In This Section:
Evolutionary biologist latches on to her subject - Janine Caira, biology
Putting transportation theory into gear - Norman Garrick, engineering

Caira leads studies into the world of fish parasites

Unlike most folks, Janine Caira finds beauty in fish parasites.

"Public perception is they're icky, but they're really amazing looking organisms with a pretty elaborate surface structure," says Caira, ecology and evolutionary biology professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, who has been studying the critters for over two decades.

Photo: Peter Morenus

Janine Caira, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Science, travels the world to discover new fish parasites.

She has compiled what she estimates to be the largest collection of shark and stingray tapeworms in the world while earning professional accolades, including receiving the Distinguished Professor Award from the UConn Alumni Association in 2003 and the UConn Board of Trustees in 2006.

A native of Montreal, Canada, Caira first encountered parasites while working a summer job at a southern Ontario winery, whose owners were trying to stop them from feasting on grape plant roots.

As an undergraduate at the University of British Columbia, she studied zoology and conducted research on the life cycle of a parasite that infects aquatic insects.

Caira's interests widened while working on her doctorate at the University of Nebraska and researching parasites in fresh water fluke after she and a friend traveled to the Gulf of California and watched fishermen hauling in sharks.

"We bought two; one to eat and one to dissect," she says. Caira soon was hooked on studying shark tapeworms, which are only about a centimeter long, compared to ones found in humans that can grow to 15-feet or longer.

Caira arrived at UConn in 1985 as an assistant professor, and her expanding parasite collection and scholarship have since put UConn at the forefront of the field.

Researchers, including several former students, have identified 930 new species of parasites in sharks and sting rays around the world.

National Science Foundation-funded field trips have taken Caira and her students to Baja California, Senegal and other far-flung locations.

"We have an undergraduate course where we introduce students to research. I usually have at least two undergraduate students doing research in my lab," she says.

"That's one of the things about UConn I really like. Thirty-nine have done research, and 19 have published."

Caira's work focuses primarily on identifying new species of parasites, and her research provides important clues about evolution, diet and changes in migration patterns and ecosystems.

Magnified by a scanning electron microscope, the parasites appear geometrically complex, eerily alluring and reminiscent of Georgia O'Keefe paintings of flowers.

Caira illustrates her findings and once commissioned a painting of parasites for the cover of the first in a series of monographs about her research findings.

Among her current projects, Caira is developing an online global tapeworm database with the help of 39 collaborators from nine countries.

But beauty has its limits, even for Caira, who despite her passion for parasites warns they can happily take up residence in humans.

Her admonition to sushi and sashimi lovers: "Cook your food."

— Karen Singer '73 (CLAS)

Garrick aids Gulf Coast communities recovery effort

Photo: Peter Morenus

Norman Garrick, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, practices his theories on improved transportation design by riding his bicycle to work.

Norman Garrick, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, puts his theories on improving transportation planning into practice every day as he rides his bicycle to work.

In his research at the Connecticut Transportation Institute, which is part of the UConn School of Engineering, Garrick seeks ways to improve urban planning and transportation design.

Last fall, Garrick was selected by the Chicago-based Congress for New Urbanism to be a member of a multidisciplinary team of architects and engineers traveling to Mississippi and Louisiana to help redesign Gulf Coast cities devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

New urbanism is a movement toward creating and restoring compact, walkable communities such as Kentlands, near Washington, D.C.

At the request of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, the team met in a week-long brainstorming and design session to come up with a master plan for some 11 cities that had been affected by the storm.

It's an opportunity to undo the damage from the lack of planning of the last 50 years," Garrick says.

"I was selected by the Congress for New Urbanism to develop transportation planning design, including walkable communities. The streets in these Mississippi towns were not pedestrian-friendly."

Highways, for example, have caused a huge battle in the post-Katrina reconstruction. In what the press dubbed "Bridgezilla," the Mississippi Department of Transportation tried to develop a six-lane highway bridge between Ocean Spring and Biloxi .

The bridge that had been wiped out by the storm was only four lanes and the DOT tried to justify building a bigger bridge that would have damaged life in Ocean Spring.

The team that Garrick was a member of said that the DOT's analysis was flawed, which raised questions about the plan.

"I've already incorporated the Gulf Coast experience in my classes," he says. "The students have responded with enthusiasm to learn from such dramatic real-life experiences.

"It's reinforced my sense that there are a lot of dysfunctional processes embedded in the system that promotes sprawl and not functioning communities. For example, a lot of the systems are biased toward moving traffic and not encouraging livable communities or access to work."

Since October 2005, Garrick has been back to Mississippi three more times. Some communities there are well on the way to rebuilding, having raised money, implemented zoning regulations and approved plans.

Garrick, who is originally from Jamaica, won a Fulbright fellowship in 2004 and studied at the University of the West Indies researching transportation and sustainable urban development.

— Alix Boyle