Margangu Njogu, Executive Director of Windle Trust Kenya, will give a public presentation about refugee issues and the challenges of providing education in refugee camps on Monday, June 15, from 10:30 a.m. to noon in Memorial Hall, Room 417, at UPEI.

Njogu's presentation is co-hosted by the Faculty of Education and WUSC UPEI to mark World Refugee Day on June 20. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that of the 34.2 million people that fall under its mandate, over 11.4 million are refugees.

Windle Trust Kenya is a non-profit organization that provides education and training for refugees and displaced people from the Eastern and Horn of Africa. The Trust operates educational programs in the Da'daab and Kakuma refugee camps in northern Kenya. Kakuma Refugee Camp is home to 90,000 refugees from 10 eastern and central African countries, including The Sudan. The Da'daab Refugee Camp houses over 150,000 refugees from Somalia, Burundi, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda.

The Trust is an important local partner in WUSC's student refugee program, and Njogu serves on WUSC's national board. He has also held various positions with CARE Kenya and the Kenya Institute of Special Education. A graduate of the University of Manchester, he also served as a teacher in regular and special schools in Kenya. He was recently awarded an honourary degree from the University of Guelph. Information about the Windle Trust can be found at www.windle.org.

WUSC has sponsored 1,000 refugee students at Canadian university and colleges through its student refugee program. In the past 25 years, WUSC UPEI has sponsored 17 refugee students from eight countries. Currently, three sponsored students are enrolled at UPEI, and two more are expected to attend the university this fall. For more information about WUSC, visit www.wusc.ca

The Faculty of Education is committed to education for social development. Through its innovative international education specialization, second-year education students can complete their final practicum in a number of different countries, including Kenya.

For information about the presentation, please contact Leo Cheverie at lcheverie@upei.ca or the Faculty of Education at (902) 566-0349.

Herménégilde Chiasson, the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, will give a reading and talk at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery on Tuesday, June 23, at 7 p.m. A reception will follow. His reading is sponsored by the Art Gallery and the UPEI English Department. Admission is free.

Born in St-Simon, New Brunswick, Chiasson was educated at the Université de Moncton, Mount Allison University, the State University of New York and the University of Paris (Sorbonne). At the time of his appointment as Lieutenant-Governor, he was, and remains, a professor of the history of art and cinema at the Université de Moncton.

Chiasson's prodigious contributions to Acadian, New Brunswick and Canadian culture are profoundly influential, especially in the realms of theatre, literature and the visual arts. A celebrated playwright, poet, director, curator, researcher and journalist, he has written over 20 plays and directed many others, authored numerous books and countless articles, and participated in over 100 exhibitions.

His Honour worked for Radio-Canada from 1968 to 1985. He was director of Galerie d'art de l'Université de Moncton, founding president of Editions Perce-Neige, president of Galerie Sans Nom, a founding member of the Aberdeen Co-operative Cultural Centre and the Imago print workshop, founding president of Productions du Phare-Est and president of the Association acadienne des artistes professionnels et professionelles du Nouveau-Brunswick.

His awards include the Governor General's Award for Poetry, the Prix France-Acadie, the prestigious Chevalier de l'Ordre français des Arts et Lettres, l'Ordre des francophones d'Amérique, the Grand Prix de la francophonie canadienne, the Prix quinquennal Antonine-Maillet-Acadie Vie.

Chiasson's presentation is an opportunity to hear and meet one of Canada's great artists and citizens, and one of the region's distinguished treasures.

Roxanne Laughlin, a Foods and Nutrition honours student in the UPEI Faculty of Science, has won a national award for her passion and commitment to research. The Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research presented her with the Morgan medal during the Dietitians of Canada national conference in Charlottetown.

Roxanne has been exploring the possible health benefits of eating cranberries. Cranberries are an important dietary source of polyphenols, or antioxidants, and researchers in the Bioactives Research Interdisciplinary Opportunities (BRIO) lab at UPEI are studying whether cranberry added to the diet can reduce the effects cardiovascular disease or strokes.

Supervised by Dr. Kathy Gottschall-Pass, Roxanne worked with a strain of rats that have a genetic predisposition for cardiovascular disease and obesity. She examined their antioxidant levels after feeding them diets that included various levels of cholesterol and cranberry. Her work has added important information to the BRIO team's overall findings about the role of cranberries and other fruits and vegetables in preventing or reducing the occurrence of chronic diseases.

Roxanne won an Undergraduate Summer Research Award for this work from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council last summer. She says this valuable first-hand experience as a researcher has brought nutrition, biology and biochemistry truly alive for her.

'I now understand, in a more concrete way than ever before, just how clearly diet affects the body and, ultimately, health,' she says.

Roxanne is entering her fourth year of her Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Foods and Nutrition. She is originally from Toronto but now makes her home in Stratford, PEI.

Photo: Roxanne Laughlin and Dr. Kathy Gottschall-Pass

The Reverend Denis Grecco, of Fredericton, New Brunswick, has been selected as the SDU Visiting Scholar for the Catholic Studies program at the University of Prince Edward Island for the next two years.

Father Grecco's appointment is part of a four-year investment in UPEI's Catholic Studies program by the Board of Governors of St. Dunstan's University (SDU). The SDU Board of Governors will provide up to $100,000 per year to support the program for the academic years 2009 through 2013, including the creation of an ongoing two-year position for an SDU Visiting Scholar of Catholic Studies.

As the SDU Visiting Scholar of Catholic Studies, Father Greeco will be based at the university's Centre for Christianity and Culture, a research and study centre focusing on Christianity's impact and perspective on the intellectual and cultural life of Western civilization. The Centre coordinates various academic and community initiatives, including a minor degree in Catholic Studies; a Christianity and Culture minor; lectures, public discussions, and conferences on ethics, politics and current events.

Prior to accepting his appointment as Visiting Catholic Studies Scholar at UPEI, Father Grecco was a visiting assistant professor in the Catholic Studies program at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick. In 2007 he received the St. Thomas University Students' Union 'Dr. Sheila Andrew Award for Excellence in Teaching' for outstanding commitment to students. He holds a PhD from the University of St. Michael College in Toronto and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from Regis College, also in Toronto. His research interests lie in modern Christian theology, with a particular focus on Christian doctrine and historical theology. He has developed and taught several university-level Catholic studies courses, worked as a parish priest, and organized lecture series and outreach activities for priests and parishioners.

Mike Campbell, chair of the St. Dunstan's University Board of Governors, expressed the Board's pleasure in the appointment.

'We look forward to Father Grecco, continuing the recent work by distinguished Professor Peter Erb in making available to Catholics and to the Island community at large the rich traditions of the Catholic faith with emphasis on Catholic moral and social teachings.'

One of the University of Prince Edward Island's two founding institutions, SDU has a longstanding commitment to enable PEI students to explore Catholic beliefs and teachings within a rigorous academic environment. Although St. Dunstan's University closed its campus in 1969, the SDU Board of Governors continues to foster a culture of spiritually and intellectually informed Catholic citizens who live their faith in the wider society with integrity, compassion, and understanding.

Researchers and educators from Canada and the United States who are interested in the use of multimedia in education in a cultural context will be on the University of Prince Edward Island campus from June 25 to 27 to take part in a conference called 'Harnessing Images, Text and Sound for Education in the Context of Culture, Multimedia, Technology and Cognition' (HITS for Education: CMTC).

Participants will share ideas, information, and methods on the uses of audio-visual and text-based technology. By the end of the conference, they aim to have developed a set of guidelines and best practices that will assist others to make appropriate choices in this rapidly growing educational field.

'Electronic multimedia technology provides an abundance of choices for educators,' says UPEI psychology professor Dr. Annabel Cohen, co-chair of the conference with Dr. Udo Krautwurst, Department of Sociology. 'Their choices however are based, very often, on intuition and familiarity rather than on empirically or theoretically based guidelines.'

The keynote speakers are Ichiro Fujinaga and Ellen Rose. Dr. Fujinaga is an Associate Professor in Music Technology at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. The title of his presentation is 'Distributed digital music libraries: If you can do music you can do anything.' Dr. Ellen Rose holds the McCain-Aliant Telecom Professorship in Multimedia and Instructional Design at the University of New Brunswick. She will address the topic 'Multimedia learning in this age of interruption.'

The conference will feature more than 20 presentations addressing education from the perspective of four interconnected areas: culture, multimedia, technology, and cognition. It takes place in McDougall Hall, UPEI and is open to interested professionals or laypersons interested in the role of electronic media in education. Registration for the entire event costs $200, including meals. The student and part-time faculty rate is $75. More information is available at http://vre.upei.ca/cmtc or by contacting Maria Powell at (902) 566-6023 or mpowell@upei.ca. UPEI student volunteers are also welcome to assist and attend.

The conference is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and arose through a tri-university collaboration funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation led by the University of Prince Edward Island, partnering with the University of New Brunswick and l'Université de Moncton.

UPEI faculty members were recently recognized for teaching and research achievements at a reception and awards banquet sponsored by the UPEI Faculty Association and the Office of the President.

Dr. Pedro Quijon, Department of Biology, and Dr. Catherine Innes-Parker, Department of English, won the Hessian Awards for Excellence in Teaching. UPEI Merit Awards for Scholarly Achievement went to Dr. Henry Srebrnik, Political Studies; Dr. Debbie MacLellan, Family and Nutritional Sciences; and Dr. Larry Hammell, Atlantic Veterinary College.

The Hessian Award is given to a faculty member who has shown outstanding competence in teaching, and the Merit Awards for Scholarly Achievement to faculty members who have made significant and continuing contributions to scholarly research.

In the almost four years that Quijon has been at UPEI, he has established a reputation among biology students as a rigorous, demanding professor who sets high standards. He has also developed a strong reputation for motivating his students to learn and to succeed, giving them the tools and the confidence to accomplish their goals. He teaches a variety of courses in marine biology at both the undergraduate and graduate level; he frequently integrates the results of his own research into the student learning experience in the classroom and the field.

Innes-Parker infuses her teaching with her research and uses creative ways to engage her students in her medieval English literature and thought courses--from Chaucerian pilgrimages to the construction of medieval manuscript books, from mock trials to the creation of learning communities. She presents frequently at conferences on issues of teaching and learning and is a leader in advancing the teaching of medievalism. This fall, she will guide students through the intersections of literature, art, and religious thought in a team-taught integrated program of study at Memorial University's Harlow campus in Essex.

Srebrnik is widely known as an expert on nationalism and small islands. He has published numerous articles in refereed scholarly journals and chapters in edited volumes. His scholarship has been cited in at least 101 book chapters, journal articles and book reviews; 57 books; 12 theses; and numerous working and unpublished papers. He is a frequent contributor to 30 newspapers including the Guardian, Globe and Mail, National Post and Washington Post. His most recent publication is a book named 'Jerusalem on the Amur: Birobidzhan and the Canadian Jewish Communist Movement, 1924-1951.'

MacLellan currently holds just under $1 million in research funding, and has published widely, including 14 refereed manuscripts and 14 abstracts or conference presentations in the last five years. She has supervised or co-supervised five MSc graduate and three BSc honours undergraduate students. Since 2004 she has been co-principal investigator for the Masters of Applied Health Services Research (MAHSR) program, a joint degree program involving UPEI, Dalhousie, University of New Brunswick and Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is also director of the Integrated Dietetic Internship Program in the Faculty of Science.

An internationally recognized aquatic epidemiologist, Hammell teaches in AVC's Department of Health Management. Since 2003, he has served as director of the AVC Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences. His accumulated research funding of over $10 million, impact on the aquaculture industry and international recognition have grown tremendously in the past six years, winning him the Pfizer Award for Research Excellence, AVC, in 2006. He has published more than 28 refereed manuscripts, nine peer-reviewed special publications or proceedings, and 37 non-reviewed conference proceedings and abstracts. He has co-supervised two MSc and seven PhD students.

Members of the public are invited to attend a free concert on Sunday, June 28, from 8 to 9:30 p.m. in the Steel Recital Hall at UPEI.

The concert is part of an international workshop being held at UPEI from June 27 to 30 for a multi-faceted research project called Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing (AIRS). Led by UPEI's Dr. Annabel Cohen, a pioneer in the growing field of music psychology, AIRS will focus on exploring the development of singing ability, the connections between singing and learning and the enhancement of health and well-being through singing.

The line-up at the concert will include AIRS researchers who are professional vocalists like tenor Darryl Edwards, University of Toronto; soprano Sung-Ha Shin-Bouey, UPEI; and soprano Simone Falk, of Germany.

Neuroscience researchers Laurel Trainor and David Gerry, both from McMaster University, will perform two of Faure's vocal duets on flute, with pianist Rena Sharon from the University of British Columbia. Accompanied by Island pianist Jacqueline Sorensen, Cohen will sing Mozart and Gershwin.

As well, some AIRS researchers will share folk songs and children's songs from their own oral tradition. These include Helga Rut Guðmundsdóttir, of Iceland, and well-known P.E.I. singer Teresa Doyle.

During the seven-year AIRS project, more than 70 researchers from across Canada and many countries around the world will contribute to, and share knowledge and expertise about, numerous fields of study, including social psychology, musicology, education and medicine. They will present and develop their work audiovisually, using a digital library and virtual research environment (VRE) already established at UPEI.

The AIRS project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) and Veterans Affairs Canada are building a team of experts to study a growing problem: the reintegration into the workplace of Veterans with mental health conditions. With the help of an $80,000 catalyst grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Dr. David Pedlar, UPEI Adjunct Professor and Director of Research, Veterans Affairs Canada, will lead the team toward the development of longer term studies.

"The successful CIHR application is an exciting opportunity to build new knowledge to support successful military to civilian transition and workplace reintegration for Veterans with mental health conditions,' says Dr. Pedlar. 'The research will benefit all Canadians as there is insufficient knowledge on how to successfully reintegrate persons with mental health conditions to the workplace."

UPEI's catalyst grant from CIHR will allow Dr. Pedlar to build a pan-Canadian team of experts which includes epidemiologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, academics, physicians and nurses.

According to Dr. Pedlar, this is not just a Canadian problem. Mental health conditions are often associated with early discharge from the military and reintegration into the civilian workplace is difficult for many Veterans in Canada, Britain and the United States.

'This research project has the potential to influence policy, and to enhance successful reintegration of Veterans into civilian life,' says Katherine Schultz, UPEI's Vice President of Research and Development. 'This is an exciting team working toward a significant and socially important goal. I'm proud UPEI is able to build on its relationship with Veterans Affairs Canada to do this.'

'Veterans with mental health conditions face unique needs and challenges when transitioning from the military to civilian life,' says Suzanne Tining, Deputy Minister, Veterans Affairs Canada. 'The findings from this research will help in the ongoing evaluation of our programs and services.'

The CIHR grant is for one year, and will be administered by UPEI.

On July 1, during a special Convocation in Iqaluit, 21 Inuit educational leaders from across Nunavut will graduate with a Master of Education degree from the University of Prince Edward Island.

The Master of Education in Leadership in Learning is the first graduate degree program to be offered in Nunavut. Most of the graduates are mature students who are already working as educators in their communities. They studied part-time over three years through face-to-face courses in Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet combined with on-line learning.

The specially tailored curriculum balanced western and Inuit knowledge of education and educational leadership. It was developed and delivered through a unique partnership between the University of Prince Edward Island, Nunavut Department of Education, Nunavut Arctic College, and St. Francis Xavier University.

"This is a great achievement for UPEI and our Faculty of Education, in combination with the community in Nunavut, to offer this remarkable program," says UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan. "The greatest credit goes to the 21 graduates and to the faculty who have pioneered in the program and made a success of it." MacLauchlan and the UPEI Chancellor will take part in the Canada Day Convocation, along with representatives of the UPEI Faculty of Education.

During the ceremony, Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak and Minister of Education Louis Tapardjuk will join Chancellor Bill Andrew in presenting honorary degrees to two respected Elders, Mariano Aupilardjuk and Meeka Arnaquq.

Mariano Aupilardjuk is a philosopher, artist, drum dancer, song writer, cultural worker and activist who lives in Rankin Inlet. Widely recognized for his wisdom, his teachings, and healing abilities, he speaks of values and traditional knowledge in a way that links the past, the present and the future of Inuit in Nunavut. He teaches youth traditional Inuit land skills, advises the RCMP, speaks to government, and facilitates community and pan-territorial healing services. He has received numerous awards including the Northwest Territories Facilitator for Youth and Elders Award, the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, and the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Award.

Meeka Arnaquq is well known for her innovative development of healing circles. She often works with her husband, Abraham, to provide healing to Inuit who are incarcerated. Using traditional pedagogy in the areas of language, cultural identity, healing, and spiritual well-being, she draws on traditional practices to build inmates' strength and develop direction for the future. She worked as an adult educator with Nunavut Arctic College for 18 years in Pangnirtung where she taught Inuktitut and traditional life skills, and provided counseling to adults. The NWT Status of Women has honoured her with the Wise Woman Award, and Arctic College recognized her contribution to mental health and healing with an Honorary Diploma in Social work.

The UPEI Master of Education in Leadership in Learning will be re-offered in Nunavut in 2010.

Eleven UPEI graduate students and post-doctoral researchers have been awarded funding through the Graduate and Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program. The provincial program promotes partnerships between the private sector and research institutions by sponsoring students and researchers whose studies are aligned with the Island Prosperity Strategy.

The PEI Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning created the program to support research projects that have commercial potential with funding of up to $20,000 for graduate students and $40,000 for post-doctoral fellows.

'We are pleased to support the research work of these students and their projects which complement the work government is doing to diversify the PEI economy,' said Allan Campbell, Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning. 'Investing in people who are working to strengthen our innovative sectors is essential if we are to develop new products and services from our resource industries and other sectors of the economy.'

The award-winners, identified below, were honoured by the provincial government on June 29 for their contributions to Island research and innovation.

Donald Cameron: Erythritol-based Cores for Biodegradable Materials

For further work in developing new polymeric materials based upon the polymer star architecture based on non-toxic dipentaerythritol cores. The enhanced polymer stars will have important applications in materials science and as drug delivery systems.

Dr. Marguerite Cameron: Evaluation of Selective Dry Cow Treatment Following On-Farm Culture Using Petrifilm on Low Somatic Cell Count Cows at Dry-Off

The study will compare new infection rates at freshening between control group cows.

Jennifer Cuillier: Development of a Bacterial Terpene Production Method

The research will create a bacteria-based isoprenoid production platform capable of high-level production of targeted isoprenoids, employing a reliable fermentation process.

Dr. Okechukwu Igboeli: Developments of Models to Study Drug resistance in Sea Lice

This study investigates the development of efficient models for monitoring/ studying drug resistance by sea lice using bioassays and molecular techniques.

Dr. Kimberly MacDonald: Evaluation of an On-Farm Culture System and Treatment Decision Algorithm for Clinical Mastitis in Canada

Currently, most dairy farmers treat all cases of mastitis without knowing the causative organism. Antibiotic treatment results in financial losses to the farm due to lost revenue from discarded milk and the cost of antibiotic treatment. On-farm culture determines cases requiring treatment within 24 hours.

Jessica Livingston-Thomas: Novel Strategies for Enhancing Functional Recovery Following Focal Ischemic Stroke

Using micro-injections of the vasoconstrictor endothelia-1, researchers are able to produce specific deficits in forelimb motor function simulating a stroke. This project will investigate the benefits of a unique form of rehabilitation on recovery of motor function in this model.

Rebecca Pike: Fungal and Bacterial Diversity and Natural Products Drug Discovery from Marine Gorgonian Corals and Sponges

The first component of the project will taxonomically enumerate fungal and bacterial communities of selected gorgonian corals and sponges using culture-independent methods. This will develop an understanding of the ecological niches of gorgonians and sponges in selected tropical habitats.

Dr. Malcolm McCulloch: Isolation and Characterization of Novel PTP1B

This project will focus on the top 10 hits with selective activity against the protein tyrosine phosphate PTP1B, a major negative regulator of both insulin and leptin signalling.

Dr. Jennifer Slemmer: Validation of potential human health benefits of functional foods produced on Prince Edward Island

Testing of individual compounds, groups of compounds, or whole foods in functional foods will take place to identify their potential human health benefit, including their effects on inflammation, atherosclerosis, oxidative stress and various metabolic disorders, such as diabetes.

Sarah Stewart-Clark: Development of Molecular Markers to Evaluate the Impact of Tunicate Mitigation Treatments on Mussel Gene Expression and Health

This project will use an innovative mussel microarray to evaluate the impact of tunicate treatment methods on mussel health by measuring changes in gene expression in treated vs. non-treated mussels.

Dr. Hua Wang: Development of Noval Fatty Acid-based Nutaceuticals for Brain Health

This project aims to develop novel FA-based nutraceutical formulations that target preventable aging-, stress- and inflammation-related cognitive decline.

Photo: Back, l-r: Rebecca Pike, Dr. Malcolm McCulloch, Premier Robert Ghiz, Donald Cameron, Dr. Okechukwu Igboeli. Front: Marguerite Cameron, Jennifer Cuillerier, Sarah Stewart-Clark, Dr. Kimberly MacDonald, Dr. Jessica Livingston-Thomas, Jennifer Slemmer. Missing: Dr. Hua Wang.