UBC This Week 24-April-2014

 

Recent UBC Media Releases

Apr 24 New UBC social network helps alumni change the world
Apr 23 UBC J-School a CUT above
Apr 23 Foreign firms work harder to communicate than U.S. competitors
Apr 22 Celebrating the written word on World Book Day
Apr 17 Stopping Heartbleed
Apr 17 A peek inside admissions
Apr 16 TV turns 75
Apr 14 Learning the lessons of Columbine

Upcoming Event Highlights

Apr 24-26 Rethinking Sustainability Symposium 2014
Apr 25 “Marinate Me”: Visual Art BA/BFA Graduating Exhibition
Apr 25 School-based Teacher Education: The rEvolution
Apr 26 9/11: The Novels
Apr 26 Royal Opera House Live Cinema at UBC – Wagner: Parsifal
Apr 27 Olga Galeano, Violin (M.Mus. Solo Recital)
Apr 28 Robert Stibravy presentation on digitization methods; UBC Library’s Digital Preservation Strategy
Apr 28 Evaluating Teaching Enhancement Projects
Apr 29 GPS/Mitacs Step Workshop: Discovering the Entrepreneur Within
Apr 29 Low-cost ways to preserve family archives (webinar)
Apr 30 Celebratory Lunch with Teaching Award Winners from across UBC
Apr 30 Bridging the Gap: Engaging Teacher Candidates With Technology in Practice
May 1 The Megacity of Jakarta: Problems, Challenges, and Planning Efforts
May 1 Meet the Microbe: Why water and books don’t mix
May 2 2014 Graduate Student Symposium: Advancing Nursing Practice
May 3 Performing the Komagata Maru, Theatre and the Work of Memory
May 5 Primary Care in BC: Where the past is the present
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

Psychology professor elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Janet Feldman Werker, professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Psychology, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Werker is a psychologist who focuses on understanding the roots of language acquisition.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an honourary society and a leading center for independent policy research with a membership that includes more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer prize winners. Members contribute to Academy publications and studies of science and technology policy, energy and global security, social policy and American institutions, and the humanities, arts, and education.

The new class will be inducted at a ceremony on Oct. 11, 2014 at the Academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, MA. View a list of the newly elected members here.

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YWCA’s 2014 Women of Distinction nominees

Cicely Bain and Janis Sarra are among this year’s nominees for the 2014 YWCA Women of Distinction Awards. The awards honour individuals whose activities and achievements contribute to the well-being and future of their community.

Bain, the founder of Celebrating Women at UBC, has been nominated in the category for Young Woman of Distinction. Sarra, a professor in the Faculty of Law and the director of the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, has been nominated in the category for Education, Training and Development. The award recipients will be announced at a dinner on June 3, 2014. For more information, click here.

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Director of Brain Research Centre inducted into Canadian Medical Hall of Fame

Max Cynader, founding director of the Djavad Mowfaghian Centre for Brain Health and the Brain Research Centre, will be one of six Canadians inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame on April 24, 2014. Each year, up to six individuals are recognized for their extraordinary contribution to improving the health of Canadians and people worldwide. Cynader’s scientific discoveries, biotechnology companies, and community outreach have led to new treatments and improved public understanding of the importance of brain health. For more information, click here.

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Journalism School project recognized by Murrow Awards

CUT, a multimedia documentary about illegal logging produced by students in the UBC Graduate School of Journalism’s International Reporting Program in collaboration with the Centre for Digital Media, has won a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio, Television and Digital News Association. The award is in the category of Small Online News Organization: Overall Excellence. CUT is the culmination of a year of research and reporting tracing the sources of lumber and paper from forests around the world. Students traveled to the Russian Far East, Cameroon and Indonesia, documenting the problems with illegal logging, and exploring efforts to slow down deforestation. Excerpts of the documentary can be found in The New York Times. For more information, click here.

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UBC partners with the City of Surrey to bolster the future of urban design in Metro Vancouver

The School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) at UBC is partnering with the City of Surrey to investigate innovative responses to urban design challenges facing the growing cities of the 21st century — issues such as rapid population increase, sustainable development challenges and the environmental impact of growth. Surrey has committed $240,000 over three years in funding towards SALA’s comprehensive Master of Urban Design Program, a new graduate degree program intended to equip urban design professionals with the skills to address the pressing issues facing growing cities around the world. For more information, click here.

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Electrical and Computer Engineering professors included in Best of Physica Status Solidi 2014

A publication by Professors Kenichi Takahata and Alireza Nojeh from Electrical and Computer Engineering will be included in this year’s edition of the Best of Physica Status Solidi. In this paper, one of the most accessed in 2013, the research team reports results from integrating a normally open, shape-memory-alloy based MEMS switch with a carbon-nanotube forest used as a contact material. Click here for more information.

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SCARP grad wins two scholarships to study in Britain

School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) graduate Murray Mckenzie (Master of Arts in Planning, ’13) has won two competitive research awards: the University College London Overseas Research Fellowship and a British Economic and Social Research Council Fellowship. Mckenzie will be conducting research in the University College London doctoral program under the supervision of Andrew Harris, one of the best young urban scholars in Britain.

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Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards, 2013-14

UBC annually awards teaching prizes to UBC teaching assistants in recognition of the valuable role that they play in undergraduate programs. The prize includes a certificate and $1,000. The award presentations will take place in early May 2014.

The 2013-14 recipients of the Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards are:

Parisa Behnamfar, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Kristen Carter, Art History, Visual Art & Theory
Vincent Chan, Mathematics
Benjamin Cheung, Psychology
Jeffrey Goeders, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Heather Holroyd, Sociology
Won Kim, Language and Literacy Education
Andy Leung, Statistics
Kristina McBurney, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Alym Moosa, Medicine
Leanne Racicot, Chemistry
Md. Hafizur Rahman, Chemical and Biological Engineering
Sara Schroeter, Language and Literacy Education
Bryanna Thiel, Land and Food Systems
Ashley Welsh, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Science Education

For more information, click here.

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