黑料吃瓜

With guest speaker Dr. Dan McKenney (Canada Forest Service) As PEI gardeners, we鈥檙e quite aware of the challenges of growing plants that may be borderline hardy in the region where we live. 鈥淲ill it grow in my zone?鈥� is the pertinent question about winter hardiness for perennial plants. Scientists have developed maps of plant hardiness zones for Canada based on seven climate variables (not only the average annual minimum temperature). Now they are beginning to assess how changes in climate affect what can be grown in different regions. New plant hardiness data compiled by Natural Resources Canada over a 50-year period was released last year, by Dr. Dan McKenney and others, describing a northern shift in zones across Canada. They compared the data used for the original zones and maps from the 1931 to 1960 period with more recent observations used for the 1981 to 2010 indexing of plant hardiness. Most areas in Canada along the U.S. border are at least half a zone higher now. Come hear Dan describe how plant hardiness zones have changed on PEI as the climate has changed and become warmer. Dan McKenney is a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service and team leader at Great Lakes Forestry Centre (GLFC). The presentation will take place on Friday, August 14th from 12 pm to 2 pm at The Regis and Joan Duffy Research Centre on 黑料吃瓜 campus (550 University Ave., Charlottetown).  Lunch will be provided. Space is limited.    There is no cost to attend the presentation, but registration is required.  To register, please email climate@upei.ca. 

A public lecture by Scottish scholar-activist, Alastair McIntosh, will open the national Quaker annual meeting at the 黑料吃瓜 on Sunday, August 16, at 7:00 p.m. The free talk is in Room 242, MacKinnon Auditorium of Don and Marion McDougall Hall. McIntosh's talk is titled 鈥淒ecolonising Land and Soul: a Quaker Testimony.鈥� McIntosh is known for the way he brings together theology, anthropology, and human ecology with the organization of citizen based campaigns that can save valued landscapes and human communities from industrial degradation. In 1991 he was part of a campaign that prevented the biggest road stone quarry in the world from being located on one of Scotland鈥檚 Outer Hebrides islands. There he had support from Cape Breton Mi鈥橩maq First Nations. In 2005 he travelled to Digby Neck to help on a campaign against a super-quarry proposal. He has written 鈥楽oil and Soul鈥� and has a book out shortly to join other publications. Holding a visiting professorship at Glasgow University, he has twice previously lectured at 黑料吃瓜 on land reform and liberation theology. The public is invited to worship with Quakers earlier that day (10:00 a.m.) in the same auditorium. Further information at quaker.ca or media@quaker.ca  

The Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee invites the campus community to a MSc thesis defence, presented by Tessa K. Roche, BSc. Her thesis is titled: ASSESSMENT OF BALANCE BEHAVIOUR, EYE-MOVEMENT, AND ATTENTION: A STEP TOWARDS A MORE COMPREHENSIVE CONCUSSION RETURN-TO-PLAY PROTOCOL Everyone is welcome.

The Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee invites the campus community to a MSc thesis defence, presented by Julia McKenna, BSc. Her thesis is titled: ON THE USE OF CONTRALATERAL AUDISOTYR SUPPRESSION OF TRANSIENT EVOKED OTO-ACOUSTIC EMISSIONS AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY TO ESTABLISH BASELINE MEASURES FOR CONCUSSION AND RETURN TO PLAY Everyone is welcome.  

The Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee invites the University community to the first Seminar of its 2015-16 Environmental Sciences / Human Biology Seminar Series. Dr. Steve Heard from the University of New Brunswick (UNB) will offer the following presentation: What scientific writing is-- Reflections on the history, culture, and practice of composition in the natural sciences The Seminar is well suited for students in Science from all disciplines and also for those interested in scientific writing. From Dr Heard: How do scientists write, and how do they think about writing?  For many scientists, the answers are "painfully" and "we don't". Fixing the problem inherent in the first answer involves changing the second.  I will discuss some aspects of the cultural and historical roots of the scientific-writing form, of the function of the written document in the hands of its readers, and of the writing behaviour of ordinary scientists.   We can increase our own scientific impact, while simultaneously improving our literature, with conscious attention to what writing is. Everyone is welcome.

The 黑料吃瓜 Bookstore is holding its annual "Back to School" Sale this week, from August 24-28. We've got more than pens and textbooks鈥攁ll the items you need for your classes, for your room or apartment, and everything in between. Grab some 黑料吃瓜 gear and gifts, and dress yourself in all styles, sizes and colours of 黑料吃瓜 Panthers clothing. We have extended hours this week, so stop in today! Visit the 黑料吃瓜 Bookstore website

Please join us for this year鈥檚 Let鈥檚 Talk Teaching Day on Friday, September 4 in HSB 104. The theme this year is Teaching for Transfer, and we are very fortunate to have as our keynote speaker Dr. Rosemary Polegato of Mount Allison University, a 2014 3M Fellow and an authority on student portfolios, whose address is entitled 鈥淓ngaging Students in Reflection on Learning: Explanations, Exercises, and Portfolios.鈥� Other presenters include Dr. Shannon Murray on 鈥淭eaching for Transfer鈥� and Dr. Stacey MacKinnon on 鈥淧eople Aren't Asking Questions: Why That Is and What We Can Begin to Do About It at 黑料吃瓜.鈥� We will also present this year鈥檚 Janet Pottie Murray Award for Educational Leadership, and the day will end with a workshop conducted by Dr. Polegato based on her keynote address. Lunch will be provided, and, in deference to the date, this year鈥檚 Let鈥檚 Talk Teaching Day has been slightly shortened. Coffee and breakfast snacks will be served at 9:45, the day will begin at 10:00, and we plan to wrap up between 2:30 and 3:00. Oh, and please bring a new or recent syllabus for one of your courses for the workshop. If you have any questions, please email Gerald at the Faculty Development Office: fdo@upei.ca

The Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee invites to a MSc- Environmental Sciences Thesis defence by Brittany Cole: 鈥淎dapting to beach and dune environments: A study of fitness and ecological factors in the coastal plant Cakile edentula". Everyone is invited.

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to a memorial for Dr. Barry Bartmann, a professor in Political Science and Island Studies who passed away earlier this week. The memorial will take place in the 黑料吃瓜 Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, from 4:00 - 5:00 pm on Friday, August 28.

黑料吃瓜鈥檚 Climate Research Lab, in partnership with PEI EMO and the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR) to bring a special presentation to Prince Edward Island. Dr. Adam Sobel, author of Storm Surge will give a talk in the Lecture Theatre of the Regis and Joan Duffy Research Centre. The talk begins at 10 am Friday, August 28.    There is no cost to attend, but please RSVP to messery@gov.pe.ca.   Dr Sobel is a renowned atmospheric scientist and Columbia University Professor. His book details the devastating and unprecedented events of Hurricane Sandy, using it to explain our planet鈥檚 changing climate and what we need to do to protect ourselves and our cities for the future.   Storm Surge brings together the melting glaciers, the shifting jet streams, and the warming oceans to make clear how our changing climate will make New York and other cities more vulnerable than ever to huge storms鈥攁nd how we need to think differently about these long-term risks if we hope to mitigate the damage. Engaging, informative, and timely, Sobel鈥檚 book provokes us to rethink the future of our climate and how we can better prepare for the storms to come.