Dr. Sarah Gallagher, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Western Ontario, will be at UPEI as part of the 2017 Canadian Association of Physicists Lecture Tour. Her talk, “The Biggest Blowhards: Windy Supermassive Black Holes,” is Wednesday, March 22 at 4:30 pm in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium, room 242 of UPEI’s Don and Marion McDougall Hall. All are welcome. Supermassive black holes reside in the centres of every massive galaxy including our own Milky Way. In relatively brief spurts, black holes grow as luminous quasars through the infall of material through an accretion disk. Remarkably, the light from the accretion disk can outshine all of the stars in the host galaxy by a factor of a thousand, and this radiation can also drive energetic outflows. Mass ejection in the form of winds appears to be fundamental to quasar activity and can be directly observed in many objects with broadened and blue-shifted UV emission and absorption features. Dr. Gallagher will describe our model of the dusty wind and evaluate its successes and shortcomings in accounting for observed properties of quasars such their mid-infrared power and the fraction of hidden objects. Sarah Gallagher is currently an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Western Ontario. Prior to that, she was an assistant research astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on investigating the nature of winds from luminous quasars (accreting supermassive black holes at the centers of distant galaxies) using observatories covering the infrared to the X-ray, including two of NASA’s Great Observatories, Spitzer and Chandra. 

Doors open at 5:30 in the Student Union Building. Global Village is an event full of fun activities, cultural boths and performances from around the world. Wear your traditional clothes and show-off your style. This is a free event, open to everyone, and family friendly. Please feel free to bring your kids.

Selvi Roy will present her PhD dissertation defence on Wednesday, March 27 at 1:00 pm in AVC Lecture Room A. Dissertation Title: "Grade Ten Students' Agentic Engagement Within Project-Based Learning". 

Melissa D. MacLean will present her Master of Education thesis defence on Wednesday, March 29 at 9:00 am in Memorial Hall room 308. Thesis Title: "Instructional Videos and the Flipped Classroom".

Yuanyuan Zhang will present her Master of Education thesis defence on Wednesday, March 29 at 2:00 pm in Memorial Hall room 215. Thesis Title: "Visitors or Stakeholders? Engaging International Students in the Development of Higher Education Policy".

Dr. Galletly is the second of three candidates short-listed for the inaugural Chair in L.M. Montgomery Studies and Commuication, Leadership, and Culture.  All are welcome to this rescheduled talk.

Date: Saturday,  April.1st Time: 10:00am - 3:00pm Location: Macdougall Hall, UPEI Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UPEImymindmatters/ Website: http://mymindmatters2017.weebly.com/   We are excited for you to join us for UPEI’s first and FREE ‘My Mind Matters’ conference. It is organized by students, for students. Together, we aim to empower individuals and unite the campus community on topics surrounding mental health, while promoting wellness, tackling stigma and inspiring innovation. We plan to provide students with the practical tools and resources to maintain their well-being and build supportive communities at UPEI and beyond.   The conference features: a Jack.org Keynote Speaker, sessions on self talk, self-love, motivation, journaling, soup for the soul and yoga. We look forward to discussion circles focused on the variety of pressing issues facing university students, graduate students, LGBTQ, how to become an advocate and general mental health wellness conversation for all. Registration is free and can be done through our website http://mymindmatters2017.weebly.com/.   Please contact mymindmatters@upei.ca for more information.

SPEAKER:  Haifaa Mahjoub, Pathology and Microbiology TITLE:  Investigations on the treatment and diagnosis of metastrongyloid infections in dogs and cats.

UPEI Presents the fourth annual 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) Competition on Tuesday, March 28th at 7:00 pm at the Wave Campus Pub, W.A. Murphy Student Centre, UPEI. Please come out and support all of the 10 participants for this year's 3MT. You will learn about these Graduate Students' theses in just three minutes! Join us for lots of fun and lots to learn!

All graduate students are encouraged to attend the Spring AGM for the UPEI Graduate Students' Association.   The AGM will be held April 27, 4:30-6 pm, in AVC 286A N.