UNews - ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba

President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Digvir Jayas, to be invested into the Order of Manitoba

trevor.kenney — Wed, 14 May 2025 17:00:30 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge President and Vice-Chancellor, Ikkayiinnii (Fast Buffalo) Dr. Digvir Jayas, will be invested into the Order of Manitoba this summer, recognizing his significant contributions to the Manitoba agri-food industry.

A distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of Biosystems Engineering at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba, Jayas received multiple awards for his 30-year research and teaching career. As an engineer and agrologist, he conducts research related to the drying, handling and storing of grains and oilseeds and digital image processing for grading and processing operations in the agri-food industry.

He spent more than a decade in academic leadership roles at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba, including as its vice-president (research and international) for nearly 14 years. He served as president, chair and board member of many organizations in fields including food science, health policy, bioengineering, marine, arctic research and many more. He also acted as interim president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC). He was appointed to the National Research Council of Canada in March of 2022.

Jayas has received multiple awards recognizing his research and professional contributions to agriculture in Canada, India and the United States, including the Sukup Global Food Security Award in 2017 and the Brockhouse Canada Prize (NSERC) in 2008. For his important contributions of knowledge in multiple domains, he received the Sir John William Dawson Medal from the Royal Society of Canada in 2009. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, an inductee to both the Manitoba and the Canadian Agricultural Halls of Fame and an Officer of the Order of Canada. He has authored or co-authored over 1,000 technical articles in scientific journals, conference proceedings and books.

Jayas came to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in July 2023 when he was named the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's seventh president and vice-chancellor.

Incoming President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Digvir Jayas, earns Lieutenant Governor's Award

trevor.kenney — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 17:06:55 +0000

A day before he assumes his role as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's seventh President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Digvir Jayas has been named the 2023 recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in Manitoba. The award is granted by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada, Manitoba region, to recognize distinctive leadership in public administration or significant contributions to the field of public administration in the province.

Dr. Digvir Jayas begins his tenure with ULethbridge on July 1, 2023.

Jayas served as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba's (UM) vice-president (research and international) (VPRI) for 13 years, and as associate vice-president (research) for eight years before that. During that time, UM research funding saw more than 50 per cent growth, to more than $230M in 2021. Jayas established countless partnerships locally and internationally and provided leadership nationally, chairing the board of TRIUMF (Canada’s particle accelerator), chairing the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and serving as vice-chair of the U15 Research Committee.

“During my 21 years of leadership in the UM VPRI office, I am most proud of the initiatives I’ve launched that engage and support transdisciplinary and undergraduate research,” says Jayas. “This includes the Undergraduate Research Awards, that allow students to be mentored by a professor of their choice, in addition to the monetary award. More than 200 awards are given annually and, since the program launched, more than 1,500 students have benefitted.”

Jayas began his UM academic administrative career in 1997 as head of the Biosystems Engineering Department where he led the renewal of the research infrastructure, including construction of the Canadian Wheat Board Centre for Grain Storage Research. The following year, Jayas joined the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences as Associate Dean (Research), leading a strategic interdisciplinary research plan. During this period, Jayas also provided scientific and administrative leadership for the development of the Richardson Centre for Food Technology and Research.

“I congratulate Dr. Jayas on this well-deserved recognition,” says Mario Pinto, who took over as UM's VPRI in 2022. “The impacts of Digvir’s work are widely felt across the UM research enterprise through innovative programs like the Transformational Partnerships initiative, which incentivizes collaboration between UM researchers and the private sector. During his long career he established a globally recognized foundation for research at UM that will endure long into the future.”

Jayas begins his tenure with ULethbridge on July 1, 2023.

Research study finds Americans are more optimistic about the future than Canadians

caroline.zentner — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 18:10:43 +0000

Middle-aged citizens of the United States have faith in the American dream and believe that it will continue into the future, despite greater adversity in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession.

That sense of optimism was among the key findings of a research paper soon to be published in the Journal of Aging Studies. A trio of researchers, led by Dr. Susan McDaniel, Canada Research Chair and director of the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, asked middle-aged Canadians and Americans what they anticipate in their future lives and in the future lives of their children when they reach middle age.

American respondents worried about their own future financial security and retirement but they expressed optimism about their children’s futures. While Canadian respondents also subscribed to the belief that hard work and sacrifice will lead to a better future for their children, many of those interviewed expressed doubt about their children’s prospects, and more Canadians thought their children’s lives would be a real struggle.

“Now they’re saying ‘Maybe my kids won’t be better off than me,’” says McDaniel. “If you’re still working hard and sacrificing but your kids are not gaining, what does that mean in the long run? This could be a long-term shift and we’re beginning to dig into these questions in this study.”

The researchers also found that the intergenerational contract, which implies that the young will support the old, that adult children will leave the family home and become independent, and that older people will retire to make room for younger workers, is shifting and changing.

“The old assumptions that younger or working people will support older people are not working out that way at all,” says McDaniel. “The support is going the other way.”

In this prospective life course study, McDaniel and Dr. Amber Gazso, York ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, and Dr. Karen Duncan, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba, interviewed people ranging in age from 45 to 64 in 2013, a few years after the 2008 economic recession. The respondents came from two socio-economic classes in comparable cities in the U.S. and Canada.

McDaniel can’t say whether Canadians are more pessimistic or just more realistic than Americans. The after-effects of the Great Recession are still being felt in the U.S., especially with regard to housing foreclosures, defunct pension plans and massive numbers of discouraged workers who have given up job searching.

“The unemployment rate is lower than it has been but many people argue that’s because so many people have given up finding work. Whether we understand the longer-term implications of all that, we don’t know,” she says.

While the researchers can only speculate about the future, McDaniel says social policy-makers may find they need to do some major rethinking of social programs. If young people experience an incomplete launch into adulthood or their career paths are bumpy and they don’t accumulate a pension, their prospects in middle age or older could be dim indeed.

“So many things are shifting here that it may be true that we’re going to see a whole different ball game in terms of opportunities for those young people today when they’re old,” says McDaniel. “In that case, we might have to re-examine a whole lot of things in terms of policy, planning and thinking.”

Horns looking for medals at Canada West Track Championship

trevor.kenney — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 18:51:37 +0000

The 2014-15 Canada West Track & Field Championships will see a small but talented ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge team compete this weekend at the Max Bell Fieldhouse in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba.

The Horns will send 12 athletes to the championship meet this year, with seven women and five men ready to challenge for conference titles.

Reigning CIS rookie of the year Aaron Hernandez and two-time Canada West weight throw gold medalist Peter Millman lead the Pronghorns this season and are favourites to win their respective events. The men’s team as a whole has been ranked 10th in the country for the past three weeks.

Following a stellar freshman campaign where he won both the Canada West and CIS gold medal in the triple jump, Hernandez enters the championship meet as the jumper to beat, ranked first in both the Canada West and CIS in his event.

Millman has had an exceptional start to his third season and goes to Winnipeg as the top ranked thrower in Canada West. Undefeated thus far this season, Millman sits atop the rankings in both the weight throw and shot put amongst Canada West competition. He is also ranked second in the CIS.

Ryan Sommer sits in second place in the Canada West rankings in both weight throw and shot put and sixth in CIS. Madison Hurst and Jordan Armstrong round out a strong men's team, ranking sixth and 13th in conference rankings for shot put and weight throw respectively.

On the women’s side, third-year Truro, Nova Scotia product Montana Forsyth is the top ranked Pronghorn athlete, ranking fifth in the weight throw, while Lara Roth is ranked one spot behind her at sixth.

The women's 4X200m relay team is ranked sixth in Canada West and looks to better its season's best time and ranking.

Overall, the Horns are poised to take home five medals and build on their preparations for the CIS Championships.

"We have had a strong season from a number of athletes thus far, but Canada West is where the rubber really starts to hit the road and preparations for CIS begin to show through,” says head coach Larry Steinke. “I'm expecting strong results from everyone and signs indicate that we will have some very notable performances again this year at Canada West."

Jurkowski named Dean of Faculty of Fine Arts

trevor.kenney — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:37:48 +0000

The Faculty of Fine Arts will be under the stewardship of a new Dean after the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge appointed Dr. Ed Jurkowski to the role, succeeding Dr. Desmond Rochfort.

"It is always exciting to announce the appointment of a new Dean, and it is especially gratifying to be able to promote someone from within the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge community," says Dr. Andrew Hakin, provost and vice-president (academic). "Dr. Jurkowski has been with the U of L for 17 years now and brings with him a wealth of knowledge, experience and a unique understanding of the challenges and opportunities that face the Faculty of Fine Arts."

Jurkowski has been at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge since 1996 when he began a term appointment as an assistant professor of music in the Faculty of Fine Arts. During his tenure here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, he has continually progressed, earning tenure as an associate professor of music in 2001 and then full professor of music in 2007.

He most recently served as the Chair of the Department of Music (2003-2009) and has been in the role of Associate Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts since 2011.Jurkowski earned his bachelor's degree in music (composition) from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba before completing his master's and PhD designations at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Rochester in Rochester, NY, where he was also a teaching assistant and instructor from 1989 through 1996.

A visiting exchange professor at Hokkai-Gakuen ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Sapporo, Japan in 2006, Jurkowski has published four books, including his latest, The Collected Works of Eduard Tubin: Double Bass and Balalaika Concertos (Series II, Volume 3) in 2013.

"I want to thank Dr. Rochfort for his fine work within the Faculty of Fine Arts over the previous five years," adds Hakin.

Jurkowski's appointment is effective July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2018.

Wieden headlines talk

trevor.kenney — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:18:23 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's Dr. HJ Wieden is one of four experts who will present a Cafe Scientifique talk at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery on Thursday, Mar. 21.

Wieden will be joined by Dr. Eric Brown of McMaster ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Dr. Frank Schweizer of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba and Dr. Tim McAllister as they discuss Antibiotic use in Agricultural Practices: Implications on the Health of Canadians.

In areas such as southern Alberta, the issue of antibiotic resistance can have a huge impact not only on human health but on industries such as agriculture.

In order to ensure the production of safe food products, the agricultural industry has utilized antibiotic protection of animals for many years. While this ensures quality food control, there are implications for the health of Canadians especially with respect to the efficiency of current antibiotic therapies.

Attend this talk to hear about current research being conducted in Canada. Areas of focus will include: how antibiotics work; pharmaceutical research necessary to develop new antibiotics; testing of antimicrobials; and the agricultural use of antibiotics in livestock populations.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the talk scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. Please RSVP due to limited seating to penny.dagnone@uleth.ca or 403-382-7198.

The presentation will also be available remotely at the following link: http://uleth.adobeconnect.com/cafe-scientifique/. The first 100 people to log in can view the Cafe remotely.

Exercise physiologists hold conference

trevor.kenney — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 19:44:51 +0000

Undergraduate and graduate students, along with some of the top exercise physiologists in western Canada, are at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge this week for the 6^th Annual Exercise Physiologists of Western Canada (EPOWC) conference.

Delving into issues such as the prevention of osteoporosis and optimizing physical capacity in obese adults, the conference is a student-focused event that invites undergraduate and graduate students from universities in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to present their research work in a supportive and constructive environment. It also serves to expose students to the work of leading researchers in exercise physiology and allows opportunities for networking and the development of collaborative relationships.

The two-day event begins Thursday, Aug. 9 with a pair of talks that are open to the general public and feature two of the top exercise physiologists in western Canada.

Dr. Phil Chilibeck of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan presents Exercise and Nutritional Strategies for Prevention of Osteoporosis at 4 p.m. in Markin Hall (M1040). His talk will focus on the best exercises to build bone during growth and throughout the lifespan, based on biomechanical, physiological and clinical evidence. The talk will also cover the best types of exercises for building bone, preventing falls and preventing fracture in people who already have osteoporosis.

Dr. Danielle Bouchard of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba follows with a presentation titled Increasing Physical Capacity in Obese Older adults: Is Weight Loss the Solution? The talk begins at 5 p.m. in M1040.

The second day of the conference, Friday, Aug. 10, features the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's Dr. Tom Hazell as he discusses Time Effective Training: How Far Can Short Bouts of Intense Exercise Go in Improving Fitness? His talk, at 2:30 p.m. in M1040, will focus on the acute and chronic effects of sprint-interval training on metabolism and body composition.

Also featured is Dr. Michael Koehle of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia, who will present High Altitude Research from the Field to the Laboratory at 9 a.m. on Friday morning.

The keynote presentations are sponsored by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.

For a full look at the EPOWC conference, access the website at http://www.uleth.ca/artsci/kinesiology/exercise-physiologists-western-canada

Mastering a new game

trevor.kenney — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:16:45 +0000

The road between accepting an athletic scholarship and being the first in her cohort to defend and pass a Master of Science thesis is long, but Katie Lafreniere has travelled it well.

Originally from Winnipeg, Lafreniere expected to start her post-secondary experience as a basketball player at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba, but that reality vanished when she broke her ankle in her senior year.

Despite her injury, Lakeland College offered Lafreniere a sports scholarship and two years later, with a business management diploma in hand, she set her academic sights on the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Master's student Katie Lafreniere takes social marketing to heart.

Lafreniere says that her decision to attend the U of L was an easy one to make because an existing transfer agreement between the two institutions allowed her to immediately enter into her third year of a bachelor's degree in management.

"It just made sense for me to come here," says Lafreniere. "It worked out really nicely."

Lafreniere spent the next two years developing a deep interest in social marketing, a process she believes was made possible because of the knowledge and support of the faculty members she encountered along the way.

"It's still a new discipline and we have professors here who know a lot about the topic," says Lafreniere. "They were the ones who were able to show me what, exactly, I wanted to do in life."

Later, as she readied herself to take the next step on her journey, Lafreniere realized she would be able to build her thesis on something that both her parents and her Aboriginal heritage had instilled in her since she was a child - a genuine sensitivity toward and tremendous respect for the environment.

"It opened my eyes. It just became a passion for me," says Lafreniere. "I want to have that practical aspect of it in my life, where I'm contributing to an actual cause in the real world."

Under the supervision of Dr. Sameer Deshpande, Lafreniere began her master's research in the spring of 2010; her work revolves around defining the perspectives and subsequent decisions of irrigators in the Cluny, Alberta, area who voted on a 2007 water-rights agreement between Balzac and the Western Irrigation District.

"Social marketing is a process that applies marketing techniques in order to influence behaviours to benefit society," says Lafreniere. "My research . . . would be how to convince irrigators who have more than enough water . . . to give the water that they're not using to other people who do need that water."

Over the next several months, Lafreniere plans to explore a second phase of her research by crafting a marketing campaign based on the findings of her research.

"We're very close with . . . water management organizations in Alberta that want our research and they want to apply it in what they're doing now," she says. "That's kind of the beauty of it; I don't have to convince anybody that it's important."

Fitzpatrick accepts Regina post

trevor.kenney — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:57:23 +0000

Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry and the Vice-President Research Emeritus at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, has accepted a position as the Vice-President, Research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Regina, beginning in July, 2011.

Fitzpatrick joined the U of L in 1999, and significantly expanded the research footprint of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in many directions.

"This is an excellent opportunity for Dennis. His contributions here were significant, and we wish him well in this new role at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Regina," says U of L President Mike Mahon.

During his time at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Fitzpatrick made a significant contribution to expanding the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's research beyond grant management to include strategic planning, team building, project development and the funding of numerous large institutional research initiatives in all three of the Tri-Council research domains.

Notable successes included the development of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge's first industry partnership with the Alberta Terrestrial Imaging Corporation, the funding of the Albert Ingenuity Centre for Water Research, a SSHRC Community ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Research Alliance Grant, an NSERC Capacity Development Grant and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Polaris Award.

Prior to becoming Vice-President (Research) at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, Fitzpatrick held a series of academic and administrative appointments at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba. He began his academic career at that university after graduating in 1981 with his PhD from Rutgers ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in New Jersey.

Steacy on record run

trevor.kenney — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 22:29:20 +0000

If you didn't hear Heather Steacy's name last year, it wasn't because the Pronghorns track and field star suddenly fell back to the pack and wasn't the dominating force we've learned to expect. Instead, Steacy was just bolstering herself for a record assault that is now in full bloom.

The two-time CIS gold medal champion in weight throw (indoor) stepped away from the CIS stage last year, focusing instead on training for the hammer throw and the summer outdoor season. While it took her out of competition for nearly a full calendar year, Steacy has returned to the indoor scene with a vengeance. At the Feb. 5 Bison Classic at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba, Steacy became the first woman in CIS history to break the 20-metre barrier, doing so twice as she easily won the gold medal.

"Technically, I'm a lot more consistent now," says the 22-year-old Steacy. "I felt before that I was always disappointed with the distances. I wasn't disappointed with the end result and the wins, but nothing ever felt consistent with how I was throwing. Now I feel like I'm in a much better place. It really comes with experience, repetition and knowing your body and how it moves."

That consistency is evident in her results. Two weeks before the Bison Classic, Steacy set a new personal best mark with a throw of 19.24 metres at the Golden Bear Classic. In Winnipeg she bettered that mark on all four of her qualifying throws and topped the 20-metre barrier with throws of 20.16m and 20.28m (a new Alberta provincial record). To put her dominance into context, the silver-medal winning throw was 13.99m.

"It was hard to step away last season because I knew I wouldn't be competing for almost an entire year," says Steacy. "From summer of 2009 until last summer, was a long time between competitions. In terms of training, it made so much sense. With hammer throw you need loads of volume, thousands of throws to get anything set, so it was definitely worth it."

The ultimate goal for the music major is to take her hammer throw prowess to the Olympic stage. Still a youngster for her sport, she is right on track for an Olympic appearance.

"I'm hoping to go to London in 2012, but I'm more looking forward to competing at the Rio Olympics in 2016," she says. "I would really like to go to London to get that experience under my belt and get a chance to see what it's like so I can know what to expect if I get to go to Rio."

In the meantime, she's branching out academically at the U of L, taking a variety of language classes to enhance her musical skills. She feels the knowledge of language will come in handy as she continues to take her talents to meets around the world. This spring, after competing at the Canada West and CIS championship meets, she'll represent Canada at the World ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Games in Shenzhen, China. In August, she hopes to be throwing hammer at the World Track and Field Championships in Daegu, South Korea.

The Canada West Track Championships are Feb. 25-26 in Winnipeg.

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

UNews - ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Manitoba

President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Digvir Jayas, to be invested into the Order of Manitoba

Related Topics

Incoming President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Digvir Jayas, earns Lieutenant Governor's Award

Related Topics

Research study finds Americans are more optimistic about the future than Canadians

Related Topics

Horns looking for medals at Canada West Track Championship

Related Topics

Jurkowski named Dean of Faculty of Fine Arts

Related Topics

Wieden headlines talk

Related Topics

Exercise physiologists hold conference

Related Topics

Mastering a new game

Related Topics

Fitzpatrick accepts Regina post

Related Topics

Steacy on record run

Related Topics

UNews - ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Manitoba