KEITH TIERNEY
BSc, MSc, MBA, PhD
Our group works at the intersection of animals, water and chemicals. Our particular focus is on health, and in this, we take a multi-faceted approach that explores biological responses from the small to the large, such as from gene to ecosystem. We work with collaborators in agriculture, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and medicine. We believe strength is rooted in diversity.
Keith Tierney has been leading this group at the University of Alberta since 2009. Keith completed most of his training in the Biology Department at Simon Fraser University, although he also completed a business degree at the University of British Columbia. Along his journey, he had amazing mentors to whom he is forever indebted.
Currently, the Tierney Lab explores basic research questions around sensory responses, particularly in olfaction, and applied questions related to greenhouse gas release and, most recently, food security. In this last area, we are particularly keen to measure how novel, green diet approaches can meet the needs of animals. Across all of our work, we aim to understand the impact that subtle changes can make to global ecology. We base our science on the very popular model vertebrate, the zebrafish, but we have happily carried out studies on invertebrates and birds.
Our Lab’s…
Research areas:
(1) Sensory physiology: Migratory salmon have incredible ecological, cultural and economic value. Much of their freshwater migration is believed to be guided by amino acids. One of the more intriguing considerations is that some amino acids evoke avoidance, not attraction. We have determined that the response to an attracting amino acid could override a repelling one when presented in a mixture, and vice versa. We have also found that imprinting to amino acids can reinforce existing behaviours or create new ones, and that a mixture behaves as a gestalt that overrides responses to the constituent amino acids. We are currently working on understanding how unexplored stream constituents may lead to imprinting responses.
We are currently taking a mechanistic approach using tried and true methods (e.g. electrophysiological), as well as evolving techniques (e.g. CaMPARI), with new approaches (e.g., single-cell transcriptome profiling) to reveal the pathways of olfactory activity and toxicity.
(2) Aquatic toxicology: Oil sands byproducts will remain environmental hazards for the foreseeable future. My group has a history of exploring both the adverse effects of the byproducts, as well as the treatment of the byproducts. We have demonstrated that a developing vertebrate model can be altered permanently by early life exposure to the water used in oil sands extraction processes, and that these effects can carry forward to future generations. One of the most interesting findings was that the exposures appeared to prepare the next generation for exposure, as a second exposure to the offspring resulted in a condition more akin to the natural, control state.
(3) Conservation physiology: With a warming Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic salmonids are moving northward and displacing Char species. Since 2012, we have collaborated with industry, a hunting and trapping organization and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to explore the ecological issues of this problem. In our work, we have determined that Arctic char have a very different migratory strategy than other salmonids, in that they overwinter in freshwater lakes and may not return to their natal stream seasonally or when spawning. Recently we have explored the nutritional ecology of invading Pacific salmonids and found they occupied a different niche than native Arctic species.
(4) Green diets, supplements and aging: A recent focus has been on the role that plant-based protein can have in ensuring the healthy development of vertebrates. In this work, we have worked with a global protein supplier and were asked to complete a study using the zebrafish vertebrate model to investigate diet performance. We demonstrated that legume protein shows promise for complete animal protein replacement, even in fish, in part through a remodeling of the microbiome. A follow up study specifically on aging and diet supplement intervention is underway.
Keith Tierney featured in…
Futurum Careers.pdf
International Innovation.pdf
Current Funding
NSERC Alliance Missions
NSERC Discovery
Past Funding
Alberta Innovates
BP Exploration and Production
Canadian Foundation for Innovation
Canadian Wildlife Federation
COSIA
DSM Nutritional Products
EPCOR
NSERC CRD
NSERC RTI
Roquette Canada
Government of Spain