Daily News

posted on July 30: McMaster biologists help decode beneficial bacterium

It has taken four years, but an international consortium that includes McMaster researchers has decoded the genome sequence of a bacterium that could play a key role in reducing the use of chemical fertilizers. The sequence revealed that the bacterium contains more than 6,000 genes or roughly one-fifth the number present in the human genome. This research contributes significantly to the goal of achieving environmentally safe and economically sustainable food crops. The bacterium, Sinorhizoblum meliloti (S. meliloti) is commonly applied to alfalfa crops as part of a natural fertilization process. Until now, scientists did not have a comprehensive understanding of the bacterium's genome. S. meliloti is unusual in that its genome is made up of three chromosomes, while most common bacteria have only one. Three teams of scientists, from McMaster (teamed with the Universitat Bielefeld, Germany), Stanford University, France and Belgium, were responsible for sequencing each of the three chromosomes. The integration of their research appears in the most recent issue of the international journal, Science. Turlough Finan, chair of biology and one of the lead investigators, believes that now that the sequence of genes is known, researchers can infer many processes and investigate the functions of many genes more efficiently. "If we can understand how the bacterium works, we may be able to improve the nitrogen-fixation process and increase the range of plants it can interact with." The team at McMaster includes Finan and Brian Golding, a professor of biology and a specialist in bio-informatics. Other members are Alison Cowie, research technologist; Ismael Hernandez-Lucas, postdoctoral candidate; Kim Wong, master's candidate and Patrick Chain, a recent M.Sc. graduate. (End of story)

posted on July 27: Charting employee health and wellness resources

Athletics & Recreation in partnership with Human Resources is conducting an assessment of what programs and services are available to enhance employee wellness at work. The goal of the new initiative is to determine what is available on campus to help employees be healthy and create a University profile of health and wellness needs. Once an inventory of programs is compiled and analyzed, both groups will make a recommendation for a direction for a comprehensive employee work site wellness program. "Wellness touches every aspect of an employee's life on campus and outside the work environment," said Therese Quigley, director of the Department of Athletics & Recreation. "We don't have a good assessment of what is in place. We need to get a baseline and discover what we do well and what we don't have that people might want and would be beneficial." Simon Ouellet, director of benefits, compensation & staffing, said the study will indicate the awareness level of employees about the advantages of a healthy lifestyle. "Many employees are aware that a healthy lifestyle has long term benefits at work and at home," Ouellet said. The project received $25,000 from the 2000-2001 allocations of the McMaster University Futures Fund (MUFF). Several initiatives to support employee wellness were approved for MUFF funding by the Board of Governors this year. They include a one-year pilot project through Student Health Service that ensures a physician is available on campus to address employees' health and wellness needs. Staff physician Finola Foley distributed a questionnaire to employees this week asking for input on what health and wellness services interest them. (See July 19 Daily News story Student Health Service opens door to employees.) Buffett Taylor & Associates Ltd. is conducting the needs assessment study on behalf of Athletics & Recreation and Human Resources. The consulting company will use a variety of tools to collect the data, build the inventory and obtain feedback about employee health and wellness. The firm will conduct interviews with internal and external stakeholders and review the results of the Reacon staff survey pertaining to employee morale, stress, job satisfaction and work/home life balance issues. Ouellet said any information that is collected or statistics that are gathered from health, disability and Workplace Safety & Insurance Board records will be generic in nature, will not identify individuals and will be treated with complete confidentiality. The needs assessment and a final report should be completed by November with plans for a report to go to the Board of Governors in December. Employees who wish further information about the project may contact Debbie Marinoff, manager of recreation services at marinof@mcmaster.ca or Wanda McKenna, human resources officer (benefits) at mckenna@mcmaster.ca. (End of story)

posted on July 26: Happy campers play, design, create on campus

At Venture engineering and science camp, they're making remote control cars and pinball machines. At Adventures in engineering computing camp, they're designing Web pages. At Sport Fitness School they're biking, learning to bunt or striking soccer balls. At Mini-U, "just the facts" of journalism and the human body in motion or kinesiology are some of the topics campers are tackling. And the beauty of it all is that for campers this is fun. Summer camps are in full swing with about 3000 children enrolled in a variety of camps offered on campus this year. About 850 children are enjoying hands-on projects at Venture engineering and science camp and Adventures in engineering computing camps operated by the Faculty of Engineering. This week is all-girls week at computer camp with 22 girls from grades 5 to 10 learning about computer design. Karen Zuccala, assistant co-ordinator for Mini-U, says about 550 children ages 10 to 15 are studying subjects like chemistry, physics, the arts and psychology. Mini-U campers also enjoy a sleepover in residence on their second last day at camp and take part in a no-fire campfire and canoe trip at Princess Point. The counsellors, as well as the children, learn while they have fun. "The people are great and it's a fun atmosphere," said Zuccala, 23, who graduated from McMaster this spring with a degree in kinesiology and a minor in business. She's off to the University of Windsor this fall to pursue a post-graduate degree in sports management. "People think it's school but it's all hands-on. A lot of people want to go to teacher's college so this is a great opportunity for them to work with kids and see if they really like it and want to continue on." Tim Louks, program co-ordinator of Sport Fitness School (SFS), said the counsellors, who are all university students, make SFS as successful as it is. The 24-year-old sports camp this year added its 24th sport, cycling, and boasts 85 staff. "The strength of our program is the counsellors," Louks said. "Our ratios are 1 to 5 and 1 to 8 in sport group making it one of the best around." About 1600 children will rotate through three sports, trail running, cardio funk and daily swimming during their two-week camp sessions. SFS has been at capacity the last three years with registration beginning Feb. 1 and closing in early May. BUILDING FUN: Venture engineering and science campers Adam Burt, 9, (front left), Geoffrey Lawson, 10, and Ali Lawson, 13, worked with counsellors David Colangelo (engineering physics) and Kelli Celeste (mechanical engineering & management) creating machines this summer. Photo by Shelly Easton

posted on July 25: Sharing magic of math earns professor prestigious award

He's won McMaster's and the province's top teaching awards. Now Miroslav Lovric, an assistant professor of mathematics & statistics, has another award for his dossier -- the prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship. It is Canada's only national interdisciplinary fellowship and recognizes teaching excellence as well as educational leadership. This year the fellowship was awarded to 10 university teachers from across Canada. Award winners attended a three-day retreat at Chateau Montebello in Quebec where they had the opportunity to share their teaching experiences and discuss new ideas. Last year Lovric received a Teaching and Academic Librarianship Award from the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations. In 1999 he received the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching at Spring Convocation. Since he began lecturing at the University in 1991, students have nominated him every year for a McMaster Students Union Teaching Award. In 1994 he won the overall teaching award at McMaster. Students praise their mathematics professor for his ability to simplify complex concepts to an understandable level. In addition to teaching, Lovric actively promotes mathematics through competitions. He has developed and significantly improved several math courses and has written a textbook called Vector Calculus. (End of story)