Faits saillants / Just the Facts - Insect Flight Group

Faits saillants / Just the Facts
Volume 14, numéro 1 / Volume 14, Number 1
DR. HOWDEN HONOURED
On December 6, friends and colleagues of
Research Associate Dr. Henry Howden
gathered at the NHB for a pot luck lunch.
As a special surprise, Henry was given a
Festschrift (a collection of scientific papers
by his colleagues) in honour of his
scientific achievements. Prior to his stroke
last summer, Henry had been invited to
speak at the Coleopterists Society meeting
in Indianapolis last December at which he
was to be presented with the Festschrift.
When his stroke stopped him from
travelling, the society decided to bring the
presentation ceremony to the CMN. Dr.
Brett Ratcliffe and Coleopterists Society
President Dr. Mary Liz Jameson made the
presentation of the volume. Other out-oftown visitors included Patrick Arnaud
from Paris, past Entomological Society of
America President Dr. Michael Ivie from
Montana, and long time friends and
colleagues of the Howdens, Dr. George
and Kay Ball of Edmonton. The terrific
lunch, with more than 80 people attending,
was presided over by Joanne DiCosimo
who spoke briefly about Henry and his
wife Anne’s 20-year association with the
CMN as friends, donors and research
associates.
FIVE-YEAR NSF FUNDING
Bob Anderson was pleased to learn in
early December that the US National
Science Foundation (NSF) accepted his
funding proposal to study diversity in
Central American leaf litter insects. In July
2006, he and Jack Longino from
Evergreen College (west of Seattle) put
together an ambitious proposal for a fiveyear project that involves sampling in
Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and
southern Mexico, and includes a year for
preliminary reconnaissance (establishing
sites, etc). It also contains a strong
training element with six undergraduate
students (from Canada, USA and the host
country) and two PhD students involved
each year. Bob explains that generally
there is a low success rate on such
proposals and, since they were asking for
$850,000, they were not overly optimistic.
Congratulations on the funding, Bob!
3D SCANS AID IN STUDYING
INSECT FLIGHT
This past fall, Paul Bloskie in the 3D
Centre was involved in a cool insect flight
project with Carleton University. Paul
scanned the front and back wings of both a
female and male locust. The 3D data is
helping Dr. Jeff Dawson, Assistant
Professor of Biology, to better understand
flight dynamics, such as how steering
torque is generated so that locusts can
avoid predators. From the scans, plastic
wing models are produced, using a rapidprototyping machine (3D printer) in
Carleton University’s Engineering
Department. Dye is placed on the wings
and the models are submerged in water to
observe the fluid interactions between the
wings. (When the wings are set in motion,
the dye streams away). A brief article
about Dawson’s work appeared in the
Globe and Mail on January 13.
CAFÉ SCIENTIFIQUE
The CMN’s new Café scientifique series,
where a discussion on a specific science
topic is held in a pub or restaurant, has
been going well since its initiation. Piloted
last June (the theme being the nature of
flirting), the series was launched in
November with a discussion on what’s in
the water and a December Café on
Einstein’s influence. Last week, on
January 11, the CMN’s first French Café
took place at Le Petit Chicago in Hull.
Cloning will be the focus of the CMN’s
next Café scientifique on Saturday,
February 10 at Trattoria Italia at 228
Preston Street. It will start at 5:30 p.m. in
between shows at the Great Canadian
Theatre Company of A Number, a play
about a man who discovers he is a clone
and faces questions of ethics in science.
The concept of Café scientifique emerged
in Europe in the late 1990s and now is
gaining popularity in North America.
Check out the Web site cafescientifique.ca,
hosted by the Ontario Science Centre, for a
list of science discussions taking place in
Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa.
BIRDING IN A BOX
Senior Educator Michaela Roenspies
is working on an educational suitcase
to accompany the new Bird Gallery.
Two cases are being developed – one
for schools and one for the public –
that will soon be available for loan
externally. They contain tools that will
help teach the basics of bird-watching.
Components include a telescope, tripod,
three kinds of binoculars, field guides,
reference material, a birder’s journal, and
specimens. This project was undertaken
through support from the Canadian
Wildlife Service which is contributing
$25,000 for bird gallery programming.
CHANGEMENT CLIMATIQUE
En octobre dernier, Michel Poulin a
participé à la seconde mission océanographique ArcticNet, cette fois dans le
golfe Amundsen et la mer de Beaufort.
Pendant trois semaines à bord du briseglace NGCC Amundsen, Michel a terminé
l’échantillonnage de plusieurs variables du
milieu afin de poursuivre la comparaison
des communautés phytoplanctoniques
entre l’Arctique de l’est et de l’ouest. Lors
d’un dîner à bord du navire avec des
membres de la communauté de Sachs
Harbour, il en a profité pour discuter des
enjeux climatiques avec le plus vieux
couple de ce petit village Inuvialuit. La
vieille dame lui disait justement que c’était
la première fois que la neige arrivait aussi
tardivement au village (début octobre);
plutôt que vers la fin du mois d’août.
Michel notait que ce ne sont sûrement pas
les dernières observations faisant état des
conséquences du réchauffement climatique
affectant notre Arctique canadien.
SEA MONSTERS COMING!
Steve Cumbaa’s new book, Sea Monsters,
will be released around March 1. Heavilyillustrated, it showcases fossil and
legendary sea monsters, as well as some
living “monsterish” marine creatures. The
publisher, KidsCan Press, is printing 3,500
hardcover and 6,500 paperback copies of
the book. Stay tuned for more details.
Produit par Laura Sutin, Agente des communications et des relations avec les médias /
Produced by Laura Sutin, Media Relations/Communications Officer