UNews - ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph

Alumna of the Year Preuss realizes destiny

trevor.kenney — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 22:24:20 +0000

Do scientists believe in fate? If you talk to Dr. Kathryn Preuss (BSc '95) about her academic life and professional career, you'll notice a string of coincidences and happenings that seem to have set her on a path that's led Preuss to her current position as an associate professor at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph and a Tier II Canada Research Chair in the Chemistry of Molecular Materials.

It started when Preuss was a school kid, and her father, Dr. Peter Preuss, taught philosophy at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

"I remember going to the Christmas parties, running around and having fun on campus as a child," recalls Preuss. "The U of L has always been a positive environment for me."

Preuss values the research opportunities she enjoyed as an undergraduate student at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Attending the U of L was therefore pretty much in the cards for Preuss from the beginning. She knew the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ well and was aware of its great undergrad reputation across the country. Preuss enrolled at the U of L with the intention of taking her talent for science into the field of medicine. But as it happened, fate once again played its hand.

"When you're a girl and you're good at science, everybody tells you that you should become a doctor, so that's what I assumed I'd be," says Preuss. "But then I met professor René Boeré."

In 1992, Preuss had earned the highest marks among all first-year chemistry students. At the end of the year, Boeré approached Preuss about accepting a summer job in his lab and she jumped at the opportunity. In need of a job, the idea of getting paid to do something she was genuinely interested in was too enticing to pass up.

Preuss spent that summer conducting experiments on inorganic synthesis and doing all sorts of exciting things that very few first-year undergrad students ever have the chance to do.

"It was eye opening," recalls Preuss. "I couldn't believe I was getting paid to do all that cool stuff and was building my academic credentials at the same time. Suddenly I realized that it was possible to be a professional chemist, to do research and actually make a living at it."

From there, Preuss's path took a turn. She focused on obtaining a degree in chemistry and continued to work in various professors' labs between semesters. Preuss furthered her experiments in inorganic synthesis and later expanded her research to the areas of organic synthesis, thermodynamics and photochemistry.

By the time Preuss had finished her undergraduate studies, she had no fewer than seven published papers to her name – more than most PhD students tend to have on their CVs. Preuss graduated with distinction from the U of L, was awarded the Faculty of Arts & Science Gold Medal (Science) for her achievements and went on to complete a PhD in inorganic chemistry at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Waterloo.

Today, Preuss is a leading expert in the field of materials science. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Royal Society of Canada's Alice Wilson Award, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada's UFA ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Faculty Award, and the Ontario Government's Early Research Award.

Her research is innovative and influential – the magnitude of which only a chemist can truly appreciate.

"We are attempting to make bifunctional or multifunctional materials, but our design is unique," she explains. "We are the first to actually develop thiazyl radicals as ligands in a rational way, and we have added a new class of radicals. We've taken the entire metal-radical concept a step further than it has every been taken before."

Ask her how she feels the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge prepared her for academic achievement and professional success, and Preuss's response is crystal clear.

"My education at the U of L is directly responsible for where I am today," says Preuss. "If I hadn't gone to the U of L, met professor Boeré and worked in his lab, I wouldn't have become a chemist. None of what I've done would have been accomplished. The U of L gave me the opportunity to do a lot of really significant research and be recognized for it early on. Attending the U of L definitely gave me a head start and got me going in the right direction, academically and professionally."

It might be hard to prove, but scientists may just believe in fate after all.

GET THE FACTS

· After completing her PhD in 2000, Preuss held post-doctoral positions at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Colorado and North Carolina State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. She returned to Canada in 2002

· Her current research has implications in the areas of low-power data storage, sensors and other adaptive technologies

· In addition to her teaching and research commitments, Preuss is an avid sailor and tries to spend some time each summer on Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) with her young family. She is married to Joel and has two children, Genevive (3) and Marco (1)

This story first appeared in the October 2012 issue of the Legend. To read the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Fenske made the most of his U of L opportunities

trevor.kenney — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:50:46 +0000

When he enrolled in psychology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Dr. Mark Fenske (BSc '96, Distinction) had a goal – he wanted to help people.

The associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph, and co-author of the Canadian best-seller, The Winner's Brain: 8 Strategies Great Minds Use to Achieve Success, initially thought about becoming a counsellor. But after the opportunity to work as a research assistant for
Dr. Scott Allen opened up, Fenske found he was hooked on cognitive psychology.

"Lethbridge has some really good people. You get to know these people on a level that you probably wouldn't at a larger institution," says Fenske. "Working with Drs. Scott Allen, John Vokey and Don Read, who were the cognition faculty in the psychology department at the time, was a bit of an awakening for me. I was able to learn about memory, about how we interact with the world around us, what drives our behaviour, how we make decisions and how we pay attention.
"I learned there is so much more to psychology than the commonly-held view of people lying on a couch and talking about their problems."

Alumnus Mark Fenske is thankful for the research foundation he established while still an undergraduate student.

Fenske made the most of his one-on-one opportunities with faculty.

"I was able to get a lot of face time with faculty and learn what life in a research lab is all about," he says. "It really cultivated a sense of excitement for research, and I was given a lot of responsibility. I learned a lot in terms of computer programming, setting up experiments, running subjects and how to analyze data. Those are skills and training that I otherwise might not have gotten until grad school."

By the time he graduated in 1996, Fenske knew that he wanted to pursue a career in academia.

"One of the driving forces for me has always been about how I can have a positive impact on others. A lot of the people who have had a major influence on my life have been teachers or instructors," he says. "If you are teaching three or four classes a year and each class has up to 100 students, you have the potential to have a positive influence on lots of people. And as an academic, when you are not preparing or giving lectures, you get to investigate important issues that you find interesting. It is a fantastic job."

Supported by NSERC scholarships, Fenske completed both a master's and PhD in psychology from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Waterloo by 2001. After a two-year post doc at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Wales in Bangor, Fenske moved to Boston, Mass. in 2003, where he began to integrate cognitive psychology with neuroscience, the study of the brain.

"In Boston I worked at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, where I had a dual appointment as a research fellow with Harvard Medical School and as an assistant in neuroscience at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). With rapid advances in neuroimaging technology, it became clear that we could learn a lot more by combining our study of human cognition with neuroscience," says Fenske. "Using MRI scanners, we were able to look at the structure of the brain and the areas of activation that related to different cognitive operations. What I now do is try to understand how it is that we do what we do. How do we pay attention to things, remember things and what elicits different emotional responses?"

Fenske spent four years at MGH and Harvard, the last two as faculty, before returning to Canada to work at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph in 2007. In spite of the years of intense research and study, he has never lost sight of his original goal of helping people.

In recent years, he has worked on bringing the knowledge he has gained about cognitive-affective neuroscience to the general public. His work on The Winner's Brain with Dr. Jeff Brown serves as an example.

"The book is all about the neuroscience of success," says Fenske. "What we do with our brain – the different ways in which we stimulate, engage and care for it – can have a significant impact on the way it works, and even alter its physical landscape. We looked at what the latest brain science says about people that excel in key areas related to success, and the various strategies the rest of us can use to fine-tune our brains and become more successful."

GET THE FACTS

· The Winner's Brain was on Amazon Canada's bestseller list, ranking 20th in the All Books category and first in both the Psychology and Success classifications. U of L neuroscience instructor, Dr. Bryan Kolb, is featured in the book.

· Fenske writes a bi-weekly column, Better Brain, for the Globe and Mail newspaper.

· He is the recipient of grants in excess of $1 million and is currently working with the Gambling Research Exchange Ontario.

· Fenske has published more than 35 articles, abstracts and theses, and has presented at more than 40 conferences and seminars.

This story first appeared in the Legend. For a full look at the January issue of the Legend, follow this link.

Fenske appreciates opportunities he was given

trevor.kenney — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:48:22 +0000

When he enrolled in psychology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Dr. Mark Fenske (BSc '96, Distinction) had a goal – he wanted to help people.

The associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph, and co-author of the Canadian best-seller, The Winner's Brain: 8 Strategies Great Minds Use to Achieve Success, initially thought about becoming a counsellor. But after the opportunity to work as a research assistant for Dr. Scott Allen opened up, Fenske found he was hooked on cognitive psychology.

Alumnus Mark Fenske is thankful for the research foundation he established while still an undergraduate.

"Lethbridge has some really good people. You get to know these people on a level that you probably wouldn't at a larger institution," says Fenske. "Working with Drs. Scott Allen, John Vokey and Don Read, who were the cognition faculty in the psychology department at the time, was a bit of an awakening for me. I was able to learn about memory, about how we interact with the world around us, what drives our behaviour, how we make decisions and how we pay attention.
"I learned there is so much more to psychology than the commonly-held view of people lying on a couch and talking about their problems."

Fenske made the most of his one-on-one opportunities with faculty.

"I was able to get a lot of face time with faculty and learn what life in a research lab is all about," he says. "It really cultivated a sense of excitement for research, and I was given a lot of responsibility.
I learned a lot in terms of computer programming, setting up experiments, running subjects and how to analyze data. Those are skills and training that I otherwise might not have gotten until grad school."

By the time he graduated in 1996, Fenske knew that he wanted to pursue a career in academia.

"One of the driving forces for me has always been about how I can have a positive impact on others. A lot of the people who have had a major influence on my life have been teachers or instructors," he says. "If you are teaching three or four classes a year and each class has up to 100 students, you have the potential to have a positive influence on lots of people. And as an academic, when you are not preparing or giving lectures, you get to investigate important issues that you find interesting. It is a fantastic job."

Supported by NSERC scholarships, Fenske completed both a master's and PhD in psychology from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Waterloo by 2001. After a two-year post doc at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Wales in Bangor, Fenske moved to Boston, Mass. in 2003, where he began to integrate cognitive psychology with neuroscience, the study of the brain.

"In Boston I worked at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, where I had a dual appointment as a research fellow with Harvard Medical School and as an assistant in neuroscience at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). With rapid advances in neuroimaging technology, it became clear that we could learn a lot more by combining our study of human cognition with neuroscience," says Fenske. "Using MRI scanners, we were able to look at the structure of the brain and the areas of activation that related to different cognitive operations. What I now do is try to understand how it is that we do what we do. How do we pay attention to things, remember things and what elicits different emotional responses?"

Fenske spent four years at MGH and Harvard, the last two as faculty, before returning to Canada to work at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph in 2007. In spite of the years of intense research and study, he has never lost sight of his original goal of helping people.

In recent years, he has worked on bringing the knowledge he has gained about cognitive-affective neuroscience to the general public. His work on The Winner's Brain with Dr. Jeff Brown serves as an example.

"The book is all about the neuroscience of success," says Fenske. "What we do with our brain – the different ways in which we stimulate, engage and care for it – can have a significant impact on the way it works, and even alter its physical landscape. We looked at what the latest brain science says about people that excel in key areas related to success, and the various strategies the rest of us can use to fine-tune our brains and become more successful."

GET THE FACTS

• The Winner's Brain was on Amazon Canada's bestseller list, ranking 20th in the All Books category and first in both the Psychology and Success classifications. U of L neuroscience instructor, Dr. Bryan Kolb, is featured in the book.

• Fenske writes a bi-weekly column, Better Brain, for the Globe and Mail newspaper.

• He is the recipient of grants in excess of $1 million and is currently working with the Gambling Research Exchange Ontario.

• Fenske has published more than 35 articles, abstracts and theses, and has presented at more than 40 conferences and seminars.

For a full look at the January issue of the Legend, follow this link.

Understanding reasons behind risk taking

trevor.kenney — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 23:18:35 +0000

Sandeep Mishra is an idealist with a realist's background.

The PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology has a keen understanding of what has led to his educational success, and a desire to better society as a result. He'll use his science to do so.

"So much of my education is funded by taxpayers, so I felt a really strong obligation to choose a topic of study that benefits taxpayers and makes society a better place," says Mishra, who is set to defend his PhD thesis in December. "I'm particularly interested in gambling, risk taking and crime, but more specifically, the social and environmental factors that increase or decrease these behaviours."

Studying under the guidance of Dr. Martin Lalumière, Mishra has been working on the well-established concept of inequality and its link to criminal activity. While there is a large body of evidence that has linked inequality with any number of society's ills, there has never been a causal analysis of the relationship – until now.

Sandeep Mishra is excited about the possibility that his research could play a vital role in developing policy.

"The empirical research has been done and it has been shown repeatedly that inequality is linked to crime, but this is research at an aggregate level and does not address causal mechanisms," says Mishra. "I decided that a productive line of research would be inducing inequality in a lab setting. Laboratory experiments, involving random assignment to experimental conditions, offer the only conclusive way to determine whether a variable has a causal effect or not. After introducing conditions of inequality in this setting, I then asked what happens to their responses to risky behaviour?"

His findings could shape public policy for years to come.

"All of the evidence suggests that systemic inequality and competitive disadvantage facilitate risk taking, of which criminal activity is an extreme form," says Mishra. "I've found that reducing risk taking is possible by reducing inequality. All of this has enormous policy implications."

Mishra's study invited students to participate in a series of experiments. One such experiment saw pairs of students tasked to answer a series of questions that tested their risk-taking attitudes. Prior to the test, one student was given $10 for his effort, the other none, under the guise that funding only allowed for one party to be compensated.

In almost every instance, the student who had suffered a perceived inequality chose risky options at a substantially higher level. Further, when students were tasked again to perform the tests, except on this occasion another $10 in funding was found midway through the exercise, thus evening out the imbalance, risk taking behaviour significantly declined.

"If something as simple as $10 can influence risky behaviour in healthy, well-educated, socially higher class undergrads, then you can imagine how this mechanism is just compounded in the real world," says Mishra. "What is remarkable is that as soon as the students realize that their environment isn't actually inequitous, that overall things are pretty fair, presumably, they see no reason to engage in elevated risk taking."

Mishra says his findings are directly relatable to public policy, and points to the current political climate where government policy in general is built around punitive action to deter criminal behaviour.

"They are not really investing in root social issues that facilitate conditions that produce risk taking and crime," says Mishra. "Even though it is costlier and you don't see direct implications, investing in infrastructure and better education for those who are underserved is a more prudent approach. Helping people help themselves out of inequitous situations is the best thing we can do to lower crime rates."

Mishra, who is off to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship, is a Delhi, Ont. native who began his post-secondary career at Hamilton's McMaster ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Excitable and passionate, he credits the U of L and Lalumière for allowing him to grow his research portfolio.

"Martin's one of the most generous human beings you will ever meet," says Mishra. "He consistently puts his graduate students' well-being above his own and he's allowed me to take control and lead my own research program. The facilities I've had to work with go well beyond what most grad students could dream of, and the feedback he gives me is always excellent and very supportive."

GET THE FACTS

· Mishra sees himself as a future policy analyst or university professor.

· He graduated from high school when he was just 15 and studied biochemistry at McMaster for three years before switching to psychology.

· His undergraduate advisor at McMaster recommended Lalumière and the
U of L's Department of Psychology for graduate studies.

· Mishra's other inequality experiment tested examples of competitive disadvantage and used bogus IQ tests as a means to create situations of inequity amongst his experimental participants.

· All the participants in Mishra's study were thoroughly and carefully debriefed about the aims and hypotheses of the study.

This story originally appeared in the Legend. For a look at the full issue of the November Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Alma Matters

trevor.kenney — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:54:27 +0000

What's new with our alumni? Let your classmates know what you are up to by sharing a note about your life. Share your news with us through e-mail (alumni@uleth.ca), or by phone (toll free 1-866-552-2582).

Check out the latest news from our alumni below.

1970

Kinahan holds community focus
Brian Kinahan (BMgt '79) believes his time spent at the U of L was foundational for his career. "At the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ I gained the ability to think through problems and come up with solutions, to expand my mind and think beyond more than just one focus," he says.

Now the president and CEO of 1st Choice Savings, Kinahan has played an integral part in the growth of the credit union, which currently boasts a balance sheet in excess of $400 million. While helping to build a successful financial institution is something he is proud of, he is also grateful for the opportunities he has to serve his community.

"My goal is to continue building on the success of 1st Choice Savings, guiding it to be a viable and important part of the financial world that focuses on being a community-minded institution that cares about individuals."

1980

Nancy Walker BMgt '82
Walker was awarded a Fellow of Chartered Accountants (FCA) from the Alberta Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Bill Neudorf BEd '88
"In memory: some of you may remember the little three-year-old girl who would come to class with her dad and spend the time colouring or playing with dolls. Her name was Bobbi Renee Neudorf. Bobbi later suffered from Crohn's disease through her time at university but finished a BSc in Occupational Therapy at the U of A and worked for three years in the QEII hospital in Grande Prairie. Bobbi succumbed to complications from the disease and passed away from a massive blood clot on Sept. 21, 2009. She was 25 years and two months old."

Pamela Zollner BEd '86
After graduating from the U of L, Zollner taught for a couple of years in Alberta before developing a taste for international travel by backpacking around Australia and New Zealand. Zollner incorporated this love for travel into her work by teaching in Singapore and India. Zollner completed her Master of Education in June 2008 and is currently teaching Grade 2 in Calgary.

1990

Winner of the $10,000 Alberta Readers' Choice Award
Michael Davie (BMgt '94) won the inaugural $10,000 Alberta Readers' Choice Award for his first novel

Author Michael Davie

, Fishing for Bacon. The Alberta Readers' Choice Award is modelled on the very popular Canada Reads prize. Five books, each one championed by a celebrity, vie to win a popular vote. With $10,000 going to the winner, the competition is on the same financial level as the Governor General's Awards.

Aaron Berg BSc '95, MSc '97
Dr. Aaron Berg was recognized as GeogNews' (News Digest of the Canadian Association of Geographers) Geographer of the Week. Berg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph. He completed a BSc and an MSc degree in Geography at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, an MS in Geological Sciences at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Texas at Austin and his PhD in Earth System Science at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of California, Irvine. His research focuses on hydrology and hydro-climate simulation. Areas of current research interest include: macro-scale modeling of hydrological states and fluxes; climate change and water resources; the spatial scaling of hydrological properties; and evaluating the impact of land use change on regional hydrologic cycles.

Thomas Latta BMgt '97
"I am currently working as the manager, Operations Accounting and Business Solutions for Enerplus Resources Fund and have been with Enerplus for a year and a half. Prior to that, I was with ConocoPhillips Canada and its predecessor companies for 15 years."

2000

Amos Altman BA '04
Altman's play FORTITUDE is part of Fuse 2010 (The Enbridge New Play Development Program) at Theatre Calgary. This heartwarming and hilarious play emerged from the 2008/09 FUEL Playwrights' Circle at Theatre Calgary.

Ryan Epp BA/BMgt '05
Epp, former captain of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's hockey team, is now a constable with the Lethbridge Police Department.

Barry Gergel BSc '05, MSc '07
"I'm currently working toward my PhD in the Department of Computing Science at the U of A."

William Katelnikoff BMgt '05
"I received my chartered accountant designation in January, and I am currently assistant coach with the Pronghorns men's hockey team."

Matthew Berrigan BEd/BA '06
Lethbridge College announced their 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients and recognized U of L alumnus Matthew Berrigan with the Rising Star Award. Since completing his education degree, Berrigan's rise as a teacher has been meteoric. Named best new teacher by the Foothills School Division for his work in Cayley, Berrigan is now a lead teacher in Turner Valley. The success of his teaching is reflected in his students' achievement results.

Angela Kastelic BN '06
"I am currently pursuing a Master of Nursing (Family/All Ages) with intent to become a family nurse practitioner."

Keely (Kavanagh) Semenuik BEd/BA '09
Following graduation in April 2009, Semenuik was married and travelled to France. She is now excited to begin her teaching career with École St. Mary School in Lethbridge, teaching French immersion kindergarten.

Kinley passes on the inspiration
After attending a presentation by guest speaker John Carr from Pixar, Brad Kinley (BFA '04) remembers telling a friend that the talk was life-changing.

"Seeing what he does and his approach to the whole process of character animation crystallized what I wanted to do," says Kinley.

Now, after being a key player in the design of Mass Effect 2, one of the most popular and highly rated games ever made for the Xbox platform, Kinley returned to the U of L this spring and gave a presentation to the next generation of new media students.

"I know how influential my exposure was to somebody actually working in the business," he says. "If I can lend a little knowledge or inspiration to someone else, hopefully it will help them the way it helped me."

Congratulations
Daniel Wong (BFA '03), Mary-Anne McTrowe (BFA '98) and Robyn Moody (BFA '00) have made the long list (Prairies and North region) for the 2010 Sobey Art Award.

Munton & Co. chartered accountants recently announced that Curtis Michaelis (BMgt '03) and Michael Quinton (BMgt '04) have been admitted to partnership.

Susie Martin (BEd '81), Judy Lynn Miller (BA '91, BEd '93), Matthew Berrigan (BA/BEd '06) and Tracy Inaba (BEd '92) were among 23 outstanding Alberta teachers selected to receive the prestigious 2010 Excellence in Teaching Award.

Sports Hall of Fame

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Chinooks women's basketball team (1970/1971) was inducted into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame at this year's celebration. The team won the provincial and national championships and represented Lethbridge with pride.

Members of the team included: (Back row, L-R) Wilma Winter (coach), Dixie Dow, Linda Dogterom, Leona Voth, Minnie Van Dieren and Sharon Giduk (BA '73, BEd '75). (Front row, L-R) Marge Moore, Linda Voth, Rosemary Brodrick, Joan Cannady and Linda Dow (BEd '71).

Andrea Hlady (BEd'93) and Sharon Chmielewski (BEd'75) were also inducted at this year's celebration. Hlady was recognized in the athletes category. She was a two-time All-Canadian basketball player with the U of L Pronghorns. Chmielewski, recognized in the builder category, was honoured for building high school and high-level curling in Lethbridge with her work as an official, instructor and coach.

To view the entire issue of SAM in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Campus Kudos

trevor.kenney — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:27:00 +0000

Lana Gabor (Art Gallery) is part of a group exhibition at the Hungarian Multicultural Center in Budapest. The exhibition is a follow-up of AIR (International Artists in Residencies program) in which Gabor previously participated. Her website can be found at www.lana-ing-gabor.com

Dana Inkster (New Media) presented a workshop entitled, The Art of Biography, on May 2 as part of StoryCatchers at the Galt Museum.

Dr. Janet Youngdahl's (Music) recording of Songs by Bellerofonte Castaldi (c. 1623) titled 'Battaglia d'amore' has just been issued by the Toccata Classics label (London, England). The disc was recorded in Italy with the group Il Furioso and features songs with lute and harpsichord accompaniment.

Pronghorn athletes Jim Steacy (track and field) and Ashley Patzer (rugby) were named Kinsmen Sportspersons of the Year recently at the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony.

Dr. David Renter (Music) has organized a small jazz festival at The Slice on June 19 & 20 in conjunction with the Medicine Hat Jazz Festival. The community big band called Contemporary Works Jazz Orchestra, which he recently started, is the headliner on Friday, June 19. Joel Miller, a jazz saxophonist from Montreal, performs with his quartet Saturday, June 20.

Aliya Lalani (fourth-year Management student) is among 180 college and university students chosen from more than 900 across Canada to attend the Co-operators Youth Conference for Sustainability Leadership at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph in September, 2009. Entitled, "Impact!" the all-expenses-paid conference ties in nicely with her academic studies and interest in the environment.

Breeanne Fuller (Conservatory of Music) has been accepted into the MEd (literacy) program at the U of L. Fuller also teaches Kindermusik for the Conservatory of Music and her classes have been getting a lot of attention recently. In April, she was featured as an educator whose program continues to thrive despite the recession in the Kindermusik International professional development newsletter, which goes to 5,000 educators in 66 countries. Fuller is one of only 800 Kindermusik educators in the world whose programs have increased this year.

A trio of U of L students earned top prizes at the Lethbridge Symphony Association's Young Artist Competition. Matthew Blackburn, piano, placed first; Tony Park, playing clarinet, was second; and Krysta Mellon, soprano, was third.

Maintaining the Wall a team effort

trevor.kenney — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:22:09 +0000

The Bio Wall is just one of the many outstanding features of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's new Alberta Water and Environmental Science Building but it may be its most distinguishable.

The structure is approximately 12 metres (three stories) tall and four metres wide, featuring a wide array of plants that literally grow out of the wall. The look and feel of the Bio Wall is both stunning and calming. The trick is keeping the plants healthy and that includes a combination of modern technology and human ingenuity.

Technologically, the patented Natureaire system developed by Alan Darlington of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph, is what keeps the plants hydrated. The wall itself consists of common house plants, such as the rubber fig, the peace lily and umbrella plants, which are placed into slits in the first layer of a two layer wall comprised of porous synthetic material of loosely woven plastic. Over time, the roots of the plants will grow down through the layers and become enmeshed with the material. Water, occasionally infused with nutrients, is pumped to the top of the wall (with the use of six fans) and trickles down through the layers to the plant roots.

But what happens when a plant needs maintenance and just how do workers get to them? Enter the grounds crew, with a little assistance from Sport and Recreation Services, and specifically, Scott Whiteside and his climbing wall staff. They helped instruct Vern Leckie's grounds crew in the Facilities department, about six in total, on basic climbing technique so that they could repel down the wall and provide maintenance to the plants.

Under the supervision of a climbing wall staffer, one member of the grounds crew, which to date has meant Tyler Fallwell, repels down the wall, pulling out old and dying material and replacing it with new flora supplied by Lethbridge's Touch of Green plant shop. The operation is carried out monthly and keeps the Bio Wall looking its best and functioning well.

The benefits of the Bio Wall are more than visual, they also include the breakdown of indoor air pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from common building materials and electronics, which can cause 'sick-building syndrome.'

The Bio Wall also offers increased humidity in addition to the associated psychological and aesthetic benefits.

UNews - ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Guelph

Alumna of the Year Preuss realizes destiny

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Fenske made the most of his U of L opportunities

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Fenske appreciates opportunities he was given

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Understanding reasons behind risk taking

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Alma Matters

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Campus Kudos

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Maintaining the Wall a team effort

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UNews - ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph