Media releases

• Brock political scientists to host panel discussion on Trump presidency

  Wednesday, January 18, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA ADVISORY: R00007 – 13 January 2017

  With President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fast approaching, Brock University political scientists will be coming together to discuss what a Trump presidency will look like and how it might impact Canadians.
   
  The Department of Political Science is hosting a public panel discussion at St. Catharines Public Library Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. to discuss the chaos that has followed the election in November and explore what to look out for as Trump transitions into office.

  The Rise of Trumpism: What’s Next for the United States, Canada and the World? will examine the past, present and future political landscape and cover themes on nationalism, fascism and misogyny.

  “I was not surprised by the election results, and from a long career of studying politics, I think there are good reasons why democracies in their declining stages turn to this kind of ruler,” says Brock University political scientist and professor Leah Bradshaw. “Trump is a demagogue, that is to say, a creature of democracy who appeals to the worst elements of democratic popular will. Trump is not an isolated phenomenon. Western liberal democracy is in trouble.”

  “I plan to discuss what Trump’s election means for the Canada-US relationship,” says Associate Professor Blayne Haggart. “In the worst-case scenario, Trump’s presidency could present Canada with an existential crisis by upending the international rules and norms upon which Canada has based all of its economic and international policies for seven decades.”

  The event is open to the public but tickets are required and are available through Eventbrite.ca. The discussion will be live-streamed on facebook.com/brockufoss and the moderator will be taking some questions from Twitter with the hashtag #USElectionBrock

  What:    “The Rise of Trumpism: What’s Next for the United States, Canada  and the World?”
  When:   Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m.
  Where:  St. Catharines Public Library, Mills Room, 54 Church St.
  Who:        Panel includes professors from the Department of Political Science:
  •    Leah Bradshaw, Professor, Specializes in Political Theory and Citizenship
  •    Blayne Haggart, Associate Professor, Specializes in North American Political Economy
  •    Stefan Dolgert, Associate Professor, Specializes in Contemporary Political Theory
  •    Discussion will be moderated by Marty Mako

  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

• Brock team discovers insect in Ontario that can transmit devastating livestock disease

  Wednesday, January 11, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00005 – 11 January 2017

  Ontario’s livestock industry was rocked in September 2015 when a farm animal in Chatham-Kent tested positive for the bluetongue virus, a discovery that ultimately cost farmers millions of dollars.

  Now, Brock University researchers have confirmed that an insect able to transmit the devastating virus has made its way to southern Ontario.

  Graduate student Adam Jewiss-Gaines found hundreds of Culicoides sonorensis, known as the biting midge, when he examined traps in a dozen locations from Niagara to Chatham-Kent.

  “This is a species that we didn’t expect to find here,” says Jewiss-Gaines, lead author of the team’s paper, which is published in the Journal of Medical Entomology. “It was mainly located in British Columbia, Alberta and parts of the U.S.”

  He said biting midges are tiny and therefore not strong fliers, but wind currents from the U.S. may have brought the insect to the area. Another possibility is they arrived with a shipment of farm materials or livestock, hitching a ride with the animals they feed upon.

  The biting midge can carry the bluetongue virus, which causes immense suffering and death, primarily in sheep and deer. Symptoms include fever, swelling of the lips, difficulty swallowing and a swollen, purple-coloured tongue. Some animals bleed at the feet, causing them to walk on their knees. 

  The Brock team’s investigation started in 2012, when Jewiss-Gaines found biting midges caught in a trap in Thorold. He and his supervisor, medical entomologist Fiona Hunter, launched a project to see if the insect was present within southern Ontario. Graduate student Larissa Barelli was also involved in the research, lending a hand with molecular work.

  In 2013, Jewiss-Gaines discovered Culicoides sonorensis in five traps between Niagara and Sarnia. In 2014, further traps in southwestern Ontario caught more biting midges. Finding the insect in consecutive years concerned researchers, as it was previously thought biting midges could not survive Canadian winters.

  Then, in September 2015, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency reported the Chatham-Kent farm animal had tested positive for bluetongue.

  “This created chaos in the livestock industry because international exports of live ruminants, and even exports of bull sperm, were immediately halted,” says Hunter. “It cost our livestock producers millions of dollars, I’d estimate.”

  Cattle, goats and elk can be infected, but show few symptoms. They act as “reservoirs” that the biting midge can tap into and spread to other livestock.

  “There are a lot of livestock farmers here in Ontario,” says Jewiss-Gaines. “Bluetongue could be a real issue if it gets into flocks of sheep because the sheep here aren’t used to it. They don’t have the antibodies; if it gets into those flocks, it could be potentially decimating.”

  Getting rid of biting midges is tricky, explains Jewiss-Gaines.

  “The larval forms exist in muddy, semi-aquatic environments. If we get a lot of precipitation, they might have a lot of areas to develop in. Biting midges are hard to control. You can’t just go out there and get rid of all the mud.”

  Jewiss-Gaines encourages farmers to keep their livestock in barns at dusk and dawn, when the midges are most active, and to put screens on barn windows.

  The paper, “First Records of Culicoides sonorensis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), a Known Vector of Bluetongue Virus, in Southern Ontario,” can be seen online.

  Graduate student Adam Jewiss-Gaines is available to speak with the media about his findings.

  For more information or assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970
   

  Categories: Media releases