The IDEAlogue SCHOL ARLY ACTIVITY NEWSLETTER • WINTER 2016 Envisioning research in a whole new way at Langara’s spring 2016 Scholarship Café Inside this issue Picnic from hell: the invasive nature of European fire ants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Langara instructor looks to Long Beach past to divine its future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + Langara seizes “hopportunity” to help BC’s craft beer industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Another piece of the puzzle: the Monte Palazzi excavation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 $25,000 NSERC Engage Award enables wearable Wi-Fi project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Update from the Langara Cannabis Research Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 = SAVE THE DATE: 2017 SCHOL ARSHIP CAFÉ Feed the good wolf: creating a smoking cessation iPhone app . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Thursday, March 30 11:30 am – 3:00 pm T Building Gallery Case studies require Langara Research Ethics Board review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Langara’s Scholarship Café is an annual, open house-style event that showcases some of the most exciting scholarly research taking place at the College. The event is free and everyone is invited to attend. www.langara.ca/scholarship-café GET THE RECOGNITION AND SUPPORT YOU DESERVE Have a great idea? Working on a community project or presenting a paper at a conference? Interested in partnering with someone from the Langara community to conduct research? We want to know. Contact us at 604.323.5690 or scholarlyactivity@langara.ca. Picnic from hell: the invasive nature of European fire ants Biology instructor Ken Naumann’s first encounter with the subject Fire ants were introduced to the east coast of North America in the 1900s, of his Langara research project has all the elements of a 1950s sci-fi and became newsworthy in BC in 2010. How they crossed the continent thriller – with a little Stephen King and Alfred Hitchcock thrown in for is one of the questions Naumann and co-researcher Mario Moniz de Sa, good measure. chair of Langara’s Biology department, hopes to answer. “It was about 15 years ago,” Naumann recalls. “A classmate of my Ants can be easily transported daughter was having a birthday party, and they wanted to celebrate in The European fire ant a park next to the Fraser River. It’s a beautiful spot with lots of room to is considered the “big run and play and have a birthday picnic. “We all drove there. Van doors slid open, squealing girls jumped out and headed for the tall grass, while parents were left to set up the food.” through infested soil, mulch, garden materials, and even potted plants. Naumann considers box retailer” of the the European fire ant to be the insect world. “big box retailer” of the insect Cue ominous music... world. Once they move into a neighbourhood, they displace all Suddenly, there were screams coming from a section of tall grass. other ants by virtue of sheer numbers. Parents dropped half-filled bowls of potato salad and ran for the source Naumann and Rob Higgins, a co-researcher from Thompson Rivers of the commotion. University, have established that biodiversity in an area drops Girls were screaming, running in every direction, patting their pants, and hitting their legs. Within seconds, parents were doing the same thing. Everyone was being stung by tiny red ants. dramatically with the presence of fire ants. They simply overwhelm all other ant species. “Fire ants are also comfortable with very high population densities,” Not just any ants. These were European fire ants (Myrmica rubra). They are aggressive and will defend their nest vigorously if disturbed. The girls had obviously disturbed a nearby colony. Naumann was fascinated. With the help of a $3,000 Langara RSAF grant, he began studying these ants three years ago. Naumann says. “Each colony can have several queens, not just one. These queens often establish their own colony less than a metre away from the original. It’s called ‘colony budding’.” Recent developments in gene sequencing have revealed more fire ant secrets. Using behavioural assays and DNA extracted from various colonies, Naumann, Moniz de Sa, and several students have found genetic “These guys are packing,” says Naumann. “Their sting hurts. It’s like links between colonies that are geographically miles apart yet somehow getting a face full of vinegar. The injury site will usually swell up, linked. The research team is looking forward to further study of these which can be a serious problem for anyone who is allergic. And unlike “super colonies.” 0 bees, fire ants don’t die after they sting.” Say hello to the European fire ant Close-up of fire ant stinger ABOUT L ANGAR A’S RESEARCH & SCHOL ARLY ACTIVIT Y FUND (RSAF) In November 2015, Langara’s Scholarly Activity Steering Committee established a new funding opportunity to support faculty-led research projects. The RSAF inspired several diverse projects in its inaugural year, the outcomes of which are featured in this edition of IDEAlogue. For more information about the RSAF, including deadlines for proposals and the submission process, visit http://iweb.langara.bc.ca/rsaf. 1 Photos: California Academy of Sciences, www.AntWeb.org Tofino: At the end of Esowista Peninsula Langara instructor looks to Long Beach past to divine its future Long Beach. Chesterman. Cox Bay. Wickanninish. For many of us, these names evoke idyllic images of sun, sand, and surf. These beaches near Tofino on Canada’s west coast are a playground for thousands and, for a few lucky Langara students, an amazing littoral laboratory. Mark Smith is a geologist and instructor at Langara College. For The primary source of sediment for Tofino area beaches are the deposits of glacial sediment found along the coast and nearby rivers and streams. Streams as well as wind and wave action move these sediments onto the beach where they become part of the coast. It’s these glacial deposits that Smith is most interested in because many are no longer available. Ocean waves can no longer reach them, and the sustainability of the beach may be in question. years, he has brought a small group of students to the west coast as Smith realized that part of the Environmental Studies Field School at Langara, and to continue an ongoing project that examines the coastal geology of the Esowista Peninsula. Smith looks at beaches differently than you or I, and he operates on a much larger time scale. For instance, those waves curling up and dropping, swirling sand at his feet – those could be the remnants of a wave that originated in Japan or Indonesia. It may have travelled By looking at the distant past area, and that this present, Smith and his students was an opportunity hope to shed some light on the future of Canada’s west coast. various beaches are mostly made of a volcanic rock called basalt. to gather information and better understand the immense curled in upon itself, and broke, spreading sand and foam across the The rocky headlands that break up and separate this coast into its been done in this and gathering data about the hundreds of miles before it felt the sandy rippled bottom of Cox Bay, bay, then pulling it out again. very little work had forces at work. A $1,200 Langara RSAF grant helped Smith and his students gather data to answer the most basic questions. Smith continues the research mostly on his own, with help from students back at the College. They are the remnants of the last ice age. When the ice receded some By looking at the distant past and gathering data about the present, 10,000 years ago, these headlands were left intact. Smith and his students hope to shed some light on the future of Now clinging to their flanks are the remains of generations of Canada’s west coast. 0 marine creatures — barnacles, urchins, kelps, mussels. They grow, mature, and die in the inter-tidal zone, all the time pounded by wind and waves. Their remains are eroded and contribute sediment to the beaches. 2 Langara seizes “hopportunity” to help BC’s craft beer industry By the end of 2016, the number of craft breweries in BC is expected to “With help from a student from Langara’s Student reach at least 130. In a word, the craft brewing industry is booming, and Work Assistance Program (SWAP), we are going to so are the industries that support craft beer production. sequence the entire chloroplast genome of 10 popular Hops are now an economically important crop in the province. Hops are varieties of hops,” Yang says. primarily used to give beer its characteristic aroma and bitterness. There “DNA samples will be run through a high-output, are about 125 different varieties of hops. Each imparts a unique flavour to gene-sequencing machine. The goal is to use the the beer being brewed. results of that sequencing to find DNA markers that Correctly identifying varieties of hops based on morphological could distinguish the different varieties of hops.” 0 characters alone can be difficult. An efficient and reliable DNA markerbased method is needed. This is essential if the craft beer industry is to continue offering a consistent, high-quality product. Langara Biology instructor (and beer lover) Ji Yang is proposing a bioinformatics solution to the problem. Another piece of the puzzle: the Monte Palazzi excavation Pulled from the ground in 2007 at Monte Palazzi — a remote archaeological site high up in the hills of southern Italy — these are much more than just broken pieces of pottery. With Jennifer Knapp’s skilled hands and sharp eyes, each shard becomes a piece of a giant puzzle, a window into a way of life 2,500 years ago when Italian, Greek, and Roman city states vied for control of this strategic peninsula in the Mediterranean. “Ceramics are often used as material for dating an archaeological site,” says Knapp, a Classical Studies instructor at Langara College and an active participant in the Monte Palazzi dig. “But if we look closely at those pieces, and the vessels they were part of, we often find they tell a story. They can reveal what food the people ate and how they made it. The implements used to prepare food have certainly changed over the years, but food expresses identity now as much as it did 2,500 Cooking lid years ago.” “Sometimes we find vessels used for storage,” Knapp adds. “These can help reconstruct trade routes. Pieces of more decorative vessels might indicate the house of a person of rank, or the presence of a temple.” Knapp and a student started going to the Monte Palazzi site in 2005. Knapp believes it is important for students to be involved in archaeological training as early as possible because it gives them a chance to get first-hand training in archaeological digs and learn what it is like to be on excavation. “It’s tough work,” she says. “But it can be very rewarding as well.” Cup base With the help of an RSAF grant and a student, Knapp spent the summer of 2016 at home digging through her notes and digitizing everything. These databases will become vital information for future archaeologists, as they continue to find more pieces of the puzzle that is gradually being unearthed in southern Italy. 0 Pottery pieces 3 Photos: Jennifer Knapp. Published by permission of the Foundation for Calabrian Archaeology. Langara instructor and project lead Kim Lam tests Wi-Fi signals with project aide Edmond Wong. $25,000 NSERC Engage Award enables wearable Wi-Fi project Kim Lam is working with Vancouver software developer Vandrico on a project that, when completed, could make the workplace safer for thousands of employees. Lam is the coordinator of Langara’s Computing Science & Information Systems (CSIS) program. “We are very excited to be working Working with project aides Calvin Heu and Edmond Wong, Lam is designing a smartphone with Langara to advance the and app that an employee can wear. The device would track the employee’s movement in an capabilities of indoor and industrial Wi-Fi network – a mine, mill, or complex construction site, for example. underground location tracking Says Kenny MacKenzie, President of Vandrico, “We are very excited to be working with Langara using wearable technology.” to advance the capabilities of indoor and underground location tracking using wearable technology.” – Kenny MacKenzie, President Vandrico Solutions Inc. Their project has attracted some major interest. In May 2016, the team received a grant of $3,000 from Langara’s RSAF. Earlier this year, with help from Kelly Sveinson and Langara’s Community & Industry Research Centre (CIRC), Lam’s project secured an Engage Award of $25,000 from the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Lam is working on the algorithm, while Heu and Wong are scrambling to finish the application. “We wanted something off the shelf, something with no special hardware, something for the real world,” says Lam. “After all, we have a real client and real deadlines.” “We want to start trials of a test unit by mid-December 2016. No pressure,” he adds, grinning and turning back to his screen. 0 4 Update from the Langara Cannabis Research Group There is no shortage of opinion in North America when it comes to This project includes external partners, and involves analysis cannabis. Opinions vary widely on the subject of its use and abuse. of data from several years of measurements of active Emotions run high on both sides of the debate, as well as both sides of compounds in dispensary cannabis by a commercial laboratory. the border. Some jurisdictions — like Colorado, Oregon, and Washington — are pushing ahead to legalize and monetize marijuana as fast as possible. Some estimate the US market alone is worth $71 billion. Politicians, on “Our intent is to make sure that the people both sides of the border, are attracted by visions of cash pouring into who make decisions around this issue have state coffers. the facts at their fingertips, and that they While opinions are plentiful on both sides, there is a dearth of basic are making decisions based on facts, not research and factual information on the effects of cannabis use on newspaper headlines.” and misuse. – Paul Sunga, Principal Investigator, For the last two years, an interdisciplinary team of scientists at Langara Langara Cannabis Research Group College —the Langara Cannabis Research Group — has been attempting to fill this knowledge gap. Langara’s Cannabis Research Group comprises: • Kevin Craib, Mathematics • Janet Douglas, Social Service Worker • Mario Moniz de Sa, Biology The group is currently designing a fifth project in conjunction with UBC: • Paul Sunga, Health Sciences (principal investigator) • Clinical cardiovascular correlates of consumption of distinctly analyzed strains of cannabis (Sunga with external partner Dr. Simon Rabkin, UBC Department of Medicine) • Kelly Sveinson, Chemistry Says principal investigator Paul Sunga, “It’s particularly Members of the group have spent two years working on the first appropriate for a community college to be researching this • Margo Nelson, Social Service Worker • Daryl Smith, Biology two-of- five projects, and they are about to release the findings of the subject. Drug use and drug effects are serious community first project: health issues. • Social and fitness surveys of college students (Nelson, Smith, Douglas, Moniz de Sa, and Sunga) “As scientists, we are expressing our personal views on Meanwhile, work is nearing an endpoint on a second project: wisdom through experimental means, while at the same time, • Social and health surveys of BC baby boomers born 1946-1964 (Douglas, Nelson, Smith, and Sunga) contributing to extending knowledge about cannabis and The third project, currently at the midpoint, is: “Our intent is to make sure that the people who make • Chemical analysis of cannabis strains and perceptions of effects (Nelson, Sveinson, Smith, Douglas, and Sunga) decisions around this issue have the facts at their fingertips, A fourth project underway in the fall of 2016 is: newspaper headlines.” 0 cannabis and its use. We are interested in challenging accepted BC society. and that they are making decisions based on facts, not on • Analysis of chemical profiles of samples of cannabis over two years (Sveinson, Craib, and Sunga) COLLEGES & INSTITUTES OF CANADA APPLIED RESEARCH SHOWCASE Interested in learning about applied research projects happening at other Canadian educational institutions? Visit www.collegesinstitutes.ca/our-members/applied-research. Feed the good wolf: creating a smoking cessation iPhone app Feed the good wolf. This is the intriguing name of an app being created The outlook is not encouraging — 75% of smokers want to quit; 50% as an interdisciplinary project by Langara’s Computing Sciences & tried to quit in the past year; 11% were successful. 1 Information Systems (CSIS) instructor Bryan Green and four students. The app is being designed to help people quit smoking. Ironically, the inspiration for this high-tech project is an old Cherokee legend: Green thinks most smokers underestimate the power of their addiction. “If you are going to do something as dramatic and difficult as quitting smoking, you should marshal as many resources as possible, and you An elder is teaching his grandson about life. should “feed the good wolf.” “A fight is going on inside me,” he says to the boy. With a $2,160 Langara RSAF grant in May 2016, the “Green Team” is “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” “The other,” the old man continued, “is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. applying First Nations wisdom, a little cognitive behavioural therapy, and smartphone technology to create an iPhone application that will increase people’s chances of success in quitting smoking. Some researchers claim that quitting smoking is more difficult than kicking a cocaine or heroin habit. However, “feeding the good wolf” has immense potential savings for the individual and the community at large. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.” 5,700 people die every year from smoking-related causes. Smoking costs our province an estimated $525 million (2002) annually in medical The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his care; an estimated $904 million (2002) in productivity losses due to the grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” premature deaths and excess disability of smokers; and millions more The old man simply replied, “The one you feed.” According to Stats Can’s 2014 report on smoking, a battle goes on everyday in the hearts and minds and neural pathways of 5.4 million Canadians — the 18% of our population who smoke. in costs are borne directly by BC employers. 2 The app will encourage the user to catalogue their behaviour and recognize patterns. It will help to “feed the good wolf” by creating an inventory of people and places that decrease tension and avoid situations that encourage smoking. 0 Case studies require Langara Research Ethics Board review The Scholarly Activity Steering Committee and Langara Research or experimental interventions. As such, they raise all the ethical issues Ethics Board have created a guideline for ethics review of case studies of larger research studies, including issues around obtaining informed involving living humans. This is now available under the Policy and consent, protection of confidentiality, and minimization of risk to Guidelines tab on the LREB website. participants. Often these are raised in acute form since participants Case studies are often described as “n of 1” studies because they involve a research investigation of a single living individual or sometimes a small series of individuals. The guideline clarifies that Langara typically interact directly with researchers, sensitive information can be collected non-anonymously, and the research can be more than minimal risk. researchers who conduct such case studies for scholarly purposes must Exception: LREB review is not required for student interviews with submit an Ethics Review Application Form to the LREB for review and living persons that do not require students to design and attempt to approval before recruiting case study participants. Langara instructors replicate a case study investigation for research purposes. For example, who have students design and conduct case studies in ways that LREB review would not be required for course work that requires are meant to replicate case study research on a living individual are students to gain experience of interviewing skills or to interview required to have their courses reviewed by completing the Application individuals to find evidence of current social or psychological theories. for Course-Based Research. Langara researchers or instructors who have any questions about this Case studies are common elements of scholarly research programs. guideline can contact John Russell, LREB Chair, at jrussell@langara.ca While they often do not answer specific research questions, they can or 604.323.5453. 0 be hypothesis-generating or be used to pilot-test theoretical models 1: http://www.tobaccoreport.ca/2015/TobaccoUseinCanada_2015.pdf 2. http://www.gpiatlantic.org/publications/summaries/costoftobacco-bc-summ.pdf 6 SCHOL ARLY ACTIVIT Y STEERING COMMITTEE (SASC) John Falcus Faculty, Langara School of Management Vivian Feng Coordinator, Reference Services, Library Services Margaret Heldman Chair, SASC and Dean, Faculty of Science Ian Humphreys Provost & Vice-President, Academics and Students Lynn Kitchen Manager, Custom Training Julie Longo Program Review Facilitator, TCDC Margo Nelson Faculty, Social Service Worker Wanda Pierson Faculty, Nursing Indira Prahst Coordinator, Sociology Philip Robbins Faculty, Fine Arts John Russell Chair, Langara Research Ethics Board Kelly Sveinson Coordinator, Community & Industry Research Centre (CIRC) Heather Workman Department Chair, Co-operative Education Spring 2016 Scholarship Cafe CONTACT US Veronica Yeung Administrative Assistant Office of the Academic Deans Phone: 604.323.5690 Email: vyeung@langara.ca ABOUT SCHOL ARLY ACTIVIT Y AT L ANGAR A In a 1990 publication, Scholarship Reconsidered, Ernest Boyer introduced an academic model advocating expansion of the traditional definition of scholarship and research into four types: 1. Discovery includes original research that advances knowledge 2. Integration involves the synthesis of information across disciplines 3. Application of the discipline, including applied research and social innovation that goes beyond the campus 4. Systematic study and public sharing of teaching and learning Guided by Boyer’s model of scholarship and the four pillars of discovery, integration, application, and teaching and learning, Langara actively explores and pursues opportunities for scholarly activity and collaborative research.op ABOUT IDEAlogue The IDEAlogue shares and promotes news about scholarly projects and applied research happening in our Langara community. We aim to shine a spotlight on faculty, staff, and administrators here at the College who are reaching out and applying their knowledge and learning to the world beyond the classroom – whether it’s through community partnerships, educational leave, or experimental research. We also aim to connect Langara scholars with information about the potential funding available to them. If you’re working on a project, please let us know by getting in touch at scholarlyactivity@langara.ca. p Learn more. www.langara.ca/scholarly-activity Copyright © 2016 Langara College Editing, design, and production: Langara Communications & Marketing Services Writing: Paul Heraty Printing: Langara Printshop Services Photography: California Academy of Sciences (www.AntWeb.org), Chris Gunn, Foundation for Calabrian Archaeology, Jennifer Knapp, Jennifer Oehler