The #UWinProud campaign is kicking off the fall semester with a photo contest to celebrate the first Windsor Wednesday of the academic year.

Staff and faculty are encouraged to take a photo wearing their Lancer gear before Sept. 14 and upload it through the entry form for their chance to win a “Build Your Own Bookstore Prize Pack” valued at $100.

“It is important that we continue building school spirit and pride of institutions through traditions like Windsor Wednesdays,” says Sarah Hébert, communications assistant in the Office of Student Experience.

To further incentivize staff and faculty to wear blue and gold, the Campus Bookstore will also offer a 15 per cent discount on apparel purchases in-store and on its website today — Sept. 8 — with the coupon code “UWINPROUD.”

As in years past, the Office of Student Experience plans to host events, contests, and more in partnership with departments through the academic year as part of the #UWinProud campaign.

To learn more about the campaign, visit the Office of Student Experience website.

Christina Semeniuk and Drew Marquardt are the inaugural Faculty of Science Research Chairs.

The new two-year research chair program is designed to increase research funding and capacity in the faculty by growing existing research programs, fostering new partnerships and directions, and supporting outstanding faculty researchers.

Dr. Semeniuk is an integrative biology associate professor and researcher with the Great Lakes Institute of Environmental Research (GLIER). She will focus on learning more about how fish species are coping and adapting to the rising temperatures caused by climate change.

“I’ll engage with government, non-government organizations, and Indigenous communities to focus on the big questions arising from rapid ecological change,” says Semeniuk.

“First: how does behavioural flexibility mediate an individual’s ability to persist in situ or shift to more suitable habitat, and second: how do these behavioural traits integrate with underlying physiological or gene-expression phenotypes to generate the adaptive capacity to cope with climate change?”

Semeniuk and her research team will look at how the resulting integrated response influences individual performance and fitness under multiple-stressor scenarios.

“Overall, my lab’s combined research continues to develop the newly developed paradigm of ‘predictive systems ecology’,” she says.

Dr. Marquardt, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, cross-appointed to the Department of Physics, is leading a national effort to design and build a prototype Compact Accelerator-based Neutron Source (CANS) centred at the University of Windsor.

“Our CANS design is the first step in removing the threat to Canada’s long-term scientific and economic competitiveness caused by its recent loss of neutron beams. These are versatile and irreplaceable tools for materials research and innovation,” he says.

In addition to helping researchers who require neutrons to study and develop new materials, Marquardt says a neutron source could help radiation oncologists seek innovative treatment methods to reduce the 30,000 cancer deaths in Ontario each year.

“Our neutron source will incorporate both diffraction for materials research and Boron Neutron Capture Therapy into its design. This therapy has potential to be a powerful and highly targeted radiation treatment for aggressive cancers,” he says.

Each research chair will receive $80,000 over a period of two years with funds covering research costs such as personnel, consumables, travel, and supplies with an option for a course release in the second year. The positions commence in Fall 2021.

“I am very proud of our inaugural chair holders,” says Dan Mennill, associate dean of science for graduate studies and research. “We saw tremendous interest in this program, with 18 strong applications from outstanding researchers, and we hope to continue supporting this program on an annual basis.”

A UWindsor professor who specializes in addictions research has been inducted as a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

Social work professor Adrian Guta is one of 53 new members announced by the RSC Tuesday. They have been selected for their contributions in the arts, the humanities, and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life.

“I am honoured to be amongst this year’s impressive list of inductees and part of a scholarly community dating back to 1882,” Dr. Guta said.

The college is Canada’s first national system of multidisciplinary recognition for the emerging generation of Canadian intellectual leadership. Its members are Canadians and permanent residents who, at an early stage in their career, have demonstrated a high level of achievement. The criterion for election is excellence, and membership is for seven years.

Guta is already part of an RSC interdisciplinary working group examining the harms of criminalization for people who use drugs.

The RSC comprises the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences, and the College of New Scholars, Artists and Sciences. Its members are called upon by governments and agencies to provide advice, and they promote a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada with other national academies around the world.

“This year, the Royal Society of Canada welcomes an outstanding cohort of artists, scholars, and scientists, all of whom have excelled in their respective disciplines and are a real credit to Canada,” said Jeremy McNeil, RSC president.

—Sarah Sacheli

The University of Windsor will host an on-campus community COVID-19 vaccination clinic provided by the Community Response and Stabilization Team on Friday, Sept. 10, running 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Faculty of Education parking lot near the corner of California and University avenues.

Health cards are not required for vaccination and the clinic will be outdoors and barrier-free. First and second mRNA vaccines will be available to anyone born in 2009 or earlier. Language support, refreshments, and free onsite parking will be available.

The University’s Take a Jab vaccination campaign encourages students and others in the community not only to get into the ring and “Knock Out COVID,” but to carry the vaccination message to others in Windsor-Essex County. For more information, visit uwindsor.ca/takeajab.

One aspect of the campaign is the “Get social about the jab to win” contest, which offers weekly prizes for sharing stories on social media encouraging friends and family to do their part in the fight against COVID-19 by getting vaccinated. It runs through Sept. 17.

Continuing Education’s E-Commerce Business and Operations course is designed to help its students understand the business side of e-commerce. The online course explores how to create and operate an internet-based enterprise, identifying and defining business opportunities and methods of monetizing them.

Course instructor Steven Javor is an accomplished leader in e-commerce and a pioneer of digital customer experience and e-marketing strategies.

With more than 20 years of professional experience, he has built B2C and B2B strategies and solutions for national and international brands, having worked with such companies as Amazon, Walmart, Canada Post, Rogers, Bell, RBC, CTV, and Home Depot.

“I’m fascinated by the combining forces of customer experience, e-commerce, and digital innovation,” Javor says. “Specifically, how these forces will drastically change the way we live and work during and post-pandemic.”

Currently, he is global director of e-commerce for a Paris-based energy solutions multinational and has held leadership positions in Canada, the United States, and Europe. He is also an active member of the Academy of Television Arts and Science and currently resides in his hometown of Toronto.

In the e-commerce business and operations course, Javor will share practical business knowledge to help individuals pursue their career goals, and will guide participants through the process of creating a high-level e-commerce business plan and developing a strategy to bring the business to life.

The course takes place from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, Sept. 25 to Oct. 30. UWindsor staff, students, and alumni are eligible for reduced registration fees. Email continue@uwindsor.ca for the discount code.

Children haven’t physically been inside a classroom since mid-April, when Ontario shuttered schools to in-person instruction as a result of rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

UWindsor education professor Lana Parker took to the airwaves to discuss what parents and students need to be aware as they head back to school. She joined Ryan Bird, spokesperson for the Toronto District School Board, for the Sept. 2 episode of the iHeart Radio podcast Life Unmasked.

Entitled “Back to the books: What to expect on the first day of school,” the discussion addressed issues ranging from safety protocols to how kids will catch up in their studies. Listen in.