The invasive zebra mussel appears to have met its match in the quagga mussel, and UWindsor researcher Hugh MacIsaac intends to find out why.

Dr. MacIsaac is researching why quagga mussel populations are exploding in the Great Lakes while zebra mussels are waning. He will collaborate with colleagues at UWindsor’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) to study the species at the level of their molecular DNA.

MacIsaac’s research is being funded through the federal Canada Research Chairs program. The post is one of 156 new and renewed Canada Research chairs announced Tuesday.

MacIsaac is being renewed as a Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Invasive Species. The position comes with $1.4 million in funding — $200,000 a year for seven years. MacIsaac has held the chair since 2014.

Zebra mussels are believed to have been introduced to the Great Lake in the 1980s, hitching a ride in ships’ ballast. The fingernail-sized mollusks created havoc on water treatment systems, clogging intake pipes. Their relative, the quagga mussel, is a more recent arrival.

“We’ve seen the quagga mussel displace the zebra mussel in most locations in the Great Lakes,” MacIsaac said. “No one knows why this is happening.”

One theory, MacIsaac said, is that zebra mussels are being “starved out” by quagga mussels. Both filter plankton from the water and quagga mussels might be at a competitive advantage when food supply is low if it possesses greater efficiency. To test the theory, MacIsaac will conduct feeding trials in his lab.

Another theory concerns the thermodynamics of the Great Lakes. MacIsaac, who has plumbed Lake Erie in a military submarine to collect mussel samples, knows first-hand that quagga mussels can live in colder, deeper waters. He has seen them living on the lake bottom. Zebra mussels live only in shallower environments, forming a ring in the top 10 metres of water along the shoreline.

“It’s like a bathtub scum line, if you will,” MacIsaac said.

MacIsaac intends to conduct field studies on mussel reproduction to determine if quagga larvae are “swamping” zebra mussels as a result of larger total population size in the lake. He will use e-DNA techniques pioneered by GLIER researcher Daniel Heath, relying on genetic markers in water samples to determine larval abundances of both mussels species.

Both invasive mussels kill off native freshwater mussels by attaching themselves to their shells and outcompeting them for food. They also compete for food with larval fish, threatening fish populations, and they contribute to harmful algal blooms.

On the plus side, for ducks and fish species that eat molluscs, they are a plentiful food source. And in cottage country, they possibly enhance real estate values by making lakes clearer by filtering suspended particulates from the water.

The overall benefits and detriments will be part of MacIsaac’s research.

“It’s difficult to predict what the effects are going to be because it’s system-dependent, but the zebra and quagga mussels are among the most transformative of any invasive species in the world,” he said.

MacIsaac will undertake his mussel research while continuing his work on the Plateau Lakes in western China’s Yunnan province. The lakes are troubled by a suite of problems similar to the Great Lakes, MacIsaac said, so he can draw parallels in his research.

K.W. Michael Siu, UWindsor’s vice-president, research and innovation, said MacIsaac’s research puts UWindsor and its region at the cutting edge of knowledge about the Great Lakes and the invasive species taking up residence in them.

“Dr. MacIsaac is a renowned expert about invasive species in the Great Lakes,” said Dr. Siu. “His renewal as a Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Invasive Species is a well-deserved recognition of that. We thank the federal government for continuing to fund and celebrate research excellence.”

The Canada Research Chairs program is a national strategy to propel the nation to the forefront of research and development in the world. The program, launched in 2000, invests up to $295 million each year to attract and retain a diverse cadre of world-class researchers in engineering, the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities, and the social sciences.

They, in turn, train the next generation of Canadian researchers.

In announcing this year’s investment in the program during a news conference in Trois-Rivières, Que, François-Philippe Champagne, federal minister of innovation, science, and industry, said Canada’s researchers give the country a stronger, more promising future.

“You are literally helping Canada meet the challenges of today and tomorrow,” he said.

—Sarah Sacheli

Chile Eboe-Osuji, president of the International Criminal Court in the Hague until March 2021, has accepted an appointment as the Paul Martin Professor in Political Science, International Relations, and Law. This two-year part-time appointment commences July 1.

Prior to joining the court, Dr. Eboe-Osuji served as the legal advisor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva where he led interventions in cases involving human rights questions, notably writing amicus curiae submissions to the European Court of Human Rights and the United States Supreme Court.

Earlier in his career at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, he held several posts including serving as lead trial counsel for the prosecution, senior legal officer to the judges, and head of chambers.

Eboe-Osuji has an extensive record of legal scholarship and publications, including the books titled International Law and Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts and Protecting Humanity (ed). He is also the editor-in-chief of the Nigerian Yearbook of International Law.

“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to have served the international community in the various capacities over the years,” he said. “To bring that experience to bear in the formation of the future leaders of our world is even the greater privilege. I’m truly honoured and deeply grateful to have that opportunity to teach at the University of Windsor on a professorial chair endowed after a truly legendary Canadian statesman.”

The Paul Martin professorship was established in honour of Paul Martin Sr., who served in Parliament for 39 years — 33 of them as an MP from Windsor, where he practised law. He served in the cabinets of four prime ministers between the administrations of William Lyon Mackenzie King and Pierre Trudeau.

The Paul Martin professorship bring to the campus persons distinguished in international affairs and law to enrich the life of the university and the wider community by contributing fresh ideas, insights, and perspectives to these two fields.

“In political science we have a longstanding and very popular international relations and development studies program. Many of our students are interested in human rights and making a difference globally,” says Cheryl Collier, professor of political science and incoming dean in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. “Learning about global environmental concerns, alleviating atrocities around the world, and advancing a peace agenda: these are some of the topics that drive our students.”

Dr. Collier says that having the ability to take a class taught by Eboe-Osuji is a rich opportunity for students: “They’ll be learning from someone who has been on the frontline of consideration of international human rights and justice issues.”

During his tenure, Eboe-Osuji will teach one course during the fall semester and one in the winter, alternating between law and political science.

“We are delighted that Prof. Eboe-Osuji will be teaching a course at Windsor Law,” says acting dean of law Beverly Jacobs. “As a former president of the International Criminal Court, and a champion in the fight against impunity for international crimes, Prof. Eboe-Osuji will bolster our traditional strength in transnational law.”

Read more about the careers of Chile Eboe-Osuji’s and Paul Martin.

Business leaders who encourage their employees to learn on the job and speak up with ideas and suggestions for change have teams that are more effective and resilient in the face of unexpected situations, according to new research from the Odette School of Business and Rice University.

“A Resource Model of Team Resilience Capacity and Learning” will appear in a special issue of Group & Organization Management. Authors Kyle Brykman, an assistant professor at the University of Windsor’s Odette School of Business, and Danielle King, an assistant professor of psychological sciences at Rice University, studied what makes employees more resilient and fosters learning in the workplace. The researchers specifically examined the interactions of 48 teams from five Canadian technology startups.

Brykman and King found that teams were more effective and resilient if their bosses encourage employees to take risks, make suggestions, and learn from the process. Creating a work environment centered around learning and open communication is helpful as teams grow and take on new tasks, they write.

“We found that leaders who fostered a supportive voice climate and focused their team goals on learning built more resilient teams,” says Brykman. “Teams are more resilient when they feel encouraged to speak up with ideas and issues, and safe to make mistakes in the pursuit of learning. What’s more, we found that resilient teams also learned more on the job than teams lacking this resilience capacity.”

He says that teams develop greater resilience with practice and patience.

“It’s like a muscle,” Brykman says. “It has never been more important for leaders to foster environments where people feel encouraged to speak up and strive to learn and grow from challenging work.”

Read the entire study in the journal Group & Organization Management.

Undocumented workstations running the Windows 7 operating system will be blocked from accessing the University network starting Monday, July 5, as part of the security enhancements under the Y2K20 Project to modernize computer workstations.

“Windows 7 has been out of support since January 2020,” says Marcin Pulcer, assistant director, of Information Technology Services. “Leaving devices running an out-of-date operating system on our network increases the risk not only to the security of your personal, corporate, or research data but also to that of all other users’ data on the University network.”

Once blocked, devices will no longer be able to access the University network. This means that if you are using an undocumented Windows 7 workstation, you will not be able to remote desktop to your device from home, or access the internet, OneDrive files, or other internet-dependent applications.

There are approximately 50 documented Windows 7 devices currently in use. The users of these workstations have been contacted by IT Services via email. Users of these devices will be granted a temporary exception so they can continue to access the University network while the campus is operating remotely.