The research has already yielded some surprises. One species of Daphnia zooplankton, long thought to be native to the Great Lakes, has now been identified as a European species through the use of genetic markers. This software is friendly Guelph students and researchers are helping Canadian and American companies develop computer software that is easier for their customers to use. A graduate student is currently working as an intern at Eastman Kodak in Rochester, N.Y., on the design of computer-based equipment for manipulating images in such applications as photocopiers. U of G research led to design changes in some IBM software after a study determined how users chose to use features of IBM's documents.
Companies also use computing classes as test sites for new design concepts.
The Bank of Montreal recently used a class to look at one of its interactive multimedia training modules. The night-time recording sessions of U of G graduate student Andrew Chek and members of the Kayapo Indian tribe in the Amazon rainforest may be just in time to save further destruction of species in that endangered environment. Chek and his supervisor, zoology professor Jim Bogart, are studying frog songs recorded in the rainforest to trace the evolution of species in the Amazon forest. He says most conservation efforts focus on preservation of current species. Little attention is directed to preserving the means of producing new species.