Articles by author: Brock University

• Brock researchers receive $2.4 million in federal science funding

  Thursday, June 30, 2016 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00140 – 28 June 2016

  How do we recognize faces of all ages, so that we can tell if two photographs are of the same person or two different people?

  It’s easier said than done, and yet extremely important for border security officials and others whose job is to identify people.

  What exactly happens when “mast cells” — a type of cell in our immune system — are produced from stem cells living in our bone marrow? This is vital to know, as mast cells protect our body’s tissues from infection and disease and are a driving force in allergic responses and wound healing.

  These are two examples of the 2016 science research that the federal government is funding at Brock University totaling $2.4 million.

  The federal granting agency Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) announced the results of the 2016 Discovery Grants, scholarships and fellowships competitions for universities across the country June 23.

  Members of Parliament Vance Badawey (Niagara Centre) and Chris Bittle (St. Catharines) toured labs at Brock University Tuesday, June 28 to see first-hand the impact of Brock’s research on the Niagara community and beyond and to discuss how the University and the Canadian government are working together.

  “Brock’s researchers did extremely well in this year’s NSERC competition,” says Associate Vice-president Research (Natural and Health Sciences) Joffre Mercier. “We are very proud of the outstanding work our researchers are doing at Brock.”

  The $2.4 million funding includes studies being done under the Discovery Grant and the Discovery Development Grant programs.

  Subject areas of some of these grants include: how experience influences expert face recognition; how mast cells form from bone marrow; documenting climate-induced changes to the landscape and water in Old Crow Flats, Yukon; and examining the Plio-Pleistocene paleoceanography of the northern and western Pacific.

  Also included is $262,500 funding in graduate student scholarships. The research ranges from the role of hormones in sleep loss to how West Nile is spread in Ontario to examining the eastern carpenter bee.

  “NSERC funding provides our graduate students with much needed financial support to continue with projects that are pushing the boundaries of research in exciting directions,” says Mike Plyley, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

  “The scholarships are true recognition to graduate students that the scope and calibre of their work hold great promise in contributing to discovery and innovation in Canada.”

  During their June 28 tour, Bittle and Badawey visited Professor of Psychology Catherine Mondloch, whose research aims to understand the mechanisms underlying the development of expert face recognition across the lifespan.

  Understanding how we recognize faces can help caregivers or the public look for older adults who may have wandered away from home, or assist teachers in recognizing grandparents who come to pick children up from school. Eyewitness testimonies can also be given a boost with more knowledge on face recognition.

  As well, the MPs called on Assistant Professor of Health Sciences Adam MacNeil, whose research team identified the activation of several enzymes in the formation of mast cells and is now working to better understand the cell-signaling mechanism in this process.

  Given the breadth of important roles mast cells play in defending us from bacteria, viruses and parasites, as well as their driving role in pathologies like allergy and asthma, the results obtained could have broad biological applications.

  “I am pleased to be on campus again today to continue the already well established relationship between Brock and the Government of Canada,” says Bittle. “I am excited to see this investment of $2.4 million in NSERC grants to support a number of the key researchers who call Brock home,” he says. “The ability of our local post-secondary institutions to attract and help foster key researchers who continue to conduct some of the most cutting-edge research in their fields, highlights the strength of our University. I congratulate all those receiving funds on a job well done, you continue to make Brock and Niagara proud.”

  “This money will help fund 22 cutting-edge projects at Brock University,” says Badawey. “Investments such as these ensure that our community will continue to develop the next generation of researchers and innovators who will help grow the Niagara Region and create jobs in new and emerging sectors.”  

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
   
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970
   
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  Categories: Media releases

• Youth sport experience better for children than it was for their LGBTQ parents: Brock research

  Thursday, June 30, 2016 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00139 – 28 June 2016

  Early findings from new Brock University research show LGBTQ parents fear their children will face homophobia, rejection and stigma as they start playing youth sports.

  “In reality, many of the LGBTQ parents in the study found positive and accepting communities — in some cases, feeling more accepted as a parent than they ever were as a youth who was labeled gay,” says Brock associate professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies Dawn Trussell.

  To research LGBTQ issues, Trussell started the Team Family Pride Project which is funded through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant.

  “I had been doing research with LGBTQ youth who had been excluded from sport and it made me wonder how LGBTQ parents negotiate the sport domain to support their children in an environment they may not have felt included in,” says Trussell.

  The Team Family Pride Project aims to build a community of support while helping recreational and sport organizations understand how to be more inclusive to LGBTQ parents and their children.

  Trussell is now sharing preliminary findings from the research project that used social media channels to bring together more than 70 individuals from Canada, the U.S. and Australia to participate in ongoing dialogue about their experiences as LGBTQ parents.

  “This is one of the first works of research to look at the experiences of LGBTQ parents introducing their children into organized youth sports. We have found the parents in our study want what any parent wants, to have their children accepted and feel a sense of normalcy,” says Trussell.

  When considering where service and sport organizations can adapt youth programs to better meet the needs of LGBTQ families, two areas were consistent among participants from all three countries: the use of language on forms and broader considerations when event planning.

  “Embedded in the culture of sport organizations are assumptions based on the traditional nuclear family. Many consent forms use language which request signatures from mothers and fathers, as opposed to the more inclusive terms of parent and guardian,” explains Trussell.

  “Banquets and events specifically designed for fathers and sons or fathers and daughters can also be problematic, so there is a need to confront assumptions about who fills these roles in LGBTQ families.”

  Wanting this to be a grass-roots project, Trussell worked with Community Engagement Facilitator, Jennifer Apgar.

  “As a lesbian mom, this project was important to me. While there is a positive movement in making social spaces and experiences more inclusive and accepting of diversity, family structures still seem to default to hetero-norms,” says Apgar.

  “It is through research like this that small changes in youth recreation and sport organizations could have large impacts on the experiences of families who access them,” she says.

  Trussell and the Team Family Pride Project are hopeful that as they build on the preliminary findings and continue to gain insight into the perspectives of both parents and children, they will be able to develop useful resources for youth recreation and sport organizations.

  Both Trussell and Apgar are available for interviews about this research.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970
   

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  Categories: Media releases