UBC This Week

Lacey Samuels, a cell biologist studying the biosynthesis of plant cell walls, has been appointed head of the Dept. of Botany.  Samuels, a longstanding member of the department, played a key role in designing UBC’s first-year science small class seminars.  She will begin her five-year term on July 1, 2011.

On July 1, 2011, Anne Condon will take on the leadership of UBC’s Dept. of Computer Science.  She is internationally recognized for her research in complexity theory and bioinformatics, and a leading Canadian proponent for women in science and technology,

For more information, visit http://www.science.ubc.ca/news/550

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Faculty members from the UBC Dept. of Dermatology and Skin Science have been elected to take on global leadership roles.  In 2015, Clinical Prof. Jerry Shapiro will become president of the World Congress of Dermatology (WCD).  Professor and department head Harvey Lui will become secretary-general.  WCD has also chosen to hold its next gathering in Vancouver in 2015.

Lui was also elected to the board of the International League of Dermatologic Societies (ILDS) after being nominated by the Canadian Dermatology Association.  Shapiro became an ex-officio board member due to his future position as WCD President.

For more information, visit http://www.med.ubc.ca/about_us/Awards_and_Honours/Awards_and_honours_–_June_2011.htm#dermatology

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On June 27-29, 2011, leading international and Filipino scientists and resource managers will meet in Cebu City to address how to best to protect the Philippines’ internationally significant waters against rampant over exploitation.  Organized by Project Seahorse Foundation (PSF), the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Workshop will draw on the expertise of over 40 academics and leaders from government, business, and the NGO sector to transfer knowledge to the people.

Support from PSF has enabled local communities to establish 33 MPAs in the central Philippines. These no-take reserves act as sanctuaries where fish populations and habitats can flourish, increasing marine resources in the long run. PSF and Project Seahorse have developed conservation tools to make the management of coastal marine resources more effective, which will be shared and refined at the MPA Workshop.

The national government of the Philippines has mandated the protection of 15 per cent of the country’s coastal waters. “Our job is to help make that mandate a reality,” says Assoc. Prof. Amanda Vincent,  director of Project Seahorse internationally. “We need to look after marine resources for the long run if we want to achieve food security.”

 For more information, visit http://www.projectseahorse.org/node/400/

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Jerry Spiegel received the Canadian Public Health Association’s (CPHA) 2011 International Award at the annual CPHA conference in Montreal on June 21, 2011. Spiegel is an associate professor in the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) and the director of the Global Health Research Program in the Liu Institute for Global Issues at UBC.

This award provides CPHA with the opportunity to recognize contributions to promoting public health in resource-poor societies through the development of healthy public policy, strengthening of primary health care services, promotion of the value of equity in access to health promoting environments, and/or the enhancement of community participation.

Spiegel has been in the forefront of promoting public health globally, and particularly equity in access to health-promoting environments and community participation.

For more details, visit http://www.cpha.ca/en/conferences/conf2011/awards.aspx

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Dr. Carlo Marra, associate professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UBC, has recently been profiled by Canadian Institutes of Health Research for a pilot project examining the feasibility of using community pharmacists to determine whether or not pregnant women in British Columbia are getting safe anti-hypertension treatment.

To read more visit http://www.pharmacy.ubc.ca/aboutus/faculty-news#CMarra.

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Alan Steeves, computer and electronics manager in the UBC Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, is this year’s recipient of the Applied Science Dean’s Award for Excellence in Service.

Acknowledged for more than 30 years of outstanding service to UBC, Steeves played a key role in attracting three separate multi-million dollar in-kind donations from the PACE program (including the largest in-kind donation to UBC) that support student learning and collaboration with other institutions. He has served as national secretary on the Trout Unlimited Canada board and is a talented First Nations artist.

The $1,000 award and a framed certificate was presented to him by Dean Tyseer Aboulnasr on June 13, 2011.

For more information, visit http://bit.ly/jwygCR

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Mark Bomford writes about UBC and “The Improbable Farm in the World City,” one of 15 case studies in a new book published by the University Press of Kentucky. Fields of Learning: The Student Farm Movement in North America explores the most influential student farms through North America to give a history of the movement.

Edited by Laura Sayre and Sean Clark, the book provides lessons that each farm can teach the broader agricultural and educational communities.

Bomford, director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, traces the UBC Farm’s century-long history, numerous student initiatives and UBC’s academic plan, “Cultivating Place,” for the farm. 

For more information about the book, visit http://www.kentuckypress.com/live/title_detail.php?titleid=2625

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UBC received two awards at the International Association of Business Communications (IABC) Bronze Quill Awards, which recognizes communications excellence in B.C.
 
Tracy Bains, Kera McArthur, Amanda Fetterly and Ashley Sims (UBC Campus and Community Planning) received an Award of Merit for their Community Relations entry, “Transportation Consultation 2010: UBC Taps the Campus Community for Ideas”
 
Fran Hannabuss and John Corry (UBC College for Interdisciplinary Studies) received the Award of Excellence for their Marketing Communications entry, “Learn and Win Student Recruitment Campaign”.

For more information, visit http://www.iabc.bc.ca/

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UBC Press publications have recently received major Canadian political science, public policy and history awards. Globalizing Citizenship was the recipient of an International Studies Association award. 

• Citizens Adrift: The Democratic Disengagement of Young Canadians, Paul Howe, winner, 2011 Donald Smiley Prize, Canadian Political Science Association
• Globalizing Citizenship, Kim Rygiel, co-winner, 2011 ENMISA Distinguished Book Award, International Studies Association, shortlisted, 2011, Prize in International Relations, Canadian Political Science Association
• A Perilous Imbalance, The Globalization of Canadian Law and Governance, Stephen Clarkson  and Stepan Wood, shortlisted, 2011 Donald Smiley Prize, Canadian Political Science Association
• Managed Annihilation, An Unnatural History of the Newfoundland Cod Collapse, Dean Bavington, winner, 2011 Clio Prize, Atlantic, Canadian Historical Association
• One of the Family, Metis Culture in Nineteenth-Century Northwestern Saskatchewan, Brenda Macdougall, winner, 2011 Clio Prize, Prairies, Canadian Historical Association
• Perverse Cities, Hidden Subsidies, Wonky Policies, and Urban Sprawl, Pamela Blais, shortlisted, 2011 Donner Book Prize, Donner Foundation

 For more information, visit http://www.ubcpress.ubc.ca/

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Betty Fox passed away on June 17, 2011 in Chilliwack, B.C at the age of 73.  Involved in all aspects of The Terry Fox Foundation, Fox has spoken to more than 400,000 schoolchildren during 25 years of touring the country with the inspirational story of the Marathon of Hope.

A public funeral service will be held on June 25.  Due to space limitation, those planning to attend are asked to send an email in advance to bettyfoxservice@gmail.com.  Messages of condolence may also be sent to bettyfoxservice@gmail.com.

Date:    June 25, 2011
Time:    1 p.m.
Place:   Trinity United Church, 2211 Prairie Avenue, Port Coquitlam
Info:     http://www.terryfox.org/cgi/page.cgi?_id=918&_cms=1

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Twice-weekly, Asia Pacific memo publishes short text memos or video interviews on current issues in Asia and across the Pacific at http://www.asiapacificmemo.ca/.

•  June 21: AMRO – Fleshing out Regional Monetary Cooperation in East Asia
• June 16: Beijing’s Gamble: Preventing Social Unrest through Policy Reform?
• June 14: China’s Counterinsurgency Strategy in Tibet and Xinjiang

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