Thursday, September 16, 2021

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• Sandra Banks appointed interim Vice-President, Advancement
• Yucatan climate past informs the global climate present
• Health professor elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
• Test of the campus emergency communication system September 23
• Alumni podcast explores how professional decisions can spawn personal development

Sandra Banks appointed interim Vice-President, Advancement

"I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Sandra Banks as Interim Vice-President, Advancement as of November 1, 2021," wrote President Vivek Goel in a memo sent to the University's Executive Council on Wednesday. "Sandra will take on these responsibilities in addition to those of Vice-President, University Relations until a permanent appointment is made."

As previously announced in the Daily Bulletin, Joanne Shoveller will be taking on a new role at the new International Business University, and will begin serving as president and vice-chancellor of IBU on January 1, 2022. Her last day at the University will be October 31. The search for her successor is underway.

Since 2015, Sandra Banks has led the University’s broad range of marketing, communications, government relations and community relations initiatives as Vice-President, University Relations. In 2019, Banks was reappointed to a second five-year term that runs until March 31, 2025.

"Sandra will be working with Joanne over the next several weeks to support this transition," President Goel writes. "I look forward to Sandra’s leadership and stewardship of the Advancement portfolio during this time and thank her for taking on this role."

Yucatan climate past informs the global climate present

New research shows changes in tides and hurricane activity played a part in upending the Maya civilization centuries ago.

Changes to the water table throughout the Yucatan Peninsula impacted the Maya and now offer lessons on the effects of present-day climate change, researchers say.

“Big parts of the Yucatan Peninsula sit on rock formations made of limestone, with fissures and caves throughout,” said Aaron Coutino, a recent PhD graduate in applied mathematics at the University of Waterloo. “Rainwater and runoff accumulate in the cave formations and underground rivers, and that’s where much of the freshwater is on the Yucatan.”

“If you have changes in sea level or tidal activity, then what happens in those fissure zones is a mixing between the fresh water on the surface and the salty water that intrudes from the ocean underneath.”

The researchers show that fluctuations in Maya population and settlement patterns were impacted by access to fresh water. Long before the arrival of Europeans and the eventual destruction of the Maya civilization, the archaeological record shows cycles of internal disruption.

“Sometimes things in Maya cities were good, and sometimes people seem to disperse out into the countryside,” said Marek Stastna, a professor of applied mathematics at the University of Waterloo and a co-author on the study.

“There’s a variety of theories in the archeological community as to why. This research suggests it was to do with regular access to freshwater. The water stops being good for drinking and even stops being useful for irrigation. When you can’t irrigate your crops, you can’t have a city of 40,000, like some of the Maya cities were.”

The researchers placed sensors in bodies of water throughout the Yucatan to gather data. They found daily fluctuations of water levels and salination that show ocean tides impact even far-inland lakes. Their work offers new insights for archaeologists and climate historians, but also for present-day climatologists.

The researchers say the study informs how the contemporary world can think about the different ways climate change expresses itself. The Yucatan, with its unique water table, is vulnerable in particular ways. Other regions will have their specific vulnerabilities.

“Right now, you see how climate change expresses itself in places like British Columbia, with these huge forest fires. And in the Yucatan, climate change expresses itself through the underground water table. If you’re in Acadia, maybe the bigger concern is coastal erosion, but in the Yucatan change can manifest inland,” Stastna said.

“People shouldn’t be thinking about whether climate change is happening, but how it expresses itself in different places.”

The study, Inland tidal oscillations within the Yucatan Peninsula, authored by Coutino, Stastna, Chelsi McNeill-Jewer and Eduard Reinhardt, was recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Health professor elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences

This article was originally published on the Faculty of Health website.

Jack P. Callaghan, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences, has been elected as a 2021 Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS). The Academy brings together and recognizes top-ranked health and biomedical scientists and scholars across Canada to create positive change on the urgent health concerns of Canadians.

Election to Fellowship in the Academy is considered one of the highest honours for scholars in the Canadian health sciences communities. Fellows elected to the Academy are health and biomedical science leaders who have achieved national and international peer recognition for their contributions to the health sciences and demonstrate a history of exceptional accomplishment and impact.

The citation reads, “Dr. Jack Callaghan is a biomechanics professor and Canada Research Chair in Spine Biomechanics and Injury Prevention. He works with industry and clinical groups translating his internationally renowned chronic injury prevention research into product design, practice guidelines and prevention standards. As director of the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD), he leads a network of 70 scientists and practitioners and produced a provincial guideline for the prevention of musculoskeletal injury. Callaghan is a Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomist and has been named a fellow and Career Awardee of the Canadian Society for Biomechanics.”

Callaghan is one of 74 newly elected CAHS Fellows from across the country. They are chosen from all disciplines in Canadian universities, health-care and research institutes.

Test of the campus emergency communication system September 23

A message from Information Systems & Technology.

A test of the University’s emergencycommunication system is scheduled for Thursday, September 23 at 11:00 a.m. Test activation and deactivation messages will be sent using the following channels:

• Tweets to @UWaterloo and @WatSAFEapp
• WatSAFE mobile app
• The ‘WatSAFE Desktop Notification’ on-screen pop-up for desktops and laptops
• Portal alerts and push notifications

In the event of a real emergencyduring this test, please contact Police Services at 519-888-4911, or ext. 22222.

Be sure to install the WatSAFE app on your device and WatSAFE Desktop Notification tool on your desktop/laptop to receive this test message, and more importantly, to stay informed of campusemergency situations. Visit the WatSAFE website for more details.

Alumni podcast explores how professional decisions can spawn personal development

A message from the Office of Advancement.

Our careers don't exist in a vacuum — they're an integral part of our personal development. Nel Wieman's (BSc '88, MSc '91) career journey is an amazing example of that fact. In the latest episode of Uncharted: Warriors in the World, Nel explains how her career as a health care provider brought her personal fulfillment and encouraged self-discovery.

She began at Waterloo as a kinesiology student, fascinated with biomechanics. Then, she became Canada's first female Indigenous psychiatrist. And today, she's a public health official at the First Nations Health Authority in British Colombia. Nel joins the podcast to tell her career story and share the personal revelations she uncovered with each new step.

Listen to Nel's storyon Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Soundcloud.

Read more about the podcast