Students, faculty, and staff are invited to participate in town hall meetings on academic planning hosted by the Curriculum Planning Committee (CPC) on April 17 from 1:00-2:30 in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium (room 242), Don and Marion McDougall Hall. The meetings will focus on the draft program evaluation instrument, guiding principles and proposed planning process developed by the CPC. We need to hear your ideas on the best path for UPEI to achieve a well structured academic plan.

The Faculty Development Office in conjunction with the Vice-President Academic is pleased to host one of Canada’s most sought-after campus presenters, Ken Steele, on Thursday, May 1, 2014. A public presentation will be held from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon in the Don and Marion McDougall Hall's Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium, room 242. Workshops will be held in the afternoon of May 1 for UPEI staff and faculty only. If you are interested in the workshop portion of the event, you will need to RSVP as soon as possible to the Faculty Development Office (fdo@upei.ca or 620-5217). "Ken Steele has become Canada’s most sought-after campus presenter because he continually synthesizes breaking news, research, data and trends, and delivers ever-changing, fast-paced, dynamic presentations incorporating rich media, great humour, and insights specific to the audience and institution. Ken engages a broad range of campus stakeholders with his unique and comprehensive perspective on higher education – as former academic, entrepreneur, co-founder of Academica Group, editor of Canada’s leading PSE news daily, and consultant to a hundred institutions across the country." VISIT: http://eduvation.ca

Krishna Raghavan will present his Master of Arts - Island Studies thesis defence on Tuesday, April 22 at 12:30 pm in Dalton Hall, room 409. The thesis title is: "Evaluating Renewable Energy Options for Small Islands using Emergy Methodology: Case Study of Coconut Biodiesel in the Fiji Islands". Since space is limited in this room, if you wish to attend please contact Dr. Jim Randall, Coordinator of the MA Island Studies program, at 620-5013 or jarandall@upei.ca.

A Good Friday Service will be held at the Chaplaincy Centre at 2:00 pm on Friday, April 18.

Emily Thomas will present her Master of Arts - Island Studies thesis defence on Monday, April 28th at 8:45am in Dalton Hall, room 409. The thesis title is: "Sustaining Island Fishing Communities: Policy and Management in Practice in Maine and Newfoundland". Since space is limited in this room, if you wish to attend please contact Dr. Jim Randall, Coordinator of the MA Island Studies program, at 620-5013 or jarandall@upei.ca.

The departments of Chemistry, Physics, and Engineering are pleased to host a one-day science, engineering, math, and technology camp for girls in grades 7-9 at UPEI on May 2 from 9:30am-4:30pm. Participants will be exposed to hands-on science activities and careers so that they can make informed decisions about subject choices in later school years. Girls will participate in an international community development engineering project, practice programming skills, build a solar panel, and perform chemical experiments. They will also meet female role models who are working in the science, engineering, and technology fields. The event is coordinated by WISE Atlantic, IslandWISE (Women in Science and Engineering), Engineers PEI, and ITAP (Innovation Technology Association of PEI).

Join the International Relations Office for a reception in recognition of our 2014 International Student Graduates on Thursday, May 8 from 3:00-4:30 pm in the McCain Foundation Learning Commons at AVC. Light refreshments will be provided. If you wish to attend, please RSVP to Erin Clarke at eeclarke@upei.ca by Friday, May 2.

The future of the Island’s water supply will be the subject of an upcoming public symposium at the University of Prince Edward Island. In light of recent concern about increased pressure on our groundwater resources by urban, industrial, and agricultural use, this event is a timely one. Island Water Futures: Assessing the Science will take place in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium, Room 242 of UPEI’s McDougall Hall, beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20. The symposium is sponsored by the Institute of Island Studies in conjunction with UPEI Research Services. This is a public-forum event with presentations by three speakers: Dr. Ryan O’Connor, Dr. Cathy Ryan, and Dr. Michael van den Heuvel. Dr. O’Connor, a graduate of UPEI, is an environmental historian. His PhD thesis, written at the University of Western Ontario, will be published this year by UBC Press under the title The First Green Wave. His talk will provide a general overview of research done so far relating to the Island’s groundwater resources; he will review the various scientific papers, reports, and theses produced about the Island’s water supply. Dr. Ryan is a professor cross-appointed to Geoscience and Environmental Sciences at the University of Calgary with a long interest in agricultural impacts on water quality. She leads a team of hydrogeologists working with agricultural scientists to understand groundwater in the fractured sandstone on Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia as part of the Canadian Water Network’s Secure Source Water Network. Dr. van den Heuvel is the Canada Research Chair in Watershed Ecological Integrity at UPEI. He studies the effects of agriculture and chemical use on freshwater and coastal environments. His focus is the endocrine responses, immunotoxicology, and population health of fish. He is working to develop methods and solutions to best monitor environmental problems and better protect rivers in Prince Edward Island. The symposium will be chaired by Diane Griffin, long-time councillor for the Town of Stratford and a former deputy minister of the provincial Department of the Environment. Last year, Dr. Griffin was awarded an honorary doctorate by UPEI. Members of the public are cordially invited to attend this symposium. Admission is free. Following the three presentations, there will be ample time for discussion and questions from the floor.

PEI history comes to life in this first ever PEI weather trivia calendar of 365 stories about Prince Edward Island weather and its impact on Islanders’ everyday life. This calendar brings stories from North Cape to East Point, West Point to Murray Head – and all points in-between over the past 150 years. It features: PEI weather trivia for every day of the year Twelve beautiful full-colour PEI weather photographs Stories of Prince Edward Island as told by our weather Information about tornadoes on Prince Edward Island: their frequency, location and intensity Stories of memorable PEI snowstorms from the past seven decades Maritime Electric workers reminiscences about severe weather Historical PEI weather stories from Samuel Holland (1765), the War of 1812, the Yankee Gale (1851) and the Ice Boats (1855) As examples, did you know these interesting PEI weather stories? Unable to land at Charlottetown Airport due to thick fog in 1943, an RCAF bomber dropped depth charges (bombs) on Mount Edward Road to save fuel. Earl Jay’s pigs swam down the street in Mount Stewart after the Kennedy Inaugural Storm of 1961 flooded their barn. PEI was deprived of a Harvard-trained doctor who died of exhaustion and exposure when caught in a snowstorm for days taking the ice boats across the Northumberland Strait in 1855. “Stormy Michael David Kennedy” was born in Freetown in 1992 during a severe snowstorm that required a trip to the hospital behind snow plows. A tornado in the Albany area in 1935 sent a 12-year-old boy airborne while holding three chickens. The boy landed safely still holding his three chickens. The worst railway accident on PEI, which killed four men, occurred during a heavy snowstorm in 1932 when Train #33 ran into Train #211 which was stalled in a four metre snow pile at Handrahan’s Cutting near Tignish. The official release of the 2015 PEI Weather Trivia Calendar will be a public event held on May 20 from 7-9pm at the Carriage House behind Beaconsfield Historic House, 2 Kent Street, Charlottetown. A light lunch will be offered. Registration required by visiting our website at upei.ca/climate or by calling 620-5221.

The UPEI Student Union cordially staff and faculty to the UPEI Student Union Year End Reception and welcome of incoming Student Union executives. The event will take place on Friday, May 2, 12:00-1:00 pm in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre, Credit Union Day Lounge. To attend, please RSVP by Wednesday, April 30 at the Student Union office by calling 566-0530 or admin@upeisu.ca.