Community Engagement Articles

AN HPI EXCLUSIVE: Science FUNday renders children 342% more likely to wash hands frequently

This year’s parasitology booth hosted by HPI’s Edmonton affiliates at the University of Alberta proved once and for all that the best things really do happen once every four years on Feb 29th. The University of Alberta’s 2020 Science FUNday was put on by hundreds of volunteers and showed kids and parents the highlights and wonders of science!

Thousands of people poured in to see over 50 different booths and several live shows that ranged from soda bottle rockets to strawberry DNA extraction. The cherry on top of the educational sundae was, of course, the parasitology booth.  Children were fascinated and adults were amused by a wide variety of parasites in jars destined to mesmerize children and adults alike for generations to come. On this day, hundreds of kids passed by the booth, many of them vowing to become vegetarians on the spot after learning everything on the planet that might reside in an undercooked steak! Kids also learned about parasitology in general from a short presentation given at the booth, before working off excess energy trying to infect cardboard beavers with bean bag Giardia. Overall, a more than successful day of spreading the magic of parasites!

Article by Jacob Hambrook, PhD student, Hanington lab, UAlberta

On a very cold afternoon of November 27^th, 2019, I had the opportunity to volunteer, alongside eight other HPI trainees, in two grade ten biology classes from Crescent Height High School. Our aim was to introduce the students to parasitology and give them an overview of the topic with interactive activities to hopefully pique their interest in science, biology, and parasitology. We started by introducing the HPI group as well as ourselves–and more importantly the reasons why we decided to pursue science and research after graduating from high school. Even though all of our responses were very personal, we noticed a common theme regarding our motivations: the overwhelming curiosity and desire to understand the depth of biology—from the organisms’ physical structures, molecular interactions, to their physiological mechanisms—are what pushed us to join the ever-growing world of science and research. The sessions continued with an overall presentation, giving an opportunity for the students to learn about parasites and their diversity, different animal and human parasitic infections, the impact and role of parasites in the ecosystem, and finally about the basic functioning of DNA sequencing as well as its importance in parasite identification.

After this brief introduction, we divided the students into four smaller groups to partake in some more hands-on activities. We displayed samples t of different types of parasites, which got mixed reactions as some students found them really exciting while others were on the fence about seeing the parasites up close. The “Travel Game” (designed by HPI MSc student, Adam Ranson) was an opportunity for the students to learn more about the prevention and treatment of parasitic infections in the form of a board game taking them through each continent. A different activity was a DNA sequencing game (developed by HPI PhD student, Stephen Pollo). This activity simulated a researcher’s work, from finding parasites in field fecal samples, processing those samples through “the PCR machine”, and discussing a treatment plan with the veterinarian. Lastly, the students took part in the “Pin the Parasite” activity (developed by MSc student, Sruthi Rajeev). This interactive activity centered around parasitic life cycles and the contrasting routes different parasites can take to reach a similar endpoint in their host. At the end of the activities the students were given an opportunity to engage in a Q&A session with Dr. Derek McKay.

I was personally delighted as a new HPI trainee to be able to share my knowledge on parasites. Overall, the students were all very excited to partake in the hands-on activities and to learn more about parasites, and we hoped to have inspired some of them to join us in their future. Thanks to Mr. Stone at Crescent Heights High School for inviting us into his classroom.

Article by Eleonore Charrier, PhD student, Gilleard lab, UCalgary

This October 26^th, 2019, children from all over Edmonton descended yet again on Let’s Talk Science’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They were greeted with a vast array of experiences, experiments, and equipment in order to have the children experience the magic of science. Events ranged from an owlery to muggle anatomy, and from potions to astrophysics. The cherry on top of the butterbeer flavoured Sunday for these kids was a room dedicated to the most magical beasts in all the world - parasites! Future Hogwarts students lined up to hear and see everything they could about the creepy crawly beasts that make a home in/on other animals. Young wizards and witches even got to design their own parasites and see if they could cast Giardia laden spells into a beaver in our giardia beanbag toss! Finally, kids were able to test their knowledge with our new "pin the parasite on the dragon" activity, where they learned where to put a tick just behind a dragon’s wing so they wouldn’t fall off. Overall, a grand success!

A huge thanks to Alyssa Turnbull, Brooke McPhail, Abdullah Garahma, and Monica Ayala-Diaz for volunteering at this event which hosted over 2,000 visitors.

Article by Jacob Hambrook, PhD student, Hanington lab, UAlberta

On September 21^st, 2019 twenty-one HPI trainees, along with Dr. Derek McKay, Dr. Constance Finney, and Dr. James Wasmuth joined over 200 faculty, staff, postdocs, and students from the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Science to take over the Downtown Calgary Public Library for a day of science outreach and community engagement.

“It’s a Science Takeover” was the title of this one-of-a-kind community outreach event that occurred in conjunction with Beakerhead and Science Literacy week, a national initiative to improve scientific understanding and encourage public participation in science. “Takeover” really was an appropriate term for an event that saw all 4 floors of the Central Library buzzing with science activities including: making elephant toothpaste, solving mathematics puzzles, gardening in space, launching rockets, writing science fiction, touring volcanoes, unravelling the mysteries of the quantum realms, exploring the depths of the oceans, and – of course – interacting with parasites.

HPI set up shop on the second floor with the largest (I believe!) presentation at the event. At this HPI station, our wonderful volunteers (supported by Dr. Derek McKay) expertly explained the complexities of parasite life cycles and host manipulation, demonstrated the dangers of drug resistance, played games to depict where parasites take up residence within host’s bodies, presented real-life parasites both macroscopic and microscopic, and introduced Calgarians to the parasites within our own backyard using an adorable (and deceptively simple) Giardia bean-bag toss game. Due to the warm invitation and expert knowledge-sharing of our cadre of volunteers – thousands of inquisitive Calgarians left the library more informed about the curiously complex world of parasites and host-parasite interactions.

As HPI volunteers were busy with one-on-one engagement up on the second floor, Drs. Constance Finney and James Wasmuth presented an open-to-the-public-talk about the constant battle for supremacy between parasites and the immune system. This fascinating subject matter (augmented by, I’m told, some shameless self-promotion by Dr. Wasmuth) drew in one of the largest crowds for any of the talks presented that day. I would like to publicly recognize Dr. Constance Finney and Dr. James Wasmuth for volunteering many of their off-work hours to preparing and presenting this talk – thank you to the both of you!

Overall, the Central Library estimated that approximately 5,000 people – representing the vast diversity of the City of Calgary – interacted with the Science Takeover that day, making this extraordinary event one of the most effective platforms for public engagement in which the HPI has participated. I would like to extend both appreciation and congratulations to all HPI members and volunteers for making this event such a resounding success. I am enormously excited to see this event grow into a regular fixture within the Calgary community and look forward to HPI’s involvement next year!

Article by Adam Ranson, MSc student, Peters lab, UCalgary

On Friday we packed up our field gear, all the swamp critters we had collected in the days before, and headed to Sunridge wetland. We had time to set up our display pieces and quickly explore the area before the first of the four groups of 25 5th graders arrived. Dr. Cam Goater started it off by engaging the kids with the surroundings: What do you see? Hear? Smell? The point of which was to orient them to critically analyze special features of the wetland: the biotic and abiotic, the flora and fauna. There were plenty of yellow-headed blackbird, mallard ducks, and coots that quickly grabbed their attention. Of course, the kids had plenty of entertaining answers to his questions.

Next, we split the kids into groups which were led by myself, Cam, Sarah, and Micky, where each of us combed through a sweep net sample taken from the wetland. The kids pointed out different invertebrates in the water, and we helped identify them, adding in little tidbits of information about each.  We then showed them the samples we had collected from other sites which included some juvenile pike, large dragonfly larvae, and large predatory leeches. This portion was arguably the highlight, as the kids were, surprisingly, very excited to hold the large leeches despite the screaming that followed once they were in hand. All in all, the kids were interested and engaged in the activities, and they probably learned something new.

Article by Molly Tilley, MSc student, Goater lab, ULethbridge

Three HPI student volunteers attended the Science FUNday exhibition held at the University of Alberta on March 9^th, 2019. This event was attended by over 3,500 people, and we had participants at our booth almost constantly during the entire event.

At our parasitology booth, we had many SEM images of endo- and ectoparasites, as well as jars containing parasite samples, and life cycle diagrams of several interesting parasites. We also had a Giardia bean bag toss game, where the bean bags wee trophozoites and the children had to toss them into cut-outs in a beaver, a stream, and a boiling pot of water at a campsite. This fun and engaging game was made by a research assistant in the Hanington lab, Leah B.           

When participants approached our table, we asked if they knew what a parasite was. If not, we explained and then talked about all the specimens we had available as examples. A very popular specimen was the jar of bot fly larvae that live in the noses of caribou. We encouraged questions from children and their parents and were excited that many people were interested in learning about parasites.

Article by Brooke McPhail, MSc student, Hanington lab, UAlberta

Witches and Wizards did abound at the annual School of Witchcraft and Wizardry held at the University of Alberta on October 27^th of 2018. Over 2000 young magic practitioners threw on a cloak, made a wand, and headed on over to learn about the real magic that all of us muggles get to experience… SCIENCE!!!

Students and their parents were treated to a wide variety of experiments and experiences. No flying broomsticks? No problem, as chemical reactions sent soda bottles higher than any Nimbus 2000 could ever dream. Can’t find a three headed dog? Oh well, at least you could visit snakes, kittens and other cute and cuddly animals. For those of us who don’t receive our mail via owl, live owls were still present to learn about and even touch if we were lucky.

Most importantly, families were treated to an entire room of fantastic parasites! A wide variety of tapeworms, nematodes and trematodes made some students delighted, while others looked as though these worms were something straight out of a recipe from professor Snape’s potions class. For the most part, everyone who came by was fascinated by what was on display in the jars, took time to ask fantastic questions, and promise all the HPI members there that they would cook their food very thoroughly before eating it. In addition to seeing parasite samples, kids got to fling a bean bag giardia at a hole in a beaver in our brand-new giardia infection bean bag toss! Finally, the kid’s parasitic creativity was unleashed as they got to design their own parasites, most of which were so terrifying they would make “youknow who” himself scared. Overall, a fantastic day!!!

Article by Jacob Hambrook, Hanington lab, UAlberta

The world of parasites reveals the spookiness of nature, and when better to embrace and share this than during Halloween?  The Host-Parasite Interactions (HPI) group displayed their own collection of tiny monsters to the little Count Draculas, dinosaurs and princesses who attended TELUS Spark’s Monster Mash up weekend during the Shocktober fest.

The HPI-TELUS Spark Halloween ‘Shocktober’ event, held on October 27^th and 28^th this year was the perfect way to introduce our group’s fascination for parasites to the public, and to raise awareness among the younger members of the community regarding the constantly evolving nature of parasites. The event was attended by a varied age group ranging from pre-schoolers to pre-teens, including their parents – everyone had something to learn from the HPI display.

It was fun to relate parasites to Halloween characters. The ticks resembled vampires, the worms were like ‘Frankensteins’ and the mind controlling parasites which can turn their hosts into zombies. As they peered into the lens of the microscope, there was great excitement amongst the younger audience members who had never used a microscope before. The preserved samples of botflies, ticks, tapeworms and roundworms were perfect to show the morphology of these parasites.

To make learning about the different parasites that infect our bodies a fun experience for the tiny tots that came to our display, we had an ‘Operations game’. The kids had to dexterously pick up parasites from our ‘sick’ cardboard cut-out of a person and try to guess what they picked out by looking at colorful cue cards kept around them.

The adults were amused, and many were impressed with the sheer ingenuity that some parasites displayed in their life cycles. The roundworm and tapeworm specimens were powerful reminders that undercooked meat and poor cooking hygiene can lead to their unwanted presence in anyone’s life.

It was inspiring to come across several curious minds and interesting questions about parasites This was a great learning experience for many of us HPI volunteers as well, as we were able to narrate cohesive stories about the life cycles and biology of the parasites we were displaying.

Ultimately, while the parasites we showed had an intrinsic ‘eew’ factor to them, the underlying theme of our event was of about the importance of scientific curiosity and the research we conduct on parasites and their interactions with their hosts. The enthusiasm that the volunteers, and especially Dr. John Gilleard and Dr. James Wasmuth showed during the event was contagious and was the pulse that carried the event through with undiminished energy. Thanks to all who came out on the weekend to volunteer and to Susan Wang, Chenhua Li and Adam Shute for leading this event.  Here’s to many more fun events like this!

Article by Sruthi Rajeev, McKay Lab, UCalgary

On November 2^nd and 3^rd 2018, the Goater lab had an amazing opportunity to collaborate with Let’s Talk Science ULeth for their Spooky Science event. Spooky Science encouraged participants to learn about science while embracing the creepy atmosphere of Halloween, a perfect event to bring some parasites!

Sarah Unrau (Goater lab) and I dedicated some extra time to make some crafts and games for this event. The operation game was a huge success, even though it was a bit harder than anticipated,  but it got the message across to the participants that parasites are hard to get out! Sarah also designed and created a new game teaching the life cycle of Giardia. With Giardia bean bags made by Leah Brummelhuis (U of A) our Giardia toss game debuted at this event and stole the show with participants lining up to play the game. To top off our new display, blood-engorged ticks (from the Dergousoff lab – AAFC/AAC, Lethbridge) spooked children and parents alike, with papier-mache ticks accompanying the creepy display.

All 3 sessions of the event were fully booked and we were visited by superheroes, Disney characters, animals, and a whole host of different children dressed up in their favourite costumes. With the much appreciated help of Molly Tilley (Goater Lab) and Holly Clayholt (Dergousoff lab), we were always busy running our games and showing our parasite samples. The games were particularly useful as they occupied the children while the parents were able to learn the details of the local parasites we find around Lethbridge and Alberta.

Collaborating with Let’s Talk Science was great as children were able to get exposed to more than just parasites, as they also learned about topics ranging from neuroscience to physics. The event was a ton of fun and we are excited to use our games again for future events!

Article by Micky Ahn, MSc Student, Goater lab, ULethbridge

Quote from on of the VPs at UofL:

“Back from science night. Asked the boys for their top three of the night. Guess what was number 1?! Voted number 1 by all 4 boys. The parasite table. The students working there were completely captivating.”

Everyone talks about how the early bird gets the worm, but what happens when a cow is infected with one? That’s what several high school students discovered while attending a workshop about parasites on Discovery Day.

On Friday, October 19, students from various high schools located throughout Alberta travelled to the University of Calgary, where they attended workshops related to Health Sciences. One of these workshops was led by the HPI Group at the University of Calgary with help from the Gilleard, Wasmuth, McKay, and Lewis labs. Students learned about what parasites are, the different types of parasites that exist, and how parasites are an issue for the Albertan cattle industry and other industries, such as fishing. Tying it all together with Discovery Day’s theme of Health Sciences, the students were introduced to the growing field of Bioinformatics and how it can be used to help solve this problem.

During this workshop, the high school students were given the opportunity to observe parasites using the traditional method of looking through a microscope, and were able to compare parasitic DNA sequences with known genomes to identify specific parasites using their newfound knowledge of Bioinformatics tools. With this information, the students were then able to choose the best course of treatment to save their assigned cow, provided, of course, that there was a treatment available. Unfortunately, not all cows survived, but luckily, these cows were digital and no real cows were harmed in the process.

Although the topic of parasites is certainly not meant for the squeamish and faint of heart, Dr. Wasmuth and the volunteers did a tremendous job of teaching the students about parasites and their effect on the cattle industry, all the while using a dash of humour to keep things interesting. It might have been a bad day for parasites, but it was a good day for cattle, students, and volunteers alike.

Article by Karla Juego, Wasmuth Lab, UCalgary

In June, I had the pleasure of going to Ethiopia to visit a couple of the local universities and help facilitate some workshops for the staff, faculty and students. Our group from Calgary consisted of Guido van Marle (who has gone every year for the past ten or so years), Alya Heirali, James Wasmuth, Stephen Pollo and me, Kaylee Rich. We were also joined during portions of the trip by John Gilleard, Dylan Pillai and his students James and Ruth. It was an amazing experience and we met some wonderful, enthusiastic people.

The first city we visited was Addis Ababa, where our group had the resources and time to split into two separate workshops, Guido and Alya ran a molecular lab-based workshop and James, Stephen and I attempted to teach way too much bioinformatics in way too little time. We may have been over-ambitious, as the topics we addressed ranged from basic BLAST to phylogenic and microbiome analysis, but the attendees were excited to learn the material and were able to keep up. The first day consisted of setting up a Linux virtual machine for each of them and a quick introduction to the Linux command line. Reflecting back on it, this becomes even more impressive on their part because the majority of them did not have any experience with Linux before coming to the workshop.

The entire trip was a learning experience for all of us, but one of the main things I think most of us took away is how much we take for granted every day. Home internet access was one of the things that we didn’t take into consideration when sending out materials before our arrival, like an online introduction course to Linux command line. One or two people were able to access that online course before we arrived, but for the most part everything was new to the majority of participants. Even though there was a steeper learning curve than we anticipated, everyone remained enthusiastic, and even though torrential downpours caused power and internet outages, spirits were not dampened. Personally, this was the first time I had ever taught for an entire day in front of a class of people and I wasn’t (quite) as nervous as I thought I would be! After the 4 full days of intense bioinformatic instruction and troubleshooting I think everyone, instructors and participants alike, were happy we had gotten through it unscathed.

For the second week of our visit, James flew back home while we continued our trip to Jimma. At Jimma University we ran a single three-day workshop that mainly focused on bioinformatics, though it was a simplified version of what we taught in Addis just because we did not have enough time. The class was smaller, but everyone was still very eager to learn. We had to contend with the same power outages experienced in Addis, but this time there was no WiFi available on campus. The lack of internet wasn’t as big of an issue as we thought it might be since we were able to download anything we may have forgotten via hardline in the room next to the class and distribute software by USB. The curriculum also changed slightly since James was not there, we did not set up virtual machines and instead tried to do everything possible using Windows. Guido and Alya taught sections of this workshop as well and did a great job of grounding and expanding on the bioinformatics portions. We quickly found out that even though a program works on one operating system, it doesn’t mean that it’ll work the same way on a different operating system (even if it is supposed to). I had to do some quick troubleshooting and re-writing of my tutorial before teaching during the second day. Luckily, my section was easy to explain via drawing on the whiteboard and we had power through most of it. Stephen, who taught the section right before me, was not as lucky – the power cut out as soon as we got there and did not come back on until right after he had finished his section.

Overall, the people were amazing, the food was delicious, and the coffee was the best I’ve ever had. It was such a good experience and it was a lot of fun getting to meet all the people who attended the workshops. After each of the workshops there were participants who would stop us to ask questions specific to their research interests or to see if we were planning on coming back next year. I had a few people stop to tell me that they enjoyed my section and that they are going to be able to use it in their own research, which made me so happy that I was able to participate and those moments were definitely the best part of the trip.

Article by Kaylee Rich, Wasmuth lab, UCalgary

Four student volunteers attended the Let’s Discover Science event held at the University of Alberta on September 22^nd, 2018. Despite the snowy weather, this event was well attended by children and parents interested in participating in science-oriented activities.

For the Host Parasite Interactions table, we had several jars containing parasite specimens and examples of some interesting life cycles. For the interactive activity, we initially asked the children if they had any idea what a parasite was. If not, we explained what they were and then walked them through each specimen on the table. The most popular specimens seemed to be the moose ear that was covered in ticks, a human tape worm, and the intestine of a fish with a very heavy tapeworm infection. We asked all of the participants to guess the number of human tapeworms present in the jar, and they were usually shocked when we revealed that it was only one worm. Finally, we talked about one or more of the life cycles – of which the most popular was the parasite that creates zombie ants.

We were able to answer questions from both children and their parents and encouraged questions from our participants. We were also excited to hear that many children stopping by our table loved science and wanted to eventually become scientists. Overall, this was an enjoyable event that allowed us to inform children about parasites in a fun, casual environment.

Article by Brooke McPhail, MSc Student, Hanington lab, UofA

A group of HPI students based out of the University of Alberta, in Edmonton had the opportunity to give a presentation to a group of (hopefully!) budding parasitologists at the Boys and Girls Club Big Brothers Duggan on Thursday, July 19^th, 2018. This was followed by a trip to the McCauley club on August 9^th 2018.

Jacob Hambrook, Danielle Barry, Madeleine Wiebe and myself spent these afternoons talking about many different parasites and their unique life histories. The group of middle-school aged children was fascinated, and at times grossed out, by all the different parasites. After learning about Onchoceriasis, there was a collective concern that all parasites might live in one’s eyes but we assured them that this is not the case. Additionally, several kids boisterously asserted that they would be supervising their parents’ cooking to ensure everything was up to par in terms of food safety, to avoid getting “so many worms”. The groups had fantastic questions and answers relating to the varied parasitic life histories.

After the presentation, the kids could come and observe some parasites up close in the sample jars we brought. Some of them crowded the table in fascination while others observed from afar. The highlights were a big tapeworm that fills its jar and a botfly that emerged from its mouse host. It was really inspiring to teach these young minds about this aspect of biology and to see their genuine interest in parasitology.

Thank you to Jacob Hambrook for organizing this great event and preparing the slideshow and a thank you to Dr. Al Shostak for providing the samples.

On August 18^th, the U of L branch of HPI volunteered at the Birds of Prey Center’s Insect Discovery Days! The event took place from 11am to 3pm, with other interactive displays including catching aerial and aquatic insects, as well as being able to hold hissing cockroaches.

The HPI booth consisted of a variety of parasite samples, including local samples like wood ticks and exotic samples like the human Ascaris worm. Although only a few of our displayed parasites actually infected insects (including zombie ants and crickets with horsehair worm), our scary invertebrates were more than creepy enough to be talked about.

As an interactive component of our table, we designed a parasite operation game, where players had to carefully remove an assortment of parasites. Plenty of kids and parents found themselves loving the game and learning about parasites that affect humans throughout the world. Although millions of people worldwide are infected with parasites that cause diseases such as malaria, being in Canada we often don’t know about many of them. It was a great opportunity for us to talk to people from Southern Alberta about parasites they may or may not encounter during their life.

We also got the chance to browse around the Birds of Prey Center, taking the time to look at as many cool owls, hawks, falcons and eagles as we could! We want to thank the Birds of Prey Center for hosting us and HPI Calgary for letting us borrow some samples to display! Thanks also to Micky Ahn, Cam Goater, Kip Jay and Jeremy Benson for volunteering for the event!

Article by Sarah Unrau (UofL)

After a bit of a break, HPI returned to work with the UCalgary Minds in Motion, Natural Science summer camps. Followed by our last visit on July 4^th, we did it again on August 15^th. It was another great success; 11 trainees participated, along with Dr. Andre Buret. The structure was similar to our last visit, with short presentations and hands on activities, demonstrations and the display of cool parasite samples, followed by a great closing summary by Dr. Buret. Twenty-three grade 5-6 kids were present this time. They were all amazed by what they learned and discovered during the session, and based on their feedback, everyone thought everything was cool and awesome.

As graduate students and researchers, it is important to make science accessible, understandable and interesting to the general public. I think we did a great job doing this, as a 10-year-old commented, “I loved all of the things, I liked everything because the details and explanations were clear and understandable.”

Although the session outline was similar to our last visit, we had different HPI members involved and each of them brought their unique talent. Different combinations of the trainees gave the event a different flavour, yet remarkable as always. Thanks to all of the effort the volunteers and Teresa put into this event!

We also received some amazing, sweet gifts from UCalgary Minds in Motion summer camps – 3D printed ticks in all different colors, with a card signed by all the kids who participated in the session!!! Overall, it was a successful outreach event, and a good experience! We would love to work with the awesome Minds in Motion team again in the future!

Article by Chenhua Li, PhD student, Wasmuth and Goater lab

This year I had the chance to teach science classes to Grade 8 students at Kugluktuk High School in Nunavut. The first 3-session workshop I organized focused on the muskox lungworm Umingmakstrongylus pallikuukensis. We started by discussing the various types of pathogens and their characteristics before going into more details on the muskox lungworm and talking about its life cycle and its effects on the health of muskoxen, as well as the impacts of climate warming on the range expansion of this parasite. Living in the Arctic, all the students are very familiar with this issue. The students then got to extract parasite larvae from muskox feces collected by local hunters by placing the feces into small envelopes made of cheese cloth and screen, and submerging them in water in Ziploc bags before leaving them overnight under an artificial light. The following day, the students were able to collect the living larvae and to observe them under the microscope. During the second hands-on activity, the students got to dissect nodules containing adult parasites from the lungs of a locally hunted muskox.

The following week, I taught another session on the main body systems: respiratory, circulatory, and digestive. We looked at herbivore and carnivore skulls to compare their teeth and discuss their diets and dissected mice. All the students were very excited as they were dissecting in pairs and got to practice recognizing the various organs. Some of them had already hunted caribou and muskoxen, who are apparently easier to skin than mice!

The students were all very excited by the hands-on activities and it was a really awesome experience to share my knowledge on parasites and muskoxen with them.  

Article by Juliette Di Francesco (Kutz lab)

Continuing the Host-Parasite Interactions (HPI) Group’s efforts in public education and community outreach, eight graduate students and myself delivered a 75 min session on “Parasites” to an interactive and attentive group of 20 Grade-5 children in the UCalgary Minds in Motion, Natural Science Summer Camp on the 4^th of July. The HPI graduate students gave a short didactic introduction to parasites, these weird and wondrous creatures that exert an under-appreciated and potent influence on individuals (animals and plants) and ecosystems.  This was followed by hands-on activities in four stations, where the Grade-5-ers got to see samples of huge tapeworms and microscopic roundworms, understand how ticks and fleas affect their host, and how drug-resistance arises and propagates through populations of parasites. The room was buzzing with enthusiasm from the ‘teachers’ (the HPI graduate students) and their Grade-5 students. I was incredibly impressed by the level of commitment, engagement and passion displayed by the HPI graduate students as they made the field of parasitology assessable to the Grade-5-ers, underscoring the need for continued research to help us describe (bio-diversity) and understand the world around us. The Grade-5-ers were equally impressive with their awareness of parasites and their curiosity about these curious constant companions of free-living animals: a closing 5-minute question and answer session extended into a 20 min discussion, driven by some cool questions from the kids.

As an observer, I was suitably impressed by the dedication and approach of the HPI graduate students – superb ambassadors for the HPI Group and the University of Calgary. They provided a fun, interactive and informative session for the kids, that surely advanced their awareness of parasites, life sciences and the value of research. If one Grade-5-er is inspired to ask questions about parasites – mission accomplished! Kudos to all the participants for making this such an enjoyable event and a worthy and rewarding investment of HPI’s and the graduate students’ time.

Article by Dr. Derek McKay

On March 17, Science FUNdamentals held their annual Science FUNday, a free day full of science exhibitions, demonstrations, tours and presentations designed for families with activities tailored towards children aged 5-12.

HPI members and other fellow graduate students who study parasites volunteered at the booth throughout the day. We were one of many groups of students doing different presentations and we had many parasite samples and life cycles to teach the kids about.

Kids and parents alike were interested and grossed out by the samples we showed, and the different types of host parasite relationships they represented. There were lots of families with stories of parasites from when they had traveled or lived elsewhere, as well as a few parents who worked in industries where they dealt with parasites on a daily basis! It was a very busy day, with lots of families coming by and learning about parasites!

Our booth was just a small part of an overall very successful event to get kids interested in STEM!  It was a great opportunity to showcase parasitology, an often overlooked aspect of biology!

Article by Danielle Barry (University of Alberta)

HPI’s Community Engagement program is impressive and inspiring in the sense that it provides a platform for young researchers to communicate with people from outside the scientific community. School visits are about the best part as they provide us with the opportunity to inspire kids to pursue science.

One such school visit was organised by our efficient team to Senator Patrick Burns Junior High on April 5^th, 2018. It was my first one as a part of HPI and I have to admit, I was excited as well as intimidated as the day approached. We were asked to explain the process of drug resistance in parasites to a group of 8^th graders. It was a packed schedule for all of us amidst classes and exams, yet there was a handful of HPI volunteers.

We presented to two different classes. A few board games and parasite samples were used as bait to captivate the young minds in the classroom. Like every other room filled with teenagers, the atmosphere was bustling and the students took their time to settle down. Soon, the class fell silent as we started our presentation (I must admit, I was surprised). In the interest of time, everything was thoroughly planned so that we would be able to make the best of a short period. The class actively participated in raising doubts and never shied away from answering the thought-provoking questions that were directed at them.

At the end of the presentation, a short game was organised to test the class’s understanding of drug resistance. HPI’s indigenous “selling the cow” game was set up and the students played it with a lot of enthusiasm. Once this was done, we divided the class into two groups, one to play the remaining board games and the other, to view the parasite samples. The students had a lot of fun going around the table which held a variety of parasite samples, some freaking out by looking at the samples while the others were thoroughly amazed by what was on display. It felt as though the forty minutes had passed in the blink of an eye.

The school visit was an enjoyable experience for me as well as the others. It brought back memories from when I was in school. Growing up, I was an inquisitive student who was always in awe of the way things worked around me. Biology never failed to amuse me and I knew from a very young age that I wanted to pursue science. Thanks to my teachers and other activities in my school, I was able to follow that dream of mine. The happiest moment of the day was seeing the amazement in the eyes of the children. Even if it was through a short presentation and a few board games, we were certain that we had inspired at least a couple of the students to pursue scientific research. It was this satisfaction that made the visit an unforgettable one. I can say, without a doubt, that the future generations will produce better scientists.

A note of thanks to Nicole Lamboo, STEM Learning Leader at Senator Patrick Burns for inviting us into her classroom. I would also like to thank the HPI Community Engagement TOC members Chenhua, Susan and Adam for planning this visit. Of course, it goes without saying that Teresa has done an awesome job in putting together the whole thing and for always being our pillar of support.

Article by Abhinaya Venkatesan, MSc student (Gilleard lab)

On March 24^th, the SCI-FUSION: Lethbridge Regional Science Fair & Science Olympics was held at the University of Lethbridge. This event invited students between grades 4 and 12 from schools across southwest Alberta to present their projects to the public. 

We had the opportunity of setting up a booth at the science fair where I displayed the many parasite samples HPI and our lab has. It was a privilege to share my knowledge on parasites with the attending students and their families, and to answer their questions. Many students came by our booth. They overcame their initial disgust towards the infamous giant ascaris worm, and demonstrated their passion for science by going from one parasite to the next, and learning about the diversity of parasitism. One of the highlights of the day was when a student recognized one of the parasites we displayed because they did a science fair project on parasites! It was exciting to discover that the curiosity for parasites is not restricted to students taking parasitology courses in universities!

The event was a huge success and the day went by fast as I was always occupied talking to someone about parasites. The science fair was a great event to showcase the work of HPI!

Article by Micky Ahn (University of Lethbridge)

Photo credit: Dr. Cam Goater (University of Lethbridge)

TeamUP science hosted its annual Interdisciplinary Science Competition at the University of Alberta from February 16^th to the 18^th for the sixth straight year. Interdisciplinary Science Competition provides an opportunity for high school students from across Alberta to come together and put their knowledge of biology, chemistry and physics to the test. Students compete in different STEM related competitions while gaining valuable skills and insights into the world of science. The program is especially encouraging in that it targets under-represented youth as participants.

In addition to learning via competition, an information session featuring booths from multiple faculties, departments and labs introduced students to the research carried out at the university in different scientific fields. Students were amused by inflatable walking dinosaurs at the paleontology station, awestruck at the products of 3D printing at an engineering station, and simultaneously fascinated yet grossed out by the wide variety of preserved parasites on display at the parasitology station.

University of Alberta graduate students involved in HPI, as well as volunteers, showed up to explain the intricacies of the animals capable of living in or on you at your expense. Exoparasites were on full display as students were capable of looking at moose skin peppered with ticks, while endoparasites were well represented by a wide variety of wildlife tapeworms, nematodes and trematodes. In addition to the samples of a variety of parasites that HPI members research, students were informed of the intricate life cycles many of these parasites employ via posters and diagrams.

The experience proved to be overwhelmingly positive for both high school students and HPI presenters alike. High school students were able to learn about parasites they’d never heard of, while we enjoyed the opportunity to talk to a group with a genuine interest in the field we have devoted our time to explore. The most promising fact was that students even asked how we got to the point of being graduate students and they exhibited interest in how to get to that point themselves. All in all, this event proved to be encouraging for both students and presenters, while functioning as a great opportunity to tell the public all about the work we do as HPI students!

Article by Jacob Hambrook (University of Alberta)

Photo credit: Michelle Gordy (University of Alberta)

Held annually, the University of Lethbridge puts on Play Day, an event for families in the area to spend Family Day doing a multitude of fun activities. This year the event was on February 19, at the University of Lethbridge. Some of the more hands-on activities included fort building, rock wall climbing and open swim. We (Dr. Cam Goater, Micky Ahn and myself) partnered with U of L Let’s Talk Science, joining our parasite grossness with their cool science-fueled activities.

We drew the kids in with some creepy samples, talking to parents and kids a-like about a range of different parasites. One of the favourite games to play was “Guess the host,” the kids were shown three of the same kind of worm (Ascaris) of different sizes and asked what kind of animal they came from. All of them were shocked to learn the biggest came from human intestines! We had live gammarus, half of which were infected with an acanthocephalan parasite. We had the kids look to see if they could see which of the shrimp were infected as the infected ones had a light orange dot in them. We walked through a variety of other samples including tapeworms, canine heartworm and horse hair worm.

Lastly, we had a large tick display! We had two large papier-mache ticks, a sample of adult wood ticks, a sample of nymph stage ticks, and using a compound light microscope, adults and kids alike could see the mouthpart of the ticks. We talked about the different diseases you can get from ticks and ways to prevent getting ticks if you’re going for hike (including tucking in your pants into your socks and wearing long sleeves).

Overall, the event was a success! We constantly had people coming by our table and some even sharing their stories about their own parasite encounters! Over a thousand people came to have fun at Play Day, with many families taking the time to check out our samples of freaky parasites.

Article by Sarah Unrau (University of Lethbridge)  

As requested by the teacher and students of the science club of Western Canada High School during our last HPI team visit in spring, we went back to talk about all kinds of amazing parasites on Tuesday, November 28^th.

We started by introducing ourselves (Leah Hohman, Jeanie Quach, Grace Mariene, Susan Wang and myself) and talking about the cool parasite-related research that we are working on. Then, I gave a brief introduction on parasites, describing what they are, where they live, what they do and the problems they cause globally. As an example, Dicrocoelium dendriticum was mentioned as a parasite with an indirect life cycle who has the ability to turn their ant hosts into zombies so that they cling to the flowers. This increases the likelihood of transmission of the parasite to ruminant definitive hosts. The students were amazed by the fact that parasites can manipulate the behaviour of the host. I finished with talking about several other interesting host-manipulating parasites systems: nematode-infected ants mimic fruit to attract birds; protozoan-infected mice are attracted to the urine of their predator cats; nematode-infected crickets commit suicide by jumping into the water to help the parasite emerging out…… It’s hard to imagine that these often unseen worms within the host have such big power to control the hosts in so many different ways for their own benefits. How brilliant these worms are! Then Leah gave the presentation about how to treat parasitic infections and gave an awesome explanation about what drug resistance is and how it gets worse and worse if you overtreat the animals.

After the presentation, we had 3 stations for students to visit. The first station run by Jeanie and Grace had actual samples of all kinds of parasites in different sizes and shapes. There were samples from tiny protozoans who are microscopic, to big tapeworms, who take up a full jar. This gave students a better idea of how parasites can look like and how diverse the parasites are. The students were excited to see the parasites in the bottles.

To enhance the science club members’ knowledge of parasites that they gained, at the second station Teresa Emmett and myself had a parasite themed board game designed by  HPI members for students to play. The goal of the game was to use an animal character to travel through the map and land home safely with the minimum number of parasites. The parasite cards in this game had all kinds of information about how the parasite is transmitted, diseases it causes and the symptoms.

Last but not least, we had another game run by Leah and Susan to demonstrate how drug resistance develops with consistent treatment of the animals unnecessarily using a metaphorical cow and two sizes of plastic beads for susceptible and resistant worms. Students were able to decide whether to treat their animals or not in different circumstances. This allowed them to think and balance the profit and the drug resistance when making the treatment decisions.

Overall, the event was really successful. We heard a lot of good feedback from the students and the teacher. “All the activities were nice, engaging and fun,” commented by a student, and they want more classroom visits from the HPI group in the future. It is always a nice experience to share our enthusiasm about parasites with the public and potential future researchers. Thanks to Teresa, Leah and Jeanie for planning this awesome event!

An article by Chenhua Li, PhD student (Wasmuth lab)

Let’s Talk Science presents School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Science is Magic

It’s not often I get to combine parasites with my non-academic interests but the “Let’s Talk Science presents School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Science is Magic” allowed us to do just that.

This event was incredibly successful at introducing kids (and sometimes their parents!) to magic that’s all around them, and the science behind it. The event used most of the Katz Building on the University of Alberta Campus with various themed rooms to visit, such as Divination, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Herbology, Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes. Each of these rooms had a dedicated team of graduate students who helped develop demonstrations and volunteer in these rooms throughout that day.

A team of HPI members and other graduate students studying parasites from University of Alberta worked together to run a ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ themed room about parasites! A visit to our booth, usually started with a simple explanation of what is a parasite: “A parasite is an animal that lives in or on another animal!” Next, we had some samples of common external parasites like lice and bed bugs, followed by lots of “that’s what bed bugs look like?!”. Of course the infamous HPI papier-mache tick was there as well to help visualize the incredible blood meals a tick can take. We also had examples of preserved internal parasites, few people in Alberta get personal experience with or ever get the chance to see. We had an interactive Dicrocoelium lifecycle, also known as the zombie ants, which was of course a big hit with the kids. We also had an interactive flea lifecycle highlighting that the adults can be found on the host, but most life stages are in the environment!

The final activity in the room was a station to “Make Your Own Obscurus”, which from the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, is a magical parasite of humans. Glue, glitter and pom-poms were well utilized while we encouraged kids to think about how a parasite stays attached to the host outside or inside the body.

Special thanks to Michelle Gordy and Emily Durkin for all their work put into prepping the room.

It was great to see so many little witches and wizards come by and get to learn more about the parasites around them!

An article by Danielle Barry (University of Alberta)

SHOCKing Parasites at the Telus Spark Centre: Shocktober 2017 

After exhausting the entire Junie B. Jones series in 4^th grade, I visited the public city library on a hot July afternoon in 2005 to take out some new books and freshen up my reading repertoire. One particular kids’ science book – whose title has long escaped my memory – had an entire illustrated page about mites. The thousands, if not millions, of 8-legged, microscopic creepy-crawlies that live in your bed and eat your dead skin, and the reason why you should really wash your sheets… often. It was from this moment forward that I became infatuated with science and developed a strong affinity for non-fiction literature, the mark of a true biologist-in-training.

Volunteering at the annual Halloween event at the Telus Spark Science Centre this year reminded me of that first time I fell in love with science and with the terrifyingly awesome world of microscopic beings. Shocktober (previously known as “Monster Mashup”) was a perfect coming together of Halloween spirit, creepy crawlies, and curious minds, young and old alike.

The HPI table was parked just inside the entrance, and the slideshow of digitally-drawn enlarged parasites, display of a giant stuffed tapeworm and huge paper-mâché tick caught the attention of many Shocktober-goers. Children flooded to the tables - parents trailing closely behind - where fettuccine-like worms floated lifelessly in plastic containers, a large stuffed dog fell victim to a (fake) flea infestation, and tiny bugs surprised eager eyes from underneath microscopes too tall for many of the young parasitologists-in-training. As a new trainee to the HPI program, I learned a lot about parasites outside of my field of study as I explained parasitic origins and routes of transfer to visitors, and stood back and watched the veteran trainees like Leah Hohman answer questions with expertise. Jacob Hambrook, from the University of Alberta, managed to convince many shocked young visitors that “zombies really do exist!” with an eloquent yet simple explanation of the life cycle of lancet liver flukes that turn ants into self-sacrificing zombies.

Shocktober truly shocked me, as I’m sure our parasites shocked the public, in many ways. Although “eww”, “that can live inside me?” and *shudders* were the common reactions to the display of floating bugs and plastic models, the odd “Oh my God, they’re so cute” from tough little girls never ceased to make me laugh. The scientific proficiency of some children also surprised me, retorting to my questions with satisfied head nods and “yeah, we learned about that in science class! Did you know…?” A final pleasant revelation was the childlike curiosity of adults who were simply intrigued by the parasites. The number of entertaining conversations I had with parents about how difficult bed bugs were to exterminate, the different types of hosts a given parasite could have, and how gross and big tapeworms could be, made me realize how important educational events like these are, not only for the children, but for the big kids inside all of us. There’s something fascinating about organisms unseen to the naked eye, satisfying about sharing knowledge with others, and humbling about simply learning that brings us all back to childhood.

An article by Susan Joanne Wang (McKay lab)

Photos courtesy: Dimitri Desmonts (Buret lab)

This past Friday, October 13^th, we had the pleasure of hosting a parasite bioinformatics workshop as part of the University of Calgary’s Discovery Day for local high school students. The workshop started out with a short talk on different types of parasites and their lifecycles by Leah Hohman, followed by another talk about parasites that can be found locally here in Alberta by Bruna Meireles Palmeira. These talks highlighted the importance of understanding parasites, not just for humans in distant countries but also for us and our animals. The students were then able to view specimens brought down from some of the parasitology labs, including live specimens of Haemonchus contortus larvae and Caenorhabditis elegans! While viewing the specimens we answered their questions about parasites and what it is like to work with parasites, which was fun for them and us.

(PhD student Chenhua Li from Wasmuth lab, holding one of the parasite “models” we had on display, photo credit- Kaylee Rich)

After the parasite-viewing, Sonja Dunemann led a practical bioinformatics activity session, where the students were able to identify DNA from different species in a simulated sequence sample and decide how or if to treat their cow. There were four different treatment options they had to choose from and most were able to choose correctly, a valuable skill in industry today. After the activities we were able to give more information on drug resistance and well-known but misunderstood diseases that affect our food supply, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease). The students were all very involved in each activity and had plenty of excellent questions that we were happy to answer. Working with them was a great experience for all involved. 

An Article by Kaylee Rich (Wasmuth lab)

On August 12^th, The Birds of Prey Centre of Alberta hosted their annual Insect Discovery Days to encourage budding scientists to explore the world of the creepy crawlies. This year, the Lethbridge branch of HPI worked in collaboration with the Birds of Prey Centre to introduce children to another dimension of the creepy – parasites!

Dr. Cam Goater, Sarah Unrau, and I spent our morning and afternoon grossing people out with parasite facts. Participants that visited our booth engaged with us to discuss and learn about the fascinating world of parasites. Hylella shrimp infected with an Acanthocephalus parasite were displayed to demonstrate the photophilic behaviour manipulation incurred by infection. The larvae of a canine botfly caused shudders to children as we told them how they crawl in your skin. However, it wasn’t just grossed out children that visited us, but also those who had genuine interests to explore parasite biology. We even had a little girl remark ‘I want to feel what a botfly larvae feels like under my skin’! We were excited to encourage the curiosity of the next generation of scientists.

Similar to our last outreach event, we displayed parasites from a variety of different groups, both dead and alive. As always, the Ascarid worms drew a crowd as did our Dicrocoelium dendriticus set-up showcasing all the life stages of the behaviour-manipulating parasite. To integrate insects into our booth, Cam brought a couple praying mantises along with horsehair worms to show the potential parasites found inside the mantids. The two mantids were very popular, being friendly enough to crawl on those who dared to hold them.

Insect Discovery Days was a very successful and fun event and we hope to continue our collaboration with the Birds of Prey Centre of Alberta in the future! We would also like thank the Birds of Prey Centre of Alberta for hosting this event.

An article by Micky Ahn (University of Lethbridge)

• Zombie ants, endemic land snails, and more: Cypress Hills as a biodiversity hotspot. Annual joint meeting of the Alberta and Saskatchewan Entomology Societies, Elkwater, AB. 3 October, 2019.
• Fascination with manipulation: A zoologist’s march to the zombie ants. Wardle Award Lecture. Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Zoologists. University of Windsor, Windsor, ON. 15 May, 2019.
• How parasites rule their worlds … and ours. GS Lackie Middle School, March, 2018 (invited Gymnasium presentation to 240 Gr. 8 students).
• Zombie hosts and their parasite chauffeurs: the ecology and behaviour of Dicrocoelium-infected ants. Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON. February, 2019.
• Zombie hosts and their parasite chauffeurs: the ecology and behaviour of Dicrocoelium-infected ants. Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, TX. March, 2018.
• Ecological epidemiology and altered behaviour of zombie ants infected with the master manipulator,  Dicrocoelium dendriticum. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, AB. March, 2018.

• Detecting whirling disease in Alberta using DNA. 2018. Invited seminar for the Alberta Invasive Species Council, Lacombe, Alberta.
• Modifying snails and schistosomes to understand factors that determine infection compatibility. Invited talk presented at Oregon State University. 2016. Orgeon, USA.
• A tough itch to scratch: how to monitor and better manage swimmer’s itch. Talk presented at the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors Annual Meeting. 2016. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
•  Swimmer’s itch: Understanding transmission dynamics to better inform control strategies. Talk at the Michigan Swimmer’s Itch Control Townhall. 2016. Michigan, USA.
• Managing swimmer's itch in Alberta: understanding transmission dynamics to better inform control strategies. Alberta Innovates: Energy and Environment Solutions - Water Innovation Workshop. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 2015.
• Swimmer's itch in Alberta: Converging field and internet-based studies to inform control. Provincial Lab Seminar Series. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 2015.
• Swimmer's itch outbreaks in Alberta. Outbreak Investigation Committee Meeting. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (broadcast throughout Alberta regional outbreak centres). 2015.  

• Parasites Everywhere: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; TELUS Spark Science Café, Calgary, AB - Ironwood Stage and Grill. (May 28, 2013)

• Ivermectin: the story of a wonder drug” at Nerd Night, Wild Rose Brewery ~113 people; 719 followers on Facebook (April 14, 2016).

• A career in biological research; what’s the point of that?; ~100 grade 10-12 high school students Libin Theatre, Univ. Calgary (17^th March, 2018).
• Worm parasites: old foes and emerging friends?; ~350 people TELUS Spark Sci. Ctr. (14^th January, 2016).

• Infections in the tropics: an ounce of prevention, a pound of cure; ~280 people, Libin Theatre, Univ. Calgary (4^th November, 2019)

• Got viruses, bacteria and parasites? Count on your immune system: always outnumber, rarely outgunned; ~100 people, Calgary Zoo (June 2017)

Parasites and the immune system: the battle explained; ~100 people Calgary Public library (21^st September, 2019).

• Tick paralysis; to ~45 beef cattle produces, Kamloops (26^th September, 2018).

• Healthy Wildlife, Healthy People – Bridging Knowledge Systems for Arctic Wildlife Health Surveillance. Alberta Wilderness Association. October 2019.
• Arctic warming: land and communities on the cusp of rapid change; ~35 Parliamentarian Bacon and Eggheads sponsored breakfast talk, Ottawa. March, 2018.