In my previous blog, I introduced a mini-series I’d like to write about titled “It’s a Generational Thing”. My goal is to highlight different people’s experiences and opinions on alcohol and the interactions with their culture of origin/generation status. The immigrant alcohol use research I’m currently working on unfortunately doesn’t allow me to report data […]
If you think back to your high school biology or chemistry classes, at one point you were probably forced to memorize different metabolic pathways. Does the “Krebs cycle” or “glycolysis” ring any bells? If you were anything like me in high school, while you were learning this stuff you were probably thinking to yourself, “What […]
In sharing my research about immigrant alcohol use, I am aware that it can sometimes seem as though immigrants are being classified as one big unanimous group. This is incredibly false! For example, I am extremely interested in how an immigrant’s alcohol use can differ based on their place of origin or time spent in […]
Biodiversity can be a difficult concept to pin down and for good reason: this one term aims to encapsulate the variety of all life on earth. By taking a look around a garden or a park, you’ll see biodiversity in action through the different plants growing or insects buzzing around. On a large scale, biodiversity […]
Bloody terrifying Anyone giving blood may notice screening questions about time spent in parts of Europe, asking about specific yet seemingly arbitrary durations during equally specific years, like three months in the UK from 1980-1996, or five years from 1980-2007, and so on. This all stems from fear of the deadly prion, which, while sounding […]
I am privileged to be able to conduct the research I am doing, i.e. using bacterial genomes to look more closely at antimicrobial resistance (AMR), since the extent of this type of work is limited to high-income countries such as Canada. My research involves bacterial whole-genome sequence data extracted using high-throughput sequencing technologies or next-generation […]
As Nova Scotia entered another lockdown last month, we heard renewed calls to wash your hands, keep your distance, and stay the blazes home. Alongside those public health imperatives, we also heard a familiar call to action: support local businesses impacted by the shutdown. One in particular piqued my interest; my favourite local eatery was […]
It has become increasingly clear that the global spread of Organized Crime demands more than a policing approach. Indeed, what is required is a more comprehensive approach that involves a larger group of stakeholders, including policy and decision-makers. Organized Crime is incredibly adept at adapting to and benefiting from societal changes. EUROPOL and the Global […]
April was the cruelest month in Nova Scotia this year, as the third wave of COVID-19 violently crashed on our shores. Last month, I argued that governments’ decisions have been the driving force keeping Atlantic Canada relatively safe during the pandemic—not simply good luck, nor a “collective ethic” that is unique to this region. At […]
I think it fair to say that many of us have participated in a conversation like the following: Some weather we’re having today. Yes, it really got warm all of a sudden. Odd seeing everything melt in January… And then there befalls that awkward, knowing pause, where each interlocutor wonders–do I dare speak its name? […]