of the faculty of science is retiring from her post

Dr. Lucy Lee has worked as the dean of the faculty of science at UFV since 2012. Holding a PhD in cell biology from the University of Waterloo, Lee specializes in fish cell culture and “fish muscle cell line development.” She has worked at such institutions as the University of Saskatchewan, Wilfrid Laurier University, and the University of Waterloo, and after 11 years of working at UFV, has decided to retire from her position. Dr. Lee opened up about working in her position, the Lee Lab, her research, and what she hopes to see in the future for UFV.

Lee has been working predominantly in fish cell culture for several years, but it wasn’t her first choice back in high school. “It's actually very convoluted because you've finished high school and you never know what you want to do.” Lee said that since she was good at many subjects, her high school counsellor told her, “you can do whatever you want.” One of her passions was art, and she’d initially decided to become an architect because she wanted to utilize both her math and drawing skills in her profession.

“Then the university that I wanted to go to was on strike,” said Lee, “so I didn't go there, and eventually I changed into medicine and then to biology.” This change in career aspirations ultimately led her to UFV and her position as the dean of the faculty of science. “I just love the cell culture aspect of things that I have been doing for the last 30 years now.”

Lee ultimately made the decision to retire from her position this year. “You have to give the youth the chance to also move up.” After retiring, she will continue to work on different research projects. “I still have funding from the NSERC, which is the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. That funding will allow me to still do research until 2025 or 2026.”

The Cascade asked Dr. Lee about her work in the Lee Lab, named after her and her colleague, Dr. Justin Lee, where they conduct research on fish cell culture. Cell culture is a laboratory method of cell cultivation that enables their production and growth in a controlled environment outside of an organism’s natural habitat. Lee said she would “create the cell lines, which are continuous cultures of cells,” and her colleague would “change the genetic makeup of the cells using nanoparticles and transfecting them so that that can be used for various aspects of applied biotechnology… We provide all of the requirements [so] that cells can survive in the lab.”

This research is a big deal. There’s a growing demand for research into lab-grown meat, as many fish species people rely on as a food source, such as tuna, are increasingly becoming endangered. “If you can get the stem cells for the muscle cells by just doing a little biopsy, for example, you can grow them forever and ever if you get the right conditions. I think [tuna] are the ideal species to protect and to grow the muscle cells in the lab as opposed to harvesting from live animals.”

Lee would like to see more funding and space for research at UFV so that the institution can grow and expand. “People think of teaching as totally separate from research, and that is not the case. Teaching goes along with research, so research must be funded and nurtured for people to be able to become really good teachers. We don't really have the space nor the funding for research all that much here at this institution, so unless that research money comes into the university, we are still gonna stay a small university. If we have the research funds and we become known, students will come.”

“I love interacting with the students,” said Lee. When asked if she had any advice for UFV’s students, she advised them “to be curious, always ask questions [and] don’t assume that professors know everything.” She also encouraged students to research what interests them, ask questions, get faculty support, and pursue their passions. “You guys have the information at your hands. You can Google, find things, and challenge the faculty.”

BY JAYDEN TALVIO

Over the past few years, there has been a rise in the number of orcas attacking and sinking boats in what some researchers consider to be “a series of coordinated attacks.” As of May 26, Spain’s Maritime Rescue has reported 24 incidents since the beginning of the year. In an interview with NBC News biologist Jeff Corewin stated, “there’s two theories to why this is happening.” One theory is that the Orcas are simply playing, and the overly rambunctious whales are creating unintentional damage. The other theory posits that a traumatic event could have induced this response, and that a particular female could have been injured, and now sees these vessels as a threat. Orcas are highly social and coordinated animals, and according to Corewin, it’s possible that “she’s taught this defensive, then offensive, behaviour to other members of her pod.”

On May 17, paralympian Jessica Tuomela and Lucy, her golden retriever, helped locate a missing elderly woman with dementia. The silver-medalist received a text from her neighbour informing her that their elderly family member had gone missing around Elk Lake, Saanich. Tuomela and her dog were well prepared, as they spent a year training specifically in scent trailing for search and rescue. Lucy was able to track the missing resident through the use of a scent preservation kit, which was provided by the family. The kit consisted of a swab with the woman’s scent in a jar, which enabled Lucy to recognize and locate the woman in less than 40 minutes, where she was “splashing” in Elk Lake. Tuomela runs True North Canine, so if you’d like more information on these kits and their benefits, check out their website.

Abbotsford Regional Hospital (ARH) will be adding a new 15-bed internal medicine unit. The addition will allow for patients — particularly those with complex medical needs — to receive specialized care within this one unit as opposed to being dispersed across the hospital. According to Dr. Euiseok Kim, head of internal medicine, the unit is expected to “provide more robust multi-disciplinary care to our patients with a goal to improve outcomes for our patients and decrease their length of stay in the hospital.” ARH is the third Fraser Health hospital to implement an internal medicine unit.

On May 28 at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland, Canada defeated Germany 5-2 in the championship round of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. The teams were tied 2-2 by the end of the second period, but Canada scored three goals in the third to win the competition. Sammy Blais scored two goals for Team Canada, with Lawson Crouse, Tyler Toffoli, and Scott Laughton scoring one apiece. This marks Canada’s 28th time winning the Ice Hockey World Championship — more than any other country. The tournament had originally been slated for St. Petersburg, Russia, but after the invasion of Ukraine, the IIHF revoked Russia’s hosting rights, and moved the tournament inside European borders.