Lara Dubois
The African lungfish has the ability to build a cocoon around itself when faced with its water disappearing due to drought. It can then live in a hibernation-like state on land until the water returns.
Dr. Steve Perry is passionate about finding out how animals, such as the African lungfish, can adapt in such extraordinary ways to changes in their environment. It is due to this passion, and the research he undertakes because of it, that he has been chosen as the University of Ottawa’s 2004 Excellence in Research award winner. “It is a great honour to be considered in the same category as past winners of this award,” says Perry. “But what pleases me most about receiving this award is that it recognizes the importance of curiosity-driven basic research.”
Perry is a comparative animal physiologist in the Department of Biology. His research focuses on learning how animals adapt to changes in their environment. His studies fall under the category of basic research – they are motivated by curiosity. “The end user of basic research is often the applied researcher,” says Perry. In contrast, applied science is undertaken to acquire new knowledge with a specific practical application in view.
For example, many fish have the ability to survive with little or no oxygen. Professor Perry has been working to understand how fish do this by studying the genome of the zebra fish (one of two fish species to have its entire genome mapped) and trying to pinpoint the gene or genes responsible. These discoveries can then perhaps be applied to help understand more about injuries that are caused by, or associated with, lack of oxygen in humans, like heart attacks or strokes.
The University of Ottawa, the Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa (APUO), and the University of Ottawa Alumni Association sponsor the University of Ottawa Award for Excellence in Research. The award recognizes contributions to research that bring distinction for the researcher and the University.
Perry’s impact in his field is evident in the thousands of citations of his work in scientific publications and the over 200 peer-reviewed articles he has written. His dedication has been rewarded with other prestigious awards, including a Killam fellowship and a University Research Chair at the University of Ottawa. But most of all, Perry is passionate about his work and this is obvious in all the research he does.
Perry will receive his Excellence in Research award on April 21 and will present a lecture most likely discussing how fish deal with stress in their environment such as lack of oxygen.
