New labs propel cutting-edge science at MRU
Environmental forensics, foot and ankle injuries focus of researchers
— Mount Royal University | Posted: January 26, 2023
New science labs will foster discovery and collaboration at Mount Royal University.
Two new labs in the Faculty of Science and Technology at Mount Royal University will enable cutting-edge research in areas making a real difference in the lives of Albertans: environmental forensics and foot and ankle injuries, showing the breadth and depth of scientific inquiry at MRU.
Funding for the labs included a combination of Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI JELF) funds and matching grants. The Government of Alberta provided 40 per cent of the funding through the Ministry of Alberta Jobs, Economy and Northern Development and its Research Capacity Program.
“As part of the growth and evolution of research at MRU, we are proud to open these labs, which will serve as transformational spaces for discovery and collaboration,” said Dr. Jonathan Withey, DPhil, dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology. “The work undertaken in these labs will strengthen relationships with industry and government partners as we mobilize knowledge, solve problems and improve lives. At the same time, these spaces will create bold learning, engagement and training opportunities for our students, which is very much a signature of the MRU experience.”
Environmental forensics front and centre
The Environmental Forensics and Arson Lab supports the work of Dr. Gwen O’Sullivan, PhD, a professor with and chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at MRU, and focuses on what she calls environmental “crime-scene investigations.”
O’Sullivan and her team complete research on arson, biomonitoring, exposomics, occupational exposure, risk assessment and liability. Already the lab has completed litigation and case work in Canada and the U.S., investigated pipeline and offshore oil spills and supported reclamation and remediation projects.
The lab contains infrastructure and equipment allowing for the non-targeted analysis of complex organic contaminants at low levels in liquid, gaseous and solid samples. Two multidimensional gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometers (GCxGC-TOFMS) allow analysis of a wide range of organic contaminants in a single sample. In addition, the lab is set up with a wide variety of extraction tools that can process a number of matrices.
Dr. Gwen O’Sullivan, PhD, has worked on numerous research and industrial projects including the development of technologies and remedial actions, plans for the treatment of petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents and saline-impacted sites.
O’Sullivan has worked on numerous research and industrial projects including the development of technologies and remedial actions, plans for the treatment of petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents and saline-impacted sites. She has also designed and managed environmental forensic investigations involving drilling fluids, petroleum hydrocarbons and other chemicals.
“I have always loved puzzles. As a kid, I would spend a lot of time making jigsaws, intrigued by how the picture came to life as you put piece after piece together,” she says. “Environmental forensics is similar to making a puzzle, but without the image to follow. We are trying to put the pieces of information together to determine when, how and who caused environmental damage and who should be responsible for the environmental liability.”
The lab will also enable research into climate change, toxicology and contamination/remediation, and will be connected to teaching, helping earth and environmental sciences students gain experience in a research setting and prepare for a variety of jobs in industry.
Using the lab, the researchers conduct both bench-scale or field studies. For bench-scale studies, O’Sullivan and collaborators design experiments in controlled settings to help predict and model chemical behaviour in the environment. For field studies, they collect, or are provided with, environmental samples including air, biological material, fire debris, soil, water or wipe samples from project sites.
Foot-ankle stability focus of study
The Foot-Ankle Stability Lab (FASt Lab), meanwhile, will support the research program of Dr. Michael Asmussen, PhD.
Walking and running seem simple, but in reality are complex and, for some, difficult given the co-ordination required across the nervous, muscular and skeletal systems. When people experience a musculoskeletal or neural impairment that affects the foot and ankle, their ability to walk or run is severely impacted. Asmussen’s research seeks to understand the structure, function and neural control of the foot and ankle during locomotion in healthy, injured and diseased states.
“When the foot and ankle is compromised, it affects a person’s mobility or participation in recreational and outdoor activities,” says Asmussen, who is the Canada Research Chair in Neuromechanics and Human Physiology at MRU and an assistant professor of biology.
“If older adults have a foot and ankle issue, there is an increased risk of experiencing a fall, which could lead to a hip fracture or concussion, further compromising a person’s mobility. In short, healthy feet allow people to have lifelong mobility and live healthy lives.”
Dr. Michael Asmussen, PhD, is the Canada Research Chair in Neuromechanics and Human Physiology at MRU and an assistant professor of biology.
Asmussen, who ran track and cross-country in university and remains fascinated with running, points out that the foot and ankle are often the only interaction between a person and the environment. When someone loses this function or compromises its interaction with the environment (ground), they reduce their ability to move in the world around them.
“For example, it is very easy to walk into a ski chalet with running shoes on, but becomes extremely difficult to walk down that same set of stairs once you have ski boots on.”
People will come to the lab and perform a number of experiments related to their mobility, like walking and running. Asmussen will examine them using a treadmill that measures forces acting on the foot, a motion-capture system like those used to create video games and movies and a number of devices that measure muscle control. He is also building a line of research that does computer simulations and in-vitro experiments with human cadavers to comprehensively understand human locomotion (such as walking and running).
The lab will focus primarily on studying older adults, such as those dealing with strokes, peripheral neuropathy from diabetes or multiple sclerosis, and acute musculoskeletal injuries, as well as everyday recreational athletes and elite performers. Students are involved in all parts of the research, participating in experimental design, data collection, data processing, data analysis, writing manuscripts and delivering presentations at conferences, Asmussen says.
“I treat undergraduate students at MRU as if they are graduate students. When students are given that level of responsibility, they rise to the challenge and oftentimes perform greater than my expectations. It is fascinating to see.”
Read more about the Faculty of Science and Technology at MRU.