UNews - managing director

5 Questions With Dr. Henning Bjornlund

trevor.kenney — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:53:12 +0000

Dr. Henning Bjornlund is a Canada Research Chair in Water Policy and Management at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and a professor at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of South Australia. He has researched water policy and management issues in Australia since 1993 and in Canada since 2005. He recently served on the Ministers Advisory Group on Water Allocation and Management in Alberta, and has written widely about water policy and management issues with more than 275 publications and presentations.

What first piqued your interest in your research discipline?

Prior to starting my first academic degree in 1990, I was the managing director for a company operating tropical plantations in South and Central America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. As part of this work, I bought properties and negotiated access rights to water to grow bananas, citrus, rice and other tropical crops highly dependent on water.

While studying for my bachelor's degree I had to do a third-year research project and chose to concentrate on the impact of water policy on rural land values. This required a careful study of the literature on water markets and water rights. I continued this theme through both my master's and PhD studies.

Dr. Henning Bjornlund is one of the foremost experts in water policy and management issues.

How is your research applicable in "the real world"?

Water is probably the most important and valuable resource in the world. All human activity depends on it in one form or another. It is available in a finite quantity and has a finite ability to assimilate waste. Most human and economic activity in some way impacts on water quality and the availability of water. Human activities have had a serious impact on water bodies and the ecosystems dependent on them. Policy makers around the world are trying to come to terms with how to reverse this trend of environmental degradation, how to continue our human activities while minimizing our impact on the environment, how to use less water and be more efficient, how to produce more from less and how to share our limited resources. All of these issues are central to my research.

What is the greatest honour you have received in your career?

The greatest honour and privilege that I can receive as an academic is an invitation to contribute to policy making, the development of professional standards or to public debate and awareness. Hence, invitations to serve on entities such as the Ministers Advisory Group on a new Water Management and Allocation framework for Alberta, to produce a policy commentary to contribute to the debate on water management and policy in Alberta, or help write a policy document for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in London on the implications of changing water policies for property professionals are among the greatest honours I have received.

How important are students to your research endeavours?

Student participation is an integral part of my research program. I currently have seven PhD students and five master's students in Canada and Australia working on various issues related to water policy and management. Apart from answering pressing questions about how to resolve the world's growing water problems, a very important task is the building of human capacity to deal with these issues. Student training in this area is very important.

If you had unlimited funds, which areas of research would you invest?

How to share limited resources is one of the most challenging issues facing policy makers and water managers. This is a very complicated issue in that those who currently have the right to use water have invested a lot of time and money to be able to do so. Hence, any change in the way water is allocated can potentially have significant socio-economic impact on the current generation of water users, not the least of which are irrigators and the communities that currently depend on water use as the economic engine of their community. If I had unlimited funds I would like to conduct a Canada wide investigation of how people perceive a reallocation should take place, how such perception varies across Canada and what causes the variation. Such insight would assist the development of a national water plan or policy, as well as the development of provincial water policy plans.

Each month, the Legend will present 5 Questions With . . . one of our researchers. For a look at the entire catalog of 5 Questions With . . . features, check out the Office of Research and Innovation Services website at www.uleth.ca/research/research_profiles. If you'd like to be profiled, contact Penny Pickles at pickpj@uleth.ca

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

Vocal program draws talented singers

trevor.kenney — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 21:44:25 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Recital Hall is bursting with song this week as 43 talented young singers from across Western Canada take part in the 4th annual Southern Alberta Vocal Experience (SAVE), Aug. 12-18.

The SAVE vocal program offers talented young singers, aged 13 to 20, the opportunity to study and perform in close collaboration with established artists, teachers and vocal coaches. In addition to preparing musical excerpts, students participate in a daily regimen that includes choir, creative movement, private lessons and master classes, allowing them to develop vocal skills in a comprehensive program of studies.

Directed by Joanne Collier, the teaching staff includes U of L Faculty members Dr. Blaine Hendsbee, Dr. Sandra Stringer, Dr. Deanna Oye and Carolyn Herrington; U of L alumni McKade Hogg, Nicole Higginson-Swen, Acacia Doktorchik and Audrina Steciw; and guest artists David Shefsiek (managing director of Alberta Theatre Projects), Suzy Smith (Toronto-based vocal coach) and Winston Noren of Calgary's Mount Royal ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. They are joined by accompanists Gregory Knight, Elinor Lawson, Joel Goodfellow and Jesse Plessis and undergraduate student assistant Jana Holesworth.

The week of activity culminates in a pair of public performances, beginning with a Friday, Aug. 17 concert (7:30 p.m., ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Recital Hall) where SAVE singers will be presenting solos from the art song and concert repertoire, accompanied by piano. The program will open and close with a choral selection learned during the week. Admission for this performance is by donation at the door.

The final gala concert, One Enchanted Evening, will be held on Saturday, Aug. 18 at 7:30 p.m., also in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Recital Hall. Audience members will be treated to songs and tales from the lands of fairies and all things enchanting, including theatre classics from shows such as Brigadoon, Camelot and Cinderella, along with more recent selections from Into the Woods, The Secret Garden and Spamalot.

"All of the music has been chosen for its beautiful melodies, musical merit and ability to showcase each singer to the best of their ability," says artistic director Joanne Collier. "At the same time audiences will be treated to an array of musical maids and men, heroes, fools and villains."

Tickets are $10 each and available at the door.

Those interested in the SAVE program can contact the U of L Music Conservatory for more information: 403-329-2304.

A family of support

trevor.kenney — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:07:27 +0000

Only once did Priscilla Patel look over her shoulder and wonder if she'd done the right thing. It was then that she relied upon her father's reassurance to settle her fears.

Now, one semester later, Patel still looks to her father for guidance but fear has given way to excitement, and trepidation has been replaced by a confidence that helps support an entire family.

"Priscilla has really grown up," her mother Malti says. "I see a lot of difference in her since coming down here, she has totally matured."

The Patel family members have all come a long way. A year ago the entire family was in its home country of Malaysia, Priscilla set to graduate from high school, excited about a future she hoped would lead her to the United States and a dream job with animation studio Pixar.

That's when Trish Jackson of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's International Centre for Students happened upon Malti at a Study in Canada event.

"When we met Miss Trish, everything changed," Malti says. "We found that this university was what we were looking for, it had a lot to offer her."

Jackson, an international recruitment officer, extolled the virtues of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and the burgeoning new media program being offered in the Faculty of Fine Arts. Little did she know that she was recruiting Malti as much as she was wooing Priscilla, because there was no way the Patels were sending Priscilla to Lethbridge on her own.

"It's not very often we find a student who has a parent and siblings who are relocating with them, so this was a little bit of a special situation for us," says Jackson.

Along with Priscilla and Malti came her three brothers and sisters, 12-year old Natasha, nine-year old Nashania and seven-year old Darren. Only Ashok, the father, stayed behind.

Suddenly, Jackson was more of a resource than she'd ever been before.

"I think my biggest role was trying to answer questions before they actually arrived," Jackson says.

"Beyond student support it's really difficult for our office to provide a lot of support to the family. Aside from trying to answer questions and providing some contacts in the local school division for the younger children, most of the support the family ended up needing came from the Immigrant Services Department of Lethbridge Family Services."

Malti gives Jackson a little more credit.

"Miss Trish was constantly in touch with us, whatever questions we had she was always willing to answer," she says. "What we wanted to know about the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, the city, even the education for our other children, she guided us in every way."

It was a bold decision to come to Canada but one that sent a strong message to Malti and Ashok's children. They seem to understand that the risk their parents have made is for their best interests and have embraced the transition from Malaysia to Canada. Leading the way is Priscilla.

"I love it here, it really is amazing," she says. "Getting to know people has been so easy, I really think it's better than where I'm from in Malaysia. I find people have so much respect here, they respect you for who you are and what you do."

The new media program has been everything she could have imagined.

"I don't know where to start, I've only taken five classes but they've all been great," she says. "Right now I'm not even sure what area I want to pursue. I want to go into animation but at the same time I feel like I want to do film, I want to do graphics, I want to do everything."

Priscilla truly lives the campus experience. She's active with the International Centre, has joined student clubs and taken in everything Canadian.

"I love the snow. Even though a lot of people tell me I'll hate it soon I don't think so, at least not yet," she says. "After coming here I started involving myself in skating and going to hockey matches, I just wanted to try everything."

Priscilla's brothers and sisters have followed her lead. They quickly adapted to their new schools, are active in local choirs and activities and have excelled academically.

Malti rests easier now knowing that the new life she and Ashok have chosen for their children seems to agree with them. She has also embraced her new surroundings, first by volunteering for local organizations this past fall and through the Christmas season, and recently by taking a part-time job.

While the family thrives here in Canada, it isn't without sacrifice as Ashok stays behind to support their new life.

"My dad's amazing," Priscilla says of Ashok, the managing director of a textile company. Malti finds it tough without her husband but instead looks at the situation from his perspective.

"I have my children with me and Priscilla, she understands what mom is going through and she helps out in every way," she says. "My husband is alone there and he has to take care of it alone and that is hard."

The plan is for Ashok to reunite with his family here in Canada in two or three years, just in time for Malti and her children to become Canadian citizens and for Priscilla to graduate (she's planning on taking summer courses to finish her degree earlier).

Now, it's hard to believe Priscilla ever had any doubts about coming to Canada – but there was that one day.

"When I landed in Lethbridge and I looked around and all I saw was prairies and mountains, I wanted to go home," she says. "I wasn't sure if I could do it, but my dad told me it's about change and I have to learn how to adapt and it turns out that it's pretty good now."

GET THE FACTS

• The Patels are from the Malaysian island of Penang. The average maximum temperature in Penang only varies from 30.4 degrees in September to 32.2 degrees in March.

• Jackson has been to 14 countries since being hired as international recruitment officer in August 2007. She heads out on a seven-country trip through Latin America this month.

• Priscilla and her siblings all attended international schools growing up. Priscilla's final years of study at Taylor's ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ College in Kuala Lumpur featured a Canadian-based curriculum developed in Ontario.

• The family pays great reverence to their father Ashok as Natasha brought a picture of him to the interview, telling her mother that he was a part of the family and should be part of the experience.

UNews - managing director

5 Questions With Dr. Henning Bjornlund

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Vocal program draws talented singers

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A family of support

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