Innovative Projects Realized

Optimisation de l’utilisation du glycérol chez la vache laitière; quantification des impacts et des facteurs de variation par méta-analyse; publication et valorisation des résultats

En début de lactation et pour subvenir à ses besoins énergétiques (production du colostrum et du lait pour son veau), la vache laitière a toujours et naturellement eu recours au glycérol en mobilisant ses propres réserves de gras (stocké sous forme de triglycéride). Cependant, cette mobilisation excessive et répétée (après chaque naissance) répondant à l’amélioration constante des performances laitières compromet le cycle de vie des vaches laitières. Le glycérol alimentaire permettrait de répondre à ce défi en fournissant une source d’énergie supplémentaire qui en même temps peut améliorer le statut énergétique et prévenir l’incidence de maladies métaboliques observées au début de lactation chez la vache
La méta-analyse a été choisie comme outil pour résumer et quantifier les connaissances acquises sur le glycérol dans l’alimentation des vaches laitières. Les facteurs de modulation de réponse (ex. ; forme, niveaux d’apport et mode d’apport) seront ainsi identifiés, quantifiés permettant d’établir des recommandations d’utilisation utiles pour le nutritionniste et rentables pour l’éleveur laitier.

La première étape a permis de construire la base de données, de l’étudier, de concevoir des sous-bases permettant de répondre à certains objectifs particuliers et de faire de premiers modèles.

Understanding Indigenous Graduate Students and Their Motivations to Pursue a Career in Research

The research project that will be conducted by the intern will enable the creation of a questionnaire that will later be deployed to the indigenous researcher (and graduate student) community. Most of the activities will involve gathering and analysis information from databases (i.e., Aboriginal People’s Survey) and interviews (and focus groups) to ensure that we are asking the right questions. The aim is to better understand the enablers and constraints facing indigenous researchers in Canada, in order to help design interventions that could boost the former and mitigate the latter. The intern will work closely with both the academic and partner mentors to complete the work.

Population assessment of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus) in the Restigouche Estuary, New Brunswick

There are Atlantic sturgeon in the Restigouche River. This species is millions of years old and it is still found in our waters today. Fishers have reported their sightings every year in the last decade. Unfortunately, this species is now considered to be a species-at-risk. Because their numbers are so low, we don’t see them that often in the area and we don’t know a lot about them. Our project aims to answer pressing questions about the causes of their presence in the Restigouche estuary. We hope to answer questions like “What are they doing here?” and “where are they from?”.

Metagenomics of the Phragmites australis rhizomicrobiome: Insights for its invasive lifestyle

This project emphasizes on the invasive proliferation of obnoxious wetland plant, Phragmites australis in Canada and India, impacting the economy and ecology of both the countries. We focus on understanding the relationship of soil microbes and this plant species, whether soil microbiota aids in its successful invasive spread. In view of the growing pollution in water bodies, we will also set a greenhouse experiment to determine 2 things:
1. Assess the rhizospheric microbial communities associated with P. australis in native and non-native regions through meta-barcoding using 18s rRNA, ITS and 16s rRNA.
2. Evaluate the role of soil microbiota in ameliorating heavy metal stress by P. australis in relation to its bioremediation potential as a cost-effective approach for cleaning up polluted soils/water.
3. Compare the haplotypes of P.australis across North America, Europe and Asia.

Laura Secord Campus Commons Material Deconstruction and Reuse

Willowbank Centre for Cultural Landscape will work with a University of Waterloo student to engage in an emerging process of building disassembly and material reuse. Demolishing a building and sending the debris to landfill sites is a huge loss of resources, energy, and historical value. This project becomes a prototype on how to reuse building materials in other contexts. Understanding existing building stock as an immense resource, this approach can transform the construction industry and create a different way of thinking about designing and building out of local, reclaimed materials.
The work of the intern will lay the ground work for the project, to determine if it is feasible based on the community consultation, developing forms of representation to describe the materials and deconstruction process, and develop preliminary design proposals for how to implement the re-used components.

Enquête sur la quantité de Sélénium contenu dans l’alimentation des chevaux au Québec

Les sols au du Québec étant déficients en sélénium (Se), il est donc primordial d’en ajouter à la ration des chevaux. De nombreuses prises de sang analysées par le Service de diagnostic de la Faculté de médecine vétérinaire démontrent que plusieurs chevaux du Québec sont déficients en cet oligo-élément. Les recommandations actuelles pour les besoins en Se datent des années 1990. L’objectif de ce projet de recherche est de créer un portrait de la consommation de Se des chevaux du Québec. C’est la première étape afin de comprendre pourquoi tant de chevaux sont déficients en Se (selon le NRC) et n’en démontrent aucun signe clinique.

Ecology of spatio-temporal dynamics in bacterial communities

The project is aimed at exploring how the assembly of bacterial communities is determined due to interactions between individuals, spatial distribution, movement constraints and secretion of substances that affect bacterial growth. To do this, we will combine both a mathematical and an ecological approach. The mathematical approach will make use of abstract tools in mathematical modeling that will allow us to prove several hypotheses while modifying parameters in our equations that will simulate different scenarios. The ecological approach will help us interpret our findings and determine the feasibility of our hypotheses while establishing which ecological theories allow the bacterial dynamics arise. Our findings will give a wider understanding on the effects of perturbations to bacterial communities.

EFFET DES GREFFES RACINAIRES SUR LA RÉPONSE DES ARBRES AUX COUPES PARTIELLES – Analyse des données

L’épinette noire est une espèce commerciale et des éclaircies sont couramment pratiquées pour en augmenter la productivité. Pourtant, les résultats ne sont pas toujours ceux escomptés. Il est important de comprendre pourquoi l’effet sur la croissance peut parfois être absent. Chez le pin gris, il a été démontré que la réponse à l’éclaircie commerciale était influencée par la présence de greffes racinaires (fusion entre les racines d’arbres distincts). Après éclaircie, les arbres greffés avaient une croissance inférieure car les racines (et souches) des arbres coupés survivaient en drainant une partie des ressources mises en commun, limitant ainsi la croissance des arbres non coupés. L’objectif de ce projet est de déterminer l’effet des greffes sur la réponse de l’épinette noire à l’éclaircie commerciale.

Speech fluency and rhythmic coordination in various patient populations

Temporal management and speech fluency in discourse can be impaired in individuals with speech and language disorders. To date, it is unclear how temporal organisation of speech is influenced by higher-order language functions like discourse planning abilities, as well as exterior communication demands (e.g., conversation partners). Studies on different populations with discourse impairments (e.g., traumatic brain injury) and fluency disorders (e.g., stuttering) promise for new insights in interdependencies of speech timing and discourse planning. The first aim of the project is to identify how discourse planning abilities impact temporal organisation in adult patients with traumatic brain injury. In a corpus of narrative production, we hypothesize that microstructure and fluency will vary in critical phases of discourse. The second aim is to examine how temporal organisation and speech fluency change during verbal interaction in children and adult participants who stutter. An additional aim is to investigate whether musical rhythmic abilities in children and adults predict the extent of rhythmic convergence in speech. Here, I will support ongoing laboratory experiments at UdeMs’ BRAMS laboratory. Overall, the project will reveal new insights into how discourse planning and context impact the temporal organisation of speech.

The Effects of Social Media on Individuals, Community, and the Globe

Lifetime Productions was established to make the world a better place through strategic communications. On top of helping clients with existing services, Lifetime works to add more value to current and future clients with a new initiative in 2021 called Ethical Digital, Canada’s first organization solely dedicated to leading constructive discourse around ethics and helping businesses reach their sustainable development goals. As this new initiative progresses, the intern will be responsible for researching academic studies (Canadian and International) regarding social media and anxiety, the effect of algorithms on democracy, the effects of national policy changes (such as CASL) on digital behavior, and other topics identified by the research team. the end goal of this project for the intern to develop a literature review of all the relevant studies searched that would benefit the progress of Ethical Digital.

Business Analyst

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant changes to our industry and our business. We have been able to successfully expand our business into the virtual care space which has been very timely as a large portion of care delivery across the country has shifted to virtual. We are still in the process of optimizing our model as grow the virtual care side of our business, and there is a ton of room for growth and improvement. As a relatively small team, we don’t always have the time to take a step back and analyze our data and processes with the goal of identifying opportunities for growth. We believe that this business analyst internship will be hugely helpful for us on this front and will provide some much needed support for future growth in the form of new insights that can help us refine our strategy.

Community Engagement Coordinator (Campbell River & District Chamber of Commerce)

The proposed project is an inaugural golf tournament where the proceeds will be shared between the Campbell River & District Chamber of Commerce and the Children’s Health Foundation of Vancouver Island who are building a facility adjacent to the Campbell River Hospital to house families from the North Island region and the surrounding islands who need to travel to Campbell River to access medical care — especially maternal and pediactric. The project will also involve organizing community workshops and online community engagement. The project is of immense benefit to the community with the provision of humanitarian services for the northern populations of Vancouver Island.