UWindsor professor Catherine Febria has been appointed to a three-year term on the multidisciplinary expert panel of the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

An international body with 139 member governments, the panel produces scientific assessments to support decision-making and works to build capacity to strengthen the science-policy interface, modelled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Its panel of experts provides scientific and technical advice and integrates Indigenous and local knowledge systems.

Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Freshwater Restoration Ecology and assistant professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, Dr. Febria will travel this month to the United Nations campus in Bonn, Germany, to begin the work.

“It’s an incredible privilege to be elected to this role, a first for Canada and from the IPBES fellows,” says Febria. “It’s validating to be recognized in this way and know that my interdisciplinary training and diverse experiences in different science systems, cultures and at both local and global scales have all contributed to the kind of expertise needed.

“My hope is that I can help promote and mobilize science into policy at all scales, for the benefit of our planet’s biodiversity and future generations.”

Febria’s approach to research considers not only policy, but on-the-ground actions — explicitly considering the range of nature’s contributions to people. Partnerships, Indigenous, and local knowledge systems are at the core of her work.

This three-year appointment will involve regular global meetings and involvement in assessing technical reviews, syntheses, and other products that IPBES develops. Febria hopes to leverage this opportunity to her current research, teaching, and service contributions at UWindsor.

ZuZu Gadallah, Canada’s national focal point for IPBES at Environment and Climate Change Canada, supported Febria’s nomination.

“She is the kind of researcher that should be on the MEP,” says Dr. Gadallah. “Her research does exactly what IPBES strives to do in its assessments: to combine findings from different knowledge systems and different academic disciplines into a coherent, policy-relevant analysis.”

Chris Houser, UWindsor interim vice-president of research and innovation, says Febria is deserving of this honour.

“The need for transnational environmental research in the Great Lakes region and beyond is increasing, and Dr. Febria’s expertise in freshwater restoration has perhaps never been more critical,” says Dr. Houser.

“Her research is a great example of how University of Windsor researchers are making a difference in the quality of life for others.”

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The return of the Ontario Universities Fair to an in-person event for the first time since 2019 is a great opportunity for the University of Windsor, says Chris Busch, associate vice-president, enrolment management.

“While we continue to be a top choice for students in the Windsor area, we also want to be at the top of the list among students in the greater Toronto area,” Dr. Busch says. “The universities fair allows them to get to know us and provides us with an opportunity to demonstrate how students thrive at UWindsor.”

The event will take place Oct. 1 and 2 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. With more than 130,000 participants each year, it is one of the most important entries in the annual student recruitment calendar.

“Connecting with prospective students and their fans at the OUF sets the tone: driving interest, engagement, and applications,” says Busch. “With personal attention and quality interactions at the fair, we’ll build our reputation as a welcoming, vibrant, diverse University community.”

He notes that the UWindsor team will boast a significant presence of faculty, staff, and students.

“Our representatives are poised to impress, sharing their Lancer love and enthusiasm, and demonstrating why the University of Windsor is the choice for post-secondary education.”

Guests will explore a refreshed booth focusing on this year’s campaign while being entered into a draw to win a free first semester at the University of Windsor next fall. In return, staff will collect contact information allowing them to continue the conversation, including inviting prospects to visit the campus during Fall Open House on Nov. 5.

The fifth installment of the short film showcase Reel Shorts: Windsor, produced by film professor Mike Stasko, is now available on CBC Gem, the national broadcaster’s video-on-demand platform.

Reel Shorts: Windsor is part of the Absolutely Canadian series highlighting the best documentary programs, short dramas, and comedies created by independent producers, directors, and student filmmakers from Windsor-Essex.

This year’s compilation brings together stories about online dating, loving your plants, sleep walking, loving your own body, and a day in the life of a five-dollar bill and a pair of shoes.

Stasko singles out as of special interest Full Bloom by MFA student Raquel Graston (BA 2022), completed during her undergraduate studies.

“Raquel worked during the summer back-to-back on feature films I am producing: The Lion Behind Him and Vampire Zombies… from Space!” says Stasko. “I valued her contributions as a production assistant and third assistant director and now encourage everyone to see all these films free online.”

The show is available through CBC Gem and also features Uprooted: The Plantemic, produced by UWindsor professor Tony Lau; Phantasma & Fiver by communications major Shahad Al-Haddad; Lookin’ Good, Feelin’ Good by Carolina Di Grado (BA 2022); and Down in the DMs by Taye Alvis.

The School of Creative Arts will kick off a new season of live, in-person concerts and artist talks with a piano performance by Philip Adamson of Beethoven sonatas in the keys of A-flat and E-flat on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Dr. Adamson taught piano and pedagogy for many years at the University of Windsor before his recent retirement. He has performed across Canada and in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe, and has been heard frequently on CBC radio.

The recital will take place in the Performance Hall in the SoCA Armouries, located at 37 University Ave. East. Find the program on the concert website.

“Saturday’s program features three sonatas which were completed within two years of each other, and a work which was composed some 20 years later,” Adamson says. “They reveal a composer whose creative power and ability to construct masterpieces of form and expression from seemingly mundane materials, was unprecedented. These sonatas also demonstrate a willingness to experiment, and these experiments served to enlarge the concept of the keyboard sonata, both in form and content.”

Saturday’s performance is at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 with a $10 student rate and may be purchased in advance on the SoCA website and at the door. Payment at the door must be made with debit, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover. Ticket sellers cannot accept cash.

Check out the calendar of SoCA events for this fall.

Jaimie Kechego, project co-ordinator for Indigenous curriculum and pedagogy initiatives in the Centre for Teaching and Learning, will discuss the impacts of residential school on her learning spirit — and the resilience of Indigenous peoples to rise above the trauma — in a session sharing her grandmother’s experience attending Mt. Elgin residential school at 2 p.m. today — Thursday, Sept. 29.

Kechego (BA 2006, B.Ed 2015), is Anishnaabwekwe from Deshkaan Ziibing (the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation reserve) located near London, Ontario. Prior to joining the UWindsor staff, she served eight years as the First Nation, Métis, and Inuit secondary school counsellor with the Greater Essex County District School Board.

The event was originally intended to be in person, but has moved online. Register here to attend.

Observances of Orange Shirt Day on Friday, Sept. 30, will include the Every Child Matters Walk, leaving from Art Windsor-Essex, 401 Riverside Dr. West, at 10:30 a.m.

The walk will conclude at the David Wilson Commons for a Drum Social Teach-In from 1 to 3 p.m. The event will honour the spirits of survivors and those who did not come home with the big drum and with speakers who will educate on the truth of residential schools.

Find more information on the UWindsor Orange Shirt Day webpage.

Abigale Vollmershausen won Tuesday’s DailyNews quiz contest and its prize of four gold seat tickets to Saturday’s Alumni Week football game.

Vollmershausen’s entry was drawn from all those which correctly identified Jessica Clemençon, Richard Holland, Miah-Marie Langlois, Drew Macaulay, and Meaghan Pototschnik Whatta as 2022 inductees in the Alumni Sports Hall of Fame; Guelph and Toronto as opponents defeated by Lancer football so far; and 2019 as the last year Windsor hosted Laurier at Alumni Stadium.

The Lancers will host the Laurier Golden Hawks at Alumni Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 1. Kick-off is at 7 p.m. If you missed out on winning the quiz, no worries: tickets are available at the gate or in advance at goLancers.ca/tickets.

The turnout for Wednesday’s campus community barbecue showed how hungry students are for connection, said Mary-Ann Rennie, manager of special events for the Office of the President.

“We are so pleased to see so many people come out,” she said. “We served more than 1,000 people in the first half-hour.”

Third-year electrical engineering student Abdullah Mohieddin said the promotions helped him to appreciate that the event would welcome him.

“I like that they said there was a halal option and a vegetarian option,” he said. “It’s inclusive for everyone, which is nice.”

In addition to hamburgers, chips, and cotton candy, the event offered entertainment, swag, and a chance to see the Toldo Lancer Centre.

Julia Sabelli, a fourth-year computer science major, enjoyed the opportunity to meet new friends.

“I like community events,” she said as she shared a picnic table with a couple of schoolmates. “Everybody gets together — and the music is great!”

The Campus Safety Grant Committee is accepting applications for creative, innovative proposals from members of the university community, including faculty, staff, and student organizations.

Formerly known as the Women’s Campus Safety Grant, it provides funding for projects to promote safety, focusing on addressing issues of sexual violence on campus.

The deadline date for the next round of submissions for funding through the Campus Safety Grant is Oct. 31.

In accordance with the parameters set by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, submissions are required to support one of the following broad categories or objectives:

• Awareness or education (e.g., workshops, websites, awareness campaigns)
• Student services and supports (e.g., campus walk safe programs, sexual assault prevention initiatives, volunteer training, resource materials)
• Facilities and equipment (e.g., lighting, mirrors, security cameras, emergency phones)

Funding requests are accepted on an ongoing basis by the Office of Human Rights, Equity and Accessibility at:

• Campus Safety Grant application
  by e-mail to ohrea@uwindsor.ca
  or by phoning 519-253-3000, ext. 3400.

Projects funded in the current round must be completed — and invoices paid — by March 1, 2023.

The Organization of Part-time University Students has extended the nomination deadline for certain of its annual awards until Friday, Oct. 7.

All part-time undergrads, as well as UWindsor alumni, staff, and faculty members, are welcome to submit nominations for these awards:

• Teacher of the Year
• GA/TA of the Year
• Disability Campus Community Recogniton
• Senior Administrative Leadership

Winners will be announced at the 2022 OPUS awards banquet on Oct. 28.