PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

SFU and UBC researchers receive $1.25 million to study cumulative effects on B.C. salmon

SFU and UBC researchers receive $1.25 million to study cumulative effects on B.C. salmon
2023-12-15
(Press-News.org) Salmon researchers from British Columbia are embarking on a three-year study to understand and help mitigate the cumulative threats affecting the vulnerable species in the province’s watersheds.

The Watershed Futures Initiative, which includes researchers from Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia and University of Montana, has received $1.25 million from the federal and provincial governments – through the joint British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund – to tackle the combined impacts of logging, mining, urban development, agriculture, climate change and other factors on salmon.
 
While the devastating effect of these risks are studied in isolation, there is an urgent need to improve both the science and management of cumulative effects in B.C. to prevent a “death by a thousand cuts,” according to project lead Jonathan Moore.
 
“Many salmon populations are struggling. We are asking a lot of our salmon ecosystems – from logging to water withdrawals to development to climate change,” says SFU biological sciences professor Moore. “It is a large and multi-pronged problem, and we are hoping that this initiative can help contribute to positive steps forward.”
 
The initiative will address high-priority knowledge gaps. Researchers will explore ongoing changes in salmon watersheds using remote sensing, synthesize scientific information to inform benchmarks and management targets, help identify potential paths forward, and connect groups working to improve the climate resilience of B.C.'s salmon watersheds.
 
“The effective stewardship of salmon ecosystems entails integrating the best science on cumulative effects with priority management actions and good governance to ensure actions are implemented in a timely and cost-effective manner,” says project co-lead Tara Martin, a professor of forest and conservation sciences at UBC.
 
In addition to research and recommending policies, building social networks and sharing promising success stories is a key objective of the initiative. This will be achieved through several events that bring together a diverse group of leaders, managers, technicians, and scientists to learn from each other.
 
“Salmon are of critical importance and they are suffering,” says Robert Chamberlin, chair of the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance and a member of the expert advisory panel guiding the project. “Watershed Futures Initiative is tackling the wicked problem of cumulative effects and doing so in a good way.”
 
In addition to the government funding announced this week, a contribution from the Sitka Foundation is also helping support this work.
 
See www.watershedfuturesinitiative.com for more information and to subscribe to its monthly newsletter for updates.

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
SFU and UBC researchers receive $1.25 million to study cumulative effects on B.C. salmon

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in menstrual products including tampons, pads, and liners 

2023-12-15
The average menstruator will use over 11,000 tampons or sanitary pads in their lifetime. Vaginal and vulvar tissue that touch pads and tampons is highly permeable. Through this permeable tissue chemicals are absorbed without being metabolized, which makes endocrine-disrupting chemicals potentially dangerous when found in menstrual products. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can interfere with human hormones and cause medical issues, including gynecological conditions such as endometriosis and uterine fibroids.  Joanna Marroquin, a Mason PhD in Public Health student, and Associate ...

Five researchers named Argonne Distinguished Fellows for 2023

2023-12-15
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has named five highly accomplished scientists as Argonne Distinguished Fellows in 2023. They are Glenn Decker, Paul Fenter, Robert Fischetti, Sven Leyffer and Valentine Novosad. The honor recognizes scientists who have not only achieved international esteem but who have also demonstrated exceptional achievements in science or engineering relevant to Argonne’s core missions. They are leaders of major, complex, high-priority projects or programs that have an impact on the future of the Laboratory. Only a small ...

Study shows exposure to household chemicals can lower odds of getting pregnant

Study shows exposure to household chemicals can lower odds of getting pregnant
2023-12-15
Exposure to phthalates, a group of plasticizing and solvent chemicals found in many household products, was linked to a lower probability of getting pregnant, but not to pregnancy loss, according to research by a University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental and reproductive epidemiologist. The study, published this week in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, also noted an association between preconception exposure to phthalates and changes in women’s reproductive hormones, as well as increased inflammation and oxidative stress.   “Phthalates ...

NRL’s Debra Rolison elected 2023 National Academy of Inventors Fellow

NRL’s Debra Rolison elected 2023 National Academy of Inventors Fellow
2023-12-15
WASHINGTON  –  Debra Rolison, Ph.D., of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has been named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), for having demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating and facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society.   Rolison has been at the lab for over 43 years and heads the Advanced Electrochemical Materials section. The recognition by the NAI is attributed to the efforts made by her team’s inventions related to a new form factor for zinc anodes in rechargeable ...

North America’s first people may have arrived by sea ice highway

2023-12-15
SAN FRANCISCO — One of the hottest debates in archeology is how and when humans first arrived in North America. Archaeologists have traditionally argued that people walked through an ice-free corridor that briefly opened between ice sheets an estimated 13,000 years ago.   But a growing number of archeological and genetic finds — including human footprints in New Mexico dated to around 23,000 years old — suggests that people made their way onto the continent much earlier. These early Americans likely traveled along the Pacific coastline from Beringia, the land bridge between Asia and North America ...

Xinfeng Gao named 2024 AIAA Associate Fellow

Xinfeng Gao named 2024 AIAA Associate Fellow
2023-12-15
We are pleased to announce that the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a preeminent aerospace professional society, has selected professor Xinfeng Gao to be a member of the class of 2024 AIAA associate fellows. Only one member of the Institute for every 150 members is selected as an associate fellow each year by the review committee. “This recognition illustrates the impact of our outstanding faculty. Aerospace engineering at UVA continues on a great trajectory and professor Gao is a big part of that,” said Richard W. Kent, professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Pioneering ...

Substance-abuse stigma impedes treatment in various ways, scientists say

2023-12-15
Addiction is one of society’s most misunderstood and rebuked health conditions. That stigma discourages many people from seeking treatment for substance dependence, according to a new report published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.  Research on stigma toward people with substance use disorder (SUD) is relatively sparse, the report adds. “Characterizing the nature and etiology of SUD stigma is critical for developing tailored and effective interventions ...

Ultrafast lasers map electrons 'going ballistic' in graphene, with implications for next-gen electronic devices

Ultrafast lasers map electrons going ballistic in graphene, with implications for next-gen electronic devices
2023-12-15
LAWRENCE — Research appearing in ACS Nano, a premier journal on nanoscience and nanotechnology, reveals the ballistic movement of electrons in graphene in real time. The observations, made at the University of Kansas’ Ultrafast Laser Lab, could lead to breakthroughs in governing electrons in semiconductors, fundamental components in most information and energy technology. “Generally, electron movement is interrupted by collisions with other particles in solids,” said lead author Ryan Scott, ...

Revolutionizing forestry: 'CountShoots' unveils advanced UAV and AI techniques for precise slash pine shoot counting

Revolutionizing forestry: CountShoots unveils advanced UAV and AI techniques for precise slash pine shoot counting
2023-12-15
In southern China, the genetically improved slash pine (Pinus elliottii) plays a crucial role in timber and resin production, with new shoot density being a key growth trait. Current manual counting methods are inefficient and inaccurate. Emerging technologies such as UAV-based RGB imaging and deep learning (DL) offer promising solutions. However, DL methods face challenges in global feature capture, necessitating additional mechanisms. Innovations like the Vision Transformer and its derivatives (e.g., TransCrowd, CCTrans) show potential in plant trait counting, offering simplified and more effective approaches for large-scale and accurate ...

UMSOM researchers discover first ever link between hemoglobin-like protein and normal heart development

UMSOM researchers discover first ever link between hemoglobin-like protein and normal heart development
2023-12-15
BALTIMORE, December 14, 2023– In a landmark study led by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, researchers discovered for the first time that a certain kind of protein similar to hemoglobin, called cytoglobin, plays an important role in the development of the heart. Specifically, it affects the correct left-right pattern of the heart and other asymmetric organs. The findings, published today in the journal Nature Communications, could eventually lead to the development of new therapeutic interventions to alter the processes that lead ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Breathable yet protective: Next-gen medical textiles with micro/nano networks

Frequency-engineered MXene supercapacitors enable efficient pulse charging in TENG–SC hybrid systems

Developed an AI-based classification system for facial pigmented lesions

Achieving 20% efficiency in halogen-free organic solar cells via isomeric additive-mediated sequential processing

New book Terraglossia reclaims language, Country and culture

The most effective diabetes drugs don't reach enough patients yet

Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy

Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab

Commentary questions the potential benefit of levothyroxine treatment of mild hypothyroidism during pregnancy

Study projects over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues

New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children

Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer

It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections

From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine

Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023

No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults

NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders

Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds

University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant

Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research

Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma

Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue

Genomes reveal the Norwegian lemming as one of the youngest mammal species

Early birds get the burn: Monash study finds early bedtimes associated with more physical activity

Groundbreaking analysis provides day-by-day insight into prehistoric plankton’s capacity for change

Southern Ocean saltier, hotter and losing ice fast as decades-long trend unexpectedly reverses

Human fishing reshaped Caribbean reef food webs, 7000-year old exposed fossilized reefs reveal

Killer whales, kind gestures: Orcas offer food to humans in the wild

Hurricane ecology research reveals critical vulnerabilities of coastal ecosystems

[Press-News.org] SFU and UBC researchers receive $1.25 million to study cumulative effects on B.C. salmon