Dr. Benjamin Lefebvre of Waterloo, Ontario, has been appointed the 2009 Visiting Scholar for the L.M. Montgomery Institute (LMMI) at the University of Prince Edward Island, announced Institute chair Mark Leggott.

Lefebvre will work with the LMMI's governing committee to facilitate and expand scholarship about L.M. Montgomery, P.E.I.'s most famous author, and her contemporaries.

His first task as Visiting Scholar is to give a talk about L.M. Montgomery to people attending the July 24 performance of Jan de Hartog's play, The Fourposter, at the Montgomery Theatre in Cavendish. The play tells the history of a marriage from the wedding night in 1890 to 1925, with all scenes taking place in the couple's bedroom. Starting at 7 p.m., Lefebvre will speak about Montgomery's own marriage and the way she depicts it in her journals, focusing specifically on confrontations and conversations that occurred in her bedroom. The proceeds from the performance, which begins at 7:30 p.m., will be donated to the LMMI.

He is looking forward to working with the LMMI on new projects that will benefit Montgomery's international community of readers.

"Through its conference series and its related publications, the L.M. Montgomery Institute has long been a hub of activity for Montgomery studies, which has become an established and interdisciplinary field," he says.

Lefebvre will co-chair the 2010 LMMI Conference, titled 'L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature,' with UPEI's Dr. Jean Mitchell, 2008 LMMI Visiting Scholar. He will also complete a critical edition of Montgomery's essays and interviews from the period 1909 to 1939. The collection will include over 50 pieces, most of which have not been reprinted since their initial publication in leading periodicals such as Saturday Night, The Canadian Magazine, Canadian Bookman, Everywoman's World, Maclean's, The Chatelaine, Family Herald and Weekly Star, Maritime Advocate and Busy East, and Toronto Star.

'What we see in these pieces is Montgomery at her best,' he says. 'We see her constructing and perfecting a public persona, a voice that differs from the one that is revealed in the five volumes of her published journals. These neglected pieces show Montgomery to be in total control of herself: as a rising celebrity writer, as a minister's wife, as a reluctant feminist, as an established voice in Canada and beyond.'

Lefebvre received his Ph.D. from McMaster University in 2006 and is currently completing a two-year postdoctoral fellowship, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, at the University of Alberta. He will take up the LMMI Visiting Scholar position in conjunction with a nine-month Leverhulme visiting fellowship at the University of Worcester, where he will study the transformation of books for young people into media cycles in Canada, the U.S. and England.

He has published internationally on Montgomery's fiction and life writing and on film, television and tourism adaptations of her work. His edition of Montgomery's rediscovered final book, The Blythes Are Quoted, will be published by Viking Canada in October 2009.

Lefebvre's term as Visiting Scholar runs from July 2009 to June 2010.

UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place will be the competition venue for some of the best young track and field athletes in Canada this weekend. From July 17 to 19, close to 600 athletes and 120 coaches from across the country will gather at the University of Prince Edward Island to take part in the Canadian Junior Track and Field Championships.

UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place officially opened on July 13. It features a synthetic, 400-metre, eight-lane oval track; a water jump for steeplechase; a facility for long and triple jump, pole vault, discus and hammer throw, javelin throw and shot put; storage, washrooms, and spectator seating and viewing.

'The Canadian Junior Track and Field Championships give us a great opportunity to showcase the exceptional athletics facilities we now have in our province,' says Ron Annear, UPEI Athletics Director. 'We are delighted to be able to host this exciting national event.'

During the three days of competition, athletes will be vying for a place on the national junior team. Only 40 to 50 will go on to represent Canada in the Pan American Junior Championships coming up in two weeks in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The championships this weekend will also act as the official test event for the 2009 Canada Games scheduled to begin on August 15.

Admission to the Canadian Junior Track and Field Championships at UPEI is free, and everyone is invited to experience some of the best track and field competition in the country. The main action takes place from 3 to 8 p.m. on Friday, from 12:30 to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Spectators will be able to enjoy gold medal events on Saturday and all day Sunday.

This year's Canadian Junior Track and Field Championships are being organized by a group called Moncton 2010. Next year, from July 19 to 25, the City of Moncton will host the international junior championships.

The Centre for Life-Long Learning at UPEI will hold information sessions next week for people who are interested in learning about educational opportunities for adult learners.

The three information sessions take place from 7 to 8 p.m. as follows:

· Monday, July 20, Montague Curling Club;

· Tuesday, July 21, McDougall Hall, UPEI;

· Wednesday, July 22, Centre Belle-Alliance, Summerside.

People attending the sessions will have the opportunity to meet other adult learners and to learn about UPEI's Bachelor of Integrated Studies program; the Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) process; and programs offered by UPEI that are designed to fit into the busy work and home lives of adult learners.

Under the Bachelor of Integrated Studies program, mature students can earn their first degree, finish an uncompleted degree or add to an existing college diploma, while continuing their careers. Through PLAR, they can earn university-level undergraduate credits for learning they have gained from other sources, including work experience, non-credit and workplace courses, informal study, volunteering and hobbies.

'UPEI recognizes that many adults who are not currently students want and need to continue their education,' says Jeanette MacAulay, director of the Centre for Life-Long Learning. 'We are building educational opportunities that will meet the special needs of these mature students.'

For more information about the sessions, contact the Centre for Life-Long Learning at (902) 566-0336, lifelong@upei.ca or www.upei.ca/lifelonglearning.

As a marine ecologist, Dr. Pedro Quijon, of the UPEI Biology Department, is keenly aware of the importance of conserving the world's oceans especially now at a time when they are under more stress than ever.

He represents UPEI on the recently established Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council's Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe). The network brings together 65 researchers from 15 Canadian universities, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and several federal laboratories to develop science-based guidelines for the conservation and sustainability of Canada's three oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic.

CHONe's strategic focus is on three research themes: marine biodiversity, ecosystem function and population connectivity. Researchers working on the marine biodiversity theme will explore functional and species biodiversity in relation to a variety of habitats. Projects under the ecosystem function theme will look at how function and health are linked to biodiversity and several agents of disturbance. Finally, scientists studying population connectivity will examine how the dispersal of early life stages (eggs, larvae, juveniles) influences patterns of biodiversity and resilience, and how different geographic areas may naturally become 'sources' and 'sinks' for new recruits.

Dr. Quijon highlights the broad collaboration that is already taking place because of CHONe, and the relevance of having UPEI playing a role in an initiative of this magnitude. His participation in CHONe falls under the population connectivity theme. In late April he and UPEI graduate student Kevin Sorochan, joined Dr. John Dower, of the University of Victoria, to conduct their first survey of the Strait of Georgia, BC. Working from the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Vector, they collected samples of crab and fish larvae from about 48 stations along the Strait. With information gleaned from those samples and the characteristics of the water column, they will be able to accurately map the distribution of those larvae in this large coastal system and identify the areas where most larvae are produced and retained.

The data will be useful for identifying those areas of the Strait that should be given priority for protection, he says, with the ultimate goal of ensuring sustainability for the fish and crab fishing industries. This project is taking place on the west coast over two years, but its approach and results should be applicable to other areas--and fisheries--on the east coast and elsewhere. The knowledge gained should be useful to approach similar research problems in areas with well-known fishery concerns, such as the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Dr. Ian Whicher, head of the Department of Religion at the University of Manitoba, will give a free public lecture called 'The Meaning and Integrity of Yoga' at the Confederation Centre Public Library on Tuesday, July 28, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Whicher says that classically envisioned yoga does not lead to the condemnation, abandonment or transcendence of life in the world but rather to enhanced engagement with the world--engagement that seeks to enrich human interactions within the world. Drawing from the Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, he will explore how yoga can culminate in a balanced integration of the spiritual and material dimensions of human life that incorporates clarity of awareness with the integrity of being and action.

Whicher earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, England. A long-time yoga practitioner, he is the author of several books including The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana (SUNY Press). He regularly gives talks about yoga throughout the world, including Canada, the U.S., Europe and India.

This talk is the first in a series of lectures for the general public presented by the UPEI Department of Religious Studies and the Confederation Centre Public Library.

For information about this event, please contact Dr. Joe Velaidum, Department of Religious Studies, UPEI, at jvelaidum@upei.ca.

Fifteen students from the University of Prince Edward Island will spend the next month learning about the history and culture of the Middle East at Misr International University (MIU) in Cairo, Egypt.

Led by Sherilyn Acorn-LeClair, coordinator of international student exchanges at UPEI, the students are participating in a Middle East Studies Program offered at MIU from July 24 to August 21. The program is a partnership between UPEI and MIU.

Each of the 15 students has received a $5,000 scholarship from MIU that will cover the cost of tuition, field trips, and transportation costs to and from accommodations and the airport. Students pay for their flight and living expenses.

Through their course work and field studies, the students will gain a greater insight into the overall understanding of the Middle East, particularly its potential and its challenges. They will enjoy a week of field trips, including the Alexandria Library, Islamic and Christian Cairo as well as museums, pyramids, the stock exchange and different cultural events. They will then attend classes for three weeks of intensive study about the region's history and culture.

They will take a maximum of two courses, which, upon successful completion, will be transferred back to UPEI. Possible choices include ancient Egyptian history, Middle East politics, economic development in the Middle East, contemporary Arabic literature, and Arabic language for foreigners.

The program began in 2008, with two UPEI students--Emily Gorman and Michael Deighan-spending a month in Egypt. They strongly recommended the program to students interested in culture, history and travel.

'We made friends that we have kept in touch with and hope to visit in the future,' said Gorman.

Deighan also hopes to return to Egypt in the future.

'It was definitely the most interesting place I've visited so far and I plan to go back soon to see everything I've missed,' he said.

For information about international student exchange opportunities at UPEI, please contact Sherilyn Acorn-LeClair at (902) 894-2837 or sdacorn@.upei.ca or visit the Internationalization website.

The Tourism Research Centre in the School of Business at the University of Prince Edward Island is pleased to announce the release of a new report profiling motor coach visitors to P.E.I. This report is the result of surveys collected from motor coach visitors between July and December 2007.

'Although assumptions have been made about the motor coach industry in the past, this report gives us concrete data on who is arriving on these tours,' explained Dr. Sean Hennessey, Faculty Director of the TRC. 'As suspected, these visitors are older, tend to be retired, and are generally travelling in pairs of two. However, we now have more information on what they do while in P.E.I., how much they spend, and their overall evaluation of P.E.I.'

Those arriving on the tour buses were generally from the United States, with the few Canadians surveyed being from Ontario. The average length of stay for the 43 per cent of motor coach visitors who come in July or August was 2.25 nights, compared to 1.78 nights for those visiting during the off-season. This is significantly lower than the 4.15-night stays of non-motor coach visitors, particularly those from the U.S. (5.9 nights).

Motor coach visitors tended to have the cost of most activities included in their tour packages. The three most popular activities were visiting historical and cultural attractions, visiting an Anne of Green Gables attraction, and attending a theatrical performance. For those visiting during the off-season, rates of visiting Anne attractions and attending theatre were lower.

Excluding the cost of tours and elements included in packages (i.e., accommodations, meals, etc.), motor coach visitors spent $31 per person per night. The majority of this was spent on shopping ($25), followed by recreation and entertainment ($3).

'Based on the short stays and details given by survey participants, it can be concluded that motor coach visitors do not get to see a lot of P.E.I. ; generally they stick to the highlights,' stated Dr. Hennessey. 'If new itineraries are not offered, these visitors may be less inclined to return to P.E.I. Encouraging motor coach tour operators to offer different itineraries may mean that more of these visitors are inclined to book another trip to the same region. Different itineraries may also appeal to younger travel markets.'

More itineraries may lead to more motor coach visitors, both first-time and returning. If the additional itineraries result in even 20 per cent more motor coach parties visiting P.E.I. for the same number of nights as the current parties, an additional $300,720 in direct spending will result-- over and above indirect spending attributed to these visitors through the cost of the tour itself. The benefit of additional motor coach visitors will flow through to accommodation providers, restaurants and entertainment venues.

This report is available on the exit survey section of the TRC's website: www.trc.upei.ca/exitsurvey. More information about the report can be obtained from the Tourism Research Centre, School of Business, University of PEI, at (902) 566-6096 or trc@upei.ca.

Everyone is invited to a free public reading by Bill Richardson at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery on Thursday, July 30, 7:00 p.m., an event co-hosted by the P.E.I. Writers' Guild, the Friends of the Confederation Centre Public Library, the UPEI Department of English, and the Indian River Festival.

Bill Richardson is a writer and broadcaster. He has contributed to CBC Radio since 1984, and has been the host of a number of programmes, both on CBC Radio One and CBC Radio 2. His books include Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast, which won the Stephen Leacock medal for humour, Waiting for Gertrude, and After Hamelin, a novel for children and winner of the Silver Birch award. He has also been the recipient of a Vancouver Arts Award, and a gold medal for fiction in the National Magazine Awards.

Bill Richardson hosts CBC Radio Two's flagship classical performance shows: "Saturday Afternoon at the Opera" and a Sunday afternoon that features live performances. His CBC Radio hosting has included Crosswords, As You Like It, Richardson's Roundup, Bunny Watson, Ten Times Table, and Canada Reads. As a lyricist, he has collaborated with composers Rodney Sharman and Cameron Wilson, and also worked as anarrator with Quartetto Gelato, the Vancouver Summer Chamber Music Festival, Stratford Summer Music and the CBC Radio Orchestra.

Bill Richardson will be on the Island to be guest host of the Indian River Festival's annual Midsummer Magic Weekend, July 31-August 1. At his public reading on Thursday, July 30, 7:00 p.m., at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery, The Bookmark will have books available for sale and Bill says he will happily autograph them.

For more information, contact Deirdre Kessler, kessler@upei.ca.

Alumni from the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), St. Dunstan's University (SDU) and Prince of Wales College (PWC) will gather at UPEI from July 30 to August 2 for their annual fun-filled Reunion Weekend.

'Reunion Weekend is a great opportunity for alumni from UPEI and its founding institutions, SDU and PWC, to reconnect with each other, take a trip down memory lane and see the wonderful changes that have taken place on campus,' says Betty Johnston, president of the UPEI Alumni Association.

During the weekend, the classes of '45,'49, '55, '59 and '69 will renew friendships and trade memories at class events during the weekend. Special anniversaries include 60 years for the Class of '49 and '50 for the Class of '59.

UPEI will honour alumni by raising its new flag for the first time on Thursday, July 30, at 11 a.m., at the flagpoles next to the Kelley Building.

The UPEI Alumni golf tournament takes place on Friday, July 31, at the Green Gables Golf Course in Cavendish. Tee-off time for the 150 golfers who are expected to participate is at 8 a.m. Free transportation on a first-come, first-served basis for registered golfers is available on the Panther-branded bus; it will leave from the W.A. Murphy Student Centre at 7 a.m.

Bishop Faber MacDonald, Bishop Emeritus of Saint John, a member of the Class of '59 and an honorary graduate of UPEI, will celebrate the 25th annual SDU Alumni Mass on Friday at 7:30 p.m., in the Dr. Steel Recital Hall, followed by a reception in McMillan Hall of the W.A. Murphy Student Centre. He will be assisted by concelebrants Father Charlie Cheverie, UPEI chaplain, and Father Robert MacDonald, Class of '59.

A tour of the campus takes place on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. at the front steps of Main Building.

A highlight of the weekend, the PWC annual reunion luncheon, will take place on Sunday, August 2, from 1 to 4 p.m., in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre's McMillan Hall.

For the first time, overnight accommodation on campus for alumni attending the weekend is available for a special rate.

For more information, contact Sarah MacInnis, Alumni Outreach Coordinator, at (902) 566-0687 or alumni@upei.ca. For the complete Reunion Weekend schedule, visit www.upei.ca/alumni/summer-reunion-2009.

The Canada Games PEI Women's Soccer Team and the UPEI Women's Soccer Team will hold a charity co-ed tournament on Saturday, August 1, on the UPEI soccer field to raise funds to help buy myoelectric hands for Mohamed Mara, a refugee from Sierra Leone now living on P.E.I.

During the civil war in Sierra Leone, rebel forces massacred Mara's mother, father and siblings. Mohamed escaped but was caught later by rebels who cut off his hands.

Mara uses prosthetic hooks and is able to do some simple movement functions with them. However, because of the abnormal motions his body must perform to use the hooks, he is developing problems in his shoulders, neck and back.

In March 2009, a group of people established a Friends of Mohamed campaign, which is raising funds to pay for two myoelectric hands, rehabilitation and maintenance. The total cost will be approximately $80,000.

UPEI has donated the soccer field for the August 1 tournament. The registration of $20 per person includes a barbeque and t-shirts. Each team will have five to seven players, and Mara himself will play. Games are played five v five, for a minimum of three games.

To register, contact the UPEI Soccer Office at (902) 566-6054 or e-mail soccerfriends@live.com.