UPEI leads 3-year study on impacts of pesticide run-off on lobster

The University of Prince Edward Island is taking the lead on a team of researchers examining the potential impact of agricultural pesticide run-off on lobsters in the Northumberland Strait. The three-year study is funded by a Strategic Partnership Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and brings together partners from UPEI, the PEI Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA), and Homarus Inc.—a non-profit organization managed by the Maritime Fishermen’s Union.
 

 
“The lobster populations in the Northumberland Strait have been collapsed for quite a number of years, and no amount of fisheries measures seem to have improved that,” said Dr. Michael van den Heuvel, UPEI’s Canada Research Chair in Watershed Ecological Integrity and principal investigator of this project. “The conclusion is that there are other influencing factors that are not coming from the strait itself. They’re, in fact, coming from the surrounding land.” 
 
Dr. van den Heuvel explains that estuaries and coastal zones are under environmental pressure due to urban development, agriculture, and climate change. In the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, this is of special concern.
 
“The uniqueness of that area is mainly because of the proximity to shore on both sides,” said Craig Avery, president of the PEIFA. “You have a lot more contaminants, a lot more run-off, and you have them coming from both sides. The strait is right there, and there’s nowhere else for it to go.” 
 
Foremost among those contaminants are pesticides that are highly toxic to invertebrates, especially crustaceans such as lobster.
 
“We are interested in any effect that could potentially be an explanation. It could be temperature. It could be pesticides. It could be acidification. We are studying all of those aspects,” said Dr. Dounia Daoud, a research scientist with Homarus Inc. “I am proud that the fishermen are taking care of their resource. I think it’s important. They are at the origin of our involvement of this project. It’s original and new that fishermen are taking care of the future.”
 
This project brings together faculty and student researchers from diverse fields at UPEI, including Dr. Spencer Greenwood, professor of biomedical sciences at the Atlantic Veterinary College and director of the Lobster Science Centre; Dr. Brian Wagner, professor of chemistry; and, Dr. Michael van den Heuvel, professor of biology.
 
Dr. van den Heuvel indicates the project will seek to answer the question of whether or not pesticides are having an influence on organisms in the Northumberland Strait. The project will also establish new long-term monitoring methods to improve our understanding of how the environment changes in response to activity on land.
 

UPEI Field Hockey announces Sarah Sear to join Panthers this fall

University of Prince Edward Island Field Hockey coach Sheila Bell is excited to announce Sarah Sear from Charlottetown will join the Panthers this fall.

The Colonel Gray field hockey graduate is a quick forward with an ability to score. Sear participated at the U-18 Nationals in Vancouver and U-16’s in Brampton in 2013, U-18 Nationals in Calgary in 2014, and the U-18 Nationals held earlier this month, August 5–8, in Surrey, BC. Sear was selected to the Junior Development Target in 2013 and has attended a number of Field Hockey Canada identification camps for junior players.

Sear was a member of Colonel Gray High School’s provincial-winning cross country and track and field teams during all three of her years of high school while also playing provincial hockey and soccer. At the Colonel Gray graduation, Sear received the Colin F. Macdonald Scholarship for a first-year UPEI Panther Field Hockey student-athlete.

Coach Bell is looking forward to Sarah making an impact on the UPEI forward line.

Sear has been accepted into the Bachelor of Science program at UPEI.

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
     

Mulligan Cup and Soccer Festival set for September 4–6

UPEI Athletics and Recreation is excited to announce the 2015 Mulligan Cup Invitational and Soccer Festival schedule and invites the community to come out and enjoy ‘the beautiful game’, September 4–6, at the UPEI Turf Field.

This is the fourth annual Mulligan Cup, an invitational tournament that provides an excellent opportunity for coaches to make final roster decisions.

In honour of Vince Mulligan, the ageless varsity UPEI soccer and hockey coach throughout the 80s and 90s, the tournament has proved to be a great way to kick off the season and showcase the UPEI Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams to their supporters.

“I really look forward to this time of year when we get a chance to look at the new athletes in camp,” said Mulligan. “You always go in to a new year with great expectations, and you can see it in the athletes' eyes and in their actions on the field. That's what makes this tournament so great to watch.”

Again this year there is a soccer festival on Saturday as part of the Mulligan Cup. The Festival includes soccer stations and activities such as penalty kicks, soccer tennis, small-sided games, music, and much more. Fans are encouraged to bring cleats and cheer to support our Men's and Women's Panther soccer teams.

Teams competing in the tournament this year are the Université de Moncton Blue Eagles (UdeM), Mount Allison Mounties (MtA), Holland College Hurricanes (HC), and the UPEI Panthers. Admission for Friday and Sunday’s games is $6/day, while Saturday is admission by donation for both the Festival and games.  Season ticket holders will be admitted free for Friday and Sunday games.

The AUS league openers for UPEI will take place on September 12 in St. John’s, Nfld., when the Men's and Women’s teams take on Memorial University.

2015 Mulligan Cup Schedule

Friday, September 4
6:00 pm (W) HC vs. UPEI
8:00 pm (M) HC vs. UPEI

Saturday, September 5
11:00 am – 12:30 pm Soccer Festival (admission by donation, includes Panther games)
1:00 pm (W) MtA vs. UPEI
3:00 pm (M) MtA vs. UPEI

Sunday, September 6
10:00 am (W) UdeM vs. HC
12:00 pm (M) UdeM vs. HC
2:00 pm (W) UdeM vs.UPEI
4:00 pm (M) UdeM vs UPEI

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

 

Congratulations, Dr. Gordon MacDonald!

The Association of Atlantic Universities announced the recipients of the AAU’s annual regional awards for excellence in teaching and educational leadership today during a presentation ceremony at the University of Prince Edward Island. And, for the second year in a row, a UPEI professor is a recipient.

Dr. Gordon MacDonald received the 2015 AAU Distinguished Teaching Award recognizing outstanding teaching over a number of years. Only three award winners are chosen each year from the 16 universities represented by the AAU.

“I congratulate Dr. MacDonald on receiving this prestigious award,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz. “Gordon is dedicated to UPEI, having served on the Senate and Board of Governors, but most importantly, he is dedicated to his students. It is wonderful that his passion and talent for teaching has been recognized in this way.”

Dr. MacDonald, a Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, has research interests in operator theory and linear algebra, working to better understand collections of matrices or operators, specifically their properties and structure. He was instrumental in developing the proposal for a new school of applied mathematics at UPEI. The program is currently being considered by the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Council.

The AAU (www.atlanticuniversities.ca) represents the 16 universities in Atlantic Canada and serves as an advocate for the important role Atlantic universities play in preparing future leaders of our communities, in path-breaking research and innovation and in contributing to the economic prosperity and quality of life of the Atlantic region. Read the AAU news release.

 


 

Chris Benjamin, author of Indian School Road, to read at UPEI

Chris Benjamin is a well-known fiction and features writer. His latest book, Indian School Road: Legacies of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, won the 2013 Dave Greber Freelance Book Award.
 
On Friday, September 18, Chris Benjamin will be sharing his new book on campus at UPEI during a brown bag lunch to be held in the Main Faculty Lounge from 12:00-1:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.
 
The event takes place soon after the publication of the Summary Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  In an interview with the CBC’s Peter Mansbridge on June 1, Justice Murray Sinclair stated, “Education is the key to reconciliation.”  It is in this spirit that the UPEI community and members of the public are gathering together with Chris Benjamin to discuss Legacies of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School.
 
The Faculty of Education and the UPEI Aboriginal Students' Association are organizing the event.
 

Winter’s Tales Author Reading Series presents Anna Marie Sewell

Leading off this season’s Winter’s Tales Author Reading Series is First Nations poet Anna Marie Sewell. Born in Fredericton of Mi’kmaq, Anishnabe, and Polish heritage, she and her family moved when she was six to Alberta’s Peace River Country. Fast forward a few decades, and Anna Marie, now a popular poet, story-teller, songwriter, playwright, creative writing teacher, and literacy and cultural activist, was appointed in 2011 as Edmonton’s Poet Laureate.
 
Anna Marie will share her poems and stories at Confederation Centre Art Gallery on Thursday, September 24, 7:30 pm. Her performance is sponsored by the UPEI Faculty of Arts, with the collaboration of the Art Gallery, and support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
 
Since 1996 she has been instructing—mostly poetry—for Youthwrite, a community writing program for kids, and is currently running the Blue Pencil Café for tweens and teens, working and “talking with them about their writing and their dreams.” She is also an instructor for The Learning Centre Literacy Association.
 
Sewell is a founding member of Edmonton’s Stroll of Poets Society, which promotes poetry through performances and festivals. She co-coordinated the Honour Songs project for Edmonton’s Cultural Capital year and has a recurring gig as the “Bike-nik Poet” at the city’s Bikeology Festival. 
 
Her 2009 book of poetry Fifth World Drum won critical acclaim. Author Jorge Antonia Vallejos wrote, “The ‘fifth world’ is one imagined by the mixed race (Mi’kmaq and Slavic) poet....Recounting her experiences with identity, her search for culture and spirituality...Sewell is not afraid to write about reality....Fifth World Drum is a song, lesson, journalism, historical text and life journal all in one.”
 
Edmonton’s mayor in 2011, Stephen Mandel, said that “Sewell brings to the role [Poet Laureate] a profound ability to blend wisdom and playfulness into poetry that is both beautiful.”
 
She will bring this playful wisdom to Confederation Centre in September.
 

Nobel-prize nominee participates in J.S. Palmer Conference

Nobel-prize nominee and internationally recognized environmental and human rights activist, Sheila Watt-Cloutier will be participating in the upcoming J.S. Palmer Conference being held at UPEI on Thursday and Friday.

“I am thrilled to have one of Canada’s most celebrated environmental activists providing her unique and important perspective at the J.S. Palmer Conference,” said President Abd-El-Aziz, UPEI. “Her life’s work of improving the lives of Inuit people brought her to the international environmental movement.”

In 2007, Sheila was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy work in showing the impact of global climate change on human rights—especially in the Arctic, where it is felt most immediately and dramatically than anywhere else in the world.

Ms. Watt-Cloutier was instrumental as a spokesperson for a coalition of northern Indigenous Peoples in the global negotiations that led to the 2001 Stockholm Convention banning the generation and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that contaminate the arctic food web.

She has recently authored her memoir, The Right to Be Cold. It is a human story of resilience, commitment, and survival told from the unique vantage point of an Inuk woman who, in spite of many obstacles, rose from humble beginnings in the Arctic community of Kuujjuaq, Quebec—where she was raised by a single parent and grandmother and travelled by dog team in a traditional, ice-based Inuit hunting culture—to become one of the most influential and decorated environmental, cultural, and human rights advocates in the world.

Ms. Watt-Cloutier will join Dr. Andrew Light, former Senior Climate Change Adviser to the U.S. State Department and musician, creator, and editor of A Global Chorus, Todd MacLean, as they identify what actions Canadians need to take now to ensure the environment is protected for future generations.

“Conference delegates can expect thoughtful and innovative discussions from all the panellists and speakers as we explore what actions we need to take now that will support the Canada we wish our descendants to experience in 150 years,” said President Abd-El-Aziz.

The J.S. Palmer Conference was created in 2010 to bring together some of the finest minds across the country to discuss public policy issues of high priority to the public sector and to Canada.

For a full conference agenda and more information see the website, at www.palmerconference.com.


 

Participate in a research study about cultural perspectives on education on PEI

A group of graduate students at UPEI want to hear views and perspectives from the public of the educational culture on PEI. They are conducting an online survey to gather opinion in six specific areas: social promotion, large-scale assessment, the role of parents in education, mathematics, aboriginal culture, and leadership.

The online survey can be completed in 15 minutes and can be found here.

'This project gives our graduate students a very hands-on experience,' said Dr. Tess Miller, associate professor of Education, and the teacher of the Quantitative Statistics course gathering this information. 'They work with real data, and do real analysis.'

Information gathered in the survey will be analyzed by the students and will be presented at a public event on Thursday March 26 in room 242 of UPEI's Don and Marion McDougall Hall. The presentations begin at 4:30 pm.

UPEI Women's Soccer secures two top PEI players, Younker and Balderston

University of Prince Edward Island women’s soccer coach Graeme McDonald announced today that two of PEI soccer’s top young provincial players have committed to play at UPEI.

Defender Danielle Younker graduated from Colonel Gray and belongs to the Charlottetown Royals FC. Midfielder Jennifer Balderston received her diploma from Bluefield and plays club soccer with the Ramblers Clippers United.

Coach McDonald commented, “I am delighted that both players are coming to UPEI. Jennifer is an intelligent player, has great technique, and strikes the ball very well which will add to our creativity and goal scoring.”

“Danielle has an excellent range of passing, is strong on and off the ball, and is very good in those one versus one situations.” He added, “It’s important that we continue to recruit the best players on PEI to keep our identity and also give our young players inspiration to wear the green and white Panther jersey".

Younker said, “As a young soccer player, I always looked up to the Panthers and now I'm excited that I get a chance to play with them."

Balderston agreed, “I've grown up watching the Panthers play and I'm really excited to finally get the chance to play with such a great group of girls."

Both Younker and Balderston have been accepted into the Bachelor of Science program.

Eight senior players are returning for this coming season including AUS first team all-star goal keeper Ashley McKenna and UPEI MVP Emilie Pelletier.

Training camp opens on Friday, August 29 from 9:30 - 11:00 am at the UPEI Turf Field. Anyone interested in trying out must complete all Student-Athlete Registration requirements.  For more information contact Ron Annear at 902-566-0991 or annear@upei.ca.

The first exhibition action at home will be the Mulligan Cup next weekend, September 4–6, when both the UPEI Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams take to the pitch.

Season Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at Panther Central at the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre, by calling (902) 566-0368, or filling out the online form at gopanthersgo.ca.

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

AVC Animal Welfare in Practice conference focuses on equine behaviour

How do horses learn? How can we use that understanding to the mutual benefit of horses and those who work with them? Applied equine behaviour is the focus of the Atlantic Veterinary College’s 2015 Animal Welfare in Practice conference, which will take place from September 18 to 19.

Dr. Gemma Pearson, Equine Behaviour Service, Dick Vet Equine Hospital, University of Edinburgh, will give a public lecture, “Demystifying the horse whisperer—how horses really learn,” on Friday, September 18, at 7 p.m. She has been working with behaviour cases for over 15 years; she is currently conducting research into horse-veterinarian interactions. Her lecture will take place in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium, Don and Marion McDougall Hall, UPEI.
On Saturday, September 19, Pearson will give two lectures, one covering equine learning theory, and the other about applying learning theory to everyday veterinary practice. Dr. Laurie McDuffee, professor of large animal surgery at AVC, will give a talk about higher level equine cognition. McDuffee is studying equine learning theory and its incorporation to promote humane handling of equine patients. Following the talks will be a session of video scenarios about equine behaviour with audience participation, and a demonstration about overcoming problematic behaviours and practice with clicker training.

The public lecture on Friday, September 18, is free. Registration is required to attend the workshops on Saturday, September 19; the Saturday events will be held in AVC’s Lecture Theatre A. Please visit upei.ca/awc or call (902) 628-4360 for program details and registration information.

The conference is co-hosted by the SJDAWC and the AVC Animal Welfare Club, with generous additional support from the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada.

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