SMU Biology Society

Welcome back everyone to our 2021-2022 school year! Whether you are on campus or tuning in from somewhere else in the world we are so happy to have everyone back!
We will be starting this year off with elections for the society executives! If interested, please send your name, desired position, and a brief paragraph about yourself to [email protected] by September 22nd at 11:59pm AST.

This leaves two weeks for everyone to get their names in, and then SMUSA will be supervising the election itself.

Keep reading for position descriptions!
President: Runs the society, and acts as the main point of contact with SMUSA
Vice President: Aids the president in running the society.
Treasurer: Responsible for documenting all society transactions, filling out bank documents, making society deposits, and assisting with planning and setting up society events
Social Media Coordinator: Responsible for updating all social media accounts, creating society event posters, and promoting society events.
Event Planner : Responsible for proposing event ideas, managing event sign ups, and preparing events.

Welcome to the last fun fact friday before the end of the semester! And a special one at that!
Have you ever seen or heard of the pika? They look a bit like a fluffy hamster or any other rodent. But they actually belong to the same order as our favourite chocolate supplier the easter bunny! They belong to the order lagomorpha, which also contains rabbits and hares. You may also recognize them as the inspiration for Pikachu. Pika’s can be found in many cold climates across the world, including BC and some of the territories. !

Welcome to another Fun Fact Friday!
In evolutionary biology, a concept often touched upon is whether an individual is a lumper or a splitter. A lumper, is someone who feels that two ( or more) things should belong to the same category. A splitter is someone who believes that they should be broken up into different categories. For example: biological anthropologists have debated whether Homo erectus, Homo habilis, and Homo rudolfensis, should all be lumped into H. erectus, or split into their respective species.
What do you think? Are you a lumper or a splitter?
And as always don’t forget that you can submit your fun fact to us here :
https://forms.gle/yi13jv9yfBqwKsXC6

We’re back with another Fun Fact Friday!
Chances are if you’ve tried Cilantro, you’ve thought one of two things: “This tastes good!” or “This tastes like soap!” If you thought the latter you certainly are no alone. In fact, one study done in 2012 found that people who taste soap in cilantro likely have a gene mutation in their olfactory receptors. You can access this study “A genetic variant near olfactory receptor genes influences cilantro preference” through the patrick power library!