Telus Spark Adult Only Night 2016

HPI Adult Only Night at the Telus Spark - January 14, 2016.

On Thursday, January 14^th, trainees from the Host-Parasite Interactions (HPI) Program hosted a “Party with Parasites” at the TELUS Spark Science Centre.  After regular hours at the TELUS Spark Centre, the Adults-Only Night was a special evening open for adults to get up close and personal with the creepy critters that live in and around us.  There were about 1250 people through the doors, and a good time was had by all!  

The photo-booth set up at the very front was a big hit with the adults taking the opportunity to act like kids and dress up in parasite masks, yarn tapeworms, and scientific outfits.  The competition for who had the smallest carbon footprint was a great success (Mine was lower than most Calgarians’, but not as low as the Canadian average!), and everyone enjoyed the hands-on water filtration activity.  The life-size board game showing the perils of travel when parasites are involved had a line-up throughout the evening, with adults waiting to try their luck.  Another huge hit with the guests was a station where they got to learn about the DNA of parasites, including making their own DNA from strawberries which combined with rum, made a fantastic daiquiri!  

The guests also loved the “Gut Gauntlet”, where they got to pretend to be parasites, overcoming all the obstacles that prevent survival in the human gastrointestinal tract.  They also enjoyed the pet station where they got to extract parasites from “feces” (aka. Peanut butter and chocolate sauce), and the host manipulation station where they got to make their own parasite life cycles and determine if they could survive.  The Food Production station was packed full of interested people all evening, with adults learning about the dilemma farmers face when treating their cows with anti-parasite drugs too often leads to resistance and greater food production losses. 

The HPI volunteers were happy to share their excitement about parasites, and the guests loved taking part in the interactive activities!  At the end of the night, Canada’s Discovery Channel TV Host Jay Ingram judged the Parasite Contest, where contestants had 5 minutes to convince the audience why their parasite was the coolest parasite in town.  A special shout-out to Brad van Paridon for winning us all over with his zombie parasite!  Chelsea Matisz was a close second place though, with the crowd loving her clever parasite poetry!  The guests also loved the presentation put on by the University of Calgary’s Dr. Derek McKay, who talked about some of the awesome therapeutic treatments that may come from parasites.

A special thanks to the University of Alberta’s Dr. Michael Hawkes, who advised the HPI group at the travel station, the University of Calgary’s Dean of Science, Dr. Lesley Rigg who came out to show her support, the volunteers at the UofC external to HPI, and the TELUS Spark volunteers who were a great help to all of us at the event!

Be sure to check out the UToday article here, the VetMed article here, or the radio spot here.