Tag Archives: Unviersity of British Columbia

Seahorses in a citizen science project

Seahorses are the object of an international citizen science project, iSeahorse, according to an Oct. 8, 2013 University of British Columbia media release,

Marine conservationists from the University of British Columbia, Zoological Society of London (ZSL), and John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago today launched a smartphone app that could lead to new discoveries about some of the ocean’s most mysterious and threatened animals — seahorses — and pave the way for similar efforts with other difficult-to-study species.

With iSeahorse Explore, anyone, anywhere in the world can become a citizen scientist and contribute to marine conservation with a few taps of their phone. The iPhone app is designed for people to quickly log seahorse sightings whenever they encounter an animal in the wild.

Here’s a seahorse image courtesy of UBC, (University of British Columbia),

Seahorses are difficult to study in the wild because of their small size and ability to blend into their surroundings. Photo: Edwin van der Sande/Guylian Seahorses of the World

Seahorses are difficult to study in the wild because of their small size and ability to blend into their surroundings. Photo: Edwin van der Sande/Guylian Seahorses of the World

As fascinating as they are, we still have a lot to learn about seahorses (from the media release),

“We’ve made important scientific breakthroughs with seahorses in recent years, but they remain incredibly enigmatic animals,” says Amanda Vincent, director of Project Seahorse, UBC and ZSL’s joint marine conservation initiative.

Thanks to their small size and ability to blend into their surroundings, seahorses are difficult to study in the wild. Of the 48 seahorse species listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 26 are considered ‘Data Deficient’—meaning that there isn’t enough information for us to know whether these species are thriving, disappearing, or something in between.

“We know that seahorses are threatened by overfishing, destructive fishing practices, and habitat loss. Now we need to pinpoint populations and places that most need conservation action,” says Heather Koldewey, co-founder of Project Seahorse and Head of Global Conservation Programmes at ZSL.The app and its feature-rich companion website, www.iSeahorse.org, represent a pilot collaboration with iNaturalist.org, a leading citizen science group.

New features planned for the next phase of the iSeahorse website and smartphone app include sophisticated population monitoring and advocacy tools as well as a social media component.

“Working together with citizen scientists all over the world, we’ll accomplish big things for seahorses and other vulnerable marine species,” adds Vincent.

Here are some facts about seahorses (from the backgrounder attached to the media release),

About seahorses

  • Approximately 13 million seahorses are traded globally, live and dead, every year around the world. They are used in traditional Chinese medicine, for display in aquariums, and as curios and souvenirs.
  • These tiny sentinels of the sea thrive in healthy habitats: conserving seahorses helps protect the oceans for all of us who depend on them.
  • Of the 48 seahorse species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 11 are listed as threatened. Twenty-six species are listed as Data Deficient, which means that we do not have enough information to confirm their conservation status.
  • Many seahorse species appear to mate for life. Where seahorses are monogamous, their pair-bonds are reinforced by daily greetings, during which the female and male change colour and promenade and pirouette together. The dance lasts several minutes, and then the pair separates for the rest of the day.

As well, the backgrounder offers information about the various project participants,

About iSeahorse
iSeahorse harnesses the power of ‘citizen scientists’ — anyone, anywhere in the world who sees a seahorse in the wild — to improve our understanding of these animals and protect them from overfishing and other threats.

Anyone, from divers to fishers, scientists to people on beach vacations can use the app to upload photos and observations to iSeahorse. These citizen scientists can help identify seahorse species and even advocate for their protection in their ocean neighbourhoods.

Scientists from Project Seahorse and seahorse experts around the world will use this vital information to better understand seahorse behaviour, species ranges, and the threats seahorses face. They will use this knowledge to improve seahorse conservation across the globe.

iSeahorse is made possible by the generous support of Guylian Belgian Chocolate, Harmsworth Trust UK, and Whitley Fund for Nature.

About Project Seahorse
Project Seahorse is a marine conservation group based at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and Zoological Society of London. Recognized by the IUCN as the global authority on seahorses and their relatives, Project Seahorse works to protect seahorses in order to support ocean conservation more broadly, generating cutting-edge research and using it to inform highly effective conservation interventions. Led by Prof. Amanda Vincent and Heather Koldewey, both global experts on seahorse conservation, Project Seahorse has won many international awards and honours, and works in collaboration with researchers, governments, conservation groups and local communities worldwide.

The world’s leading expert on seahorses, Prof. Vincent first uncovered the thriving global seahorse trade in the mid-1990s and co-founded Project Seahorse in response. Project Seahorse researchers were the first to study seahorses in the wild and the first to identify the scope of the threats they face from overfishing and trade. As the IUCN Specialist Group for seahorses and their relatives, we have produced a large proportion of the world’s research on these fishes, approved global conservation assessments, chaired a working group for an international trade accord, provided expert advice to the world’s definitive fish database, and advised public aquarium and aquaculture ventures internationally. The team’s efforts have resulted in the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) adopting international trade controls for seahorses in 2002.

About Zoological Society of London
Founded in 1826, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is an international scientific, conservation and educational charity whose mission is to promote and achieve the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. ZSL’s mission is realised through our groundbreaking science, its active conservation projects in more than 50 countries and our two zoos, ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.

About John G. Shedd Aquarium
The John G. Shedd Aquarium, a nonprofit organization dedicated to public education and conservation, is among one of the world’s largest indoor aquariums. The facility houses over 32,500 aquatic animals representing some 1,500 species of fishes, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, birds and mammals from waters around the world. Beautifully situated on the shores of Lake Michigan, Shedd Aquarium is known as “The World’s Aquarium.” Since its opening in 1930, the aquarium’s mission has been to enhance public understanding and appreciation of the aquatic world. The Daniel P. Haerther Center for Conservation and Research at Shedd is committed to conserving species and ecosystems through research that advances understanding, informs policy and enhances livelihoods. A longtime supporter and partner of Project Seahorse, Shedd currently works with them in Southeast Asia to build local capacity for monitoring and managing seahorse populations.

About iNaturalist
One of the world’s leading citizen science organizations, iNaturalist is a place where you can record what you see in nature, meet other nature lovers, and learn about the natural world. http://www.inaturalist.org

You can pick up your iSeahorse app here.

I last mentioned Amanda Vincent and Project Seahorse in a March 5, 2013 posting about Vincent’s project to crowdfund a scientific expedition to the Danajon Bank in the Philippines.

Viruses mine for copper at the University of BC; microscopy at the University of Victoria; the Henry Louis Gates Jr. affair, human nature, & human enhancement

Professor Scott Dunbar at the University of British Columbia’s (Canada) Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering needed to partner with colleagues Sue Curtis and Ross MacGillivray from the Centre for Blood Research and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology after (from the media release on Nanowerk News),

“I read an article about bacteriophage – viruses that infect bacteria – being used to create nanodevices in which proteins on the phage surface are engineered to bind to gold and zinc sulfide,” says Dunbar. “And it struck me: if zinc sulfide, why not copper sulfide? And if so, then it might be possible to use these bio-engineered proteins to separate common economic sulfide minerals from waste during mineral extraction.”

Together the researchers have developed a procedure called “biopanning.” It’s a kind of genetic engineering which could lead to some useful applications.

It turns out that the phage that bind to a mineral do affect the mineral surfaces, causing them to have a different electrical charge than other minerals. The proteins on the phage also form links to each other leading to aggregation of the specific sulfide particles. “The physical and chemical changes caused by phage may be the basis for a highly selective method of mineral separation with better recovery. Another possible application is bioremediation, where metals are removed from contaminated water” says Dunbar.

In other BC news, the University of Victoria (Canada) will be getting a new microscope which senses at subatomic levels. (From the media release on Azonano),

The new microscope-called a Scanning Transmission Electron Holography Microscope (STEHM) — will use an electron beam and holography techniques to observe the inside of materials and their surfaces to an expected resolution as small as one-fiftieth the size of an atom.

This is being done in collaboration with Hitachi High-Technologies which is building the microscope in Japan and installing it at U Vic in late 2010. The microscope will be located in a specially adapted room where work to prepare and calibrate it will continue until it becomes operational sometime in 2011.

After my recent series on robots and human enhancement, I feel moved to comment on the situation in the US vis a vis Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and his arrest by the police officer, James Crowley. It’s reported here and elsewhere that neither the recording of the 911 call nor the concerned neighbour who made the call support Sergeant Crowley’s contention that the two men allegedly breaking into the house were described as ‘black’.

Only the participants know what happened and I don’t fully understand the nuances of race, class, and cultural differences that exist in the US so I can’t comment on anything other than this. It is human to hear what we expect to hear and I have an example from a much less charged situation.

Many years ago, I was transcribing notes from a taped interview (one of my first) for an article that I was writing for a newsletter. As I was transcribing, I noticed that I kept changing words so that the interview subject sounded more like me. They were synonyms but they were my words not his. Over the years I’ve gotten much better at being more exact but I’ve never forgotten how easy it is to insert your pet words (biased or not) when you’re remembering what someone said. Note: I was not in a stressful situation and I could rewind and listen again at my leisure.

I hope that Crowley and Gates, Jr. are able to work this out in some fashion and I really hope that it is done in a way that is respectful to both men and not a rush to a false resolution for the benefit of the cameras. For a more informed discussion of the situation, you may find this essay by Richard Thompson Ford  in Slate helpful. It was written before the recording of the 911 call was made public but I think it still stands.

My reason for mentioning this incident is that human nature tends to assert itself in all kinds of situations including the building of robots and the debates on human enhancement, something I did not mention in my series posted (July 22 – 24, 27, 2009).

University of British Columbia scientists put a new spin on spintronics and Scientists protest the Canadian federal budget

Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have found a way to control an electron’s spin naturally, that is, without the use of external fields. They control the spin by bouncing the electron through a microscopic channel. Joshua Folk, Canada Research Chair in the Physics of Nanostructures and principal investigators, says (from the article at Physorg.com):

“We show that the spin of electrons can be controlled without external fields, simply by designing the right circuit geometry and letting electrons move freely through it.”

The new technique uses the natural interactions of the electrons within the semiconductor micro-channel to control their spin–a technique that is a major step, but not yet flexible enough for industrial applications, notes Folk, an Assistant Professor with Physics and Astronomy who came to UBC via the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

It looks promising and, if successful, could lead to exponentially faster processing. Go here for more details.

I’ve been waiting for a protest and it’s finally here. Researchers have written a letter, Don’t Leave Canada Behind, protesting the 2009 federal budget cuts to science announced in January. More that 2000 signed the letter which was written on March 16, 2009. From the letter, which (as you might expect) makes reference to the stark contrast between the current Canadian and the US budgets,

“When U.S. researchers are being actively approached for ideas to use the stimulus money to think big and to hire and retain their researchers, their Canadian counterparts are now scrambling to identify budget cuts for their labs, while worrying about the future of their graduating students,”  …

There’s more here. The federal Minister for Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear, created a kerfuffle earlier this year after the budget was announced, when it seemed that he didn’t understand the concept of evolution all that well. I mention it because Goodyear is quoted, in response to this letter, as saying that the government is “… committed to innovation and discovery.” Two things, I’d like to know more about Goodyear’s understanding of science and how he expects to influence the kinds of discoveries and innovations that are made and I’m glad they are committed but I’m not sure how that will work if there aren’t enough funds to support innovation and discovery.