January 28, 2005
Province Invests Nearly $500,000 in Research Equipment at U of S
Posted January 28, 2005
The following release was issued by the Government of Saskatchewan.Saskatchewan Learning Minister Andrew Thomson today announced that four University of Saskatchewan research projects will receive collectively nearly a half million dollars through the Innovation and Science fund.
To find out more, including information about the researchers and their work, please go to:
http://www.gov.sk.ca/newsrel/releases/2005/01/28-051.html.
January 24, 2005
U of S Board Announces New Dean of Kinesiology
Posted January 24, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 24, 2005
2005-01-10-KIN
U of S Board Announces New Dean of Kinesiology
The Board of Governors at the University of Saskatchewan has approved the
appointment of Dr. Carol D. Rodgers as Dean of Kinesiology for a five-year
renewable term, effective July 1, 2005.
This appointment was the result of an extensive, open search for candidates
both nationally and internationally.
Rodgers holds a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education from the University
of New Brunswick, a Master's in Human Kinetics from the University of
Windsor and a Ph. D. in Physical Education (Exercise Biochemistry) from the
University of Western Ontario.
She is currently the Associate Dean of Graduate Education and Research and
an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Physical
Education and Health. Rodgers also holds an appointment in the School of
Graduate Studies and is cross-appointed to the Faculty of Medicine's
Department of Physiology.
Michael Atkinson, Provost and Vice-President Academic and Chair of the
Search Committee, said: "Dr. Rodgers is an exceptional scholar and leader
who brings a broad range of skills and experience that will benefit both the
College of Kinesiology and the University of Saskatchewan."
Rodgers held her first academic appointment in the Department of Physical
Education and Exercise Science at Michigan State University before joining
the University of Toronto in 1993.
Rodgers has a strong research record in both the basic and applied aspects
of the physiology of exercise; with particular interest in the interplay
between exercise, metabolism and endocrinology as it relates to girls' and
women's health. She is also active in the supervision of both graduate and
undergraduate students, and participates in academic and administrative
committees at all levels.
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For further information, contact:
Dr. Michael Atkinson
Provost and Vice-President Academic
University of Saskatchewan
Tel: (306) 966-8489
Dr. Carol D. Rodgers
Tel: (416) 978-6957
January 18, 2005
U of S Pulse Crop Lab Project gets $750,000 Boost from Western Economic Diversification Canada
Posted January 18, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 18, 2005
2005-01-04-AG
U of S Pulse Crop Lab Project gets $750,000 Boost
from Western Economic Diversification Canada
A new $3-million University of Saskatchewan pulse crop research lab received
a $750,000 boost from Western Economic Diversification Canada, part of more
than $6.75 million announced today in Regina by Finance Minister Ralph
Goodale for a range of projects and organizations across the province.
The lab is being built as an addition to the existing U of S Crop Science
Field Laboratory near the corner of 108th Street and Preston Avenue in
Saskatoon. Slated for completion in the fall of 2005, it will be the only
facility of its kind in Canada.
"Saskatchewan is already a world leader in pulse crop development and
production," says Rick Holm, director at the U of S Crop Development Centre.
"This world-class centre will help keep us in the lead as we develop new
varieties, improve disease resistance and agronomic traits, and improve
quality for both producer and consumer."
Saskatchewan's 20,000-plus pulse growers are a national success story,
together making Canada the world's largest exporter of peas and lentils and
a major exporter of chickpeas. Saskatchewan produces 97 per cent of
country's lentils and 70 per cent of its peas.
"In the last 30 years, our industry has grown from basically zero to a
global force," says Saskatchewan Pulse Growers board chair Dean Corbett.
"Part of this success has come from our commitment to research - a
commitment that I'm pleased to see is shared by our partners in both
government and industry."
Accountable to growers and funded through a mandatory check-off,
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (SPG) invests in research and market development
and promotes sustainable growth of the industry. In partnership with the U
of S, SPG began a campaign to raise funds for the critically needed pulse
field lab. Today's announcement is a major step in achieving this goal.
The announcement comes on the heels of the largest private industry donation
so far: $125,000 from the crop protection company BASF announced on January
11, part of $750,000 being sought from industry partners. Other major
contributors, including Philom Bios, Nitragin Inc. Bayer CropScience,
Bourgault Industries, Bourgault Tillage Tools, Saskcan Pulse Trading, E.I.
DuPont Canada Company, Belle Pulses Ltd. and Simpson Seeds Ltd. have stepped
up with significant investments in the project.
The remaining $2.25 million for the project is being funded by various
federal and provincial government sources, including $1.5 million from the
Canada-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund. With today's announcement, a
little more than $294,000 remains to be raised.
The U of S has had an integral role in the development of the province's
pulse industry. Fewer than a dozen Saskatchewan farmers had tried growing
lentils when Al Slinkard, now professor emeritus at the Crop Development
Centre, established a breeding program at the U of S in the early 1970s. His
programs yielded 19 different pulse varieties including Laird, the world's
most widely recognized lentil variety. Slinkard was inducted into the
Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame for his achievements in 2003.
Funding for the project will be provided through the Canada Saskatchewan
Western Economic Partnership Agreement.
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For more information, contact:
Rick Holm
Director, Crop Development Centre
College of Agriculture
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-8195
Jackie Blondeau
Special Projects Manager
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers
(306) 668-0193
Cell: 221-1285
jblondeau@saskpulse.com
www.saskpulse.com
Michael Robin
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
306) 966-2427
michael.robin@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research
U of S CO2 Lab Gets $300,000 Boost from Western Economic Diversification Canada
Posted January 18, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 18
2005-01-05-ENG
U of S CO2 Lab Gets $300,000 Boost from
Western Economic Diversification Canada
A University of Saskatchewan engineering project to study carbon dioxide
(CO2) storage in oil and gas reservoirs was awarded $300,000 from Western
Economic Diversification Canada today, part of more than $6.75 million
announced in Regina by Finance Minister Ralph Goodale for a range of
projects and organizations across the province.
U of S assistant professor in geological engineering Chris Hawkes leads the
team that will design and build the new equipment, which could help meet the
challenge of reducing the amount of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
"The potential for geological storage is huge," Hawkes says. "Our lab will
help us understand how CO2 behaves in these reservoirs, both for enhanced
oil recovery and to find out and whether it will stay put once it's in
there."
Geological storage is one of a group of technologies called sequestration
which are intended to help reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
The equipment, known as a fracture-flow physical model, will be used to
understand how CO2 behaves in fractured oil reservoirs. These rock
formations have held oil, water and natural gas for millions of years, like
liquid in an enormous sponge.
For many years, oil companies have injected fluids such as water, steam or
CO2 into the reservoirs in a process called "flooding." These fluids
displace the oil and lower its viscosity, helping to push it toward recovery
wells where it is brought to the surface. Viscosity refers to how easily a
liquid flows. For example, water generally has a lower viscosity than oil.
Each reservoir has its own characteristics, potentially including natural
fractures in the reservoir itself and in the rock layers above it, fractures
introduced to stimulate recovery during the oil extraction process, and of
course wells bored into the formations both vertically and horizontally.
For the oil industry, the lab may provide answers on how CO2 interacts with
and pushes the oil. For example, if the CO2 simply follows the fractures, it
might flow directly from injection wells to production wells without
enhancing oil recovery.
For those hoping to bury at least some of the CO2 problem underground, the
question is similar - more displaced oil means more room for greenhouse gas
- but it is important that the gas stay there after all the well holes have
been plugged with cement.
The U of S project is linked to the Weyburn CO2 Monitoring and Storage
project, launched in the summer of 2000. Energy company Encana had begun
using CO2 flooding to enhance oil recovery, and researchers seized the
opportunity to work with the company to use the oilfield as a test location
for greenhouse gas research. The project, coordinated through the Petroleum
Technology Research Centre in Regina, includes researchers from the U of S,
University of Regina, Saskatchewan Research Council and the provincial
government, along with researchers from elsewhere in Canada, the United
States and Europe.
Levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have been rising since the Industrial
Revolution when humans began using fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural
gas in earnest. The federal government estimates that each Canadian is
responsible for the release of about five tonnes of carbon per year, about
half of which comes from driving automobiles.
Funding for the project will be provided through the Canada Saskatchewan
Western Economic Partnership Agreement.
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For more information, contact:
Chris Hawkes
Civil and Geological Engineering
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-5753
Michael Robin
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2427
michael.robin@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research
Einstein's Miraculous Year: U of S Celebrates World Year of Physics
Posted January 18, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 18, 2005
2005-01-06-OTHER
Einstein's Miraculous Year: U of S Celebrates World Year of Physics
The University of Saskatchewan's department of physics and engineering
physics will celebrate the World Year of Physics with numerous events
throughout 2005, beginning this Thursday with the first of a series of
public lectures, and later with an open house and events for schools.
The United Nations has endorsed 2005 as the World Year of Physics, a year to
bring the excitement of physics to the public and to inspire the next
generation of scientists.
2005 is chosen to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of Einstein's
miraculous year. In 1905, he published papers on his most famous
contributions to physics: special relativity, the photoelectric effect, and
Brownian motion.
The public lectures will showcase many hot topics in physics and the
application of physics to everyday life. Some presentations will highlight
the front-line research being done at the U of S, while some will focus on
the history of physics in Saskatchewan in keeping with the 2005 centennial.
The public lecture series will kick off Thursday, January 20th at 7:30 p.m.
in Room 107 of the Physics building with a multimedia presentation on the
dramatic contributions to physics made by Einstein in 1905. Entitled "Space,
Time, Light and Heat", the lecture will be presented by three physics
professors -- Rainer Dick, Rob Pywell and Andrew Robinson. A free coffee and
cookie reception will follow the lecture.
Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1922 "for his services
to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the
photoelectric effect." This discovery led to his development of quantum
theory, arguably the most important advance in the 20th century since it led
to the development of electronic devices such as computers which are now so
much a part of our daily lives.
That said, Einstein is best known for his theory of relativity which, even
today, represents a view of our world mind-bogglingly different from every
day experience. Nevertheless, understanding relativity theory is vital to
the development of many of today's technologies, from the Global Positioning
System to the Canadian Light Source synchrotron.
Finally, Einstein's explanation for the seemingly random "Brownian Motion"
of microscopic dust particles provided evidence for the molecular structure
of all matter.
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For more information, contact:
Rob Pywell
Dept. of Physics and Engineering Physics
(306) 966-6396
rob.pywell@usask.ca
Michael Robin
U of S Research Communications
(306) 966-2427
michael.robin@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research
January 17, 2005
U of S Announces Outcome of Program Reviews
Posted January 17, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 17, 2005
2005-01-03-OTHER
U of S Announces Outcome of Program Reviews
The University of Saskatchewan is pleased to announce the latest outcomes of
Systematic Program Review (SPR), a major six-year review process designed to
improve the quality of education delivered to students, as well as provide
expert feedback to academic units for change and future development.
Established by the University Council in 1999, SPR is designed to encourage
program improvement and innovation, demonstrate accountability, and provide
information to guide decisions about programs and resources. Each review
includes a self-study by the program, a site visit and report by the review
team (consisting of both external and internal reviewers), responses from
Deans and program heads, and decisions on outcome categories. Review
results provide timely and useful information to guide academic units in
planning.
In 2003-2004, a number of programs in Arts and Science and Kinesiology were
reviewed. Programs were evaluated according to quality (of curriculum,
faculty, learning environment, infrastructure and outcomes), demand,
efficiency in the use of resources, and relevance to the province.
There are four possible outcome categories: A (outstanding programs; few, if
any, changes required); B (strong program with some improvements needed); C
(minimally adequate or weak programs; fundamental changes required; concrete
action plan must be developed to address deficiencies); and D (poor quality
and inadequate programs; requirement to consider termination).
University's Provost and Vice-President Academic, Michael Atkinson said,
"These sorts of reviews are standard practice in most universities and aim
to strengthen and maintain academic quality. The review standards that the U
of S sets for itself are quite ambitious. Naturally, there is a tendency to
focus on the assigned grades, but the greatest benefit from the SPR process
comes from the detailed reports our reviewers provide and the advice they
contain."
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For further information, contact:
General information:
Michael Atkinson
Provost and Vice-President Academic
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-8489
Information from the Dean responsible for the programs reviewed:
Jo-Anne Dillon
Dean, College of Arts and Science
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4232
Bob Faulkner
Acting Dean, College of Kinesiology
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-1061
Information on Council decisions:
Beth Bilson
Chair, Planning Committee of Council
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-5885
ARTS and SCIENCE
Drama
BA - B
BFA - B
Languages and Linguistics
B.A (Spanish) - C
B.A. (French) - C
B.A. (German) - C
B.A. (Russian) - C
B.A. (Ukrainian) - D
B.A. (Linguistics) - C
GRAD: M.A (French) - D
Native Studies
B.A - C
GRAD: M.A. - C
KINESIOLOGY
B.Sc. (Kin) - B
B.Sc. (Kin)/B.Ed. - B
GRAD: M.Sc., Ph.D. - B
January 06, 2005
Message from the President - Tsunami Disaster
Posted January 06, 2005
Message from President Peter MacKinnon
The University of Saskatchewan wishes to express its sincere
concern and sympathy to those affected by the recent tsunami
disaster in South East Asia.
This announcement is to remind students, faculty and staff of the
support services available to help deal with the trauma of this event.
In addition, please join me in supporting the various relief efforts of
our campus community.
For updated information, refer to www.usask.ca/tsunami
January 04, 2005
U of S Developed Online Aboriginal Atlas Reveals New Realities in Prairie Cities
Posted January 04, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Tuesday, January 4, 2005 2005-01-01-AR
Online Aboriginal Atlas Reveals New Realities in Prairie Cities
A new online Atlas of Urban Aboriginal Peoples developed by University of
Saskatchewan geography professor Evelyn Peters reveals patterns that may
help city planners, community groups and First Nations agencies.
While many Aboriginal people remain in poor areas of Saskatchewan's major
cities, they are increasingly earning good incomes and spreading out into
more affluent areas. Métis people, for example, are already
distributed fairly evenly throughout Saskatoon.
"More Aboriginal people are moving into the middle class," says Peters, who
created the resource with PhD student Oksana Starchenko. Peters is also a
Canada Research Chair in Geography.
As of the 2001 census, about half of Canada's Aboriginal people were urban
dwellers. About one in 10 citizens in Regina and Saskatoon are Aboriginal.
"If we think of Aboriginal people living everywhere, we don't think of
social challenges as 'aboriginal issues,'" she says. "Aboriginal people are
very much connected to the future of our communities."
Peters explains that the data also point to the dangers in comparing the
Canadian experience with that of black people in the United States. For
example, the term "ghetto" doesn't apply very well to the situation here.
Ghettos in major American cities can be home to hundreds of thousands of
people, with a population that is more than 80 per cent black. In contrast,
the Saskatoon census tracts with the highest Aboriginal populations top out
at about 35 per cent. A census tract is a relatively small geographic area
defined by Statistics Canada, usually containing a population of about 6,000
people.
Peters concedes this point might be lost on someone living on Saskatchewan's
mean streets.
"Aboriginal households living in areas of extreme poverty talk about fear,
housing inadequacy and problems their children face. It doesn't help to tell
them they aren't living in a 'ghetto' as defined by academics," she says.
"Still, areas of poverty and areas where Aboriginal people live in Saskatoon
are not like U.S. ghettos, and it isn't helpful to use language that
suggests that they are. The real challenge is to find out what is going on
with Aboriginal people in Canadian cities, and not assume that we know by
analogy with the U.S. situation. We need a made-in-Saskatchewan,
made-on-the-Prairies perspective."
The atlas is the culmination of three years of crunching statistics from
several sources, particularly the 1971, 1981 and 2001 censuses from
Statistics Canada. The numbers are fed into an online computer engine that
produces coloured maps that clearly show distribution of Aboriginal
populations. Funding for the project is provided by the Canada Foundation
for Innovation, and the Government of Saskatchewan's Innovation and Science
Fund.
Saskatoon and Regina are the first two cities to be included in the atlas,
with Winnipeg to follow in the next few weeks. Peters expects Prince Albert,
Edmonton and Calgary maps to be available by next summer, after which she
plans to add socioeconomic data to the resource.
"We've made this a resource to teach our own students about Aboriginal
people," Peters says. "Certainly geographers will use it, and we're very
much hoping that urban planners and Aboriginal organizations can use it."
The atlas is available on the U of S Department of Geography website
http://www.arts.usask.ca/geography (click on "Links"), or go directly to the
atlas at http://gismap.usask.ca/website/Web_atlas/AOUAP/.
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For more information, contact:
Evelyn J. Peters
Department of Geography
College of Arts and Science
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-5639
evp818@duke.usask.ca
Michael Robin
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2427
michael.robin@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research
