Campus Notices
Epjila’si, Kulahsihkulpa, Welcome!
The Association of Atlantic Universities Committee on Faculty Development is pleased to partner with the University of New Brunswick to host the 2025 Annual Atlantic Universities' Teaching Showcase on the unsurrendered and unceded traditional lands of the Wolastoqiyik peoples, in beautiful Fredericton. The 2025 AAU Teaching Showcase will take place in person on Saturday, October 18, 2025, at the University of New Brunswick’s Fredericton campus. This year's theme of Reimagining Higher Education calls on educators, scholars, and learners to rethink the purposes, practices, and possibilities of teaching and learning. Full details about the theme and guidelines for submitting a proposal are available in this document.
Proposal Deadline: August 25, 2025
Join the UPEI Department of Music for a five-day summer chamber music experience for brass, woodwind, percussion, and voice students aged 14–18. The daily schedule runs from 9:00 am–3:00 pm, July 7 to July 11, 2025 on the UPEI campus.
- Warm-up and technique classes
- Musicianship classes
- Small ensembles
- Individual and group lessons
- Workshops
- Final performance
Faculty
- Sung Ha Shin-Bouey, voice
- Morgan Saulnier, flute
- Amy Simon, clarinet
- Nicole Strum, saxophone
- Dale Sorensen, brass
- Ryan Drew, percussion
- Ken Fornetran, wind instrument repair
Program fee: $340 + HST
Spaces are limited and are filling up quickly!
To register, complete our Summer Studios 2025 Registration Form.
Email nstrum@upei.ca or call the UPEI Department of Music at 902-566-0507 with any questions.
The search committee for the Associate Vice-President, Students, announces an upcoming public presentation by one of the finalists.
Since the search process began, the committee has undertaken a comprehensive search and selected finalists for a series of stakeholder meetings on campus. The first public presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at 9:30 am and will be held in AVC 201N.
All members of the University community are welcome to attend.
The Health, Safety and Environment Department is pleased to announce the Board of Governor approval of the annual review of the Health, Safety and Environment Policy. Also, please check out the HSE Annual Report 2023-2024 available on the HSE SharePoint Site.
HSE is very grateful for the due diligence and dedication of the campus community to health and safety!
Another Makers' Monday is happening on Monday, June 16.
Whether you've attended previously or you're dropping in for the first time, we invite you to bring your craft project (or art, or writing, or other creative work-in-progress) to Robertson Library between 12:00 and 1:00 pm.
All are welcome; feel free to bring your lunch as well. We will meet in the comfortable seating area near the Library stairs. Some basic supplies will be available for those who want to drop in without an ongoing project.
Contact Katelyn Browne (krbrowne@upei.ca) with questions or to express interest in a future meet-up.
To celebrate National Indigenous History Month, here’s a tip for instructors on how to incorporate the concept of talking circles into their classrooms.
Talking Circles Spotlight Teaching Tip Week #1: Begin With Shared Guidelines
Spotlight:
A Talking Circle is a structured, inclusive dialogue format rooted in Indigenous traditions. Participants speak one at a time in a circle, guided by shared respect, presence, and relational accountability.
As part of this month’s focus on Talking Circles, we begin by grounding the practice in shared intention. Talking Circles depend on relational accountability—where each voice matters, and safety is co-created. Starting with a conversation about group values and expectations lays the foundation for respectful, balanced dialogue.
Why it matters:
Shared values and agreements, co-created with students, help establish safety and trust — essential conditions for open dialogue and deeper learning.
Try this:
Start your first Talking Circle with a collaborative discussion of group guidelines. Post them visibly and revisit them when needed.
Reflective question:
What might it feel like to create classroom expectations with students, not for them?
See all the tips and additional resources here - Teaching Tips Spotlight on Teaching Circles in the Classroom.docx
Gather with UPEI colleagues who are actively using AI for teaching and learning activities in their courses for some in-depth discussion about ideas and effective practices on Tuesday June 17 at 12:00 pm, in the TLC, Robertson Library Annex Room 230.
University of Prince Edward Island is hosting the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) 2025 Atlantic Regional Meeting in Charlottetown June 26 to 27. This event will focus on the future of international education through a series of sessions, roundtables and networking activities.
CBIE’s Atlantic Regional Meeting is an annual gathering of international education practitioners. It is an opportunity to share knowledge and resources and keep abreast of immigration and other changes in the sector. It also serves as an annual networking event for international education practitioners and is a precursor to the national conference held each November.
Registration is now open for the CBIE Atlantic Regional Meeting.
Thursday, June 19, 2025, 10:00 am
Kelley Memorial – Second Floor Common Area
Please join us on Thursday, June 19 from 10:00 – 11:30 am at the Kelley Memorial Common Area (second level of the Kelley Memorial building) for a celebration for Monique Geurts, who is retiring after 11 years of dedicated service to UPEI.
Let’s gather to celebrate her remarkable contributions, share memories, and wish her all the best in this next chapter.
There will be cake and warm wishes—hope to see you there!
Title of the Thesis: “Development of a Method to Improve Host Cell Protein Identification in Biotherapeutics Using a Spiked-in Carrier Proteome”
Purification of recombinant protein-based biotherapeutics is monitored for contamination by host cell proteins (HCPs). The current method is the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), which is limited by the inability to identify HCPs individually. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based proteomics methods are desired to identify HCPs in biotherapeutic formulations. However, LCMS-based HCP analysis is hindered by a high background of recombinant protein amidst the HCPs of interest. Isobaric tags such as Tandem Mass Tags (TMT) have recently been used to develop the carrier proteome approach, where an isobaric mass-tagged proteome of interest is spiked into a sample to increase peptide identifications for low abundance proteins of the same proteome.
In this thesis, I investigated whether a TMT labelled carrier proteome could be used to improve the identification of HCPs by LC-MS-based proteomics. To do this, TMT-tagged E. coli peptides as an HCP model were spiked into alternatively labelled recombinant bovine serum albumin (BSA) peptides as a mock therapeutic. While the assay increased the identification of HCPs, co-isolated (isobarically-tagged) peptide ions from BSA interfered with the E. coli detection. To alleviate this, an additional spike-in of TMT-labelled BSA allowed the filtering of spectra with interfering ions from the analysis and confident E. coli peptide detection. The method represents a novel strategy for detecting HCPs in the biotherapeutics industry.
June 17 at 9:00 am in AVC, Room 278
Everyone is welcome to attend.
Every year in June, we recognize the history, achievement, resilience, and diversity of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples across Canada.
The Robertson Library has various resources to explore, and has a special display in its lobby Explore Our highlighting Indigenous voices across Turtle Island.
Visit the UPEI Faculty of Indigenous Knowledge, Education, Research, and Applied Studies web pages.
The Government of Canada's Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada website has additional resources which explore the history, languages, cultures, and experiences of Indigenous Peoples across Canada.
Please join us on June 18 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at the Chaplaincy Centre for a celebration for Inge Dorsey, who is setting off on a new adventure after 18 years of dedicated service to UPEI. The event will be hosted by the instructors of University 1030.
Let’s gather to celebrate her remarkable contributions, share memories, and wish her all the best in this next chapter.
There will be cake and warm wishes—hope to see you there!
Here are a few practical ideas to create a stronger bridge between research and teaching in your field. Check out Beyond the Research-Teaching Divide: Practical Steps for Educators.
Thursday, June 19, 2025, 10:00 am
Kelley Memorial – Second Floor Common Area
Please join us on Thursday, June 19 from 10:00 – 11:30 am at the Kelley Memorial Common Area (second level of the Kelley Memorial building) for a celebration for Monique Geurts, who is retiring after 11 years of dedicated service to UPEI.
Let’s gather to celebrate her remarkable contributions, share memories, and wish her all the best in this next chapter.
There will be cake and warm wishes—hope to see you there!
Title of the Thesis: “Development of a Method to Improve Host Cell Protein Identification in Biotherapeutics Using a Spiked-in Carrier Proteome”
Purification of recombinant protein-based biotherapeutics is monitored for contamination by host cell proteins (HCPs). The current method is the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), which is limited by the inability to identify HCPs individually. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based proteomics methods are desired to identify HCPs in biotherapeutic formulations. However, LCMS-based HCP analysis is hindered by a high background of recombinant protein amidst the HCPs of interest. Isobaric tags such as Tandem Mass Tags (TMT) have recently been used to develop the carrier proteome approach, where an isobaric mass-tagged proteome of interest is spiked into a sample to increase peptide identifications for low abundance proteins of the same proteome.
In this thesis, I investigated whether a TMT labelled carrier proteome could be used to improve the identification of HCPs by LC-MS-based proteomics. To do this, TMT-tagged E. coli peptides as an HCP model were spiked into alternatively labelled recombinant bovine serum albumin (BSA) peptides as a mock therapeutic. While the assay increased the identification of HCPs, co-isolated (isobarically-tagged) peptide ions from BSA interfered with the E. coli detection. To alleviate this, an additional spike-in of TMT-labelled BSA allowed the filtering of spectra with interfering ions from the analysis and confident E. coli peptide detection. The method represents a novel strategy for detecting HCPs in the biotherapeutics industry.
June 17 at 9:00 am in AVC, Room 278
Everyone is welcome to attend.
UPEI Procurement Services is currently taking bids on a used 2011 Dodge Caliber SXT.
Bids are being accepted in the University's e-tendering portal Bonfire until June 19, 2025, at 4:00 pm Atlantic Time. This portal requires you to register by creating a username and password as your UPEI credentials are not connected to this system. When registering for the Bonfire portal, please put your name in the vendor's name and contact name fields. You can access the information about this opportunity at https://upei.bonfirehub.ca/projects/94078/details
If you require assistance, please email tenders@upei.ca
To celebrate National Indigenous History Month, here’s a tip for instructors to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into their classroom.
Teaching Tip #1: Embrace Two-Eyed Seeing (Etuaptmumk)
What it is:
A concept introduced by Mi'kmaq Elders Albert and Murdena Marshall, Two-Eyed Seeing encourages viewing the world through both Indigenous and Western perspectives, integrating the strengths of each.
How to apply it:
- Incorporate Indigenous perspectives alongside Western viewpoints in your course content
- Invite Indigenous Elders or Knowledge Keepers to share their insights with your class
- Encourage students to reflect on how different worldviews can complement each other
Reflective question:
How can integrating both Indigenous and Western perspectives enhance students' understanding of the subject matter?
See all the tips and additional resources here - Indigenous Knowledge in the Classroom Teaching Tips Series.docx
Gather with UPEI colleagues who are actively using AI for teaching and learning activities in their courses for some in-depth discussion about ideas and effective practices on Tuesday June 17 at 12:00 pm, in the TLC, Robertson Library Annex Room 230.
Title of the Thesis: “Development of a Method to Improve Host Cell Protein Identification in Biotherapeutics Using a Spiked-in Carrier Proteome”
Purification of recombinant protein-based biotherapeutics is monitored for contamination by host cell proteins (HCPs). The current method is the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), which is limited by the inability to identify HCPs individually. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based proteomics methods are desired to identify HCPs in biotherapeutic formulations. However, LCMS-based HCP analysis is hindered by a high background of recombinant protein amidst the HCPs of interest. Isobaric tags such as Tandem Mass Tags (TMT) have recently been used to develop the carrier proteome approach, where an isobaric mass-tagged proteome of interest is spiked into a sample to increase peptide identifications for low abundance proteins of the same proteome.
In this thesis, I investigated whether a TMT labelled carrier proteome could be used to improve the identification of HCPs by LC-MS-based proteomics. To do this, TMT-tagged E. coli peptides as an HCP model were spiked into alternatively labelled recombinant bovine serum albumin (BSA) peptides as a mock therapeutic. While the assay increased the identification of HCPs, co-isolated (isobarically-tagged) peptide ions from BSA interfered with the E. coli detection. To alleviate this, an additional spike-in of TMT-labelled BSA allowed the filtering of spectra with interfering ions from the analysis and confident E. coli peptide detection. The method represents a novel strategy for detecting HCPs in the biotherapeutics industry.
June 17 at 9:00 am in AVC, Room 278
Everyone is welcome to attend.
To recognize National Indigenous Peoples Day here on campus, IKERAS and the Advisor to the Vice-President Academic and Research on Indigenous Affairs invite you to a lunch and learn on Friday June 20 for an anonymous Q&A from noon to 1pm in the Quad by the TIPI. Enter your question in the box and we will take the time to answer questions you may have been afraid to ask, this is a time to learn! Please bring your lunch and we will provide blueberry cake for dessert! (if rain, it will be held in the foyer of Kelley Memorial Building)
June 21—the summer solstice—is designated as National Indigenous Peoples Day, “a day for all Canadians to recognize and celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures, and outstanding contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples…For generations, many Indigenous peoples and communities have celebrated their culture and heritage on or near this day due to the significance of the summer solstice as the longest day of the year.” (Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada).
In Epekwitk on June 21, the Native Council of PEI invites the Indigenous and broader community to its annual celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day at Confederation Landing Park in Charlottetown, beginning at 11:00 am.
