from natural sources in the Earth. This natural background radiation (NBR) is a normal component of biological life. One way we can study the role of NBR in life is to see what […]

The goal of this proposal is to clarify the reasons for an increased burden of serious bacterial infections caused by two common pathogens: Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae in Canadian First Nations. Methodology includes comparative analysis of the critical parameters of naturally acquired immunity against these pathogens in adult First Nations individuals living in two […]

Significant scientific knowledge gaps remain with respect to nuclear power production and impacts on the environment and the community. Four specific research areas for interns have been identified to help resolve some of the issues or gaps in knowledge. The specific areas of research include: (A) determining appropriate thresholds for animal population-level effects, (B) assessing […]

The goal of our proposal is to clarify the impacts of low doses of radiation on key biological aspects in a short-lived animal model (the cricket). Current assessments of radiation exposure mainly emphasize cancer. Our model will allow us to more broadly assess important features like growth, maturation, survivorship, reproduction and life span as well […]

This project involves three streams, all focusing on the effects of low-dose ionizing radiation. The first stream examines the effects of single ion irradiation using the Microbeam at McMaster University. Preliminary biological research will be conducted on human cell lines using standard radiobiological endpoints including DNA double strand break foci and micronuclei formation. The second […]