An estimated 40,000 are in Paris for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, including UPEI’s Dr. Adam Fenech.

Dr. Fenech is director of UPEI’s Climate Research Lab. He has worked extensively in climate change since 1988, including as a member of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Dr. Fenech is in Paris as an official observer to the conference. He has been sharing his thoughts on the conference in a series of articles in The Guardian. He also spoke of his optimism for the outcome of the conference in an interview with CBC Radio’s Island Morning.

“I don’t think we’re going to meet the big target that we’re looking for, but I think there’s going to be enough momentum coming out of this meeting here in Paris to make a difference in terms of combatting climate change.”

Dr. Fenech will also be chronicling some of his observations and experiences at the Paris Climate Change Conference on the UPEI Climate Research Lab’s website. 

Today marks the third annual GivingTuesday in Canada and the Island's Lieutenant Governor, accountants, along with Island charities, including UPEI, are collaborating for GivingTuesday on PEI - a day for giving back.

Including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Canadians are expected to spend more than any other time of year to purchase gifts for loved ones. Charities are hoping Islanders include generosity to charity in their holiday giving. GivingTuesday inspires people to take action to improve their local communities, and give back to charities and causes they care about.

Hon. Frank Lewis, Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island, wholeheartedly endorses this movement of GivingTuesday.  He invites all Islanders to give as they are able and to spread the word this season.

"We live in one of the most generous provinces in Canada and I invite Islanders to support GivingTuesday. Consider giving to your chosen charities and share by email or on social media, whether you are volunteering, making a gift to a favourite charity or donating needed items to support and welcome the families arriving here from refugee camps," says His Honour.

UPEI, as a member of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners and the PEI Chapter of LEAVE A LEGACY™, has joined other PEI charities to participate in the social media campaign to raise awareness of thoughtful, well-planned tax preferred gifts that benefit the community.

Follow the movement on twitter @GivingTuesdayCa and use #PEI or like on Facebook. Give to THE INSPIRE! CAMPAIGN in support of strategic priorities of the University of Prince Edward Island.

UPEI Athletics and Recreation selects talented athletes as UPEI Panther Subway Athletes of the Week to recognize their hard work and dedication to their respective sports. The Athletes of the Week for November 23–29 are Marie-Soleil Deschenes, Women’s Hockey, and Marcus Power, Men’s Hockey. Deschenes and Power will also be nominated to Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Sport for possible recognition in the region and/or country.

Who:  Marie-Soleil Deschenes, Women’s Hockey; and Marcus Power, Men’s Hockey

What: UPEI Panther Athletes of the Week

When: Week of November 23–29

Where: University of Prince Edward Island

Why:  Deschenes, a fourth-year Bachelor of Science student from Île-Perrot, Quebec, had a strong weekend in goal for the Panthers.  During the Panthers’ 4-3 OT loss to St.FX and 1-0 loss to Dalhousie, Deschenes stopped 70 of 75 shots for a 93.3 save percentage.

Power, a second-year Bachelor of Business Administration student from St. John’s, N.L., was a huge impact player for the Panthers last week.  During the Panthers’ 5-4 and 4-3 win over the St. Thomas Tommies, Powers tallied three goals and two assists.

About UPEI Athletics and Recreation
• Nine varsity sports and six club team programs
• Proud member of the AUS and CIS
• Athletic facilities include: Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place, and UPEI Turf
• Home of Panther Sports Medicine
• Other facilities available to students and the community at large include: fitness centre, squash and racquetball courts, competition and leisure pool with hot tub, and two ice arenas
 

One year after UPEI announced the launch of the School of Sustainable Design Engineering, the association for professional engineers on PEI recognized President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz with the prestigious “Friend of the Profession Award” at its annual awards banquet.

Presented to someone who is not a professional engineer, the “Friend” award pays tribute to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the practice of Engineering on PEI. New Engineers PEI President David Taylor, who happens to be Manager, Environmental Services at UPEI, read the citation.

“Dr. Abd-El-Aziz has worked closely with groups inside and outside the University to identify and develop new programs that benefit students and our communities. One such development is the UPEI School of Sustainable Design Engineering, the first of its kind in Canada,” said Taylor. “Through its innovative model, this program provides students, industry, and community organizations with unprecedented opportunities to collaborate on ‘real world’ challenges and solutions.”

“He has contributed great time and energy to fulfilling a vision of UPEI becoming a national leader in Sustainable Design Engineering, and has done so ‘at the speed of business’.”

“Dr. Abd-El-Aziz has engaged many PEI engineering professionals and UPEI alumni to ensure the integrity of the program and candid input of employers and industry is considered at all times. He has also led the building of an outstanding Engineering Industry Advisory Committee to ensure the program maintains timely input on industry needs.”

“I am so honoured to receive this award from Engineers PEI, and especially to receive it from my colleague and new President of the association, David Taylor,” said President Abd-El-Aziz while accepting the award.

“Three years ago I spoke of the dream that UPEI and Engineers PEI shared, to build a School of Sustainable Design Engineering,” added Abd-El-Aziz. “And now, due to the efforts of many in the engineering and broader community, that dream has come true. I share this award with, and thank, everyone who has worked on making this program a reality.”

Engineers PEI President Taylor’s final comment summed up the sentiment in the room.

“Dr. Abd-El-Aziz’s willingness to take a risk in programming and his considerable passion in following through on this vision is historical for UPEI and our province.”

The UPEI School of Business case competition team of Harrison Wood, Erin Devine, Bobby McIsaac, and Megan Martin has qualified to compete at the prestigious NIBS Worldwide Business Case Competition from February 28-March 2, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas. The UPEI team is one of only three from Canada to qualify!

The Network of International Business Schools, or NIBS, business case competition consists of a qualifying round and a championship round. In the qualifying round, students receive a business case that they had never seen before, to read and analyze. They then submit a written report within a few hours that includes strategies and recommendations to solve issues facing the business. This is the fourth time a UPEI team has both attempted and qualified to compete at the NIBS championship event. 

Congratulations to Harrison, Erin, Bobby, and Megan, and coach Mary Whitrow. UPEI is ‘Panther Proud’ and will be cheering for you during the championship round!

This month, Dr. Etienne Côté of the Atlantic Veterinary College celebrated his 3M national teaching fellowship with a four-day teaching retreat at the Banff Springs Hotel. He joined nine other extraordinary teachers from across the country in conversation about the future of teaching in higher education. The retreat is sponsored by 3M Canada, which has for the last 30 years supported and celebrated innovative teaching in higher education.

Dr. Côté joins five other 3M National Teaching Fellows at UPEI, and as the Globe and Mail’s report on Universities 2016 points out, “With six prestigious 3M teaching awards under its belt, the school is in the top three in Atlantic Canada by number of 3M awards.” For Dr. Cote’s full citation for the 3M, please visit the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Dr. Côté will join the Faculty Development Summer Institute at UPEI as a facilitator in 2016.

Submitted by Dr. Shannon Murray

More than 65 delegates from a cross-section of groups from across the country gathered today at UPEI for The Consultation on Culture and Language Learning 2015: Perspective for the Future. The symposium was presented by UPEI and Canadian Parents for French PEI, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

More than 17,000 people on Prince Edward Island speak French, including more than 5,000 who speak it as a first language. With more young people than ever seeking the benefits of bilingualism, participants at today’s symposium discussed their challenges and opportunities.

“This symposium is just a start to the discussion on how we can improve and enhance language learning for Island students,” said Brittany Jakubiec, President of Canadian Parents for French PEI. “We are thrilled with the quality of the conversation today and looking forward to the next steps identified by this group.”

Participants discussed ways to encourage both first and second French language speakers to live more fully in French: at work, at home, and in public. Dr. Ronald MacDonald, UPEI’s Dean of Education, spoke of education’s role in encouraging a flourishing French community.

“In PEI and across the country there is a French teacher shortage. All of our BEd (français langue second) graduates find work, sometimes even before they graduate,” said Dr. MacDonald. “ This province-wide partnership created to support French language and culture will surely contribute to this gap in the workforce.”

The symposium operated with a think-tank approach, which a variety of open space sessions to encourage dialogue. The day included a special presentation by Graham Fraser, Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages and music from local young entertainers Julien Kitson and Zakery Cormier.

The inaugural symposium was an opportunity to bring together educators and community to network, strengthen partnerships, and identify shared priorities for improving teaching and learning, addressing achievement gaps, and sharing best practices for supporting the well-being and educational outcomes of PEI students.

Organizing groups for the symposium included the PEI Department of Education, Early Childhood Development and Culture, the English Language School Board, La Commission scolaire de langue français, Collège Acadie de Î.-P.-É., Holland College, UPEI Faculty of Education, UPEI Department of Modern Languages, UPEI Faculty of Arts, and Canadian Parents for French PEI.

Congratulations to Ana Victoria Reyes! Her video, “International education isn’t just what you learn in class,” was selected as the runner up in the Canadian Bureau for International Education’s #IEW2015 photo and video contest.

On its website, the CBIE says the video “captures the full international student experience in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Coffee, friends, class, and missing home are all part of the study-in-Canada experience, showing that international education goes beyond the classroom.”

University of Prince Edward Island Women’s Hockey Coach Bruce Donaldson is pleased to announce that Havelock, New Brunswick native, Faith Steeves has committed to the Panthers for 2016–17.

Steeves is currently attending Petitcodiac Regional High School and plays for the Moncton Midget AAA Rockets. In 28 games this season, the forward has recorded 28 goals with 9 assists and 13 minutes in penalties.

Highlights for Steeves over the past few years include attending the Esso Cup twice and scoring a hat trick against the Edmonton Thunder in 2014, playing with the New Brunswick provincial team for three years, and participating in the 2015 Canada Games on Team NB.

“After reviewing many different opportunities,” Steeves said, “I felt that UPEI was the best fit for me both academically and athletically. I’m very happy to be joining the Panther family and look forward to helping my teammates carry on the Panther tradition of hard work”.

Coach Donaldson comments, “Our program has one main priority for next year, improve our offense attack by adding skilled offensive forwards and one offensive defenceman. Faith clearly is a goal scorer; she has had success in every year of her Midget career and is a key offensive member of the Moncton program. I see her helping our power play out, and scoring from either side of her stick.”

Steeves is enrolled in the Faculty of Arts and plans to major in Psychology.

About UPEI Athletics and Recreation

• Nine varsity sports and six club team programs
• Proud member of the AUS and CIS
• Athletic facilities include: Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place
• Home of Panther Sports Medicine
• Other facilities available to students and the community at large include: fitness centre, squash and racquetball courts, competition and leisure pool with hot tub, and two ice arenas

Two veterinary epidemiologists from the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) recently received prestigious international awards from the International Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE).

The ISVEE presented Dr. Ian Dohoo, professor emeritus of epidemiology at AVC, with the inaugural Roger Morris ISVEE Award for extraordinary lifetime achievement and Dr. Charles Caraguel, a former graduate student at AVC, with the first ISVEE Emerging Scientist Award at its annual meeting in Mexico in November.

During the ISVEE meeting, it was also announced that the internationally renowned UPEI Centre for Epidemiological Research (CVER) at AVC was awarded the hosting of the 2021 ISVEE conference, which brings together over 500 epidemiologists and economists world-wide to discuss veterinary epidemiology and economics related to global food systems, public health, and interactions between humans and domestic and wild animals. Canada last hosted the ISVEE conference in 1991. This will be only the second time the conference has been held in Canada.

“The contributions of Drs. Dohoo and Caraguel and their collaborative research, teaching and service networks are vital to the well-being of our world’s human and animal populations,” says Dr. Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, president and vice-chancellor of UPEI. “Their work impacts food systems, public health, disease surveillance and control, and the policies that guide improvements in health, safety and quality of life. I congratulate and thank them for their achievements and leadership.”

“I congratulate Drs. Dohoo and Caraguel on receiving these prestigious awards,” says Dr. Greg Keefe, dean of AVC. “Dr. Dohoo has left an indelible mark on the College and on me personally as a mentor and my graduate supervisor. Dr. Caraguel, as a former graduate student, bears witness to the excellence of our epidemiology and aquatics programs.”

Dohoo is known worldwide for his expertise in veterinary epidemiology. A founding faculty member at AVC, he led the development of the College’s internationally recognized research program in veterinary epidemiology, becoming the first director of CVER. He has a long list of awards, honours, and publications to his credit, including co-authorship of Veterinary Epidemiologic Research, the standard text used for epidemiology curricula in veterinary schools worldwide.

After completing his veterinary degree in France, Caraguel earned his Master of Science and PhD degrees at AVC, under the supervision of Dohoo and internationally renowned aquatic epidemiologist Dr. Larry Hammell. At UPEI’s 2010 Convocation, he received the Governor General’s gold medal for graduate studies. Now a faculty member at the University of Adelaide’s School of Animal and Veterinary Science in Australia, he has developed a strong epidemiology program in that school’s veterinary curriculum. He also works with food production industries in Australia.

“The awarding of the two medals to Charles and to me confirms that our international peers view the veterinary epidemiology program at AVC to be among the strongest in the world,” says Dohoo.