Dr. Ian Dohoo, professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) at UPEI, was honoured recently with an honorary doctorate in veterinary medicine by the University of Helsinki in Finland.

Dohoo was one of ten people honoured by the University of Helsinki's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine during a three-day celebration that included, among other events, a sword-whetting ceremony, the degree conferment ceremony, a formal ball, and a salute to the rising sun at 4:01 a.m. Helsinki time. Five people from Finland, including Sauli Niinistö, president of the country, and five from other countries were awarded honorary degrees during the event. During the conferment ceremony, Dohoo was presented with the University of Helinski's insignia of academic rank-a doctoral top hat and a sword.

Dohoo received his honorary degree in recognition of his internationally renowned work in veterinary epidemiology-the study of diseases in populations of animals-and his long record of post-graduate teaching in Scandinavia. The presentation was even more meaningful for Dohoo because Dr. Antti Sukura, the current dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Helsinki, was a participant in his first Scandinavian graduate course.

'Dr. Dohoo is renowned internationally for his expertise in veterinary epidemiology,' says Dr. Greg Keefe, dean of AVC. 'I am honoured to count myself among his early graduate students at the Atlantic Veterinary College. This honour is a testament to his excellent record as a teacher, researcher, and collaborator.'

From 1990 to the present, Dohoo has been teaching graduate-level epidemiology courses in the Scandinavian region. Many of the courses were organized by a collaboration of universities in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway.

'Being involved in epidemiology in Scandinavia has been a highlight of my career,' says Dohoo. 'To be able to contribute to the region's competency in epidemiology and to have it recognized in this way is a thrill for me.'

Dohoo credits his mentor and friend Dr. Wayne Martin, of the University of Guelph, with getting him involved in teaching in Scandinavia, adding that Martin recently received an honorary degree from the University College Dublin in Ireland. 'It's very exciting that we are both being honoured at the same time by different universities.'

This honour is the most recent among many for Dohoo. In 2005, he was elected a Fellow of the prestigious Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He received honorary degrees from the University of Sweden in 2008 and the University of Guelph in 2012. He has won numerous awards for teaching and research, including the 2012 Calvin W. Schwabe Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Association for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine. He was named professor emeritus at UPEI's 2012 convocation ceremony. With Dr. Henrik Stryhn of AVC and Martin, he authored the standard text used for epidemiology curricula in veterinary schools around the world.

Dohoo graduated with a degree in veterinary medicine from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, in 1976, and in 1982 with his PhD. He joined AVC in 1985, the year before the College accepted its first class of students, and retired in 2012.

The AVC community welcomed the Class of 2019 on Friday, August 28, at the College’s annual AVC-CVMA Blue Coat Ceremony. At the ceremony, the students are presented with blue lab coats, signifying the beginning of their four-year journey toward their doctor of veterinary medicine degrees. The students in the Class of 2019 settled into their studies quickly and are getting to know each other and their school. We are looking forward to a great year with all of our students! We thank the CVMA (Canadian Veterinary Medical Association) for supporting our incoming students at their Blue Coat Ceremony. 

The Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI opened its doors to the public on Saturday, September 26, welcoming up to 2,800 people to its 27th annual Open House.During his first Open House as dean of AVC, Dr. Greg Keefe greeted visitors—from infants to grandparents—at the main doors of the College.

“Open House was a wonderful success,” says Dr. Keefe. “The smiles on the faces of the children were contagious as they showed off their bandaged teddy bears. But it was not just the kids who enjoyed Open House; I overheard parents commenting about how interesting AVC is and how they wanted to come back to see it again. Open House is a great way to say thank you to the community that supports the College and our students so well throughout the year. Congratulations to Amy Bullerwell, student coordinator of Open House, and her army of student volunteers.”

This year’s event featured the always-popular children’s activity centre with a teddy bear clinic, gowning and gloving like a surgeon, face painting and animal balloons; nail-clipping and clicker-training demonstrations; the parade of dog breeds, a wide variety of animals from poultry and pigs to hamsters and hedgehogs; and exhibits by community partners such as the PEI Humane Society, 4-H, the Cat Action Team, and Maritime Greyhound Dog Rescue. New this year were short seminars about first aid for pets and protecting pets from poisons. Let’s Talk Science and the UPEI Department of Physics also mounted interactive demonstrations and displays.

AVC’s Open House is one of the largest, most successful open houses in Atlantic Canada.

A beautiful bald eagle is free again after spending most of the summer recovering from illness. The Atlantic Veterinary College’s wildlife service released the mature bald eagle at the Brudenell Campground and Trail Rides in eastern PEI on Tuesday, September 29. The eagle was found in that area by horse trail guides on July 6, 2015. Unable to fly, the dehydrated, weak bird was brought to the wildlife service at AVC where it received critical care in the first weeks. Over the following weeks, it slowly started to gain strength and began eating on its own. The eagle was gradually moved to larger quarters in the hospital and was eventually able to fly short distances. It was then transferred to the Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Nova Scotia, where it gained flight muscle strength in preparation for its release eight weeks after it was found. Present at the release were the Honourable Robert Mitchell, Minister of Communities, Land and Environment, and Steve MacLean, deputy minister. The eagle is one of several raptors treated at AVC and released back to the wild this past summer. The AVC wildlife service thanks the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre for supporting the care of wildlife at the College. 

UPEI case competition students have started their year off “right” by taking top spots at the Atlantic Schools of Business (ASB) Case Competition. UPEI teams won both first and second place against nine other teams from Atlantic Canada. The competition took place on September 26 and was an integral part of the 45th annual ASB conference, one Canada’s longest running academic business conferences.

During the first morning of the competition, students received a business case they had never seen before. They then had three hours to analyze the case and create a solution, presenting it to a panel of industry professionals for 15 minutes, followed by a 5-minute question period. Their presentations stood out for being comprehensive and clearly communicated.

Other competing teams included Acadia University, Cape Breton University, Crandall University, Mount Allison University, Saint Mary’s University (2 teams), St. Francis Xavier University, Université de Moncton, and the University of New Brunswick.

UPEI Case Competition coach Mary Whitrow is proud of the team’s win. “Because this competition comes early in the year, students had to work hard to be ready so soon,” she said. “I am proud of both teams for putting in their best effort and earning this accomplishment.”

Dean of Business Juergen Krause is also pleased with such a decisive success. He said, “This win is a testament to our strong position regionally in case competitions. Congratulations for our teams and coach for their outstanding showing.”

The students on the winning team are Hannah Dawson, John Donaldson, Kate Kinsman and Cullen Mullally. The second place team included Erin Devine, Bogdan Belomestnykh, Bobby McIsaac, and Harrison Wood.

Bobby McIsaac says his team is more energized after this initial performance, “An early victory has provided us with an injection of confidence and a taste for success. This is just the motivation we need to continue working hard and representing our school with pride!”

Hannah Dawson agreed, “As the year goes on, it will be exciting to keep pushing and see what we can achieve.”

This is not the first success for UPEI at the ASB Case Competition. UPEI won first place in 2011, first and third place in 2012, and after not participating in 2013, achieved third place in 2014.

On Wednesday, September 30, Dr. Greg Keefe, Dean of the Atlantic Veterinary College, was pleased to host the Honourable Alan McIsaac, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, and John Jamieson, deputy minister. During their visit to AVC, the minister and deputy minister received an overview of AVC’s primary areas: teaching, research and service. They met with AVC faculty members and toured various sections of the College, including its Aquatic Animal Facility, Diagnostic Services, Large Animal Hospital, Farm Service, and the Maritime Quality Milk and Shellfish Research Group laboratories.

The Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) presented its 2015 Honourable Eugene F. Whelan Green Hat Award on Friday, October 2, to the trustees of the Christofor Foundation for their long-standing support of the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre at AVC.

This support goes back to 1994 when the Animal Welfare Unit was established at the College through the generosity of philanthropist Lady Beaverbrook. In 1993 Lady Beaverbrook expressed to the Atlantic Veterinary College her wish to help horses and dogs. That wish resulted in a grant of $125,000 from the Sir James Dunn Foundation to create the Animal Welfare Unit at AVC, now known as the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre (SJDAWC). Lady Beaverbrook died in late 1994, leaving the residue of her estate primarily for the benefit of domestic animals.

The SJDAWC has received consistent financial support and encouragement from the trustees of the Christofor Foundation (and the associated Sir James Dunn Foundation)—Michael and Cynthia Doyle, the late Dr. Tom Taylor, Esma Taylor, and Tom Taylor. In particular, the late Dr. Tom Taylor saw the value of creating and supporting a science-based centre dedicated to animal welfare.

Support from the Christofor and Sir James Dunn Foundations—totaling almost $5.9 million to June 2015—has provided secure funding that formed the basis of the Centre’s development. Since 1994, the Centre has met at least annually with the trustees and has presented proposals at intervals for renewed and expanded support.

The SJDAWC and AVC are grateful for the Christofor Foundation’s recent renewal of its support of the Centre with a commitment of $1.5 million over the next five years, including a new Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Graduate Scholarship fund at $75,000 per year.

During the presentation, Dr. Greg Keefe, dean of AVC, thanked the Christofor Foundation and its trustees for their generous ongoing support.

“Over the past 29 years, the Atlantic Veterinary College has exceeded all expectations with respect to its education, research, and service programs,” he says. “It is with the support of donors such as the Christofor Foundation that our college is truly an Atlantic Canadian success story.”

Over the past 21 years, through the SJDAWC, the Christofor and Sir James Dunn Foundations have supported 79 research projects that have practical implications to improve animal welfare, for a total commitment of $2.5 million, and 20 service projects with direct and immediate benefits to animals and teaching benefits for AVC students, totaling $1.4 million. This includes $1 million over ten years to establish a Chair in Animal Welfare at AVC, and support of AVC’s doctor of veterinary medicine students and graduate students through the Christofor Award in Animal Welfare and the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Graduate Scholarship fund. Twenty-nine graduate students have been supported partially or wholly by the foundations, and the research performed has resulted in at least 74 publications. The foundations have also supported the Centre’s student project fund, its annual Animal Welfare in Practice conference, and many other initiatives.

The presentation of the Green Hat Award followed UPEI’s 16th annual Recognition of Founders ceremony honouring the university’s five past-presidents, Dr. Ronald Baker, Dr. Peter Meincke. Dr. CWJ Eliot (posthumously), Dr. Elizabeth R. Epperly, and the Hon. Wade MacLauchlan, and the launch of its $50 million friend- and fundraising INSPIRE! CAMPAIGN.

The UPEI School of Sustainable Design Engineering (SDE) participated in the CIBC Run for the Cure on October 4, and did so in big way. Stephen Peters, a second-year SDE student, came in second in the men's competition with a time of 24 minutes in the 5K run. The School also took home the award for “Post-Secondary Team Challenge” and the team was recognized at the Closing Ceremony with a plaque.

The team included staff, faculty, and Year 3 and Year 2 students.

Associate Professor Amy Hsiao said, “It was wonderful to be part of the community. We ran in honour of cancer health care professionals, moms, loved ones lost, and survivors, as well as engineering research and design focused on detection and treatment.”

She added, “We challenge other UPEI departments next year to join in for a great cause!”

Overall, the event in PEI raised $109,666.35.

UPEI Athletics and Recreation and Development and Alumni Engagement invite all former UPEI rugby players and fans to “Rugby Alumni Day” on Saturday, October 10. The alumni day for former rugby players is being held in conjunction with the UPEI Women’s Rugby game versus Acadia at 2:00 pm at MacAdam Field (UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place).

12 noon–2 pm – Alumni and friends gather at The Wave to watch World Cup Rugby action on the big screen, gifts provided by

2:00–4:00 pm – UPEI Women's Rugby match

4:00–6:00 pm – UPEI Men's Rugby alumni match

6:00–7:30 pm – Reception at The Wave

7:30–10:00 pm – Dinner and awards at The Factory