The faculty of science marked the International Year of Chemistry last weekend by welcoming alumni of the chemistry and biochemistry programs back to campus. "Retired professors, current faculty and staff and current students were on hand to mix and mingle with alumni," says Joanna Magee, communications officer for the faculty. "The president stopped by to welcome everyone, and remarks were made by dean Terry McMahon and chemistry chair John Honek. At the reunion, cupcakes were given out with the periodic table printed on them in celebration of the reunion and IYC."

Athletes honoured; what to do with JobMine

Dozens of Waterloo Warrior athletes will be honoured at a reception today hosted by the president’s office. They’re the latest Athlete Academic Honour Roll recipients — students who have maintained a classroom average of at least 80% while competing in an interuniversity sport. Men and women from sports as diverse as rugby, figure skating, swimming and hockey are on the list. “This year,” says an announcement from the athletics department, “143 athletes (five more than 2010) will be invited to celebrate their accomplishments along with their fellow athletes, influential professors, coaches and distinguished individuals at the University of Waterloo. The University of Waterloo ranks among the top universities in Canada in the number of athletes on their Academic Honour Roll.” Today’s reception will take place in the Laurel Room, South Campus Hall, starting at 4:30 p.m.

In the wake of this week's troubles with the JobMine system, the co-operative education and career services department is making it known that steps are still being taken toward a replacement system. Says Dianne Bader, director of operations in CECS: "A project charter has been approved including funding for external and internal resources to determine what our long term system solution will be. The charter proposes a phased approach. The first phase will occur in Fall 2011 and will investigate various options. The options to be explored include enhancing JobMine; assessing off the shelf packaged solutions; best-of-class components combined with an overarching portal or integrated infrastructure; build; or partner with another organization. Until such time as a new strategy and architecture have been implemented, JobMine will continue to serve as the primary system. The current plan is to continue with a series of smaller releases (approximately once per term) to meet the highest priority demands of the department and institution. The scope of these releases will be balanced with the need to continue to support the needs of all stakeholders while working on the future system solution."

The University of Waterloo will co-sponsor a conference at the Royal Academy of Belgium, October 4-7, under the title “Exploring Knowledge Gaps Along the Global Carbon Route: A Hitchhiker’s Guide For a Boundless Cycle”. The conference invitation states: “The carbon cycle and the climate system are linked by an array of complex geophysical and biogeochemical processes. Elucidating how these processes operate and interact quantitatively is critical to forecast how terrestrial and marine ecosystems will respond to climate change. Thus the objective of the conference and workshop will be to synthesize the latest research and to identify knowledge gaps in our understanding of carbon dynamics in the context of a ‘boundless’ cycle that encompasses the terrestrial, marine and atmospheric environments.” Philippe Van Cappellen, professor in Waterloo’s department of earth and environmental sciences and Canada Excellence Research Chair in ecohydrology, is a member of the conference’s international scientific organizing committee and will chair a workshop. “A unique aspect of the conference,” he says, “is that it will bring together scientists working on carbon cycling across the entire spectrum of space and time scales, from molecular processes to global fluxes of greenhouse gases. The conference aims to better integrate biogeochemical studies with climate modeling. It will therefore highlight the key role of research on carbon and nutrient cycling being carried out at Waterloo in assessing and forecasting global environmental change.”

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Four honoured for supervising grad students

Four professors, from four separate faculties, have been named this year’s winners of the Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision, which will be presented at Convocation next spring.

Heidi Mussar of the graduate studies office says that office and the Graduate Student Association jointly established the award “to recognize exemplary faculty members”. Grad students as well as faculty members are represented on the selection committee, which is chaired by the associate provost (graduate studies).

She provided citations prepared for the committee to recognize the four 2011 winners.

John Hirdes, School of Public Health and Health Systems: “In addition to being an internationally regarded scientist Dr. Hirdes is also a remarkable mentor. His students (past and current) speak to his tremendous desire and effort to maximize their individual success. He provides an environment that not only stimulates and challenges his students, but one that also encourages and supports. He achieves this by providing each student with unparalleled academic opportunities that are uniquely tailored to their individual interests.

“His students speak to the importance that Dr. Hirdes’ mentorship has been to their professional development and academic successes. Importantly, his students also view Dr. Hirdes as a colleague and a friend who continues to enrich their personal and professional lives even after they had graduated.”

Garry L. Rempel, Chemical Engineering: “Prof. Rempel is one of Waterloo’s academic elite, being amongst the first to hold the distinction as University Professor. He has received numerous awards and distinctions, has served on various journal editorial boards and has been particularly active in the Royal Society of Canada. He has distinguished himself as an international scholar with over 283 journal publications as well as 35 patents. His scholarly and research output can be seen as a testimony to his dedication to his students as they are the co-authors and co-inventors in his publications and patents.

“All letters of support testified to the high quality and dedication to graduate supervision that is characterized by a style that encourages independence and creativity, while being supportive along the way. Many students spoke to the personal interest he takes with his students, his caring nature for their well-being even before many arrived in Canada, and his role as a superlative mentor. A past student best sums it up with the comment: ‘That period of time has been most remarkable in my life. Dr. Rempel is incredibly intelligent and was an amazing supervisor. Under his mentorship I have learned many lessons, which have proven important for the development of my career and the direction of my life.’”

Susan Wismer, Environment and Resource Studies: “She is an outstanding teacher, advisor, friend and mentor. Colleagues are deeply impressed by the constructive and supportive energy and dedication that she gives to all of her students. She demonstrates astute judgment about the kind of guidance that is appropriate for a student at each stage of their graduate research. Students are enthusiastic about the collaborative approach that she facilitates to enable each student to contribute and gain insights through careful guidance.

As one student said, ‘she always encouraged independent thinking and creativity in research, while playing the role of a master conductor, bringing all the individual pieces together into a symphony.’ Professor Wismer inspires the next generation of academics. She is regarded by young women entering academia as a role model and ‘a beacon of empathetic strength, modeling the ways in which a strong woman can be an academic, while also being creative, humorous and nurturing.’ In short, she inspires and achieves excellence in graduate supervision.”

Michael Power, Biology: “Michael Power focuses on fisheries ecology, population biology and environmental toxicology. He is a highly active researcher with more than 100 journal publications and 6 book chapters. Since his arrival at uWaterloo in 1999, Mike has supervised 18 MSc students and 8 PhD students. He is recognized by his departmental colleagues as an incredibly strong advocate for his graduate students who is able to recognize the talents in his students, both demonstrated and potential, and to cultivate them for success.

“His strong cohort of students greatly appreciate his dedication to see them succeed, the complete financial support he provides for their research including access to some of the best equipment and technology for their research, and the opportunities he generates for students to interact with leading scientists in their field. His students appreciate the supportive lab ‘family’ atmosphere that he fosters and that he dedicates his full attention to their academic success. Key attributes appreciated by Mike’s students are that he is ‘understanding, compassionate and pragmatic’ in his dealings with them. Mike provides his students with exciting fieldwork opportunities throughout Canada and the world, including remote locations in the Canadian and European Arctic.” 

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Bean lecture addresses 'extreme' weather

from a news release issued by the media relations office

A leading climate researcher will give the university’s annual TD Walter Bean Lecture tonight, examining new perspectives being used to assess threats to critical resources of water, food, energy, human health and ecosystem function.

Roger Pielke, Sr. (left), will speak on “Changing Weather: Extreme Weather in the Coming Decades — What is the Role of Climate Change?” at 7 p.m. in the Humanities Theatre. He gave a graduate student colloquium on related issues earlier in the week, and a public lecture yesterday morning aimed at undergraduate students and high schoolers.

The lecture by Pielke, senior research scientist in atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will examine the climate change community’s new perspectives and discuss how important they are relative to other society and environmental threats.

"As the host faculty for this year's TD Walter Bean Lecture in the Environment, the faculty of science extends a warm welcome to Pielke Sr., an expert on meteorological-related topics," says the dean of science, Terry McMahon. "We are pleased to be bringing our university community and the general public together for this unique opportunity to learn and better understand climate change."

Pielke is also associated with Colorado State University and with Purdue University in Indiana, and is co-author of nine books and more than 350 papers published in peer-reviewed journals. His research interests include climate variability and climate change, environmental vulnerability, and land/ocean atmosphere interactions. Pielke's blog site was named one of the 50 most popular science blogs by Nature Magazine in 2006.

Named in honour of the late Walter Bean, who served as president of Waterloo Trust until its merger with Canada Trust in 1968, the TD Walter Bean Visiting Professorship is meant to uphold the legacy of community involvement and commitment to youth and education. The professorship attracts top researchers with international reputations, who give lectures, teach classes, and engage in dialogue with faculty members. The lecture is hosted on a rotating basis by the faculties of engineering, science, and environment.

A long-time university partner, TD Bank Group continues to support Waterloo through the hiring of co-op students and graduates. This November, the faculty of environment will announce “a significant philanthropic investment made by TD” at the opening of the Environment 3 building.

CAR

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