Monday marked the official launch of a genome research project that will help ensure the sustainability of freshwater fish stocks in Canada for generations to come.

Researchers from across the nation gathered at UWindsor’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research Monday for the introduction of GEN-FISH, the Genomics Network for Fish Identification, Stress and Health. The goal of GEN-FISH is to make it easier and less expensive for governments and groups to manage and conserve freshwater fish stocks.

“We are here today to mark a truly momentous occasion,” said UWindsor president Robert Gordon. “Around the world, freshwater fish are under threat.”

The toolkits GEN-FISH researchers are developing will make Canada a world leader in the complete and accurate assessment of freshwater fish stocks, Gordon said: “It’s really a game-changer.”

GEN-FISH has received $9.1 million in funding from Genome Canada and Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, with additional financial support from provinces, universities and other partners. The project, led by the University of Windsor, involves 23 researchers from 13 academic institutions. It’s the first UWindsor project funded by Genome Canada.

Researchers will develop a suite of procedures to identify species and monitor the stressors fish are facing based on gene expression. They will also develop web-based resources and software to help users monitor and react to threats.

The project will rely heavily on environmental DNA. Daniel Heath, an integrated biology professor at GLIER, is a pioneer in the collection and analysis of water to identify all the species that exist in the ecosystem from which the water sample was drawn.

More traditional techniques involve capturing fish and testing them — not ideal for at-risk species, Dr. Heath explained. Environmental DNA is less invasive and more comprehensive.

Heath is leading the genome project together with Margaret Docker of the University of Manitoba and Steven Cooke of Carleton University. Other UWindsor researchers involved include Hugh MacIsaac, Trevor Pitcher, Christina Semeniuk, Oliver Love, Amy Fitzgerald, Phil Karpowicz, and Dennis Higgs.

Canada is home to more than two million lakes and 8,500 rivers. Freshwater fish represent an industry worth more than $4 million in Canada.

Ryan Lauzon, fisheries assessment biologist of the Chipppewas of Nawash First Nation, stressed the importance of freshwater fish to Indigenous peoples for commerce, culture, and food.

—Sarah Sacheli

Out of the box thinking helped a class of engineering students create functional, life-size furniture out of cardboard.

As their final project, the third-year students were tasked with building small-scale and full-scale prototypes in addition to designing a manufacturing process for high volume. The full-scale furniture ranged from a rocking chair and recliner to a drafting table and cabinets.

“The students designed innovative products, built a functional prototype, and then designed a manufacturing process for an assigned volume,” says professor Jill Urbanic. “The results are outstanding — I was very impressed with their solutions. It was great to see their artistic flair with the final finishing in addition to everything else they had done. Some real thought went into the details.”

The students in Dr. Urbanic’s manufacturing process design class presented their projects Dec. 5 in the Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation.

“It was a process — we continually improved our design and actually got to conduct a lot of manufacturing processes,” says Amr Ahmed, whose team created a drafting table that collapses into a study desk and is equipped with functioning drawers with knobs.

Ahmed says the team used joining, forming, cutting, drilling, and casting to create their table, which can be assembled with one tool.

View a photo gallery of team projects on the Engineering Facebook Page.

—Kristie Pearce

Windsor Law publicly launched the Transforming Windsor Law campaign on Nov. 28 with the release of a project webpage, video series, and relocation announcement.

UWindsor president Robert Gordon, chancellor Mary Jo Haddad, and dean of law Christopher Waters launched the campaign at an alumni event in Toronto last month.

Early donors include Allan Stitt (LLB 1988), Jamie Johnson (LLB 1987), John Bitove (LLB 1984) and Randi Bitove, Greg Monforton and Partners, Norton Rose Fulbright, Lerners LLP, McTague LLP, and Himelfarb Proszanski.

In a show of support during the Toronto launch, in addition to his existing pledge, Johnson challenged alumni through a dollar-for-dollar matching campaign that raised over $200,000 in just 24 hours.

“The $30 million dollar project is slated to commence in the summer of 2020,” says Dr. Waters. “The building is proudly rooted on a renewed University of Windsor campus. The transformed space will enhance our reputation and make us all proud. With the help of our community, we are going to take what’s good about our building and make it more warm, welcoming and suitable for law teaching today.”

In total, with the help of alumni and donors, the Faculty of Law has so far raised more than $2 million towards the fundraising goal, in anticipation of Board approval in early 2020.

Donations can be made online towards the Transforming Windsor Law campaign in support of the upcoming renovations to the Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law building. The campaign continues this evening with a sold-out dinner for alumni at the Windsor Club.

—Rachelle Prince

In the 2019 issue of Windsor Engineering (WE), the Faculty of Engineering’s annual magazine, readers will find out how one electrical engineering professor hopes to improve the cybersecurity of electric vehicle charging stations and an alumna is reducing the environmental footprint of Canada’s largest heavy crude oil and independent natural gas producer.

They’ll also learn about the incredible work engineering students, faculty, and alumni are conducting in the University’s backyard and around the globe — like the Hyperloop team, which made it to the finals of Elon Musk’s international SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition in its first year competing. The team generated extensive community support, including words of encouragement on social media from Canada’s prime minister. Or the University of Windsor Space and Aeronautics Team (WinSAT), which finished first in the design review portion of the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge.

WE is distributed annually to alumni, students, faculty, staff, and industrial and community partners of the faculty. The latest issue is available on the engineering website.

If you would like to receive WE electronically and UWindsor Engineering’s quarterly e-newsletters, join the faculty’s mailing list.

The University of Windsor libraries in partnership with 13 other Ontario university libraries will launch a new services platform and search tool in the new year.

Part of the Collaborative Futures project, the new Omni search tool gives users enhanced capabilities and streamlined access to valuable resources at the University of Windsor libraries and partner institutions. It will upgrade the current One Stop Search with a single tool that enables the search of multiple library collections and databases simultaneously and provides access to millions of new resources.

“Omni offers significant improvements for the discovery of academic resources,” said university librarian, Pascal Calarco. “In addition, it allows us to provide greater resources to our campus community by sharing collections and expertise with our partner institutions.”

While the new search function will launch at partnering universities on Dec. 12, the University of Windsor will launch the Omni search tool on Jan. 6.

“Because the platform selected to host Omni was implemented at the Leddy Library and Paul Martin Law Library in 2014, we had to take extra caution for our go live date,” said systems librarian, Grace Liu, who is co-leading the implementation along with electronic resources librarian, Cathy Maskell. “Launching Omni on Jan. 6 will ensure there are no disruptions to student resources during the exam period and will provide adequate time to prepare instructors for the Winter semester.”

The libraries are excited to be a part of a 14-member consortium of Ontario university libraries developing a robust collection of materials and resources.

Beyond the official launch at the University of Windsor on Jan. 6, Omni promises many updates to follow, says electronic resources librarian, Cathy Maskell.

“In January, users will be able to use Omni to search across all the print and electronic resources provided by the libraries at UWindsor and also broaden their search to see what other Collaborative Futures libraries have in their collections,” she said. “Later in the year, the system will allow users to borrow print materials directly from those libraries through the Omni interface.”

Additional information about Omni will be made available to the UWindsor community in the coming weeks, including frequently asked questions. For more information visit the library’s website.

—Marcie Demmans

Becoming home to the environmental studies program in 2016 was a major catalyst for the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences to adopt the name School of the Environment.

“With the environmental studies program as part of our department we had a 3:1 non-science to science student ratio,” says Joel Gagnon, director of the School of the Environment. “With that type of ratio, calling our unit earth and environmental sciences was problematic from a recruiting standpoint.”

While the name change was approved by Senate in early March, Dr. Gagnon says the school waited to make any major announcements until its new web presence was ready to launch.

“Our unit is home to the environmental science and environmental studies degree programs,” says Gagnon. “And there is a lot of social science in the environmental studies program — it’s environmental law, it’s environmental policy, it’s environmental ethics. We want to maintain and grow that.”

The School of the Environment’s new web page reflects this change, showcasing both the hard and social sciences, and aims to become an access point for the diverse environment resources available at the University of Windsor.

“We are very well positioned now with the programs that we have,” says Gagnon. “We are able to provide a holistic human environment interaction with the studies program, as well as a focus on environmental systems with the science program.”

Undergrads who began their degrees in the environmental science and environmental studies programs this September were the first students to officially start their academic careers in the School of the Environment.

“The name change is designed to meet student expectations,” says Gagnon. “When prospective students asked about our environmental studies program, and we would direct them to the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences — you get the sense that they feel they’re being offered something they don’t want. Our message to these students has to be clear, consistent, and accessible.”

—Darko Milenkovic

Instructors, staff, student ambassadors, and friends of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences gathered Thursday for an end-of-year reception.

Dean Marcello Guarini presented the Meritorious Service Award for full-time faculty to psychology professor Carlin Miller, and the Kathleen E. McCrone Teaching Award to political science professor Tom Najem.

Dr. Miller was honoured for significant contributions of time and service to the University and the Department of Psychology. She took responsibility for a review of the clinical neuropsychology program and led the formation of a clinic at the Psychological Services and Research Centre.

Dr. Najem won recognition for his leadership in innovative teaching and his commitment to the student learning experience. He is noted for creating courses that provide students with skills to engage the world as they venture out into careers.

Following the presentations, Bruce Kotowich and members of the School of Creative Arts’ UWindsor Chamber Choir entertained the gathering with holiday carols.

—Susan McKee