The 7th Annual 3MT Competition
The 7th Annual 3MT Competition was held February 13th 2020. The event showcased nine 3MT presentations.
The event featured a prestigious panel of judges which included Dr. Nora Casson, Canada Research Chair in environmental influences on water quality and associate professor in the Department of Geography; Dr. Jino Distasio, Vice-President of Research and Innovation at the Institute of Urban Studies, and Lenard Monkman, associate producer, CBC Indigenous, and co-founder, Red Rising Magazine.
For more information about the event, please visit: the NewsCentre.
Winner:
Breanna Meek - Bioscience, Technology, & Public Policy
Supervisor: Dr. Renée Douville
Integrate me one more time… ERVK integrase as a source of DNA damage in neurodegenerative disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease impacting brain and spinal cord motor neurons. Endogenous retroviruses are ancient viral elements in the human genome. Endogenous retrovirus-K (ERVK) integrase enzyme is expressed in affected ALS tissues. Integrase inserts viral DNA into the host genome by breaking host DNA and relying on cellular repair mechanisms to fix this damage. Failure to repair DNA damage can lead to necroptotic cell death and neurodegeneration. To study ERVK integrase-mediated DNA damage and necroptosis, I will insert ERVK integrase expression vectors into a variety of cell types, including stem cells for the generation of cerebral organoids. I will use Western blot and confocal imaging to identify the presence of ERVK integrase, DNA damage (γH2AX), engagement of DNA damage repair pathways (BRCA1, DNAPK, and PARP1), and ultimately necroptosis (p-MLKL). Understanding cellular effects of ERVK integrase-driven neurodegeneration may lead to future therapeutics for patients with ALS.
Breanna won the opportunity to compete at the Western 3MT Competition at the University of Lethbridge in April with a chance to move on to the National 3MT.
2020 Presentations
People's Choice Award Winner
Alwyn Go - Bioscience, Chemistry, & Public Policy
Supervisor: Dr. Alberto Civetta
The Building Block Don't Fit: A Genetic Basis to the Origin of Species
Different species make up our rich biodiversity. But what is a species? One definition is that organisms of the same species can freely interbreed with each other. The origin of species has been an active area of interest in biology. Darwin proposed the theory of evolution through natural selection. The now famous finches are an excellent example. They adapted to their environments and accumulated changes that eventually made them separate species. But what Darwin didn’t know was that before the finches changed their beak shapes, changes within their DNA were happening. These genetic changes eventually led to new species. To find the genetic basis of speciation, I use a pair of Drosophila subspecies at the brink of a speciation event. With what I like to call a 23andMe for fruit flies, I’m slowly uncovering the genetic basis of speciation and furthering our understanding of the origin of species.
Runner-Up
Taylor Wilson - Development Practice: Indigenous Development
Decolonizing the food guides: Learning from Indigenous experiences with food guides in Canada and Internationally
The 2019 Canadian food guide exhibits a great promise to be inclusive of cultural diets and diverse perspectives on food, including the food systems of Indigenous communities, but still falls short in fully considering the incredibly diverse perspectives and preferences of First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities in Canada. Foods guide fail to address food security, health, and nutrition-al needs of Canadian Indigenous communities and continue to impose a dominant “Westernized” worldview of food and nutrition. Indigenous food systems and associated knowledges and perspectives are being re-discovered and are a potential way to address the health and food security needs of Indigenous communities worldwide. We discuss the challenges and benefits of Indigenous food guides, their potential impact on health and food security for Indigenous communities based on Canadian and International experiences, propose a decolonizing and community-based research approach that promotes Indigenous led approaches to solutions for health and food security.
Nadia Moazen Chaharsoughi - Applied Computer Science & Society
The Understanding of Emergent Mechanisms in Living Systems
Have you ever heard about bio-inspired systems? Getting ideas from a living organism? Mechanisms, the organism might use in addressing problems. You might have heard about the ant colony optimization algorithm, which is a probabilistic technique for solving computational problems. But if we go further, we find out more complex and adaptive living systems; For example, our body system, more in depth, ideas about information processing in the immune system has inspired so called artificial immune systems: programs that adaptively protect computers from viruses and other intruders.
To understand how to take advantage of these systems, we have challenges to comprehend how the information processing arises and in what sense do natural systems emerge with capabilities and functions? These unanswered questions remain a subject of confusion and thorny debate among scientists.
Having such a description would provide a “high-level language” for biology and with many practical applications in other realms.
Mariana Muñoz Gomez - Cultural Studies: Curatorial Practices
Language, Space and Representation: Challenging Colonialism Through Art
How can art and language challenge colonialism in the Canadian context?
Looking at contemporary artists who use language and text, I investigate the power of language and its relationship to colonialism, epistemology and psycholinguistics. Definitions of decolonization ranging from 20th and 21st century activists and cultural theorists are analyzed in order to position the Canadian discourse around “decolonizing,” and to consider the concept of a decolonial aesthetic. Contemporary art’s role as visual communication and as an imaginative tool is considered in its potential for challenging existing hegemonies and imagining new futures and alternate realities.
This presentation will focus visually on Joi T. Arcand’s photographic series Here on Future Earth (2009) and Patrick Cruz’s installation Stepmother Tongue (2017)
Aimee Lynn Louis - Indigenous Governance
Kiskinwahamākēwina ohci mikiwāhp ekwa miyo–pimātisiwin opikināwasowin
(Tipi teachings and self–determination in child rearing)
Opikināwasowin (traditional child rearing) adopts a holistic (mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual) approach while being inclusive of the family unit and the community. This case – study will contrast colonized child rearing practices against opikināwasowin for First Nation individuals residing in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At this stage in the research, colonized child rearing practices are those that are designed, externally imposed and enforced by the state whereas, opikināwasowin, defined above, utilizes on traditional philosophies such as kiskinwahamākēwina ohci mikiwāhp (tipi teachings). Provincial policies are absent of self–determination principles in child rearing and are designed without considering the realities of the First Nation families it impacts.
Using Nehiyawak (Cree peoples’) Teachings from Elder Mary Lee, I will present the kiskinwahamākēwina ohci mikiwāhp, as I have come to understand them. Analysis will use the fundamental Spiritual teaching that each child is a gift from Creator, created with their own purpose, plan and gifts.
Aleksandra Manzhura - Criminal Justice
Supervisor: Kelly Gorkoff
Medical Assistance in Dying: Perspectives from Manitoba
Following the decriminalization of medical assistance in dying (MAID) in 2016, profuse debates ensued with concerns being raised regarding the implementation of this practice. However, lost in these political debates are the voices and experiences of the target population for this decriminalization as well as those who engage in the day-to-day operations of MAID, namely, MAID providers, patients, and their families who often assist with the process.
My research will examine the experiences and perspectives of this population during and following their MAID applications, using semi-structured interviews. I aim to reveal the positive and negative effects this legislative scheme has had on patients, particularly, the obstacles they face on their journey to MAID.
Kristina Muise - Bioscience, Technology, & Public Policy
Co-Authors: Yvonne A. Dzal, Craig, K.R. Willis
Huddling & Humidity: Energetic Costs of Big Brown Bats during Hibernation
During hibernation, mammals must balance energy expenditure and water loss, often in varying environmental conditions. My thesis tests hypotheses that ambient humidity and huddling behaviour affects the water balance and drinking behavior in big brown bats. For my hypotheses, I predict that bats will drink more to replenish lost water. Additionally, I predict that bats roosting in a huddle will conserve more water as compared to bats roosting solitarily.
To test my hypotheses, I used a captive colony of big brown bats which hibernated in 8°C and either 98% or 50% relative humidity. After 110 days of hibernation, I used open flow respirometry to measure metabolic rate and water loss of both solitary and huddling bats. Overall, my research will provide insight into the importance of huddling and humidity on the energetic costs of hibernation.
Dharitri Tripathy - Applied Computer Science & Society
Manifestation of Idiosyncratic Content and Cognitive Brain Signal Distortion
My master’s thesis investigates varying brain signals arising due to different emotions and analyses the brain behavioural patterns using an Open BCI device. A brain-computer interface(BCI) is a neural-control interface establishing direct communication between wired brain and external device. I used an electroencephalography(EEG) headset capable of recording four EEG channels. The brain signals were transmitted wirelessly to the computer by Bluetooth protocol. Trial experiments were done. Neuron firings were recorded. sing mathematical filters, I decoded the signals to generate behavioural patterns. Some brain waves were having noise due to extreme stress level. For other brain waves the noise was little. Brain waves are usually influenced by different thoughts. For example, individuals of northern areas have higher than average rates of major depressive disorders that can be captured by a BCI device. Our next phase is to experiment on broader subjects with different paradigms to analyze brain’s patterns complexity.
For more 3MT Presentations, please click here.