Student News
In 2004, BIODAQUA European exchange students travelled far and wide across Canada, trying out all the partner unviersities. The Canadian students were more cautious, aiming mainly for English-speaking universities or courses, but still arriving in large numbers at the university of their choice.
Autumn 2004
Four Greek students from the Agricultural University of Athens returned full of enthusiasm (good Greek word that!) from their Canadian exchange.
The Greek team in Canada:
Maria Fotou, Irene Dalmira, Gianlica Pizzonia and Iorgos Tsatsos travelled as a group for their exchange studies in Canada and sent both reportsd and photographs.
Maria Fotou spoke up for the group and for the exchange programme. "We are really happy to have participated in this exchange programme. We feel that we have gained a lot of precious knowledge. We had a great expereince and one that will be helpful to our future careers."
On arrival on 13th September, the group lived in the Huntsman Centre student accommodation, situated in a beautiful part of New Brunswick. All four worked at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Saint Andrews Biological Station just a few minutes’ walk away.
Irene Dalmira was in the nutrition lab, working on Atlantic salmon susceptibility to the ISA virus (supervisors Drs Glebe and Lie).
Maria Fotou, Gianlica Pizzonia and Iorgos Tsatsos were in the Shellfish Lab, working on the behavious of the green sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis and its preferences for different light colours (supervisor Mr S.Robertson).
On their departure on 30th October, Maria again spoke up for the group. « We felt that we really benefited from this exchange. We are sorry that the programme will be over by the end of the year. It would be good if a new one could be found to replace it, in order to give the opportunity for more students to enrich their knowledge as we did »
Meantime, two more Italian students went to Dalhousie in the fall, Sara Zaratti and Sara Zucchi. The latter carried out a study in quantitative PCR analysis of differential gene expression in salmon, while the former attracted some media attention with her chosen subject, Modelling catastrophic chlorine gas release from sunken tankers lost at sea.
And the last exchanges took place right at the end of the project, when two Canadian students from the University of Guelph, travelled to the University of Gent. Kelly Shin worked on emiofauna identification and classification, right up to Christmas Eve, and Terin Robinson worked on the identification and assessment of marine mammal residency patterns, staying until the last day of 2004 to complete the study.
We woluld like to express our admiration for all these students who used their initiative as well as support from both host and receiving institutions. It is very clear that all the participating students found their exchanges to be richly rewarding on several levels; not only the academic level (though quite a few carried out excellent research studies and one is indeed now carrying out Ph.D. studies at Dalhousie), but also on the personal and inter-cultural level. We wish them every success in the future.
The BIODAQUA partners.
Summer 2004
Philip Brett and Sarah O'Flynn from the University of Cork spent the summer at the HMSC; Philip carried out a study on the effects of heat stress on Atlantic Salmon in the Miramachi River, New Brunswick, and Sara worked as an intern and developed a cod aquaculture database for the Centre.
Two students from the University of Gent, Gunthyer Jansen and Eva Haverbeke, also spent the summer at HMSC: Eva followed the summer course on the Biology of Marine Mammals and also carried out a project on whale entanglements in fishing gear, while Gunther undertook a project on the morphological characterization of the larval stages of the mud shrimp Axius serratus.
Sophi Bloch from the University of Ancona, spent two months at Dalhousie, researching the effects of pulp mill pollution on interidal diversity, while Salvatore Lossaco, went to St. Mary's University to study aspects of climate change and fisheries. Andrea Dell'apa travelled to UNBSJ where she carried ot a project on male Waddell seals.
Meantime Alex Stathopoulos, from the Agricultural University of Athens went to the University of Guelph where his research project was concerned with nutrition in aquaculture.
Easter 2004
It was a memorable Easter for 22 Canadian students, hailing from UNB(12), University of Guelph (4), St Mary's University (4) and Dalhousie University (2). They took a short course on Applied Ecology and Environmental Monitoring in Irish Ecosystems, specially designed for their needs, at the University of Cork in Ireland. So far we have not received any photos from the exchange students, although we are still hoping. The course was very successful and it is hoped to run it again in the near future.
February 2004
Four students from the University of Gent, Belgium, arrived to spend 3 months in Canada, 3 in Dalhouse University and one in UNB St. John. Their research projects were part of an M.Sc. degree, with research topics covering Interidal Ecotoxicology with applications to marine management(2), the reproductive ecology of capelin, and a final report on cuttlefish behaviour.
Winter 2003
One lone Greek student, Aris Tsopelakos from the Agricultural University of Athens, braved the bleak Canadian winter to carry out a study on short-nose sturgeon aquaculture at the Huntsman Marine Science Centre, which has extremely good facilities for such studies.
September 2003
FIRST CANADIAN ARRIVAL IN CRETE
Isabelle Aube, the first Canadian exchange student to cross the Atlantic, has just arrived to take up her study programme under the supervision of Dr Chris Smith. Isabelle, a graduate of Dalhousie University with honours in Marine Biology, is now completing her Master's degree (University of New Brunswick).
During her stay, she will make regular reports of progress to the Department of Seas and Oceans which is also a BIODAQUA partner. These reports will be available on this page.
Isabelle pictured below on the day of her arrival, with Dr Smith and Mrs Margaret Eleftheriou, BIODAQUA project Manager.
Summer 2003
KEEPING UP THE GOOD WORK
SHEENA MOORE and SARAH FORDE, from University of Cork in Ireland,
are two of the 2003 Canada exchange contingent from UCC.
Once again it is an all-female team who make the running, undeterred by the
difficulties faced by all EU/Canada exchanges in 2003.
Click on the thumbnails below to see the girls, where they are and what they
are doing.
Summary of the work in progress
Physiological adaptation of Arctic charr to seawater
S.Moore and S.Forde
University of Cork
Ireland
Location of project work: DFO, St.Andrews; ACM, Shippegan; NS Agricultural College, Truro, New Brunswick, Canada
The objective of the study is to investigate the physiological adaptation
of Arctic charr to seawater in terms of their osmoregulatory capabilities.
Different family strains are being placed in seawater to see which family
has the best salinity tolerance. In addition, a new technology developed for
salmon by a Canadian company called MariCal will be utilized. The technology,
called 'Supersmolting', involves putting salts into the freshwater where the
fish are kept, a situation which may induce the fish to prepare themselves
physiologically for entrance into seawater. This process has worked successfully
on salmon and it remains to be seen whether it will be successful for the
charr. If there is a positive result, it could create interesting future potential
developments for the culture of Arctic char in seawater.
Pioneers from Cork - Summer 2002
Three students from Cork blazed the trail for the BIODAQUA partners. They
went on an exchange to the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in August 2002.
Here they are back in Cork. From left to right Diane Armitage who worked on
halibut rearing project at the HMSC, Laura Walshe who worked on a marine mammal
mapping project with Quoddy Link, Marine tourism outfit at HMSC, Briefney
Buckley who investigated the impact of an anti sealice chemical on lobster
moulting with Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
All were based in St Andrews.
