Title of the Thesis: “A Comparison of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Related to Nutrition and Food Safety Between Primary School Students Receiving a Practical Agri-Nutrition Education Program and the Grade 5 Agriculture and Nutrition Competency-Based Curriculum in Meru County, Kenya”

Abstract: Micronutrient malnutrition remains a major public health challenge among school-age children in Kenya, driven by poor dietary diversity, food insecurity, and unsafe food practices. This study evaluates a Practical Agri-Nutrition Education (PANE) program implemented among Grade 5 students to improve nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). Using a quasi-experimental pre-post design, outcomes were compared between students receiving PANE (n=43) and those following the national Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) (n=55). Data were collected using structured KAP questionnaires, and Chi-square tests were used for data analysis. Post-intervention, PANE participants demonstrated significantly improved knowledge, more positive attitudes toward recommended practices, and reported fewer barriers to adopting them than the comparison group. Findings suggest that PANE improved knowledge and attitudes but did not translate into improved practices within the short study period. Since the PANE was found to enhance the CBC curriculum, our findings support integrating PANE into the CBC curriculum, with longer-duration interventions and teacher involvement.

April 23, 2026, 8:30 am in Health Sciences Building, Room 323

EVERYONE IS WELCOME

The Master of Arts in Island Studies program invites you to a thesis defence by Laurie Rayner Langford entitled “FOXMAN: The story of B.I. Rayner as told by eight women.” Please join in person or on Teams (email brinklow@upei.ca for the Teams link). Everyone is welcome!

April 24, 10:00 am, Memorial Building Room 104

The Master of Arts in Island Studies program invites you to a thesis defence by Em Coates entitled “Now I know my ABC(D)s: Lessons in island sustainability via asset-based community development (ABCD) and autoethnography in community-based research on the Port au Port Peninsula, Newfoundland, Canada.” Please join in person or on Teams (email brinklow@upei.ca for the Teams link). Everyone is welcome!

April 23, 10:00 am, Memorial Building Room 104

The UPEI Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is updating the Access to Information and Protection of Personal Information and Privacy Policy and would like input from the campus community. Your feedback is important in helping us ensure that our practices reflect the needs, expectations, and concerns of everyone on campus. Please share your thoughts by completing this short survey —your input will help to inform the final policy updates.

Any questions related to the survey or the policy update can be directed to accessprivacy@upei.ca. The ATIP Office thanks you for your valuable input.

Red Dress Day is a National Day of Awareness and Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Gender Diverse Peoples (MMIWG2S) that takes place on May 5. 

MMIWG2S is an ongoing human rights crisis of gender-based and racialized violence in Canada. Indigenous women’s groups estimate that more than 4,000 Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse people have gone missing or been murdered in Canada since 1980. This violence is a result of past and ongoing systems of oppression and harm including colonization, racism, misogyny, transphobia, and anti-Indigeneity. 

In 2010, in response to this crisis, Métis artist Jaime Black-Morsette created the REDress Project, an art installation featuring red dresses hung in public spaces to symbolize the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse people across this territory. Her art installation was the inspiration for Red Dress Day in Canada.

The UPEI Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) encourages the campus community to join them in honouring Red Dress Day:  

• Display a red dress or a red dress flyer in your department or office until May 5 (You can access a Red Dress flyer here: https://tinyurl.com/33kz2r8k  If you do not have access to a colour printer, Kelly at SVPRO can send copies by interoffice mail: 902-620-5428 or sv-pro@upei.ca)
• Educate yourself on MMIWG2S (You can access the final report of the National Inquiry here: www.mmiwg-ffada.ca and Safe Passage here: www.safe-passage.ca)
• Wear red on May 5
• Take part in local vigils, walks, or events (watch for news from the Aboriginal Women’s Association of PEI, L’Nuey, Mi’kmaq Confederacy of PEI, and the Native Council of PEI)
• Speak up about MMIWG2S on social media using hashtags #MMIWG2S, #RedDressDay, and #WhyWeWearRed 

There is 24-hour support available for Indigenous, Inuit, or Métis individuals impacted by this crisis at 1-844-413-6649. Any UPEI Campus Member impacted by sexual violence can access confidential, trauma-informed support at the UPEI Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO), Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:00pm: 902-620-5090 or sv-pro@upei.ca . SVPRO is located at the Kelley Memorial Building, Room 115-118. 

The Faculty of Education would like to invite all to attend Bukola Kehinde's public presentation of her MEd research titled: "Teaching and Learning Science in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence" 

Please join us on April 23 at 9:00 am, in person at Memorial Hall, Room 417 or through Teams: see the link below:

Bukola Kehinde - Thesis Dissertation Exam | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

Welcome to the following new employees who joined the University of Prince Edward Island community in March 2026:

• Kazi Raisha Inshad Anwar, Human Resources
• Ryan Blair, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Atlantic Veterinary College
• Megan Douthwright, Faculty of Nursing
• Aimee Dow, Faculty of Nursing
• Heidi Duchesne, Ancillary Services
• Andrea Hanlan, Faculty of Nursing
• Leah Kristufek, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
• Julia Larkin, Applied Human Sciences, Faculty of Science
• Emma MacLean, Office of the Associate Vice-President, Students
• Melissa Markovich, Faculty of Nursing
• Zhouwei Miao, Faculty of Nursing
• Katelyn Ostridge, Faculty of Nursing
• Ashley Powell, Diagnostic Services, Atlantic Veterinary College
• Shaylyn Uchtenhagen, Faculty of Nursing
• Cecilia Walsh-Gallison, Faculty of Nursing
• Michelle Young, Faculty of Nursing

We are excited to have you join the UPEI team!

Earth Day Event – Exploring Biochar as a Sustainable Solution

You’re invited to join us this Earth Day for a public presentation exploring the potential of biochar as a more sustainable alternative to traditional fertilizers.

This 4th year capstone project for the Bachelor of Environmental Studies, developed in collaboration with IonGlobal and NSCAR, looks at how biochar, including applications using human biosolids, could improve soil health, reduce environmental impacts, and contribute to more sustainable agricultural practices. We’ll be sharing our findings, discussing feasibility, and opening up the conversation to broader environmental and community perspectives.

April 22, 7:00 PM, Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 242

This event is open to everyone, and we welcome students, faculty, community members, and anyone interested in sustainability or environmental innovation.

A live stream will also be available for those who can’t attend in person. If you’d like access to the stream, feel free to reach out.

If you have any questions or would like the link to join online, please contact Evan eaherbert@upei.ca or Reece rrpackman@upei.ca

Hosted by Evan, Max, and Reece in partnership with IonGlobal and North Shore Climate Action and Resilience (NSCAR).

We look forward to seeing you there!

Title of the Thesis “Modeling Groundwater Dynamics Under Anthropogenic and Climatic Changes for Prince Edward Island, Canada”

This thesis investigates how groundwater in Prince Edward Island (PEI) is being affected by climate change and growing water demand. Because PEI relies almost entirely on groundwater for drinking water, understanding these pressures is essential for future water security. The research includes a review of groundwater monitoring, mapping, and modeling, examines the sustainability of Charlottetown’s municipal groundwater abstraction, evaluates saltwater intrusion in Summerside, and presents an island-wide groundwater flow model to assess groundwater and baseflow responses under changing conditions. Overall, this work identifies key risks and supports more informed and sustainable groundwater management in PEI.

April 21, 2026, 1:00pm via Web Conferencing

If you wish to attend the public presentation, please contact the Graduate Studies Coordinator at gsc@upei.ca to receive the link.

EVERYONE IS WELCOME

The Department of History invites members of the campus community to attend the upcoming tenure-track faculty candidate presentation.

Dr. Grace McNutt will present "Women on the Water: The Feminine Seascape Onboard Nova Scotia’s Nineteenth Century Deepwater Merchant Sailing Vessels" on Wednesday, April 22, from 1:30–3:00 PM in SDU Main Building, Room 213.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Convocation is almost here! All faculty members are invited to participate in the Academic Procession for each Convocation ceremony. 

May 12—Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Faculty of Nursing
May 13—Faculty of Business and Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
May 14—Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Education, and Faculty of Graduate Studies
May 15—Faculty of Science

Faculty members who have regalia and wish to participate are asked to RSVP via this form to confirm which ceremony they will be attending. Faculty members will line up with the graduates in the Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering building concourse 45 minutes before each ceremony.  

For those faculty members who would like to order regalia online through UPEI’s official gown supplier, GradCo, they are encouraged to do so ASAP at http://gradco.ca/upei. The deadline for ordering is Wednesday, April 22, at 11:59 pm. 

Any faculty members who wish to purchase their regalia may contact GradCo at info@gradco.ca for information. 

Title of the Thesis: “A Comparison of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Related to Nutrition and Food Safety Between Primary School Students Receiving a Practical Agri-Nutrition Education Program and the Grade 5 Agriculture and Nutrition Competency-Based Curriculum in Meru County, Kenya”

Abstract: Micronutrient malnutrition remains a major public health challenge among school-age children in Kenya, driven by poor dietary diversity, food insecurity, and unsafe food practices. This study evaluates a Practical Agri-Nutrition Education (PANE) program implemented among Grade 5 students to improve nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). Using a quasi-experimental pre-post design, outcomes were compared between students receiving PANE (n=43) and those following the national Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) (n=55). Data were collected using structured KAP questionnaires, and Chi-square tests were used for data analysis. Post-intervention, PANE participants demonstrated significantly improved knowledge, more positive attitudes toward recommended practices, and reported fewer barriers to adopting them than the comparison group. Findings suggest that PANE improved knowledge and attitudes but did not translate into improved practices within the short study period. Since the PANE was found to enhance the CBC curriculum, our findings support integrating PANE into the CBC curriculum, with longer-duration interventions and teacher involvement.

April 23, 2026, 8:30 am in Health Sciences Building, Room 323

EVERYONE IS WELCOME

Title of the Thesis: "Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Oyster Aquaculture: A Case Study in PEI"

In recent years, climate change and its hazards have had severe effects on the culture of oyster in coastal communities, especially in Prince Edward Island. The oyster industry is vital to PEI's economy; however it is severely threatened by climate change and it induced hazards such as storms which leads to losses in terms of infrastructure, mortalities of oysters and financial losses for farmers. Therefore, this study uses a systematic approach to investigate and assess the effects of climate change on oyster aquaculture. This research also employs a methodology to investigate historical environmental conditions affecting oyster production in PEI. The results shows that climate change is influencing oceanic environmental factors such as water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and primary productivity in PEI. Furthermore, the study also investigated future climate scenario using downscaled data sets of CMIP6 under SSP1- 2.6, SSP2- 4.6, and SSP5- 8.5. The results shows that oyster production in PEI is likely to decline under these socio-economic pathways.

April 22, 2026, 9:00am via Web Conference

If you wish to attend the public presentation, please contact the Graduate Studies Coordinator at gsc@upei.ca to receive the link.

The UPEI Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is updating the Access to Information and Protection of Personal Information and Privacy Policy and would like input from the campus community. Your feedback is important in helping us ensure that our practices reflect the needs, expectations, and concerns of everyone on campus. Please share your thoughts by completing this short survey —your input will help to inform the final policy updates.

Any questions related to the survey or the policy update can be directed to accessprivacy@upei.ca. The ATIP Office thanks you for your valuable input.

The Island Lecture Series presents a talk by Andrew Halliday, “Borders, Boundaries and Jurisdictional Islanding: Placemaking in Atlantic Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The lecture will be held on April 21, 2026, at 7 pm, in the Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building Room 201, University of Prince Edward Island. 

The interdisciplinary field of Island Studies continues to reflect upon island understandings. This lecture will explore placemaking that occurred on a regional level in Atlantic Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, through the creation of the Atlantic Bubble in the summer of 2020. New conceptual island constructs of “covid-islands” and “covid-archipelagos” are introduced as frames of inquiry and explained as policy constructs which occurred at both micro and macro levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Covid-islands” and “covid-archipelagos” are defined by their relativity to other places, their spatial and temporal aspects, their social construction and the permeability and interaction with their borders and defined boundaries.

Andrew Halliday is a cross-appointed graduate faculty member in the Island Studies and Cleantech Leadership and Transformation interdisciplinary graduate programs at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada. He is an interdisciplinary scholar with an academic and public service background across various domains under the broad umbrella of political science. He has extensive government experience at the provincial level with the Government of P.E.I. and the Government of Alberta and nationally with the Government of Canada. He is a member of the International Small Islands Studies Association, the Small Islands Cultural Research Initiative, and the International Geographical Union’s Commission on Islands.

The lecture is free, and all are welcome. For more information, contact Bren Simmers at 902-566-0386 or ispstaff@upei.ca.

The Faculty of Education would like to invite all to attend Bukola Kehinde's public presentation of her MEd research titled: "Teaching and Learning Science in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence" 

Please join us on April 23 at 9:00 am, in person at Memorial Hall, Room 417 or through Teams: see the link below:

Bukola Kehinde - Thesis Dissertation Exam | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

The Faculty of Education invites all to attend the public presentation of Elizabeth Blake's PhD Dissertation Defense, Chair(s), Child, Cut(s): A Diffractive Exploration of How Agential Realism Makes—and Unmakes—Distributed Inclusion Across Summer Camp Encounters.

Please join us in person on April 22 at 1:00 pm, Memorial Hall, Room 417 or on Teams: E. Blake PhD Dissertation Defense | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

Moodle is UPEI's online course space. This session will provide an introduction to the basics of using Moodle: sending course announcements; organizing your course page; creating some online activities. This session will be hosted synchronously online on April 22 from 1:30pm to 2:30pm. Please register to get an invite to the session. 

Title of the Thesis “Modeling Groundwater Dynamics Under Anthropogenic and Climatic Changes for Prince Edward Island, Canada”

This thesis investigates how groundwater in Prince Edward Island (PEI) is being affected by climate change and growing water demand. Because PEI relies almost entirely on groundwater for drinking water, understanding these pressures is essential for future water security. The research includes a review of groundwater monitoring, mapping, and modeling, examines the sustainability of Charlottetown’s municipal groundwater abstraction, evaluates saltwater intrusion in Summerside, and presents an island-wide groundwater flow model to assess groundwater and baseflow responses under changing conditions. Overall, this work identifies key risks and supports more informed and sustainable groundwater management in PEI.

April 21, 2026, 1:00pm via Web Conferencing

If you wish to attend the public presentation, please contact the Graduate Studies Coordinator at gsc@upei.ca to receive the link.

EVERYONE IS WELCOME

The Department of History invites members of the campus community to attend the upcoming tenure-track faculty candidate presentation.

Dr. Grace McNutt will present "Women on the Water: The Feminine Seascape Onboard Nova Scotia’s Nineteenth Century Deepwater Merchant Sailing Vessels" on Wednesday, April 22, from 1:30–3:00 PM in SDU Main Building, Room 213.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend.