With the university entering into a challenging budget planning cycle,

it will be incumbent on us all to share our creative ideas so that we can not only weather the current turbulence, but emerge as a stronger academic community. Given the research track record we enjoy, I am confident that our creativity is more than up to the task. Evidence of our faculty and student creativity and success abounds: UVic was once again named one of the top universities in the world in the Times Higher Education World rankings, 11th in the world and number one in Canada in the “under 50” category. This ranking was largely driven by the quantity and quality of our research, and especially by the impact it has had in our various disciplines. We again broke the $100M research funding mark in 2012, and the number of prestigious awards bestowed upon our faculty and students is at an all-time high.

One of our key goals from the Strategic Plan is to “provide and sustain a high-quality research environment and infrastructure”.

Not surprisingly, the demand for research services and support has never been higher (e.g. record number of ethics applications, contracts, and grant applications). The challenge of meeting that demand in the context of budget reductions is one place the Associate Vice-Presidents Research (Michael Miller and Rachael Scarth) and I have been doing our own brand of creative thinking with the help of the deans, centre directors, and Research Advisory Committee members. Over the coming months we will be examining a number of options for how to best realign our research support services in keeping with our goal maintaining excellence while, at the same time, meeting our budget reduction targets. During the early fall we will share these potential changes with research community and seek your input into how to proceed. In the meantime, I would encourage all faculty, staff, and students to forward your creative ideas about improving our research environment to Sally Eshuys in my office (vprea@uvic.ca).

Dr. J. Howard Brunt Vice-President Research

MESSAGE FROM THE VICE-PRESIDENT RESEARCH

WINTER 2011Internal research newsletter

Upcoming events | 2

KM activities | 3

People and places | 5

Research digest | 7

Award-winners | 12

Research centres | 15

Submissions | 21

This newsletter is compiled by the Office of the Vice-President Research using submissions from the University of Victoria research community. We thank you for your continued involvement in research at UVic. © University of Victoria 2012

SUMMER 2012

| 1 |

IdeaFest 2013 | Pre-Call for Proposals

After an incredibly successful pilot event, the Office of the Vice-President Research will again be coordinating and promoting IdeaFest next year from March 4-15. The intention behind this project is to celebrate, explore and invite the broader community into UVic’s research strengths and creative endeavors, especially as they impact society. For this reason, IdeaFest will again include a combination of events or activities planned at the unit level and a number of centrally-organized signature events hosted by the OVPR. Each unit on campus—every department, school, research centre and faculty—is invited to propose an event for inclusion in this festival using the attached event proposal form (deadline for submission to vpresec@uvic.ca is Monday, October 15, 2012). The OVPR will then use this information to promote each event or activity under the umbrella of IdeaFest to both the campus and external community. This is a pre-call for proposals that will be followed up with further details and expanded event planning support materials in early September. A few new initiatives for the 2013 festival include:- Broad marketing to external audiences- A web-based program of events for mobile devices- Templates for unit-level marketing materials Further notes around the festival’s key messages and other important points to keep in mind are available in the event proposal package at www.uvic.ca/ideafest.

Upcoming events

Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives | Albert Hung Chao Hong Lecture Series

The Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives is pleased to present a lecture by Prasenjit Duara as part of our prestigious Albert Hung Chao Hong Lecture Series. The talk, titled “Histories and Competitive Societies: Temporal Foundations for Global Theory” will take place August 2 at 5.30 p.m. in Harry Hickman Building, room 105.

Prasenjit Duara—Raffles Professor of Humanities, Director of the Asia Research Institute, and Director of Research in Humanities & Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore—is also the keynote speaker of the Demcon conference “De-parochializing Political Theory” which takes place August 2-4, 2012.

-Heike Edam

| 2 |

No matter what kind of research you're working on, the Knowledge Mobilization Unit (KM) can help you share what you know with a suite of practical services that includes knowledge mobilization training, research partnership brokering, communications planning and graduate student programming.

The KM unit just launched www.uvic.ca/km, a brand new website with details about services, links to tools and resources, past issues of the twice-monthly KM newsletter and a blog profiling UVic’s best and brightest KM stories every week. Please click through the new site and send your comments and suggestions to kmunit@uvic.ca.

Knowledge at work

SAVE THE DATE

Join us for a crash course in all things KM this fall; we’res offering a six-part informal lunch series from September-March this term to help you hone your KM skills. The first three sessions are as follows:

- Writing a KM plan (Weds, September 12)- Knowledge disemmination strategies (Weds, October 10)- KM through social media (Weds, November 14)

All sessions run from 12:30-1:30 p.m.; contact kmunit@uvic.ca for details.

BLOGROLL

Here are a few of our most recent blog entries:

“A new film resource from UVic MA student Hannah Roessler helps local farmers share what they know” July 12, 2012

“KM course pairs up grad students with BC ministry; everyone benefits” June 4, 2012

| 3 |

EXPAND YOUR RESEARCH – ADVANCE YOUR IP

Does your new or prospective intellectual property or exciting results have commercial applications? Do you need an industry partner for a funding program or to enhance or advance your research objectives? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘yes’ then UVic Industry Partnerships (UVic IP) may be able to help.

Our office strives to help researchers advance their research objectives through protection of commercially valuable IP and to facilitate industry engagement. We help researchers navigate and understand UVic’s IP policy and the different technology transfer / commercialization options available so inventors and researchers can pursue routes most appropriate to their objectives.

We also work at ‘industry/academia matchmaking.’ Increasingly, grant providers encourage, or even require, researchers to establish industrial relationships and to prepare knowledge mobilization / technology transfer plans to access funding. UVic IP supports researchers to identify potential matches and facilitates introductions to potential industry collaborators through direct meetings and sponsored events.

UVic policy requires disclosure of commercially viable IP early. Your research funding arrangements may have similar requirements. Obligations aside, disclosure can be a good idea for many reasons. Consult with UVic IP to ensure you understand the consequences of possible publication on your ability to control and direct the use of your IP. You may also want to discuss the value of your IP to prospective industry collaborators or research sponsors. Early disclosure also allows you to examine the options of working in partnership with UVic IP to transfer the innovation or to pursue commercialization independently.

Innovations are vital to our economy and our competitiveness on a global scale. Through UVic IP the University of Victoria continues to invest in advancing innovation through protection and collaboration.

Contact UVic Industry Partnerships at 250-721-6500 or find us on the web at www.uvic.ca/industry.

| 4 |

Rebecca Raworth Librarian | Island Medical Services

After 15 years of service as Executive Director at the Centre for Global Studies (CFGS), Dr. Gordon Smith retired on June 30. He remains an Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Public Administration at UVic and continues his position as Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo.

Thank you Gordon; you have touched the lives of many on campus and far beyond through your global networks, partnerships and friendships. You will be greatly missed at CFGS and we all wish you the best moving forward on your next steps.

-Jennifer Swift

Rebecca Raworth, the Island Medical Program librarian and liaison librarian to the Department of Health Information Science and the graduate program in neuroscience, attended the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Inaugural Librarians’ Research Institute at the University of Windsor from June 11 to 14, 2012. The program was intense, stimulating and productive. Rebecca plans to help grow, nurture and sustain a culture of research at UVic Libraries. Librarian research helps support the University of Victoria Libraries’ commitment to support teaching, learning and research at the University of Victoria.

Attending the Institute has also helped firm up Rebecca’s study leave plans. She intends to research librarians’ roles in distributed MD undergraduate medical programs across North America to ascertain trends and best practices in program librarians’ practice.

-Rebecca Raworth

Gordon Smith Former Director | Centre for Global Studies

People and places

| 5 |

Brian Wyvill Professor and CRC Chair | Computer Science

Dr. Brian Wyvill, Department of Computer Science, was busy with international research activities during his sabbatical in early 2011. He visited Lyon, Microsoft Asia, Hong Kong University (HKU) and Saudi Arabia and started joint projects with University of Toulouse in France (one co-tutelle PhD student), KAUST in Saudi Arabia (two students are to be hosted in 2012) and HKU (who will send us a PhD student in 2012). Dr. Wyvill began a joint project with the University of Lyon, where he taught

a one day graduate introductory course on implicit modeling. His own research group at UVic has expanded to ten students—several of which are doing eight month internships at Intel Research.

Dr. Wyvill received the prestigious 2011 Canadian Human Computer Communication Society Achievement Award and is recognized as a pioneer of implicit modeling. Since the mid-1980s, his research in computer graphics has been a search for new concepts and methods that enable a wide variety of users to easily visualize complex models and processes. Many of the algorithms Dr. Wyvill has developed have had a significant impact on the field. He has published in areas as varied as interactive modeling, sketch-based systems, illumination and rendering, animation, texturing, hierarchical and subdivision methods, biological and medical models and physical simulation. Dr. Wyvill has promoted the implicit modeling field through journal and conference papers; has started two conference series and last year gave four invited international lectures and seminars.

-Heather Croft

People and places continued

| 6 |

UVic’s Historic Cartographic Collections

To mark both the 150th anniversary of the City of Victoria’s incorporation and the 50th anniversary of the University of Victoria, two exciting online additions to Victoria’s history have been launched at UVic: the Fort Victoria Journals and the Historic Cartographic Collections.

The Historical Cartographic Collections contain three newly added significant digital map collections.

• Early B.C. Maps from the National Archives of England – over 200 maps primarily spanning the dates 1846-1876 show the development of the territory from the two founding colonies until after the Province joined confederation.

• Early B.C. Maps from the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives/Manitoba Archives – a hundred maps from 1842 to the 1860s will be scanned by September. Most maps of Vancouver Island and British Columbia before 1858 were created by the Hudson’s Bay Company whose trading posts were spread across the region, and which, between 1849 and 1859 administered the Colony of Vancouver Island.

• Victoria Fire Insurance Plans from the British Columbia Archives – the Fire Insurance Plans from 1891 to 1913 were created by Charles E. Goad and Company to assist insurance underwriters in determining fire insurance risk. Over 540 maps show the growing city of Victoria and the newer cities of Esquimalt, Saanich and Oak Bay in exquisite detail at 50 feet to the inch.

The Historical Cartographic Collections are available online.-Susan Henderson

University Librarian Jonathan Bengtson introduces the Libraries’ Digital Initiatives at the launch of the Historical Cartographic Collections

Research digest

| 7 |

Innovations in Learning and Technology: Asia-Pacific Perspectives

Professor Madhumita Bhattacharya, visiting Japan Program Chair at the Centre for Asia Pacific Initiatives (CAPI), organized an international conference on April 10-11, 2012 under the sponsorship of CAPI. The conferences opening address was given by Dr. Reeta C. Tremblay, Vice President Academic and Provost, University of Victoria.

The program was organized under four major interrelated thematic areas: Technology in Learning; Technology of Learning; E-Learning in Higher Education: International Perspectives, and Future Directions: International Collaborations in Research and Publication. The program included keynote and invited talks, paper presentations including on-site and virtual presentations from Japan, Australia and India. International delegates and participants present at the conference represented Japan, India, Taiwan, Israel, USA, Fiji and Brazil. The workshop cum panel discussion was organized and led by Dr. Madhumita Bhattacharya on “Future Directions: International Collaborations in Research and Publication”.

The conference was attended by students, faculty and staff members of the University of Victoria, members from the local community and faculty members from Royal Roads University. The conference ended with a positive note on the future activities and thanking those who helped to make this a successful event. In spring 2013 the 2nd conference will be held in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

-Madhumita Bhattacharya

The Fort Victoria Journals

The only surviving part of the Fort Victoria journal burst out of the archives and onto the internet at a launch on May 2, 2012 thanks to the effort of student, faculty and community researchers. The daily journal from the fort, established first in 1843, only survives from 1846-1850 and contains the best look we have into life in early Victoria. Transcribing the 1000 plus entries from 19th Century script and editing them was the challenge history professor John Lutz gave to his 3rd year historical editing class. Part way through the term, the class learned that a community-based researcher, Graham Brazier, was working on the same project and they combined resources. The launch, with MC Jack Lohman, CEO of the Royal BC Museum, attracted over 120 people to the MacPherson Library.

The journal, related images and some of the student interpretative essays are available online.

-John Lutz

Computer User Detection Software

Dr. Issa Traore and PhD student Ahmed Ahmred, of the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, have just received a US patent for security software that they developed. The software can detect unknown computer users and lock them out based on recognizing keyboard typing patterns. This ingenuitive software received coverage in both the Times Colonist and through UVic Communications.

- Faculty of Graduate Studies

Research digest continued

| 8 |

Research digest continued

Research in Applied Linguistics to Benefit Second-Language Teaching, Learning, and Program Development

Dr. Li-Shih Huang, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics, recently completeda project on modalities of learner reflection funded by the SSHRC and another project on validating the IELTSTM test (1.7 million tests were taken last year alone), which was jointly funded by the British Council, IELTS Australia, and the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations. The IELTS study was the first attempt to study learners’ strategic behaviours and their relationships to a set of key variables (context, task, and proficiency level) in testing and non-testing situations. The technical report of the project’s findings will be published by IELTS through its open-access research site.

Findings from the SSHRC project have been published in scholarly journals and professional outlets; results also were recently shared with language-teaching researchers and practitioners at the largest premier conference in the field in Boston and at a colloquium co-presented with graduate students, Xiaoqian Guo and Trish Hannigan, in Philadelphia. Dr. Huang was invited to give a plenary talk on reflective learning to instructors at UVic English Language Centre’s annual professional development conference and shared her work with faculty members at the Learning and Teaching Centre’s SoTL workshop series.

With the support of UVic’s grant, Dr. Huang is currently working on developing an app to facilitate learner reflection (iReflect) for both research and teaching purposes. She is also working with her team to develop and validate a web-based tool that will enable academic institutions to assess graduate English-as-an-additional-language students’ academic language-learning needs across disciplines.

-Li-Shih Huang

| 9 |

Developing a Blueprint for Watershed Governance in British Columbia

The POLIS Water Sustainability Project hosted a workshop related to its ongoing work concerning the development of a blueprint for watershed governance in British Columbia. This applied research project is meant to complement ongoing efforts by the Province of British Columbia to update the Water Act. The blueprint for watershed governance in British Columbia will ultimately be released as a detailed report. The goal of the workshop was to lead a thoughtful and engaging discussion about the principles and design of governance reform as a potential priority for the province to ensure the protection of watershed health and function, as well to discuss how to better engage the community, rights holders and stakeholders in crucial decisions about water and other resources.

Event partners included the University of Victoria and the Water Policy Governance Group at the University of Waterloo. International guests from Melbourne Law School (Australia), University of East Anglia (UK), and Lancaster University (UK), as well as academics from the University of Victoria and local government representatives were among those who participated.

-Jesse Baltutis

Research digest continued

Navigating Our Water: Lessons from Australia and Europe

On Monday, June 18, a public lecture and discussion was hosted the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance at the Centre for Global Studies (CFGS). This event focused on water as the main challenge facing Canada in the 21st century, and drew on trends, issues and successful approaches that have been taken in both Australia and Europe.

For many years, Australia and Europe have faced serious problems with the management and governance of their water resources—from the effects of severe drought, to the challenges of jurisdictional fragmentation, unclear responsibilities and disconnected governance. These challenges offer a glimpse into Canada’s water future.

Professors Godden (Melbourne Law School, Australia) and O’Riordan (University of East Anglia, UK) offered lessons from their home regions. Their talks were followed by a focused discussion with Professor de Loë (Research Chair Water Policy and Governance, University of Waterloo) on how these lessons can be applied in the Canadian context, moderated by Oliver M. Brandes (POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, University of Victoria).

This event was hosted by the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance in partnership with the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Water Resources Association (BC-CWRA), BC Water & Waste Association, Partnership for Water Sustainability in BC, University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre and Water Canada Magazine.

-Jesse Baltutis

| 10 |

Research digest continued

UVic Professor Volunteers at the International Trentino Book Festival

Who says that literature and community engagement are mutually exclusive? While conducting research on Italian writer Massimo Carlotto, Dr. Marina Bettaglio, of the Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies, volunteered at the International Trentino Book Festival, a three-day cultural event that brings literature to life amidst the breathtaking scenery of the Italian Alps. From June 15 to 17, she contributed to the success of this growing literary event, which brings world-famous writers and journalists such as Dacia Mariani, Erri de Luca, Massimo Carlotto, Antonia Arslan, and Susanne Scholl to the squares of Caldonazzo, in the province of Trento. As a volunteer, she participated in numerous events that took place in parks, squares, cafes, flower shops and cultural centers, and interviewed one of the most prominent exponents of Mediterranean noir fiction, Massimo Carlotto, on whom she is completing a scholarly academic project.

Seeing books come to life as a way of enriching communities is a wonderfully rewarding experience for a literature professor whose days are spent mostly in the library or in front of a computer. Events such as the Trentino Book Festival remind us that literature is alive and kicking and that academic knowledge mobilization can go beyond the ivory tower to engage locally rooted communities.

-Marina Bettaglio

Dr. Marina Bettaglio at the Trentino Book Festival

| 11 |

Dr. Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins receiving the 2012 BC Community Achievement Award

CUFA Award

Dr. Eric Sager received the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of BC’s (CUFA BC) 2012 Paz Buttedahl Career Achievement Award. The award, presented at an annual dinner in Vancouver, recognizes sustained outstanding contributions to the community beyond the academy. Dr. Sager’s achievements certainly qualified him. For over 25 years, he has voiced his support for research and education in numerous public forums, including the Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, CBC, the provincial parliament and high school classrooms.

Of special interest to Dr. Sager, however, is the study of history and why historians matter. In his view, history is a “dialogue between past and present.” Dave Obee, Comments Editor with the Times Colonist, sums up his public contribution well: “... he has worked hard to ensure history is relevant to our daily lives. It would be difficult to imagine Sager’s work without the public component. Involvement with ordinary Canadians—obtaining information from them, and sharing it with them—has been an essential element of his success.”

-Brad Buie

BC Community Achievement Award

This spring, Dr. Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins received a 2012 BC Community Achievement Award. Lieutenant Governor Steven Point and Minister Ida Chong presented her with the award in recognition of her work as principal investigator in the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA Project. The five-year project, by its very nature, was community-based: partners included 10 First Nations communities, two Crown Corporations and UVic. Ewa and her team facilitated a collaboration among them that proved respectful, generous and productive.

Funded by SSHRC, the CURA project focused on two languages: SENĆOŦEN, the language of the WSÁNEĆ people of the Saanich peninsula, and Hul’q’umi’num’, the language spoken from Duncan to Nanaimo. In Dr. Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins’s view, revitalization is vital. “Language is at the heart of who we are as human beings,” she says. “It contains more than words.”

-Brad Buie

Dr. Eric Sager receiving CUFA BC’s 2012 Paz Buttedahl Career Achievement Award

Award and grant-winners

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Award and grant-winners continued

CAHR Master’s Student Receives the LaVerne Monette Award

CAHR would like to congratulate Master’s student Jenny Rand on being the inaugural recipient of the LaVerne Monette Award through the CIHR Social Research Centre in HIV Prevention, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Jenny is working on her Master’s degree within the social dimensions of health program at the University of Victoria. Working with her supervisor, Dr. Charlotte Reading, and co-supervisor Dr. Cathy Worthington, her research project entitled “Building Community-Based HIV and STI Prevention Programs on the Tundra: Drawing on Inuit Women’s Strengths and Resiliencies” is rooted in community-based participatory methods and Indigenous methodologies, and seeks to bring Inuit women’s voices forward to inform the basis for future HIV and STI prevention programming.

Jenny says, “the LaVerne Monette award will help me put my research into action and ensure my project is done in a good way.”

Jenny works out of the Centre for Aboriginal Health Research at the University of Victoria. “We are proud to have her as part of our team,” says Dr. Jeff Reading, Professor and former Director of the Centre, “Jenny has played a key role in the success of our student engagement initiatives here at the Centre and has helped create a very welcome and inclusive environment for both new and existing students.”

Learns more about the program criteria.-Robynne Edgar

CAHR Master’s Student, Jenny Rand

Myer Horowitz Receives Honorary Doctorate

Myer Horowitz, Acting Director of the Centre for Early Childhood Research and Policy, was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Royal Roads University at its most recent convocation. Previously, he received honorary doctorates from eight other universities, including the University of Victoria in 2000. At UVic, he is an Adjunct Professor of Education and of Leadership Studies, past chair of the advisory board of the Centre for Youth and Society, and a member of the advisory committee of the Family Centre. Other honours include being admitted into the Order of Canada as an Officer in 1990 and receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in March 2012.

-Beverly Smith

Myer Horowitz

| 13 |

PASSION TO SHARE KNOWLEDGE DRIVES UVIC CRAIGDARROCH AWARD-WINNERS

A widely acclaimed poet, a world-renowned astrophysicist, an emerging leader in computerized health records, an accomplished science communicator, a gifted music-computer specialist, and an innovative historian—these are the six recipients of the University of Victoria’s 2012 Craigdarroch Research Awards.

The awards, which honour achievement in research at UVic, were presented May 1 at an evening reception on campus.“The number and eminence of the nominations this year speaks volumes about the extraordinary investigative and creative activity taking place each day in every corner of our campus,” says Dr. Howard Brunt, UVic’s vice-president research. “These six individuals exemplify UVic’s commitment to excellence and the open transfer of knowledge to the wider community.”The recipients are:

Gold Medal for Career Achievement (two recipients)• Award-winning poet Lorna Crozier is without doubt one of UVic’s most publicly celebrated faculty members. She

has captivated readers across Canada and around the world with her writing, including 15 books of poetry and her 2009 memoir, Small Beneath the Sky.

• Astrophysicist Dr. Don VandenBerg is internationally acclaimed as a pioneer in his field for using computer models to understand the structure and evolution of stars, and for developing tools and techniques now used routinely by stellar astronomers around the world.

Silver Medal for Excellence in ResearchAndre Kushniruk is an emerging international leader in the field of health informatics. He’s renowned for his work on computer usability in the health care sector and is an expert on topics such as e-health, telemedicine and computerized patient record systems.

Award for Excellence in Knowledge Mobilization(Knowledge mobilization is the application of research results for societal benefit.)Dr. E. Paul Zehr is an accomplished neuroscientist but is equally well known for his efforts to engage general audiences in the wonders of scientific research. Both passions inspired his two popular books, Becoming Batman and Inventing Iron Man.

Award for Excellence in Artistic ExpressionDr. George Tzanetakis blends computer science and the creative arts to advance a new area of research—music information retrieval. His work is leading to more effective tools for manipulating large audio collections and improving musician-computer interactions.

Award for Excellence in Innovation and EntrepreneurshipThrough an innovative weave of traditional historical research, community-based fieldwork and popular interactive websites, historian Dr. John Lutz sheds new light on settler-Aboriginal relations in the Pacific Northwest and makes Canadian history fun and accessible for everyone.

To view short videos profiling all of the above winners, visit “Faces of UVic Research.”-UVic Communications

| 14 |

Centre for Social and Sustainable Innovation Hosts Green Tech Exchange

Pairing business and technology to create an ecosystem is not an intuitive venture but innovative UVic researchers are tackling it. On May 24, the Gustavson School of Business’s Centre for Social and Sustainable Innovation (CSSI), UVic’s first intrafaculty research centre, hosted a GreenTech Exchange. These industry forums were developed to accelerate clean technology innovation and deploy clean energy solutions in regional clusters.

“From my research with clean tech entrepreneurs,” says event organizer and business professor Charlene Zietsma, “it is clear that a single entrepreneur can rarely accomplish all the things that need to be accomplished to gain acceptance for their clean technology.”

To create a viable and vibrant clean tech sector in B.C., Zietsma explains, firms, public and non-profit sector organizations and individuals must work together to form an ecosystem of support for clean-tech policy and practice changes. The UVic event aimed to foster that ecosystem.

“Some successful clean tech entrepreneurs shared their strategies,” reports Zietsma, “and highlighted the key issues that face the sector. Furthermore, by holding the event on campus, UVic students could be exposed to the clean tech sector and network for employment opportunities.

“In fact,” Zietsma adds, “two students were able to arrange internships with clean technology companies that evening!”

-Jennifer Swift

Research centre updates

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Research Centre updates continued

Crisis on Tap: Seeking Solutions for Safe Water for indigenous Peoples

The Centre for Aboriginal Health Research (CAHR) is pleased to announce the release our latest publication Crisis on Tap: Seeking Solutions for Safe Water for indigenous Peoples. This book shares the proceedings of the Consensus Conference on Small Water Systems Management for the promotion of Indigenous health, previously published papers, a report summarizing the process and findings of our 2010 Mobile Workshop Series, and additional resources. The publication is available in digital format on the CAHR website. To obtain a hard copy, please contact Robynne Edgar.

Annotated Bibliography

For more information on the important issue of safe drinking water in Aboriginal communities please see the annotated bibliography “Water and Aboriginal peoples’ health” on the CAHR website as well.

-Robynne Edgar

CAHR’s Summer Institute a Success

During the week of May 7—11, the Centre for Aboriginal Health Research (CAHR) hosted the second annual Summer Institute in Aboriginal Health. This successful workshop brought together 58 participants ranging from students, researchers, policy makers, community health workers, experts, youth and Elders for a dynamic week of exploring Aboriginal health. More info is available on the CAHR website.

-Robynne Edgar

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Research Centre updates continued

Cross-Canada Checkup: A Canadian Perspective on Our Water Future

The POLIS Project on Ecological Governance at UVic’s Centre for Global Studies, (CFGS) in partnership with the Adaptation to Climate Change Team at Simon Fraser University, recently released the new report Cross-Canada Checkup: A Canadian Perspective on Our Water Future. It offers a first-hand perspective on the current and emerging water challenges and priorities across Canada, and illustrates the interrelatedness of many water issues common to all Canadians.

“This report represents the first time since the mid-1980s that the pulse has been taken on the national state of fresh water in Canada,” says POLIS researcher Jesse Baltutis, who co-authored the report.

The publication is a synthesis of themes, perspectives and information from the Forum for Leadership on Water’s fall 2011 national discussion series tour. Leading Canadian water expert Bob Sandford travelled to 16 cities across the country, learning about and discussing regional and national water issues at each stop.

“The report provides a sweeping picture of Canadian water priorities, and it allowed us to draw out the themes that stretch across jurisdictions,” says Baltutis. “Hopefully it will give politicians the means to start making decisions.”

Digital copies of the report are available on the POLIS Water Sustainability Project website.

-Laura Brandes

Immigration Integration in Smaller Cities and Towns

The Centre for Studies in Religion and Society (CSRS) will form part of an ambitious new community-university network aimed at supporting the integration of immigrants in small and medium-sized cities and towns across Canada. The Pathways to Prosperity Partnership, supported with a $2.5 million grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada, involves 50 universities and over 100 partner organizations across five regional nodes. CSRS director Paul Bramadat will lead the British Columbia node of the project along with Julie Drolet from the Faculty of Human Social and Educational Development at Thompson Rivers University.

“The vast majority of research on immigration has examined newcomers to major centres like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver,” says Bramadat. “But there is a gap in our understanding about what happens when immigrants settle in smaller communities. This project addresses the urgent need to understand the social issues faced in these communities and we are pleased that we are able to play an important role in this kind of research initiative.”

In 2001, more than three-quarters of immigrants to Canada settled in Toronto, Vancouver, or Montreal. A decade later, an ever-increasing number of newcomers are finding homes in smaller communities across the country.

-Leslie Kenny

| 17 |

Research Centre updates continued

Graphic Novels as Transition Tool for Youth

With her thesis complete, one Centre for Youth and Society (CFYS) graduate student affiliate mobilized her findings into a tool for youth in custody. The project by CFYS addresses the high level of recidivism in B.C.’s youth custody centres as well as the low literacy rate among teens in custody.

Following her MA thesis on “Transition Planning for Youth in Custody,” Kate Creedon (EPLS) continued to work with youth in custody to develop a graphic novel on successful transition from jail. With a recidivism rate for youth in BC jails at 76 per cent and an average reading ability at the Grade 4 level, CFYS wanted to accelerate the transfer of the research findings back to the youth in jail and youth at risk. Graphic novels resemble comic books, are popular with youth and have been found to engage reluctant readers. For incarcerated teens, literacy skills are strongly correlated to a lower chance of recidivism.

“Creating this graphic novel allowed the youth to develop understandings of concepts including literacy and transitions, as well as allowing them an opportunity to think of their own story of transition out of jail,” says project coordinator Kate Creedon. “Most importantly, this project gave the youth an opportunity to give back to other youth in the community.” In developing the story line of In and Out, the youth drew on the experience of peers who succeeded in staying out of jail. The important differences were being able to connect with a job, school or training program; as well as establish new relationships rather than returning to unhealthy ones.

“This project is important because these youth know what they need to transition successfully. While they’re getting the message out to other youth, they’re building their own literacy skills,” says Anne Marshall, Centre for Youth and Society director.

-Tricia Roche

| 18 |

Research Centre updates continued

Digital Stories on Resistance to Residential Schools

The Centre for Youth and Society (CFYS) research team on Resistance to Residential Schools presented their digital stories at the regional conference of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC).

In welcoming the team, Commissioner Marie Wilson thanked them for their contribution to the healing. TRC Assistant Director of Research, Dr. Greg Younging told the over 150 people in attendance that the TRC found it “very refreshing to have a research project like this.” He assured the research team that the CFYS project was the “most creative and artistic of all our research projects.”

The stories form part of a “Resistance Narratives” project funded by the TRC. The purpose of the research was for Indigenous youth to identify and celebrate strategies of resistance that enabled family and community members to survive the residential school system.

According to CFYS Director Dr. Anne Marshall, “These stories of hope and healing are a key part of addressing the ongoing impacts of the residential school system that have affected thousands of individuals, families and communities.”

The stories can be viewed through the CFYS website. -Tricia Roche

Youth, Governance, Peace building and the Role of ICT and Social Media

The seminar, hosted by the Centre for Global Studies (CFGS) and the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD) on June 26 and 27, was an opportunity to share the global experience of young people’s use of ICT/social media and other collaborative technologies to influence local, national, regional and international systems of governance and to affect peace-building and young citizen engagement. Youth-led organizations, UN agencies, government leaders, academics, research institutions, students, Aboriginal groups and other experts were engaged in a two day seminar and global webinar to share experiences, connect networks, and examine present and future youth-led governance trends from different regions of the world.

-Jennifer Swift

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Research Centre updates continued

CAPI Welcomes New Japan Chair

The Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives (CAPI) is pleased to announce that as of July 2012 the Centre’s new Japan Chair is Dr. Mary Yoko Brannen, PhD. A well-known international scholar in multinational affairs, Dr. Yoko Brannen received her MBA with an emphasis in International Business and PhD in Organizational Behavior, with a minor in Cultural Anthropology, from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She received her BA from the University of California at Berkeley. Having taught at various universities in the United States, Japan, China and France, Dr. Brannen’s consulting specialty is in helping multinational firms realize their global strategic initiatives by aligning, integrating and deploying critical organizational resources. Born and raised in Japan, having studied in France and Spain, and having worked as a cross-cultural consultant for over 20 years to various Fortune 500 companies, she brings a multi-faceted, deep knowledge of today’s complex cultural business environment.

We welcome Dr. Yoko Brennen to her new role at the Centre and as a professor with the Gustavson School of Business and we look forward to working with her.

-Heike Edam

CAPI Internship Program

2012 has been an exciting year for the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives (CAPI) internship program. Our first round of interns left in January for placements in the Philippines and Bangladesh.

Mikaela Robertson, a UVic Law student has been interning with the Centre for Migrant Advocacy in Quezon City, Philippines. Haydn Shook, also a UVic law student, has been in Quezon City as well, interning with Migrant Forum in Asia, and Kelly Lindsay was our first intern in Bangladesh with WARBE Development Foundation.

Our next interns left in June for their placements as follows:

Adam Tran of Political Science will be spending five months in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India with Migrant Forum in Asia working with some of their Indian partners; George Benson of Political Science will be following Kelly’s footsteps in Bangladesh with WARBE; Cate Lawrence, who is completing her MA in Dispute Resolution, will be replacing Haydn at Migrant Forum in Asia and will be preparing for the World Social Forum on Migrations to be hosted by MFA in Manila in November 2012; and Chandra Merry, who just completed her degree in Literature, will be following Mikaela at The Centre for Migrant Advocacy in Quezon City.

-Heike Edam

Canadian and Japanese Scholars Attend CAPI Workshop in June

On June 10 and 11, the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives (CAPI) hosted a workshop on Post-311 Challenges and Opportunities: Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming in the Priorities and Planning of Tohoku Reconstruction, 2012-2015.

Organised by Dr. Jackie F. Steele, CAPI’s Visiting Japan Chair and Associate Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Tokyo, the workshop provided a forum for leading Canadian and Japanese scholars from a wide range of disciplines: Hiroko Hara, Mari Osawa and Kumiko Hagiwara (University of Tokyo), Sunhee Lee (Tohoku University), Yoshi Kawasaki (Simon Fraser University), Millie Creighton, David Edgington and Shigenori Matsui (University of British Columbia), Caroline Andrew, Sikata Banerjee and Natasha Fox (University of Victoria). -Heike Edam

Scholars in attendance at the CAPI workshop| 20 |

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