Fall 2008 Landmark Newsletter

Landmark News, Volume 15 Issue 2—Page 1

Fall 2008 D E P A R T M E N T O F R E N E W A B L E R E S O U R C E S

Volume 15 Issue 2

Landmark News

Landmark Laurels 3

Alumni Trails 4

Academic Travels 5

Graduate Student News 12

Department Seminars 17

Contact Us 18

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Royal Society of Canada

OTTAWA – Dr. Mel Tyree, Professor, Department of Renewable Resources joins 10 other U of A academic staff members as a newly appointed fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. The recently elected 72 new Fellows and 2 Specially Elected Fellows have diverse backgrounds and disciplines, in keeping with the motto of the Society, “Different paths, one vision”. They have been elected to the Academies of RSC by their peers in recognition of outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement.

Founded in 1882, RSC is Canada’s senior and most prestigious scholarly organization. Election to RSC is the highest honour a scholar can achieve in the Arts, Humanities and Sciences.

While continuing to pursue its original mandate to promote excellence in research and learning, RSC is also recognizing its unique opportunity to bridge Canada’s brightest minds with Canadian youth nationwide. SC Press Release Sept 5/08

Jim Robertson, CSSS Soil Science

for Society Award

Jim, Professor Emeritus with Renewable

Resources, was awarded the Science for Society

Award as a member who has made a contribution

towards promoting soil science to the public. As

we all know, Jim is a tireless soils spin doctor and

is well deserving of the award presented at the

CSSS Annual Meeting at UNBC in July 2008.

N A C T A Teaching Awards

(North American Colleges & Teachers of Agriculture)

Graduate Student Teaching Awards— Colin Bergeron

Teaching Award of Merit—— Debra Davidson

Ed & Peggy Tyrchniewicz Award for Innovation in Teaching— Robert Grant

Submitted by Frank Robinson

Faculty Awards

Faculty Research and Innovation Award: Phil Comeau and Debra Davidson Faculty Teaching Award: Debra Davidson ALES Distinguished Service Award: Alex Drummond and Robin McClelland (Rural Economy)

Submitted by Diane Lee

Canada Research Chair

He, Fangliang Tier 2 Renewal—Natural Sci-ences and Engineering Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity and Land-scape Modeling

Honours & Awards for Renewable Resources Staff & Alumni

John Acorn—Alberta Book Publish-ing Award

John Acorn accepted the award for Best Illustrated Book for his “Ladybugs of Alberta” at the Alberta Book Publishing Awards cere-mony May 9 at the Glencoe Club in Calgary. John was one of 6 authors who won awards with books published by the University of Al-berta Press. In fact, UAP won top prize in every one of the six categories it entered. “Ladybugs” is the third book in the Alberta Insect series featuring John’s brilliant, de-tailed photographs and drawings. UAP con-tributes to the intellectual and cultural life of Alberta and Canada by publishing well-edited, research-based knowledge and creative thought.


The green and gold of our surroundings seem especially poignant and spectacular as we enter the autumn of the University’s Centennial. It is an exciting time on campus and I hope that our friends and alumni will all have the chance to visit.

The Department of Renewable Resources has enjoyed an excellent 2008. Many department members, as you will discover in these pages, were rec-ognized this year for their exceptional efforts. Of special note are Mel Tyree’s election to the Royal Society of Canada and the award of NSERC’s prestigious Michael Smith Prize for the Promotion of Science to John Acorn.

In addition to celebrating the old, we have new things to celebrate. The Faculty changed its name to ‘Agricultural, Environmental & Life Sciences’ during 2008 to emphasize our broader connection to environmental issues. We now call ourselves ALES (& Loggers ). We have welcomed three new professors: Scott Nielsen (Conservation Biology), Tariq Siddique (Soil Chemistry) and Miles Dyck (Oct 1—Sustainable Agriculture), and look forward to another year of active faculty recruitment.

I must report two sad passing's in this issue. The RenR family lost our long-time Graduate Secretary, Sandy Nakashima, and our wise and inspirational senior soil scientist, Fred Bentley, who both passed away during 2008. We remain inspired bySandy’s en-ergy and positive attitude and by Professor Bentley’s shining example of scholarship.

Professor Bentley was recognized this September with the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award and we will remember him fondly at the upcoming Bentley Lecture. The lecture is to be presented by Wes Jackson of the Land Institute in Kansas, one of the visionaries of modern approaches to sustainable agriculture and a speaker who would have been highly appreciated by Fred.

If you have an opportunity to visit you will see that the Department is buzzing with activity. Several large initiatives are underway that will give me more pleasant things to write about in the next Landmark. In closing, I send best wishes for a glorious autumn and a great run up to the finish of this very special U Alberta year.

Dr. Simon Grove (Forestry Tasmania) and John Spence recording landscape metrics on forested landscapes near Wara in southern Tasmania.

Bentley Lecture & Robertson DinnerBentley Lecture & Robertson DinnerBentley Lecture & Robertson Dinner——— Monday, Oct 6, 2008Monday, Oct 6, 2008Monday, Oct 6, 2008

Dr. Wes JacksonDr. Wes JacksonDr. Wes Jackson

from The Land Institute, Salina, Kansas

Title: What Will the Ecosphere Require of Us?

Time: 3:00 PM

Location: Room: ETL E 1 - 003

University of Alberta campus Free admission

For more information contact:

David Chanasyk at [email protected]

Also see www.landinstitute.org

Robertson Dinner 5:30 PM

University of Alberta

Ticket purchase required. For more information contact:

Darlene Saunders at [email protected]

Notes from the Chair—John R Spence


Shawna Kereliuk— Welcome to Shawna, who joined our Administration team mid August as interim receptionist in the GSB main office. Shawna comes from U of A Interim Staffing Solutions (ISS) and has been on campus since 2005.

Silent Auction—Friday, November 21

760 GSB 9 a.m.—3 p.m.

All monies raised will be donated to the memorial bench for

Sandy NakashimaSandy Nakashima, ,

Devonian Botanic Garden

What’s Going On Here??

Important work, that’s what. And while all of our great teaching, research and community contributions keep on rolling, many people are making important supporting contributions during what seems to be a particularly busy time. Here’s a quick sam-pling of projects that many people are supporting, to move our department’s good work forward.

ALES Unit Review Self Study

School of Forest Science proposal

Assisting 3 new academic staff and 30 new grads to settle in

Interim staffing changes following Sandy Nakashima’s sad passing

Bentley and FILS Lecture Series

Covering Wolf Liu-Maynes’ duties following her return to school

Departmental Collections projects

New Service Lab equipment

…and many more.

Thanks to all involved in these and many other initiatives sup-porting the vital work of our department.

Bob Longworth

Notes from the Assistant Chair—Administration

ple to the office to buy tickets to the annual Christmas party last year. Though he is a very strong leader

when need be, Patrick also has the heart and soul of a child and it is this combination that endears him to every-one he meets!

On any given day you may find Patrick discussing politics in the lunch room, supporting a friend at a thesis presen-tation, or watching cartoons with your kids. He is ALWAYS positive and he gives great hugs!

So, if you need a friend, a confidant, a role model, a fashion consultant, an advisor, a laugh, a babysitter, a dance partner, or a one-man support network, you cannot do better than Patrick. He is truly a superhero!

P.S. Patrick, for purely selfish reasons, please don’t graduate any time soon. I will miss you too much!

Submitted by Andrea McGregor

I am not sure which comic book lost its super hero but we are awfully lucky that Patrick Asante decided to land in our department! With his brilliant smile, in-fectious laugh, and welcoming hand, Patrick Asante has the heart of Super-man, the versatility of Batman, and the class of James Bond.

Since Patrick started as a PhD student in our department in 2005, he has been heavily involved in academic life. Though normally a student of Forest Biology and Management working on a forest modeling project under the super-vision of Glen Armstrong and Vic Ada-mowicz, Patrick has also accepted the challenge of teaching in 2008.

Somewhere in the middle of the serious business of being a good student, he also finds time to be a great friend to the whole department!

Patrick is one of the strongest support-ers of every department social event, going as far as personally walking peo-

Landmark Laurels—Patrick Asante, PhD Candidate


Myrna Simpson (née Salloum) joined the Department of Re-newable Resources in 1994 as a graduate student under the co-supervision of Professors Marvin Dudas and William McGill. Prior to this, she completed a BSc in Chemistry (Faculty of Sci-ence, U of A) and worked as an Analytical Chemist at Raylo (now Laporte) Chemicals in Edmonton.

After completing her PhD in Environmental Soil Chemistry in 1999, she embarked on a 2 year NSERC-funded postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Chemistry, Ohio State University with Professor Patrick Hatcher, a world renowned environmental chemist. In 2002, Myrna joined the faculty at the University of Toronto where she is currently an Associate Professor of Envi-ronmental Science as well as serves as the Associate Director of the Environmental NMR Centre.

Myrna’s research is reshaping the fundamental understanding of soil organic matter structure and environ-mental reactivity. She has already become internationally recognized for her achieve-ments, is the recipient of numerous awards and research grants, and has published nearly 60 peer reviewed papers and book chapters since 2001. Her research program at the University of Toronto draws heavily on her unique and combined strengths in chem-istry and environmental science and her long-term goal is to push the limits of the current understanding of environmental processes at the molecular-level.

Myrna’s research focuses on the develop-ment of innovative mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods to obtain molecular-level informa-tion which is used to formulate accurate mechanistic information that can then be applied to processes observed on a larger scale. In 2003, Myrna co-founded the Environmental NMR Centre which houses the only high field NMR instrument in Canada solely

dedicated to the study of natural organic matter. This instrument is also one of the few NMR spectrometers in the world capable of the analysis of complex mixtures by hyphenation with chroma-tographic separation and MS.

Later this fall, the Centre will add a second high field NMR instrument capable of microi-maging (“mini MRI”) and solid-state applications. Myrna hopes to one day create a National facility for students and research-ers to visit and immerse themselves in the use of NMR technol-ogy for studying soil processes.

“I didn’t fully understand NMR until I received hands on experience during my postdoctoral fellowship. It isn’t the same when someone else runs the sample for you so training stu-dents and researchers how to use this powerful technology properly is critical for future advancements in environmental science.” adds Myrna.

Myrna looks back at her time in Re-newable Resources “very fondly”.

“I remember being confused for the first few months because I hadn’t taken many soil science courses but I was drawn to the department for my graduate work because of my inter-est in environmental science” says Myrna. At that time, formal environ-

mental science programs were not as prolific as they are now. “The faculty and staff in the department were very welcoming”.

Myrna also credits her success and ability to pioneer new re-search programs to her PhD co-supervisors (Professors Dudas and McGill). “They were both brilliant in different ways so I had the best of both worlds”. Myrna also says that she learned to keep an open mind and has modeled the way she supervises her own students after her experience in Renewable Resources. “I had depth in Chemistry when I came to the department but what I lacked was breadth and an understanding of competing environmental processes. I am indebted to my co-supervisors for teaching me how to be a solid scientist and how to develop good research questions”.

Friends of the Pedon also helped Myrna embrace graduate stu-dent life in Renewable Resources and she served as “Jock FOP” one year which required her to co-ordinate the intramural softball team (called the Dirtbaggers) and the women’s intramu-ral hockey team (called the Dirtbags).

“Our hockey team placed dead last every season but we had a great time!”.

Submitted by M Simpson

Alumni Trails— Dr. Myrna Simpson, University of Toronto

Myrna at Yellowstone


Lee Foote lined up a 17,500 km motorcycle trip across Canada and down the East Coast of the US while on sabbatical this past summer. He travelled across the Dako-tas, over the Great Lakes, up and down the rocky Maine coast, to Conferences in Bur-

lington, Vermont and Washington DC, to USGS offices in Maine, several universities and to visit friends and family. The following acdemia related venues showed up on his itinerary:

May 2008—Lectured at North Dakota State for Mac Butler; visited the Maine Fisheries Branch, Halawell, ME; delivered a lab presentation at Yale, CT.

June 2008—Met with Pekin’s grad lab, University of New Hampshire, Durham , NH; visited Rob Jackson’s lab at Duke University , NC; Tom Caceci’s lab at VPI, Blacksburg, VA; Rick Kranich’s lab, Logan, UT.

Academic Travels

Robert Grant Climate Impacts on Canadian Arctic Tundra 2nd Annual-General Meeting, Ottawa 13 – 16 April 2008 Presentation—

Grant, R.F. 2008. Modeling needs and possibilities in studying climate impacts on arctic tundra ecosystems.

Canada Carbon Project Annual General Meeting. Calgary, AB 13 – 16 March, 2008 Presentations—

Metivier, K.A., Grant, R.F. and Pattey, E. 2008. Using the Eco-sys mathematical model to simulate spatial and temporal variability of nitrous oxide emissions from fertilized agricul-tural soils.

Grant, R., Wang, Z., Kurz, W., Arain, A., Chen, J., Govind, A., Guindon, L., Hember, R., Price, D., Stinson, G. and Trofy-mow, J. 2008. Historical C Modeling Project – using process models to estimate climate effects on forest C stocks in in-ventory models.

Grant, R.F., Margolis, H.A., Bernier, P.Y. and Bergeron, O. 2008. Changes in net ecosystem productivity of a boreal black spruce forest under historical rises in atmospheric CO2 concentration and N deposition.

Dimitrov, D.D., Grant, R.F., Lafleur, P.M., Roulet, N.T. and Humphreys, E. 2008. Hydrological effects on ER and GPP of a northern bog: can near-surface hydrology help in explaining interannual variability of the bog NEP.

Wang, Z., Grant, R.F., Arain, A., Bernier, P., Chen, J., Coops, N., Govind, A., Guindon, L., Hember, R., Kurz, W.A., Price, D., Stinson, G., Trofymow, J.A. and Yeluripati, J. 2008. Mod-elling of Disturbance Effect on Forest Above Ground Bio-mass and Net Biome Productivity in Oyster River and Chi-bougamau Sites.

14th meeting of the International Boreal Forest Research Association in Harbin, China on 22 - 27 September - Robert Grant, Ziyu Wang and Kimlin Metivier attended the meeting, where Robert co-chaired one of the sessions.

Robert has accepted an invitation to join the editorial board of Agronomy Journal as an Associate Editor. He remains on the Science Committees of the Canada Carbon Project (CFCAS) and the Climate Impacts on Canadian Arctic Ecosystems (IPY).

Scott Chang and students (Baojing Gu, Craig Neufeld, Sarah Pattison and Yang Lin) traveled to Lethbridge in Feb-ruary to attend the 45th Annual Alberta Soil Science Workshop where they gave four presentations. Sarah won the second best oral presentation award at the Workshop. Scott serves as the Treasurer for the Alberta Soil Science Workshop and he chaired the Forestry/Riparian/Wetland technical session and a volunteer session.

Between March 26-27, Scott traveled to Hangzhou (China) to present an invited talk on “Riparian management in western Canada and the Whitemud Creek soil quality case study” at the International Workshop on Sustainable Watershed Re-search and Management. He also co-chaired a session on “San Joaquin River Watershed Research”.

Between May 10-12, Scott traveled to China to give an invited presentation “Effects of land-use change and sensitivity to temperature” at the 11th National Conference of Young Soil Scientists in Yangling, Shaanxi Province. The last half day of the conference was interrupted by the Sichuan Earthquake.

Scott attended the 10th North America Forest Soils Confer-ence, June 22-26, 2008. Blacksburg, Virginia. Scott is serving as a co-guest editor for the special issue from this conference that will be published in Forest Ecology and Management.

Scott attended the Joint Meeting of the International Grass-land Congress and the International Rangeland Congress, 29th June – 5th July, 2008, Hohhot, China, and presented a poster paper on “Interactions between defoliation, warming, and drought in a native northern grassland in Alberta, Can-ada”. While in Inner Mongolia, he also took the opportunity to visit Inner Mongolia Agricultural University and University of Inner Mongolia and presented a seminar at each institution.

Sarah Pattison, Baojing Gu, Behnaz Attaeian, Zheng Shi and Scott Chang attended the Canadian Society of Soil Sci-ence 2008 annual meeting in Prince George, British Columbia, July 6 - 10, 2008 and made seven presentations. Scott also chaired a session on “Biogeochemical Cycling in Forest Soils” and served as a judge of student presentations for the Bentley Awards.

In August, Scott traveled to Vienna and attended EUROSOIL 2008: Soil - Society - Environment, 25 - 29 August, 2008. He presented a talk on “Recovery and retranslocation of 15N-urea in a drained minerotrophic peatland 13 years after application. Scott also co-chaired a session on “Nitrogen”.

Scott Chang


the opportunity to visit several sites of historical and artistic interest, and to sam-ple some terrific food and good wine. They discovered that many famous paint-ings were painted on wood (Poplar they were told)!

Phil’s group teamed up with a group from Laval University for the first 5 days of the visit, and with a group from Univ. of Moncton and Fleming College for two

days in the Dolomites. During the first 2 days in Rome they visited the Forestry Depart-ment and the Library at the UN Food and Agri-culture Organization, the World Food Pro-gram, Biodiversity In-ternational, and the Castel Porziano Presi-dential Estate.

From Florence they visited Mediterranean pine and hardwoods forests at San Rossore, Oak coppice (for char-coal and fuelwood pro-duction) near San Gimignano, and the

National Forest Reserve of Valambrosa (where they visited the arbore-

tum, and saw silver fir (Abies alba), beech and mixed forests. They stayed at Paneveggio in the Dolomites for 3 nights where they learned about management of Norway Spruce from page stands using strip shelterwoods, strip selection, and group selection systems. This region is believed to have provided the wood for Stradivarius violins, and continues to pro-duce resonance wood for guitars, violins and pianos.

The group visited the forests of Val Naona to see application of the uneven-

This spring Phil Comeau led a visit to Italy as part of the International Forestry Course (FOR 456). This visit was hosted by Professor Pietro Piussi (Univ. of Florence), with help from Chiara Calabrese, Prof. Renzo Motta (Univ. of Torino) and several others.

Forests cover 37.5% of the land area of Italy, with 65% of the forest under pri-vate ownership. Forest area is increas-ing at a rate of about 1.1% annually. Each year Italy produces about 8 million m3 of roundwood and imports about 9 million m3. In addition, Italy imports about 13.5 million m3 of lumber each

year and the majority of its pulp is im-ported. Wood and wood waste ac-counted for about 5.6% of energy sup-plies in 2005, but there is substantial effort being invested in increasing en-ergy production from renewable sources, including forestry.

In hilly and mountainous regions of Italy – forests play an important role in slope stabilization and aesthetics and also provide wildlife habitat, recreational ar-eas, and numerous other ecological services. During the visit the group took

aged management systems in a mixed silver fir-beech-Norway spruce forest. During the day in the Consiglio Forest they saw Karst topography, application of shel-terwood systems for beech and Norway spruce regeneration and visited beech stands which had been managed using a coppice with standards system from the 17th Century to the 1960’s. Field trials are underway that are exploring the use of this system for bionergy production. Histori-cally, the Consiglio forest was an important source of lumber for Venetian ships.

After a short stop in Venice, the group re-turned home from their 2 great weeks in Italy with a heightened awareness of the linkage between forests, history, and cul-ture.

Phil Comeau

International Forestry FOR 456 –

Forestry in Italy – April 29-May 1, 2008

U of A and U Laval Group in Rome

Be sure to mark you Calendar for the International Forestry (FOR 456) trip to Mexico February 13-22, 2009.

A value added forest product (Violin blank from Norway spruce)

Great pines (Stone Pine) of Rome


John Spence

Hobart, Tasmania (February) IUFRO meeting ‘Old For-ests, New Management. It was marvelous to see the largest living deciduous trees on Earth and to engage in creative work with colleagues (see photo-Page 2).

St Johns, Newfoundland (April) Served as the external assessor for Memorial University’s excellent and newly proposed PhD program in En-vironmental Sciences. In addition to meeting some great folks and MUN and learning about their interesting and exciting work, it was the perfect time to become an iceberg watcher.

Toronto, Ontario (May) Participated in a meeting of the Canadian Forestry Accreditation Board to finalize the first phase of the ‘inclusivity project’ that was undertaken to broaden the range of curriculum recognized as sufficient for program accreditation. Our group, including Peter Blenis, Alex Drummond and Uldis Silins, have been involved in this from the start and we are optimistic about the new guidelines.

Whitehorse, Yukon (June) Together with Faculty Dean John Kennelly, we participated in meetings with Yukon College aimed at eventually offering our ENCS program in Whitehorse and on developing a further joint program with the Faculty of Native Studies and the Canadian Cir-

cumpolar Institute to assist with building human capacity in the North.

Pretoria and Durban, South Africa (July) Participated in an IUFRO meeting focused on forest entomology in

Pretoria, where I presented a paper jointly with Jan Volney (Adjunct Professor) about our work on forest tent caterpillar. Participated in the International Congress of Entomol-ogy in Durban along with doctoral students Colin Bergeron and Esther Kamunya. Collectively, our group presented 5 papers in Dur-ban and I organized a major sym-posium in the forest entomology section.

Fredericton, New Brunswick (September) Participated the 100th Anniversary Meeting of the Cana-dian Institute of Forestry and the implementation session for the

CFAB ‘inclusivity project’. Furthermore, Alex Drum-mond and I took a group of 15 undergraduate students to the CIF meeting and on a pre-conference tour of for-estry highlights in New Brunswick. Our program put two teams in the first Canadian Quiz Bowl competition at the CIF meeting and both teams made it to the semi-final round. Our students had a great experience and we were proud of them.

cover structures. A major challenge in the application of these systems is to find levels of canopy retention which are amenable to establishment of regeneration of desired species while at the same time achieving timber production, ecological, and visual objectives.

Phil Comeau spent 2 weeks in Britain in May (after his visit to Italy), in preparation for about 2 months of research this fall.

While in Britian, Phil was awarded the Scottish Forestry Trust Fellowship for 2008. This award supports his involve-ment in continuous cover forestry research in the UK. He is collaborating with Forestry Commission staff in development and evaluation of indirect methods for estimating light avail-ability to understory regeneration in the transformation of Sitka spruce and Douglas-fir stands to continuous cover forestry in Great Britain and in the evaluating the potential application of site occupancy measures in the development of CCF prescriptions.

Continuous cover forestry is an approach which involves using alternatives to clearfelling to maintain continuous cover of forests by establishing regeneration in the under-story of retained forest cover. This may involve regenera-tion of even-aged stands through the application of shelter-wood systems or the creation of multi-aged stands using irregular shelterwood or selection systems.

Between 500,000 and 750,000 ha of British conifer forest are potentially suitable for transformation to continuous

This photo illustrates successful natural regeneration obtained using a shelterwood system in a 55 year-old even-aged Sitka spruce stand. The stand has a history of previous thinnings which, together with protection from wind, make this stand windfirm.

Phil Comeau’s Sabbatical Visit to Britain


Drs. Naeth, Jobson (Adjunct Professor) and Chanasyk traveled to Germany the first two weeks of May 2008 to explore collaborative research opportunities.

The first stop was Berlin where they joined former Departmental em-ployee and Berlin resident, Jeff Thurston. After a great tour of Berlin with the group travelled to Cottbus, about 1 hour southeast of Berlin and only 20+ km from the Polish border, to visit the Brandenburg Technical University. This area is the heart of eastern Germany’s coal fired generating plants.

The visit included a seminar presented by Dr Naeth, discussions with researchers there on reclamation research (largely soils based), a visit to their (constructed) research watershed, a visit to one of the coal mines, a visit to a sister department in Pottsdam (1 hour away), and a great afternoon workshop with graduate students on reclama-tion. Then it was off to Munich via train where meetings were ar-ranged at the Munich Technical University.

For a week in July David and Anne hosted their German colleagues in Alberta, showing them Fort McMurray and the Highvale coal mine and continuing their collaboration planning.

Submitted by David Chanasyk

Naeth, Chanasyk & Jobson travel to Germany

Bruce Dancik was a participant in the Ox-ford Round Table on “Sustainability: the ultimate quest. An interdisciplinary per-spective” over a week in early August.

The Round Table consisted of five days of presentations and intense discussions in Rhodes House and St. Anne’s College. The 30 invited partici-pants, mostly academic but including a few from agen-cies and the private sector, came from around the world.

To provide welcome breaks and to keep the discuss-ants from coming to blows, our Oxford University hosts wisely scheduled a few tours and history lessons around and about Oxford University, its many colleges, the city and region, and World-Heritage-Site Blenheim Palace, along with some wonderful receptions and ban-quets in several other colleges at Oxford.

While at Oxford, Bruce also toured the Oxford Botanic Garden (oldest botanic garden in Britain), and visited with Jeff Burley, retired Director of the former Oxford Forestry Institute. Bruce also arranged for day-long visits of the Millennium Seed Bank (partner of the De-vonian Botanic Garden on several projects) at Wake-hurst Place (and its lovely garden) and Kew Gardens before proceeding to Oxford.

Bruce Dancik

A Research Assistant, Dr. Thomas Raab (red), Anne Naeth, with Al Jobson at Cottbus Coal Mine

Forest Industry Lecture Series Lecture No. 60

Will Forests Survive the Use and Abuse of Humans?

Dr. James Beck, Professor Emeritus,

Renewable Resources Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences,

University of Alberta

Lecture: 3 p.m. Thursday November 6, 2008

Myer Horowitz Theatre, SUB, University of Alberta

(Spring FILS Lecture No. 61 and Poster Presentation—Thursday, March 5, 2009)


Forest Society Executive

2008—09 Academic Year President: Ryan Hee

Vice President: Ryan Sherritt

Treasurer: Kirk Hawthorn

Secretary: Lee St. Arnaud

Tree Sales: Robert Farrell &

Ryan Scheelar

Senior CIF Rep: Jenn Platz

Junior CIF Rep: Sarah Railton

Men’s Sports Rep: Beaumark Annunziello

Women’s Sports Rep: Amanda Horning

Grad Reps: Fran Ferster &

Jarred Bone

Yearbook Rep: Jewel Yurkewich

External Rep: Richard Gish

Social Convenors: Brian Hennesy & Darrick Brochu

3rd Year Rep: Colin Germsheid

2nd Year Rep: David Zurevinski

1st Year Rep: Andrew Cook

Environmental and Conservation Sciences Students Association Executive

2008—09 Academic Year

President: Dan Heinrichs

Vice President: Catherine Cocks

Treasurer: Yvette Thompson-

Secretary: Tory Culen

Conference Coordinators: Jesse Hahn & Anna Vesala

Social Conveners: Matthew Watson &

Austin Schumacher

Grad Reps: Laura Neden & Ian Levitt

Con Bio rep: Tory Culen

Land Rec Rep: Erin Belva

Econ Policy rep: Marcus Peterson

Wildlife and Rangeland Rep:

Brett Pa gacz

Intramural Rep: Penny Wizniuk

Undergraduate Student News Alicia Entem—Alicia, member of the ALES undergraduate class of 2008 June convocation, not only graduated with the Dean’s Medal for our Faculty as the most outstanding stu-dent, she also received the Governor General’s Silver Medal.

The Silver Medal was one of only three given out to under-graduate students convocating in all disciplines from across campus. She also received the CD Howe Fellowship given to the most outstanding graduating student from all U of A undergraduate Faculties. This is the first time in recent memory that one of our own has received both the Governor General's award and CD Howe Fellowship.

Submitted by Brad Wuetherick

In conjunction with the University of Alberta’s centennial anniver-sary, employees of Brazeau County and University of Alberta Breton Plots, Kristen Range and Erika Strande, planted twenty new rows of trees at the Breton Plots on May 13 and 14, 2008.

These new trees were generously donated by Brazeau County (special thanks to Connie Kappler), who coordinated the tree orders through the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) and Alberta Nurseries. Hawthorn, Bur Oak, Raspberry bushes, Saskatoon bushes, Chokecherries, Manitoba Maple and Green Ash were planted adjacent to the existing trees that were planted thirty years ago.

Additional tree types will be planted in 2009 to complete the dem-onstration area. In time, harvesting efforts at the Breton Plots will be rewarded by the produce from these trees!

Submitted by Dick Puurveen

New Trees for Breton Plots Noorallah Juma—Dr. Noorallah Juma and four members of his group, Elisa Verma, Sajjad Khandker, Dr. Shanjida Khan and Dr. Baldev Chhabra, made four oral and one poster presenta-tions at the annual meeting of the Canadian Soci-ety of Soil Science held in Prince George, B.C. in July 2008. Elisa Verma was the second runner up for the Bentley Award for her oral presentation ti-tled "Sorption and net die off of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis in uncontaminated soil samples' and received a cheque for $200.00.


( August 22, 1948—September 9, 2008)

I was wondering if many of you are feeling the same as I am—somewhat shell-shocked and detached from the reality of Sandy’s passing. We still kid around, do what needs to be done, come and go just as before-- and then something hits you. Hard.

I was eating some peaches and suddenly I was flooded with thoughts of how much Sandy liked it when I gave her the bag of home-made dried fruit I used to make for her. Her whole face would light up with that truly great smile and then the inevitable laugh she had. She would be so grateful. I was reminded of the delicious pies she used to make and how she always went out of the way to ensure I had a piece. I remember the jars of jam she used to give my wife and her laughter at Halloween—the little things that shape the memories of a person in our mind. Happy memories.

My only regret is that in the 21 years she worked here, I never adequately told her just what a damn good employee I thought she was—diligent, hard working (did she EVER take a coffee break?), reliable, efficient—oh yes, impatient because she had such high standards. I didn’t say these things to her because, like many of you perhaps, I was too busy chasing the clock, rushing past sunny windows, taking things for granted. Frankly, until the last couple of weeks, it always seemed to be a sheer impossibility that someone like hyper Sandy, with her boundless energy, enthusiasm and vitality, could ever, no matter what we knew of the corrupt cells eating away at her sadly shrinking shape, actually be beaten.

Perhaps, she never was.

Her gift to me is the reminder to slow down, not wait until the windows go dark. So I hope you’re up there Sandy,--laughing, whacking a golf ball, eating some fruit and having the fun that was cruelly robbed from you down here. I hope you can hear me whisper what I should have yelled before you went silent:

Good work, lady. I’ll really miss you.” Submitted by Mike Abley

Fred Bentley, former Dean, long-time member of our Faculty, and a committed advocate of environmentally sustainable agriculture, passed away on Saturday evening, April 12, 2008 at the age of 94. Dr. Bentley was Professor Emeritus with the Department of Re-newable Resources.

He obtained his BSc (Ag’ 39) and his MSc (Soil Science ’42) from the University of Alberta and his PhD in Soil Science from the University of Minnesota in 1945. In 1990, Dr. Bentley received his Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Al-berta.

Dr. Bentley’s academic career, mainly at the University of Alberta, spanned over 36 years and included Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture from 1958 to 1968. Fred’s research interests centered around sustainability of agriculture and protection of the environment. He was a department member from 1946-1979. Focusing on soil fertility and nutrient quality, Dr. Bentley con-ducted his research on gray luvisolic soils at the University of Alberta’s Breton Plots located near Breton, Alberta.

Earlier this year, Dr. Bentley was honoured by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India when they renamed their conference centre. Dr. Bentley served for ten years as the first Chairman of the Board of Governors of ICRI-SAT. ICRISAT was established in 1972 to help developing countries in semi-arid tropical regions around the world apply science to increase crop yields and improve farming sys-tems for small farmers, reduce poverty and protect the environment. Fred was the driving force behind the establishment of the Bentley Lecture, held every fall as major event in the Department of Renewable Resources. Lectures focus on topics current and relevant to environmentally sustainable agriculture.

Dr. Bentley was posthumously honoured with a Distinguished Alumni Award at the Sep-tember 18 Alumni Awards ceremonies at the Winspear Centre. The Award recognizes the outstanding achievements of University of Alberta alumni who have brought honour to themselves and their alma mater in a multitude of ways.

Donations in Fred’s memory can be made to “The Agriculture in High Schools Program”, 2-14 Agriculture Forestry Centre, University of Alberta or “The Helen and Fred Bentley Fellowship in Cropping Systems International Development Research Centre”, Box 8500, Ottawa ON CA K1C 3H9

Submitted by Bob Longworth

Memories.......

Fred Bentley

Sandy, with Peter Blenis, Associ-ate Chair, Grad Studies, Renew-able Resources

Sandy Nakashima


What’s new in the NRAL?

Renewable Resources department research service laboratories have undergone several positive changes over the last few years. The High Volume Lab and the Stable Isotope Mass Spectrometry labs merged in late 2005 to form the Natural Resources Analytical Laboratory (NRAL). The lab has welcomed new lab staff, new lab equipment, and have significantly improved the Quality Assurance throughout the lab.

New Equipment A recent successful collaborative NSERC RTI grant application provided funding for a SmartChem Discrete Wet Chemistry Ana-lyzer. This instrument, located in the NRAL, will substantially streamline ammonium and nitrate analysis, with enhanced reliabil-ity, precision and sample throughput. It also allows staff to offer a greater number of sample parameters in addition to those for-merly analyzed using the Technicon Autoanalyzer.

Sample capacity has increased for Elemental Analysis with the

addition of a second Costech 4010 EA instrument. We now offer total sulfur and total hydrogen analysis in addition to total nitrogen and carbon in soils and biological materials.

Other new equipment includes a GasBench II for δ 13C in gas samples. This instrument is currently in the method de-velopment phase.

New QA/QC Program

The lab’s Quality Assurance program has been revamped to include several new measures, including scheduled balance calibrations using N.I.S.T. certified Class I calibrated weights, daily storage area temperature monitoring, and process monitoring via Shewhart Control Charting of external refer-ence standards. These are designed to ensure our clients receive the accurate and precise data they require.

The NRAL continues to include analytical QC checks like blanks, duplicates, external reference standards, continuing calibration checks, and matrix spike samples with each sam-ple batch as appropriate.

Although our method references are posted on the NRAL website, we also have documented standard laboratory oper-ating procedures (SOPs) to ensure consistency and provide analytical reliability over time.

New Staff Changes

Monica Molina, who formerly supervised lab staff and per-formed lab analyses, has moved out of the lab and serves as client liaison and technical resource person.

Allan Farrell joined our group in April of 2007 and completes routine analyses and sample preparation procedures.

Allan Harms and Jean (Xin) Zhang continue to play key roles in the operations of the lab, building on their many years of experience working in the department.

Submitted by Donna Friesen

N R A L Natural Resources Analytical Laboratory Accurate & Affordable Analysis

On Thursday May 8, 2008 Jim Roberston, Dick Puurveen, and Erika Strande were presenters at the Agriculture Theme Park in Rocky Mountain House.

Throughout the course of the day there were eleven differ-ent elementary classes from surrounding schools that at-tended the display to learn more about soil.

Within the display, there were four differ-ent tables set up and each table featured different soil information: Table 1—interactive display of soil profiles and horizons. Different colours of soil at dif-ferent levels were put on display. It was explained to the students that the darker the soil colour meant more humus was present.

Table 2— different parts of soil with the

Rocky Mountain House Agriculture Theme Park

three different sizes of soil particles. Water was added to two dif-ferent kinds of soil and the students got to touch the soil to dis-cover that the more sand that was in the soil the more gritty it felt and the more clay that was in the soil the more it felt like plastic or play dough.

Table 3— decomposition of organic matter, with samples of leaves and straw that could be found on the ground, as well as Petri dishes with bacteria, fungi, and small animals. A crucible was filled with a sample of soil and put over a flame to demonstrate that

when the organic matter is burnt off, the soil turns a lighter colour because all that is remaining are the mineral particles.

Table 4— soil management along with free garden-ing advice to students and teachers; it was dis-cussed how plants need four main macronutrients to reach their full growth potential; demo of soil ero-sion from wind and rain.

The Agriculture Theme Park concept is unique and provides the students an opportunity to learn about agriculture outside of the classroom, in an increas-ingly urban society. Submitted by Erika Strande


Darin Sheritt, a new Renewable Resources graduate student and ENCS undergrad, is good at identifying North American range-land plants, even some from places where he has never set foot. This skill, combined with the knowledge he gained from his Rangeland Management major in the Environmental and Conservation Sciences program, won him a week-long tour of range and pasture management activities in Western Canada. The prize came as a result of his participation in student contests at the annual Society for Range Management meeting last January.

During the last week of July, Darin visited the Manitoba Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in southeastern Manitoba and the Grasslands National Park in southwestern Saskatchewan, as well as two research stations, two ranches, a decommissioned military training facility and a federal community pasture. Mae Elsinger, another Renewable Resources Master Student , on education leave from Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA), arranged and accompanied Darin on the tour. The tour was hosted by Range and Biodiversity Division of the PFRA, a branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

In-kind contributions were made from the De’Athe family of Sidney, Manitoba, and Mae Elsinger. Many employees took time from their jobs to discuss and demonstrate range and pasture manage-ment: Christie Borowsky from the Nature Conservancy, Claire, Doug and Signe of the De’Athe fam-ily, Clayton Robins and Alan Iwaasa from Research Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Bev Dunlop, Dan MacDonald, Kerry LaForge, and Don Millar from PFRA, Darcy Henderson from Environment Canada – Canadian Wildlife Service and Etienne Soulodre from Saskatchewan Water-shed Authority, and Glen Ekert from Pipestone, Saskatchewan helped to make Darin’s trip a memo-rable experience.

Submitted by Mae Elsinger

Welcome! We have a lot of new graduate students joining us for fall 2008 term:

Graduate Student News

Name Degree Supervisor Name Degree Supervisor

Alana Clason MSc Ellen Macdonald Jessica Snedden MSc Silins

Lindsay Colgan MSc Erbilgin Kevin Solarik MSc Lieffers

Kyle Drennen MSc Lieffers Yanyan Song MSc Kachanoski

Evan Esch MSc Spence Preston Sorenson MSc Quideau

Sithara Fernando MSc Zwiazek Xiaomei Sun MSc Kachanoski

Devin Goodsman MSc Lieffers Tibor Egri PhD Erbilgin

Kimberley Ives MSc Foote Stephen Hart PhD Chang

Kyle Lochhead MSc Comeau Seung-Il Lee PhD Spence

Laura MacPherson MSc Foote Claudia Lopez PhD Hudson

Candace Nemirsky MSc Naeth Mohammad Mexbahuddin PhD Grant

Javier Rodriguez Alvarez MSc Lieffers Lenka Plavcova PhD Hacke

Marie-Claude Roy MSc Foote Stefan Schreiber PhD Hamann

Janet Scott MSc David Chanasyk Cory Kartz Qualifying Kachanoski

Darin Sherritt MSc Naeth Takahiro Kato Visiting PhD Kachanoski

Award Winner Darin Sheritt Tours Range and Pasture Management Activities in Western Canada


Student Award Supervisor

Amanda Schoonmaker President's Doctoral Prize of Distinction Lieffers/Landhausser

Andrea McGregor President's Doctoral Prize of Distinction Foote

Candace Nemirsky Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship – Master’s Naeth

Charlene Wood Walter H Johns Graduate Fellowship Spence

David Roberts Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship – Master’s Hamann

Guillaume Blanchet Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship – Doctoral He

Guillaume Blanchet Margaret (Peg) Brown Award He

Guillaume Blanchet W H McCardell Memorial Scholarship He

Jaime Pinzon Killam Memorial Scholarship Spence

Jessica Snedden West Fraser Silins

Joceyln Howery Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship – Master’s Silins

Kevin Renkema, Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship – Master’s Leiffers

Kimberley Ives Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship – Master’s Foote

Lenka Plavcova Provost Hacke

Mohammad Mezbahuddin Provost Grant

Peggy Desserud Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship – Doctoral Naeth

Preston Sorenson Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship – Master’s Quideau

Richard Caners Dissertation Fellowship Macdonald

Seung-Il Lee Provost Spence

Shari Clarke Walter H Johns Graduate Fellowship Foote/Krogman

Varina Crisfield NSERC PGSM Macdonald

Varina Crisfield Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship – Master’s Macdonald

Varina Crisfield Walter H Johns Graduate Fellowship Macdonald

Graduate Student Awards

Fall Convocation Ceremonies

Undergraduate Degrees

Wednesday, Nov 19 2008 3 p.m.

Faculty of Graduate Studies & Research

Thursday, Nov 20 2008

Master of Science Degrees 10 a.m.

PhD Degrees 3 p.m.


Anayansi CohenAnayansi CohenAnayansi Cohen---Fernández Fernández Fernández ––– PhD Candidate PhD Candidate PhD Candidate

Anayansi was born in Mexico City and spent her teenage years in Panama. While working as an interpreter at the Metropolitan Natural Park, she began her undergraduate studies on biology.

After moving back to Mexico City in 1989, she earned a BSc in Biology at the Universidad Autonoma Metropoli-tana. To urban life fans, Mexico City is a great place to live in but Anayansi loves wilderness and open spaces so de-cided to head south to the Yucatan Peninsula where she

earned an MSc in Conservation and Management of Natural Tropical Resources from the Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan. Her thesis involved developing a model for sustainable use of natural populations of the tree Bursera simaruba (L) Sarg, in semidesciduos tropical forests of Campeche, Mexico.

After completing her MSc, Anayansi worked for several years as an environmental consultant in touristy, fast growing Cancun. During her time there, she realized that the development of a city often causes severe land disturbances associated with the extraction of materials to support the development of urban infrastructure and housing.

Limestone, the principal component of cement and aggregates for con-struction, has been extracted for centuries in the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as around the world. Looking at the number and magnitude of the limestone open pits, it became clear to Anayansi that she wanted to learn about and research ways to rehabili-

tate these extraction sites. Her research aims to develop soil building techniques and the establishment of a diverse native plant community in a limestone quarry. Her field site is located in Exshaw, Southern Alberta.

In 2005 she was awarded a scholarship from the Mexi-can Agency for Science and Tech-nology, CONACyT, for Doctoral Stud-ies in the Land Reclamation and Remediation Program at the University of Al-berta. Anayansi was awarded the Donald A. Shaw Memorial Graduate Schol-arship 2007, the Canadian Land Reclamation Association Academic Merit Award 2008 and the GSA International Student Award 2008.. She is super-vised by Anne Naeth.

Besides her research work, Anayansi is a member of the U of A Festival of Teaching Steering Committee. She had a great time in January 2008 perform-ing together with other grad students from Renewable Resources as one of the Wandering Scholars during the inaugural Festival of Teaching. She is very interested in international land reclamation, soil building, plant ecology, natural resources management and teaching. She loves a whole bunch of things, among them her family and friends, movies (good ones more than bad ones) and travel to new places, which right now means anywhere north of Edmonton.

Graduate Student Profiles

At work on research plots

Exshaw Limestone Quarry

At Lake Louise

Tree in Barro Colorado Panama


Tim AntilTim AntilTim Antil———MSc Student MSc Student MSc Student After a number of years working as an environmental consultant, specifically as a fisheries biologist, Tim decided to return to univer-sity in 2007 to pursue a MSc degree in land reclamation under the supervision of Dr. Anne Naeth. Although a slight divergence from his past work experience, the program ties in well with his other interests in the natural environment.

With a holistic approach to resource management, Tim is particu-larly interested in the field of ecosystem restoration. This is one of the reasons why he considers himself very fortunate to be associated with a project in Jasper National Park which has so many interconnected relationships among plants, wildlife, and human activity.

The primary focus of Tim’s project is to determine the ef-fect of Russian thistle (Salsola kali), a non-native plant species, on native montane grassland habitat for wildlife. Specifically, this study will address how Russian thistle impacts wildlife forage by altering native plant communities and the role wildlife grazing has on Russian thistle estab-lishment and persistence.

Invasion of non-native plant species can have a significant impact on the function and integrity of natural ecosystems. In Jasper National Park, large areas of Russian thistle have been observed in native montane grassland commu-nities used for winter grazing by bighorn sheep and other ungulates. These areas of invasion have been increasing in size. Due to a large sheep population, it is believed that critical areas may be overgrazed. This reduced range con-

dition may be permitting Russian thistle to become established and compete with already stressed native plant spe-cies, potentially reducing wildlife forage. Components of the project include examining the mechanisms of Russian thistle invasion, the role wildlife grazing has on Rus-sian thistle establishment, how Russian thistle impacts the native plant community, and strategies that may aid in managing this species. Tim is hopeful that the research results will not only benefit park managers, but other land managers throughout the province in-volved with ungulate grazing and invasive species.

Tim spent much of the summer in a small rustic war-den’s cabin near the Snake Indian River, northwest of Jasper Lake. His days were spent scouring the mon-tane grasslands of the Athabasca River Valley looking for Russian thistle, and collecting field data for the first of two field seasons. This winter Tim will be conduct-ing a series of greenhouse experiments and analyzing data collected during the 2008 field season.

Tim is originally from British Columbia. He has worked and lived throughout the province but considers the small northern town of Fraser Lake home. In 2004 his girlfriend decided to move to Edmonton to attend the U of A. Up for a change, he figured that he would tag along. Tim spends many of his weekends hiking in the mountains or canoe-ing the rivers of Alberta. One of Tim’s great passions is travelling. With the exception of Antarctica, he has been to every continent. Possibly one of his favorite trips was a journey across Russia on the Trans Siberian Railway in the dead of winter. He can still feel the effects of the frostbite on his ears. As a reward to himself after completing his MSc, Tim plans to cycle around Iceland.

Grad Student Profiles (cont’d)


Welcome to Scott Nielsen, wife Charlene, daughter Natalie, and son, Jorgen, who joined our Renewable Resources family September 1, 2008.

As our new Assistant Professor of Conservation Biology, Dr. Nielsen’s research will focus on predicting the effects of landscape change on species of concern and biodiversity, identifying management alternatives to mitigate their impacts, and to test key concepts in conservation biology using mesocosm experiments and local natural model systems.

Dr. Nielsen grew up in Wisconsin, where he obtained a BSc in Biology at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. With an undergraduate emphasis in ecology, Scott quickly became in-terested in efforts to evaluate the ecology, conservation, and restoration of endangered oak/pine savannas in the Midwestern USA. He earned an MSc in Natural Resources on the same topic under the direction of Dr. Alan Haney.

After his MSc, Scott worked as an ecologist with the Sand County Foundation in Madison, Wisconsin, promoting the Land Ethic of North America’s first and arguably most famous Wildlife and Conservation Professor, Aldo Leopold. He also assisted with the management of the Aldo Leopold Memorial Reserve and continued his research on oak/pine savannas.

Following his ENGO work, Scott pursued his PhD with Dr. Mark Boyce at the University of Alberta (Biological Sci-ences) where he worked on development and application of a habitat-based population viability model for grizzly bears in Alberta. He continued his training at the UofA as a PDF with Dr. Boyce (grizzly bears) and Dr. Erin Bayne (Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Initiative). Scott recently held a PDF at the University of Saskatchewan, working with Dr. Marc Cattet on evaluating linkages between landscape change and grizzly bear health (stress hormones and measures of growth). He also has worked with the Foothills Research Institute in Hinton, the Conservation Planning Institute in Oregon and at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center in Colorado. Scott brings skills in plant and wildlife ecology, landscape and restoration ecology, conservation planning, ecological monitoring, GIS, and sce-nario planning and risk assessment.

Scott enjoys spending time with his family, paddling a canoe, and tinkering with sustainable agriculture and conser-vation principles on his small, 5th generational farm established in 1882 and made up mostly of pasture with rock gardens, wetland, and woodland. He believes that land ownership offers important lessens in natural resource man-agement and science. As Leopold would say, “Whether it is a 100 acre farm or a 1,700,000 acre Forest doesn’t matter–it’s all the same principle.”

Tariq Siddique– Assistant Professor, Soil Chemistry

Welcome to New Academic StaffWelcome to New Academic StaffWelcome to New Academic Staff - Scott Nielsen, Assistant Professor, Conservation Biology

Tariq joined Renewable Resources academic staff on July 1, 2008.

Tariq grew up in Vehari, a small city in Punjab province of Pakistan where he completed his school and college educa-tion. He received his Bachelor and Master degrees with hon-ors in Soil Science from the University of Agriculture, Fais-alabad (UAF), Pakistan. In his undergraduate and graduate


(Siddique—Cont’d) research, he studied salt-affected soils and nutrients’ uptake by agricultural crops. He was selected by the Public Service Commission for Research Officer and appointed in Soil Chemistry Section, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan where he worked for about 8 years studying role of trace elements in crop production. The Government of Punjab nominated him for his Ph.D.

He started his Ph.D. studies at the UAF and joined the research group of Dr. Muhammad Arshad, a well-known authority in microbial production of phytohormones in soils. After completing his Ph.D. course work, Tariq moved to the University of California, Riverside, USA (UCR) in the Department of Environmental Sciences where he conducted and completed his Ph.D. research under the supervision of Dr. William Frankenberger, a world-renowned Soil Microbiologist and Biochemist in the field of bioremediation. Tariq’s Ph.D. work was on the biodegradation of chlorinated pesticides in soil and water. He isolated microorganisms from California soils that were capable of degrading toxic pesticides. He pub-lished five peer-reviewed papers from his Ph.D. research.

This research achievement was highlighted by the Chan-cellor of the UCR in her public speeches including her own inauguration and at a UC Regents meeting highlight-ing UCR’s accomplishments. Dr. Siddique also worked

as a Postdoctoral Researcher at UCR for one year study-ing biotransformation of selenium (a heavy metal) in agri-cultural drainage water and sediments. He moved to Canada in 2004 and joined the University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, as a Postdoctoral Fellow where he worked with Dr. Joselito Arocena (Canada Research Chair in Environmental Science- Soil Science) studying biogeochemistry of selenium in coal mine sediments. He also studied mineral transformations under the biochemical activities of lichens. Dr. Siddique finally moved to Edmonton in 2005 and took up his NSERC PDF award at the University of Alberta in the Department of Biological Sciences working with Dr. Julia Foght studying biodegradation of petroleum hydrocar-bons and characterization of microbial populations in oil sands tailings. Dr. Siddique's current research focuses on biotransformation of heavy metals and biodegradation of organic pollutants in water, sediments and soils.

Tariq loves sports especially cricket. He used to play cricket in Pakistan and was a member of his college and university teams. Here, he occasionally plays squash. Tariq, along with wife, Aqeela Almas, daughter Sarah Almas (11 years old) and twin sons, Muhammad Mujtaba Siddique and Muhammad Maaz Siddique (9 years old). love sports, hiking and long road trips.

Welcome to the department Tariq.

Moderator: Dr. Francis Yeh

Place: ESB 2-36 (on Saskatchewan Drive, next to the Tory Turtle) Time: 12:30 p.m.

Scheduled Speakers

(please visit the Renewable Resources Website for seminar topics)

Oct 9 David Chanasyk, U of A

Oct 16 Feng Yongsheng , U of A

Oct 23 Karen Haugen-Kozyra, Climate Change Centre

Oct 30 Marty Alexander , Northern Forestry Centre, Forestry Canada

Nov 6 Jim Beck, Professor Emeritus, U of A, Forest Industry Series

Nov 13 He Fangliang, U of A

Nov 20 Tariq Siddique. U of A

Nov 27 Ron Hall, Northern Forestry Centre, Forestry

Department Seminar Series


Excellence in the discovery,

dissemination and application of

knowledge about natural and managed

ecosystems

We’re on the Web!

www.ales.ualberta.ca/rr/

This newsletter is published in April & Oct each year

For copies and/or contributions, please contact the

Editor, Rochelle Jackson at

[email protected] phone 780-492--3554.

Submissions for the next issue of Landmark should be sent in by

March 31, 2009

Department of Renewable Resources

University of Alberta 751 General Services Building

Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1

Phone: 780-492-3554

Fax: 780-492- 4323

Pei Yu Chen—Research associ-ate with Andreas Hamann to De-cember 31, 2009. Pei-Yu will we working in the SIS lab

Shibi Chandy—PDF with An-dreas Hamann April 1, 2008—Feb 28, 2010

Eckehart Marenholtz—Research Assistant with Simon Land-hausser. April 28, 2008—April 30, 2009

Yeong Sand Jung—Visiting Pro-fessor with Robert Grant. June 23, 2008—June 2009

Francois Teste—PDF with Vic Lieffers. June 1, 2008—May 31, 2009

Derek MacKenzie—Research Associate with Sylvie Quideau. July 1, 2008—June 30, 2009

Monica Calvo Polanco—PDF with

Janusz Zwiazek Sept 1, 2008—Aug 31, 2009

Kimlin Metivier—PDF with Robert Grant Sept 1, 2008—Aug 31, 2009

Ina Meier—PDF with Janusz Zwiazek Sept 15, 2008—Sept 14, 2009

Stephane Bourassa—Spence Lab Tech-nician Sept 1, 2008—Aug 31, 2012

Seong Hee Lee—Research Assistant with Janusz Zwiazek

Man Lang—Visiting Student with Scott Chang Sept 1, 2008—Aug 31, 2009

Emmanuel Mapfumo—Contract instruc-tor Sept 1, 2008—Dec 31, 2008

Other new faces in REN R ......

Documents

Fall 2008 Landmark Newsletter