This year, UPEI will be holding its 12th annual UPEI Science Undergraduate Research Conference (USURC). This conference provides UPEI students with a chance to present their summer research projects before a public audience, allowing the students to develop their formal presentation skills, and learn about a crucial part of scientific research. Presentations will begin at 9:30 am, and will continue throughout the day. Students from a variety of Faculty of Science departments will be presenting, including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Psychology, and Applied Human Sciences. For program and abstract details, see the attached PDF.

With guest speaker Dr. Dan McKenney (Canada Forest Service) As PEI gardeners, we’re quite aware of the challenges of growing plants that may be borderline hardy in the region where we live. “Will it grow in my zone?” is the pertinent question about winter hardiness for perennial plants. Scientists have developed maps of plant hardiness zones for Canada based on seven climate variables (not only the average annual minimum temperature). Now they are beginning to assess how changes in climate affect what can be grown in different regions. New plant hardiness data compiled by Natural Resources Canada over a 50-year period was released last year, by Dr. Dan McKenney and others, describing a northern shift in zones across Canada. They compared the data used for the original zones and maps from the 1931 to 1960 period with more recent observations used for the 1981 to 2010 indexing of plant hardiness. Most areas in Canada along the U.S. border are at least half a zone higher now. Come hear Dan describe how plant hardiness zones have changed on PEI as the climate has changed and become warmer. Dan McKenney is a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service and team leader at Great Lakes Forestry Centre (GLFC). The presentation will take place on Friday, August 14th from 12 pm to 2 pm at The Regis and Joan Duffy Research Centre on UPEI campus (550 University Ave., Charlottetown).  Lunch will be provided. Space is limited.    There is no cost to attend the presentation, but registration is required.  To register, please email climate@upei.ca. 

A public lecture by Scottish scholar-activist, Alastair McIntosh, will open the national Quaker annual meeting at the University of Prince Edward Island on Sunday, August 16, at 7:00 p.m. The free talk is in Room 242, MacKinnon Auditorium of Don and Marion McDougall Hall. McIntosh's talk is titled “Decolonising Land and Soul: a Quaker Testimony.” McIntosh is known for the way he brings together theology, anthropology, and human ecology with the organization of citizen based campaigns that can save valued landscapes and human communities from industrial degradation. In 1991 he was part of a campaign that prevented the biggest road stone quarry in the world from being located on one of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides islands. There he had support from Cape Breton Mi’Kmaq First Nations. In 2005 he travelled to Digby Neck to help on a campaign against a super-quarry proposal. He has written ‘Soil and Soul’ and has a book out shortly to join other publications. Holding a visiting professorship at Glasgow University, he has twice previously lectured at UPEI on land reform and liberation theology. The public is invited to worship with Quakers earlier that day (10:00 a.m.) in the same auditorium. Further information at quaker.ca or media@quaker.ca  

The Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee invites the campus community to a MSc thesis defence, presented by Tessa K. Roche, BSc. Her thesis is titled: ASSESSMENT OF BALANCE BEHAVIOUR, EYE-MOVEMENT, AND ATTENTION: A STEP TOWARDS A MORE COMPREHENSIVE CONCUSSION RETURN-TO-PLAY PROTOCOL Everyone is welcome.

The Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee invites the campus community to a MSc thesis defence, presented by Julia McKenna, BSc. Her thesis is titled: ON THE USE OF CONTRALATERAL AUDISOTYR SUPPRESSION OF TRANSIENT EVOKED OTO-ACOUSTIC EMISSIONS AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY TO ESTABLISH BASELINE MEASURES FOR CONCUSSION AND RETURN TO PLAY Everyone is welcome.  

The Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee invites the University community to the first Seminar of its 2015-16 Environmental Sciences / Human Biology Seminar Series. Dr. Steve Heard from the University of New Brunswick (UNB) will offer the following presentation: What scientific writing is-- Reflections on the history, culture, and practice of composition in the natural sciences The Seminar is well suited for students in Science from all disciplines and also for those interested in scientific writing. From Dr Heard: How do scientists write, and how do they think about writing?  For many scientists, the answers are "painfully" and "we don't". Fixing the problem inherent in the first answer involves changing the second.  I will discuss some aspects of the cultural and historical roots of the scientific-writing form, of the function of the written document in the hands of its readers, and of the writing behaviour of ordinary scientists.   We can increase our own scientific impact, while simultaneously improving our literature, with conscious attention to what writing is. Everyone is welcome.

The UPEI Bookstore is holding its annual "Back to School" Sale this week, from August 24-28. We've got more than pens and textbooks—all the items you need for your classes, for your room or apartment, and everything in between. Grab some UPEI gear and gifts, and dress yourself in all styles, sizes and colours of UPEI Panthers clothing. We have extended hours this week, so stop in today! Visit the UPEI Bookstore website

Please join us for this year’s Let’s Talk Teaching Day on Friday, September 4 in HSB 104. The theme this year is Teaching for Transfer, and we are very fortunate to have as our keynote speaker Dr. Rosemary Polegato of Mount Allison University, a 2014 3M Fellow and an authority on student portfolios, whose address is entitled “Engaging Students in Reflection on Learning: Explanations, Exercises, and Portfolios.” Other presenters include Dr. Shannon Murray on “Teaching for Transfer” and Dr. Stacey MacKinnon on “People Aren't Asking Questions: Why That Is and What We Can Begin to Do About It at UPEI.” We will also present this year’s Janet Pottie Murray Award for Educational Leadership, and the day will end with a workshop conducted by Dr. Polegato based on her keynote address. Lunch will be provided, and, in deference to the date, this year’s Let’s Talk Teaching Day has been slightly shortened. Coffee and breakfast snacks will be served at 9:45, the day will begin at 10:00, and we plan to wrap up between 2:30 and 3:00. Oh, and please bring a new or recent syllabus for one of your courses for the workshop. If you have any questions, please email Gerald at the Faculty Development Office: fdo@upei.ca

The Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee invites to a MSc- Environmental Sciences Thesis defence by Brittany Cole: “Adapting to beach and dune environments: A study of fitness and ecological factors in the coastal plant Cakile edentula". Everyone is invited.

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to a memorial for Dr. Barry Bartmann, a professor in Political Science and Island Studies who passed away earlier this week. The memorial will take place in the UPEI Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, from 4:00 - 5:00 pm on Friday, August 28.