Undergraduate physics and astronomy conference features talks on climate change and biomedical physics

Climate and environmental change, and biomedical physics will be the hot topics at the 2008 Atlantic Undergraduate Physics and Astronomy Conference (AUPAC), which will be held at the University of Prince Edward Island from February 8 to 10.AUPAC is an annual conference that showcases the research activities of undergraduate physics and astronomy students across the region.

“AUPAC really gives students the opportunity to share and discuss their ideas and knowledge with friends and colleagues from other universities in a friendly, slightly competitive environment,” says physics professor Dr. Sheldon Opps, who is chairing the conference along with students Chris Lund and Ali Fatehi Hassanabad.

The conference, which will be attended by over 125 delegates, including more than 100 undergraduates from across Atlantic Canada, will include invited talks by high-profile researchers, presentations by the students, a poster session, an NSERC panel discussion and a graduate fair.

Dr. James Drummond, Canada Research Chair in Remote Sounding of Atmospheres in Dalhousie University’s physics and atmospheric science department, will give a plenary speech on Friday, February 8, at 7:30 p.m., about the role that Canada has to play in the International Polar Year (IPY), a scientific program focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic from March 2007 to March 2009. One component of Canada’s contribution to IPY is the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), a laboratory in Eureka, a laboratory in Eureka, Nunavut, where scientists conduct research in the areas of climate, ozone and air quality.

Island native and UPEI physics graduate Heather Auld will speak on Saturday, February 9, at 4 p.m., about her work as a meteorologist and climatologist for Environment Canada for nearly 29 years. Currently a manager with the Adaptation and Impacts Research Group of Environment Canada, she has worked as a weather forecaster across Canada and as an engineering climatologist.

On the biomedical side, Dr. Bill Whelan, Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Optics at UPEI, will be the guest speaker at the conference banquet, which will be held on Saturday, February 9, at 6:30 p.m. An associate professor in the UPEI physics department, Dr. Whelan will speak about his research into the use of light and sound to diagnose, treat and monitor disease.

On Sunday, February 10, at 11:30 a.m., Dr. Cécile Fradin, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at McMaster University, will talk about her research on fluorescence and how it can be used to detect the motion of proteins in living cells, and how biological systems such as cells and molecules can be used to probe or modify physical systems.

The presentations by Drummond, Auld and Fradin take place in the Duffy Science Centre Amphitheatre and are free to the public.