UNews - Hester Jiskoot

Diverse skill set aids geography graduate Banting in professional career

trevor.kenney — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 18:13:39 +0000

Geography deals with some of the most exciting issues on Earth. It studies the interaction between human beings and the global environment and the resulting problems and opportunities.

We, as human beings, are an intrinsic part of the global ecosystem. We are a powerful part of nature and create imbalances that can have global influence. Geography is also concerned with spatial analysis: the distribution characteristics or network structures of a wide variety of physical and human features on the Earth's surface. It is from these concerns that Geographical Information Science (GIS) has emerged.

For geography alumnus James Banting (BSc ’09, MSc ’16), the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge was the environment he needed to discover his passion. Banting bounced around between a few programs in his first year before he decided what kind of degree he truly wanted to pursue. He started with general science, looked at political science and finally settled on geography. Perhaps his childhood fascination with National Geographic maps played a role in the decision? Nevertheless, it was the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s liberal education approach that allowed him to explore these opportunities.

“I was also able to meet some very smart and interesting people through my studies, student groups and extracurricular activities which has helped immensely in my professional career,” says Banting.

During his undergrad studies, Banting worked with Dr. Sarah Boon on some of her environmental research work in the Oldman River watershed. This was his first experience with geospatial work outside of lab or class settings and it helped shape his understanding of the requirements for geospatial work outside of school. Some of his favourite class experiences were trips into the field, as well as Dr. Hester Jiskoot’s glaciology lab where he was able to build a replica glacier to simulate how ice flowed around obstacles.

“My professors encouraged me to always think of the bigger implementations of my work. Why were we doing some task? Could there be a better way? The environment in which they taught allowed me the freedom to question methods I did not understand and seek clarification in areas I poorly understood. Through their guidance, I was able to realize the meaning behind the saying, ‘The more you know, the more you know you don't know’.”

Banting gained further work experience when he joined the Co-operative Education program and completed a work term with the Alberta Geological Survey. His experience helped him understand the governmental approach to GIS work, and was his first introduction to computer programming.

“The biggest advice I can give to future students is to take a basic course in computer programming. Knowing how to code is immensely useful in any discipline, even more so in geography and GIS,” advises Banting.

Banting now works as a geospatial developer at Sparkgeo, which provides geospatial expertise to tech companies. There he studies cloud native approaches to geospatial problems. He is very enthusiastic about the business applications for machine learning on remotely-sensed data.

“The projects I work on cover a wide range of geospatial topics including remote sensing, geographical information science, cartography and data collection,” he explains.

For more information about the geography program offered at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, click here. If you’re ready to jump into the excitement and discover your passion for geography, apply today!

Geography researchers bring RemoteEx 2018 workshop to U of L

trevor.kenney — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 20:53:52 +0000

Researchers from Norway, the United States and Canada gathered at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Westcastle Field Station and Castle Mountain Resort recently for a week-long RemoteEx Graduate Training Workshop, Using UAVs and Structure from Motion (SfM) in Cryospheric Research.

Organized by Department of Geography faculty members Drs. Hester Jiskoot and Philip Bonnaventure, the event featured 25 participants from eight institutes. Three invited workshop instructors, Dr. Matt Nolan (Fairbanks Fodar), Ellie Bash (PhD candidate, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary), and U of L alumnus Dan Juhlin (BSc ’10, Government of Alberta), offered a mixture of lecture/tutorial presentations and practical exercises using specialized software and pre-processed snow and glacier data. Workshop participants were also treated to indoor and outdoor practice sessions, flying a range of multi-rotor and fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones.

“It was an excellent week for everyone,” says Jiskoot, associate professor of physical geography & glaciology. “In addition to those activities, students and faculty gave conference-type research presentations, ranging in topics from Antarctic ice shelves to Arctic permafrost hotspots, and from glacier surge dynamics to post-fire interactions between shrubs and permafrost.”

RemoteEx is a Norwegian/Canadian/U.S. partnership exchange program (2017-2020) for studies and research on remote sensing of the cryosphere (snow, glaciers, permafrost, sea ice) with 10 partner institutes. It provides support for graduate students to take courses on each side of the Atlantic, while both students and faculty members are supported when participating in research exchanges to North America or Norway at a RemoteEx partner institute.

Jiskoot explains the inaugural RemoteEx activity was a June 2017 workshop and steering meeting in Iceland, where herself, Bonnaventure and U of L master’s student Rory Gibson represented the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

Dr. Philip Bonnaventure, left, master's student Rory Gibson and Dr. Hester Jiskoot, right, in Iceland in 2017.

“A total of 30 participants from Norway and North America gave presentations and learned about Iceland’s glaciers and geology through fieldtrips and a sampling of geothermal pools,” she says. “As a result of this meeting, I became a graduate supervisory committee member of a student at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Maine, and in Spring 2018 was invited to give two research seminars at their Orono campus.”

In Spring 2018, Bonnaventure’s master’s student, Madeleine Garibaldi, made use of the RemoteEx network to take the Special topics in remote sensing and terrain analysis graduate course at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Oslo. Currently, Jiskoot’s PhD student, Jade Cooley, is participating in the 5th bi-annual McCarthy International Summer School in Glaciology, organized by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alaska, Fairbanks. In addition, a graduate course at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Centre in Svalbard, the world's northernmost institution for higher education and research, is planned for 2019.

“The partnership of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in the RemoteEx program has allowed our glaciology and permafrost research labs to make excellent use of student and faculty mobility to strengthen research collaborations with North American and Norwegian colleagues,” adds Jiskoot. “We’re also working on joint training of graduate students in advanced uses of remote sensing techniques in cryospheric research.”

Multi-year funding of approximately $310,000 is primarily provided by the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SiU). RemoteEx project leaders on both sides of the Atlantic are the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Oslo and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Ottawa. All RemoteEx workshop activities, including participant lodging, airfare and ground transportation to Lethbridge, were funded by RemoteEx, with a small contribution from the U of L’s Faculty of Arts & Science Dean’s Office towards local logistics. Participating U of L graduate students Jade Cooley, Madeleine Garibaldi, Kyle Bexte and undergraduate student Oliver Kienzle also provided logistic support.

To learn more about RemoteEx see: http://www.mn.uio.no/remotex

ARTeMiS helps Hopkinson get a better look at our Earth

david.kirby — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 18:59:28 +0000

In the world of academic research, acronyms are pervasive, condensing the titles of everything from funding agencies to prestigious fellowships. But in the case of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge geography researcher Dr. Christopher Hopkinson, the acronym for his latest project is not only an easy-to-remember abbreviation, but also a symbol of the initiative’s ambitions.

Dr. Christopher Hopkinson is the Unversity's new Chair in Terrestrial Ecosystem Remote Sensing.

“I’m interested in enhancing our understanding of the environment and natural resources,” says Hopkinson.

With such an ecologically minded focus, it’s perhaps not surprising Hopkinson is using his research to pay homage to a Greek goddess best known for protecting the wilderness and natural world. The advanced-resolution terradynamic monitoring system (ARTeMiS for short) is a suite of hardware and software technologies that Hopkinson is integrating to improve simultaneous imaging of the Earth’s surface and what’s happening just beneath it.

A national leader in remote sensing technology and its applications, Hopkinson was named a Chair in Terrestrial Ecosystem Remote Sensing in 2013. He was one of three new Chairs who were added to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ last year as part of the Government of Alberta’s Campus Alberta Innovation Program Chairs plan (a fourth will be announced later in 2014).

Previously an adjunct professor at Acadia, Dalhousie and Wilfrid Laurier Universities, Hopkinson came to the U of L from his most recent post in Canberra, Australia. There, he spent a year as an environmental research scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the country’s national research agency, combining ground-based, airborne and satellite lidar (remote sensing) data to estimate changes in forest biomass carbon stocks.

Today at the U of L, Hopkinson has received more than $233,000 in funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to develop ARTeMiS, an integrated system of field-based sensors that will support 3-D monitoring of seasonal and long-term environmental changes and vegetation processes.

The initiative also involves U of L professors Dr. Hester Jiskoot and Dr. Laura Chasmer. In addition, while three postdoctoral fellows will begin working alongside Hopkinson in the coming months, he envisions that undergraduate and graduate students will contribute to the research in the future, supporting such activities as system integration, field testing, data collection and environmental modeling.

ARTeMiS will map and quantify surface and sub-surface features and rates of change. “The landscape is complicated,” explains Hopkinson. “There are many environmental processes to observe at once – for example, freezing and thawing – and those changes are imperceptible right now because we can’t see below and above the ground surface at the same time.”

ARTeMiS, meanwhile, will enable concurrent 3D imaging of the surface and sub-surface. And the resulting data will eventually help researchers to better grasp the intricate connections among environmental changes, such as forest growth, snowpack evolution, wetland regeneration, and climate change, natural resource management, human disturbance and land reclamation in boreal, alpine, montane and floodplain ecosystems.

“Without this new technology, it will be very difficult to get a handle on these changes and just how important they are,” says Hopkinson.

U of L researchers get funding boost from Canada Foundation for Innovation

trevor.kenney — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 22:48:29 +0000

From below the earth’s surface to the farthest reaches of the universe, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are embarking on a pair of significant study projects thanks to research infrastructure support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

On Wednesday, CFI announced a $63-million investment in support of cutting-edge research equipment, laboratories and tools through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund and the Infrastructure Operating Fund. A total of 250 facilities in 37 universities across Canada will receive funding.

For the U of L, it translates into nearly $350,000 in CFI infrastructure support. It will allow Drs. Christopher Hopkinson and Locke Spencer, and their colleagues, the opportunity to pursue imaging studies both on the ground and deep into space.

Dr. Chris Hopkinson is the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Chair in Terrestrial Ecosystems Remote Sensing.

“The tremendous impact that Drs. Spencer and Hopkinson make in their respective fields will only be enhanced by this important investment,” says the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Vice-President (Research) Dr. Dan Weeks. “The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has increased its research capacity through the attraction of world-leading talent such as these two faculty members and these CFI funds will help ensure the full potential of their research programs is realized.”

The funded projects are as follows:

An Integrated System for High Resolution Terradynamic 3D Imaging

Principal Investigator– Dr. Christopher Hopkinson

Co-applicants– Dr. Laura Chasmer and Dr. Hester Jiskoot

Hopkinson, the Campus Alberta Innovates Program (CAIP) Chair in Terrestrial Ecosystems Remote Sensing, is leading a study that will look at a range of geosciences research questions related to seasonal and long-term environmental changes.

The CFI support of $233,670 will assist in creating a suite of field-based sensors that will support 3D monitoring of environmental processes at plot to landscape scales.

“Our understanding of earth surface/vegetation processes and feedbacks are often limited by an inability to simultaneously observe causes and effects both above and below the ground surface,” says Hopkinson. “This unique integrated advanced-resolution terradynamic monitoring system (ARTeMiS) will be deployed to map and quantify 3D surface and sub-surface features and rates of change. From forest growth to mountain snowpacks to wetland regeneration, ARTeMiS will help characterize both natural and modified ecosystem dynamics.”

The work is significant in that it focuses on issues related to climate change impacts, natural resource management, human disturbance and land reclamation in boreal, alpine, montane and floodplain ecosystems.

Imaging the Universe in the Far-Infrared

Principal Investigator– Dr. Locke Spencer

Spencer (MSc ’05, PhD ’09), a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Experimental Astrophysics, in collaboration with an international team working on related research, is leading an instrumentation project that will improve experimental astrophysics observations in the Far-Infrared (FIR) spectral region, thereby helping us to better understand the formation and evolution of stars, galaxies and the universe as a whole.

“Within Canada, the need to increase support for laboratory-based experimental astrophysics has been identified as a top priority,” says Spencer, who just recently returned to the U of L through the Canada Research Chairs program. “Over half of the energy emitted by the universe appears in the relatively unexplored Far-Infrared spectral region. With the help of this funding, instrumentation will be developed to advance the technologies and techniques needed by future space instruments exploring the Far-Infrared. Many of the current open questions in astrophysics are waiting on better observations in this region.”

The CFI support of $115,200 will allow Spencer to develop a hybrid instrument combining a Fourier transform spectrometer with a spatial interferometer.

While the equipment will initially be developed in a lab, the overall goal of the program is to enhance observations from space-based telescopes. It will also support the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s continued emergence as a key contributor to astronomy research on both the national and international stage.

“This investment, in parallel to current Canadian efforts in the FIR, presents a ground floor opportunity for Canada to become a key partner in future-generation ground and space-based FIR astronomy observatories,” adds Spencer.

By funding projects such as those initiated by Drs. Hopkinson and Spencer, CFI is helping to ensure that Canada remains a world leader in terms of research and innovation.

“Canadian institutions benefit from investments in research infrastructure which provide the tools needed to be at the forefront of innovation,” says Dr. Gilles Patry, president and CEO of CFI. “The research conducted in these labs and facilities will also train a new generation of researchers which will help Canada maintain its position as a global economic leader.”

Diversity celebrated, Mar. 11-15

trevor.kenney — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:55:50 +0000

Now in its third incarnation, the annual ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Respect and Diversity Awareness Week is an established campus event that brings to light issues related to diversity and respect both in the workplace and beyond.

Presented by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty Association's Gender, Equity and Diversity Caucus, the week runs Mar. 11-15 and features six events over the span of five days. The goal, of course, is to have the themes that are discussed throughout the week resonate long after the event spotlight has faded.

"I think it's great to highlight the week and to bring in speakers and all the bells and whistles, but this is something that should be infused in our everyday," says caucus member and Chair of Respect and Diversity Awareness Week, Dr. Noella Piquette.

Dr. Noella Piquette is the Chair of Gender Diversity Equity Week.

An associate professor in the Faculty of Education, Piquette says that issues of diversity are becoming a greater part of mainstream conversation but there is much work to be done.

'Diversity Includes All' is the theme to this year's week and is designed to get faculty members to think about their own diversity as well as the student diversity that exists on campus.

"We do a fantastic job at this university talking about students and how we can support them, and while we're not trying to shift the focus, we're broadening the focus to include the fact that we have a huge faculty and staff component on campus, and it's important to think about the diversity that exists within those groups," says Piquette.

The week kicks off with a presentation from assistant professor of neuroscience Dr. Robbin Gibb as she presents Sex Differences in the Brain, Monday, Mar. 11 at noon in TH241.

Gibb will outline some of the factors influencing brain development that are mediated by sex differences. What promises to be a lively question and answer session follows her talk.

On Tuesday, the Spoken Word – Poetry Slam event is at noon in AH176. This gives presenters a platform to speak, read, rhyme or rant their words in a two-minute window as they discuss diversity and inclusion.

"I think this will be so much fun and really puts a new slant on discussing diversity," says Piquette, who notes that the Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group is also supporting the event.

Faculty, staff and students are all welcome to take part. Participants just need to sign up in advance by contacting Piquette at noella.piquette@uleth.ca.

Wednesday's event is a presentation with Jeff Meadows and Brad Reamsbottom of the Teaching Centre. They will discuss Supporting Faculty in Supporting Students with Learning Disabilities, focussing on some of the key issues that students may be experiencing within reading and writing tasks, and specific strategies that can be employed to assist them.

A pair of events takes place Thursday, beginning with a wheelchair basketball demonstration hosted by Dr. Mary Dyck (kinesiology and physical education) and with the Lethbridge Wheelchair Basketball Association (10:45 a.m. in the 1st Choice Savings Centre gym), followed by a special film screening of Shameless: The ART of disability (7 p.m. in PE264).

"It's a heartwarming movie, but at the same time it's also very comical," says Piquette. "They really try and show that disability is not all about being sad and serious, it's a part of life and they do a great job at portraying that message."

The week wraps up with Friday's Strengthening Academic Capacity: Gender Dimensions presentation by Mary Butterfield of the Office of Research and Innovation Services.

Butterfield will speak to gender equality in academic research at 12:15 p.m. in TH277.

Piquette has long been involved with issues related to diversity. She was a special education teacher and guidance counsellor for 14 years at the school level and now as an associate professor, teaches courses in special education at the undergraduate level and in counselling at the graduate level, focusing on a broader picture of diversity and mechanisms to advocate for inclusion within all community systems.

"We've done our best to represent as many different approaches to the discussion of diversity issues as we could with this week's events," she says. "I really do urge everyone to find a topic that might be of interest to them and to engage in the conversation."

For more information on any of these events or any issues related to the Gender and Diversity Caucus, contact the following members: Chair, Dr. Carly Adams (carly.adams@uleth.ca); Sandra Cowan (sandra.cowan@uleth.ca); Dr. Hester Jiskoot (hester.jiskoot@uleth.ca); Dr. Kevin McGeough (mcgekm@uleth.ca); Dr. Luz Ospina (luz.ospina@uleth.ca); Dr. Noella Piquette (noella.piquette@uleth.ca);
Dr. Jennifer Thannhauser (jennifer.thannhauser@uleth.ca); Dr. John Usher (john.usher@uleth.ca); or Ilsa Wong (ilsa.wong@uleth.ca).

Education begins with respect

trevor.kenney — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:04:10 +0000

A year after opening a dialogue on diversity and respect, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty Association's Gender, Equity and Diversity Caucus is looking to build upon that momentum with the 2nd Annual Respect & Diversity Awareness Week.

Running Mar. 5-9 at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, this year's theme for the weeklong conversation is "Respect and learning go hand in hand".

"Last year was great for an inaugural event," says Dr. Carly Adams, Chair of the Gender, Equity and Diversity Caucus. "We thought how it was taken up by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community was wonderful. It's a conversation that needs to be ongoing."

Events such as a Talking About Teaching panel discussion through the Centre for the Advancement of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CAETL) spurred the campus community into thinking about how we interact with one another, in classrooms, meeting rooms and even as we walk through the hallways.

"As a faculty member who attended these talks, I thought about the issues raised and then took them into my classroom," says Adams. "I hope that others took the things they heard and tried to adapt new strategies in the ways they dealt with students or fellow faculty."

If anything, the week created an environment where issues of inclusion and respect can be discussed. It also established an awareness of the caucus and took its work to another level. In early February, the caucus played a role in the Discover Diversity conference hosted by the City of Lethbridge and co-sponsored by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

"I was really pleased we were able to be a part of that because not only did we have an opportunity to talk about the caucus but also the respect and diversity week and some of the other initiatives we're involved in," says Adams. "It led to an even wider discussion about workplace diversity and respect beyond our campus."

This year's awareness week will feature a few new additions, including an Ignite! event on Wednesday, Mar. 7 at 5 p.m. in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library (10th floor). Described as a fun, informative, rapid-fire session, participants are tasked to speak to 20 pictures or slides of their choice, all in a five-minute window of time, as they wax eloquent about diversity and/or gender.

"We're really excited about this event," says Adams. "We have a number of faculty lined up to take part, as well as people from the Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group (LPIRG) and the Students' Union. In total it's about 12 to 15 people, and it should create a really lively discussion from all the different perspectives across campus."

The line up of speakers includes Dr. Kevin McGeough (Geography), Yale Belanger (Native American Studies), Dan Johnson (Environmental Science), Carol Williams (Women and Gender Studies), Phil Jones (CAETL/Health Sciences), Marinus Swanepoel (Library), LPRIG, Shelia McManus (History), Rob Sutherland (CCBN/ULFA) and Tanya Harnett (Native American Studies/Fine Arts).

Other events for the week include a film screening of MissRepresentation, a documentary exploring how the media's misrepresentation of women has led to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence. The Gender, Equity, and Diversity Caucus is joining the YWCA, Womanspace, Campus Women's Centre and LPIRG in sponsoring the film screening that takes place Thursday, Mar. 8 at 7 p.m. in Galileo's Gallery and coincides with International Women's Day.

On Friday, Mar. 9, Craig Milner from the Faculty of Management will present Student Diversity Rocks: Developing High Performance Teams in the Classroom (1 p.m., M1040).

"He's discussing diversity in teams, and how we might leverage some of the different experiences of our students in the classroom to create different conversations in groups," says Adams of the one-hour workshop.
While the week concludes with Milner's presentation, the conversation does not, and will be picked up a week later when the Department of Women & Gender Studies, with assistance from Adams' group, will present Why Women and Gender Studies? A Multigenerational Roundtable and Conversation, Friday, Mar. 16 at 2 p.m. in the Students' Union Ballroom.

"Last year, we came away thinking it was a very positive week and worth continuing," says Adams. "We invite everyone to come out for these events and I hope that this will give these important issues even more exposure."

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty Association's Gender, Equity and Diversity Caucus consists of: Andrea Amelinckx, Andrea Glover, Dr. Hester Jiskoot, Dr. Kevin McGeough, Dr. Noella Piquette, Dr. John Sheriff, Dr. Robert Sutherland, Jennifer Thannhauser and Dr. Carly Adams (Chair).

This story first appeared in the March 2012 issue of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Glacial research boosted by donor support

trevor.kenney — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:15:45 +0000

Glaciers around the globe are continuing to melt so fast that many will disappear in the next 50 to 100 years. Such conspicuous evidence of climate change indicates growing challenges that affect more than polar bears and weather forecasts.

Enter U of L associate professor Dr. Hester Jiskoot: a glaciologist leading efforts to understand what's happening to Earth's ice masses, and what those changes mean for southern Alberta and beyond.

"Glaciers are beautiful and intriguing, and are situated in one of the most pristine landscapes: the high mountains and the polar regions," says Jiskoot, who has been a member and leader on glaciological expedition teams on and around glaciers and ice sheets in Greenland, Iceland, the Yukon, Alaska, the European Alps, the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the Himalayas. "Even if you can't go see them yourself, they are fascinating natural systems to learn about."

Dr. Hester Jiskoot's glacial studies take her to the world's high mountains and polar regions.

Collectively covering an area the size of South America, glaciers are ancient rivers of compressed snow that creep through the landscape, shaping the planet's surface and holding about 70 per cent of the world's freshwater.

"Global warming has caused widespread accelerated glacier retreat, which has negative effects on the fresh water available for humans and in ecosystems, and which has caused and still causes global sea levels to rise," explains Jiskoot, who conducts her research in the Alberta Water and Environmental Science Building on campus. "By being informed about natural systems such as glaciers we can learn why some changes in nature happen so fast while others take longer, but also what our own influence on these systems is. All systems in our world are connected, and a small change on one side of the globe can have a large effect in other parts or even on our entire world."

Understanding the large-scale impact of the research taking place at the U of L, former director of research services, Dr. Einard Haniuk and his wife Kay were happy to support water research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

"In working at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, I got to know people here and understand their research," explains Einard, who worked in research settings across the United States and Canada. "Because of the importance of water and its widespread impact, particularly in relation to agriculture in this area, we were pleased to contribute to the water building and water research."

When matched by the Government of Alberta's Access to the Future Fund, the Haniuks's gift helped equip the Glaciology and Geoscience Lab where Jiskoot and her research team conduct their research.

"Good facilities and tools are essential to doing research," says Jiskoot, looking around appreciatively at a lab full of equipment. "The Haniuks's gift helped provide the finishing touches to my lab and has enabled me to build an exceptional research environment and phenomenal learning opportunities for myself and the students who work with me."

This story first appeared in the Legend. For a look at the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Opening a dialogue of respect

trevor.kenney — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:31:04 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty Association's Gender and Diversity Caucus is looking to initiate a conversation about diversity and respect – and it wants everyone's voice to be heard.

The inaugural event, a week titled, Show Respect, Get Respect at Your U, will be held at the U of L from Mar. 7-11 as the caucus looks to get the campus thinking about how we interact with one another, in classrooms, meeting rooms and as we walk down the hallways.

"One of the things we've seen in the last 10 years is incredible growth here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ," says Dr. Hester Jiskoot, Chair of the Gender and Diversity Caucus. "It's also grown in terms of diversity, and we thought this was a positive way to talk about that diversity. We want the conversation to focus not on tolerating one another but rather on respecting each other."

The U of L campus is fertile ground for academic debate, and such debates often result in academic discovery. However, when the debate is held in an atmosphere of disrespect, nobody benefits.

"Universities are places for academic freedom, but with that freedom comes a responsibility of making choices and accepting diversity of opinion," says Jiskoot. "You don't necessarily have to agree with someone exactly, but you still have to respect the other person's opinion, traditions, culture and lifestyle, just as much as you would your own."

She explains that although there have been cases of discrimination/disrespect on campus, they are not interested in highlighting these specific instances, but rather want to address a "general feeling" among faculty members about issues of disrespect in U of L classrooms and meeting rooms. To stem such behaviour, Jiskoot says we need only look at our own Strategic Plan for guidance.

"We want people to see this more as an opportunity to enrich their own lives through diversity. Our Strategic Plan speaks to promoting and enhancing diversity and to presenting students with a welcoming environment," she says. "Everybody should feel welcome and respected for being in the classroom, both students and professors."

Dr. Carly Adams is also on the caucus, and she has seen students intimidated in the classroom, something that undermines their educational experience and what she is trying to accomplish as a professor.

"It's constantly a challenge, especially in senior level classes, to make sure there's an atmosphere where everyone's voice is respected," says Adams.

While respect in the classroom is not a new concept, the initiative of establishing a week that celebrates respect and diversity through a series of events is unique. The caucus does not know what to expect from the week, but more than anything hopes it can open up a dialogue. The group would also like to make it a recurring event that will grow in future years and include activities and events organized by undergraduate and graduate student organizations and clubs.

"We're really trying to raise awareness about all of these issues," says Adams. "We want students talking to students about how classrooms could be more diverse and more respectful places, and at the same time we want colleagues talking to one another about these issues as well."

The Centre for the Advancement of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CAETL) is on board with a Friday, Mar. 11 Talking About Teaching session that will address the topic of respectful teaching and respectful learning. Other events include the Monday, Mar. 7 Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group film screening and a Wednesday, Mar. 9 webinar workshop.

"We're hoping that by the end of the week, people are willing and open to talk about making this a much more diverse and respectable place to be, whether it's inside or outside the classroom," says Adams.

As Jiskoot adds, it all starts with initiating the conversation.

"I think the main goal is mutual respect, understanding and gaining an awareness," she says. "Even if people don't actually go to any of the activities, at least if they start talking about it, that's a beginning."

GET THE FACTS

• The CAETL Talking About Teaching seminar features panelists Dr. Suzanne Lenon (Women's Studies), Andrea Glover (Library/FNTP), Dr. Bruce MacKay (Liberal Education) and Dr. Sameer Deshpande (Management). The session is Friday, Mar. 11 from 2 to 4 p.m. in AH100.

• The LPIRG film screening of, The Experimental Eskimo, is Monday, Mar. 7 at 7 p.m., Galileo's Lounge (in the Student Union Building).

• The Wednesday, Mar. 9 webinar is titled, Diversity, Inclusivity, Civility, and runs from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in L1168.

• Gender and Diversity Caucus members include: Dr. Pamela Adams (Education), Dr. Carly Adams (Kinesiology and Physical Education), Ardis Anderson (Philosophy), Dr. Yale Belanger (Native American Studies), Don Gill (Art), Andrea Glover (Library), Dr. Hester Jiskoot (Geography), Dr. Rob Sutherland (Neuroscience), Dr. Janet Youngdahl (Music).

This story first appeared in the Legend. For a look at the February issue of the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Opening a dialogue of respect

trevor.kenney — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 22:34:37 +0000

The inaugural event, a week titled, Show Respect, Get Respect at Your U, will be held at the U of L from Mar. 7-11 as the caucus looks to get the campus thinking about how we interact with one another, in classrooms, meeting rooms and as we walk down the hallways.

"One of the things we've seen in the last 10 years is incredible growth here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ," says Dr. Hester Jiskoot, Chair of the Gender and Diversity Caucus. "It's also grown in terms of diversity, and we thought this was a positive way to talk about that diversity. We want the conversation to focus not on tolerating one another but rather on respecting each other."

The U of L campus is fertile ground for academic debate, and such debates often result in academic discovery. However, when the debate is held in an atmosphere of disrespect, nobody benefits.

She explains that although there have been cases of discrimination/disrespect on campus, they are not interested in highlighting these specific instances, but rather want to address a "general feeling" among faculty members about issues of disrespect in U of L classrooms and meeting rooms. To stem such behaviour, Jiskoot says we need only look at our own Strategic Plan for guidance.

"We want people to see this more as an opportunity to enrich their own lives through diversity. Our Strategic Plan speaks to promoting and enhancing diversity and to presenting students with a welcoming environment," she says. "Everybody should feel welcome and respected for being in the classroom, both students and professors."

Dr. Carly Adams is also on the caucus, and she has seen students intimidated in the classroom, something that undermines their educational experience and what she is trying to accomplish as a professor.

"It's constantly a challenge, especially in senior level classes, to make sure there's an atmosphere where everyone's voice is respected," says Adams.

While respect in the classroom is not a new concept, the initiative of establishing a week that celebrates respect and diversity through a series of events is unique. The caucus does not know what to expect from the week, but more than anything hopes it can open up a dialogue. The group would also like to make it a recurring event that will grow in future years and include activities and events organized by undergraduate and graduate student organizations and clubs.

"We're really trying to raise awareness about all of these issues," says Adams. "We want students talking to students about how classrooms could be more diverse and more respectful places, and at the same time we want colleagues talking to one another about these issues as well."

The Centre for the Advancement of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CAETL) is on board with a Friday, Mar. 11 Talking About Teaching session that will address the topic of respectful teaching and respectful learning. Other events include the Monday, Mar. 7 Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group film screening and a Wednesday, Mar. 9 webinar workshop.

"We're hoping that by the end of the week, people are willing and open to talk about making this a much more diverse and respectable place to be, whether it's inside or outside the classroom," says Adams.

As Jiskoot adds, it all starts with initiating the conversation.

"I think the main goal is mutual respect, understanding and gaining an awareness," she says. "Even if people don't actually go to any of the activities, at least if they start talking about it, that's a beginning."

GET THE FACTS

• The CAETL Talking About Teaching seminar features panelists Dr. Suzanne Lenon (Women's Studies), Andrea Glover (Library/FNTP), Dr. Bruce MacKay (Liberal Education) and Dr. Sameer Deshpande (Management). The session is Friday, Mar. 11 from 2 to 4 p.m. in AH100.

• The LPIRG film screening of, The Experimental Eskimo, is Monday, Mar. 7 at 7 p.m., Galileo's Lounge (in the Student Union Building).

• The Wednesday, Mar. 9 webinar is titled, Diversity, Inclusivity, Civility, and runs from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in L1168.

• Gender and Diversity Caucus members include: Dr. Pamela Adams (Education), Dr. Carly Adams (Kinesiology and Physical Education), Ardis Anderson (Philosophy), Dr. Yale Belanger (Native American Studies), Don Gill (Art), Andrea Glover (Library), Dr. Hester Jiskoot (Geography), Dr. Rob Sutherland (Neuroscience), Dr. Janet Youngdahl (Music).

For a look at the February issue of the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

On top of the world

trevor.kenney — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:53:25 +0000

Mark Sabo (BMgt '98) doesn't have to go far to gain a global perspective – he encounters it every day through the people he meets at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge as a materials handling worker in the U of L's shipping/receiving department.

However, hearing about far-flung adventures and discussing foreign culture and research activities pales in comparison to actually experiencing them. So it was with that inspiration that Sabo set his sights on the biggest adventure of his life on one of the grandest stages the world has to offer – Everest.

"I was due for a big adventure," says Sabo, who recently returned from an expedition to Everest Base Camp, a climb to 17,600 ft. above sea level, the closest you can get to Everest without mountaineering equipment. "I don't know if it was a mid-life crisis or not but in retrospect, I wish I would have done it sooner."

Materials handling worker, Mark Sabo, with Mt. Everest looming in the background.

Sabo is an active hiker, an interest he gained from former U of L employee Norm DeJong. He'd hiked the Waterton area extensively, participated in a general mountaineering camp through Alpine Club of Canada and done a variety of backcountry trips. A fellow member of his running club – a woman who was taking the excursion as a way to celebrate her 50th birthday – put the idea of Everest to him. Sabo, just turning 41, decided it was the right time to expand his horizons.

"I walk around here and every day I've got 400 or 500 friends at my disposal with so many varied interests. There's always something I can learn just by having these amazing resources at hand," says Sabo.

"I think that's why this job is perfect for me. I have access to all these amazing people on a regular basis. If I want to learn about glacial travel I can talk to Dr. Hester Jiskoot because she just went to the Indian Himalayas. If I want to learn anything about hiking and kayaking, I can talk to Joanne Golden from biology. If I want to know more about the culture of any country, it's easy to go find someone."

The Everest adventure is a 22-day trek that basically follows the classic route to Everest used by the 1953 expedition which successfully placed Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the summit of the world's highest mountain.

Sabo's preparation for the gruelling climb included extensive cardiovascular training and backcountry trips to Glacier National Park on the August and September long weekends. By late September, he was off to Kathmandu and the start of his adventure.

A group of 16 eventually took on the challenge, one that was both physically and emotionally draining.

"The group we had was phenomenal, and we all just got closer as we went along. Everybody was very supportive and that was important because after a few days, there were some who wanted to drop out but I think the strength of the group helped them through," he says.

The long treks through the foothills involved a week of seven and eight-hour days with seemingly no end in sight.

"We were ready to see some big peaks and move on," says Sabo.

The strength and enthusiasm of their sherpa guides was a motivating factor and as the group cleared the tree line and the big peaks of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and Ama Dablam beckoned, it reinvigorated their quest. On the morning of the group's final ascent to the peak of Kala Patthar (day 20), Sabo says it was an overwhelming event.

"I remember having to work really hard to get up there, the last 50 feet probably took me 15 minutes but the energy of our group was unbelievable," says Sabo.

The actual peak is at 18,200 ft., and only two or three people can occupy the top at one time.

"As I made my way down, it took an hour to do so, I stopped about half way and welled up a little bit, it was so spectacular. You could still see Everest, and after all that work I was quite emotional."

The descent took the group past memorials of some of those who had perished in trying to conquer Everest, including that of Scott Fischer, one of eight people who died during the 1996 Mount Everest disaster.

Having gone that far and realizing that Hillary and the peak of Everest resided another 10,000-plus feet away gave Sabo perspective on the accomplishment.

"When you think about climbing to the summit, they would have to do another 10 or 11 days and that blew my mind," he says. "It makes you consider what kind of individual does that and how much work it would be, both physically and emotionally."

Now back at the U of L, Sabo says he's definitely been changed by his experience.

"It's opened the world up to me so much more," he says. "I think I'm much more content with my life having seen how content the people are there with so much less. I'm also not so much intimidated about travel or adventure. So many people have come up to me and said they could never do it but I tell them, it is attainable."

GET THE FACTS

· The most popular time for trekking the Everest region is in October, while the majority of ascents to the summit are done in May. The peak of Everest is at 29,029 feet.

· Sabo estimates he had "four or five showers" throughout the entire trip. The food they ate, which was all packed in by the sherpa guides, was westernized to a degree and included a lot of potatoes, rice, coleslaw, eggs and oatmeal. Despite eating regularly large portions, he estimates still losing 15 pounds in weight because of how much energy they exerted climbing.

· Sabo, born and raised in Picture Butte, Alta., earned a management degree from the U of L in 1998. He's worked at the U of L for 10 years and revels in taking advantage of the campus atmosphere. "This campus is awesome because you have so many people here doing these alternative activities and they're all at your fingertips if you ever want to talk to them."

· Since returning, he has given presentations about his trip to various campus groups. He's happy to share his photos and experiences with any others that are interested.

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

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