UNews - ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary

Unique friendship supports journey to graduation

trevor.kenney — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 21:11:12 +0000

The following story is courtesy of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary

What happens when two longtime friends decide to return to university to pursue social work degrees? Support, dedication and a sense of calling.

Tanya Gill is the mother of two children, ages seven and 10, and recipient of the Faculty of Social Work’s Recognition of Excellence Award for Student Leadership. Photo by Rob Olson

Tanya Gill (BA/BEd '00) and Tina Shingoose Fancy (BA '96) met 20 years ago while they were students at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Gill was completing her Bachelor of Education degree, while Shingoose Fancy was working toward her English degree. They became fast friends and have shared an incredible journey, including weddings and the births of four children. In fact, they became so close that they often finish one another’s sentences.

Fast forward 20 years and they each decided independently of the other to pursue a social work degree. They note, “Coming to the decision separately, but being able to pursue this next degree together has been an incredible gift.”

Gill and Shingoose Fancy have many ties in their adopted hometown of Lethbridge, so the ability to take their bachelor of social work right in their home community was an important factor. They wanted to pursue more education with the least disruption to their family lives. Thus began a whirlwind of applications to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and Faculty of Social Work’s southern Alberta region in Lethbridge.

The best friends say that they couldn’t have completed the applications or finished their degree without the other. “Social work makes you take a really hard look at yourself and figure out where you fit in the world and in practice,” Gill explains.” Having someone to process experiences with, and have hard conversations with, is invaluable. You can’t put a price tag on that kind of support.”

Gill and Shingoose Fancy believe that their life experiences have taught them about inspiring hope in others, an important part of their social work journey. And personal journeys of challenge and resilience are a part of their friendship.

Tina Shingoose Fancy has two children, ages 13 and 15, and is married to her wonderful husband, Grant. Photo by Rob Olson

For Shingoose Fancy, Gill’s friendship was invaluable when she was faced with serious health issues. While she appreciated the support of her husband and family, she was so thankful to have Gill by her side. Shingoose Fancy remembers, “There was never really a need to explain with each other. She just knew what I needed.”

Gill appreciated Shingoose Fancy’s love and unwavering dedication in her own times of challenge. Gill’s husband died tragically while on vacation, leaving her to raise two small children on her own. “There’s a real element of beauty that develops in a friendship when you know that person is there in the hardest moments,” Gill says.

Life experiences lead to social work

After these difficult experiences, Gill and Shingoose Fancy realized they were ready to grow and tackle new challenges.

For Shingoose Fancy, her experience working at Womanspace Resource Centre, a Lethbridge non-profit agency, was eye-opening. There she piloted a financial literacy course for low-income women who needed additional support and empowerment to navigate the bureaucratic maze of social assistance programming. As she worked with these women, she realized that there was only so much a person could do to change the system from the outside. “I was seeing women come out the other side broken, bruised and used up by the system. They absolutely felt like their voices weren’t being heard,” recalls Shingoose Fancy. “I wanted to be able to step in before that point, which is why social work is such a great fit.”

For Gill, after her husband died and she stopped teaching, she became a certified grief recovery practitioner and pursued a certificate in thanatology (the study of death and bereavement). She thought it might lead to a masters degree in counseling, but after taking a few prerequisites, she knew it wasn’t for her. “I realized that while there’s an element of science to people’s wellness and well-being, it really is about relationships,” Gill explains. “With social work, you meet people where they’re at. What they see as wellness is their reality and it’s not my place to judge that. It’s my place to make sure they’re achieving what they see as their optimal level of wellness.”

Social workers with bright futures

While they worked toward their degrees, Gill and Shingoose Fancy contributed substantially to student life on the Lethbridge campus. “Both brought significant insight and experiences, as well as passion and enthusiasm,” says Lorraine Letkemann, an instructor in the Faculty of Social Work’s southern Alberta region. “They were both actively involved in the Lethbridge community before coming into the program. It was clear from the beginning that they were determined to learn and contribute as much as possible during their time with us, and then go back out and continue to serve their community.”

Letkemann was right. Gill and Shingoose Fancy have already started working with Child and Family Services, South Region. “The agency is very lucky to have them,” adds Letkemann. “Tina and Tanya will, without a doubt, enhance the lives of their clients and co-workers.”

Alberta Climate Dialogue seeking participants

trevor.kenney — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 22:49:16 +0000

In the wake of the devastating floods in Alberta last year, issues surrounding water and climate change are a greater concern than ever to the citizens of this province.

Alberta Climate Dialogue, a community-university research alliance, is recruiting people from diverse backgrounds for an experimental citizen dialogue on water and climate change.

The day-long event will be held Saturday, Feb. 22 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Participants will learn about the effects of climate change on water, share their thoughts on the issues, and develop recommendations for action.

This event is being organized in collaboration with the Oldman Watershed Council, a community-based, not-for-profit organization that seeks to find practical solutions to environmental challenges. This council makes recommendations to the Government of Alberta.

Gwendolyn Blue, an assistant professor in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary’s Department of Geography, is leading the project.

“Alberta Climate Dialogue is exploring how a well-designed citizen deliberation might shift the politics of climate change in Alberta,” explains Blue. “All of us have a stake in our future climate and all of us are affected by water.”

In recruiting this group, Blue stresses that organizers are not looking for activists or industry spokespersons.

“We want to hear from the unusual suspects,” she says. “We want average citizens. People don’t need to know about climate change to take part. This isn’t an event where everybody has to believe the same thing. We want a range of people who think differently.”

The group will be assembled with the diversity encompassing gender, occupation, ethnicity and age. An honorarium will be offered to participants.

“Since the inception of the province, Alberta has been getting progressively warmer,” notes Blue. “Warming temperatures affect our water. Alberta will be facing more extreme weather events in the future, particularly higher levels of precipitation at a faster rate. But there will also be drier conditions, especially in the southern regions, which are very susceptible to drought.

“As we saw with last summer’s flood, as well as with the drought in 2001, that affects us all, not just financially, but emotionally as well. This brings incredible hardships for people.“

Blue adds, frankly: “The prediction is, we’re going to see more extreme and variable weather in the future. We need to start thinking about this in the context of climate change.”

To take part in this citizens’ dialogue please apply by Feb. 10 at www.albertaclimatedialogue.ca/watershed/ or phone 403-220-7928.

U of L researchers among Venture's Top 50

trevor.kenney — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 22:14:53 +0000

Two ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers from vastly different disciplines have been acknowledged by Alberta Venture Magazine as being among the province's 50 most influential people for 2013.

Drs. David Naylor (Physics and Astronomy) and Robert Sutherland (Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience) made the 2013 list for their achievements in the lab -- outer space, in Naylor's case, and for Sutherland, advocating for the academic community as the President of the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations.

Dr. David Naylor

As an instructor with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's physics department since 1981, David Naylor has taken his lab to the upper echelons of experimental astrophysics. Practically speaking, that means he designs and uses instruments that can measure incredibly small amounts of radiation and light.

His primary project for the last four years has been the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE), a telescope on the Herschel Space Observatory, which was launched in 2009.

The Herschel is winding down its mission as it runs out of liquid helium to cool its instruments, but its 25,000 hours of studying the universe have already led to 250 peer-reviewed articles, a better understanding of the galaxy and spin-off businesses in the Lethbridge area.

Naylor himself was instrumental in establishing Blue Sky Spectroscopy, a private company that has won several contracts from the European and Canadian space agencies and delivered complex instrumentation to leading research teams across the planet. And the SPIRE's legacy is still in its infancy. Astronomers will analyze the prolific telescope's legacy of data for years to come.

Dr. Robert Sutherland

Rob Sutherland's day job is as a professor and chair of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's department of neuroscience, but his public profile this year has come as a result of his role as president of the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations.

CAFA represents academic associations at the province's four research-intensive institutions (��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and Athabasca ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ).

They were all hit hard in the provincial budget in March, with cuts to their operating budgets of more than seven per cent. Sutherland was suddenly thrust into the limelight as a defender of tertiary education from both the budget cuts and the mandate letters sent to the institutions from Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk.

You can be sure the battle will continue for years as the provincial government continues its austerity measures and the universities fight to get their funding back up to – and beyond – prior levels.

The complete list of Alberta Venture's 50 most influential people for 2013 is available here.

Calgary campus students to return to BVC

trevor.kenney — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 15:42:14 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Calgary Campus will be officially moving students and instructors back to Bow Valley College as of Monday, July 22, 2013. Students should begin attending classes at BVC beginning Monday morning.

By the end of business on Friday, July 19, the U of L Calgary Campus will have fully vacated its temporary administrative space on the second floor of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary's MacKimmie Library Link. Administrative services will resume exclusively in the Bow Valley College space on the sixth floor.

"We look forward to seeing all U of L Calgary students back on the BVC campus next week," says U of L Calgary Campus manager Dana Corbin. "Thank you for your patience and understanding during this incredibly difficult time."

For a breakdown of BVC classrooms for Summer Session II/III, as well as ongoing updates, please visit the flood update page at: www.uleth.ca/calgary/UL-Calgary-flood-closure.

This information will also appear on student course outlines. Please note that MUSI 2500 will remain at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and AHMS 3255 has been moved to a larger classroom at BVC.

U of L Calgary campus temporarily relocated to U of C

trevor.kenney — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 19:48:11 +0000

Due to the flooding in Calgary and the continuing challenges posed by the current closure of Bow Valley College, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Calgary Campus has found temporary instructional space in order to proceed with Summer Session II/III classes.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary has agreed to host the U of L Calgary Campus until we are able to return to our home in Bow Valley College. Our estimated return to BVC is unknown at this time, but we are hopeful that we will know more in the coming days. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary's address is: 2500 ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4.

On Tuesday, July 2, 2013 the Calgary Campus administrative team began setting up temporary office space at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary that will be accessible to students and instructors. Our temporary space is located on the 2nd floor of the MacKimmie Link, behind the escalators and staircase. In this space, we will be able to provide support for Summer Session II/III.

Faculty, staff and students affected by this relocation have been communicated to directly by e-mail.

Administrative staff have been assigned temporary ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary telephone numbers. Currently, these telephones are only a line out/line in configuration with no voicemail capabilities. If you wish to leave a message, we recommend you send an email. The numbers are as follows:

Lorne Williams: 403-210-9353
Dana Corbin: 403-210-9356
Kristin Galicia: 403-210-9363
Sydney McNally: 403-210-9358
Krista Strome: 403-210-9357
Tracy Fairs: 403-210-9372
Mark Matias: 403-210-9378

On behalf of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, I would like to extend gratitude to the faculty and staff who have been working very hard to accommodate this challenging situation. I also want to express appreciation to our students for their patience and understanding. Finally, I want to thank the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary for welcoming us to their campus and for the outstanding support they have been providing to us.

Lorne Williams
Asst. Dean, North Campuses

Horns basketball releases 2013-14 schedule

trevor.kenney — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:12:04 +0000

The 2013-14 Canada West conference basketball season will begin for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns men's and women's basketball teams with a road swing into the lower B.C. mainland with match-ups versus the Fraser Valley Cascades and Trinity Western Spartans,
Nov. 1-2.

The following weekend, the 'Horns host the Manitoba Bisons in a pair of games for the first home games of the new season.

One change 'Horns fans will see this season is in the start times for Saturday night games. Moving away from the traditional 6 and 8 p.m. starts for women's and men's games respectively, the Horns will now play at 5 and 7 p.m.

Also visiting the 1st Choice Savings Centre during the first half of the season will be the UBCO Heat, Thompson Rivers WolfPack and Regina Cougars.

In the New Year, the 'Horns will host an action packed set of games, welcoming traditional rivals ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, UBC Thunderbirds and Victoria Vikes, before closing out the conference schedule with a home-and-home series versus southern Alberta rival Calgary Dinos. The series with the Dinos kicks off at the 1st Choice Savings Centre Friday, Feb. 14 before concluding the regular season the next night in Calgary.

The Canada West best of three quarter-final series is scheduled for Feb. 21-23 with the Canada West Final Four being hosted by the highest remaining seed the following week. The CIS Final 8 will be hosted by Carleton ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Ottawa, Mar. 7-9, 2014.

On the women's side, the opening round is scheduled to start a week later but could move to the same weekend as the men's quarter-final if a scheduling conflict is created with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Regina and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary hosting the CIS Volleyball Championships. The Canada West Final Four will be hosted by the highest remaining seed, Mar. 7-8 and the CIS Final 8 will be hosted by the three-time defending champion ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Windsor.

Once again this season, all Canada West basketball games will be webcast on www.canadawest.tv.

Herschel Mission Operating Phase Wrapping Up

trevor.kenney — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:54:37 +0000

A pioneering space imaging mission that sent a scientific instrument co-developed by a U of L researcher on a 1.5 million kilometre trip to deep space aboard the Herschel Space Observatory might be nearing its conclusion, but that doesn't mean the end of the project for the research team.

Dr. David Naylor (Physics and Astronomy) and his team of researchers lead Canada's contribution to the Herschel project on behalf of the Canadian Space Agency.

The instrument, called the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver ("SPIRE"), is one of three devices attached to the Herschel telescope system.

http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/satellites/herschel/default.asp

The helium-filled 'gas tank' cooling Herschel's equipment is expected to run dry over the next few weeks – an expected process.

As the coolant diminishes, equipment will stop working, but data transmission will continue until the bus-sized telescope parks itself in a permanent orbit around the sun.

What follows is a five-year post operation phase, where the data obtained during the mission are used to develop improved calibration algorithms to allow the most information to be extracted from the images. Eventually the data will be reprocessed and placed in an archive that will have legacy value.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Herschel_to_finish_observing_soon

The mission, launched on May 14, 2009 from the Ariane Spaceport in French Guyana, almost immediately began to shed new light on stars and galaxies by measuring a level of light called far-infrared.

Infrared light is invisible to the human eye, but travels well across the universe. Star forming regions emit light at these wavelengths and Herschel can detect it, capturing a wealth of detail such as heat signatures and chemical composition that help astronomers clearly see, for the first time, stars and whole galaxies that have previously remained hidden or only poorly understood.

"SPIRE picks up heat and chemical signals that are not visible by optical telescopes, and turns that data into the amazing images and information we and other scientists are using to learn more about the life and death of stars and galaxies," Naylor said.

In addition to literally 'clearing up' the images people have been using for two centuries to look into space, Naylor said the Herschel mission is confirming the existence of molecules on earth that originated in space.

"With SPIRE we can look at the big picture, or the very tiny picture, and gain a whole new insight into how stars live and die. The reason the imagery is so clear is that the space observatory sits more than 1.5 million km from earth, far from our atmosphere which absorbs virtually all radiation at which far-infrared wavelengths. Since the universe emits most of its energy at these wavelengths, Herschel provides us with our first comprehensive view of the universe."

The data and crisp images come from a device about as big as a large microwave oven that took more than 15 years and $100 million to develop – and has to function at a chilly -270C.

Also gratifying are the unique research collaborations that Naylor sees happening in the future. "Approximately one-third of the time available to researchers is guaranteed to those involved in key projects, and our time is included in that. We see the data here in Lethbridge before anyone else does. Scientists will be seeking our help in analyzing their data and the U of L group will be an important Canadian and international resource."

With an estimated output of up to 7,000 hours per year of data, there should be enough information to keep researchers busy for years – and some of that data flows through Blue Sky Spectroscopy, a Lethbridge-based, high tech spinoff company founded by Naylor in 2003, and now privately owned and operated.

Blue Sky is one of the three international Data Processing and Science Analysis Software centres for the SPIRE instrument. Data are downloaded daily from the spacecraft and stored on the Blue Sky servers.

Its highly qualified staff, all with postgraduate degrees, specialize in custom hardware and software spectroscopic solutions. Customers include NASA, ESA, and CSA, and many leading research institutes such as Harvard, Berkeley, Chicago, Max Planck and Cardiff, NIST, Centre d'Etudes Atomique, Paris, Institute National d'Optique, Canada to name a few.

What's next?

According to Naylor, more research that refines his current SPIRE device to make it suitable for yet another space mission currently under review by the Japanese, European and Canadian Space Agencies.

The project – SPICA, which stands for Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics – is a next-generation version of the SPIRE device, and would perform a similar function on a space telescope planned to launch in 2022.

Learn more about the SPICA project, here: http://research.uleth.ca/spica/index.php

Naylor said Herschel has been an overwhelming success, but its sensitivity is limited by its 'warm' telescope. "At a temperature of -80K (-193C) this may sound cold, but it limits the achievable sensitivity. By cooling a telescope to -6K (-267C) would increase the sensitivity by an astonishing factor of 100, allowing it to explore a volume of space 1000x greater than Herschel".

Building on the success of Herschel, the Japanese Space Agency JAXA is developing such a cooled telescope. ESA has joined forces with JAXA; in return for ESA providing the telescope and a ground station, European scientists will build one of the flight instruments.

Based on the Herschel experience, an imaging FTS similar to the ones Naylor's group has been building for over two decades has been selected and Naylor has been invited to join the international team that will build the instrument known as SAFARI.

The instrument is similar to one that the U of L team has recently commissioned on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, the world's largest submillimetre telescope located atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/JCMT/

The space-based project, SPICA – which stands for Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics – is a next-generation version of the SPIRE device, and would perform a similar function on a space telescope planned to launch in 2022.

In Alberta, a recent and significant collaboration has also been launched with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, where the U of L and the U of C and Athabasca ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ have formed the Institute for Space Imaging Science (ISIS) to work together on projects that take space research further than Herschel technology, whether on the ground or in the atmosphere.

"By nature, physics researchers don't get too excited, but to see these images and know that we're looking at them in a whole new way, and further that we'll be able to share this information with the public so they can learn about the origins of the universe, is truly exciting," Naylor said.

He estimates that more than 200 papers have already been produced using data from the Herschel mission, and approximately half of those have Canadian co-authors.

The geographical distribution of SPIRE science within Canada is broad with authors affiliated with the following universities/institutions: UBC, Calgary, CFHT, HIA/UVic, Laval, Lethbridge, McMaster, Toronto, Waterloo. As well, a large group of researchers, including more than 30 post docs, undergrad and grad students have conducted research using SPIRE data.

An example of the type of imaging and discoveries made possible by the Herschel Space Observatory can be found here:

Comet 'Demolition Derby' Creates New Information About Solar System Origin

Compelling new images from the Herschel Space Telescope – parked more than 1.5 million kilometres from earth and facing into deep space -- are showing researchers what the formation of our solar system must have looked like at its early stages: a violent, comet-laden disk of debris where thousands of 1 km wide chunks of ice collide and spin around a young star.

http://oshi.esa.int/#list=/images.html?q=pillars;detail=image.html?id=89

The images are made possible in part by technology created by ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers, and designed and built by an international consortium of space agencies, universities and research institutes.

http://www.uleth.ca/notice/display.html?b=300&s=17611

Alums Myshak, Brown turn knowledge into business

trevor.kenney — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 21:34:16 +0000

When they began their academic adventures at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, co-owners of the newly formed Isis Geomatics Incorporated, Steve Myshak (BSc '10) and Owen Brown (BSc '09) were heading down very different career paths.

In fact, Brown wasn't planning on staying at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ for long. Originally enrolled in pre-engineering, he intended to transfer to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary to complete his degree there, but one semester in geography at the U of L and he knew he was hooked.

Myshak entered the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge as a mature student, looking for a fresh start. He initially majored in history but after switching majors several times, he found his true passion.

"I took Geography 1010. They had it set up so that all the different geography professors came into the class and each took a week to show us the breadth of geography," says Myshak. "After I took that class, I decided that geography was what I liked and what I wanted to do."

Owen Brown, left, and business partner Steve Myshak are off and running with ISIS Geomatics Incorporated.

They both graduated from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ with their bachelor of science degrees, Brown in 2009 and Myshak in 2010, and are both set to complete their master of science degrees at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ this summer.

"I'd always thought about getting my masters. I had a good relationship with my professor, Chris Hugenholtz; I had done some independent studies with him and I liked the classes he taught. I took a semester off after I graduated, but when Chris asked me one day if I would be interested in the masters' program I just ran with it," recalls Brown.

Myshak, who began studying for his masters under the supervision of Drs. Craig Coburn and Karl Staenz, also began studying the possibility of starting up his own company.

"When I was doing my masters, I was working with Agriculture Canada and I spent a lot of time in the field. We were using ground-based remote sensing. I thought there had to be a better way to get the data. I came up with the idea to attach sensors to UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and get the data that way. I looked into government funding, IRAP and Techterra, and found that there was funding available, but I needed someone else's opinion," says Myshak. "Our masters' class used to unwind on Fridays at Backstreet Pub. That is where I approached Owen. I told him I needed a partner and asked him what he thought of my idea. We had taken a couple of classes together in our undergrad and in our masters. Owen is very mature in the way he thinks, he has worked in industry and hasn't just spent all his time at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Working with Owen was just a natural fit."

"He caught me a little off guard I guess, because I always thought I would just get a job when I finished my masters. I never thought about a business. I talked to my parents and they were very supportive. I decided to try it," says Brown. "We got started right away. Steve had already gotten some government funding, so we put a business plan together, put our nose to the grindstone and got to work."

They incorporated in August 2011. Although there has been a definite on-the-job learning curve, both Brown and Myshak feel strongly about the knowledge base they received and the support they continue to get from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

"You gain a lot of critical thinking skills doing research and lab work at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. You are given a task and there may be several different ways to do that task. You just have to break it down and do it step by step," says Brown. "We have learned fantastic problem solving skills. The breadth of knowledge we have gained is unbelievable, and the support from our professors on our business has been great."

Using the technical knowledge they gained throughout their academic and work experiences, Myshak and Brown are quickly breaking into the agriculture industry. Judging by the feedback on their recent presentations, they are hopeful that ISIS Geo will soon become a familiar name in the oil and gas industry as well.

"We use UAVs to acquire imagery and then transform that imagery into data using geographic information systems (GIS). UAV's have been used in police and military applications but there are many applications for it in the commercial world," explains Myshak.

"For example, we do vegetation health mapping for remediation, livestock counting and recently we have been doing a lot of work for municipalities, measuring volumes of gravel piles for municipal audits. We have also done some mapping applications as well," says Brown.

Such aerial imaging work has traditionally been done by satellite, but ISIS Geo has a much more detailed response and quicker turnaround of data. With satellite information data, each pixel is 5m x 5m, but with UAV technology, Myshak and Brown can provide data that is 3cm x 3cm.

"One of the advantages is the much better resolution," says Myshak. "The other advantage is that we can fly and have the data the same day, whereas satellite data can take up to two-to-three months to get. We are also less expensive than satellite and we can work when it is cloudy because we fly the copter under the clouds."

Over the past eight months, they have been working on pilot projects that have proven to be highly successful. For this innovative new company, the sky's the limit.

This story first appeared in the February 2013 edition of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Mental health support receives $3 million boost

trevor.kenney — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:04:19 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge students will soon see expanded mental health services because of a significant Government of Alberta investment.

On January 16, Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne and Enterprise and Advanced Education Minister Stephen Khan announced the U of L would receive $3 million over three years as part of the first stage of implementing Alberta's Addiction and Mental Health Strategy. Similar investments were made at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta with the Alberta Student Executive Council (ASEC) receiving $1.5 million over the same period.

"The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge puts tremendous emphasis on the student experience," says U of L president Mike Mahon. "This includes ensuring timely and comprehensive mental health supports are available for our students. This investment greatly benefits the U of L students at our three campuses in Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge by helping those with an immediate problems and by mitigating future issues using preventative measures."

The U of L will use these funds to expand mental health, addiction and counseling services at its Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge campuses through the hiring of health professionals, holding work shops and training sessions and conducting surveys to ensure the institution continues to understand the types of supports that students require.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Associate Vice-President (Academic) Bob Boudreau says the Government of Alberta investment is targeting an important demographic.

"Providing mental health supports for a student in need is not only beneficial in the short-term but has a lasting effect," says Boudreau. "Often these supports benefit students over a lifetime. Further, students who deal with issues they face in a timely fashion are more like succeed over the term of their post-secondary studies."

Funding will be used, among other things, to:
• Hire medical professionals, including a two day per week salaried Physician with training in mental health that can act as an expert in the collaboration and liaison needed between on-campus services.

• Expand counselling services at the three U of L campuses.

• Run workshops and training, for example, on suicide prevention. Continuing education of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge team will ensure that best practices are rapidly incorporated into delivery and support programs.

• Support participation in and data analysis of the NCHA and Healthy Minds surveys.

The Government of Alberta media release can be found here: http://www.alberta.ca//acn/201301/3352944E370AE-F03F-0F4A-22170BF973A0B317.html#backgrounder

New Chair in Aquatic Health Appointed

trevor.kenney — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 23:05:57 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has added to its internationally recognized expertise in water research with the addition of a new Chair in Aquatic Health, Dr. Greg Pyle.

Pyle is the first of four new research Chairs being added to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ this year as part of the Government of Alberta's Campus Alberta Innovation Program (CAIP) Chairs plan. The government is contributing $1-million for four Chairs, over the course of seven years, for a total investment of $7 million.

"It's exciting to be able to bring in an outstanding research talent such as Dr. Pyle," says Dr. Dan Weeks, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's vice-president (research). "His established expertise in the effects of environmental contaminants on the chemical communication systems in aquatic animals will greatly add to the already comprehensive research portfolio that has been established by our researchers in the Water Institute for Sustainable Environments (WISE)."

Pyle comes to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ after spending the previous five years as head of the Aquatic Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory at Lakehead ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Thunder Bay, Ont. His research program is considered unique because he is able to study several aquatic species, including both vertebrate and invertebrate animals, representing different positions within a typical freshwater food web and thereby better understanding the subtle effects of environmental contamination.

"The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge has been building a strong reputation in research over the past several years, especially in the aquatic sciences," says Pyle. "I am thrilled to be part of that growing research culture, and excited by the prospects afforded by the university and surrounding region."

Prior to taking up a Canada Research Chair in Environmental Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology at Lakehead, Pyle helped establish and build the Department of Biology at Nipissing ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. He earned both his bachelor and master's degrees from Laurentian ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and received his PhD from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan.

The CAIP Chairs plan is part of the Government of Alberta's Campus Alberta collaborative initiative and will provide research Chairs to Alberta's four Comprehensive Academic and Research Intensive (CARI) institutions: the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Athabasca ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary.

The U of L will also welcome CAIP Chairs in the areas of brain health and dementia, synthetic biology, and terrestrial ecosystems and remote sensing later this year. Pyle's appointment at the U of L is funded for seven years.

"The program is designed to recruit new research leaders to Alberta in specific areas of study," says Weeks. "Not only do these areas align with the Government of Alberta's strategic priorities, but they also reflect the core strengths of our institution."

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