Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by SFU Biological Sciences

SFU Faculty of Science @sfuscience.bsky.social · 3d

What are you going to do with your degree? @sfubiosciences.bsky.social student Emily Lucas didn't have forensics in mind, but found that it was a "beautiful fusion" of all the things she'd liked from her undergraduate research and co-op experiences. www.sfu.ca/science/news...

Emily Lucas is laying on the ground wearing black clothes and blue nitrile gloves and shining a flashlight underneath a black car

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Anaïs Remili @anaisremili.bsky.social · 4d

🚨 NEW PAPER 🚨 We show that during warm, low-ice years in the Canadian Arctic, ringed seals exhibit thinner blubber, depleted fatty acids, and elevated metabolic stress. We also show that high PCB and mercury levels contribute to oxidative damage in the liver.

Climate variations and a local PCB hotspot have altered metabolomic profiles in ringed seals

Environmental contaminants and climate change pose ongoing threats to Arctic marine mammals, yet their combined physiological impacts remain poorly un…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Earth to Ocean Research Group @earth2ocean.bsky.social · 3d

The E2O team making waves (and measuring fins) in Hamburg!
Great to see @sfubiosciences.bsky.social in action!
@sfuscience.bsky.social

Amanda Arnold 🦈 @amandasodysseys.bsky.social · 3d

Just wrapped up a great week measuring rays at the Museum der Natur Zoologie @leibnizlib.bsky.social in Hamburg 🇩🇪 for @rachhson.bsky.social’s PhD, over 135 specimens measured! 🦈✨ Next stop: Paris 🇫🇷, as our whirlwind tour through Europe’s ray collections continues
@nickdulvy.bsky.social

A selfie of four researchers in white lab coats smiling around a large ray specimen on a metal table. Measuring tapes are draped across the specimen (species: Dasyatis pastinaca)

Amanda standing among shelves filled with glass jars containing preserved shark and ray specimens. Several large sawfish rostra hang on the back wall.

Rachel examining rows of preserved specimens in glass jars inside a zoological collection room. Large sawfish rostra hang vertically in the background.

Nick and Olivia removing Ray specimens preserved in large vats.

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · 3d

🦆🌍 SFU Biology celebrates #WMBD2025!

This year’s theme—Shared Spaces—calls for bird-friendly cities. Our research on urban bird ecology and habitat use supports this global effort.

📸 Photos show how birds share space with our campus.

🔗 www.sfu.ca/biology/news...

Centre for Wildlife Ecology MSc graduate Vanessa Hum's research on bird-window collisions identified the glass walkway between the AQ and the Student Union Building as a high-risk area for bird collisions. This photo shows CWE PhD graduate Simon Valdez Juarez making the walkway safe for birds. Research and bird-window collision mitigation was funded by a grant from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The color-banded Yellow Warbler wintering in agriculture in Mexico is part of the CWE's work with migratory birds across the full annual cycle from the non-breeding period in Mexico to the breeding grounds in Inuvik and Revelstoke.

SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · 3d

SFU Biology Assistant Professors, Jane Fowler & Chelsea Little co-launch initiative to conserve and steward ecosystems in B.C.Coast Mountains.

Their work supports sustainable planning in B.C.’s Coast Mountains.

🔗 www.sfu.ca/biology/news...

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Maya Persram @mayapersram.bsky.social · 6d

Today I presented my MSc research at the "Cumulative Effects in Northern Ecosystems" symposium, and during the panel shared my thoughts on collaboration between academia and industry. So thankful to have been invited to participate and get to know some really cool people!
#TWS2025

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Teresa Silverthorn @tksilver.bsky.social · 7d

The Little Ecology Group at @sfuscience.bsky.social is hiring a PhD student to conduct aquatic biodiversity research in alpine streams! 🏔️💧🔬👩‍🔬 This is an awesome opportunity to join a supportive research group in a beautiful part of the world! littleecologygroup.ca/join-us/

Join Us!

Open PhD positions in the Little Ecology Group starting May or September 2026! Come join the Little Ecology Group (www.littleecologygroup.ca)! We are hiring a PhD student to conduct aquatic biodive…

littleecologygroup.ca

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · 6d

SFU Biology Photo Contest is back! Full details in the posters!

✅ Open to to current members of the Dept
📅 Deadline: Nov 5, 2025
📧 Submit up to 3 photos* to [email protected]
*related to your work, courses or research in biology. Photo can only win in one category.

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · 10d

🌳 Why are more trees falling — even without storms?
SFU Biological Sciences Professor Jim Mattsson is quoted in this story by the Canadian Press on how heat and drought are silently weakening forests.

Read more on our News page: www.sfu.ca/biology/news...

When heat and drought stress trees, the consequence can be tragic

www.sfu.ca

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · 11d

Read this article in UVic News about the partnership between UVic, Simon Fraser University, and BC Parks using iNaturalist to upload geo-tagged photos of species observed in the environment. Read more on our News page: www.sfu.ca/biology/news...

Three-Waisted Wasp (Family Sphecidae). Photo: Dave Carmean via iNaturalist.ca

Western Conifer Seed Bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis). Photo: Dave Carmean via iNaturalist.ca

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Jonathan Moore @jon-moore.bsky.social · 12d

NEW PAPER!

A Safe Operating Space for Salmon Watersheds Under Rapid Climate Change - Fish and Fisheries - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A Safe Operating Space for Salmon Watersheds Under Rapid Climate Change

Local watershed management can exacerbate or ameliorate oncoming climate risks to important aquatic ecosystems. Even as there is a global need to address climate change, local watershed stewardship c....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · 19d

🚨 SFU Biology – Event Alert! 🚨
The Outreach & Engagement Committee has released the 2025–2026 calendar! From contests to celebration days, there’s lots to look forward to.

📅 Don’t miss out—check the schedule: www.sfu.ca/biology/abou...

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · 24d

🎉 Shoutout to the Ruff Penguins! 🐧
Our Biology Terry Fox Run team raised $2,790 for cancer research on Sept 18 — thanks to our amazing students, faculty & staff!
You can still donate 👉 run.terryfox.ca/team/ruffpenguins

Visit our Kudos page: sfu.ca/biology/news-events/kudos/2025-ruff-penguins.html

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · 27d

It's National Postdoc Appreciation Week! 🎉 We’re celebrating our amazing postdocs, including Jungsoo Park (Fowler Lab), featured in SFU News for his work in microbial ecology. Learn more: www.sfu.ca/biology/peop...

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · 27d

Hope everyone’s fall semester is going well! Here are the upcoming workshops and events happening at Sci-Space through September and some of October🍁🍂

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SFU Faculty of Science @sfuscience.bsky.social · Sep 12

New @genomebc.bsky.social-funded research from @sfubiosciences.bsky.social and the BC Blueberry Council has identified a new virus that is affecting BC blueberry farms. vancouver.citynews.ca/video/2025/0...

New testing helps B.C. blueberry farmers fight crop virus

B.C. is home to around 600 blueberry farms, but crop viruses have become rampant in recent years, making it difficult for farmers to profit. As Cecilia Hua reports, new research out of SFU might help ...

vancouver.citynews.ca

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · Sep 12

🎉 2025 BISC Welcome Party
We kicked off the new academic year with food, games, and the opening of the Mesozoic Garden 🌿 - a stunning new space celebrating prehistoric plant life. Thanks to everyone who made it such a fun and welcoming event!

Read more on our Kudos page: www.sfu.ca/biology/news...

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SFU Faculty of Science @sfuscience.bsky.social · Sep 8

When an unknown new disease began to show up in BC blueberry fields BC Blueberry Council research director Eric Gerbrandt teamed up with @sfubiosciences.bsky.social plant geneticist Jim Mattsson to understand why standard testing sometimes fails to identify viruses in sick plants.

genomebc.bsky.social @genomebc.bsky.social · Sep 8

🫐 For years, BC blueberry fields showed signs of a mysterious scorched epidemic—but tests kept coming back negative.

Dr. Eric Gerbrandt (BC Blueberry Council) and Dr. Jim Mattsson @sfuscience.bsky.social
partnered to investigate: genomebc.ca/blog/genomic...

Genomic Research Solves Major Challenge Facing BC’s Blueberry Industry - Genome BC

Genomics researchers have developed updated tools to test new variants of blueberry viruses that are causing sickness in BC plants.

genomebc.ca

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · Sep 3

New SFU research led by PhD candidate Marta Ulaski shows that without coordinated oversight, salmon conservation will continue to fall through the cracks.

Read more on our News page: www.sfu.ca/biology/news...

Marta Ulaski @ulaskimarta.bsky.social · Sep 3

New paper! #fishsci #bcpoli

Our study reveals that Pacific salmon in British Columbia face a fragmented policy landscape that fails to manage the combined impacts of industrial development and climate change.

Read the paper here:
www.facetsjournal.com/doi/epdf/10....

Thread with key take-aways 👇

Pacific salmon suffer from a myriad of cuts, laws, and jurisdictions. Pacific salmon are facing unprecedented pressures from a multitude of stressors – all regulated under separate laws that rarely account for their combined impact. Image shows the salmon life cycle impacted by numerous human activities including mines, urban development, forest harvest, crop production, ports, aquaculture, predator control, fishing, hatchery operations, and CO2 emissions. Each activity is connected to various laws and policies across multiple jurisdictions (e.g., municipal, federal, provincial, and international). A pathway forward for managing multiple stressors: Collaborative, on-the-ground monitoring can support flexible and cautious management, enabling regional CEAs can help align decision-making with true scale of environmental and social risks, and local limits can be set by establishing legal objectives through spatial planning.

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SFU Faculty of Science @sfuscience.bsky.social · Aug 26

Prolonged heat and drought conditions can cause stress and disease in trees, and the signs are often difficult to spot. @sfubiosciences.bsky.social prof Jim Mattsson explains: www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-...

When heat and drought stress trees, the consequences can be tragic

Constabel said he had seen branches of maple trees and oak trees falling off on the University of Victoria campus, even on a windless day.

www.ctvnews.ca

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · Aug 26

👏Congratulations to Marta Ulaski for receiving the J. Frances Allen Scholarship Award from the American Fisheries Society for her impactful research on global change and fisheries.🌊🐟

Read more on our Kudos page: www.sfu.ca/biology/news...

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SFU Faculty of Science @sfuscience.bsky.social · Aug 22

"I learned a lot about what it takes to undertake fieldwork over long periods of time away from home and the importance of working in a team and getting along with your team members, as you spend 24 hours a day with them."

Learn about undergraduate research at SFU Science: ow.ly/2iQw50WIy28

The Salmon Watershed Laboratory team poor seining in the Bella Coola estuary. Three researchers are standing in the water, stretching a net between them. The sky is blue with light clouds and snow-capped mountains are in the background.

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SFU Faculty of Science @sfuscience.bsky.social · Aug 22

He visited a dozen different estuaries across Vancouver Island and BC's central coast, sampling fish species and collecting environmental data. "My favourite aspect of this work was being able to visit these remote areas that you would normally never see, many of which are only accessible by boat."

The Salmon Watershed Laboratory team pole seining in the Fulmore estuary. Everyone is standing in the shallow, gravelled water of the river wearing rain gear and stretching a net across the mouth of the river. The forest in the background is foggy.

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SFU Faculty of Science @sfuscience.bsky.social · Aug 22

SFU environmental science applied biology student Carter Tsui completed a USRA project with @salmonscience.bsky.social, assisting the Estuary Resilience Project with field and lab work researching the potential effects of climate change on estuaries, and their impact on organisms.

Carter Tsui is standing at the bow of a small aluminum fishing boat holding a yellow fishing net. The water is greenish and tall bluish mountains are in the background.

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SFU Biological Sciences @sfubiosciences.bsky.social · Aug 21

A recent study led by Julie Charbonneau warns that angler catch rates may give a false sense of security for steelhead populations in B.C.

Read more on our News page: www.sfu.ca/biology/news...

📷Photo by Jonathan Moore

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