Ask a geographer — and not just any geographer but an expert in geomatics, which involves the collection and analysis of spatial data.

By combining that kind of information with raw computing power, U of G geography professor John Lindsay has developed a one-of-a-kind software package called Whitebox Geospatial Analysis Tools for processing geospatial data.

Geomatics uses high-tech tools, including geographic information systems and remote sensing, to provide a much more intimate look at the Earth’s features and our built environment. It helps in soil and vegetation mapping, flood forecasting and modelling sediment transport, among numerous environmental issues.

Now, geospatial data links to numerous everyday applications from health care (how to stop the spread of an epidemic?) to real estate (where to locate a new coffee shop or retail outlet?).

Given nothing more than your postal code, retailers can use GIS to target their flyers to your address. GIS working with the satellite navigation smarts in your car can work out your best route to avoid traffic or pinpoint the closest Italian restaurant.

Lindsay started the Whitebox project after arriving at Guelph in 2008, and says it has put U of G on the map among users worldwide.

Over the past four years, the software has been downloaded about 25,000 times, particularly in Canada and the United States, Europe, India, Brazil and Australia.

The package is employed extensively for education and research at universities and research centres worldwide. Government agencies using Whitebox range from the United Nations to the United States Department of Energy to the Canadian Geological Survey.

Early this year, Lindsay released the most recent open-source edition that users may adapt for their own purposes.

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Tyler Sharp is an international disease detective with a profound respect for the viruses he investigates. He also harbours a fairly virulent loathing for them.

The curious, meticulous scientist is intrigued by the tiny, potentially deadly organisms – by their elegance, simplicity and potency. But he is driven to combat and eliminate them, to prevent the harm they wreak on individuals and communities.

While an undergraduate at the University of Guelph, Sharp picked up a fascination for viruses that went viral. The American epidemiologist was rst exposed to the science of virology here in the early 2000s. Ever since, he has been compelled to learn as much as possible about the pathogenic mechanisms of the organisms.

“You’ve got to respect your enemy,” says Sharp, 35, who leads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Zika outbreak response in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. He is stationed at CDC’s dengue branch in San Juan. The outbreak began in late 2015 and o cially ended this June.

As the team leader in Puerto Rico, Sharp was in charge of detecting human Zika cases through- out the island. As viral hot spots emerged, he dispersed vector control teams to eliminate mosquitoes, and deployed community educators to raise awareness of the virus and how to prevent its spread. Those efforts reduced transmission rates.

“Viruses are very simple, but obviously they can have such catastrophic consequences,” he says during a telephone conversation.

Sharp completed his undergraduate degree in molecular biology and genetics at U of G, and a doctorate in molecular virology and microbiology at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

But he also possesses skills acquired during post-graduate training in CDC’s epidemic intelligence service that place him at the tip of the spear of outbreak responses around the world.

Zika typically involves fairly mild, u-like symptoms, and treatment is similar to that used for in uenza. But the virus is especially worrisome because of its links to birth defects. Infected pregnant women can give birth to babies with microcephaly, characterized by an abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Zika, but I also have a very strong loathing for it,” Sharp says. “When you see rst-hand the e ects of this virus on newborn kids, it’s something that you don’t forget.”

Sharp’s scienti c and career trajectory took a dramatic turn as an undergraduate at U of G. Still a teenager, and looking for adventure, he moved to Guelph in 2000 from his hometown of Bowling Green, Ohio.

Inspired by the 1997 futuristic lm Gattaca, which is all about the genetic engineering of human beings, Sharp enrolled at the University determined to become a geneticist. But he had his scienti c mind altered and his professional path reoriented after “literally two lectures” in Peter Krell’s microbiology class in the Depart- ment of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

“His class really inspired me to go the virology route,” Sharp says. “He was an early mentor of mine.”

Sharp calls his time at Guelph formative.

“The four years at U of G really did shape the rest of my life, both personally and professional- ly. I am so indebted to Guelph for providing the education that it did, especially on the scienti c front. I feel very lucky to have gone there.”

TOP 5 ZIKA FACTS

1. Zika virus is primarily spread through infected mosquitoes or sex.
2. The best way to prevent Zika is to avoid mosquito bites.
3. Zika is linked to birth defects.
4. Pregnant women should not travel to areas at risk of Zika.
5. Returning travellers infected with Zika can spread the virus through mosquito bites and sex.

– Rob O’Flanagan

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It took 20 years for Melanie Wills, B.Sc. ’09, PhD ’16, to get a diagnosis.

By then, Lyme disease had stolen much of her childhood and adolescence and had followed her to university.

Wills endured chronic pain, severe fatigue and gastrointestinal issues, thyroid and vision problems, and memory loss.

Her condition meant months in bed, prolonged absences from school, a stream of specialists and medical appointments, misdiagnoses and unhelpful treatments – year after year.

Dealing with the pain and suffering became a way of life. But Wills persevered and even excelled.

She came to U of G as a President’s Scholar. At graduation, she received the W.C. Winegard Medal — the University’s top undergraduate convocation award –and became the first B.Sc. graduate to move straight into the PhD program in molecular and cellular biology.

As an undergraduate working with Prof. Nina Jones, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Wills discovered overexpression of a signalling protein in brain tumours. That research breakthrough won her grants, research awards and accolades, and became the focus of her PhD work.

All the while, her sickness continued.

Halfway through her PhD — examining the signalling pathways among cells that can go awry and lead to cancer – Wills had a personal breakthrough. A doctor whom she had waited more than two years to see made the diagnosis all the others had missed.

As a researcher, she viewed her Lyme disease as the beginning of a new project.

“After I got the diagnosis, I was intrigued, so I began looking into the literature and fell down the rabbit hole,” she says. “The number of people suffering from it, the controversy in the medicalfield, the lack of confidence in testing, the potential of the organism to withstand antibiotics and remain in the body for such a long period of time – it all started coming out.”

Wills added the epidemiology of Lyme disease to her research roster, co-founding the Canadian Lyme Science Alliance.

Now, backed by a new $1.4-milion grant from the G. Magnotta Foundation for Vector-Borne Diseases, she is working to help improve diagnostic testing and treatment.

She heads the G. Magnotta Lyme Disease Research Lab, named for Gabe Magnotta, co-founder of Magnotta Winery, who died in 2009 after a seven-year battle with Lyme disease. Rossana Magnotta created the foundation in 2012 in memory of her late husband, who was known as a trailblazer in the Canadian wine industry.

Wills hopes to identify biomarkers and prognostic indicators for Lyme disease, and uncover evidenced-based testing and treatment options. The lab will operate within the College of Biological Science.

She plans to work with other Lyme researchers and centres, develop a national collaborative network of scientists, clinicians and patients, and involve students in research.

Wills learned about Lyme disease for the first time as a U of G undergrad in a microbiology class. Viewing a slide image of a rash, she thought it resembled the one she developed on her leg when she was 10.

“I grew up in Lindsay, on the Kawartha Lakes, in a subdivision bordered by a field. There were deer, mice – all the reservoir species — so certainly the factors were there,” she said. “But it wasn’t really anyone’s fault that it was missed, it just didn’t register back then.”

After that day in class, Wills had asked a doctor for a test, but the result came back negative. She spent the next 10 years thinking Lyme disease was not a possibility.

She now knows that false negatives are common.

“Current tests are not reliable, particularly in the early stages of the disease,͟ she says. ͞They also cannot distinguish active infection from past exposure, so they can’t be used to evaluate treatment success.”

She hopes her research will lead to improved tests that diagnose the disease sooner, when the outcome is most favourable, and improved understanding of the disease.

“Patients are falling through the cracks left, right and centre.”

– Lori Bona Hunt

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