Love of the ocean takes grad far
Most students—including Rhiannon Pretty—come to UVic for an education and a few years focused on something they truly love, but it’s not every undergraduate that ends up with a pair of seasoned sea legs to match their degree.
Grad mixes classroom and experiential learning at O.U.R. Ecovillage
A summer camping trip in Haida Gwaii brought political science student Kat Zimmer an unexpected epiphany. “I was surrounded by natural beauty, and I thought, my academic life must reflect my passion for the outdoors,” remembers Zimmer. That moment became the catalyst for a change in her academic career. “I didn’t know about the environmental studies program and that it could also be political,” says Zimmer, “I was so excited that I could bring politics and the environment together.”
Writing grad lights up film fest screens
It’s one thing to have parents who have found fame in the same field you’re studying; but who wants one as the head of their university department? Consider Connor Gaston, whose parents are author Dede Crane and acclaimed novelist and Department of Writing chair Bill Gaston. Big shoes? You bet.
Counseling grad dedicated to Aboriginal community
Few graduate students voluntarily add more course work to their degree programs, but Jennifer Coverdale isn’t like most grad students. She willingly took seven additional courses and an extra year of study so that she could graduate this month with an MA in counseling psychology that includes all of the courses in the Aboriginal Communities Counseling Program (ACCP).
Social media causes boredom (and vice versa)
Who would have thought that goofing around on the internet would lead to cutting-edge research and gainful employment? Probably not Liam Mitchell, but that’s precisely where the UVic grad found inspiration for his recent PhD.
Grad’s climate change research helps communities
After years studying rain gardens, green roofs and climate change, Chris Jensen will graduate this month with an MSc degree in geography. As a master’s student, Jensen began a project on how to manage rainwater where it falls, rather than directing it into storm water systems buried under city streets. Green roofs, rain gardens and permeable paving materials are some of the strategies that were evaluated to determine how they could mitigate the impacts of more extreme rainfall brought on by climate change.
Child and Youth Care grad helping 1,000s of HIV/AIDS-affected children
Jolly Nyeko loves children. For over three decades Nyeko—graduating from UVic with her PhD in child and youth care this month—has worked to provide programming for and inspiration to countless young people in her native Uganda. She gives regular talks to fellow mothers, leads fundraising efforts for primary education centres and, in 1995, founded Action for Children, a non-profit group that cares for more than 20,000 children and families vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and poverty across the country.
Convocation 2012
Thousands of UVic students and their families and friends will gather on campus this month to celebrate the achievement of an academic milestone. During Spring Convocation, from June 11–15, the University of Victoria will award 3,358 degrees, diplomas and certificates. Congratulations and best wishes to all convocating students. The ceremonies will be webcast live at www.uvic.ca/resources/convocation.
Adventures in Beaverland
When Senator Nicole Eaton publicly derided the beaver as a “19th-century has-been” late last year, little did she realize she was also justifying the research of graduate student Frances Backhouse. Backhouse, who just received an MFA in Writing for her work on Castor canadensis, well knows why Canadians should give a dam about this hard-working national icon—and why Senator Eaton, who described the beaver as both a “toothy tyrant” and a “dentally defective rat” and called for its replacement by the polar bear as our national symbol, was so off-base with her comments.
From rocking chairs to carbon nanotubes
When we think of a mechanical engineer, we may think of someone building an engine. But for this year’s recipient of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering Medal for academic excellence, engineering is more about woodworking than making engines.
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