Looking to procrastinate your grading just a little? We get it.

The Experiential Education department would like to gather feedback from faculty about the type of supports and services they would like to see with respect to career development and work-integrated learning through the 2024/25 academic year. This feedback will help us plan and prioritize as we allocate resources to our work across campus.

Please visit https://forms.gle/DhhN8HvJzUYuK5US9 to provide your feedback. Thanks!

Presenter:  Tyler Power

Title: “The influence of oyster leases and eelgrass beds on local biodiversity levels at two productive bays in Prince Edward Island”

Marine sedimentary communities include epifaunal and infaunal organisms, and those found in Prince Edward Island (PEI) are often associated with beds of eelgrass (Zostera marina) and Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Unlike eelgrass, oysters are farmed as part of a productive aquaculture industry and occur adjacent to both eelgrass and bare sediments. Since eelgrass and oysters contribute to the structural complexity of the seafloor, the overarching hypothesis of this thesis was that habitats formed by these species sustain more diverse communities. To test this hypothesis, I compared epifaunal and infaunal communities in eelgrass beds, on-bottom and off-bottom oyster leases, and bare sediments across North Rustico and Rustico Bay. Epifauna was sampled using trapping surveys during 2021-2022, while infauna was sampled on a single diving survey (2021). Generally, eelgrass and on-bottom oyster leases supported more diverse and abundant epifauna than bare sediments, and their community composition and abundance were different. The infauna was more abundant in bare sediments, but diversity was again higher in eelgrass beds and on-bottom oyster leases, and their community composition was distinct. Most of the results gathered supported the hypothesis proposed and suggest that structurally complex habitats foster richer local communities.

Date/time/location: Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 1:00 pm, AVC 286A

Everyone is welcome.

Welcome to the following new employees who joined the University of Prince Edward Island community in March 2024:

• Jonathan Hewitt, Student Affairs
• Dr. Marti Hopson, Companion Animals, Veterinary Medicine
• Veronica Lynn Kaye, Biomedical Sciences, Veterinary Medicine
• Steve Love, Ancillary Services
• Emily MacIntyre, Facilities Management
• Mikalia Ann MacLaurin, Veterinary Teaching Hospital
• Courtney Catherine MacLennan, Veterinary Teaching Hospital
• Edwin Nawa Mfone, Marketing and Communications
• Graham Nixon, IT Systems and Services
• Elizabeth Pan, Psychology, Arts
• Kwan Ting Peng, Registrar’s Office
• Marie Trudy Wisener, Nursing

We are excited to have you join the UPEI team!

Presenter: Dr. Kristina Kupferschmidt, candidate for a tenure-track position in the School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences 

Teaching Talk: Friday, April 19, 9:30--10:30 am, Cass Science Hall 101

Research Talk: Friday, April 19, 1:30--2:30 pm, Cass Science Hall 101

Title: "Back to the building blocks: Making AI more human-centric through data-centric practices" 

Abstract: The growing popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) presents tremendous opportunities for high-stakes fields such as medicine and public policy. However, the risks associated with their use must be properly quantified and mitigated. Human-centered AI (HCAI) is an approach that applies design thinking, with a heavy focus on collaboration with experts, to facilitate the responsible development of AI systems. HCAI typically considers many pillars including fairness, explainability, and usability; however, the current literature often fails to recognize the complex interactions between these pillars, and recommendations are often theoretical in nature. 

To address these challenges, my ongoing research has focused on developing practical tools and studying real-world examples that demonstrate effective integrations of HCAI across different domains. My future research program will continue to build on this work by leveraging modern ML technologies, such as large language models (LLMs) and multimodal transformers, to provide additional context to models designed for high-stakes scenarios. These settings, which often rely on expert insight to consider complex contextual factors such as diagnostic risks or ethical values, highlight the limitations of current AI systems. By enhancing the ability of ML systems to process and interpret the contexts in which they operate, my research aims to significantly improve the transition of novel ML tools from the experimental stage to practical, reliable applications. The potential benefits expand beyond just improving technical performance but also include building user trust in AI systems.

Teaching and research talks are open to the UPEI campus community.

In order to accommodate UPEI computer classroom and lab software adds, drops, or modifications for the 2024 fall semester, we have set a firm deadline of June 1, 2024.

This date is necessary to allow sufficient time to plan and implement the installation of new and upgraded software. This ensures our students will have the software resources they need. Any requests received after the deadline will be applied in the next round of software updates.

Further information is available on the ITSS website, or you can email smahar@upei.ca by June 1 with your request indicating:

• New software requirements (licensed or freeware). Please provide the software name and vendor.
• Version upgrades to existing software (if multiple versions are required please provide specifics)
• Software that can be decommissioned

The deadline for Summer 2024 tuition waivers is April 22, 2024.  We encourage you to have tuition waivers submitted as soon as possible to assist in the timely processing. Tuition waiver forms must be submitted electronically.  

Online employee and spouse/dependent tuition waiver fillable forms can be found on the main page of MyUPEI under UPEI Forms.

If you have any questions, please contact Human Resources at (902) 566-0514 or hrgeneral@upei.ca.

Classes are over, and you just have to make it through exams! The library is here to help, and not just with books and research advice. On Friday, April 19 from 12-1 pm, join us for Library Coffee Break, co-sponsored with Dana Hospitality. Follow @RobertsonLibrary on Instagram and Facebook so you never miss a Pop-Up Surprise. 

UPEI's fiscal year ends on April 30, 2024.

Purchasing Cut-Offs

Requisition/purchase order:

The last day to create a requisition/purchase order for the 2023-24 fiscal year will be on Thursday, April 18, 2024, at noon, with guaranteed delivery date on or before April 30, 2024.

Requisitions/purchase orders created after April 18, 2024, will have the requisition date changed to May 1, 2024, and the goods and services must be delivered on or after May 1, 2024. If you are unable to change the requisition's date to May 1, 2024, please put a note in the comment section of the requisition indicating it is a new year order.

Receiving goods/services cut-off: April 30, 2024

Goods and services must be received on campus by April 30, 2024. Only the goods that have been physically received or completed services should be accepted at this time. This will ensure that these goods and services are paid in the 2023-24 fiscal year.  Any items received in myUPEI after April 30, 2024, will be considered new fiscal year goods and services and will be deducted from your new fiscal year budget (2024-25).

All departments are required to look at their outstanding purchase order list to see if there are any purchase orders that need to be cancelled. This functionality can be accessed through the myUPEI self-service menu under "Financial Information" and the “Receive Goods and Services” selection.

If the items have been back-ordered for some time, you will need to check with the supplier to see if they are still on their records as back-ordered. If they are not back-ordered, then please email procurement@upei.ca to cancel your purchase order.

If you are in receipt of vendor invoices, forward these to invoices@upei.ca ASAP. Please contact apadmin@upei.ca with questions or concerns regarding billing and invoicing.

Need assistance? 

Please take a look at the “Financial Tools Reference Guide” under the "Self-Service Help" tab on myUPEI. 

On April 18 and 19, parking in Lot D will restricted to buses only. This is to accommodate high school students visiting the Engineering Expo in the FSDE building on these dates. Please use Lot E across the street.

Facilities Management apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.  

Presenter:  Tyler Power

Title: “The influence of oyster leases and eelgrass beds on local biodiversity levels at two productive bays in Prince Edward Island”

Marine sedimentary communities include epifaunal and infaunal organisms, and those found in Prince Edward Island (PEI) are often associated with beds of eelgrass (Zostera marina) and Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Unlike eelgrass, oysters are farmed as part of a productive aquaculture industry and occur adjacent to both eelgrass and bare sediments. Since eelgrass and oysters contribute to the structural complexity of the seafloor, the overarching hypothesis of this thesis was that habitats formed by these species sustain more diverse communities. To test this hypothesis, I compared epifaunal and infaunal communities in eelgrass beds, on-bottom and off-bottom oyster leases, and bare sediments across North Rustico and Rustico Bay. Epifauna was sampled using trapping surveys during 2021-2022, while infauna was sampled on a single diving survey (2021). Generally, eelgrass and on-bottom oyster leases supported more diverse and abundant epifauna than bare sediments, and their community composition and abundance were different. The infauna was more abundant in bare sediments, but diversity was again higher in eelgrass beds and on-bottom oyster leases, and their community composition was distinct. Most of the results gathered supported the hypothesis proposed and suggest that structurally complex habitats foster richer local communities.

Date/time/location: Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 1:00 pm, AVC 286A

Everyone is welcome.

Welcome to the following new employees who joined the University of Prince Edward Island community in March 2024:

• Jonathan Hewitt, Student Affairs
• Dr. Marti Hopson, Companion Animals, Veterinary Medicine
• Veronica Lynn Kaye, Biomedical Sciences, Veterinary Medicine
• Steve Love, Ancillary Services
• Emily MacIntyre, Facilities Management
• Mikalia Ann MacLaurin, Veterinary Teaching Hospital
• Courtney Catherine MacLennan, Veterinary Teaching Hospital
• Edwin Nawa Mfone, Marketing and Communications
• Graham Nixon, IT Systems and Services
• Elizabeth Pan, Psychology, Arts
• Kwan Ting Peng, Registrar’s Office
• Marie Trudy Wisener, Nursing

We are excited to have you join the UPEI team!

Presenter: Dr. Juan Margalef Bentabol, candidate for a tenure-track position in the School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences

Teaching talk: Thursday, April 18, 9:30--10:30 am, Cass Science Hall 101

Research talk: Thursday, April 18, 1:30--2:30 pm, Cass Science Hall 101

Title: "Symplectic Structures in the boundaries of Physics: Bridging the canonical and covariant formalisms"

Abstract:

Symplectic structures play a fundamental role in understanding the dynamics and potential quantization of many physical theories. There are essentially two different ways of endowing a physical theory with such a structure: the canonical and the covariant. While the former relies on the canonical symplectic structure of a cotangent bundle, the latter emerges from variational calculus (differential calculus in infinite-dimensional manifolds) for a given action. Including boundaries in the canonical formalism poses no problem; however, in the covariant formalism, things break apart with the standard methods developed in the 90s.

In this presentation, I will provide concise overviews of both formalisms without boundaries and introduce a novel framework developed to handle boundaries seamlessly. Through this framework, I will prove the equivalence of several gravity theories which were thought to be inequivalent and unveil a recent breakthrough: the establishment of the full equivalence between the canonical and covariant formalisms, resolving a longstanding problem which remained open for nearly four decades.

Teaching and research talks are open to the UPEI campus community.

The UPEI Bookstore will be closed from April 29 to 30 to complete our inventory. This is a reminder that any purchasing for this fiscal year-end needs to be completed by April 26, 2024. 

If you have any questions, please contact bookstore@upei.ca.

In order to accommodate UPEI computer classroom and lab software adds, drops, or modifications for the 2024 fall semester, we have set a firm deadline of June 1, 2024.

This date is necessary to allow sufficient time to plan and implement the installation of new and upgraded software. This ensures our students will have the software resources they need. Any requests received after the deadline will be applied in the next round of software updates.

Further information is available on the ITSS website, or you can email smahar@upei.ca by June 1 with your request indicating:

• New software requirements (licensed or freeware). Please provide the software name and vendor.
• Version upgrades to existing software (if multiple versions are required please provide specifics)
• Software that can be decommissioned

Presenter: Romina Babazadeh

Title: “Impact of Lifestyle Intervention on Depression and Anxiety Score of Patients With Metabolic Syndrome”

There is evidence to suggest that an increase in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome results in an increase in the severity of depression and anxiety. However, it is unclear whether lifestyle intervention targeting metabolic syndrome also benefits individuals' anxiety and depressive symptoms. The objective of this thesis was to investigate the impact of lifestyle changes on the symptoms of depression and anxiety in patients with metabolic syndrome. Additionally, this study examined whether changes in diet, activity, or fitness were most closely associated with changes in depression and anxiety. 575 community adults completed the CHANGE program, of whom 208 were eligible for this study. Anxiety, depression, physical activity, diet, fitness, and total metabolic syndrome criteria were measured at baseline and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Based on the results, a significant improvement was observed in participants' anxiety and depression scores at the end of the intervention program. Furthermore, it was found that reduced sedentary time and improved shoulder flexibility were significantly associated with changes in depression scores. Surprisingly, no significant association was found between anxiety and different components of the CHANGE program. To conclude, it is presumed that improvements in individuals' lifestyle habits provided a beneficial effect on the symptoms of depression and anxiety among patients with metabolic syndrome.

Date/time/location: Friday April 19, 2024, AVC 286C, 9:00 am

Everyone is welcome.

The Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, invites all to attend Joshua Peters' public dissertation defense presentation of his PsyD research titled “Faggy Butterfly”: Stories of Gay Liberation, Transformation, and Resilience on Rural Prince Edward Island.

Please join us on Friday, April 19, 2024, from 11:30 am-1:30 pm ADT

In person: SDU Main Building, Room 320

Via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81692911320

The University of Prince Edward Island’s Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering will showcase the best in sustainable design engineering by its students at the annual Student Design Expo on Friday, April 19, starting at 1 pm. Projects can be viewed until 3:30 pm.

Student projects will be presented in person. Each project is the result of collaboration between FSDE students and an industry or community partner. Students were tasked with designing and creating solutions to their partners’ unique challenges. We look forward to seeing everyone.

The Office of Commercialization, Industry, and& Innovation (OCII) is seeking researchers interested in applying for partnered NRC-IRAP CTO grants for 2024-2025. 

Program summary: To provide technical advice to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to assist in advancing SME-specific applied research and development challenges that may lead to future collaborations.

Eligible applicants: UPEI faculty

Available funding: A maximum of $5,000 per project

Guidelines:

1. Project must initiate a new relationship with an industry partner and have a reasonable potential to lead to future collaborations.
2. Project must provide scientific and technical advice to an industry partner to solve an industry-specific challenge.
3. Industry partner must be a for-profit SME within Canada that can further develop or implement the technical advice into their operations.
4. Typically, one project is allowed per faculty member and only one project per industry partner – with the expanded allocation, these limits may be increased to encourage additional partnerships.*

Project Information:

1. Project duration is a maximum of two months.
2. Type of activities may include, but are not limited to, literature review, prototype/laboratory testing, or computational evaluation. Inquire with OCII for clarification on proposed project suitability.
3. Eligible expenses are professional fees only.

Application:

1. A two-page application form must be completed by the industry partner and the faculty member. Faculty members should contact Dr. Rebecca Mok (rsmok@upei.ca) to obtain an application.
2. The completed application should be emailed to Dr. Mok.
3. OCII and NRC IRAP will review the application, and the decision on funding will be provided within two weeks. Prior to making any funding decision, NRC-IRAP will contact the industry partner to confirm that the project assists with an industry-specific challenge.
4. Applications will be accepted until February 28, 2025, or until the allocated funds have been used.
5. All projects must be completed by March 31, 2025.

Reporting Requirements:

• A final report is due at the end of the project.
• A copy of the final report should be provided to the industry partner and OCII.
• Funding will be issued after the final report has been submitted and funds received from NRC-IRAP.

For more information contact:

Rebecca Mok, PhD, Business Development Officer, OCII

rsmok@upei.ca; 902-620-5032

*Exceptions may apply and are subject to evaluation and approval by OCII. If existing funds are underutilized or additional funds are granted, faculty/industry partners may be eligible for additional projects.

In order to accommodate UPEI computer classroom and lab software adds, drops, or modifications for the 2024 fall semester, we have set a firm deadline of June 1, 2024.

This date is necessary to allow sufficient time to plan and implement the installation of new and upgraded software. This ensures our students will have the software resources they need. Any requests received after the deadline will be applied in the next round of software updates.

Further information is available on the ITSS website, or you can email smahar@upei.ca by June 1 with your request indicating:

• New software requirements (licensed or freeware). Please provide the software name and vendor.
• Version upgrades to existing software (if multiple versions are required please provide specifics)
• Software that can be decommissioned

Presenter: Romina Babazadeh

Title: “Impact of Lifestyle Intervention on Depression and Anxiety Score of Patients With Metabolic Syndrome”

There is evidence to suggest that an increase in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome results in an increase in the severity of depression and anxiety. However, it is unclear whether lifestyle intervention targeting metabolic syndrome also benefits individuals' anxiety and depressive symptoms. The objective of this thesis was to investigate the impact of lifestyle changes on the symptoms of depression and anxiety in patients with metabolic syndrome. Additionally, this study examined whether changes in diet, activity, or fitness were most closely associated with changes in depression and anxiety. 575 community adults completed the CHANGE program, of whom 208 were eligible for this study. Anxiety, depression, physical activity, diet, fitness, and total metabolic syndrome criteria were measured at baseline and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Based on the results, a significant improvement was observed in participants' anxiety and depression scores at the end of the intervention program. Furthermore, it was found that reduced sedentary time and improved shoulder flexibility were significantly associated with changes in depression scores. Surprisingly, no significant association was found between anxiety and different components of the CHANGE program. To conclude, it is presumed that improvements in individuals' lifestyle habits provided a beneficial effect on the symptoms of depression and anxiety among patients with metabolic syndrome.

Date/time/location: Friday April 19, 2024, AVC 286C, 9:00 am

Everyone is welcome.