UNews - Drew Rendall

Shell Canada gift helps ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ revitalize Westcastle Field Station

trevor.kenney — Thu, 26 May 2016 17:18:12 +0000

A group of determined researchers, an innovative project manager and a $100,000 donation from Shell Canada have combined to enhance the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Westcastle Field Station, creating opportunities for expanded research, student training and community outreach initiatives for years to come.

The Westcastle Field Station can now host numerous students and researchers and has the capacity for community outreach initiatives.

“There was always the view that we really wanted to improve this facility so that we could make the most of its outstanding location and the research opportunities it provided,” says Dr. Stewart Rood, a faculty member in the Department of Biology. “Now we have a field station that will allow for those activities.”

Established in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s initial days, the original field station was constructed in 1970 on a five-acre parcel of land in Castle Provincial Park, just five kilometres from Castle Mountain Ski Resort. It began with a pre-fabricated wood cabin with adjacent wooden pads for canvas tents that were meant to serve as dormitories.

Over the years, safety (bears aren’t easily deterred by canvas) and practicality (generators were replaced with line electricity) led to a number of changes to the site. An ATCO-style trailer was added as a lab to free up dorm space in the cabin and eventually various trailers and campers made their way on site to meet space demands – but they were all seen as stop-gap measures.

The scope of research being conducted at the field station is vast, and the natural setting is inspiring.

“We saw an opportunity to be involved in creating long-term sustainable infrastructure that would benefit both the community in and around Waterton and also those who conduct research in the Castle,” says Ryan C. Smith, senior environmental planner with Shell Canada. “These types of opportunities are very important to us. They help us meet the commitments we make to local stakeholders as well as improve our connection to the surrounding communities where we operate.”

Former psychology professor Dr. Drew Rendall first approached Shell with a funding proposal. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ then stepped in, and through then Executive Director of Facilities, Doug Parker, secured infrastructure revitalization grant money from the provincial government. A project was born.

The field station now features a second building (Shell Dormitory), accommodates 23 beds and three bathrooms, an expanded kitchen facility, increased lab space, exterior storage, new water storage, a fire alarm system and better road access. The end result is a station that can now host numerous students and researchers and has the capacity for community outreach initiatives.

“We’ve been running field courses in geography, environmental science and biology that were dispersed and scattered around because we had no core facility,” says Rood. “Now we have a viable field station in a prime and accessible location.”

The scope of research being conducted at the field station is vast. From Dr. Andrew Hurly’s study of hummingbirds and memory to Dr. Chris Hopkinson’s work on climate systems and climate change to Rood’s water studies and more, the Castle area offers an extremely valuable environment. Couple that with Shell’s interests in resource extraction and its associated environmental sensitivities and like interests emerge.

“Protecting the environment requires new technologies, new partnerships and new ways of operating,” says Smith. “This partnership with the U of L is a great example of how we can work with an academic institution and also involve those from the NGO world and surrounding communities and come together for a common goal.”

Rood says the industry partnership is extremely beneficial to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and its students.

“If you asked my students a decade after they graduate what they remember, a high proportion of them will remember the field experiences,” says Rood. “Ironically, it’s a very inefficient way to get content across. It’s much easier to present bullet points on a screen in a classroom but those lessons don’t become embedded in the students, they don’t really become a part of who they are. To actually go out and see something and discover its natural place is invaluable.”

Crossing borders with bold Brazilian program

trevor.kenney — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 23:02:52 +0000

Dr. Drew Rendall's psychology lab might be considered atypical in its student makeup now, but as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge continues to push internationalization as a key strategic goal, it may soon become representative of many.

Rendall currently has graduate students from Alberta, Manitoba, Sri Lanka and Brazil assisting with his research projects, the most recent addition coming to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ by way of the Brazilian Science Without Borders (SWB) program.

"This is a real boon for us as a university," says Rendall, professor of psychology in the Faculty of Arts & Science. "Graduate students are kind of the heart of the research enterprise, they are the real engine of it. They collect the data and do a lot of the work, and without graduate students the research enterprise disappears."

Science Without Borders began as an initiative whereby the Brazilian government is looking to send 100,000 students to universities around the world to study in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The goal is to revolutionize the country's research and development system.

"Brazilian science has shown great improvement over the last decade but we face many challenges," says Ednei Barros dos Santos, a Brazilian PhD student who has taken advantage of the SWB program to come study under Rendall at the U of L.

"We have a very low proportion of doctors in relation to our population, and there is a low frequency of international collaboration."

Doctoral student Ednei Barros dos Santos just recently returned from a three-month field study in Argentina.

Dos Santos discovered Rendall while researching his master's degree in zoology. After reading his papers, he decided to contact Rendall to see if he was open to supervising his PhD studies. The two met while Rendall was on field study in Argentina and not long after, dos Santos applied to the SWB program for funding.

"My research focus is on song variations of the house wren. I'm going to compare the male songs of two different populations, one here in Canada and the other in Argentina," says dos Santos. "We are trying to understand what is the relation between song variation and different mating systems and migratory behaviour."

That his master's work in Brazil, where he researched language in animal species, could be so closely related to Rendall's studies some 11,000 kilometres away, speaks to the value of international collaboration.

"This program provides an incredible opportunity for Brazilian students to be exposed to scientific innovation at Canadian universities, and will help to spur growth in science and technology sectors in Brazil," says Trish Jackson, the U of L's acting manager, International Centre for Students. "The students we are hosting are a wonderful addition to the institution; they have serious academic intentions, and will certainly make an impact when they return to complete their studies in Brazil."

The SWB program initially provided study opportunities for undergraduate students, placing more than 1,200 in Canadian universities alone. The U of L has 14 students enrolled from the program, including three who began last September and 11 more since January. Currently, a second call is going out for prospective doctoral students, and it is incumbent that faculty members provide the program with details of their research opportunities so that they might be able to participate. The PhD program is one of eight graduate programs offered by the School of Graduate Studies.

"We're excited to take part in this program. It's proven to be very successful at the undergraduate level and is likely to draw exceptionally high quality students," says Dr. Matthew Letts, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science. "The program provides full support for PhD students from Brazil, including tuition, travel, book and living expenses, but potential supervisors need to enter the doctoral research opportunities they wish to provide into the CBIE (Canadian Bureau for International Education) Placement Database to be considered for participation."

That dos Santos was accepted by SWB is heartening to Rendall, given that his research is not as applicable as many of the funded students.

"Brazil is very interested in training students who can come back and contribute fairly directly to agricultural initiatives, to resource extraction initiatives and to the information systems industry, for example," says Rendall. "The thrust of what Ednei is working on doesn't have immediate and obvious implications but I think it's pretty encouraging that they are taking a fairly broad approach to this. It shows that they are also interested in training some basic scientists who will come back and contribute to science broadly, and that's exciting."

For more information on the program, contact Dr. Matthew Letts (matthew.letts@uleth.ca) or Dr. Helen Kelley (helen.kelley@uleth.ca)

GET THE FACTS

· Science Without Borders was just one of the initiatives discussed when ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ President Mike Mahon visited Brazil in May as one of 30 Canadian university presidents who took part in an educational tour

· Dos Santos is wrapping up a three-month field study of house wrens in Argentina and will be back studying at the U of L in February

· The second call for SWB doctoral students runs from Feb. 1 to May 31 for January 2014 intake. The third call runs from June 1 to Sept. 30 for May 2014 intake

· Researchers can access the SWB database at the following web address: web.cbie.ca/smi/index_e.html

U of L Long Service Awards

trevor.kenney — Fri, 07 May 2010 22:02:22 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is holding its annual Long Service Awards and Retirement Recognition Ceremony on Wednesday, May 5, at 1 p.m. in the Students' Union ballrooms. A total of 116 employees who have completed 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of service will be honoured, along with 20 retiring employees.

Following is a list of honoured employees.

Retirees

Hart Cantelon, Adrian Cooke, Hank DeRidder, Linda Gray, Rose Helmer, Bill Hennessy, Randy Joseph, Dave Kunimoto, Toni Nelson, Rita Nieuwenhuis, Fran Olivier, Joanne Overn, Frank Perrotta, Ralph Pollock, Kent Rolfson, Gloria Samuels, Jonathan Seldin, Dennis Thompson, Frank VandenHeuvel and Hafizah Yahya

Long Service Recipients

35 Years | Reg Bibby, Merle Christie, Richard Epp, Christina Lastuka, Leroy Little Bear and Ian Wells

30 Years | Lynn Arnold, Leslie Lavers and Timothy Pope

25 Years | Donna Court, Marion Eastman, Rita Law, Jennifer Mather, Ralph Pollock, Leslie Robison-Greene, Pamela Loewen and Charlene Sawatsky

20 Years | Scott Allen, Pat Anderson, Steve Calvert, Garth Copeland, Leslie Dawn, Karen Dow-Cazal, Barbara Dudley, Linda Embury, Kim Fowler, Rumi Graham, Ruth Grant Kalischuk, Linda Gray, Anthony Hall, Wendy Herbers, Pat Hodd, Shelly Hutchinson, Leona Jacobs, Tom Johnston, Cindy Kabelka, Stella Kedoin, Hadi Kharaghani, Al Kizuk, Vern Leckie, Patti Leeb, James McDowell, Ken McInnes, Mike McKenna, Glen Montgomery, Jane O'Dea, Fran Olivier, Joanne Overn, Debbie Payne, Margaret Rodermond, Catherine Ross, David Siminovitch, Jackie Slezina, Dan Sudo, Darlene Sutherland, Julie Tran, Nancy Walker, Wendy Westergreen and Pamela Winsor

15 Years | Nola Aitken, Heather Anderson, Katherine Chiste, Fred Del Cid, Susanne Garner, Linda Gilbert, Al Hill, Rebecca Johnson, Lyn Jose, Catherine Kanashiro, Terry Kirkvold, Marc Roussel,and Lorne Williams

10 Years | Amir Akbary-Majdabadno, Debra Basil, Michael Basil, Jasminn Berteotti, Brian Black, Jodie Black, Bill Cade, Jane Cahoon, Steve Craig, Brian Dobing, Anne Dymond, Richard Feenstra, James Graham, Arlene Grimes, Thelma Gunn, Erika Hasebe-Ludt, David Hay, Lynn Hopkins, Gordon Hunter, Tanya Jacobson-Gundlock, Mary Kavanagh, Dan Kazakoff, Abdie Kazemipur, Stefan Kienzle, Danny Le Roy, Becky Lore, Heidi MacDonald, Kevin Matis, Muriel Mellow, Richard Mueller, Brenda Nixon, Sam Ogita, Gail Postman, Drew Rendall, Kelly Roberts, Gongbing Shan, Kim Skura, Heather Stevens, Trent Takeyasu, Gwen Umeris, Paul Vasey, Cindy Venhuis, Mike Whipple, Ilsa Wong and Wei Xu

Celebrate Long Service Awards

trevor.kenney — Wed, 05 May 2010 17:01:14 +0000

Following is a list of honoured employees.

Retirees

Long Service Recipients

35 Years | Reg Bibby, Merle Christie, Richard Epp, Christina Lastuka, Leroy Little Bear and Ian Wells

30 Years | Lynn Arnold, Leslie Lavers and Timothy Pope

25 Years | Donna Court, Marion Eastman, Rita Law, Jennifer Mather, Ralph Pollock, Leslie Robison-Greene, Pamela Loewen and Charlene Sawatsky

Rethinking evolution

trevor.kenney — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:46:27 +0000

Each summer, U of L PhD candidate Shannon Digweed ventures deep into the woods where she looks and listens for clues that will help her uncover the origins of language.

Digweed is one of many graduate students seamlessly blending lab and fieldwork in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's prestigious Behaviour and Evolution Research Group. She conducts her research in Alberta's Sheep River Provincial Park, where she is exploring the vocal calls of the red squirrel.

"What we learn about squirrel communication can be extrapolated to many other animals – including humans – to learn more about how and why language is created," says Digweed.

Digweed is part of vibrant and ever-increasing community of graduate students at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, which is undergoing an institutional evolution. While continuing to maintain its tradition in undergraduate liberal education, the U of L is emerging as a leading comprehensive academic and research institution.

This means that the U of L – like the universities of Alberta, Calgary and Athabasca – has a mandate to conduct research in every area it teaches and to increase its graduate programs.

Over the next 10 years, the number of graduate students at the U of L is expected to double – growth that will be made possible by new facilities, additional research space, expanded programming and increased funding opportunities combined with a steadfast commitment to providing all students with a personal, supportive learning environment.

As the U of L grows as a comprehensive academic and research institution, so will opportunities for graduate students like Digweed. She chose the U of L to pursue her doctorate based on the reputation, experience and excellence of her supervisor, Dr. Drew Rendall, as well as that of the Department of Psychology.

"The faculty at the U of L are extremely invested in the success of each and every graduate student," she says. "One only has to look at the successes of our graduate students who are publishing their research and winning national awards to see compelling evidence of this."

As the U of L continues to look ahead, the institution will keep its focus set on one sight – its students.

Rethinking evolution

trevor.kenney — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:27:06 +0000

Each summer, U of L PhD candidate Shannon Digweed ventures deep into the woods where she looks and listens for clues that will help her uncover the origins of language.

"What we learn about squirrel communication can be extrapolated to many other animals – including humans – to learn more about how and why language is created," says Digweed.

This means that the U of L – like the universities of Alberta, Calgary and Athabasca – has a mandate to conduct research in every area it teaches and to increase its graduate programs.

As the U of L continues to look ahead, the institution will keep its focus set on one sight – its students.

UNews - Drew Rendall

Shell Canada gift helps ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ revitalize Westcastle Field Station

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Shell Canada gift helps ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ revitalize Westcastle Field Station