Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Waterloo professor wins prestigious Killam Research Fellowship

This article originally appeared on Waterloo News.

Waterloo food security expert Jennifer Clapp has been awarded a Killam fellowship for her work on the rise of agrifood mega-companies and the implications for the global food system.

During her fellowship, Clapp will conduct research on how corporate consolidation and the financialization in the agrifood sector create new risks for the food system. Clapp will also look at the dynamics of international policy responses to these shifts.

“A Killam fellowship is one of the greatest achievements a Canadian scholar can achieve in any discipline,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, President of the University of Waterloo. “We’re incredibly proud that Dr. Clapp is again recognized as a global leader in food security — something critical to our efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

Clapp’s award comes at a time when our global food system is in peril due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her recent opinion piece published in the New York Times revealed how a trend towards corporate consolidation and commodity specialization results in the paradoxical situation in which  significant amounts of food are being destroyed around the world as a growing number of people are going hungry.

“Heartbreaking images of spoiled dairy, rotting vegetables, and animals needlessly destroyed should make us all reconsider how efficient our food systems really are,” said Clapp. “I am extremely grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts for supporting me as I investigate the causes and consequences of the rise of mega-companies in the food system, and how diverse local markets and sustainable production can make our food system more resilient.”  

Clapp, a Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and Sustainability, was also awarded a Trudeau Fellowship in 2013. In 2018 Clapp won the Innes Gérin Medal for contributions to the Social Sciences from the Royal Society of Canada.

CEE, Waterloo International collaborate to support co-op students

A message from Waterloo International (WI).

Waterloo International (WI) has allocated $20,000 to support co-op students. This is the result of a collaboration with Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE), who identified a need to provide additional resources to international students.

“Traditionally, our international co-op students have a great track record of finding employment,” says Norah McRae, associate provost of CEE. “The pandemic has added challenges and barriers that we’re committed to helping them overcome.”

One of those challenges is finding employment with international organizations. To limit the spread of COVID-19, the Government of Canada advises to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada until further notice. In alignment with this advisory, Waterloo has suspended all University-related travel outside of Canada, including co-op work terms. This means that any international employer can only post job opportunities that allow a student to work from within Canada.

And although jobs are still being posted, many employers are also facing funding cuts, and some of these jobs are unable to offer a competitive salary. This impacts international students, who have limited access to Canadian government financial aid packages.

“Shifting priorities, internal and external pressures, and competition for scarce resources have created many challenges for our international students. Collaboration across campus is critical at this time to ensure that all students have access to support and resources. Waterloo International is pleased to offer this assistance to provide meaningful employment for our international co-op students,” says Christine McWebb, assistant vice president, International Operations, Waterloo International.

This money will be split evenly among 20 positions with the business units within the Aga Khan Foundation Network in Pakistan as $1,000 scholarships. The positions are diverse, ranging in focus from research, communications, public health, nursing, and climate. The funding aims to provide financial options for international students, but any student who wishes to accept one of these roles would qualify for the scholarship.

“These funds are meant to assist international co-op students, who wish to take advantage of these unique opportunities, but still need an income of some kind,” says McWebb.

Farzana Karim-Haji, director of university partnerships at Aga Khan University, says universities around the world will have to adapt to a ‘new normal’ regarding student mobility and work-integrated learning. “In this spirit, the Aga Khan University’s new Virtual Internship Programme has been developed to engage with students in innovative and meaningful ways by providing virtual experiences, which will allow students to contribute their knowledge, build their skills and navigate their careers through these uncertain times,” says Karim-Haji.

McRae says students have shown remarkable resilience and adaptability during the pandemic. “Waterloo students want to work, and they are still actively looking for employment. We have increased the flexibility of our program for the spring term, creating flexible pathways that take pressure off their upcoming co-op work terms,” she says. “With the generous support of Waterloo International, and collaboration with our international partners, we can continue to offer resources that can help students in this challenging time.”

New video resource to help identify COVID-19 phishing attempts; other notes

"As noted in a message shared on May 15, COVID-19 related phishing attempts are on the rise. IST’s Information Security Services (ISS) group has added another great video to their “Working from home securely” video series to help the community identify and better understand COVID-19 phishing attempts, scams, and misinformation," says a note from IST.

While we're on the subject of phishing, Parking Services is advising parking permit holders about a fraudulent email currently circulating, and warns recipients to not click on any link that states there are changes to their parking account and to log on vie epark. "Parking Services is not actively making any account changes whatsoever and it is clearly an attempt to obtain personal information," says a note from Sharon Rumpel, associate director, parking, grounds and transportation.

Here's what's happening this week at the Centre for Career Action (May 25 – May 29):

• This is the last week for the How to find a co-op job for Spring 2020 webinar series:
  • Thursday, May 28: How to find a co-op job for Spring 2020 Webinar 3: Virtual Interviews, 9:30 a.m.
• What’s happening at the Centre for Career Action:
  • Tuesday, June 2: Exploring Your Personality Type (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) Part 1, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
  • See CCA’s offering of virtual programming online. Students can register on WaterlooWorks.
• Centre for Career Action virtual drop-in advising hours for May:
  • Résumé, cover letter and interview support drop-ins running 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Students can book virtual drop-ins on WaterlooWorks.
  • New this month: 15-minute Career Consults and Works Search drop-ins are available 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The Board of Governors meets on Tuesday, June 2 at 1:30 p.m. The agenda is posted on the Secretariat website. As always, guest observers are welcome. If you would like to attend the meeting as a guest observer, please contact Emily Schroeder to request to join the meeting. All requests must be received by Monday, June 1 at 3:00 p.m.

May we present for your consideration some Good Buddies of the University

"This is Shadow and her name fits for two reasons: she's mostly blind and can see only shadows and she is my constant companion while working from home, writes Carrie Howells, manager, LMS/QA specialists at the Centre for Extended Learning. "She is always close by whether I am in my office or on the deck enjoying the nice weather while on a call."

"Annie encourages taking breaks for yoga (naps?) whenever possible," writes Kate Mercer, engineering and science librarian at the Library.

"This is my colleague Max hard at work," writes Sharon McConnell, grants and contracts manager, FANS and institutional research in the Office of Research. "He is responsible for neighbourhood surveillance, squirrel patrol and indoor sunbathing. He takes his job very seriously!"

"Here's my contribution to the ongoing parade of Good Buddies in the Daily Bulletin. From top to bottom, they're Pandora, Titania, and Otis," writes Professor Craig Kaplan of the Cheriton School of Computer Science. "They provide a welcome distraction from work, and are frequently available as napping assistants."