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Dr. Cornelia Bohne (chemistry) has been chosen to receive the 2008 Clara Benson Award, bestowed by the Canadian Society for Chemistry in recognition of distinguished contributions to chemistry by a woman. In its citation, the society praised Bohne for developing “a comprehensive and internationally recognized program aimed at understanding supramolecular dynamics” and leading “chemists to change the way that they think about weak interactions between molecules.” Bohne is currently president of the Inter-American Photochemical Society.
Dr. Jeannine Carriere (social work) has been honoured with the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) 2008 Adoption Activist Award. NACAC honours Carriere for the extensive work that she has done, both in research and practice in advancing an Indigenous agenda in child and family services, and for her work in the areas of permanency and cultural planning for Aboriginal children adopted into non-Aboriginal families. The award will be presented on August 2 in Ottawa.
David Leach (writing) launches his first book this month, entitled Fatal Tide: When the Race of a Lifetime Goes Wrong. The creative non-fiction novel explores the causes and consequences of a fatal kayaking accident on the Bay of Fundy, the rise of extreme sports and reality TV, the psychology of risk-taking in the outdoors and other topics. Despite its Maritimes focus, there are UVic connections: Dr John Hayward, professor emeritus in biology and for years one of the leading researchers into hypothermia, appears in the book, as his work helped Leach crack the final mystery of exactly how and why the young man died. For more information visit www.fataltide.com and www.davidleach.ca.
Geography student Maya McDonald was one of five Canadian students chosen to present her research at the recent Globe 2008 conference in Vancouver. McDonald received this opportunity as the recipient of a Student Ambassador Award from ECO Canada, an environmental not-for-profit corporation which, among other things, recognizes post-secondary students for excellence in environment-related research. Through her research, McDonald concluded that to achieve its ecodensity goals, the City of Vancouver needs to work more closely with its citizens. McDonald hopes her research will help Vancouver overcome the challenges of implementing ecodensity — an initiative which aims to create more liveable areas in smaller spaces and reduce impacts to the environment.
Dr. David Turner (social work) is the recipient of the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) Distinguished Service Award for BC 2008. The award is presented yearly during national social work week (March 3–7), to an individual or group of individuals selected from their provincial membership. Turner was notified of his award while working on human rights education at the School of Social Work in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A celebration was held on March 11 at the University Club by the BC Association of Social Workers (BCASW). Turner has been a professor in the School of Social Work since 1979.
The Vikes track team returned from the CIS Track & Field National Championships in Montreal with one of the best finishes in team history. The Vikes swept the 1,500-metre event with Ashley Hinther winning gold on the women’s side, and Geoff Martinson taking top billing on the men’s. Daniel Mallie ensured two Vikes made the podium, winning the bronze medal in the same event. Martinson and Mallie were also members of the gold medal winning 4x800-metre relay team. Along with teammates Rich Lehman and Darren Mazzei, the foursome secured the relay title for the third straight year and in the process set a new school record with a winning time of 7:30.83. Hinther also captured a bronze medal in the 3,000-metre event.
Like a fine wine with a full-bodied history, the UVic-based online Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History Project just keeps getting better. While poised to launch the final additions to its website, the project was named the winner of the 2008 MERLOT Classics award as an “exemplary” online learning resource. It’s the second time the California-based Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) has honoured the project. The project invites students to “solve” mysteries plucked from Canada’s rich history while developing their research skills. The website also includes 21 shorter “Mysteryquest” websites aimed specifically at middle and high school students. The mysteries and teaching support material originate from all regions of Canada and involve a span of nearly 1,000 years. “Winning a MERLOT award for the second time is a testimony to the enduring and constantly improving quality of the project and the hard work of our cross-Canada team. It is like a Pulitzer Prize in this field,” says UVic historian John Lutz.
The Martlet, UVic’s “other” newspaper (the student one), has garnered its first Better Newspapers Competition award. The Best Campus Feature Story award went to Vanessa Lundgren’s article “Prayers and potlucks” in the Feb. 27, 2007, edition. Lundgren received her UVic BA (English and French) in 2007 and is now a jouralism student at Concordia. The awards are administered by the Canadian Community Newspapers Association.
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