Hundreds of biological sciences students gather to learn from each other and look to the future

It’s an incredible experience when some of the brightest minds in the country come together. The energy was palpable across the Department of Biological Sciences last week, as a hardworking group of students brought the Prairie University Biology Symposium — or PUBS as participants like to call it — to the University of Calgary campus, continuing more than 50 years of tradition.

Student leadership connects hundreds of emerging science champions

PUBS is organized for students by students, who challenged each other to put their best research ideas forward under this year’s theme, Biology in a Changing World.

Andrew Thompson, an Eyes High Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship recipient and PhD candidate in the Environmental Toxicology and Physiology Laboratory, helped organize the event together with a panel of co-chairs. More than 185 students gathered on campus to take part in workshops, oral presentations, a poster competition, and a 3-Minute Thesis competition.

Thompson says the events showcased the diversity of student research being done at UCalgary and across Canada to make impactful contributions to scientific discovery and address some of society’s most pressing issues.

“As a forest ecologist by training, I have seen first-hand how important it is to understand Earth’s systems at every level, especially as we make quick technological and societal advances at an unprecedented rate,” says Lesley Rigg, dean of the Faculty of Science. “As an academic and a dean, I’ve seen clever young minds come up with incredible solutions to complex challenges. Young people truly have the power to generate change.”

World-class speakers urge young generations to stay connected to nature

Through the co-chairs’ efforts, PUBS featured three speakers who have collectively travelled the globe to capture the majesty of the natural world and the interconnected web of life on Earth.

“We tried to select speakers that exemplified this theme, and a university professor that would represent us well,” Thompson says. Professor emeritus Tony Russell led the plenary talk with a lecture highlighting the importance of research and the world of geckos, which he has studied for over four decades in field work that has taken him to Australia, New Zealand, the Eastern Caribbean, Namibia, and, most recently, Trinidad and Tobago.

Dax Justin, a renowned photographer, regaled the participants with stories from his adventures and fantastic images depicting a diminishing natural world.

The pinnacle of PUBS 2018, perhaps, was the keynote lecture on Friday night by world-famous environmentalist David Suzuki, which attracted an audience of more than 400 students and science alumni. The PUBS organizing panel had invited Suzuki to speak about the challenges facing our planet and make suggestions as to what we can do to make a difference for generations to come.

In his one-hour talk, Suzuki encouraged those in attendance to stay connected to nature, especially as infrastructure, technology, and Earth’s population continue to grow at an ever-increasing pace. “The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. Perspective is shaped by our values, beliefs and experiences. Listen to the elders,” Suzuki advised the crowd, while encouraging them to look at everything on earth as an interconnected web of life.

“Dr. Suzuki has been a rock for environmentalism in Canada,” Thompson says. “We felt that highlighting his work, and hearing his thoughts about the state of the environment in Canada and the world, would be incredible for our registrants.”

With PUBS 2019 still “up for grabs” next year, Thompson and his co-chairs — Kara Vanden Broek, Jeremy Morris, Analisa Lazaro-Cote, Jonathon Lee, Scott Seamone, and Matija Stanic — found organizing the event to be an enriching experience.

“I think I can speak on behalf of all of my co-chairs that there is an incredible amount of work associated with planning an event like this, but all of us have grown closer together and we have gained great friendships from it,” he says.

Support for PUBS 2018 also came from a group of enthusiastic volunteers, staff, and the Biological Sciences Graduate Student Association.