Monday, June 3, 2019


Professor Aimée Morrison named Trudeau Foundation Fellow

This article was originally posted on the Faculty of Arts website.

The Faculty of Arts is proud to share the news that Aimée Morrison, associate professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, has been awarded one of five 2019 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellowships. Morrison is the second Trudeau Foundation Fellow from Waterloo Arts in the past four years — political science professor Bessma Momani received a Fellowship in 2015.

Professor Aimée Morrison.Morrison is a scholar of new media studies with expertise in social media behaviours and cultures. Her research, teaching, and public engagement have addressed contemporary issues such as viral academic media, hashtag social justice activism, how social media constructs and enables new interpersonal and political interactions, and how minoritized identity groups contest stigmatized representation through media.

Providing up to 50 media interviews per year, and with a robust social media following of her own, Morrison is well established in Canada as a go-to expert on impacts of social media and computer technologies. Her appearances include long-form interviews with CBC’s national radio program Spark; and she recently appeared as a commentator in a Hot Doc’s feature film by director John Walker called Assholes: A Theory—speaking about strategies to counter ‘assholery’ online.

“The take-up of my work by journalists, activists, and public audiences indicates a strong hunger for public-facing expertise on these issues, right now, and every day,” said Morrison.

The Trudeau Foundation Fellowships are awarded to accomplished scholars in the humanities and social sciences whose work offers “reflection and action in human rights and dignity, responsible citizenship, Canada in the world, and people and their natural environment.” Over a three-year term, Fellows will receive up to $50,000 per year, plus travel funds, to support their research and promote scholarly engagement and collaboration within the Trudeau Foundation community of Scholars, Fellows, and Mentors.

PhD students to get schooled on climate change

Water Institute International Summer School banner.

From June 3 to 12, over 30 top PhD scholars from 15 countries will gather at the University of Waterloo to participate in the Water Institute’s inaugural international summer school.

Scholars from leading water institutions, such as the University of Queensland, ETH Zurich, Beijing Normal University, China University of Geosciences, Hohai University and Michigan State University, will join University of Waterloo colleagues in studying interdisciplinary perspectives on climate change and water security in urbanized watersheds.

“The Water Institute’s inaugural summer school offers a unique opportunity for PhD scholars to learn from an impressive array of Waterloo and visiting professors, and to interact and network with colleagues from around the world, in addressing key water security challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective” says Water Institute Executive Director Roy Brouwer.

Some 22 Water Institute professors from all 6 Faculties will join visiting professors from the University of Michigan and the University of Saskatchewan to deliver an integrated set of lectures, field excursions and laboratory tours during the 10 day event. Specific programming will cover the following key research themes:

Read more about the Water Institute summer school.

Bike Month begins and other notes

Three people hold bike-related signs.June is Bike Month at Waterloo. In partnership with TravelWise, the Sustainability Office is hosting a trip-logging challenge and events throughout the month to encourage and celebrate active transportation to campus. From June 1 to 30, log your bike trips for a chance to win prizes.

Participants can go to TravelWise and join the University of Waterloo's user group for students or employees.

Once you have joined the appropriate user group, click on Dashboard and scroll down to 'Log Your Trips'. Select the date of your trip on the calendar, and fill in your departure time, return time, distance, and mode of travel. There are seven (7) prizes available to be won for any eligible participants that have submitted an entry to any of the three contests.

For full contest details and terms of reference, please visit Sustainable Waterloo Region's web page.

Athletics volunteers at a public garden.

Staff members from Athletics and Recreation visited Community Support Connections in Breslau to work on the organization's community gardens. These gardens grow vegetables that they use for their Meals on Wheels program. More information is available on Instagram.

A stylized image of a Globe.

The 2019 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship program has launched! Faculty members are asked to encourage highly competitive postdoctoral candidates to apply. The prestigious Banting PDFs are valued at $70,000 per year for two years. Please direct prospective international and domestic applicants to visit Waterloo’s Banting PDF website for institutional timelines and processes.

Interested applicants must complete preliminary applications by June 12, 2019. Questions may be directed to Heidi Mussar in Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs.

Anne Wagland, faculty services manager and executive assistant to the Dean of Environment, will be retiring after more than 41 years of dedicated service. Friends and colleagues are invited to a retirement celebration on Tuesday, June 25 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the University Club. Speeches will begin at 4:00 p.m. and there will be a cash bar.

Stratford campus closed this morning

The Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business will be closed on Monday, June 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for a team building exercise.

Link of the day

Still Ill: 25 years of Ill Communication

When and Where

Bike Month, Saturday, June 1 to Sunday, June 30, across campus.

Bike Challenge, Saturday, June 1 to Sunday, June 30, across campus.

The Water Institute international PhD summer school, "Climate change and water security
in urbanized watersheds: An interdisciplinary perspective,”
 Monday, June 3 to Wednesday, June 12, SJ2 2003.

W Store Spring Reading Sale, Monday, June 3 to Wednesday, June 5, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., SCH Concourse.

Grammar Studio: Workshop 1, Monday, June 3, 1:00 p.m., SCH 228F.

Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI)’s Conversations on Complex Systems, Monday, June 3, 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., STC 1019.

What’s Your Employer’s Problem? And how you can leverage your solutions for career success – graduate students, Monday, June 3, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30p.m., TC 2218

LGBTQ+ Making Spaces, Tuesday, June 4, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., STC 2002.

Chemistry Seminar Series featuring Jean-Luc Renaud, Professor, Université de Caen Normandie, Laboratoire de Chimie Moléculaire et Thioorganique, Caen, France, “From Hydrogenation to Alkylation: A Journey with Iron Complexes,” Tuesday, June 4, 2:30 p.m., C2-361 (Reading Room).

What’s Your Employer’s Problem? And how you can leverage your solutions for career success – undergraduate students, Tuesday, June 4, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., TC 2218.

NEW - Webinar: Copyright and Your Thesis, Wednesday, June 5, 10:00 a.m.

Project and Portfolio Management Community of Practice (PPM CoP) chat - Team Building, Wednesday, June 5, 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., DC 1568. 

Bike Repair Lunch and Learn, Wednesday, June 5, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., EV3-3412.

Exploring Your Personality Type (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) Part 1, Wednesday, June 5, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., TC 1214.

NEW - Coping Skills Seminar - Cultivating Resiliency, Wednesday, June 5, 4:00 p.m., HS 2302.

Velocity Start: Building a Kicka$$ Team, “Learn how to build the best team for your future startup & network with other students”, Wednesday, June 5, 7:30 p.m., Velocity Start, SCH 2nd Floor.

NEW - Annotated Bibliography Using Refworks, Thursday, June 6, 1:00 p.m., DP 329.

NEW - Grammar Studio: Workshop 2, Thursday, June 6, 1:00 p.m., SCH 228F.

NEW - Graduate Student Stress Management Group, Thursday, June 6, 3:30 p.m., HS 2302.

Get a Job Using LinkedIn, Thursday, June 6, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., LIB 329.

Keystone Picnic, Friday, June 7, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., DC Quad. Event for evening workers, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Student Life Centre.

NSERC Discovery Grant information session for faculty members, Friday, June 7, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Science Teaching Complex, Room 1012. RSVP by Monday, June 3 by email to uwnserc@uwaterloo.ca.

Soapbox Science Waterloo, Sunday, June 9, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Victoria Park (near the playground).

NEW - Not Just a Lab Report: The Recipe for Communicating in All Research Disciplines, Monday, June 10, 10:00 a.m., SCH 228F.

NEW - Coping Skills Seminar - Empowering Habit Change, Monday, June 10, 3:00 p.m., HS 2302.

Decisions, Data and Dollars: A Canadian Nerd on Wall Street, Monday, June 10, 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., QNC 1502.

Procurement and Contract Services Annual trade show, Tuesday, June 11 and Wednesday, June 12, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., DC 1301.

Velocity Start: Do People Want Your Sh*t?, “Learn about topics related to market validation,” Wednesday, June 12, 7:30 p.m.,  Velocity Start, SCH 2nd Floor.