UNews - Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ

McAleenan enthused about opportunity

trevor.kenney — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:04:25 +0000

Erin McAleenan has no problem admitting she has a competitive side that sometimes gets the better of her. It's a feisty edge she's ready and willing to bring to the Pronghorns women's basketball program as its new voice and leader.

McAleenan was tabbed as the 10th coach in the program's history in April, taking over a team searching for some bite and subsequent success.

"I played the point and I was very competitive," says McAleenan, a point guard for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Acadia Axewomen from 1999 to 2003. She comes to the Horns off a three-year stint as assistant coach with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta Pandas.

"I wasn't afraid to be physical to the point that the game allowed. I played in the women's league in Edmonton while I coached there . . . my competitive edge maybe takes over sometimes," she laughs.

New Horns women's basketball head coach Erin McAleenan is ready to get to work.

A Sussex, New Brunswick native, McAleenan is getting her first crack at being a head coach at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) level. Her pedigree is impressive, including a wealth of provincial and national team coaching experience. Currently, she is in her second year as head coach of Alberta's U17 provincial team, and later this month she'll spend two weeks as an apprentice coach/manager with the Canadian National Women's Team as it prepares for the London 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament.

Her penchant for coaching stems from her father, a high school teacher and coach, who she describes as turning Sussex into a basketball town when they moved to the area in the 1970s. McAleenan began coaching as a Grade 8 student when she would help out at summer basketball camps for kids.

"When I went to university, I wanted to be a physiotherapist, probably because I had suffered a lot of injuries and was really interested in that line of work," she says. "Over time I realized that I really preferred working with kids. I ran all the summer camps at Acadia while I played there and when I was graduating (with a BSc) I knew I wanted to get into education."

She worked at a private school as an associate faculty member while she pursued her education degree at Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, coaching high school boys and girls and earning provincial team experience within the Ontario Basketball Association. After working as the lead assistant coach for the Ontario U17 provincial team, she met Alberta coach Scott Edwards at 2008 Nationals tournament in Charlottetown, and he encouraged her to move out west for the assistant's position at ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta.

"While I loved teaching and working with high school kids, I think both my competitive side and my personal experience of playing CIS led me to want to try and make a difference with athletes at this age level," she says.

She comes to the Horns with her eyes wide open, understanding she's entering a basketball hotbed with deep community roots. Gaining the trust of that community will be central to her success.

"I don't think it's going to be easy but I think I'm the right person for the job," she says. "I'm definitely a people person, I want to go out into the community and develop those relationships. It's not going to happen overnight and like any relationship it'll take time for people to get to know me and to trust me and support the program I'm leading."

Her approach is grassroots.

"I want to connect with people, get involved with the high school and junior programs and expand our summer camp options," says McAleenan. "The more I can get out in the community and give back, the more people will get to know me so that we can create those relationships."

The Pronghorn program has the capability to lead basketball development in southern Alberta and McAleenan says her players can benefit from taking on that responsibility.

"I want to be able to give my student athletes opportunities to develop their leadership skills in the community and to do their part in being better role models, especially for younger females, whether that is through basketball specifically or other things I think we could get involved in," she says.

It all lends to creating an environment for success, both as students and as student-athletes.

"I'm thrilled to be given the opportunity to work with these young student-athletes and I value the role we have in their development," says McAleenan.

GET THE FACTS

· McAleenan considers herself a defense-first coach whose teams score off transition opportunities and good shot selection

· She was an assistant coach with the Canadian Developmental National Team at the 2011 Pan Am Games

· Adopted, McAleenan has a brother who played basketball at Bishop's ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and is currently living in Ottawa, as well as three half-brothers and two half-sisters, all living in New Brunswick

· McAleenan had never met U of L President Mike Mahon while they were both at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, but she did teach his son Seann a physical activity course at U of A and his other son, Brennan, was a physical therapist for the men's basketball program in her first year with the women's team

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

Horns open CIS tourney with win

trevor.kenney — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:49:26 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns (1-0) opened their Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship tournament with a 35-0 win over the host Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Excalibur.

The Canada West champion Pronghorns jumped out to an early lead as they tallied three converted tries in the game's first 13 minutes.

"We got off to a great start today and did well for the first bit to control the game," said Horns head coach Neil Langevin. "Then we got bogged down in some handling errors and some ball control issues. All in all we did enough to move on and we are pretty well rested and fairly good on the injury front."

CIS All-Canadian Kelsey Willoughby (Lethbridge, Alta.) opened the scoring for Lethbridge with a try in the fifth minute. Pronghorn fly-half and Lakefield, Ont. native Sophie Butler added a try of her own three minutes later. Canada West Rookie of the Year Kayla Moleschi (Williams Lake, B.C.) capped off the first-half scoring for the Pronghorns with a 50-metre run in the 13th minute. Laura Murphy-Burke (Surrey, BC) was 3-for-3 on converts in the first half.

It was after the Moleschi try that the Excalibur dug in their heels and showed the grit, toughness and never-say-die attitude they have become known for.

"We saw what we were made of and went toe-to-toe with the Canada West champs," said Trent assistant coach Craig Harris. "Once we got the butterflies out we were right there against a talented team. We'll take a lot from it and carry that over to our game on Sunday."

After the first three quick Pronghorn scores, the Excalibur kept Lethbridge off the board for nearly 30 minutes until Moleschi added her second try of the contest 15 minutes into the second half.

Moleschi capped off the scoring with a 65th minute try. Sarah Gordon (Surrey, BC) kicked her second conversion of the half to make the final score 35-0.

Moleschi's three-try performance propelled her to player of the game honours for the Horns. Ashley Burton was named player of the game for the Excalibur.

Lethbridge will next take on St. Francis Xavier in the final Pool-A game for each team. The match-up will take place Saturday at 8:30 a.m. MDT. The game can be viewed at ssncanada.ca

"We look forward to tomorrow and the chance to play St. FX in what will amount to a semifinal game," concluded Langevin.

5 questions with . . . Dr. Carol Williams

trevor.kenney — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 21:43:24 +0000

Dr. Carol Williams joined the Women's Studies Program and the Department of History at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in 2003. Today, we ask her 5 Questions about her research career.

Williams is currently completing a transnational edited collection of historical essays titled Indigenous Women's Work: from Labour to Activism. Her first monograph, Framing the West: Race, Gender and the Photographic Frontier in the Pacific Northwest, discusses women's roles in nation building and the photographic idea circulated about 'Indian' life that were used to promote Euro American settlement. Framing the West was awarded the American Historical Association-Pacific Coast Branch's Norris and Carol Hundley book prize in 2004. Her dissertation won the Lerner Scott Prize in American Women's History from the Organization of American History.

Dr. Carol Williams, right, with former student and alumna Daisy Raphael.

What first piqued your interest in your research discipline?

I entered undergraduate studies in 1982 with a pre-existing record of wage employment as a waitress and organizational experience in community and cultural activism, and was intrigued by the political and cultural underpinnings of women's history.

Women, no matter their class, national affiliation or cultural ancestry, were clearly marginal, or entirely absent, from 'authorized' bodies of knowledge and from pedagogy. I enrolled in a women's history class taught by Veronica Strong Boag, now a renowned historian of Canadian women. She encouraged the interpretation of primary sources then overlooked, including women's diaries and correspondence, as well as policies and documents that had served to regulate or police women's lives.

While women's history in 1982 was not an entirely new subfield in the discipline of history, the field exhibited great intellectual and methodological innovation. Moreover, as professionals, women scholars and their male allies were building networks of support while simultaneously challenging the exclusive structures of historical associations.

Women's history introduced and tested innovative and unconventional methods; mined and interpreted unusual documents and records; recovered or retrieved voices and experiences of topics, peoples and movements previously neglected or seen as less 'history worthy'.

Women's history research, as an intellectual arm of a global movement for social change and equity, had implications beyond the narrow confines of academia.

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

With women statistically outnumbering men as students and administrative staff in the classrooms and administrative offices of higher education, it is valuable for students to conceive intellectually and concretely how the lives and labour of their mothers, grandmothers, great-great grandmothers and ancestors contributed to the making of our world.

Women actively participate in innovation, knowledge, and production; therefore, women deserve to be fully recognized and researched as subjects, as well as producers, of knowledge and things. Why would we expect women to understand the world without adequate and equal representation in the systems and bodies of knowledge shared or taught in our classrooms and research?

Male students equally need to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of women. Women's history and women's studies ask: "why men's production has been granted more meaningful status or privilege in education, and research?" In answering this, and other questions new consciousness is created.

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

To study as Canada's first, and only, Canada Research Chair in the arena of Feminist and Gender Studies, a position I held at Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ from 2008 to 2011.

How important are students to your research endeavours?

Without students the production of knowledge is meaningless. Students, moreover, may challenge faculty by innovating and challenging existing practices and knowledge.

I have mentored and trained students as co-editors for a manuscript-in-progress, and have co-written publications with graduate students. My most recent book is dedicated to both undergraduate and graduate students who worked with me throughout the development and completion of the manuscript.

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

I would invest in self-determined educational initiatives of local indigenous communities, and endeavour to mentor indigenous (FNMI) students within the university more actively in order to facilitate their greater success in higher education.

I would work on building respectful relationships with local First Nations communities and indigenous knowledge holders and scholars in order to potentially get to the table and form research collaborations.

U of L leads way in establishing ACCRU

trevor.kenney — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:44:35 +0000

This story by Léo Charbonneau appeared in the Sept. 12 edition of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Affairs. It is re-posted here with their permission.

There is a new university group in Canada: the Alliance of Canadian Comprehensive Research Universities.

Created at a meeting in Ottawa in June, ACCRU brings together the vice-presidents, research, of the smaller comprehensive universities in Canada that have "a strong commitment to research," said Dan Weeks, vice-president, research, at ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

The creation of the alliance is in part a reaction to the group known as the U15, which advocates on behalf of what it calls "Canada's 15 leading research universities."

A graphical representation of ACCRU.

That group, previously called the G10 and then the G13 before it expanded to its current 15 members, has given those institutions "a strong unified voice for consultation and lobbying activities on their behalf," said Dr. Weeks.

However, ACCRU is not meant to be a lobbying group, he stressed. Rather, the aim of the new alliance is to discuss the challenges and issues that these smaller universities face, and to pool resources and best practices with like-minded colleagues.

"If we do have advice and things that have policy implications, the route would be through either AUCC [Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada] or our individual presidents," he said.

Dr. Weeks set the ball rolling for the new group with a letter he sent to colleagues this past January.

The letter reads in part: "There are a number of unique challenges associated with conducting world-class research at Canada's small institutions. Effectively meeting these challenges and ensuring that research investments made in our institutions are of maximal benefit to all Canadians prompts me to suggest that Canada's 'small' research universities might benefit by informal discussion of the merits of forming a group or forum. This would give us the opportunity to discuss and react collectively to issues we face now or that will arise."

The response was "absolutely fantastic," said Dr. Weeks. "Everybody was excited about getting together." The respondents agreed on a date and venue for the event, and of the 25 universities initially contacted, 19 sent representatives to the Ottawa gathering – in most cases, either the vice-president or associate VP research.

While stressing that membership in ACCRU is "meant to be inclusive," Dr. Weeks acknowledged he had to come up with "some sort of algorithm" to choose who to invite.

He and William Bridger, a former vice-president at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Western Ontario, devised a plan. First, they said the university had to describe itself as a comprehensive university.

Second, they did a rough calculation of the percentage of tri-council funding that each university receives, and "there was a pretty obvious breakpoint, and so we invited everybody below that line," said Dr. Weeks.

But he added, "I really wouldn't put too much stock in this 'who's in, who's out' type of thing. It's really more about the scope of your operations and would you benefit from being at these discussions."

The attendees to the Ottawa meeting "talked a lot about faculty recruitment and, related to that, the general perception of small universities by the public and by other institutions," said Dr. Weeks.

They also discussed research ethics, infrastructure, animal care, research centres and institutes, contracts, "and all the things that we have to fulfill in terms of policies and regulations" but often with far fewer resources than the larger universities, "so we have to be more clever about how we get some of these accomplished."

Katherine Schultz, vice-president research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Prince Edward Island, attended the meeting and said the conversations "were frank and open." She noted that, unlike vice-presidents, academic, there is no national meeting for VPs research, so this group "fills a gap that many of us perceived. … It's a forum for information exchange that didn't exist."

André Manseau, dean of research at Université du Quebec en Outaouais, said it was "very enriching" for him to have his colleagues share their experiences. "We face many similar issues," he said. "Our offices are of relatively modest size and we don't have a lot of specialized personnel."

The ACCRU members agreed to meet again in Ottawa in early December, before the annual Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council's leaders meeting (of senior university administrators who serve as points of contact with the council).

The alliance also created three working groups that will report at the December meeting: one looking at best practices, one on governance of the group itself, and a third tasked to craft a mission statement.

Universities represented at the ACCRU meeting in June:

* Acadia ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Bishop's ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Brandon ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Brock ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Cape Breton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Lakehead ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Nipissing ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* St. Francis Xavier ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Saint Mary's ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Thompson Rivers ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ
* Université de Moncton
* Université du Québec en Outaouais
* ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge
* ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Northern British Columbia
* ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Prince Edward Island
* ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Regina
* ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Windsor
* Wilfrid Laurier ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ

Recreating a glorious past

trevor.kenney — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:39:57 +0000

One dimensional, black and white photographs represent much of the aboriginal history we know. While serving adequately as depictions of an era, they hardly tell a story or set a scene.

Dr. Linda Many Guns of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's Native American Studies (NAS) department is trying to fill in those gaps, reconstructing a rich history one bead at a time. By crafting traditional aboriginal clothing such as dresses, war shirts and moccasins using actual trade cloth and intricate glass beads of a bygone time, she is using colour to recreate history and help it leap off the page.

"For me it's a source of pride," says Many Guns, who is in her second semester of teaching at the U of L. "I don't want to see just black and white pictures of our people keeping the memory alive. By creating these items, you see the incredible colour and beauty of that time, and it's awesome. You get a sense of how dynamic and incredible meeting our people must have been."

Linda Many Guns assembles a display of historical Aboriginal bead work in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library.

Born in southern Alberta into the Blackfoot tribe, she was registered at the Tsuu T'ina Reserve, later transferred to Siksika Nation. Now an educator completing a doctorate degree, Many Guns has worked in a variety of fields, from being a chef to a high-steel construction worker.

What has always resonated with her is the history of her people.

"I've always been proud of my culture and my heritage and like so many of the students I teach here, have spent a good part of my lifetime reconstructing what I know since so much of that was fragmented growing up," she says. "I've never seen myself as assimilated, I see myself as indigenous and am very proud of that."

While working as a chef in the Banff Springs Hotel, Many Guns often visited local museums and was intrigued by the visual history of aboriginal people. She recognized that the clothes they crafted spoke volumes about the lives they lived.

"These pieces could not have been produced by a society that had no structure or no intellectual capital," she says. "Beauty comes from its environment and you must have a peaceful environment and some sense of identity. It spurred these questions in me about my background."

In her quest for knowledge, Many Guns encountered all manner of persons that helped her reconstruct the past. From 90-year-old women with stashes of highly prized, trade-route beads to a society of mountain men who literally experienced life of a bygone era, she unearthed the tales and symbols of her ancestors.

As she learned to create clothing in the traditional way, she gained an understanding of the trade route system, the value of the beads in aboriginal society and the symbols of the past.

"Aboriginal people were no different than any other people, they were always looking for ways to demonstrate status in a community. Having trade cloth was a demonstration of status, as were the beads," she says. "It was truly a sign of wealth to have any number of those beads."

She worked with an experienced group of beaders to craft her first dress, before tackling the challenge of a second by herself. She created the dress she wore when she received her doctorate at Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in the spring of 2010.

The current display at the front entrance to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library depicts beads and pieces created over various eras of aboriginal history. The breathtaking colours and intricate craftsmanship create a whole new representation of history. It's that dynamic cultural past she strives to rekindle and introduce to her students.

"I believe that this is just one small example of what the NAS department offers, not just to aboriginal students but to all people," Many Guns says. "We're bringing an awareness and understanding to aboriginal people's lives and their culture, how rich and beautiful it was, to validate the complexity of the nations. We're here, we're still here, still creating these items, and we don't want the culture to die."

GET THE FACTS

· Many Guns has a BA from St. Thomas ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (Fredericton, N.B.), a master's degree from Carleton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (Ottawa, Ont.), a law degree from ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Ottawa and a doctorate from Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (Peterborough, Ont.).

· A mother of two, she is also a grandmother of three.

· Many Guns credits Dr. Leroy Little Bear for the support he's shown in allowing her to "open new doors of discovery" in the NAS department.

· The beads featured in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library display date all the way back to the 1800s. Examples of their value include the largest blue beads that could fetch up to 10 buffalo hides per bead in trade.

· One of Many Guns' greatest sources of beads is a woman in Blackfoot, Idaho who has rows upon rows of cases of beads that she'll sell in large quantities.

· Each dress that Many Guns makes takes over a year to construct. "One of the things you learn is the meaning of patience because sometimes you can't get enough product (leather, hides, beads) to put it all together, but I think that is very similar to the way it was back then."

Pronghorns duo named All-Canadians

trevor.kenney — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:39:59 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns women's rugby players Brandi Van Eeuwen and Kelsey Willoughby were named to the CIS All-Canadian team at the CIS women's rugby awards banquet Wednesday night in Peterborough, Ont.

Van Eeuwen is a third-year prop from Duncan, B.C., who is enrolled in the nursing program at the U of L. Willoughby is a second-year flanker from Lethbridge who is in the Faculty of Education.

The Horns are in Peterborough, at Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, for the CIS Women's Rugby Championships. They enter as the three-time defending national champions and five-time Canada West champs. U of L opened the tournament against Queen's Gaels on Thursday morning and scored a nail-biting 15-12 overtime victory.

The Horns are back in action Saturday morning (9 a.m., MST) when they meet Concordia Stingers in a game that will be broadcast at SSN Canada.

For a wrap-up of this morning's action, visit our ThisisMyU website and the women's rugby blog.

Rasmussen Appointed to National Oilsands Review Panel

trevor.kenney — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:20:51 +0000

In response to concerns about industrial pollution in the Athabasca River and connecting waterways, Environment Minister Jim Prentice has appointed an independent advisory panel of leading scientists to review the design and management of related environmental systems.

Among the committee members is Dr. Joseph (Joe) Rasmussen, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge biological sciences researcher and Canada research Chair in Aquatic Ecosystems – and the only Albertan on the six-member review panel.

Rasmussen says he is looking forward to working with Environment Canada officials and his colleagues, who are among Canada's leading water and environment researchers.

"I was very pleased to be asked to participate in this review," says Rasmussen. "It's a chance to do something very important, and an affirmation that the Minister is taking this issue very seriously."

The Advisory Panel has a mandate to advise Minister Prentice on the current state of environmental research and monitoring in the region around Alberta's oil sands and to make recommendations to ensure that state-of-the-art monitoring and best practices are implemented.

"We are determined to develop Canada's oil sands in a manner that it sustainable and environmentally-sensitive," says Prentice. "This independent review by some of Canada's most respected scientists is a critical step in ensuring that environmental issues are balanced with economic considerations."

Chaired by Elizabeth Dowdeswell, the Advisory Panel members are Dr. Peter J. Dillon, Dr. Subhasis Ghoshal, Dr. Andrew D. Miall, Dr. Joseph Rasmussen and Dr. John P. Smol.

Within 60 days, it will report back to Minister Prentice. This report will be publicly available on the Environment Canada website.

-- 30 --

Advisory Panel Background information

The purpose of the Advisory Panel is to provide recommendations to the Minister of the Environment on the scientific research and monitoring of the environmental effects associated with the development of the oilsands.

Serious concerns have been raised about oilsands pollution entering the Athabasca River Basin and connected waterways and whether monitoring systems are well designed and implemented.

These concerns must be fully explored to ensure that a first class, state-of-the-art monitoring system is in place, serving the public interest.

In this context, the Advisory Panel will:

1. Document, review and assess the current body of scientific research and monitoring.

2. Identify strengths and weaknesses in the scientific monitoring, and the reasons for them.

Within 60 days of being established, the Advisory Panel will present its findings in the form of a written report to the Minister of the Environment.

The report will include conclusions on items 1 and 2 above, and recommendations on next steps for the federal government in ensuring that any scientific issues are effectively addressed.

The report will be made public.

Environment Canada will provide scientific and logistical support to assist the Advisory Panel with their analysis of current peer reviewed literature and their discussions with recognized experts.

Biographical Information -- Advisory Panel Members

Elizabeth Dowdeswell – Chair
President, Council of Canadian Academies & Former UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP, Founding President & CEO NWMO
Toronto, ON

Ms. Dowdeswell served as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program and Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, Assistant Deputy Minister of Environment Canada, responsible for the National Weather and Atmospheric Agency and led a number of public inquiries, including into Canada's unemployment benefits program and federal water policy. Her early career included terms as Deputy Minister of Culture and Youth for the Province of Saskatchewan, educational consultant, university lecturer and high-school teacher. Ms. Dowdeswell holds a Master of Science degree in behavioural sciences from Utah State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, a Bachelor of Science degree in home economics, a teaching certificate from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan and, nine honorary degrees.

Dr. Peter J. Dillon

Peter Dillon is a Professor in Environmental and Resource Studies and the Department of Chemistry at Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Professor Dillon specializes in biogeochemistry of lakes and their catchments. He was the scientific leader of the environmental research and long-term investigations carried out at the Dorset Research Centre in central Ontario for 25 years. He was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Miroslaw Romanowski Medal for outstanding contributions to the environmental sciences in 2003 and this year he received the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award from the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography for his pioneering work on lake eutrophication and acid rain. Peter directs the Water Quality Centre at Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ which is dedicated to the development and application of innovative new techniques for the analysis of organic and inorganic contaminants.

Dr. Subhasis Ghoshal

Professor Ghoshal joined McGill in 1997. His expertise is in the area of soil and groundwater contamination by hydrocarbon pollutants. Professor Ghoshal has conducted research on the fate and transport of organic pollutants in subsurface environments, and on the clean-up of sites contaminated by petroleum liquids, coal tars and creosotes. Professor Ghoshal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, and a William Dawson Scholar at McGill.

Dr. Andrew D. Miall

Andrew Miall is a Professor of Geology and holder of the Gordon Stollery Chair in Basin Analysis and Petroleum Geology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto. He specializes in teaching and research in the study of sedimentary basins. He has broad interests in energy and climate-change issues, and from 1998 to 2008 he taught a popular science-for-non-scientists course at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto entitled "Geology and Public Issues". Professor Miall was awarded the Past President's Medal of the Geological Association of Canada in 1983 and became a Distinguished Fellow of that society in 1995. He served as Vice President of the Academy of Science of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) from 2005 to 2007 and President of the Academy from 2007-2009.

Dr. Joseph Rasmussen

Joseph Rasmussen is a professor of biological sciences at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and a Canada Research Council Chair in Aquatic Ecosystems. Professor Rasmussen's research has made a significant contribution to the development of tracer approaches that are used to model energy flow in aquatic food webs. His research has provided fresh insights and technical inroads into important ecological problems such as the biomagnification of persistent contaminants and the impacts of heavy metals on environmental quality. He is also a regular contributor to the Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research (CCFFR) and the Canadian Society of Limnologists (CSL), is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology, and serves as the chair of the Ecology, Evolution and Ethology section of the Canadian Society of Zoologists. Dr. Rasmussen was the recipient of the Frank H. Rigler award from the Society of Canadian Limnologists in 2010.

Dr. John P. Smol

John Smol is a professor in the Department of Biology at Queen's ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ where he is also holder of the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Change. Professor Smol has been presented with numerous research and teaching awards, including the NSERC Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal, Canada's top scientific prize, in 2004. His award winning research in the fields of limnology and environmental change has addressed impacts of acid rain, nutrients and climate warming on aquatic systems. M. Smol is the founding editor of the Journal of Paleolimnology and is currently editor-in-chief of the journal Environmental Reviews. M. Smol co-directs the Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory at Queen's ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, a group of about 30 paleolimnologists working throughout the world on a variety of limnological and paleoecological problems.

Horns rugby tops rankings

trevor.kenney — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:40:48 +0000

The best team in the country for the past three years has the respect of a nation as a new women's rugby season dawns later this month.

The three-time defending national champion ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns top the first Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) women's rugby Top 10 rankings of the 2010 season.

The Pronghorns, who captured a third consecutive Monilex Trophy last fall thanks to a 20-3 gold-medal triumph over St. Francis Xavier ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, received 69 points in the inaugural rugby coaches poll of 2010.

Guelph Gryphons (63 points), who have claimed CIS bronze each of the past three years, go into the new season ranked second, while StFX (62 points) is rated third.

Rounding out the Top 10 are No. 4 Concordia (44), No. 5 Laval (38), No. 6 Alberta (34), No. 7 Western (25), No. 8 UBC (24), No. 9 McMaster (20) and No. 10 Queen's (10).

The CIS women's rugby regular schedule kicks off this weekend with 10 games in Ontario, Quebec and the AUS, while conference play in Canada West starts on Sept. 24. Lethbridge opens the defence of its CIS title at Victoria on the Sept. 24.

Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ will host the CIS championship in Peterborough, Ont., from Nov. 4 to 7.

Recreating a glorious past

trevor.kenney — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:07:04 +0000

One dimensional, black and white photographs represent much of the aboriginal history we know. While serving adequately as depictions of an era, they hardly tell a story or set a scene.

Linda Many Guns of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's Native American Studies (NAS) department is trying to fill in those gaps, reconstructing a rich history one bead at a time. By crafting traditional aboriginal clothing such as dresses, war shirts and moccasins using actual trade cloth and intricate glass beads of a bygone time, she is using colour to recreate history and help it leap off the page.

What has always resonated with her is the history of her people.

As she learned to create clothing in the traditional way, she gained an understanding of the trade route system, the value of the beads in aboriginal society and the symbols of the past.

She worked with an experienced group of beaders to craft her first dress, before tackling the challenge of a second by herself. Currently, she's creating the dress she'll wear when she receives her doctorate at Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in the spring.

GET THE FACTS

• Many Guns has a BA from St. Thomas ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (Fredericton, N.B.), a master's degree from Carleton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (Ottawa, Ont.), a law degree from ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Ottawa and will complete her doctorate from Trent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (Peterborough, Ont.) this spring.

• A mother of two, she is also a grandmother of three.

• Many Guns credits Dr. Leroy Little Bear for the support he's shown in allowing her to "open new doors of discovery" in the NAS department.

• The beads featured in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library display date all the way back to the 1800s. Examples of their value include the largest blue beads that could fetch up to 10 buffalo hides per bead in trade.

• One of Many Guns' greatest sources of beads is a woman in Blackfoot, Idaho who has rows upon rows of cases of beads that she'll sell in large quantities.

• Each dress that Many Guns makes takes over a year to construct. "One of the things you learn is the meaning of patience because sometimes you can't get enough product (leather, hides, beads) to put it all together, but I think that is very similar to the way it was back then."

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