Thursday, February 5, 2026

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• Celebrating Black History Month 2026

• Nomination period for staff elections to Board of Governors opens February 9

• A new partnership to advance biodiversity conservation and education

Celebrating Black History Month 2026

A message from Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor.

This year marks 30 years since Black History Month was officially recognized in Canada. The national theme in 2026 is 30 Years of Black History Month: Honouring Black Brilliance Across Generations — From Nation Builders to Tomorrow’s Visionaries. 

The theme recognizes the lasting contributions of Black Canadians. It honours leadership, creativity, innovation and resilience across generations. It also looks ahead to the future, something we do here every day at the University of Waterloo. 

At Waterloo, generations of Black students, alumni, faculty and staff have helped shape a better future for all. Some do this through research and education. Others do it through ideas that improve lives in Canada and around the world. This month, I encourage our community to learn about the people whose work reflects that vision.

One example is staff member Silas Ifeanyi. As an engineering educational developer at the Pearl Sullivan Engineering IDEAs Clinic, helping engineers stretch their minds and seize opportunities to enrich people’s lives. To close out 2025 he helped lead a new partnership with the United Nations Quality of Life initiative with a Quality-of-Life hackathon at Waterloo. This past December, Silas, travelled to his native Ghana to run a second hackathon at the University of Ghana, and somehow also found time to lead a quantum key distribution workshop at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.  

Black Brilliance Across Generations means solving problems with the future in mind. Dr. Tizazu Mekonnen is a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He led a team that developed a plant-based superabsorbent hydrogel. The material can replace petroleum-based plastics in products people rely on every day. This research helps ensure future generations can meet basic needs without damaging the planet. 

For University of Waterloo Black alumni, their time here is often just the beginning. Take, Seun Adetunji (MBET ’24) an Engineering alum is the founder of MedInclude, an AI-enabled platform helping patients better understand medical information by translating complex medical language into plain terms.

University of Waterloo Black brilliance is making its presence felt globally as well. Eyitemi Popo (MDEI ’16) is a Forbes-listed social entrepreneur and founder of Girls Trip Tours, a women-centred travel company redefining how people experience Africa. Through culturally immersive, impact-driven trips and partnerships with women-led local businesses, her work uses tourism as a tool for empowerment, mentorship, and community growth. 

Closer to home here in Canada, Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman left Waterloo in 2003 with an MMath in Biostatistics. Today, she’s the first Black female president of the Ontario Medical Association. Her story is pure Waterloo. Her unconventional approach to becoming a doctor led her to embrace biostatistics and build bridges between traditional medicine and using statistical insights to improve health outcomes.

These stories reflect only a small part of the Black brilliance across our campus community. They show how ideas, research and care for others help build a stronger society. I invite you to explore Waterloo’s Black History Month stories. Join me in recognizing the contributions of Black Canadians at Waterloo and across Canada.

Nomination period for staff elections to Board of Governors opens February 9

A message from the Secretariat.

Staff elections for the Board of Governors vacancy will be held in March 2026, and all eligible staff are encouraged to consider nomination. 

The Board of Governors is responsible for the governance of the University, including control of its property and revenues, the conduct of its business and affairs, except such matters assigned by the University of Waterloo Act, 1972 to the Senate.

The Act prescribes that there are 36 voting Board members. Governors include community leaders, staff, faculty, students, and alumni. The Board conducts its business through committees that bring recommendations to the full Board at four regularly scheduled meetings. The composition of the Board of Governors consists of "two members of the full-time staff" of the University. For 2026, one full-time staff member position is available for election. Terms and eligibility are defined in the University of Waterloo Act.

If you are interested, please visit  Board of Governors - Staff Election | Secretariat | University of Waterloo or email elections@uwaterloo.ca for more details. The nomination period commences on Monday, February 9. Forms must be received by 4:30 p.m. on February 20. The campaign period is to commence at the close of nominations on February 20 and run until March 3.

Voting will begin as follows: 

• Online Voting (Regular Full-Time staff members): Wednesday, March 4 at 9:00 a.m. and will close March 10 at 4:30 p.m.
• Paper Ballots (for Union employees): Wednesday, March 4 at 9:00 a.m. and will close March 17 at 4:30 p.m.

Any questions relating to the above, or the role and expectations of a Governor may be directed to the Secretariat via elections@uwaterloo.ca.

A new partnership to advance biodiversity conservation and education

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

Biodiversity loss and natural resource degradation are among the greatest threats to humanity. In Canada, we are entering an era of intensive resource extraction — think critical minerals, pipelines and infrastructure development — that will profoundly impact biodiversity. Yet, over three quarters of all Canadians feel strongly about the importance of protecting nature and species at risk of extinction. Building awareness about and capacity for biodiversity conservation is crucial, as is the importance of understanding the real value of nature to Canadians.

These issues are at the core of a new memorandum of understanding between the Faculty of Environment's School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability (SERS) and the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF). Under the agreement, the two organizations will collaborate to advance biodiversity conservation and educational innovation across Canada and pursue new academic and research projects together.

“CWF is one of Canada’s leading environmental NGOs, and we are very pleased to be one of the first higher education partner to support the development of their Canadian Centre for Nature-based Education, a new initiative to enhance hands-on, nature-based learning experiences,” says Derek Armitage, Director of SERS. “The partnership will catalyze unique teaching and research opportunities that are of critical importance to future generations of students, and we are excited to build on our Faculty’s commitment to nature-based education.”

The new partnership will also launch a project to better understand the value of nature. Nature's benefits and ecosystem services are estimated at $125-150 trillion annually, yet there is limited understanding of the contribution of wildlife and nature to Canada’s sustainable development goals and local economies.

“The Real Value of Nature and Wildlife study is a timely step toward communicating how nature and wildlife contribute to economic activity, community resilience, and quality of life across key sectors,” says Sean Southey, CEO of the Canadian Wildlife Federation. “The work will provide an evidence base that helps governments, businesses, NGOs and communities better recognize nature as essential infrastructure and a foundation for long-term prosperity. Together, our two organizations are building the insights needed to move from valuing nature in principle to valuing nature in practice.”

Part of the University of Waterloo Faculty of Environment, the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability is a distinct academic body recognized for its commitment to transdisciplinary teaching, learning, and research to protect, restore, and transform social and ecological systems.

For the past 50 years, the University has been a leader in sustainability research and education, and the Faculty of Environment has been a catalyst for environmental innovation, solutions, and talent developed with the world, for the world.