The University of Prince Edward Island named two of its distinguished faculty members as the recipients of the Jeanne and J.-Louis Lévesque Research Professorships in Nutrisciences and Health. Dr. Andrew Tasker, professor of neuropharmacology at UPEI’s Atlantic Veterinary College, and Dr. Travis Saunders, assistant professor of Applied Human Sciences, will each be supported over the next three years with an annual grant of $10,000 and up to $25,000 annually to permit replacement for teaching or other duties.

“UPEI is grateful for the generous and long-standing support of the Fondation J.-Louis Lévesque, which makes possible the recognition of some of the university's most creative and productive scientists,” said Dr. Robert Gilmour, Vice-President Academic and Research at UPEI. “We are particularly pleased that we are able to support the research programs of both an established investigator, in Dr. Tasker, and an emerging investigator, in Dr. Saunders, both of whom promise to make immediate and lasting contributions to nutrisciences and health.”

As a Jeanne and J.-Louis Lévesque research professor, Dr. Andrew Tasker will continue his explorations of normal and abnormal brain function. In this role, he will examine major depression and investigate why anti-depressant medications often take weeks to become effective, and in up to 50% of cases, never become effective. Tasker will determine if ginsenosides, the active ingredients in ginseng, have the potential to improve the effectiveness of current anti-depressants.

“I am extremely grateful for the generosity of the Lévesque family,” said Dr. Tasker. “The funding they are providing will allow me to better investigate both the neurobiological basis of depression and to evaluate a new and potentially important approach to improving the effectiveness of antidepressant therapy”.

Dr. Travis Saunders’ research as a Jeanne and J.-Louis Lévesque research professor will examine the relationship between sedentary behaviour and obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Recent research shows screen-based sedentary behaviour especially is associated with these negative effects. Surprisingly, these effects are not due to lack of energy expended, but due to increased food intake that results from screen-based behaviours.

“We know that screen time is linked to excess food intake, but we don't understand what is responsible for that relationship. I am thrilled and honoured to receive the Lévesque Professorship, which will allow my students and me to investigate the links between sedentary behaviours and chronic disease,” said Dr. Saunders.

The professorships are supported by the Fondation J.-Louis Lévesque: a generous supporter of health research at universities and institutes across the country. J.-Louis Lévesque graduated from Saint Dunstan’s University in 1934 and was awarded an honorary doctor of laws in 1964. Suzanne Lévesque, daughter of J.-Louis and president and CEO of his namesake foundation, was awarded an honorary doctor of laws from UPEI in 2006.

“We’re very lucky at UPEI to have such a long and prosperous relationship with the Lévesque family, stretching back further than even the name UPEI,” said Dr. Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, President and Vice-Chancellor of UPEI. “So I feel it’s safe to say ours is a special relationship with the Fondation J.-Louis Léveque, and that their support has helped immensely in growing UPEI’s capacity in the area of health research.”

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.

Denise Happ, a master’s student at UPEI’s Atlantic Veterinary College, has been awarded a prestigious and highly competitive fellowship from Denmark’s Aarhus University (AU). The Mobility Fellowship from AU Graduate School of Health provides three years of support to complete a PhD jointly between AU and UPEI. Happ will work under the co-supervision of AU’s Dr. Gregers Wegener and Dr. Andrew Tasker, a professor of neuropharmacology at UPEI.

Happ’s graduate research project is entitled, “Interactions between Nicotinergic and Serotonergic Systems in Major Depression and Anxiety: implications for antidepressant non-responders.” She will use powerful technology to better understand why certain anti-depressant drugs take several weeks to become effective, and in many cases, aren’t effective at all.

“I am very honoured to have been awarded this fellowship from Aarhus University,” said Denise Happ. “This is an exciting opportunity to further my studies and the collaborative nature of the project allows me to draw on the expertise from researchers at both UPEI and AU. I hope my research will be able to elucidate some of the mechanisms underlying depression.”

Depression is a common mental health problem affecting the lives of many individuals with severe consequences for society. Although numerous antidepressants are on the market, they typically require weeks of therapy to become effective, and about 30-50 per cent of patients fail to show a substantial clinical response to conventional antidepressant therapy. 

While the exact mechanisms causing depression are still poorly understood, the body’s inability to regulate a chemical called serotonin plays a major role. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increase extracellular serotonin concentrations, but although SSRIs have an immediate effect on serotonin levels, the therapeutic response can take several weeks and some patients never do respond to these drugs.  This suggests that other systems are also involved in the action of SSRIs.

Happ’s project will use specialized animal models of depression, combined with powerful technologies for live imaging of brain function and molecular analysis of chemical interactions in the brain, to try to better understand the biological basis of depression and the actions of SSRIs.

“Denise is an exceptional student, and I am delighted that AU has given her this opportunity to advance her career in both Denmark and PEI,” said Dr. Andrew Tasker. “I have every confidence that her work will contribute significantly to our understanding and treatment of this devastating disorder.”

“Congratulations to Ms. Happ and Dr. Tasker for securing this major award, which recognizes Ms. Happ's outstanding work as a Master's student and her promise as a researcher, as well as Dr. Tasker's long and productive history in identifying the underlying biochemical mechanisms for neurological diseases and their treatment. The collaboration between UPEI and Aarhus University promises to provide important insights into depression and anxiety that might not emerge from either institution alone,” said Dr. Robert Gilmour, vice-president academic and research at UPEI.

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.

University of Prince Edward Island Women’s Basketball Head Coach Greg Gould is pleased to announce Lauren Shallow has committed to the Panthers for the upcoming 2016-17 season.

Shallow, a 5’10’’ honours student, attended Waterford Valley High School in St. Johns’ NFLD where she helped the Warriors to a 30-1 record, including the AAAA provincial championship. Shallow led her team in scoring with 31 points in the championship game and was named tournament MVP.

 “I am excited to be joining the UPEI Panthers, to my continued growth as a player and to making whatever contribution possible to our team,” said Shallow. “I look forward to playing CIS basketball while receiving a quality education from a university with a great academic reputation.”

“Lauren is a multi-skilled player who should fit seamlessly into our system,” said Gould. “She has the ability to score and defend multiple positions. Lauren has been a part of a basketball program with a winning tradition, and I look forward to working with her.”

Shallow has been accepted into the UPEI Faculty of Arts program.

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

UPEI’s Island Studies Press will mark two firsts with its book launch on Wednesday, July 13, 7 pm, at Upstreet Craft Brewery on Allen Street in Charlottetown. Time and a Place: An Environmental History of PEI is the first environmental history of Prince Edward Island and the first such history of any Canadian province. Everyone is welcome to attend the gala event.

Time and a Place tracks Prince Edward Island’s changes from the Ice Age to the Information Age. Its 12 essays explore the people’s interactions with the Island’s marine and terrestrial environment from its prehistory to its recent past. Beginning with PEI’s history as a blank slate–a land scraped by ice and then surrounded by rising seas–this mosaic of essays documents the arrival of flora, fauna, and humans, and the different ways these inhabitants have lived in this place over time.

“The chapters complement and build on each other,” says Matthew Hatvany of Université Laval. “Time and a Place will undoubtedly put PEI on the map of Canadian environmental history and will be used as a model for other regions that as yet have nothing of the kind to compare with it.”

With its long and well-documented history, Prince Edward Island is a compelling case study for thousands of years of human interaction with a specific ecosystem. The pastoral landscapes, red sandstone cliffs, and small fishing villages of Canada’s “garden province” are appealing because they appear timeless, but they are constructed as much by culture as by the ebb and flow of the tides.

Time and a Place is edited by three Island scholars, historians Edward MacDonald of UPEI and Joshua MacFadyen of Arizona State University, and marine biologist Irene Novaczek. One of the book’s strengths is the diversity among its 15 contributors, whose disciplines range from environmental history and archaeology to geography, biology, and island studies. The book is co-published by Island Studies Press and McGill-Queens University Press. At 416 pages with 60 black and white images, it is available in both soft- and hard-cover editions at bookstores across the Island.

For more detail on the book, see “Recent Titles” at upei.ca/isp, or contact Joan Sinclair at Island Studies Press, ispstaff@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.

Dr. Ryan O’Connor, a historical consultant, writer, and graduate of the University of Prince Edward Island, was recently honoured with the J.J. Talman Award from the Ontario Historical Society (OHS) for his book The First Green Wave: Pollution Probe and the Origins of Environmental Activism in Ontario, published by UBC Press.

The First Green Wave traces the emergence of the environmental movement in Ontario from its beginning in the late 1960s to the 1980s. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including the memories of many of those people directly involved in the creation of Pollution Probe and other organizations, Dr. O’Connor’s book illustrates how concerned citizens laid the groundwork for environmental action by pioneering ways to publicize environmental issues, raise funds for the movement, and work effectively with diverse interest groups.

The award was presented at the annual general meeting of the Ontario Historical Society at the Ontario Legislative Assembly in Toronto, Ontario. Dr. O’Connor was also honoured at the event as co-recipient of the OHS Riddell Award, which recognizes the best article on Ontario history published in the previous year. He received the award with co-author Dr. Owen Temby for “Property, Technology and Environmental Policy: The Politics of Acid Rain in Ontario, 1978-1985,” published in The Journal of Policy History.

Dr. Edward MacDonald, chair of the UPEI Department of History, applauded Dr. O’Connor’s achievement. “Ryan is a first-rate historian. We are proud to call him one of our own, and to have had some small part in launching his scholarly career.”

Congratulations, Dr. O’Connor!

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.

Green thumbs from across the UPEI campus recently came together to plant St. Dunstan’s Gardens. Vegetables grown in the gardens will be used by the Soup for the Soul project, which provides free healthy soup once a month as an outreach of the UPEI Chaplaincy Centre.

St. Dunstan’s Gardens are planted at two locations: the south side of the UPEI Chaplaincy Centre and at The Mount Continuing Care Community adjacent to UPEI. The gardens are made possible by a wellness grant from the Prince Edward Island Department of Health and Wellness, as an initiative of the PEI Wellness Strategy. They are also supported by Vesey’s Seeds, the Cooper Institute, Van Kampen’s Greenhouse and The Mount Continuing Care Community.

“It's a wonderful way to be a part of campus life, it’s a wonderful way to be a part of student life, and also network with the community outside,” said Sister Sue Kidd in an interview with the CBC.

“We have access to food, but sometimes it’s not high quality food. It’s not highly nutritious food,” said Rosana Queiroz, a student involved in the project. “It’s important to have the students involved in vegetables, which are high in vitamins and minerals. So they can have access to nutritious food.”

Food grown in St. Dunstan’s Gardens will be harvested this fall and used by students and volunteers at UPEI to prepare the soups. “It is so exciting to see the dream of having students plant, harvest, and prepare vegetables for the Soup program come to life. Equally exciting is the discussions among faculty from Foods and Nutrition, Education, and Environmental Studies of how they plan to use these gardens and vegetables in their teaching,” said Dr. Colleen Walton, an assistant professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences.

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 St. 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 Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, recently announced that 45 social sciences and humanities research projects have been awarded federal funds to assess and mobilize knowledge in the areas of emerging technologies, energy, and natural resources in Canada. Among the successful projects is one by Dr. Sean Wiebe, associate professor of education at the University of Prince Edward Island. Dr. Wiebe’s proposal, “Re-Envisioning Education for Individual, Community and Societal Well-being in a Digital Era,” will be supported by a $25,000 Knowledge Synthesis Grant (KSG) from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Dr. Wiebe will work in collaboration with the Learning Partners Advisory Council and other education stakeholders to explore how education can best prepare students for the realities of the perpetually evolving and potentially enigmatic knowledge-based economy.

“UPEI’s Faculty of Education has been at the forefront of digital economy research for some time,” said Dr. Wiebe. “This work builds on important efforts initiated by Dr. Martha Gabriel, Dr. Ron MacDonald, Dr. Sandy McAuley, and Dr. Barb Campbell.”

This project is in response to a changing economy that is increasingly difficult to create strategies to educate and train workers for. Gone are the days where higher skills earn better jobs creating a better economy. As domestic labour trends move towards part-time, contract, and precarious work, and decreased unionization, education needs to focus on a new set of skills, unlike those required for 20^th century success.

“Dr. Wiebe is an internationally recognized leader in innovative approaches to education in the digital age and, as such, it is encouraging and appropriate to have his work supported by SSHRC,” said Dr. Robert Gilmour, Vice-President Academic and Research at UPEI.

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council is the federal research funding agency that promotes and supports postsecondary-based research and training in the humanities and social sciences. Through its programs, SSHRC contributes to innovations that will improve the lives of Canadians, and works to develop talented leaders for all sectors of society. SSHRC disburses more than $345 million in funding annually to support more than 8,300 research projects.

Dr. George McRobie died in Charlottetown on Friday, July 2. The trajectory of his remarkable life took him from his birthplace of Moscow (1925), through his childhood in northern Scotland, his highly successful career in London and throughout the world, and finally here to Prince Edward Island, his half-time home since 2009. He was a man of great personal warmth and charm, much beloved by his many friends on the Island.

McRobie achieved fame through his close association with the British economist E.F. Schumacher and what could be called the “Small Is Beautiful” movement. They first met while Schumacher was Economic Advisor to the National Coal Board. For Schumacher, international attention came with the publication of Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered, in 1973. This seminal work has been named by the Times Literary Supplement as one of the 100 most influential books published since World War II.

As well as being a fine theorist, Schumacher was also a remarkable man of action, and in McRobie he found a willing and capable colleague. Together they were founders of the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) in 1966, a UK-based NGO specializing in creating small-scale technology for developing countries. In 2005, the ITDG changed its name to Practical Action, and today it claims that “every year we help over one million people out of poverty.”

Schumacher and McRobie both served stints as President of the Soil Association, the main British organization promoting the use of organic agriculture.   

For rather obvious reasons, the book Small Is Beautiful found a ready audience in Prince Edward Island. In 1975, McRobie first visited the Island, where he spoke to the Legislative Assembly at the invitation of Premier Alex Campbell.

With Schumacher’s death in 1977, the mantle of leadership fell on the shoulders of McRobie. In 1981 he published his book Small Is Possible – a “factual account about who is doing what, where, to put into practice the ideas expressed in E. F. Schumacher’s SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL.” McRobie’s purview encompassed the whole world; and in the chapter on Canada, he lauded the Island’s Institute of Man and Resources as one of “the two most striking and imaginative programmes” he had encountered in our country.

In later years, McRobie’s ties to the Island were strengthened when he was invited back on several occasions, at the invitation of the Institute of Island Studies, as an advisor on worker co-operatives and sustainable agriculture. In 1989, he was awarded an Honorary Degree by UPEI.

Dr. McRobie also has a close association with the Sir Andrew Macphail Foundation. This began in 1990 when he was tasked by the Institute of Island Studies to write a report outlining a vision for the Homestead in the demonstration and promotion of sustainable farming and forestry. Since 2011, the Homestead has hosted an annual George McRobie Lecture on the subject of sustainable agriculture – and George attended all five of these. The guest speaker at the inaugural McRobie Lecture was Patrick Holden, founder and head of The Sustainable Food Trust, and a friend of McRobie’s during the years they worked together at the Soil Association.

On a more personal note, George’s residency on the Island in recent years is entirely due to the sustainable devotion of his wife Susanne Manovill, friends since he visited here in the 1980s. In 2009 George was a widower, and Susanne invited him to return for a visit. Since then, Susanne and George have been inseparable.   

Harry Baglole of Bonshaw is a former Director of UPEI’s Institute of Island Studies.

UPEI hosted the first international workshop on a new proposed technology called “dew computing.” Dew computing is a computing model which appeared after the wide acceptance of cloud computing. Cloud-dew architecture is a proposed technology which makes web surfing possible, even when not connected to the Internet. This architecture can also be used in Internet of Things (IoT) and other areas. DEWCOM 2016 brought together researchers in this exciting new field July 7 and 8 on the UPEI campus.

While cloud computing uses centralized servers to provide various services, dew computing uses on-premises computers to provide decentralized, cloud-friendly, and collaborative micro services to end-users. Dew computing is an on-premises computer software-hardware organization paradigm in the cloud-computing environment, which is complementary to cloud computing.

Dew computing has just gone through its emerging stage. A few research groups contributed to dew computing from different angles. With dew computing being an emerging and fast-growing research area, it is necessary to bring researchers in this area together to exchange progress and to envision the path ahead.

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 Wekimün School Project, a collaboration of UPEI and the Williche Council of  Chiefs of Chiloé, is entering its fifth year of improving the quality of life of Williche indigenous youth of the Los Lagos region of Chile. Wekimün is a school for and with indigenous youth and communities, which integrates traditional-indigenous and western-scientific knowledge into two programs of study with project-based curriculum and teaching. The project was designed to provide improved educational opportunities to some of Chile’s most marginalized and disenfranchised people.

The curriculum for Wekimün was carefully designed to suit the needs of the youth in the area. Indigenous youth were trained to conduct interviews with more than 100 members of their Williche communities to find out what they needed to learn. With this knowledge and that of official statistics and trends, three major teaching areas emerged: traditional language (Mapudungun) history and culture, sustainable community and environmental development, and traditional health and medicine.

The term “Wekimün” means “to bring together traditional and modern knowledge and practices.” That is the aim as new courses are developed; each is based in traditional practice with input from modern knowledge. Curriculum design is supported by Canadian university faculty members, with input from elder educators who teach and provide traditional knowledge. The school operates both on site and in the community so that when the students go home they continue to learn and engage in projects to support their livelihoods. 

“This project is an intense collaboration across countries, cultures, languages and disciplines,” said Dr. Kate Tilleczek, Canada Research Chair in Young Lives in Global and Local Contexts and co-lead of the Wekimün School Project. “It gathers together young people, elders, teachers, NGOs, communities, universities and governments. It has been a remarkable privilege to work with this team and to learn from the Williche people of southern Chile. The school has been carefully crafted to attend to equity for indigenous youth and women in every aspect: curricular design, student selection, hiring practices, governance and inclusive learning materials. Helping to develop this unique, inclusive school has been a true honour. The tremendous talent and dedication of the Chilean team, the Williche people, the Canadian faculty, volunteers, and project management team is inspiring.”  

The Wekimün School officially opened in May of 2015, offering two programs of study, Intercultural Health and Sustainable Development, and Intercultural Education and Sustainable Development. Classes in each program include language, human and indigenous rights, Williche worldview, sustainable community development (agriculture, natural resource management, etc.), and health (traditional and non-traditional practices, medicinal plants and treatments, etc.).

“Wekimün Chilkatuwe (Wekimün School) is a space in which our identity as indigenous people is strengthened, where students are re-enchanted by life (their own and those of their communities and territories). They look again toward the territory where Williche life and culture has developed for thousands of years. The Wekimün School produces a new commitment amongst the youth that has too often gone unnoticed,” said Mr. Manuel Munoz Millalonko, co-lead of the Wekimün Project in Chiloé. “It is exciting to learn from Wekimün. The construction of new kinds of knowledge comes true every day. And a significant intercultural development is happening here that helps all indigenous people, a dynamic model were the Williche worldview harmoniously interacts with other worldviews from a place of dignity and deep honouring of our Mapu Ñuke (Mother Earth). Our elders acknowledge and participate and we have an engaged relationship with the Canadian faculty who support our community and students in a virtuous circle of knowledge that impacts our work in very distant places on the planet.”

“It is an incredible opportunity to work with and for these communities,” said project manager Debbie MacDonald. “Our project partners, the WCC, are a dedicated and passionate group of community leaders with whom we are working to make their vision of Wekimun School a reality. Their continued focus, despite the many challenges they face in their communities, is admirable and the results for their people are clear.”

The hard work of the first four years of the project is reflected in the current scale-up of the curriculum for certification and in the school site itself. The existing buildings were extensively renovated to provide space for the local health centre (which runs traditional heath services from the school two days a week), office space for teachers and staff, a demonstration kitchen, a state-of-the-art language lab designed for the instruction of indigenous language), classroom space, and outdoor teaching areas including spaces for reflection among an old growth forest. More than 350 youth and community members have already taken part and the team has developed five collaborative agreements with other universities and/or government agencies who support and assist with the work.

Wekimün has received substantial financial support from Global Affairs Canada to develop curriculum, operate the school, provide infrastructure, and establish and strengthen professional relations with various Canadian researchers to create an interdisciplinary team in Chile and Canada. The Embassy of Canada to Chile, Governor of Chile, Minister of Sustainable Development and Minister of Education for Chile have all visited the school site and very much support this initiative.

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 St. 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.