Saint Mary’s University celebrates the new Viola Desmond Bursary

African-Nova Scotian students attending Saint Mary’s University will soon have more support available to them as a result of a newly established bursary.

The Viola Desmond Bursary was announced on November 8, the date of Viola’s heroic anti-discrimination action in 1946. The bursary is fully-endowed and will be given out every year to full-time African-Nova Scotian students at Saint Mary’s.

“At Saint Mary’s, community is at the heart of what we do. We are very proud to be part of commemorating Viola Desmond, and to have a financial award named in her honour,” said Dr. Malcolm Butler, Vice-President, Academic and Research. “This award will assist generations of African-Nova Scotian entrepreneurs attending Saint Mary’s on their path to success.”

The initial award amount will mark the year of Viola Desmond’s anti-segregation action, 1946, with students receiving $1,946. While this award is not renewable, it may be awarded to the same student more than once.

While preference for the bursary will be given to students in the Sobey School of Business, the bursary may also be awarded to students in programs featuring entrepreneurship. Preference will also be given to female students from Halifax County. Students must also have a financial need.

This award was established with the permission of the Desmond Family and through the generosity of The Honourable Wilfred P. Moore, Q.C., LL.D., and Ms. Jane Adams Ritcey.

“Viola Desmond has been very good to our city, our province and our country,” said Senator Wilfred Moore. “My family is very pleased to assist Saint Mary’s University in this most noble virtue—the transfer of knowledge. We do so in keeping with the bedrock tradition of Saint Mary’s, offering a hand up.”

Saint Mary’s collaboration with Innu Nation seen in documentary film screening

The rain could not keep a full house away from Halifax Central Library’s Paul O'Regan Hall on Nov. 3, 2018. Saint Mary’s faculty, Innu Nation, and members of the local community came to hear the story of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Innu Nation. The documentary screening of “Nakatuenita: Respect,” was co-produced by Richard Nuna, Innu Nation, and Dr. Trudy Sable, Community Conservation Research Network - Saint Mary's University and directed by filmmaker Kent Martin. 

The evening began with a traditional Mi’kmaw prayer by Mi’kmaw elder Thomas Christmas and Mi’Kmaw song to welcome participants onto traditional Mi’kmaq territory. Innu Nation’s Grand Chief, Gregory Rich, Dr. Trudy Sable, Saint Mary’s Community Engaged Research Facilitator and Saint Mary’s Vice-President, Dr. Malcolm Butler also welcomed the crowd.

Throughout the screening you could hear engaged asides between front-row members of the crowd.. The film – which ended in a standing ovation – tells the story of Ntesinan, a once peaceful territory where Innu families lived in tents, hunted for survival, and learned “Nutshimit” (country) skills and the fragile relationship between humans and animals from their elders. Their culture is one of respect – respect for the land, plants, animals and each other.

Although the memories of the past remain strong, the Innu now adapt to cultural and spiritual disruption. In the mid 20th century, they were forced to settle into communities by the governments and the church.  A significant part of their territory (later flooded by The Churchill Falls Hydro Project) changed the great falls known to the Innu as “Mista Shipu” forever.

“This film is a very powerful and moving testament to the impact that resettlement, development and climate change has had on Indigenous culture and communities,” said Dr. Butler.

Successful in taking control of their schools in 2009 and income support two years ago, the Innu look to the future of their land, social services, schools and government.

“Their resilience has amazed me in the face of so many forces that have tried to undermine who they are as a people, deeply and spiritually connected to their lands and to the animals. We have much to learn about how to truly work together in collaboration and mutual benefit,” said Dr. Sable.

In the meantime, the answer for Grand Chief Gregory Rich is clear.

“The film is a message of the struggle today for the Innu people. Our connection is to the lands, to the animals, and it has been our culture for many, many years. I know we can not go back to how it was before, but to be part of the land and the animals is the answer to our struggles, Ntesinan,” said Grand Chief Rich.

We’re all in this together: Collaborating on social studies education

More than 300 social studies teachers took part in “Calling All Citizens”, their annual provincial conference hosted October 26 for a fourth year at Saint Mary’s University. 

“I think we would all agree that social studies education is more important now than ever,” said Maureen McNamara, a Cape Breton teacher and president of the Nova Scotia Social Studies Teachers Association (SSTA). “We must continue to help our students not just to understand our rapidly changing world but their role as citizens. In doing so, we must create safe spaces for discussion and debate, not argument and polarization.”

The event included a trade exhibition, 30 workshops – including 10 led by Saint Mary’s professors and staff – an AGM and several off-site sessions at locations such as the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre. The day began with a spirited keynote on fostering ‘civic competence’ and community service in Canadian schools, by Dr. Alan Sears, Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of New Brunswick.

Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, welcomed the teachers to campus and highlighted the sessions led by Saint Mary’s professors and staff: “We're talking about Mi'kmaq music and art, human resilience in the face of mental health challenges, competencies related to intercultural learning, strategies for accommodating racial and religious differences, field schools in The Gambia, and even sessions off-campus such as the hands-on archaeology at Grand Pré National Historic Site,” she said.

Nova Scotia teachers, museums and educational organizations lead the other workshops.  

“Together, this roster offers teachers of all grades a rich professional learning day that can only benefit our students in the end,” said Wendy Driscoll, conference co-chair. “The SSTA is proud of our partnership with Saint Mary's University because it brings together teachers and professors for the common purpose of student achievement.”

These connections are a highlight of the annual event for Joe Bellefontaine. The Grade 9 teacher at Riverview High in Sydney has also taught with the Chignecto and Annapolis Valley school boards, and has a SMU Bachelor of Arts degree in geography and geology.

“People in universities are leaders in their field, so it's great to see their ideas and what they’re working on,” he said. “They have access to different resources, and they're really willing to talk to teachers and to make those connections with public school systems.”

For more highlights, see @NSSSTA on Twitter and the conference agenda. 

Saint Mary’s rises up the rankings in Canadian Research Universities report

Saint Mary’s professor Dr. Christa Brosseau, Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Chemistry & Materials works in the lab with Ph.D. student Najwan Albarghouthi.

Saint Mary’s University is rising up the research rankings, according to Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities 2018. In 2018, Saint Mary’s is Nova Scotia’s second largest research university by research income and one of eight universities driving significant increases in research and research funding in Atlantic Canada.

“Saint Mary’s University is home to innovative research that impacts not only our institution but contributes to addressing problems of global importance,” said Dr. Malcolm Butler, Vice-President, Academic and Research.

Saint Mary’s learning-centred environment places a high value on the process of research and innovation, as students, as professors, as researchers, ensuring that the university is not simply transferring knowledge but creating it. The university hosts nine Canada Research Chairs ranging from astronomy to international finance, contributing to this knowledge transfer and creation. Saint Mary’s receives over $8 million annually from outside funding sources including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and Canada Research Chairs. 

“Fiscal 2017 was a very strong year for Atlantic universities,” said Ron Freedman, CEO of Research Infosource Inc.  “Five universities – a mix of large and small – performed very well, with research income growth well in excess of the national average.”

Total Atlantic university research income in Fiscal 2017 rose to $357.5 million from $311.7 million in Fiscal 2016.  Nationally, combined research income of Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities jumped by 6.8% to $7.33 billion in Fiscal 2017 from $6.87 billion in Fiscal 2016 - the most substantial gain in a decade. 

Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities List 2018 ranks full-service universities based on their total sponsored research income. To obtain a more balanced picture of how universities are performing, the Research Universities of the Year (RUY) rankings take into account key measures of research success.

To learn more about the Research Universities of the Year (RUY) report, click here.

Peaceful Schools International launches new books to help children navigate conflict

Resolving conflict can be tricky enough for adults, but a new series of books published by Saint Mary’s University aims to help children better understand and resolve conflicts respectfully and peacefully.

Peaceful Schools International launched the trio of books on October 19, in conjunction with the university and the Saint Mary’s University Students’ Association (SMUSA). All three were written by Amelia Penney-Crocker, a Grade 8 student at Oxford School, while her two best friends Ruby Jangaard and Marin DeWolfe created the engaging illustrations.

Amelia first got involved with Peaceful Schools when the charitable organization – housed and supported at SMU – gave a presentation to her elementary school, which later participated in a Peace Conference here on campus.

“Then I was lucky enough to go to Belfast with the Peaceful Schools team from Saint Mary’s,” said the budding author, who also won the 2016 Woozles writing contest and co-wrote an article about Syrian refugees for Our Children magazine. “It was interesting to see the way kids from other places have a different experience with conflict.”

The idea emerged to create a fun educational resource written by children for children, and “I hope that me writing them and me being a kid will help to connect to other kids in a better way,” she said.

The books are Animal School, The Enchantress from Canada and The Fairy Ring. They examine ways to peacefully de-escalate conflict, address hurtful insults, share difficult feedback, and reach out to adults for guidance on standing up for yourself.

The stories were created for local elementary schools and the Northern Ireland Conflict Resolution Program, now in its 14th year of providing conflict resolution training to SMU students in the faculties of Arts, Science and Commerce. Through the program, the books – and skits based on them – will be shared with children in HRM and more than 100 classrooms throughout Northern Ireland, explained Patrick Guerra, SMU’s student coordinator for Peaceful Schools International. The next trip overseas is scheduled for this February.

 Commending the book’s creators as “our next generation of scholars,” President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray said “we want to celebrate their work particularly as it relates to peaceful schools, and the idea that education around conflict resolution and understanding peace is important for all of us, at all levels of our educational institutions.”

The launch event also acknowledged inspiration and support from Dr. Hetty van Gurp, founder of Peaceful Schools International. She was recently appointed to the newly established Provincial Advisory Council on Education, which replaces the seven dissolved regional school boards.

“What this means is at a provincial level, we will now have the input of Peaceful Schools International promoting the definitive inclusion of peace education in the curriculum, and this has been one of the central goals of the organization all along. So we are very grateful for everything Dr. van Gurp has done to make this a reality going forward,” said Bridget Brownlow, SMU’s Conflict Resolution Advisor and President of Peaceful Schools International.

Collaboration agreement signed between Saint Mary’s and LAU

Saint Mary’s President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray shakes hands with LAU President Dr Joseph G. Jabbra

Saint Mary’s University and the Lebanese American University (LAU), have signed an agreement that will open doors to more collaboration between the two institutions.  The agreement allows for a variety of new opportunities including academic and professional exchange, joint research and short-term academic programs.

LAU President Dr. Joseph G. Jabbra welcomed Saint Mary’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray, to the Jamil Iskandar Conference Room at LAU’s Byblos campus on October 9, 2018, to sign the agreement.

President Jabbra is known to many on campus from his time spent as both an active member of the political science department and as the Vice President, Academic and Research from 1980 to 1990. In April 2017, President Jabbra received a Doctor of Civil Law, honoris causa, from Saint Mary’s.

Saint Mary’s President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray and LAU President Dr Joseph G. Jabbra sign the collaboration agreement between the two universities.

Saint Mary’s University has a well-established commitment to cultural diversity and encourages and supports the development of a global perspective. This new collaboration supports Saint Mary’s commitment to international and intercultural education and the global connectivity of the university and the university’s research partnerships. Saint Mary’s is recognized as a Canadian leader in these areas with extensive international outreach and collaboration by way of institutional linkages with universities around the world. This agreement with LAU marks another opportunity for students, faculty and staff to benefit from global perspectives and partnerships.

At the signing, Dr. Summerby-Murray emphasized the importance of the collaboration and the strong foundation that is already in place between both institutions and countries. The end of the event was marked by the exchange of gifts between the two presidents. The partnership is expected to begin shortly, with a representative of LAU expected to arrive on campus later this month.

SMU faculty participate as scientific experts at G7 Oceans Inspiration Expo

Dr. Danika van Proosdij speaks at the G7 Oceans Summit

Three Saint Mary’s University faculty members were invited to participate as experts at the G7 Oceans Summit at the Halifax Convention Centre, in parallel with the G7 Joint Ministerial Session on Healthy Oceans, Seas and Resilient Communities.

The summit, and the G7 meeting, generally focused on oceans – with the three themes of the gathering being: plastic reduction, sustainable fishing, and coastal resilience. Professors Dr. Danika van Proosdij, Dr. Cathy Conrad and Dr. Tony Charles represented the university, working with 200 other global experts to develop the framing and guiding document on Oceans for the G7 ministers meeting that followed.

This collaboration was thanks to an ongoing partnership between the Canadian Government’s Environment and Climate Change department (ECCC) and the Community Conservation Research Network (CCRN) led by Dr. Tony Charles and based at Saint Mary’s University.

Dr. van Proosdij was a panellist for the “Resilient Coasts and Communities” event, speaking about her Natural Infrastructure to adapt to climate change impacts. She has worked in Canada, and on the Indian Ocean and Caribbean, primarily on vulnerability assessment and recommendations of implementation.

She was also a judge at the Clean Coastal Challenge, where youth pitched and designed sustainable coastal communities. The communities had to be sustainable, circular economy, renewable energy and healthy lifestyles.

Saint Mary’s was the only university with a booth at the Oceans Inspiration Expo, a public G7 event with presentations by Sylvia Earle and Alexandra Cousteau. The booth featured the work of the CCRN, on local communities around the world that are conserving their environment and sustaining their local economy, as well as several other university ocean and coastal initiatives.

Saint Mary’s students make their first venture capital investment in international travel start-up

Saint Mary’s University’s Venture Grade Fund, a student-raised and led venture capital fund, is making its first investment, $15,000 to travel start-up Trip Ninja.

Trip Ninja is a travel-planning software for use by online travel retailers such as Expedia or Priceline. When retail customers are booking plane trips to several different places, Trip Ninja helps online travel retailers find the best price. This multi-destination platform finds the best way to book the trip, whether travellers are flexible in their route or if they need to visit destinations in a particular order.

“It has been great working with Saint Mary’s University’s Venture Grade Fund, and seeing the confidence they have in our product,” said Trip Ninja Co-Founder, Andres Collart. “Saint Mary’s has helped us through reviewing aspects of our business with their MBA students who have a firm grasp on entrepreneurship and innovation. It’s been great working with an organization who is committed to helping start-ups and entrepreneurs have success.” 

The Saint Mary’s University Venture Grade Fund is a student-raised and run venture capital fund and the first student-raised venture capital investment fund in Canada in which the students raise the capital. Their fund is operating at about $200,000 currently.

The team seems to have chosen well as the fledgling travel tech company has attracted notable local, national and international investors, including East Valley Ventures, Innovacorp and other investors experienced in the travel industry. Innovacorp is also a supporter of Saint Mary’s University’s Venture Grade Fund’s assessment of Trip Ninja, and provided Venture Grade with half the capital required for their investment.

The team’s faculty advisor and mentor is venture capital expert and SMU professor, Dr. Ellen Farrell.

“This is a win-win-win situation,” said Farrell. “Venture Grade’s donors and partners like Innovacorp get to offer students an unparalleled experiential education experience, the students get the benefit of raising the capital and conducting due diligence, and the start-up spends the investment thus supporting their business.”

Should the company experience a successful exit, meaning if they are purchased for a large sum, the investors, including Venture Grade, will receive a payout scaled to the purchase. Any returns made on Venture Grade’s investments are returned to Venture Grade, the student fund.

The fund was started by students of Dr. Ellen Farrell at the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University in fall 2016, with a connection to Silicon Valley’s C100 group, Boston’s Canadian Entrepreneurs in New England, and initial support from Innovacorp. It has expanded to include members at other Atlantic universities including Acadia University, Dalhousie University, and Memorial University.

“Sobey School of Business and Saint Mary’s University are proud to offer students the opportunity to experience the risks and rewards of investing,” said Dr. Harjeet Bhabra, dean of the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University.

“With the School’s strengths in finance and entrepreneurship, the Venture Grade Fund could only have been created here. We’re proud to continue making an impact on our region and on the entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

Saint Mary’s archaeological expedition to share the story of people enslaved at coffee plantation in Cuba

Students unearthing artificacts at the Angerona Plantation archaeology site. 

A group of Canadian university students are about to depart on an archeological expedition to Cuba, spearheaded by Saint Mary’s University. The students will be excavating historical artifacts and investigating the cemetery at Angerona, a Cuban national historic site and former slave plantation, 80 kilometres east of Havana.

Interested in applying to join the expedition or looking for more information?

Email Professor Taylor at c.aarontaylor@gmail.com. The fee to join the expedition is $1600 (this includes accommodations, meals and transportation within Cuba) plus airfare and tuition (2 credits). The deadline to apply is May 4th.

“This expedition offers an opportunity to work with our partners in Cuba to uncover more of the lost history of the Angerona Coffee Plantation,” said Aaron Taylor, a Professor of Archaeology at Saint Mary’s and the program’s instructor.  “This plantation has a big historical significance in Cuba, and we want to help tell the stories of the people who were enslaved there.”

During the 19th century, Angerona was one of the largest slave plantations in the Americas—yet little is known about the day-to-day lives of the people who lived there.

A collection of some of the artifacts found in the first year of the excavation.

From June 10 to July 1, students from Canada and Cuba will be working together on excavating, identifying and interpreting the artifacts they find.

In addition to continued exploration of the site’s barracks, this expedition will include an investigation of the plantation's cemetery and the recovery of skeletal remains. This will provide a clearer story of life on the plantation. The team will be able to learn more about the people on the plantation, such as their general health, diet, age of death, and burial customs. This will include further research into the possibility that Nova Scotia supplied large quantities of codfish to Cuba during the period of the plantation system.

This trip marks the second year of what will be at least a five-year partnership between Saint Mary’s University, Havana’s Cabinet of Archeology and the College of San Geronimo.

 For more information about the expedition and to apply to join the team, visit http://www.smu.ca/academics/departments/cuba-archaeology.

Saint Mary’s biologists receive federal funding for Fish Behaviour and Physiology (FiBP) Lab

Dr. Laura Weir and Dr. Anne Dalziel

Two Saint Mary’s biologists have received funding to investigate how environmental variation influences fish populations in Atlantic Canada, which should help predict how fish will fare with continued changes in climate. Drs. Laura Weir and Anne Dalziel will use their $200,000 John R. Evans Leaders Fund award from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to develop a Fish Behaviour and Physiology (FiBP) Lab at Saint Mary’s University.

 “Saint Mary’s is delighted that Drs. Weir and Dalziel have received a prestigious CFI research award,” says Dr. Malcolm Butler, Vice-President Academic and Research. “This investment supports not only the world-class research taking place at Saint Mary’s, but also our students access to state-of-the-art infrastructure and technologies.”

Integrative studies that combine the genetic, biochemical, physiological, and behavioural mechanisms are needed to understand how fish populations adapt to environmental change. The FiBP Lab will investigate how these mechanisms contribute to differences in environmental tolerance, physiological performance, and reproductive behaviour among populations and species of fish common to Atlantic Canada, including salmon, trout, stickleback, killifish, alewife, and herring.

“Fish are a valuable natural resource,” says Dr. Laura Weir, assistant professor in the Department of Biology. “Our research will provide important baseline knowledge and inform policy and conservation efforts for our local fish populations.”

Research in the FiBP Lab will also help scientists and the public understand how biodiversity in aquatic environments is affected by coastal development.

“Canada has the longest coastline in the world, and understanding how changes to coastal waters will impact the animals living there is essential,” says Dr. Anne Dalziel, assistant professor in the Department of Biology.

The FiBP Lab formalizes an existing research collaboration between Dr. Anne Dalziel, an expert in fish physiology and evolutionary biology, and Dr. Laura Weir, whose expertise lies in behavioural and evolutionary ecology. Currently, the pair are working together to discover the physiological and behavioural mechanisms that lead to the unique breeding coloration of the white stickleback, an endemic Nova Scotian fish.

About the John R. Evans Leaders Fund

The John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) supports Canadian researchers by providing them with the research tools and infrastructure required to become leaders in their field. It also helps Canadian institutions attract and retain world-class researchers by remaining internationally competitive in areas of research and technology development aligned with their strategic priorities.

Celebrating global connections

Dr. Charles Beaupre, Canadian Co-Director; Maria Pan, Chinese Co-Director; Susan Summerby-Murray, Saint Mary's President Rob Summerby-Murray; Dr. Eric Henry, incoming Canadian Co-Director; Dr. Guo, Zhaoyang incoming Chinese Co-Director

Today was a celebration of global connections between Saint Mary's University and our partner institutions in China, notably Xiamen University. 

Maria Pan receives a gift of appreciation from President Rob Summerby-Murray

The University hosted a fond farewell for outgoing Co-Director of the Confucius Institute at Saint Mary's University, Maria Pan.  It was also a time to welcome her successor, Dr. Guo, Zhaoyang,  who has arrived on campus.  At the luncheon today, hosted by President Rob Summerby-Murray and his wife Susan, members of the Confucius Institute gathered with colleagues from Saint Mary's University, the Chinese Society of Nova Scotia and local business leaders.

"The success of the Confucius Institute at Saint Mary's is a testament to the long-standing connection between Saint Mary's and Xiamen University in China," said Rob Summerby-Murray. "The support from Xiamen and from Hanban has been greatly appreciated. Under the direction of Maria Pan, the Chinese Co-Director, the cultural exchange and community engagement has grown by leaps and bounds. "

President Summerby-Murray went on to note that Maria Pan has been a Co-Director for six and a half years, a demonstration of her strong leadership and the considerable accomplishments under her tenure.

Today also marked another transition as outgoing Canadian Co-Director Dr. Charles Beaupre and the university community welcomed Dr. Eric Henry into the role of Canadian Co-Director.

Provincial ministers meet at Saint Mary's CLARI facility

Robert Summerby Murray, President of Saint Mary's gives a tour of the Atrium to Labi Kousoulis, Nova Scotia Minister of Labour and Advanced Education; Richard Brown, Prince Edward Island Minister of Communities, Land and Environment; and Zach Churchill, Nova Scotia Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development

Saint Mary's was honoured to host a meeting of members of the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (CAMET)  at our CLARI facility today.

The council is an agency comprised of the provincial departments across Atlantic Canada responsible for public and post-secondary education, and its purpose is to enhance cooperation in public and post-secondary education by working together to improve learning, optimize efficiencies and bring added value to provincial initiatives.

"CLARI is an example of the positive change promoted by CAMET. This space allows us to work together across geography, across sectors and across organizations. So it is very fitting you are here."
- Robert Summerby Murray, President of Saint Mary's University

CLARI is a cross-province, multi-post-secondary education partnership designed to support Nova Scotia communities with academic and research expertise, designated spaces and communications technology to address social and economic challenges.