For the first time on PEI, the Canada-Wide Science Fair 2012 will take place in Charlottetown from May 12 to 19, on the University of Prince Edward Island campus.

This national event brings together Canada's 500 top scientists from grades 7 to 12 who have won their local, regional and provincial science competitions. And beyond showcasing their projects and competing for top awards and prizes, finalists will share a week of fun, discovery, and networking with other Canadian students, scientists and researchers, industry, and Islanders who are also interested in science and technology.

Everyone is invited to come to the UPEI campus to welcome, congratulate and meet Canada's future science leaders during the public viewing times:

UPEI Applied Human Sciences professor Jennifer Taylor was named a Female Food Hero by Oxfam Canada recently. Oxfam's Female Food Heroes are "women who are working to build a movement for good food, food that is grown well and shared fairly."

Taylor is a female food hero because of the amazing variety of food-related community contributions that she makes on PEI. She is an award-winning leader in the community, and works with others to promote access to healthy food. She is a strong proponent of local food and of ensuring local producers are part of the solution to providing local healthy food for all.

Oxfam Canada will hold its regional meeting on PEI on May 11-12, where they will discuss local and global food issues, celebrate and support the critical role of women around the issues of food both nationally and internationally. Oxfam believes ending global poverty begins with women's rights.

Members of the UPEI community are invited to take part in the public forum, "The Future of Food in PEI: Ending Hunger Globally, Sourcing Food Locally" on Friday, May 11 from 7:00-8:30 pm at the Murphy's Community Centre. Free admission and all are welcome.

On Friday, May 11, academic and senior student awards were presented during a ceremony held in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre. The celebration is an opportunity to honour fellow graduating students for academic and campus spirit achievements before they embark on new journeys after convocation on May 12.

The ceremony was attended by the deans of each faculty and other faculty members who joined together to acknowledge the years of dedication and sleepless nights the graduates endured to achieve their goals. The ceremony was also attended by many individuals and business representatives who have generously donated prizes to deserving students.

All graduates were encouraged to attend the awards ceremony to promote spirit for the Class of 2012 and to acknowledge the donors for prizes that students received. Students received awards for academics, campus and class spirit, a resident life award, life executive award, and faculty association award were also presented.

*Please note that the full list of awards and recipients from this ceremony will be printed in the Convocation program. The following is a list of the 2012 Senior Class Award recipients which were presented at the ceremony:

Over 900 graduates crossed the stage to receive their degrees, diplomas, and certificates, during convocation on Saturday, May 12. UPEI's class of 2012 and their proud family and friends gathered in the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre for two ceremonies, the first beginning at 10:00 am and the second at 2:30 pm.

Three honorary degrees were conferred upon J. Michael Bliss, historian and academic; Frank Zakem, businessman, politician, and administrator; and Derek Key, lawyer and community leader.

In his convocation remarks to the morning graduates, Bliss advised them not to take themselves too seriously, and although he surmised that they would not remember what he said (Bliss states in one of his books, 'whoever remembers what a graduation speaker says?'), he hoped they would remember one word, 'balance.'

Bliss went on to challenge graduates to balance their work and personal lives. 'Almost all of us should turn off our computers and our smartphones and look up at the real world.'

Key addressed the afternoon convocation and explained 'common people can do amazingly uncommon things,' and that everyone is responsible for their own happiness and responsible for the energy that they bring into each day. 'Your job does not define you. Your job or your profession merely will give you the tools and the talents to move forward and perhaps enrich someone else's life,' said Key. 'In doing so, you will enrich your own.'

Two Newfoundlanders delivered the valedictory addresses during this year's convocation ceremonies. Sarah O'Donnell who received her Bachelor of Education degree, gave the morning address, while Amy Wilson who was awarded her Bachelor of Music Education degree, addressed her fellow graduates in the afternoon.

While a number of prizes were awarded at events leading up to convocation, the Governor-General Medals were presented by the Honourable H. Frank Lewis, Lieutenant-Governor of PEI, during the afternoon convocation to graduate student Adam Proud (Master of Science) of Charlottetown, and to undergraduate student Runmin Shi (Bachelor of Science-Honours Mathematics) of Zhu Zhou, Hunan, China.

Check out 2012 Convocation photos here!

The UPEI Men's Basketball Panthers are excited to announce that six-foot-five Brian Ofori, from Dawson College in Montreal, has committed to attend UPEI in September. Ofori led his team in rebounds and blocked shots, and was among the league leaders in the Quebec CEGEP league.

Tim Kendrick, head coach of the UPEI men's basketball team was thrilled to learn Ofori would be attending UPEI in the fall. 'We are excited to add Ofori to our Panther family. He comes to us with tremendous potential, and I see him as a great fit for our program,' said Kendrick. 'He is a very physical athlete with a solid work ethic and attitude. Most importantly, like all of our players, he is a fine young man.'

Ofori is excited to join the Panthers lineup in September. 'I am very pleased to have been chosen to play with the UPEI Panthers, and to be a part of this up-and-coming program,' said Ofori. 'I have been told that this is the perfect place for me to develop into a great player under the leadership of Coach Kendrick and his staff,' said Ofori. 'I intend to work hard on and off the court and can't thank UPEI enough for this opportunity.'

For more information on UPEI men's basketball, visit http://www.upei.ca/athletics/mens-basketball/

UPEI faculty members were honoured at Faculty Recognition Night, May 7, held this year on campus to celebrate and honour faculty achievements. The annual dinner and gala is co-sponsored by the UPEI Faculty Association and the Office of the President.

This event honours the winners of the Hessian Award for Excellence in Teaching and the UPEI Merit Award for Scholarly Achievement. It is also an opportunity to honour the service of retiring academic staff, as well as to recognize those who have served UPEI for 25 years or more.

The Hessian Award is given to a faculty member who has shown outstanding competence in teaching; this year's recipients include: Inge Dorsey, University 100; Stacey MacKinnon, Psychology; LeeAnn Pack, Companion Animals; and Jason Pearson, Chemistry.

This year, three faculty members were recognized for their outstanding achievements as researchers. Carla DiGiorgio, Faculty of Education; and from the Faculty of Science, Pedro Quijón, Biology; and Michael P. Shaver, Chemistry. Each received a 2012 UPEI Merit Award for Scholarly Achievement. These awards are intended to honour faculty members in scholarly research and/or artistic creation, and in doing so, inspire others to aspire to such achievement.

Raymond Doiron, Education; Ian Dohoo, Health Management; Susan Dohoo, Biomedical Sciences; Gerald Johnson, Pathology and Microbiology; Mary Jean McCarthy, Nursing; Caroline Runyon, Companion Animals; and Gavin Richardson, Health Management, were recognized for their years of service to the University, as they either have already retired, or will be retiring this year.

David Buck, Classics; Pierre-Yves Daoust, Pathology and Microbiology; Lawrence LeClair, Sociology and Anthropology; Jeanne Lofstedt, Health Management; Robert Lofstedt, Health Management; Arthur Ortenburger, Health Management; David Seeler, Companion Animals; Elizabeth Spangler, Health Management; and Andrew Tasker, Biomedical Sciences, received pins in recognition of 25 years of service to UPEI.

Earlier on the afternoon of May 7, the first annual Presidential Recognition Awards of Merit, were presented to faculty members and librarians. Awards were given to faculty members in the categories of teaching, scholarly endeavours, service, or a combined achievement, while awards for librarians were based on exceptional performance, in one or more areas of professional practice, scholarly endeavours, professional development, and/or service. The following is a list of Presidential Recognition Award winners:

Rabin Bissessur, Chemistry (combined); Ann Braithwaite, Women's Studies (combined); Gary Conboy, Pathology and Microbiology (combined); Jeff Davidson, Health Management (combined); Lori Weeks, Applied Human Sciences (combined); Susan Graham, Business (combined); Jason Pearson, Chemistry (combined); Michael P. Shaver, Chemistry (combined); Richard Raiswell, History (combined); Ian Dowbiggin, History (scholarly endeavours); Greg Keefe, Health Management (scholarly endeavours); Peter Koritansky, Religious Studies (scholarly endeavours); Tarek Saleh, Biomedical Sciences (scholarly endeavours); Nola Etkin, Chemistry (service); Donna Giberson, Biology (teaching); Kathy Gottschall-Pass, Applied Human Sciences (service); Donald Moses, Library (professional practice); Stacey MacKinnon, Psychology; LeeAnn Pack, Companion Animals; Pedro Quijón, Biology; Carla DiGiorgio, Faculty of Education.

The end is near. It seems the end is ALWAYS near. And the end is always being brought about by hadron-crazy particle physicists, or predicted by ancient Mayans, or the result of betrayal by our trusted friend, the Sun, erupting in a temper tantrum of a solar superstorm.

Will time itself end later this year? What's science and what's science fiction? And what is, sometimes both at the same time? How do astronomers think the universe might end? The closing chapters in the Big Bang Theory used to be either an infinitely long slide towards absolute zero or a "Big Crunch". Why are some cosmologists now talking about "The Big Rip"?

On Saturday, May 19, Professor Jaymie Matthews, an astrophysicist with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UBC will answer some of these questions at a free, public lecture presented by the Canada-Wide Science Fair 2012 and the departments of Physics and Engineering at the University of Prince Edward Island. The lecture will take place in the Alex H. MacKinnon Lecture Theatre (242) at Don and Marion McDougall Hall from 7:30 to 8:30 pm, followed by a question and answer period.

If the world ends before then, the talk is cancelled. No refunds. (No charge for admission, either.)

About Dr. Jaymie Matthews

Jaymie Matthews is an astro-paparazzo who unveils the hidden lifestyles of stars by eavesdropping on 'the music of the spheres.' Dr. Matthews is the Mission Scientist leading the Canadian Space Agency's MOST (Microvariability & Oscillations of Stars) project, and a Professor of Astrophysics in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of British Columbia. He and his team are trying to revise the biography of our Sun-past and future-by studying its neighbours in our Galactic city, the Milky Way.

Dr. Matthews is a world-leading expert in the fields of stellar seismology, exoplanetary science, and astronomical time series analysis. He was born in Chatham, Ontario, and obtained his BSc degree at the University of Toronto, and his MSc and PhD degrees at the University of Western Ontario.

In 2006, Dr. Matthews was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2012, he received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

The search committee for the Vice-President Research is pleased to announce that the two candidates for the position will deliver public presentations to campus during the week of May 21. Both presentations will be held in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium, Room 242, Don and Marion MccDougall Hall.

Dr. Robert F. Gilmour, Jr. will present on Tuesday, May 22, 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

and

Dr. David C. Malloy will present on Wednesday, May 23, 11:00 am to 12:30 pm

The campus community is invited and encouraged to participate; for more information and to view the candidate CVs, please click here.

Over the past four months, UPEI has engaged its campus and community in a consultation exercise to help develop the University's vision. The exercise, known as the UPEI Reflections and Future Directions initiative, has focused on determining the University's core strengths and how these can be used to shape the future of UPEI, its people, and communities.

'The level of engagement and consultation within this initiative has been tremendous,' says Dr. Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, President of UPEI and Chair of the UPEI Reflections and Future Directions Steering Committee. 'More than 200 people from our campus and communities have been involved in helping UPEI rediscover its strengths and determine the vision of our university. This is a huge success that we are eager to build upon.'

The result of UPEI's consultative discussions is the UPEI Vision Document which outlines UPEI's vision of being 'a leader in delivering outstanding experiential learning opportunities that encourage students to develop to their full potential in both the classroom and community' and 'the development of tomorrow's leaders who will emerge from their studies ready to excel and contribute to the betterment of our local and global communities.'

Although the document is forward looking and focused, the UPEI Vision Document is not a strategic plan or business plan, explains Dr. Abd-El-Aziz. 'The document is a compass that will help guide UPEI's institutional direction, decision making, and broader planning in the months and years ahead. The strategic plans we put in place and the direction we chose to pursue will need to uphold the vision outlined in the UPEI Vision Document.'

Dr. Abd-El-Aziz has asked Dr. Tim Ogilvie, Vice-Chair of UPEI's Reflections and Future Directions Steering Committee, to lead the next phase of the initiative which includes the development of a Strategy Incubation Team. The development of strategic action plans to build upon the document will begin in the coming weeks and continue into the fall.

'The input we've received throughout our consultative process is invaluable,' says Dr. Abd-El-Aziz.' We are ready to take on the challenge of planning to support our vision, build our relevancy, and ensure the growth of higher education in PEI.'

The UPEI Vision Document received endorsement by both the UPEI Senate and Board of Governors in early May. Click here to view the full document.

The UPEI Men's Basketball team is excited to announce that six-foot-four guard Joe Kendrick, will be joining the program in the fall. Kendrick was Rookie of the Year and a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) National champion with the Brock Badgers in 2008. This past season, he was named MVP and was an All-Conference selection with the Atlantic Colleges Athletic Association (ACAA), while playing with the Crandall University Chargers. Kendrick finished 5th on the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) league scoreboard.

Tim Kendrick, head coach of the UPEI men's basketball team is no stranger to this new recruit, 'We are pleased to have Joe join us. As his father, I'm proud of his accomplishments, and know he will be a great addition to the Panthers,' said Kendrick. 'He has won championships at the high school and CIS levels, and will bring a wealth of 'big game' experience and leadership to the team.'

Joe Kendrick is thrilled to play for the Panthers, 'I'm looking forward to studying at the University and playing basketball for my father, as a UPEI Panther,' he said. 'It's exciting to be at a school with a basketball program that holds high expectations for its players. I'll do whatever it takes to help the team achieve great success, both on and off the court.'

For more information on UPEI men's basketball, click here.