Friday, October 18, 2024

Indigenous mural unveiled at the Tatham Centre

By Christie Zeb. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on the Associate Provost, Co-operative and Experiential Education website.

Kyle Joedicke is a self-taught artist from Hamilton, Ontario. As a child, he grew up loving art. He enjoyed spending his time doodling and making collages from magazine clippings.

During his teenage years, Joedicke experienced racism and an identity crisis. With a mother of Scottish descent and a father from the nearby Six Nations of the Grand River, he struggled to figure out where he fit in his community. Both his Indigenous and non-Indigenous background left him with many questions.

To connect with his roots and learn more about his cultures, Joedicke turned to his first love─art. He began to paint Indigenous graffiti on canvasses, to tag buildings and to express himself through art.

Even though he loved art, Joedicke didn’t envision his hobby growing into a profession. However, in 2020 when he was laid off from his construction job, he decided to focus on honing his craft. He experimented to find what art form helped him to best express himself.

Joedicke’s work reflects the stories of his Haudenosaunee cultural heritage. When the University of Waterloo’s Co-operative and Experiential Education department approached him about creating a work of art, he looked for parallels to his culture for inspiration. The Tatham Centre (TC) building is a hub of activity each term when hundreds of students from diverse cultures and backgrounds come together as they start their co-op terms.

This concept of the coming together of students in TC inspired him to paint a mural that tells the story of the coming together of Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy—Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga, Mohawk and Onondaga.

"This story mirrors the commitment that the students at the University of Waterloo undertake to maintain a healthy and peaceful on-campus community," saus Joedicke.

Read the full story on the Associate Provost, Co-operative and Experiential Education website.

Which species will survive the global change challenge?

By Katie McQuaid. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo News.

In a temperate montane forest in southern Québec, all is quiet. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see the landscape has a story to tell. Waterloo plant ecologist Dr. Julie Messier, alongside her collaborators from Sherbrooke, is uncovering vital insights into the changes affecting our forests— knowledge that could be crucial in safeguarding Canada’s temperate forests.

Her study derives from previous research in 1970 and 2012 that showed some species were thriving after 40 years of global change, while others were declining, and it wasn’t clear why. “Many factors can change how favourable an environment is, and a lot of them are based on climate change and air pollutants,” Messier said. “This community experienced 1.5 C of warming since the first study and significant atmospheric nitrogen deposition, both are big changes to adjust to. In response, some species became more abundant overall, whereas others saw a decline.”   

Messier and her team built on this data to answer two questions: first, how did the traits of the forest community change? Second, what traits could predict the shifts in species elevation and abundance over this period? “We wanted to test the hypothesis that some species had specific traits allowing them to do well, which we hoped would enable us to predict future changes better,” she said. 

To do this, Messier and her collaborators studied the plants covering the ground in the understory layer, which is the most diverse layer within a temperate forest. For 46 understory vascular species, they measured six above-ground traits and for 36 of those, they measured five below-ground traits. The data showed that the traits of the lower-elevation communities had not changed from 1970 to 2012, but the traits found in high-elevation communities in 2012 had come to look just like the lower-elevation communities. 

“As the species from the low-elevation communities moved up the mountain to find more ideal climate conditions (up to 100s of feet into higher elevations), it made the trait composition in high- and low-level communities more similar, leading to trait homogenization,” Messier said. “This has opened up a lot of new questions about lower-level communities and whether they will be able to adjust, if at all, in the future.” 

Read the full story on Waterloo News

RefWorks Library subscription to end December 31

A message from the Library.

The Library is terminating its subscription for RefWorks as of December 31, 2024. All RefWorks users will have to transfer their references to another citation management tool before December 31, 2024 or lose access. For details on this change and alternative options, details are on the Library website.

Read the full story on the Library's website.

Electronic cover sheet survey reminder and focus groups

A message from the Office of Research.

The Research Systems and Analytics Team in the Office of the VPRI, along with IST, are currently conducting a survey to obtain your valued feedback on the Electronic Cover Sheet system. If you have not already done so, we would appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete the survey.

The survey closes this Friday, October 18 at 11:59 p.m.

Also, we are holding focus groups sessions for researchers to obtain more detailed insights on your experiences with the Electronic Cover Sheet system and specific upgrades you would like to see in the new system. We invite you to participate in a focus group session by registering for one of the sessions.

Read more about the Electronic Cover Sheet updates.

Whether you're 10 years or 10 months from retirement, this workshop is for you

A message from the University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA) and the University of Waterloo Retirees Association (UWRA).

The UWSA and UWRA are co-sponsoring two free retirement planning workshops for staff on October 28 and November 19, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at Renison University College's Dunker Family Lounge. Attend to learn what you need to know about preparing for retirement, connect with peers, and walk away with answers, resources, and clarity on your next steps. A complimentary dinner will be provided.

Update: The October 28 workshop has been moved to Fed Hall to accommodate the high number of registrations – over 100 and counting. The November 19 workshop will be at Renison, as advertised above. The registration portal will be updated to reflect these changes, and registrants for the October 28 workshop will be notified of the change of venue.

 Anyone within 10 years of retirement will find the presentation useful. (Additional  workshops, including some for faculty, are planned for early 2025.)

Register on the RTO/ERO website. Direct your questions to uwra@uwaterloo.ca.

Teaching and Learning Month next week at a glance

A message from the Office of the Associate Academic Vice President and Teaching Innovation Incubator

Welcome back to campus! We hope you had a restful and productive Fall Reading Week.

As the term picks up again, don’t miss out on next week’s programming as part of Teaching and Learning month.

Starting Monday, the Centre for Teaching Excellence’s Instructional Innovations Week returns to campus for a week filled with programming on innovative teaching strategies designed for 2024’s educational landscape. Topics will include academic integrity, interdisciplinary teaching strategies, generative AI, trauma-informed care, and educational technology, among others.

SLICC events

We’re excited to welcome Dr. Simon C. Riley, academic lead for the University of Edinburgh’s institution-wide Student-Led Individually Created Course (SLICC) initiative. Three in-person SLICC sessions will be held on October 24 and October 25.

On October 24, hear from SLICC instructors and students on the impact that the SLICC self-directed learning framework has had on their teaching and learning and participate in a workshop on the SLICC framework hosted by Dr. Riley. Individual registration for each session is required. 

For information about SLICCs and the SLICCs framework please visit the SLICC TII page or contact SLICCs@uwaterloo.ca.