UBC This Week – 19 Feb 2015

UBC faculty and graduate students were honoured by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for their innovation and interdisciplinary research.

The UBC winners and their projects are:

• Kaylee Byers, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies
  Vancouver infestation focus of Canada’s first urban rat study
• Rowan Cockett, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
  Responsible oil recovery starts with better 3D images
• Leslie Smith, Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
  Reducing the business and environmental risks of mining
• Paul Schaffer, François Bénard, Anna Celler, Radioloy and Thomas J. Ruth, Neurology
  Canadian scientists have developed a technology to address isotope shortages

Click here for more information.

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Faculty members Sara Harris of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and Peter Ostafichuk of the Department of Mechanical Engineering were recognized with 3M National Teaching Fellowships. The fellowships are given by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in partnership with 3M Canada to recognize exceptional teachers and leaders at universities. Fellows become lifetime members of the society and participate in a retreat where they brainstorm ways to make higher education even better.

Harris’s interactive approach to teaching has inspired colleagues to ditch traditional lectures for something more engaging. “She is among the best I have seen, and I have seen some of the best everywhere,” says Nobel prize-winning physicist Carl Wieman.

“Dr. Pete” encourages students to design solutions to tricky problems, including land-mine detection and therapeutic exercises for those with neurological disorders. His teaching approach inspires a deep sense of social responsibility.

Read the announcement in Maclean’s here.

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Journalist and associate professor of journalism Alfred Hermida is a finalist for the National Business Book Award for the most outstanding Canadian business-related book published in 2014.

Hermida’s book Tell Everyone presents an analysis of the impact social media has had on the way we share and gather information. The $20,000 prize will be awarded on April 16, 2015. Click here for more information.

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Peter M. Byrne, professor emeritus of Civil Engineering, was awarded the Canadian Geotechnical Society’s R.F. Legget Medal for 2014, the society’s highest honour to an individual for “outstanding, life-long contributions to geotechnique.” Click here for more information.

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UBC Science announced the winners of its 2015 Science Achievement Awards which recognizes staff, students and faculty whose service contributions have had a significant positive impact within the faculty.

Honours went to Audrey Davison (Science co-op), Diane Johnson (Computer Science), Doug Polson (Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences), Odette Rivers (Microbiology and Immunology), Andrea Sollberger (Statistics), Mathias Schuetz (Botany), Andy Leung (Statistics), Nicolette Fonseca, (Microbiology and Immunology), Carmen Wong (Integrated Science Program), Marc Horwitz (Microbiology and Immunology) and Bill Milsom (Zoology).

Johnson was recognized with an Achievement Award for Service for her outstanding work in designing and implementing careers-related programming customized for computer science students, and for engaging computer science alumni and employers.

Click here for more information.

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PhD candidate Michael Muthukrishna is one of five finalists in the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s (SSHRC) Research for a Better Life: The Storytellers challenge.

Muthukrishna was invited to present his work on the Database of Religious History at the SSHRC awards ceremony in Ottawa. Click here for a video of his presentation.

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Engineering physics students Michael Ip and Sagar Malhi are two of 38 finalists in Next 36, a Canadian venture-building competition that nurtures young entrepreneurs through top business and academic mentoring and seed capital. Ip and Malhi began the Next 36 with 628 other applicants from Canadian and American universities, including hopefuls from Harvard and Yale. The finalists will be working on their startups until August when they will pitch their businesses on Venture Day.  Click here for more information.

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The UBC Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions (CSDI) has partnered with the David Suzuki Foundation on an event titled “Against the Odds: How Democracies Can Solve Climate Change.”

These leaders will share success stories on how government decisions can help tackle climate change, engage citizens and stimulate economic growth:

• Wade Crowfoot, Deputy Cabinet Secretary and Senior Advisor to California Governor Jerry Brown
• Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservative Council of New Brunswick and former Senior Policy Advisor to the Ontario Environment Minister
• Greg Moore, Mayor of Port Coquitlam

Date:   March 2, 2015
Time:   Speakers 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. Reception: 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Place:  SFU Segal Building, 500 Granville Street, Vancouver.
Info:    Click here.

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The UBC Community Based Research Communications Working Group presents the first event of their Telling Stories Series. Sue Rowley (MOA/Anthropology), Shelly Johnson (School of Social Work) and Rashid Sumaila (Fisheries Centre) will share their stories to demonstrate the impact and value of their approach, in particular, how storytelling was used to build research capacity and community engagement. Registration required. All are welcome.

Date:    February 23, 2015
Time:    3 – 5 p.m. Doors open at 2:30 p.m.
Place:   UBC Museum of Anthropology, 6393 NW Marine Drive
Info:     Click here to register.

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