Redeemer University College Science News

Redeemer Science Education Program

2007-11-29T13:40:00.001-05:00

Every year, from September to June, Jennifer Chiang, lecturer of biology and laboratory instructor, organizes and leads the Redeemer Science Education Program for elementary and high schools. Professor Chiang began the program for elementary students in 1991 with her husband Dr Gary Chiang, and since then, the program has grown significantly.

Over 300 elementary and secondary students are welcomed each year. Schools, church groups, and home educators participate in a variety of science-related activities, including labs, demonstrations, and experiments, on topics such as insects, soil, and cells.

The Whaley Teaching Garden, which Professor Chiang manages year-round, plays a significant role in the elementary school trips. It is used for demonstrations and hands-on learning as the students are invited to dig up the soil, collect insects and worms, and examine the plants.

Apart from exposing younger people to the excitement of science, the program raises awareness about Redeemer. Students considering post-secondary education are able to experience Redeemer University College and become familiar with the
opportunities available.

Alumni News

2007-10-26T18:40:00.000-05:00

Randy Elzinga '01, who majored in mathematics at Redeemer, obtained his PhD at Queen's University, Oct. 25, 2007. In his thesis "The Minimum Witt Index of a Graph" he acknowledges his mathematics courses at Redeemer "opened my eyes to the beauty of mathematics and provided the foundation for success in graduate studies." Randy is currently teaching at Queen's University.

Alan Meijer '94, who majored in biology at Redeemer, has since obtained an MSc in crop science from North Carolina State University. He is currently an Extension Associate: Tillage and Soil Management at the Vernon G. James Research and Extension Center of NCSU.

Felix Lam '06, is pursuing a MSc in biology at the University of Western Ontario. He is studying octopamine receptors in the cabbage looper, Trichoplusiani, and is becoming proficient in molecular biology as he identifies, isolates and sequences gene fragments.

Lisa Scully '01 obtained her PhD from the Department of Biological Sciences at Brock University. She has co-authored several articles with her supervisor based on her microbiology research. Her studies were funded in part by a prestigious NSERC postgraduate doctoral scholarship.

Aart Smit '07 and Dr. Schuurman presented a paper in Montreal, based on summer undergraduate student research sponsored by NSERC and subsequently published "Robust Subspace Position Measurement Using Localized Sub-Windows," Proceedings of the Canadian Conference on Computer and Robot Vision, May 2007, pp. 282-288.

Jakob Van Dorp '06, is pursuing a Master's degree in urban and regional Planning (MPl) at Queen's University. Jakob obtained a BSc with majors in environmental studies, history and English and has continued his interest in urban issues, particularly related to improving access to food and growing food in cities. His research currently involves looking at how community garden programs are developed and maintained in Toronto.

David Speicher

2007-10-19T12:38:00.000-05:00

David J. Speicher (Redeemer 2004) who obtained an honours biology degree from Redeemer, graduated from Griffith University School of Biomedical Sciences with an MSc (honours) in Clinical Microbiology, working in the Qpid (Queensland Paediatric Infectious Diseases) Laboratory. David is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the School of Dentistry and Oral Health, researching oral cancer in patients with AIDS caused by human herpes virus 8. David intends to compare the prevalence of this virus in Australia, India, and Kenya. If research goes as planned, he will be heading to India in May for 2-3 months of field work and training of their lab staff. On World AIDS Day, David was privileged to spend the day helping at an AIDS camp in India where free medical, dental and eye examinations were given along with free lab work and medical supplies. It was run with a Christian AIDS organization called ACET (AIDS Care, Education and Training) in conjunction with Operation Blessing India.

Loretta Vanderspek

2007-10-05T09:47:00.001-05:00

Loretta Vanderspek (Redeemer 2007) was awarded a prestigious NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship worth $17,300 for graduate studies. She declined the award since she had made a commitment to teach high school for one year. She is teaching mathematics, English and art at Norwich Christian School and plans to continue further studies in September 2008.

Monarch Butterfly

2007-09-07T09:25:00.000-05:00

The Monarch Butterfly is found throughout Canada in areas where the host plant Milkweed is found.

Monarchs east of the Rockies migrate to central Mexico. Frederick Urquhart of the University of Toronto discovered the first Mexican wintering site in 1974.

The lifespan of most Monarchs is less than two months but the last generation of the summer enters into a non-reproductive phase known as diapause and may live up to 7 months. It is during diapause that the butterflies make the long migration south. The generation that over winters generally does not reproduce until it leaves the over wintering site sometime in February and March. It is the second, third and fourth generations that return to Canada in the spring.

As a defense against predators Monarchs are foul tasting. Whether the butterfly is toxic depends on the species of milkweed the caterpillar was reared on. The common milkweed is nonpoisonous but other species of milkweed contain deadly cardiac glycosides.

Symposium on the Conenose

2007-08-24T08:49:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month, Dr Gary Chiang chaired a symposium on the biology of blood-sucking conenoses, vectors of Chagas Disease at the 7th International Congress of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry. The quadrennial event took place Aug 12-16 in Salvadore, Bahia, Brazil.

Speakers were:

K.G. Davey, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.

I. Orchard, University of Toronto, Mississauga, ON, Canada.

E.S. Garcia and Dr. P. Azambuja, Departamento de Bioquimica e Biologia; Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

Erwin Huebner, University of Manitoba, Canada. (pictured above)

Claudio R. Lazzari, Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université François Rabelais, France.

The conenose, or Kissing Bug, is the principal vector of the parasite that causes Chagas' disease, which affects millions in South America. Chagas' disease, which more frequently attacks children, involves fever and damage to the spleen and nervous system, as well as to the liver and the heart muscles. It is sometimes fatal.

Alumni News - Heidi Renkema

2007-08-17T12:41:00.000-05:00

Heidi Renkema (Redeemer 2005), completed a joint MSc degree in land resource science and international development at the University of Guelph. Her thesis "Thallium Accumulation by Durum Wheat and Spring Canola: The Roles of Cation Competition, Uptake Kinetics, and Transpiration" was co-supervised by Dr. Berkelaar. She is currently in a one-year internship at ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) in North Fort Myers Florida. ECHO is a Christian ogranization with a mission to equip and support people doing agricultural development overseas.

Alumni News - Kyle Vander Linden

2007-08-10T18:41:00.000-05:00

Kyle Vander Linden, who graduated from Redeemer in 2005 with a major in environmental studies as well as a major in history, is currently pursuing a master's degree in environmental planning at the University of Waterloo. As part of his studies, he had the opportunity to do research on a green roof at Waterloo City Hall, focusing on storm water quantity and quality. Last month, Kyle began working for Roof Greening Systems. In particular, he researches stormwater quantity, thermal insulation properties, soil quality, weight issues and optimizing plant growth in extreme conditions. Kyle notes that Roof Greening Systems is one of the first companies in Canada to pre-grow native vegetation mats to be placed on green roofs.

Redeemer Summer Research Students

2007-07-27T18:43:00.000-05:00

(left to right): Jeremy Burns, Leanne Kersbergen, Matthew West, Amy Koopmans, Laura Brunsting, Timothy Ubbens, Chris Kim [McMaster], Julie Kikkert, James Harskamp and Loretta Vanderspek.

Jeremy Burns, pursued summer research co-supervised with Dr. G. Chiang with funding from the Canada Summer Jobs program and Dr. M.J. O'Donnell at McMaster University. Jeremy worked both at Redeemer and McMaster, carrying out studies on a visceral muscle in the blood-feeding insect Rhodnius prolixus.

Leanne Kersbergen '07, who graduated with a double major in biology and psychology, studied how readily selenium moved from root to shoot tissue of wheat and canola, under the supervision of Dr. Berkelaar. She also studied to what degree this process is influenced by transpiration - the evaporation of water from plant leaves.

Matthew West '07, who graduated with a major in mathematics as well as a major in computer science and physics, worked on NSERC-funded physics research "Time Evolution of Quantum Systems" under the supervision of Dr. van Dijk.

Amy Koopmans, a fourth-year biology major, exposed wheat and canola seedlings to different amounts of thallium and potassium in an effort to determine if potassium and thallium compete with one another for uptake and to see if the two plant species behave similarly or not. Amy worked under the supervision of Dr. Berkelaar.

Professor Jennifer Chiang together with student worker Laura Brunsting and volunteer Vanessa Chiang '05 served as leaders for an amazing week of scientific discovery. Ten young people, ages 9-12 years, attended Redeemer's very first summer science camp. For one week, these young people explored the world of forensic science through hands-on activities in which they were given the task of solving a "crime" of the day. The campers were guided through a variety of techniques such as how to take and lift fingerprints, identify blood types, analyze lipstick through chromatography, identify insects and more. It is hoped that the camp will be offered in the summer of 2008.

Timothy Ubbens, a second year computer science and mathematics major worked for Dr. Schuurman on an NSERC-funded project "Computer Vision for Mobile Robots."

Julie Kikkert, a fifth year honours biology student, oversaw a study of wheat and canola plants grown in soils contaminated with trace amounts of selenium and thallium, in an effort to see how much of these elements were accumulated by various plant tissues over the course of the life cycle of a plant. Over 1000 plant samples (roots, shoots and seeds) were generated in this study, supervised by Dr. Berkelaar. The samples will need to be analyzed for trace elements next summer.

James Harskamp, now in his third year of an honours biology degree, developed a cadmium microelectrode with help from Dr. Brouwer and Dr. O'Donnell at McMaster. With Dr. Berkelaar, he used this to determine where along the length of a root plants accumulate cadmium and to what extent the rhizosphere (the region immediately surrounding the root) becomes depleted of cadmium as the plant removes it from its exposure solution.

Loretta Vanderspek '07, who graduated with a major in mathematics, explored "Elementary Symmetric Functions and Inertia," a project in qualitative system analysis, funded by NSERC, and under the supervision of Dr. Vander Meulen.

2007 Redeemer Science Graduates

2007-05-25T10:18:00.000-05:00

Bachelor of Science - Honours
Kevin Renkema, Laura Schuurman, Sheraya Sims

Bachelor of Science - Four Year Major
Erin Garden-Smith, Loretta Vanderspek, Mark van der Woerd, Debra Vuyk, Matthew West, Eric Windhorst

Bachelor of Science - Four Year General
Cassandre Dauphin, Nancy Geertsma, Jillian Hermansen, Cara Hovius, Leanne Kersbergen, Amanda Koopmans, Jasmine Lightfoot, Alicia Wolting

Gospel of Judas Top Story

2007-01-12T10:53:00.000-05:00

National Geographic has made finding the Gospel of Judas its top story of 2006. It beat out such Science stories as August's demotion of Pluto to just being one of 40 dwarf planets and February's discovery of a "Lost World" in Indonesia with its previously unknown species of kangaroos, birds and bugs.

The Gospel of Judas manuscript dates back to the third or fourth century A.D., it is thought to be a Coptic, or Egyptian Christian, translation of a Greek text written sometime prior to 180 A.D. In this gospel, the Apostle Judas Iscariot is not a traitor but a hero, the chosen disciple. Jesus Christ asks Judas to betray him to the authorities.

In the early centuries A.D. diverse texts were circulated. Texts, such as the Gospel of Judas, were no longer copied when Christianity coalesced around New Testament Gospels. With St. Irenaeus calling the alternative texts 'fictitious histories' the manuscripts were either destroyed or hidden. The Gospel of Judas was so succcessfully hidden it remained so for 1700 years.

Ontario Christian Schools Science Fair

2007-01-05T07:33:00.000-05:00

The Sciences Division will be hosting its seventh biennial Ontario Christian Schools Science Fair for Grades 7 and 8 at the Redeemer University campus on Thursday and Friday, April 12 and 13. Dr. Humphreys will be presenting his well-loved show, which is open to the public, on the Thursday evening.

At the last fair in 2005 individual prizes went to Carolyn Daichendt, Rianna VandeHoef, Tyler VanderWoude with the Arthur Custance Awards for Christian Perspective in Science being won by Brittany Veldboom, Ashley Hagen & Erika Scott, Bethany Wallar. The first place school was the Maranatha Christian Academy from Windsor (pictured).

Moon Base in 2024

2006-12-29T07:22:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month NASA announced plans to construct a base at one of the moon's poles. The poles are in near constant sunlight, which will allow for solar power generation at the base.

Construction will begin in 2020 with 4-person crews making 7-day visits to the moon until a functional base is completed in 2024. After that the base would be continually manned with rotating crews similar to how the International Space Station operates.

Before that, NASA will develop a new spaceship, the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). The CEV will be shaped like the Apollo capsules but 3 times larger. It should be ready by 2010 and will replace the current space shuttle fleet. When the CEV returns to earth it will deploy three parachutes and set down on dry land.

Next, NASA will develop a lunar lander. The lander and the CEV will be put into Earth's orbit separately. They will attach in space before making the 3 day trip to the moon. In the moon's orbit the Lander and the CEV will detach with the lander going to the moon's surface.

More at NASA: The Vision for Space Exploration

Moose

2006-12-22T19:17:00.000-05:00

Last May, papers on Rhodnius Prolixus by Dr Gary Chiang, Rita Tory (Redeemer 2006) and Matt Klingenberg (Redeemer 2006) were presented at the Canadian Society of Zoologists meeting at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. While in Alberta, Gary took this photo of a Moose.

Moose, the largest member of the deer family, are referred to as elk in Europe and Asia, where they inhabit the forests of northern Asia and Europe from Siberia in the east to Norway in the west, the Baltic region, and northern China. In North America moose are found in wooded areas of Canada and the northern United States.

Bull moose have the enormous antlers that can exceed 1.5 m (60 in) in width and 22.7 kg (50 lb) in weight. New antlers begin to grow in early April and are shed after the mating season in late September. The antlers are covered with a soft, nutrient-rich skin called velvet, which when it is shed is often eaten by the bull.

Copy Cat Kittens

2006-12-15T23:06:00.000-05:00

Copy Cat, the world's first cloned cat, has had a litter of three kittens. The kittens were born in September and appear healthy. However, Copy Cat is not the first cloned cat to give birth. In New Orleans, two cloned wild African cats successfully mated to produce kittens.

Roslin Institute in Edinburgh cloned the first mammal, Dolly the sheep, in 1997. It died prematurely from progressive lung disease at the age of six.

Copy Cat was cloned in 2001 at Texas A&M University, which has also cloned cattle, swine, goats, horses and a deer.

The vast majority of cloning attempts fail. Copy Cat was the only live birth of the 2 pregnancies from 87 cloned cat embryos transferred into surrogate females. Also, cloning cannot be relied upon to create an identical copy of an animal. Because fur patterning is determined in the womb rather than by genes, Copy Cat does not look like her genetic mother.

Ebola Killed 5000 Gorillas

2006-12-08T19:34:00.000-05:00

A report in today's Science magazine extrapolates that the Ebola virus has killed more than 5000 gorillas in West Africa. Ebola could be a more important factor in the decline of great apes (by almost 50%) across central Africa in the last two decades than the bushmeat trade or deforestation. The basis of the report was a study of a group of western gorillas in the Lossi Sanctuary in northwest Republic of Congo.

There are two species of gorilla: the western and eastern gorillas. Nearly all gorillas found in zoos are western gorillas. Mountain gorillas studied by Dian Fossy and featured in 'Gorillas in the Mist' are a sub-species of the eastern gorilla.

Ebola haemorrhagic fever is one of the most virulent viruses ever seen, killing 50-90% of victims. The World Health Organization says that it killed 1200 people infected between its discovery in 1976 and 2004.

The story is on Science Magazine's most recent podcast (mp3 - 42 minutes) that also includes stories on 'Cratering and Water Flows on Mars' and 'Entrepreneurship in a Science Career'

Honey Bee Bomb Squad

2006-12-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

The Stealthy Insect Sensor Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory has trained honeybees to sniff out explosives ranging from dynamite and C-4 to the Howitzer propellant grains used in improvised explosive devices in Iraq.

Pavlovian training techniques were used to teach the bees to stick out their proboscis when they smell bombs. The scientists hope the bees can be used to detect explosives in airports and at roadside security checks.

Marathon Runners Risk Skin Cancer

2006-11-24T07:13:00.000-05:00

A new study by dermatologists at the Medical University of Graz, Austria, found that white marathon runners seem to face an increased risk of skin cancer because of long sun exposure. The 210 marathon runners in the study had more abnormal moles and lesions than a control group, and 24 were referred for surgical treatment. The highest rate of referral, 19%, was among the runners who trained more than 43.5 miles per week.

The annual Toronto Marathon is in aid of cancer research.

Dark Chocolate Improves Heart Health

2006-11-17T08:47:00.000-05:00

A new study reveals that eating a few squares of dark chocolate every day can improve heart health. Diane Becker, professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University presented findings at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association that a chemical in cocoa beans has a similar biochemical effect to aspirin and can reduce the likelihood of blood clotting. Previous research had already shown this effect with much larger quantities of dark chocolate, which has high levels of antioxidants called flavonoids.

Stern Review

2006-11-03T06:41:00.000-05:00

The U.K. government commissioned a report on the Economics of Climate Change. The author Sir Nicholas Stern, a former chief World Bank economist, released his report October 30; it can be read online at www.sternreview.org.uk.

His conclusions were:

There is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we take strong action now.
Climate change could have very serious impacts on growth and development.
The costs of stabilising the climate are significant but manageable; delay would be dangerous and much more costly.
Action on climate change is required across all countries, and it need not cap the aspirations for growth of rich or poor countries.
A range of options exists to cut emissions; strong, deliberate policy action is required to motivate their take-up.
Climate change demands an international response, based on a shared understanding of long-term goals and agreement on frameworks for action.

Redeemer Science Division Newsletter

2006-10-20T15:20:00.000-05:00

The inaugural edition of the Newsletter from the Sciences Division at Redeemer University College is available for downloading from Fall 2006 Newsletter (4.15mb). Its purpose is to keep you informed of the latest information from the Science students (past and present) and Faculty. This Newsletter will celebrate the activities of the Division, the research projects of faculty members, and the accomplishments of our students.

Summer Research at Redeemer

2006-10-06T21:45:00.000-05:00

Five students from the Redeemer University College Sciences Division enjoyed an opportunity to pursue a research project in more depth this summer by joining with a professor. The students were all supported by NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) and two of the students were also supported by HRSDC (Human Resources Skills and Development Canada Summer Career Placement Program).

Four of the students received Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRAs) worth $4500 each, plus additional salary for the summer term. Every year since 1999, Redeemer professors have hired students to join them in summer research under the USRA program of NSERC.

Quite regularly, summer student research has resulted in coauthored publications with Redeemer professors in high quality refereed journals. We expect to see further articles forthcoming based on the success of the research this past summer as well.

Eric Windhorst worked with Dr. Edward Berkelaar to study selenium accumulation by wheat seedlings. Eric grew plants hydroponically, and exposed them to precise amounts of selenium. He then harvested plants and exposure solutions, prepared them for analysis, and analysed them for selenium by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy.

Art Smit worked with Dr. Derek Schuurman, assisting with research into a robust approach to robot and computer vision for position measurement in the presence of occlusions.

Marieke Van Walderveen worked for Dr. Gary Chiang. She isolated Malpighian tubules (a.k.a., insect kidneys) from different species of insect and measured how much of the organic anion, salicylate, they secreted. This work was done in Dr. Mike O’Donnell’s laboratory at McMaster University.

Loretta VanderSpek also worked at McMaster under the supervision of Dr. Wytse van Dijk and McMaster’s Dr. D.W.L. Sprung. Her project involved a theoretical study of electron transport through layered semiconductors. She looked at such transport when the device or junction was biased by a voltage. Her work included mathematical analysis, computer algebra and programming, and graphical displayof the results.

Matthew West did mathematical research with Dr. Vander Meulen, exploring a relatively new branch of mathematics called qualitative matrix theory. In brief, Matthew explored properties of matrices which are determined by the pattern of nonzero entries in a matrix. His work with Dr. Vander Meulen will be presented at a workshop at the American Institute of Mathematics this month.

A Christians' Guide to Defeating Evolution

2006-09-22T18:13:00.000-05:00

Dr. Gary Chiang has published his second book on evolution. With chapter aims and questions, this workbook is designed to facilitate group study of what the science of biology can tell us about evolution. Gary took the gorilla picture this summer while vacationing in Australia with Jennifer.

Read the Preface at Christians' Guide to Defeating Evolution

HIS341 History of Science

2006-09-15T07:12:00.000-05:00

Dr. Jitse van der Meer devoted much of last summer to revise his course HIS341, the History of Science. Although students were quite satisfied with the course, he has increased its diversity and changed the format to a seminar style in which readings and study guides are available on the web. Thus, class time will be totally reserved for discussion.

Science Made Easy

2006-09-08T07:09:00.000-05:00

Dr. Henry Brouwer has completed Science Made Easy, a set of 4 DVD's of 300 science demonstrations to assist elementary teachers with doing science activities. The DVD's can be bought through the Redeemer University College Bookstore.

Six of the demonstrations, including a Alka-Seltzer rocket and a Dust explosion, can be seen at Sample Demonstrations.

Dr. Brian (Howie) Aukema

2006-09-01T22:01:00.000-05:00

B.Sc., Honours Biology, RUC, 1996
MS, Entomolgy,
U. of Wisconsin,1999
MS, Biometry/Statistics, U. of Wisconsin, 2003
PhD, Entomology,
U. of Wisconsin, 2003

Brian has taken on a Redeemer science graduate, Matt Klingenberg, for a Master’s program at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, BC. When Brian came to Redeemer, he studied the blood-feeding insect, Rhodnius, with Dr. Chiang and ecology with Mrs. Chiang. He now has an appointment with the Canadian Forest Services, and adjunct faculty status at UNBC where he is studying the ecology of insects. Way to go Brian; and way to go Matt!

Rita Tory

2006-08-25T12:21:00.000-05:00

Rita Tory reports that she was accepted into the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of UBC for a Master's program, co-supervised by Dr. John Hill from the iCapture Center at St. Paul's Hospital and Dr. Kishor Wasan, the chair of the department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. She will be looking at the mechanism of Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein (CETP) in cellular drug transport of hydrophobic drugs.

In May 2006, Rita had the poster of her thesis projects presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Zoologists held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

Insect Biotech Canada Conference

2006-08-18T06:43:00.000-05:00

Steve Vander Klippe who graduated in 2005 and is now studying medicine in Ottawa will be happy to know that Dr. Chiang has found the origin of the large electrical potential recorded from the rear of Rhodnius. Steve did an independent study on the anatomy but was unable to find the organ that produced this activity. Dr. Chiang used electrophysiological equipment (new to Redeemer) to discover that it is generated by the egg-laying apparatus. This finding was reported by Dr. Chiang at the Insect Biotech Conference held in St. Catharine’s, Ontario.

Insect Biotech Canada is a non-profit biotechnology research and development consortium with its head office at Queen's University. The IBC has brought together Canada's top researchers in insect physiology, biochemistry, insect virology and molecular biology in an integrated and co-ordinated organization. The network focuses on the application of biotechnology to the creation of environmentally acceptable and economically feasible methods of insect pest control.

Matt Klingenberg

2006-08-11T17:19:00.000-05:00

Matt Klingenberg reports that for his Master’s program at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, BC, he is enrolled in the Natural Resources and Environmental Science department investigating the spatial dynamics of the weevil Hylobius warreni within regenerating stands in the Central BC area. This weevil is of concern to the forestry industry since it attacks the young reforested trees. We assume Matt is working on the ‘lesser of two weevils’.

In May 2006, Matt had the poster of his thesis projects presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Zoologists held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

We would love to include other alumini updates in our newsletter. Please contact Jennifer Chiang

Richard Oosterhoff This Summer

2006-08-04T10:36:00.000-05:00

Richard Oosterhoff, who graduated from RUC in 2005 and is now studying at Notre Dame, worked with Dr. Jitse van der Meer in the summer of 2005 and again this summer. They havewritten a response to a book by Peter Harrison from Oxford University in which he proposes that a turn to literal interpretation of the Bible was a major factor in the rise of modern science. This response is to appear in Science and Christian Belief, a faith and science journal published in England.

Koala Bear

2006-07-21T20:07:00.000-05:00

Koalas depend on eucalyptus trees for shelter and food. They sleep about 20 hours a day and sit and munch food for 1 to 3 hours a day.

When large numbers of koalas are trapped in small pockets of vegetation they have been known to eat themselves out of eucalyptus leaves and then suffer a population crash. Culling is often proposed as a solution to such overpopulation but because of their icon status this option is not used. Instead the government has implemented expensive sterilization and relocation programs. (photo by Vanessa Chiang, Redeemer 2005)

Shroud of Turin

2006-07-07T14:41:00.000-05:00

In his 2004 book Overcoming Prejudice in the Evolution / Creation Debate: Developing an Integrative Approach to Science and Christianity Prof. Gary Chiang has a chapter where he uses the study of the Shroud of Turin as an example of how the prejudices of scientists more than the scientific evidence itself lead to acceptance of a theory.

The chapter on the Shroud can be downloaded from crucifixionshroud.com/academic-portal/APSscience.html

Tasmanian Devil

2006-06-23T19:44:00.000-05:00

Tasmanian Devil is a carnivorous and scavenging marsupial now restricted to Tasmania. Its the size of a small dog with large males weighing up to 12 kg, and standing about 30 cm high at the shoulder. Devils have been extinct on mainland Australia for some 600 years, before European settlement, ousted by the dingo brought into Australia by Aboriginal people.

Tasmanian devils are wholly protected. Starting in the the mid-1990s and becoming more prevalent in recent years they have been suffering from the fatal condition Devil Facial Tumour Disease. Although the current disease shouldn't lead to extinction, there is a concern that if the population is diminished and the introduced fox increases in number, it may be difficult for them to recover again. (photo by Vanessa Chiang, Redeemer 2005)

Presenting Our Graduates

2006-05-27T18:43:00.000-05:00

At the Twenty-First Convocation Ceremony we were privileged to celebrate together as 13 students were recognised for having successfully completed their Science studies at Redeemer.

Bachelor of Science - Honours
Matthew Klingenberg, Felix Lam, Rita Tory

Bachelor of Science - Four Year Major
Stephanie Carlisle, Art Smit, Marieke Van Walderveen, Steven Veldkamp

Bachelor of Science - Four Year General
Mark Benschop, Erin Ensing, Aaron Gysbers, Melanie Hotke, Robyn Jones, Jakob Van Dorp

Congratulations to you all and God's Blessings as you journey forth

2006-05-26T07:27:00.000-05:00

2005 Redeemer Science Graduates

2005-05-28T20:11:00.000-05:00

The Twentieth Convocation Ceremony recognised 18 students having successfully completed their Science studies at Redeemer University College.

Bachelor of Science - Honours
Sarah Chiang - Biology
Heidi Renkema - Biology

Bachelor of Science - Four Year Major
Nathan Saarloos - Environmental Studies, Political Science (General)
Kevin Robert VanDenBreemen - Computer Science/Mathematics
W. Kyle Vander Linden - Environmental Studies, History(General)

Bachelor of Science - Four Year General
Kelli Baker - Science Studies
Vanessa Chiang - Biology
Beth Gardner - General Science
Rachel Janelle Mussche - Biology, Religion & Theology
Richard Oosterhoff - Biology, Religion & Theology
Christy-Anne Paterson - Evironmental Studies, Sociology/Social Work
Sherri Rough - Biology
Georgina Steenstra - Biology, English
Micah Tavares - Environmental Studies
Stephen Vander Klippe - Biology
Sarah E. Vanderlinde - Mathematics
Johan Van Walderveen - Biology
Daniel Walker - Mathematics