UBC This Week 13-Sep-2012

UBC postdoctoral scholars will each receive a $70,000, two-year Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship award towards advancing their research.

UBC recipients include:

• Jonathan Foley, “The thrombin-complement connection: Gaining new insights into their cooperation in promoting inflammation and thrombosis”
• Solmaz Sobhanifar, “Structural and mechanistic characterization of sensor-transducer membrane proteins BlaR1 and MecR1 in environmental sensing and antibiotic resistance in MRSA using cell-free protein expression”
• Sarah Burch, “Sustainability governance:  triggering transformative change and policy innovation in response to climate change”
• Temitope Oriola, “Less-lethal force options:  Canada police and the social consequences of electro-muscular disruption technology ”
• Heather Walmsley, “Canada and the transnational human egg trade:  implications for women’s agency and global social inequalities”
• Erin Jessee, Among the anonymous dead:  international forensic investigations in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
• Robert Colautti, “Ecological genomics of invasion success in Alliaria petiolata”

Established by the Canadian government with the intention to attract and develop the world’s best postdoctoral researchers, the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships grants 70 new fellowships annually, with funding provided through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

For more information, visit http://banting.fellowships-bourses.gc.ca/about-a_propos/fellows-boursiers-eng.html

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Judy Illes, professor of Neurology in the Dept. of Medicine, has been elected a Fellow by the Royal Society of Canada. For more information, visit http://med.ubc.ca/judy-illes-elected-to-the-royal-society-of-canada/.

Alan Kingstone, head of the Dept. of Psychology at UBC, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. For more information, visit http://wire.arts.ubc.ca/arts-in-the-news/alan-kingstone-elected-fellow-of-the-royal-society-of-canada/.

Anne Condon, head of the Dept. of Computer Science, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. For more information, visit http://www.cs.ubc.ca/news/2012/09/department-head-anne-condon-elected-fellow-royal-society-canada.

The Royal Society of Canada recognizes scholarly, research and artistic excellence. To view a complete list of newly elected Fellows and their nomination citations visit http://www.rsc-src.ca/.

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UBC Resource Economics Prof. John Janmaat has been appointed the Leading Edge Endowment Fund (LEEF) B.C. Regional Innovation Chair in Water Resources and Ecosystem Management. His role will include finding and collaborating with the best people to address questions or advise on water and sustainability issues.

For more information, visit http://news.ok.ubc.ca/2012/09/07/ubc-researcher-appointed-chair-in-water-resources.

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Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) has announced fifteen new fellowship recipients. This year’s recipients will investigate a range of climate change-related issues from scientific, economic, environmental and social perspectives.

PICS is a collaboration of B.C.’s four research-intensive universities, hosted and led by the University of Victoria and includes Simon Fraser University, UBC and the University of Northern B.C.

UBC graduate fellowship recipients:
• Syed Raza Ali Jaffery
• Kim Lau
• Stephen Mak
• Moritz Alexander Schare
• Elizabeth Schwartz
• Gerald Singh
• Paul Teehan
• Lilia Yumagulova
• Kevin Zhang

For more information on the recipients and their projects, visit http://pics.uvic.ca/fellowships/graduate/current and http://pics.uvic.ca/fellowships/postdoctoral/current.

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Lyana Patrick, a PhD student in School of Community and Regional Planning supervised by Prof. Leonie Sandercock, received the scholarship for her research proposal, “Addictions and Mental Health Planning in 21st Century Canada – Examining Cultural Safety Through an Indigenous Planning Paradigm.” Focusing on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, she intends to examine mental health and addictions in indigenous peoples, taking into account mental health, poverty, homelessness, and histories of trauma and abuse, especially the Indian residential school experience.

Nikola Zlatanov, supervised by Prof. Robert Schober within the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received the scholarship for his research proposal “Buffer-Aided Relaying: A New Protocol for Next Generation Wireless Networks,” which identifies a new protocol for wireless cooperative networks that can significantly improve their performance.

For more information, visit http://apsc.ubc.ca/apsc-eng/news/2012/08/phd-students-receive-vanier-scholarships-new-paradigms-planning-and-wireless.

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An international symposium will bring together academics, policy makers and private sector representatives to share best practices to help build capacity throughout Asia Pacific on key policy issues and options related to food security.

“Food Security Policy in Asia and the Pacific:  Key Policy Issues and Options”  is a joint undertaking between the Asia Development Bank, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Canadian International Development Agency and UBC’s Liu Institute for Global Issues.

Date: Sept. 17-18 
Place: Liu Institute for Global Issues, 6476 NW Marine Drive
Info: Program. To attend a session, contact Sally.reay@ubc.ca

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More than 250 students from UBC will gather to hear and discuss “great ideas worth spreading” to engage more Canadians in democracy. The event is part of Canada’s Democracy Week, an Elections Canada civic education initiative.

Speakers include Susan Torosian, senior director of Public Affairs, Elections Canada; Keith Archer, Chief Electoral Officer of B.C.; Max Cameron of UBC’s Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions; Alison Loat, co-founder and executive director of Samara; Bernard Rudny of Apathy is Boring; and Peter MacLeod, principal and co-founder of MASS LBP. The event will be moderated by Stephen Quinn, host of CBC’s On the Coast.

Date: Sept. 17
Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Place: UBC Freddy Wood Theatre, 6354 Crescent Road
Info: http://wire.arts.ubc.ca/events/canadas-democracy-week/

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Applications are now open for the 2013 Leave for Change volunteer program. Every year, UBC sends six staff members abroad to volunteer in developing countries, sharing their knowledge and skills in an international setting. Volunteer positions range from technology training to youth leadership. Placements are offered in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guatemala, Malawi, Nepal, Senegal, Vietnam and more.

Visit http://www.focusonpeople.ubc.ca/leave-for-change/ for information on eligibility, application process, and to read online diaries of past participants. Deadline for applications is Oct. 5, 2012. An information session will be held Sept. 19, 2012 in Buchanan D323 [map], 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

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Following a summer publication break, Asia Pacific Memo (APM) is back to feature accessible scholarly research on contemporary Asia. Twice-weekly, APM publishes short text essays or video interviews at http://www.asiapacificmemo.ca/

• “China Crucial to India’s Mobile Revolution,” by National University of Singapore’s Amitendu Palit

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Wu Han-chi (伍漢持): One Family – Two Nations, a cultural exhibition on the life of Wu Han-chi, will be on display in the Asian Centre Auditorium. An instrumental figure in the uprisings of the 1910s that shaped the future of China, he was assassinated on political grounds in 1913.

Date: Sept. 13 to 26, 2012
Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Place: 1871 West Mall

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UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC) presents “The Iron Pulpit”: Missionary Printing Presses in British Columbia, a display of texts produced on missionary printing presses in British Columbia from the 1850s to 1910s.

 Date: Until Oct. 31, 2012
 Time: Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
 Place: Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, level one

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