Friday, April 1, 2022

W Store launches Nesting Season collection

A message from Print + Retail Solutions.

Each year, W Store releases a goose-inspired collection to celebrate the return of the University’s iconic geese during the beginning of nesting season starting in April. This year, a campus-wide design contest was held for students, faculty, staff and alumni to submit an original design to represent the geese at Waterloo.

The top submissions were featured on an Instagram poll for voting and the winning design was by Iris Xing. She was inspired by the (sometimes) passive-aggressive geese we share the campus with and wanted to give them a friendlier face to match those of the students.

The Nesting Season collection allows University students, staff and faculty to take home a piece of campus life – goose included. The collection includes a tee shirt and tote bag and is now available in-store and online.

Far out: a new look at the universe and galaxy formation

By Elizabeth Kleisath. This article was originally published on Waterloo News.

The world watched breathlessly as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched on Christmas morning and travelled 1.5 million kilometers to its earth-trailing orbit. Now, we breathe a sigh of relief as the telescope has begun sending us the first images as it aligns and prepares for research, launching a new chapter in humanity’s endeavor to study the universe.

Brian McNamara, Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and University Research Chair at the University of Waterloo, has been following the development of JWST for almost 3 decades. He is among the lucky astronomers who has been awarded time to use the telescope (see NASA's 286 selected proposals).

“The James Webb telescope is a phenomenal achievement we all share and can be proud of,” says McNamara. “We are entering exciting years of discovery as astronomers use the telescope to study the cosmos from exoplanets to primeval galaxies.”

McNamara’s focus will be on an object about 6 billion light years away called Phoenix, a giant galaxy that appears to be forming from its surrounding gas. Alongside Professor Michael McDonald from Massachusetts Institute for Technology and a team of collaborators, McNamara’s research will focus on the supermassive black hole at the heart of Phoenix to study how it regulates the galaxy’s growth and formation. Currently, galaxy formation is not well understood, but astronomers think that the cooling of extremely hot (100 million degree) plasma, controlled by nearby supermassive black holes, is what creates some new galaxies over billions of years.

“We’re trying to understand how this cooling process works,” says McNamara. “We see an enormous amount of mass cooling in the Phoenix Cluster at 100 million degrees, and we see a lot of cold gas at 30 degrees Kelvin, but not as much as we’d expect. So we’re trying to figure out where the gas is going.”

Using the JWST, McNamara and his collaborators will use neon gas at temperatures of several thousand degrees which lies in the mid temperature range of the cooling process. By observing how this mid-temperature gas is distributed throughout the galaxy cluster, the team will track how the enormous energy released by the supermassive black hole is dispersing the gas, a process thought to be an integral part of galaxy formation.

The JWST is the perfect tool to make these measurements. The space-based telescope permits a measurement of the neon gas in infrared light, which does not penetrate earth’s atmosphere. JWST was designed to observe the cosmos at infrared wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity.

McNamara and his team will “stare” at Phoenix with JWST for just over eight hours in the 2022 timeframe. “It’s a long time to stare at one object in the sky. With a telescope this powerful and performing perfectly, as the spectacular first light image shows, the results will be breathtaking. I can’t wait to see the exciting discoveries the telescope will reveal in the next few years.”

Phoenix photo credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) H.Russell, et al.; NASA/ESA Hubble; NASA/CXC/MIT/ M.McDonald et al.; B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF)

Your invitation to notice

A message from the Student Success Office.

Advisors and student-supporting staff and faculty members provide guidance and resources to students that are crucial to their success – but have you wondered how that guidance and those resources might become more impactful if you utilized an equity lens? 

Join Jazz Fitzgerald, Student Equity Specialist from the Student Success Office on April 11, from 2:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. on MS Teams for “Invitation to Equity Conversations: Invitation to Notice.” Jazz will facilitate a collaborative conversation to investigate how equitable spaces can be created and for you to discover your unique role in supporting the collective care of all students. 

All staff and faculty are welcome to join this conversation and can register by April 10, 2022 on Portal.

Celebrate 20 years of UW Well-Fit with the Cross-Canada Challenge

A message from UW WELL-FIT.

Register now for the Cross Canada Challenge to support 20 years of UW WELL-FIT. With your team, you will walk, run, bike, or wheel 7,560 km across Canada while raising funds for the UW WELL-FIT program. UW WELL-FIT is a portfolio of programs for those who have undergone or are undergoing cancer treatment, providing invaluable evidence-based exercise and community. Teams will be celebrated at our Community BBQ and Open House on June 5. 

Registration closes April 19, and more details will be sent to registrants. The challenge lasts from May 1 to May 31 and will require about 4 hours of exercise per week to be successful.

Police warn University community of a suspicious person

A message from Waterloo Regional Police Service and the University of Waterloo Special Constable Service.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service is continuing to investigate four (4) reports of a suspicious male in the King Street North and University Avenue West area of Waterloo.

• On March 1, 2022, at approximately 4 p.m., a female was approached outside of an apartment building in the area of King Street North and Ezra Avenue by a male who enquired if she lived in the building and asked her if she wanted a ride.
• Then, on March 8, 2022, at approximately 3:30 p.m., the above female was exercising in a fitness facility at the location of the March 1 incident, when she noticed the same male watching and motioning to her through a window from the lobby area.
• On March 23, 2022, at approximately 12:30 p.m., a male was approached as he waited for public transportation in the area of Dale Crescent and University Avenue East by a male who offered him a ride.
• On March 27, 2022, at approximately 7:30 a.m., a female was walking in the area of King Street North and University Avenue West and was approached by a male who persistently attempted to speak to her and offered her a ride.

In three of the incidents, the unknown male was observed operating a dark coloured 4-door sedan. In all of the incidents, the involved male has been described as Black, in his late 20s to early 30s, with a medium build, dark hair and possibly wearing glasses. The male is believed to have an accent, possibly Nigerian. In one incident, he was wearing a dark green jacket and black pants.

These investigations remain ongoing and police would like to identify and speak with the male involved in these incidents. 

Anyone with information or who may have witnessed unusual activity in the area is encouraged to contact police at 519-570-9777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

"The University of Waterloo Special Constable Service (UWSCS) would ask that all our community members remain vigilant when travelling alone and utilize personal safety strategies at all times," says a note from UWSCS. "In the event you have any questions or concerns on this matter, the University of Waterloo Special Constable Service remains available 24/7 and can be reached via phone at (519) 888-4911 or email: uw-special-constable-service@uwaterloo.ca."

"Please stay safe and look after each other," says the message from the University of Waterloo Special Constable Service.

Friday's notes

Tomorrow, April 2, marks the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which for members of Waterloo's Muslim community (and Muslims around the world) means a month-long period of prayer, fasting and charity-giving. During Ramadan, from sunrise to sundown, Muslims will refrain from eating and drinking, eventually breaking their fast with iftar dinners. Information about Ramadan activities can be found on the Waterloo Masjid's website and on the University of Waterloo Muslim Students Association's Facebook page.

Join the Peer Tutor Team. "Do you love giving people feedback on their writing?" asks the Writing and Communication Centre (WCC). "Do you get excited about the challenge of communicating ideas to different audiences? Join the Writing and Communication Centre’s Peer Tutor team. We're hiring undergraduate and graduate UWaterloo students from all faculties to be peer tutors with the Writing and Communication Centre next year, both in-person and virtually. Our tutors coach their peers on all kinds of communication assignments at any stage of the writing process."

"See our job postings on our Opportunities page," says the WCC. Applications are due April 22, 2022.

The UW OER Fellows Grant Program deadline has been extended. "Due to considerable interest, the application deadline for the UW OER Fellows Grant Program has been extended until Friday, April 8," says a note from the Centre for Extended Learning (CEL). The program has $15,000 available to support OER projects.

More information is available on the OER Fellows grant guidelines page or by emailing Open Education Librarian Mike Chee.