It takes a special eye to capture a moment of sanctuary in a busy cityscape. Dan Mennill did that with his photograph, “Biodiversity in a noisy urban jungle,” which is in the running to win a national science photo competition.

With his submission, the integrative biology professor became a finalist in the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) Science Exposed contest.

“In the growing urban jungle, green spaces like parks serve as habitat islands for city-dwelling birds, providing safe havens amidst the highly modified landscape,” says Dr. Mennill.

Mennill’s research team uses bioacoustic surveys to quantify the biodiversity of urban birds. In 2023, members studied bird biodiversity in Paris, which is one of the world’s most proactive cities when it comes to protecting urban parks and reducing human-generated noise.

“We found that bird diversity is highest in areas with low urban noise. In a quiet park in western Paris, these two peacocks howled their piercing songs, contributing their voices to our recordings of the city soundscape,” Mennill says.

“Our research helps build a deeper understanding of the importance of parks for protecting birds and inform environmentally responsible urban planning.”

Help Mennill win the People’s Choice Award by heading to the list of finalists to cast your vote. Public voting opens on May 13 and runs until Sept. 22.

Registration is now open for the 2024 Head Start orientation program, which introduces new students to campus facilities and services, as well as academic expectations at a university level.

The Student Success and Leadership Centre is offering five full-day sessions and one evening session on Aug. 14 aimed at mature, transfer, and part-time students. Four of the five full-day dates promise program-specific success sessions and other specialized opportunities for students.

The Aug. 10 general session promises information and resources relevant to new students no matter their academic program.

• Friday, July 12: Faculty of Science, Nursing, and Education
• Friday, July 19: Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, and Education
• Saturday, July 20: Odette School of Business and Faculty of Human Kinetics
• Friday, July 26: Faculty of Engineering
• Saturday, Aug. 10: General/All Faculties

Organizers encourage students to attend their faculty-specific day, however if they are unable to, there are provisions in each schedule for appropriate support.

“Head Start invites attendees to tour the grounds and buildings, visit the Campus Bookstore, get their UWin Card photos taken, explore residence halls — and gives you a chance to win $500 off your tuition,” says student development specialist Megan Elliott. “Get ready for the fall by coming out to Head Start.”

Find more information and register on the Head Start website.

The research of physics professor Roman Gr. Maev has earned him global recognition.

The International Committee for Non-Destructive Testing will confer its Sokolov Award for major contributions to work in the field on Dr. Maev at its 20th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing in Incheon, South Korea, on May 27.

Maev holds the rank of distinguished university professor in the UWindsor Department of Physics and is founding director-general of the Institute for Diagnostic Imaging Research, a multidisciplinary, collaborative research institute.

The diverse range of disciplines encompassed by Maev includes theoretical physical acoustics, ultrasonic and nonlinear acoustical imaging, biomedical ultrasound, nano structural properties of advanced materials and its analysis. He has published more than 600 peer-reviewed items, including 28 books and chapters, and holds 54 international patents.

The Sokolov Award is named to honour Sergei Y. Sokolov, a scientist from St. Petersburg often hailed as the father of ultrasonic metal flow detection and ultrasonic visualization.

Maev is a life fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a fellow of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, Canadian Institute For Non-Destructive Evaluation, and ASM International, formerly the American Society for Metals.

His previous honours include the Roy Sharpe Prize from the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, and the Mentoring Award and Gold Medal from the American Society for Non-Destructive Testing. Since 2016, he has chaired the ICNDT Specialist International Group on art and cultural heritage and began as chair in 2023 of the specialist internal group on NDT frontiers.

An online course from the Office of Open Learning will equip instructors with the tools to critically examine existing assessment strategies and develop equitable and inclusive assessments for future courses.

Aimed at faculty, staff, sessional instructors, and graduate students with teaching responsibilities, Humanizing Digital Assessment Strategies is offered on four Tuesday evenings from May 28 to June 18.

Ashlyne O’Neil, one of the co-facilitators for the course, promises a stimulating discussion that will challenge preconceptions about why and how we assess student learning.

“We take so much of our educational practice for granted,” says O’Neil.

“In this course, and throughout the whole of the Humanizing Digital Learning program, we critically examine our assumptions and identify ways we can work together to develop more equitable and inclusive assessments in an increasingly complex and uncertain digital world.”

Register for the Humanizing Digital Assessment Strategies course on the Office of Open Learning workshop database.

University employees can join a Drupal training session on Thursday, May 23, to enhance their web development skills.

The online session, led by team leader Rob Aitkens, will cover creating webpages, uploading graphics, organizing menus, and understanding web standards, accessibility, usability, and functionality.

The training is open to all faculty, staff, and student employees who maintain content on UWindsor’s official website. Register for the Thursday, May 23 session, running from 1 to 3 p.m.