UNews - Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations

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.

Cream of the crop

trevor.kenney — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:55:41 +0000

When U of L chemistry researcher Dr. Paul Hayes sees a cornfield, he looks much deeper than the rows, the stalks or even the kernels.

He envisions matter at the molecular level and sees corn as a source for biodegradable material, such as a plastic drinking cup, rather than just a common vegetable.

In fact, Hayes looks at many common materials and thinks up ways to improve them at the molecular level by making them more useful, energy efficient and, like biodegradable corn-based drinking cups, more environmentally friendly.

His award-winning research focuses on synthetic chemistry, or the making of molecules. More specifically, he prepares new molecules – called catalysts – that are able to convert one chemical into another without themselves being consumed or altered.

Chemistry researcher Dr. Paul Hayes takes his lab to the cornfield.

One of his recent projects focuses on the challenge of making new materials that are both biodegradable and biocompatible.

"We prepare catalysts that convert a chemical found in corn or beets into a plastic-like material called polylactide," explains Hayes. "Polylactide can be made into a wide variety of manufactured goods, such as drinking cups or other biodegradable products. We can either shorten or extend the biodegradable lifespan of the product based on how we fine-tune the molecular structure of the polylactide."

The ability to manipulate these characteristics opens up possibilities for many new and useful materials in the future.

For example, Hayes explains packaging materials can have readily adjusted biodegradation rates to accommodate the need for various shelf lives of different items, providing an alternative "green" plastic for food packaging.

Hayes' research also has medical applications like absorbable sutures, matrices for the slow release of pharmaceuticals and polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Hayes, who has been at the U of L for four years, continues to develop his thriving independent research program, which has produced numerous publications in top-tier journals and received more than $1.4 million in funding from provincial and national agencies, such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canada School of Energy and Environment and GreenCentre Canada.

As a result of these successes the young researcher has earned province-wide accolades, including the prestigious Alberta Ingenuity New Faculty Award. Most recently, Hayes accepted a Distinguished Academic Early Career Award from the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations for his ongoing accomplishments and future research potential.

It's a promising future for all Albertans, really, thanks to leading ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ like Hayes, who just happens to be tackling world issues at the molecular level.

For a look at the full issue of SAM in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Trend-tracking in action

trevor.kenney — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 04:30:09 +0000

Dr. Reg Bibby knows a thing or two about today's teens.

You may not like their asymmetrical hairdos, nose piercings or ironic t-shirts, but today's teenagers aren't turning Canadian culture on its head, as per the prevailing stereotype. On many levels, today's youth are actually looking better than previous generations, says sociologist and trend-tracker Dr. Reginald Bibby.

The notion of teenagers as threats to the well-being of Canadian society is a prejudicial stereotype that unfairly generalizes all teens. "There seems to be such a pervasive mindset that teens are simply not that likable and lovable," says Bibby.

In reality, quite the opposite is true, according to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researcher who has been monitoring the attitudes and habits of Canadian teens and adults for three decades. Today's youth are solid citizens and are adjusting well to the new Canada, Bibby reports in his latest book, The Emerging Millennials: How Canada's Newest Generation is Responding to Change and Choice.

Working on Project Teen Canada, a series of national surveys that have examined Canadian teenagers' behaviour and values since 1984, Bibby and Associate Director James Penner completed the most recent installment in 2008. The survey of 5,500 teenagers across the country shows that the millennials are doing well. They're generous and polite. They report the most positive relationships with parents in three decades. The prevalence of vices like smoking, drinking and marijuana use have declined, as have depression, suicide and bullying.

Also on the decline is young people's interest in professional sports, including the beloved National Hockey League (NHL). Only about 50 per cent of young men and 20 per cent of young women follow the NHL. According to Bibby, their lack of interest demonstrates the acceleration of choices, but for an allegedly hockey-crazed country, it's a rather startling discovery that caught the attention of media outlets ranging from the National Post through Canada AM to the New York Times.

All in all, the baby boomer generation's "social experiment" of having both parents employed outside the home has known increasing success as older boomers and post-boomers have improved on how they balance careers and family life.

To quote a famous baby boomer lyric: the kids are all right.

While the large majority has been receptive to Bibby's overall good-news findings, not everyone is convinced. Bibby has found that invariably there are those who are down on teenagers, people who "don't want to be confused by the facts."

But such responses don't phase him. Dismantling tired stereotypes is important to the researcher who has explored social trends since coming to the U of L in 1975. Bibby's areas of myth-breaking have included attributing much teen-adult conflict to adults; questioning the extent to which people are abandoning religion; the importance of not only praising but tapping into our cultural diversity; documenting the limited growth of interest in the National Football League and National Basketball Association and the ongoing interest in the Canadian Football League; and making his most recent case for the elevation of the quality of teenage life in Canada.

Bibby's research philosophy has always been that it doesn't make sense to study trends abstractly; rather, it's essential to question Canadians directly.
"In my mind, if one wants to understand what people are thinking, there's no substitute for asking them," he says. "Therefore, a survey that is carried out well is simply a good conversation with people. It results in learning what Canadians are thinking – rather than telling them."

Disseminating the research is also an important aspect of Bibby's work. Over the years, he's consciously shared and explained his findings with Canadians through his books, media coverage and public presentations across the country.

His commitment to public awareness has not gone unnoticed. This fall, Bibby will receive the 2009 Distinguished Academic Award from the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA), an award that recognizes the success of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ bringing their scholarly work to the broader community.

Not surprisingly, this isn't his first accolade. Bibby holds a U of L Board of Governors Research Chair in Sociology, has an honorary doctoral degree from Laurentian ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and in 2006 was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of his research contributions to the country.

In the aftermath of the 2008 survey, the prolific researcher plans to take a breather from his survey-research. "I want to sit on a rock in some beautiful place and write poetry," he jokes. Instead of focusing on data collection, Bibby plans to spend more time analyzing the data he has accumulated and turn his attention to a new book on religion in Canada – Beyond the Gods and Back.

And, of course, he'll continue to hold up that mirror to Canadians.

"I really have been fortunate not only to do research but also to teach and make presentations that allow me to see to what extent people recognize themselves in the findings. It has made the research come alive."

Bibby is the author of 12 best-selling books with total sales of close to 150,000 copies. His research has received extensive media coverage and has been seen as the feature story on the cover of Maclean's on several occasions.

Finding the right equation

trevor.kenney — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 18:21:04 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researcher Dr. Paul Hayes recruits students to work in his lab the way a mentor researcher first found him: by looking, listening and asking.

The chemistry equivalent of a hockey scout, Hayes says he looks for students with promise in different areas, and invites them to meet with him to talk about their research or academic progress and future plans.

This idea is not new to Hayes, who was on the road to dentistry when a researcher spoke with him.

"At Mount Allison ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, I was approached by one of my professors, Dr. Steve Westcott, who told me he'd been following my progress, and wanted me to work in his lab," recalls Hayes.

The flattering offer led to a steady job and a dramatic change in direction for Hayes, who turned his attention toward inorganic chemistry. After graduation he moved to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary for his doctoral degree and then to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of California, Berkeley for a postdoctoral appointment – environments completely different from his tiny hometown of Shubenacadie, N.S.

Hayes, who has been at the U of L for four years, continues to develop his thriving independent research program which aims, among other things, to make catalysts that convert a chemical found in corn and beets into a biodegradable, environmentally friendly 'plastic-like' material called polylactide.

Thus far he has been extremely successful, having attracted more than $1.4M in funding from provincial and national agencies and published numerous articles in top tier journals. In addition, the young researcher has earned province-wide accolades, including the prestigious Alberta Ingenuity New Faculty Award.

Most recently, Hayes accepted a Distinguished Academic Early Career Award from the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations for his ongoing accomplishments and future research potential.

"I was thrilled to receive the award, since it comes from my peers and colleagues, and it will affect my group and research in a positive way," says Hayes.
"People like to be part of a winning team, and I am always looking for the right people. Maybe there's another wannabe dentist out there who doesn't yet know how exciting it can be to make new molecules.

For more on Dr. Paul Hayes' research, check out the next issue of SAM magazine.

Hayes earns CAFA honour

trevor.kenney — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:59:55 +0000

The Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA), the provincial organization representing academic staff associations at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, and Athabasca ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, recently announced the recipients of the CAFA Distinguished Academic Awards for 2010.

Among the recipients is Dr. Paul Hayes an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, who will receive the 2010 CAFA Distinguished Academic Early Career Award at an event in mid-September.

The CAFA Distinguished Academic Early Career Award recognizes academic staff members who, at an early stage of their careers, through their research and/or other scholarly, creative or professional activities, have made an outstanding contribution to the wider community beyond the university.

Hayes is being recognized for, among other projects, his research to find a cost-effective, environmentally sustainable 'green' alternative to conventional plastics.

Building his research programme at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge from scratch, Hayes has been able to attract top-quality students and postdoctoral fellows to his lab. As principal investigator, he has secured multi-year external funding, including grants from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Alberta Ingenuity, NSERC, the Canada School of Energy and Environment, and GreenCentre Canada.

Hayes' research is receiving wide attention in the scientific community, and already has resulted in an impressive string of high-profile publications in leading peer-reviewed chemistry journals, in addition to numerous invited presentations at scholarly conferences across Canada and abroad.

His research in the field of organometallic chemistry, focusing on fundamental questions in catalysis and polymer science, addresses the need to develop new technologies for chemical conversions, which are crucial to drug development, materials synthesis, and the production of value-added chemicals.

Specifically, his work on polylactide polymerization catalysis advances our understanding of the synthesis of 'green' polymers, that is, biodegradable polymers that can be prepared from inexpensive renewable sources, such as corn.

This research holds the key to the challenge of producing viable alternatives to many conventional materials, such as 'green' plastic for food packaging. Lactone polymers also have many possible medical applications, for example in absorbable sutures, matrices for the slow release of pharmaceuticals, and polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Hayes earns CAFA honour

trevor.kenney — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:41:00 +0000

Hayes is being recognized for, among other projects, his research to find a cost-effective, environmentally sustainable 'green' alternative to conventional plastics.

A Year In Review

trevor.kenney — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:05:40 +0000

Pronghorn Women Are National Rugby Champions

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Pronghorns women's rugby team captured the program's first Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship in November 2007.

The Horns beat the host Western Mustangs 15-10 in the title game, giving Pronghorn Athletics its first national championship since the men's hockey team captured the 1994 CIAU title. The women's rugby team had previously won a silver medal at the 2003 tournament and a bronze at the 2006 event.

Award Winners

Dr. Stewart Rood, a U of L professor of biological sciences and Board of Governors Research Chair in Environmental Science, was a 2008 recipient of the Killam Research Fellowship – one of Canada's most distinguished research awards.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ judo coach Yosh Senda (LLD '89) was invested into the Order of Canada in April for his longtime commitment to the sport of judo.

The Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program awarded U of L political scientist Dr. Chris Kukucha the 2007 Fulbright Scholarship.

The Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations presented Lisa Doolittle (Theatre and Dramatic Arts) and Emily Luce (New Media) with the organization's 2007 Distinguished Academic Award and Distinguished Academic Early Career Award, respectively.

Trend-tracking in action

trevor.kenney — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:23:03 +0000

To quote a famous baby boomer lyric: the kids are all right.

Bibby's research philosophy has always been that it doesn't make sense to study trends abstractly; rather, it's essential to question Canadians directly.

"In my mind, if one wants to understand what people are thinking, there's no substitute for asking them," he says. "Therefore, a survey that is carried out well is simply a good conversation with people. It results in learning what Canadians are thinking – rather than telling them."

And, of course, he'll continue to hold up that mirror to Canadians.

Town Hall Meeting will update budgetary process

trevor.kenney — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:16:35 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge President Dr. Bill Cade chats about what's happening in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community

This past spring, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ held a town hall meeting for staff and faculty to address issues surrounding the economic downturn and an expected shortfall in the provincial operating grant.

At that time, much of what we talked about was based on speculation and an expectation that the provincial funding grant increases for the years 2010 and 2011 would come in at zero per cent.

As you read this Billboard, senior administration has just returned from a meeting in Edmonton with Advanced Education Minister, Hon. Doug Horner. He invited the board of governor Chairs and presidents from the province's post-secondary institutions to discuss the state of the provincial budget and what the allocations will be to the post-secondary system.

Now that we have this information, I invite everyone to attend the Friday, Oct. 9, Town Hall Meeting so that we may discuss the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's financial situation further. The feedback from the previous town hall was generally positive and some very good ideas were generated as a result. I expect Friday's town hall will be just as beneficial.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ just recently unveiled a Voluntary Retirement Program as one measure aimed at alleviating some of the financial stress on our operating budget. It is hard to say what impact this initiative will have but it has already received a number of inquiries. The nature of our organization, as with any educational institution, is that salaries make up the majority of the operating budget and all avenues are being explored to best handle the expected shortfall in provincial funding.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ celebrated a major event last month with the grand opening of the new Community Sports Stadium. The festivities were spectacular by any measure. I'm still thrilled by the Friday night football games featuring four of our local high school programs. I have no rooting interest in any of these teams and yet I was swept up in the emotion of the evening. The traffic, the people, the spirit of the stadium was truly alive. Our own Pronghorn teams then carried that momentum over into Saturday, making it a very memorable weekend.

Another good news story this month is the realization of our largest enrolment figure to date. At 8,248 students, we are well ahead of last year's Fall Semester numbers, which is a testament to the hard work of many ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ departments. At one point, projected enrolment saw us at a 17 per cent decline from the previous year, but as is the nature of the U of L, a concentrated interdepartmental effort tackled the challenge and produced wonderful results.

Congratulations to Dr. Reg Bibby, recently honoured by the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA) with the CAFA Distinguished Academic Award for 2009. One of our most recognized faculty members due to his groundbreaking and oft-cited research interests, this honour is well deserved.

I am looking forward to celebrating another graduating class at the Fall 2009 Convocation later this month. With Son Soubert and Paul Brandt here to receive honorary degrees, as well as the return of our first Rhodes Scholar, Dr. Cheryl Misak, as the Alumna of the Year, it promises to be a prominent event.

Bibby earns CAFA award

trevor.kenney — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:15:24 +0000

He's broken down popular culture myths, authored best-selling books and always found a way to engage a broad audience. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's Dr. Reginald Bibby is one of the most well known ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in the country. Recently, he was honoured by the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA) with the CAFA Distinguished Academic Award for 2009.

The CAFA Distinguished Academic Award recognizes academic staff members who through their research and/or other scholarly, creative or professional activities have made an outstanding contribution to the wider community beyond the university.

"The recipients of the CAFA Distinguished Academic Awards are being honoured by their peers," notes Linda Bonneville, President of CAFA.

"Through these awards, we wish to recognize and highlight exceptional contributions made by our colleagues, through their research, scholarly and creative activities, to the wider community beyond the academy."

Bibby, who holds a Board of Governors Research Chair in Sociology at the U of L, has been monitoring and analyzing Canadian social trends and attitudes since the mid-1970s through a series of periodic nationwide surveys of adults and teens.

This groundbreaking and often-cited body of research, developed in his 12 books, as well as numerous refereed journal articles and monographs, has generated a wealth of pioneering and historic data on social issues, intergroup relations, religion, and quality of life in Canada, and has earned Dr. Bibby a well-deserved reputation among his colleagues as 'the academic's academic.'

Never content to address his findings solely to other ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, however, Bibby, in the words of his department chair, has reached out "regularly, willingly, and with a purpose" to engage with a wider, non-academic audience.

To quote another of his colleagues, Bibby "has contributed conspicuously to the popular understanding of social trends in Canada while writing the most careful, prescient, and sophisticated sociological analyses of religion, youth and demographic change in Canadian society."

More than 140,000 copies of Dr. Bibby's books have been sold to date. The latest, entitled The Emerging Millennials: How Canada's Newest Generation is Responding to Change & Choice, was released in April 2009.

The 2009 CAFA Distinguished Academic Awards were presented at a banquet in Edmonton, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009.

UNews - Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations

U of L researchers among Venture's Top 50

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