For Dr. Martha Mellish, “it’s all horses all the time.”

A member of AVC’s Class of 2005, Dr. Mellish recently joined the Atlantic Veterinary College as an assistant professor in the College’s Ambulatory Equine Service (AES), responsible for teaching veterinary students, and providing veterinary and theriogenology services to AES clients.

Dr. Mellish grew up in New Perth, PEI, where her parents, Ken and Teresa Mellish, operated a dairy farm. After graduating from high school, she attended the pre-veterinary program at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) in Truro, Nova Scotia. She didn’t really think about becoming a veterinarian until, while attending NSAC, she had a meeting with Dr. Wendell Grasse, director of AVC’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital at the time.

“Dr. Grasse inspired me to consider veterinary medicine as a profession,” she said. “I am so glad that I listened to him and became a veterinarian.”

She became interested in large animal medicine while at AVC, but it wasn't until her fourth year that she decided to specialize in equine medicine. Her experience at the VTH and external equine rotations led her to focus on horses, including equine theriogenology. She is board-certified through the American College of Theriogenologists.

Her interest in equine medicine came as no surprise to her family and friends. Horses have been an important part of her life since she was a child. She recently earned her USDF Silver Medal for competing successfully at Prix St. George level in dressage. She is currently riding Fantango NPF, a seven-year-old Dutch Warmblood horse bred for her by her father.

Dr. Mellish said she loved her time as a student at AVC. She felt excited and challenged by the educational program offered, and she enjoyed the close bond formed among her classmates. One major highlight for her was meeting her husband, Dr. Dave McRuer, also a member of the Class of 2005. The two met and began dating when they worked at AVC between their first and second years, and married in 2010.

After graduating from AVC, she completed a year-long internship at a private equine clinic in Virginia. For the next ten years, she worked in private practice in that state, with a six-month stint in Australia when she was between positions. Her husband provided veterinary care to wild animals at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

When asked what brought her back to AVC, Dr. Mellish said it was a combination of family and the opportunity for professional growth. Her family lives on PEI, and her husband’s in Nova Scotia. Their son Keith, age two-and-a-half, will get to know his grandparents and other family members.

She is looking forward to sharing her knowledge and expertise with students at AVC as they work toward their own careers in veterinary medicine.

UPEI’s Department of Athletics and Recreation celebrated the 2016–17 season at the 48th annual UPEI Athletic Awards Gala on Saturday, April 1, recognizing outstanding student athletes who have excelled in sport, the classroom, and serving the community. The UPEI Alumni Association’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year awards went to men’s soccer fullback Mark Ashlee and women’s hockey goalie Marie-Soleil Deschenes.

The event, held at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel, included student-athletes, coaches, staff, along with members of the University community, alumni, donors, sponsors, and booster club supporters.

In addition to the Athlete of the Year awards, club and varsity team awards were presented. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Rookie of the Year award winners from each team include (note that the MVP is listed first followed by Rookie of the Year):

Women’s volleyball: Karli Aucoin, Alessandra Corno
Men’s rugby: James Coyle, Isaac Kirkland
Women’s rugby: Holly Jones, Tara Campbell
Field hockey: Sydney Stavert, Karleigh MacEwen
Men’s soccer: Mark Ashlee, Mohamed Jaber
Women’s soccer: Jen Balderston, Amanda Stanyer
Men’s hockey: Cody Payne, Cody Payne
Women’s hockey: Marie-Soleil Deschenes, Sydnee Baker
Men’s basketball: Tyler Scott, Logan MacDonald
Women’s basketball: Kara Rigby, Jenna Mae Ellsworth
Track and field: (female) Bailey Smith, Kylee Wallace; (male) Damon MacDonald, Darcy Norton
Swimming: (female) Rebekah Nitschmann, (no Rookie of the Year awarded); (male) Matthew Smith, Pieter VanLeeuwen
Cross country: (female) Rebecca Doyle, Emma Moore; (male) Jeremy Thompson, Alex MacFadyen
Junior varsity women’s hockey: Jessie Howard, Rebecca Mosher

The J.T. “Mickey” Place Awards are presented by the UPEI Student Union to student-athletes who have made a contribution to student leadership on their team and on campus. John Thomas “Mickey” Place was connected not only with Athletics at UPEI, but also with all aspects of campus life. These awards were given in his memory to Rebecca Chapman (women’s rugby), MacKenzie Deighan (field hockey), Cullen Mullally (men’s soccer), Jerika Gimpel (women’s soccer), Ryan MacKinnon (men’s hockey), Teagan Pringle (women’s hockey), Lorenzo Parker (men’s basketball), Kiera Rigby (women’s basketball), Angela Sande (track and field) and Kelsie Bolivar (swimming).

The Gordon and Muriel Bennett Award is given to a student (male or female) who, over four years, best combined athletic achievement and academic excellence. Women’s rugby student-athlete Holly Jones was this year’s recipient.

The W.A. Ledwell Award goes to a student-athlete who has demonstrated outstanding athletic ability in the intercollegiate program, academic excellence, and the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and citizenship. Nelson Armstrong from men’s hockey was the recipient.

All team nominees for the Passion for Life Award, created in memory of former UPEI soccer player Rene Ayangma, were recognized, with the overall award going to women’s basketball player Kiera Rigby.

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the inaugural Barb C. Mullaly Memorial Athletic Award in memory of the late Barb Mullaly, former director of athletics at UPEI. It was presented to third-year science student Kelly Green, a member of the women’s soccer team, for her positive attitude, leadership, and mentorship.

About the UPEI Athletes of the Year

Marie-Soleil Deschenes, a goalie on the women’s hockey team, is a fifth-year science student from Île-Perrot, Quebec. She was named an AUS 1st Team All-Star.

Mark Ashlee, a fullback on the men’s soccer team, is a fifth-year arts student from Victoria, British Columbia. He was named an AUS 1st Team All-Star.

More than 270 young scientists from 32 Island schools will present 196 science projects at the 2017 PEI Science Fair. The event will be held Tuesday, April 4 at UPEI’s Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre. The theme this year, submitted by an elementary school participant in 2016, is “Science is Everywhere: Get Involved.”

These young scientists will share their projects and experiences with about 100 volunteer judges. The line-up of projects this year covers a broad range of topics, including health sciences, physical sciences, agriculture, environment, and natural resources. More than $15,000 in prizes and awards will be handed out by the 45 community partner organizations that annually support the Fair. Five students from grades 7-12 will be selected to represent PEI at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Regina in May, where more than $1 million in prizes and scholarships will be awarded. 

The public is invited to come by and speak with these remarkable students during the following times. For students in grades 4-6, public viewing is from 12:00-1:00 pm and the awards ceremony is 1:00-1:30 pm. For students in grades 7-12, public viewing is from 2:30-4:00 pm and the awards ceremony is 4:00-4:30 pm.

More information on the 2017 PEI Science Fair including a list of community partners can be found at: peisciencefair.ca.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

Dr. Neb Kujundzic, dean of Arts and a professor of philosophy at UPEI, delivered a guest lecture last week on the relationship between humanity, work, and technology (particularly robotics) and its implications for education to the Department of Philosophy at the University of Malta (UMalta).

Dr. Kujundzic is the latest of a long series of island-to-island exchanges between UPEI and UMalta, which started off with an invitation extended to Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino to visit UPEI back in 1992. Dr. Baldacchino is now pro-rector and a professor at UMalta and a UNESCO Co-Chair in Island Studies & Sustainability at UPEI and UMalta.

A healthy history of student exchanges exists between UMalta and UPEI. Clare Byrne, a UPEI student, is currently at UMalta for a semester studying political science. UMalta nursing student Chanel Borg spent a semester at UPEI last year. Dr. Robert Dennis, a professor of religious studies at UPEI, will visit Malta and UMalta in May 2017.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

The University of Prince Edward Island is proud to announce the creation of the Barb C. Mullaly Memorial Athletic Award in memory of the late Barb Mullaly, former director of athletics at UPEI.

The inaugural award was presented to third-year science student Kelly Green, a member of the women’s soccer team, at the UPEI Athletic Awards Gala held on Saturday, April 1, 2017. She was selected for the award by Chris Huggan, director of UPEI Athletics and Recreation; the athletics student leadership group; and varsity coaches.

“Kelly is very approachable with a fantastic positive attitude,” said Huggan. “Her trustworthy character, leadership, and mentoring qualities are a shining example to everyone. She is an integral part of the leadership group, which helped create new initiatives for the athletics department. Kelly is a strong, driven individual who holds the highest respect from everyone who knows her.”

Created by Mullaly’s family and friends, former students, and colleagues, the Barb C. Mullaly Memorial Athletic Award is granted to a returning Academic All-Canadian student athlete in their first undergraduate studies program, who displays a positive attitude and the qualities of leadership and mentorship that Mullaly exhibited throughout her university career in education.

“Through the Barb C. Mullaly Memorial Athletic Award, we are honoured to recognize the many great contributions that Barb made to athletics at UPEI during her long, outstanding career,” added Huggan. “Her legacy will live on through this award and the wonderful example she set as a leader in the field of sport.”

“Congratulations to Kelly on being the first recipient of this award created in Barb’s memory,” said Mary Lou Turner, Mullaly’s partner. “Barb’s family and friends are very pleased that the University is honouring Barb’s legacy in this way, and I was excited to be part of the inaugural presentation to a deserving student-athlete and leader.”

Mullaly’s four-decade career as a classroom instructor, coach, and nationally decorated athletic administrator began in 1967 at Prince of Wales College. When UPEI was formed in 1969, she began a long career at the University, initially as the first women’s basketball and field hockey coach. She eventually served as director of athletics at UPEI for 13 years, and then retired in 2006 as the University’s first director of wellness and fair treatment advocate. She passed away in December of 2016 after a brief illness.

Well-respected in the world of academics and athletics, Mullaly understood the competitive nature of sport but also believed that all student athletes need to focus on academics as well as athletics to reach their full potential. She worked to create an environment of fairness and equality, and to ensure that women were in leadership roles.

Mullaly served as president of Atlantic University Sport (AUS), and chaired numerous committees and sports. Upon retirement, she was awarded an honorary lifetime membership in the AUS. She was the long-time chair of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) finance committee and a member of the CIS executive committee. She was awarded the CIS Austin-Matthews Award in 2007 for outstanding service to university sport in Canada over her career.

She was named a Founder of UPEI in 2010. She was also the 2013 winner of the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty’s Mentor Award, which salutes a Prince Edward Islander for mentorship and leadership on the local, regional, and national level. At the time of her death, Mullaly was active in several community organizations, including the UPEI Retirees’ Association.

People who wish to contribute to this award may contact the UPEI Department of Development and Alumni Engagement at 902-566-0615.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

In keeping with one of the Institute of Island Studies’ goals to see Prince Edward Island through the lens of other islands, PEI’s Chief Justice, David Jenkins, will share with Islanders what he’s learned as a member of Bermuda’s Constituency Boundaries Commission. He will deliver a lecture Monday, April 10, at 7 pm, in the Faculty Lounge of UPEI’s SDU Main Building. All are welcome.

While Prince Edward Island goes through the process of updating its electoral boundaries, over the past several months, Chief Justice Jenkins has been on hand as Bermuda underwent a similar process. Bermuda has jurisdictional similarities with PEI, being an overseas territory of the UK comprised of 36 electoral districts and a population of approximately 65,000. This is why Justice Jenkins was first invited to be a member of the commission in 2009. He is also a former chair of the federal boundaries commission.

A statement released by Secretary Tenia Woolridge, on behalf of Bermuda's Commission, described the need for the review: “The Constitution requires that, from time to time, the Commission review the constituency boundaries and report thereon to the House. In deciding whether or not to recommend any changes in the boundaries, the Commission has to ensure that the constituencies contain, as far as reasonably practicable, equal numbers of persons qualified to be registered as electors. This is to achieve equality of votes. The Commission has to consider the constitutionally prescribed factors; as geographical features, natural boundaries and contiguity of constituencies.”

The Honourable Gerard Mitchell, who is chairing Prince Edward Island’s Electoral Boundaries Commission, will be on hand to provide the PEI context of reviewing the Island’s 27 electoral districts, including boundaries and names.

The Honourable David H. Jenkins is the Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island. After attending Charlottetown schools and Prince of Wales College, he graduated from Dalhousie University with his BComm in 1970 and LLB in 1973. He practiced law in Charlottetown with Scales, Jenkins & McQuaid, which became Stewart McKelvey, in a general practice focused on business, administrative law, labour, and employment and related litigation. He was appointed as Queens Counsel in 1986, has been president of the Law Society, and has served on national legal organizations including Federation of Law Societies of Canada President (1986), and as Secretary of the Canadian Bar Insurance Association, until his appointment as a judge.

He sat as a trial judge in the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island from 1993 to 2008, when he was appointed as Chief Justice of the province and of the Court of Appeal. He has served nationally as president of the Judges' Counselling Program, the Canadian Superior Courts Judges Association, and is currently a member of the Canadian Judicial Council.

Chief Justice Jenkins has always been involved in the Island and Charlottetown community.  He is a Charter member of the Rotary Club of Hillsborough and a Governor of the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

Admission is free and everyone is welcome to attend.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

The Atlantic Association for Research in the Mathematical Sciences (AARMS) is holding its 2017 summer school this July at UPEI. For a four-week period every summer, AARMS invites highly regarded faculty from around the world to deliver graduate courses in the mathematical sciences and their applications. The goals are to broaden the education of graduate students and to encourage promising undergraduates to continue their study.

Accommodations and registration is free for students, however travel arrangements and costs are the responsibility of the students.

Theme: Financial Mathematics and Actuarial Sciences.

Time and location: July 3–28, 2017, University of Prince Edward Island

School Directors: Dr. Alexander Alvarez, Dr. Gordon MacDonald, and Dr. Nasser Saad.

The summer school is intended for graduate students and promising undergraduate students from all parts of the world. Each participant is expected to register for at least two of the three courses. Each course consists of three hours lecture sessions per day for two weeks. These are graduate courses approved by the University of Prince Edward Island. AARMS will facilitate transfer credit to the extent possible.

Courses

Equity-Linked Life Insurance (July 3–15)
Instructor: Dr. Alexander Melnikov, University of Alberta.

Statistical Modeling in Finance and Insurance: from data to real-time decision making (July 17–28)
Instructor: Dr. Manuel Morales, University of Montreal.

Stochastic Control with applications to Mathematical Finance (July 17– 28)
Instructor: Dr. Agnès Sulem, Centre de Recherche Inria de Paris

For more information, please visit aarms.math.ca/affiliated/summer2017/

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

The April Island Studies Lecture features Master of Arts in Island Studies student Owen Jennings speaking about Saint Helena: an island in flux. His presentation is Tuesday, April 18, at 7 pm in the Faculty Lounge of UPEI’s SDU Main Building.

The allure of islands relies on often-inaccurate assumptions. These imaginary islands are small, remote, and—more often than not—tropical. Where most islands fall well short of that imagined island, the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena comes pretty close to the ideal. Over the past decade, this island has been gifted a new connection to the world—an airport. When it eventually opens to commercial traffic, the airport is expected to reduce travel time to and from South Africa from five days to a few hours. The Saints, as the islanders call themselves, will soon be able to travel in a way that most similar island communities take for granted. This lecture considers the experience of travelling to and being a researcher on Saint Helena, and what being a Saint might mean as the island's connection to the rest of the world changes dramatically.

Owen Jennings is a Master of Arts in Island Studies student at UPEI. He is studying remoteness and access on the island of Saint Helena, and, last November, had the opportunity to travel to Saint Helena to do his field research. Before coming to PEI, he studied politics for his undergraduate degree in the UK.

Admission to the lecture is free. All are welcome.

Watch for details for another lecture about islands–near and far–May 16. For more information, please contact Laurie at iis@upei.ca or 902-894-2881.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

A research project at the University of Prince Edward Island is seeking volunteers for a study on the impact of consumption of blueberries on indicators of diabetes. The research team is seeking participants who are healthy, non-smoking, and age 21 to 65. Eligible participants will be compensated up to 200 dollars.

Those interested in participating are invited to attend a 30-minute information session in room 301 of UPEI’s Health Sciences Building. To accommodate participants, sessions will be held at the following dates and times:

Tuesday, April 18, at 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm

Wednesday, April 19, at 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm

Thursday, April 20, at 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm

Friday, April 21, at 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm

Tuesday, April 25, at 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm

Wednesday, April 26, at 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm

Thursday, April 27 at 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm

Friday, April 28 at 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm

Please park in the Bell Aliant Centre/MacLauchlan Arena parking area for the noon information session and the UPEI parking lot C for the evening information session. 

This project is a collaboration between UPEI’s Dr. Katherine Gottschall-Pass, Dr. Marva Sweeney-Nixon, and Dr. Kim Stote, 2016/2017 UPEI Fulbright Scholar and Research Chair of Nutrisciences and Health. For more information, contact Dr. Stote at kstote@upei.ca.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

UPEI is proud to host the second Pan-Canadian Conference on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), May 31 to June 2. UDL is an educational framework based on research in the learning sciences that guides the development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences.

The first conference on UDL was hosted two years ago at McGill University. Interest and momentum for UDL has steadily grown across Canada in both the K-12 and post-secondary sectors, and the time has come for UDL practitioners and advocates to come together again to exchange ideas, showcase practices, and examine the potential for future development.

The conference hopes to encourage an interdisciplinary dialogue and to offer participants a multi-faceted overview of current Canadian initiatives. To this end, the conference will offer a stream for student services and student affairs professionals, another specifically for instructional designers, and one showcasing the learner voice. The conference organizers hope to attract UDL practitioners from overseas in order to allow for an emerging international dialogue on UDL implementation and research. The theme of the conference also seeks to create a bridge between the UDL discourse and the User Experience (UX) literature, and welcomes participants from the community at large.

The keynote speaker is Christina Bosch, a PhD candidate in special education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Bosch employs user experience design (UEX) methods to investigate instruction and learning in the area of juvenile corrections and to co-design inquiry-based UDL curricula to meet the unique learning needs of incarcerated youth. Bosch is an instructional designer on the National Science Foundation (NSF) Project RAISE (Reclaiming Access and Inquiry in Science Education) and a HASTAC (Humanities, Art, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory) fellow. She is also a NSF CADRE (Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education) fellow. She holds an MA in Special Education: Learning Disabilities from American University, and an MEd in Mind, Brain and Education from Harvard University. Prior to her doctoral studies, she worked as an instructional designer at CAST, an education coordinator at the non-profit Artists for Humanity, and a special education teacher for middle grades.

For early bird registration or for more information, please visit www.udlconference.ca or contact udlpei17@gmail.com.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.