UNews - Alaska

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.

Campus Kudos - April

trevor.kenney — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:00:35 +0000

Alumna Chelsea Matisz (BSc '06, MSc '09) was recently named the winner of the Ashton Cuckler New Investigator Award. This award is handed out by the American Society of Parasitologists and is given to the top graduate student in the field, based upon the quality of research accomplished during a candidate's graduate studies. In the past, this award has gone to a recently-graduated PhD student, while Matisz is currently in a PhD program at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary. She will be honoured at the Society's annual meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, in June.

Soprano Acacia Doktorchik (MMus) presents her final Graduate Recital on Apr. 14 at 8 p.m. in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Recital Hall.

Mart Blicharz (MFA New Media) has an exhibition entitled, Breaking The Spell: Work in Progress, showing at the U of L Penny Building until Apr. 15.

Tasha Diamant (MEd student) was invited to present a Human Body Project event at the Union Theological Seminary, a graduate degree-granting seminary associated with New York's Columbia ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Her presentation included a live Human Body Project performance followed by a discussion with faculty and students. The Human Body Project is the subject of Diamant's MEd research project, which mostly consists of a 53-minute documentary film, and is under the supervision of Dr. Erika Hasebe-Ludt and Dr. Leah Fowler.

Nicholas Louma (BFA '08) had artwork in the exhibition, Mind the Gap, at the Art Gallery of Swift Current in March.

Anna VanderHeide (BMus/BEd) sang in a Tribute to Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin organized by the newly formed Lethbridge Jazz Society in April.

Mike Pinder (Operations Co-ordinator, Sport and Recreation Services, BSc '04) was given a Lethbridge Sport Council Achievement Award for coaching excellence. Pinder is an assistant swim coach with the LA Swim Club, and in addition to coaching Youth Olympic medalist Rachel Nicol, is highly respected by athletes and parents for his dedication and commitment to the sport of swimming.

Ken Allan's (Art) article, Barnett Newman's The Wild: Painting as Spatial Intervention, has been accepted for publication by the American journal October, published by MIT Press.

Taras Polataiko (Art) had work displayed in the group exhibition, Delinear, at the Barbara Edwards Contemporary in Toronto.

Knud Petersen, a longtime supporter of Pronghorns Athletics through the Horns Booster Club, Operation Red Nose, Pronghorn Dinner & Auction, Casino Chair and Adopt-A-Horn programs, was given a Lethbridge Sport Council Achievement Award for Spirit in Sport.

Collin Zipp (MFA Art) is participating in a residency, culminating in an exhibition, at Daimon Video in Gatineau, Que.

Soprano Rachel Sinnott (MMus) presented a Masters Recital on Apr. 7 in ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Recital Hall.

Pronghorns thrower Heather Steacy was given a Lethbridge Sport Council Achievement Award as Senior Female Athlete of the Year in 2010. Steacy, who took a year off of Canada West competition, devoted her time to the Canadian National Track and Field team, winning a gold medal at the North America, Central America, and Caribbean Championships (NACAC) where she threw a personal best of 67.20 m in the hammer throw.

Billy McCarroll (Professor Emeritus), on bass, and Dale Ketcheson (Music), on guitar, perform at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG) at a Happy Hour performance sponsored by the Lethbridge Jazz Society on Apr. 15 from 5-8 p.m. McCarroll's artwork is presently on display at SAAG.

Jazlyn Dow (BFA '10) has just been accepted into the Master of Arts in Visual Culture: Costume Studies program at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.

International Management students Kayley Fulton and Aamna Zia have each been awarded a $3,000 Export Development Canada (EDC) International Business Scholarship. Fulton completed a work exchange in Spain in 2010 while Zia, an Edmonton Campus student, is currently on work exchange in France.

Darcy Best (Mathematics and Computer Science) bettered his score from last year to set a new school record for his performance in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition. Best joined nearly 4,296 North American students in a six-hour, 12-problem contest, earning an overall ranking score of 527.5, leaving him one point out of the top 500.

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

Library looks to engage with students

trevor.kenney — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:15:34 +0000

PechaKucha was introduced to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge campus recently as the U of L Library's Student Engagement Team (SET) hosted a PechaKucha event as part of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's International Week.

Seven presenters, including faculty, staff and one international student, spoke on internationally-themed topics ranging from a winter road trip to Alaska to anthropological field work in Indonesia.

The Student Engagement Team was formed in the fall of 2010 to provide leadership within the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library on all services and activities that support the strategic direction of enhancing the student experience. The group is interested in finding new ways to engage students both academically and socially.

"When the International Centre for Students asked us to be a part of International Week we were eager to participate," says event organizer Heather Nicholson.

She adds that SET was particularly interested in finding an activity that would engage international students. Nicholson and SET co-chair Nicole Eva had read about PechaKucha and were looking for an opportunity to put it into practice.

PechaKucha, a term derived from the Japanese word for chit-chat, is a simple presentation format where 20 images are shown for 20 seconds each. The images forward automatically while a presenter speaks to them. The presentation style was developed by two architects in Tokyo in 2003 who wanted to provide a space and an opportunity for designers to share new ideas, but in a fast-paced and entertaining format. Since 2004, PechaKucha events have been spreading to other cities around the world. Currently there are regular PechaKucha nights running in more than 260 cities worldwide on an unlimited number of topics.

While PechaKucha is not well known around Lethbridge, all participants and attendees expressed enthusiasm about the event. One particularly moving presentation was given by ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Librarian Glenna Westwood, who spoke about her emotional voyage to Ghana in May 2010. Westwood and her father (retired U of L professor Bill Cook) made their first return journey to the West African country after spending five years there in the 1970s.

PechaKucha Night is trademarked and run by a global foundation. For more information about PechaKucha visit www.pecha-kucha.org

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

LPIRG presents Up North screening

trevor.kenney — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:53:05 +0000

The Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group (LPIRG), based out of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, along with Cinema Politica and the Lethbridge Public Library is presenting a special film screening Tuesday, July 13.

Up North, a film that tells an alternate history of Canada's north, screens at 7 p.m. at the Lethbridge Public Library.

In the summer of 2007, Drew McIntosh, Robert Lutener and Aaron Bocanegra set out on a journey across the north into the Arctic Circle; in exploration of the impact change has had on the landscape and people's lives. Their 8,500 km adventure begins in Edmonton, four hours south of the largest proposed industrial project in history, the Athabasca Oilsands. Travelling through Alberta, British Columbia, Alaska, The Yukon, and the Northwest Territories they arrived in Inuvik, at the end of the 750 km gravel Dempster Highway, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle.

Through conversations with First Nations Chiefs, Elders, comedians, artists, dancers and mountaineers, Up North takes you on a journey of discovery and inquiry delving into a multilayered look at forms of change including economic, environmental, cultural, social, political, dromological and linguistic. Set against the stunning beauty of North America's last wilderness, it accesses an alternate history of Canada's North, told through the wisdom of experience and the reflection of our culture in the landscape.

The screening is free and open to everyone.

Stebbins helped shape art culture

trevor.kenney — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:28:31 +0000

When Joan Stebbins (BFA '79), former curator for the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG), graduated from high school in the small town of Palmer, Alaska, she embarked on a post-secondary journey that, with a little help from Cupid, would alter dramatically the course of her life.

"I started at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alaska with plans to major in English. After one semester I left school to get married and a year later we had our first son," recalls Stebbins. "While my husband completed his education, I stayed home with our two boys, but there was no doubt that I would one day go back to school; it was just a question of when it worked for everybody."

In 1967, Stebbins moved with her family to Lethbridge where her husband, Dr. Lucius Stebbins, would become one of the founding faculty members of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

"The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ was so small then that the faculty was like a family. Everybody knew everybody. We did not have family nearby and we were in an adopted country, so it was very nice," recalls Stebbins.

By 1975, Stebbins felt the time was right for her to return to school. She enrolled in the only available night class at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ that interested her, Japanese art history.

"I got hooked on art. It was wonderful. I would have done a degree in art history but there were not enough courses available at that time; I did a degree in studio art in printmaking," says Stebbins.
"Going back to school was very fulfilling for me but having a career come out of it – that was not planned. My professors brought such a rich range of experience and strength to their teaching; it happened I was well equipped for my career as a curator. I am very grateful for that."

After graduating in 1979 with a bachelor of fine arts with great distinction, Stebbins applied for a part-time position at the SAAG.

"The Southern Alberta Art Gallery has always had a symbiotic relationship with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Art students are familiar with the Gallery through their professors. I had always gone to the Gallery and been interested in their programs, so I applied for the job when the position as front desk person came up," says Stebbins.

Gradually, Stebbins' responsibilities at the gallery increased. She helped with exhibitions, worked with artists, and curated several local historical exhibitions on her own. In 1982, she became the assistant curator. She was promoted to director/curator in 1985. For the next 15 years, Stebbins worked in liaison with the board of directors to manage gallery resources and programs. She initiated an education program and an artist in residency program. Under her direction both budget and staff size increased and the gallery gained a reputation as one of Canada's leading contemporary institutions.

"I think our successful national reputation comes from the exhibition program. As
director/curator, I chose a national program and did a lot of grant writing to the Canada Council for the Arts and other sources to bring in artists that stood out across our country," says Stebbins. "By 1999, my job title was split because the Gallery had grown and there was just too much to do. Until my retirement in 2008, I acted as curator because that is what I love to do – working with the artists."

Although her career was unplanned, it has turned out to be an extraordinarily rich and rewarding journey for Stebbins. She has traveled extensively, attended major art events throughout Europe, Canada and the United States, worked with very talented artists and continues today to be an important part of the flourishing art community in Lethbridge.

GET THE FACTS

• Stebbins is Curator Emerita at the SAAG and continues to work on selected special projects.

• She was a guest lecturer in Introductory Art at the U of L from 1985 to 1991.

• Stebbins is a member of numerous professional associations, juries, and committees including the U of L Art Acquisitions Committee and the Hnatyshyn Foundation.

• In 2007 Stebbins was named a member of the Order of Canada, while in 2009 she received an honorary doctor of fine arts from the U of L; earned the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist award; and was given the a Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, RCA Medal for her work on countless artist exhibition publications.

UNews - Alaska

Glacial research boosted by donor support

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