Adam Fortais

Peatlands are wetland ecosystems that are home to at-risk species, tremendous biodiversity, and are responsible for storing huge amounts of carbon. In fact, peatlands are the largest natural carbon source in the world, making them instrumental in mitigating the effects of global warming. However, being a large carbon sink is a double-edged sword because these peatlands release large amounts of carbon when they burn through wildfires. Evidently, it is important to understand the factors that may make peatlands more vulnerable to wildfires to potentially intervene and even restore these ecosystems. But, what are these factors? Emma Sherwood, a 2nd year Master's student in the School of Earth, Environment, & Society, is researching these factors and creating maps of peatlands that may be more vulnerable to the effects of wildfires. Tune in to learn more about Emma's research and her active lifestyle outside the lab!  To learn more about the McMaster Ecohydrology lab, check out their lab page here You c

Burnout - a state of exhaustion, stress, and disillusionment - has increased across the workforce, especially in healthcare providers. In these settings, burnout can lead to poor outcomes for patient care, safety, and retention. In order to have the best outcomes for patients, healthcare providers must understand what factors can increase their morale and prevent burnout. But, what are those factors? Nicole Rakowski, a 2nd year PhD student in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Degroote School of Business, aims to identify factors that can create strong and healthy teams among healthcare providers to ultimately provide the best patient experience possible. Tune in to learn more abut Nicole's research and its important implications!

The North is warming at a much faster rate compared to the rest of the world through a process known as Arctic amplification. In Canada, particularly in Yukon, this warming has resulted in more precipitation falling as rain rather than snow. These precipitation changes have several consequences, including changes in vegetation. Erin Nicholls, a 4th year PhD Candidate in the School of Earth, Environment, and Society, is interested in understanding how these changes in the types of vegetation can impact the water cycle. Tune in to learn more about Erin's impactful research and her academic journey towards her PhD!  To learn more about Wolf Creek Research Basin, you can check our their website here or follow them on twitter here

Our immune response becomes less effective as we age and makes us more susceptible to infections. For instance, macrophages - white blood cells that eat up foreign pathogens - not only become slower and less effective at destroying these pathogens, but can also cause a chronic, pro-inflammatory state in the body. But, what are the mechanisms underlying poor macrophage function and susceptibility to lung infections in older adults? Kevin Zhao, a 1st year PhD student in the Department of Medicine, aims to understand these mechanisms and also examine potential drug candidates that can improve macrophage function, and thus protect against lung infections. Tune in to learn more about Kevin's research, the MD/PhD program at McMaster, and his interest in sci-fi! ​ If you have any questions about the MD/PhD program, please feel free to reach out to Kevin (kevin.zhao@medportal.ca) or Sawayra (owaiss3@mcmaster.ca)

For the second year in a row, McMaster is back with its GradFlix competition! GradFlix is a university-wide competition for graduate students where they create a 60 second video showcasing their research. Interested? Nervous? On the fence? Fret not! Dr. John Bandler, who has mentored hundreds of students in these competitions, and Megan Vierhout, a PhD student and finalist in last year's GradFlix competition, are here to help! Tune in to learn more about the upcoming GradFlix competition, the workshop that Dr. Bandler and Megan are leading on February 8, and how you can make GradFlix part of your academic journey! The Art Of GRADflix: TO SHOW THEM OR TO SNOW THEM?  --February 8, 2022 at 12:00PM (virtual). Click here to register; --Learn about the importance of story, subtext, editing, audio, and more! ​--Will feature Q&A panel from past GradFlix finalists Other GradFlix-related resources include: Connecting with your audience, delivering your best (Part 1 and Part 2) and Competit

Free electrons are responsible for a metal's conductive properties. When light hits these free electrons, they collectively oscillate to create a 'surface plasmon'. Surface plasmons can harvest and focus light on the nanoscale, allowing for an enhancement of light-matter interactions. Milenka, a 3rd year PhD student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, is investigating plasmonic properties in semiconductors and how the addition of certain elements to semiconductors can optimize their plasmonic properties. Tune in to learn more about Milenka's research, her research goals, and her favourite bike trail in Hamilton!

Joe Muise is a physics teacher at St. Thomas More Collegiate in Burnaby, BC, a CAP, NSTA, Vernier & Prime Minister’s Award Winner, and Step Up Ambassador. On this week's episode, Adam talks to Joe about teaching physics, changing the way students think of a physics education (interested in finance or medicine? You might like physics), and the Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference panel he was a part of.    Follow Joe on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/jm_muise  Check out the Step Up physics program: https://engage.aps.org/stepup/home  Students on the Beamlines, hosted by Canadian Light Sources: https://www.lightsource.ca/public/education/programs/students-on-the-beamline.php   Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this, please share! And if you can, please consider supporting us on www.Patreon.com/scican . Each like, share, and subscribe helps us make interviews, articles, and projects like this one happen.    See ya next time!

Historically, people with menstrual cycles have been excluded from scientific studies due to concerns about how hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle may affect research findings. This exclusion and underrepresentation in the health literature have significant implications as research suggests that there are important sex differences in health and wellness, including response to exercise. When our muscle cells are exposed to exercise, it causes micro tears which stimulates muscle cells to repair and regenerate. One important player in the process of muscle cell regeneration are satellite cells which are muscle stem cells. While research has shown that there are sex differences in the post-exercise satellite cell response, the underlying mechanisms that may be causing these differences remain unknown. Mai Wageh, a 3rd year PhD Candidate in the Department of Kinesiology, explains how hormones, specifically estrogen and progesterone, may contribute to these observed differences. Tune in to learn more

Antibiotics are compounds that fight bacterial infections by either slowing the growth of bacteria or killing them. Antibiotics generally work by inhibiting processes and pathways needed for bacterial growth and/or survival. Enzymes necessary for bacterial growth/virulence (which are absent in mammals) are promising antimicrobial targets. But, how do we know what this inhibitor should look like?   Pallavi Mukherjee, a 3rd year PhD Candidate in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, aims to answer this question with her research! Tune in to learn more about what the transition state of a reaction is, why isolating its structure can inform the development of antibiotics, and the tools used to study the transition state! You’ll also learn how Pallavi spends her time outside the lab!

This week: Jessie D takes us deeper into the abyss of Subnautica on Gamer’s Guide to Ecology Looks like yuh brought a haggis to a clahmet fight. The biggest climate conference is underway, and they want you to know how much carbon you make by eating their food Genetic testing shows California Condor produced sons… and didn’t even need a father. A couple of virgin births, if you will. The segment is so fertile for jokes, but I promise I will abstain. And finally, Watching NASA play “Armageddon” starring Bruce Willis. You aren’t gunna want to close your eyes, you aren’t gunna wanna fall asleep etc etc etc, and you won’t want to miss a thing     from this episode. That’s it for this episode. If you have comments or questions, find me on Twitter at AdamFortais or email me at fortaisadam@gmail.com . Find more of Jessie de Haan on Twitter @deHaanJ , and make sure to follow them on Twitch at justjessieD. Our music was provided by my friends from the band Boonie. Find them at boonie.rocks

Organized by: Genome Canada   Twenty years after the Human Genome Project, genomics is delivering on its promise: a big data science that—combined with AI, gene editing and biomanufacturing—is revolutionizing our wellbeing and economies. The U.K., U.S. and others are launching genomics strategies to maximize impact for their citizens. Canada is doing the same. Budget 2021 announced $400M for a new Pan-Canadian Genomics Strategy to build on the excellence Canada has built in genomics. This session will explore what it will take to build an effective Strategy, opportunities for Canada’s continued leadership in genomics, and the confluence of genomics with other transformational technologies.   The major takeaways here were our need for our own big database of genomic data that can be used by government, research, industry, etc. The panelists referred to the UK BioBank many times as the best (and only?) example of this, and it’s the consensus that Canada could be the second, if we manage to get our duc

My main takeaway from this session was that “we all want collaborations”. Many have industry-led collaborative approaches. I will say, a lot of the session felt like name-dropping different initiatives and quoting numbers which is probably useful for some, but from my perspective, a lot of that was too in-the-weeds for me. However, there were some interesting questions from the moderator and audience that I’ll highlight, and then get into some odds and ends from the session. Like Japan’s Moonshot Program, whose Step One is focused on Cybernetic Avatars… Organized by: National Research Council Canada   The climate crisis cannot be addressed by any single organization, sector, country, or even region. Research in universities and laboratories around the globe must be commercialized if we are to succeed. This panel draws on experts playing a key role in enabling innovation ; Canada, Japan, Norway, Germany and the UK, which are all recognized leaders in climate change related research, innovation and technol

In 2019 a federal budget item was announced and $134 million was set aside for what is considered the first-ever FOOD POLICY FOR CANADA. Qualitatively, income disparity and unequal access to affordable, healthful food is a fundamental problem we face. Multiple government departments play a part in ensuring Canadians have access to good food because it’s a complicated issue. But getting a bunch of separate departments to work efficiently toward an amorphous goal like this is probably pretty difficult. So, that is the argument for creating the Food Policy for Canada. The first pre-conference session at the CSPC2021 was a panel discussion with five members of the Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council who introduced us to the Food Policy for Canada, and presented their opinions on key priorities for the new government, and reflected on barriers to be overcome. For more, head to www.scientificanada.ca

This week, we:  Are building towers out of rocks, because the US military wants us to!  Buying lottery tickets instead of writing grant proposals - it actually might be the best way to do it!  And of course, Jessie is back talking ecology on Gamer’s Guide to Ecology. This week, we’re starting in on the deep sea planet of Subnautica.   https://www.bu.edu/eng/2021/10/07/it-...  https://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...  That’s it for this episode. If you have comments or questions, find me on Twitter at AdamFortais or email me at fortaisadam@gmail.com .    Find more of Jessie de Haan on Twitter @deHaanJ , and make sure to follow them on Twitch at justjessieD.     Our music was provided by my friends from the band Boonie. Find them at boonie.rocks .    If you liked the show, share it with a friend. We are on all streaming platforms and youtube, just look for scientificanada .    If you want to learn more, or if you’d like to help us suppor

This week’s random walk is … going to take up the whole episode this week. We have a very special guest this week. Antonia Kowalewski is an undergraduate student studying biophysics at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby British Columbia. This week I talked to her about a summer research project on Multivalent Diffusive Transport that recently was published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B. She will be presenting the work at the Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference, but I had a chance to talk to her first. So stay tuned, we will be back with Antonia in just a sec.    Learn more about Antonia and the Forde Lab below:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniakowalewski/  https://www.sfu.ca/fordelab/  https://cupc.cap.ca/

Sedimentary rocks are rocks which are formed from the compaction of other rocks or organic material near the Earth's surface. They can tell us information about the Earth's past environment like how much carbon dioxide was in the atmosphere, or what the sea levels were. But, how can this information from millions of years ago help us today? Nick Randazzo is a 5th year PhD Candidate in the School of Earth, Environment, and Society under the Faculty of Science, and his research aims to examine the geochemistry of sedimentary rocks from 90 million years ago to inform present-day models and predictions of climate change. Tune in to learn more about Nick’s research and its breadth of implications on climate change, oil companies, and outer space! You can follow Nick on twitter here or check out his website here See ya next week!

Ok! This week, we are talking about risk, reward, probability, and money: If you were a moth, how would you protect yourself from predators? Researchers from Bristol have recently discovered a built-in strategy that keeps some moths safe from echolocation-based attacks. Wait, let me try that again. RESEARCHERS FIND NEW TECHNIQUE TO SURVIVE THE NIGHT. BATS HATE IT! Video games can be hard, but maybe it’s not your fault you can’t make it past the water temple. ARE COSMIC RAYS MAKING YOU LOSE AT VIDEOGAMES? Actually, the story is about someone winning big. But it could work either way. You’ll see. I’m out of clickbait ideas for this one. Ontario universities have moved to “performance-based” funding. Too-little-too-late for Laurentian, but… hold on, what the heck does that even mean? How do ontario universities get their funding anyhow? And my favorite segment, Jessie brings you the Gamer’s Guide to Ecology. That’s it for this episode. If you have comments or questions, find me on Twitter at AdamFortais or

This week, Sawayra talks to Nikoo Aghaei about her work developing an in vivo functional genomics screen to identify novel drivers of lung cancer brain metastasis. They also talk about Nikoo's work with Empower Circle, a group motivated by empowering and connecting individuals from all walks of life, and amplifying the voices of womxn and minorities.     Want to learn more? Want to reach out to Nikoo?    Nikoo’s twitter: https://twitter.com/nikoo_aghaei   Project Empower Circle’s twitter: https://twitter.com/empower_circle   Project Empower Circle’s website: https://www.projectempowercircle.com/   Project Empower Circle’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empower_circle/   You can find Sawayra at: https://twitter.com/seeingaway   Finally, for more content like this, go to www.scientificanada.ca   See ya next week!

The Ig Nobel Prizes have been awarded for 2021! It’s like the Nobel prize, but with a better selection process. Just kidding, but only sort of. The world’s most successful climate-based agreement had its 30-something’th anniversary on September 16th. Let me tell you about it, will ya? A brand new climate-focused reporting outfit right here in frikkin Ontario. And I think it’s going to be a good one. It’s about time, right? And… the second episode of the Gamer’s Guide to Ecology, where Jessie deHaan dives into the fauna in Red Dead Redemption 2 Find more Jessie on Twitter and Twitch, and be sure to add the Gamer’s Guide to your favorite podcasting app!

WATCH Last week we introduced Jessie deHaan and the Gamer's Guide to Ecology. Today, Adam and Jessie talk about grad school, ecology, gaming, and why those things go together so well. We conclude with the very first episode of the Gamer's Guide to Ecology, where Jessie introduces the world of Red Dead Redemption 2. Find more Jessie  on Twitter and Twitch, and be sure to add the Gamer's Guide to your favorite podcasting app!