UBC This Week 19-Jul-2012


 

Recent UBC Media Releases

Jul 18 Single-cell parasites co-opt “ready-made” genes from host: UBC research
Jul 17 Widely prescribed MS treatment may not slow progression of disease: Vancouver Coastal Health and UBC Research
Jul 13 How to make global fisheries worth five times more: UBC research
   
 

Upcoming Event Highlights

Jul 20 H??ike Performance
Jul 21 Forever Wild
Jul 22-23 Assertiveness Training
Jul 23 Summer Institute: Healthy Mediterranean Cuisine 
Jul 24 GPS Event: A Tour Around Scholarship and Award Opportunities
Jul 24 Supporting the Caregiver
Jul 24 UBC CPD FREE Webinar Program: HIV Testing – What’s Different Now?
Jul 25-28 UBC Blueberry Fest
Jul 25 Staff Pension Plan 101 Information Session
Jul 26-Aug 26 Anomaly | Study from Life
Jul 26 Career Development and Sense of Calling: The Emerging Research Evidence
   
  Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at http://www.gothunderbirds.ca/calendar.aspx.

 

UBC People


UBC People

Special honorary degree ceremony for Prof. Elie Wiesel

Nobel Laureate and Boston University Prof. Elie Wiesel will be receiving a special honorary degree from UBC on September 10.

The ceremony will honour Wiesel whose personal experience of the Holocaust led him to use his talents as an author, teacher and storyteller to defend human rights and peace throughout the world. For nearly 60 years, Wiesel’s message has been both simple and powerful: “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.” He is the author of more than 50 books, the latest entitled Hostage (August 2012), published by Knopf.  

For more information, visit:  http://www.ceremonies.ubc.ca/honorary-degrees/wiesel/.

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The New Green: Making Things Better, Not Just Less Bad

This summer, high school students from around the world will be gathering at UBC to attend a five-day conference ‘The New Green: Making Things Better, Not Just Less Bad’, organized by the International Baccalaureate Organization and UBC.  The event is open to all students entering or finishing first year of the Diploma Program of the International Baccalaureate curriculum, and over 300 participants from 37 countries have registered to attend.

The focus of the conference is ‘regeneration,’ sustainability strategies that go beyond harm-reduction and look to improve the environment. Participants will hear from keynote speakers at the cutting edge of sustainability thinking, including Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) Director, John Robinson, UBC students, environmental activists, international philanthropists, and a National Geographic photographer.

The New Green conference is a natural fit for UBC’s mission of the campus as living laboratory, where a sustainability community is actively extending the boundaries of knowledge.

Date:    July 23 – 27
Place:   Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), 2260 West Mal
Info:     http://ibwsc2012.sites.olt.ubc.ca/contact-us/news/

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UBC Blueberry Fest: July 25 – 28

Highlights of the Blueberry Fest:

  • July 23, 8:20 a.m.: Chef Steve Golob will be featured live on Global Morning News serving up B.C. Blueberries
  • Daily pancake breakfast
  • July 25: 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. “Chef’s Demo” with Chef Golob
  • July 28: Family Day, music by Fiddle Stix, face painting, balloon art, pie eating contest  

Time:    Daily 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Place:   Triple-O’s patio, Main Mall and Agricultural Road
Info:      http://www.food.ubc.ca/

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Chemical and Biological Engineering postdoc receives Young Scientist Award

Farnaz Sotoodeh, postdoctoral fellow in Chemical and Biological Engineering Prof. Kevin J. Smith’s group won the “Young Scientist Award” at the 15th International Congress on Catalysis (ICC), held in Munich, Germany on July 1-6.

The award is given by the International Association of Catalysis Societies to the most promising young scientists under 35 in recognition of their scientific contributions in the field of catalysis, one of the key leading technologies in the synthesis of energy carriers and chemicals.  For more information, visit http://bit.ly/MIUl8D.

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Statistics student wins Charles C. Shepard Science Award

UBC PhD student Liangliang Wang from the Department of Statistics received the Charles C. Shepard Science Award for Data Methods and Study Design by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for her co-authorship of the paper “Evaluation of Screening Tests for Detecting Chlamydia trachomatis Bias Associated with the Patient-Infected-Status Algorithm.”

For more information, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/od/science/aboutus/shepard/awards/current_winners.html.

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UTown@UBC Community grant recipients

The UTown@UBC Community Grants Program has announced over $5,400 in funding awarded to seven community projects that focus on building an active, social and vibrant UTown@UBC community. The program is a joint initiative between UBC Campus and Community Planning and the University Neighbourhoods Association. To see the list of project recipients, visit: http://www.planning.ubc.ca/vancouver_home/utown_ubc/living_at_ubc/community_grants/articles645.php.

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Asia Pacific Memo update: Global Security – the Shifting Axis

Those interested in current issues in Asia and across the Pacific can subscribe to the Asia Pacific Memo series. Twice-weekly, APM publishes short text memos or video interviews at http://www.asiapacificmemo.ca/.

  • Global Security – the Shifting Axis, Kepler-16b, and Two Suns by UBC Prof. Paul Evans

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