Friday, June 4, 2021

2020 Outstanding Performance Award recipients named

"I am very pleased to announce the Outstanding Performance Award recipients for 2020 and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them for their outstanding contributions to the University of Waterloo," writes James Rush, vice-president, academic & provost.

The 2020 Outstanding Performance Award winners are:

Faculty of Arts

Dillon Browne; Angela Carter; Valerie Cecile Dusaillant-Fernandes; Andrew Faulkner; Jean Guillaume Forand; Doreen Fraser; Jonathan Fugelsang; Owen Gallupe; Jasmin Habib; Dorothy Hadfield; Logan MacDonald; Ian Milligan; Adam Molnar; Aimee Morrison; Lennart Nacke; Marcel O’Gorman; Evan Risko; Susan Roy; Jennifer Schulenberg; Mikal Skuterud; Christopher Taylor; Kanstantsin Tsedryk; Bojana Videkanic; Katherine White; Dinghai Xu.

Engineering

Lisa Aultman-Hall; Anne Bordeleau; Kyle Daun; Daniel Davison; Cecile Devaud; Ramadan El Shatshat; Vijay Ganesh; Wojciech Golab; Jason Grove; Jean-Pierre Hickey; Christopher Holt; Jennifer Howcroft; Nadine Ibrahim; Fiona Lim Tung; David Mather; Robert McKillop; Tizazu Mekonnen; Andrew Morton; Kshirasagar Naik; Muhammad Shah; Chao Tan; Bryan Tolson; William Wong.

Environment

Jennifer Clapp; Amelia Clarke; Christopher Fletcher; Heather Mary Hall; Merrin Macrae; Prateep Nayak; Erin O’Connell; Katie Plaisance.

Health

Leeann Ferries; Lora Giangregorio; Bryan Grimwood; Scott Leatherdale; Carrie McAiney; Samantha Meyer; Chris Vigna.

Mathematics

Byron Becker; Jason Bell; Eric Blais; Raouf Boutaba; Lori Case; Jan Marius Hofert; Ihab Ilyas; Mohammad Kohandel; Pengfei Li; Anna Lubiw; Kirsten Morris; Alexander Peter Nelson; Jennifer Nelson; Pascal Poupart; William Slofstra; Nathaniel Stevens; Ian VanderBurgh; Chengguo Weng; Dan Wolczuk; Peter Wood; Karen Yeats.

Science

Michael Balogh; David Blowes; Lisa Christian; Vivian Dayeh; Andrew Charles Doxey; David Edwards; Steven Forsey; Tammy Labreche; Brenda Lee; Richard Marta; Elizabeth Meiering; Linda Nazar; Marcel Pinheiro; Colby Michael Steelman; Nancy Waite.

Effective May 1, 2005, in accordance with the 2003 Faculty Salary Settlement, the University of Waterloo established an Outstanding Performance Fund to reward faculty members for outstanding contribution in teaching and scholarship.

Jeff Casello reappointed AVP Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs

"I am pleased to announce the re-appointment of Professor Jeff Casello as Associate Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs for a three-year term commencing 1 July 2021," wrote James Rush, vice-president, academic & provost in a memo circulated to employees, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows yesterday afternoon.

"In considering Professor Casello’s reappointment, the nominating committee consulted widely with members of the University community and received input from students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, faculty, Faculty deans and associate deans, members of Executive Council and other senior administrators," writes Rush. "There was very strong support for Professor Casello’s re-appointment from stakeholders. Jeff’s leadership of GSPA during his first term was recognized as transformational including shepharding the transformation of the former Graduate Studies Office into the Graduates Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs  portfolio. His leadership has focused on greater coordination across campus, and on the development of a number of programs, processes, and resources in support of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, their advisors and programs. The re-appointment of Jeff Casello received very strong support from the stakeholder consultations and from the nominating committee."

"I wish to add my own support for Professor Casello’s appointment, to congratulate him, and to thank him for agreeing to serve in this important role," Rush's memo continues. "I would also like to thank the members of the nominating committee: Sheila Ager, David Billedeau, David DeVidi, Adam Kolkiewicz, Lili Liu, Cathy Newell Kelly, Chris Read, Marianne Simm, and Mary Wells."

Casello is Professor in the School of Planning and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and previously to assuming his current role also served as Associate Dean in the Faculty of Environment.

Waterloo introduces Canada's first degree to merge sustainability and financial management

The University of Waterloo is offering Canada’s first Sustainability and Financial Management degree to prepare a new generation of accounting and finance professionals to lead businesses through an era of environmental sustainability.

The program brings together teaching and research expertise from Waterloo’s world-class School of Accounting and Finance and its pioneering Faculty of Environment.

“Companies globally have established sustainability goals and targets to minimize their environmental impacts,” said Blake Phillips, deputy director of the School of Accounting and Finance. “However, despite this progress, win-win processes and strategies for both the firm’s bottom line and the environment are needed. This program is designed to fill the talent gap of sustainability leaders who have the expertise to quantify, report and integrate sustainability considerations — natural system and social — into the firm’s long-term business strategy and decision-making process.”

In earning their degree, students will not only master the practices of accounting and financial management, but also delve into environmental law, social equality, carbon emissions and ecosystem science. The first cohort of students will begin classes in fall, 2022.

The Sustainability and Financial Management program is also part of Waterloo’s leading co-operative learning program, giving students up to 20 months of paid on-the-job experience working for some of Canada’s top companies. Credits earned count towards Chartered Professional Accountant or Chartered Financial Analyst accreditation.

“Sustainable finance may seem like a new concept for some, but almost overnight we’ve seen an explosion in demand for professionals with this kind of experience,” said Jean Andrey, Dean of Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment. “Our graduates will be among the first to apply a new standard of measuring success in a way that protects the planet and its people.”

Putting his trauma to work for others

By Beth Gallagher. This article was originally published in the Fall 2020 issue of Waterloo Magazine.

Harrison Oakes (MA ’16, PhD ’20) found his purpose in a social psychology course that gave him language to understand his experiences of mental illness, attempted suicide and the bullying he endured for being gay.

Once Oakes had the language, he committed to using his talents to empower others. “I’ve always had a really strong desire to help other people and to do something that really matters so I’ve taken my own experiences of suffering and trauma and tried to make something positive out of them,” says Oakes, a recent recipient of the Governor General’s Gold Medal, one of Canada’s highest academic honours. “I’ve tried to put them to work – to prevent other people from experiencing the same things.”

Oakes’ doctoral research shows how homophobic environments harm all students, not just those who identify as LGBTQ+. His work has enriched psychological theory while also making an impact on the lives of high school students.

Oakes’ doctoral research was inspired by an experience he had while still an undergraduate student. He sat in on hearings for Bill 18, Manitoba’s proposed anti-bullying legislation. While listening to community members’ arguments, he noticed many detractors couldn’t see how protecting LGBTQ+ students would benefit their straight children.

To promote awareness of the bill’s necessity, Oakes publicly shared his own story about the difficulty of growing up gay and being bullied for it in high school. He discussed living through depression and a suicide attempt at 15 before dropping out of high school for a year-and-a-half. His story attracted support from people across Canada. Later that year, in partnership with PREVNet and Family Channel, Oakes authored a teachers’ guide on creating anti-bullying environments. It was disseminated to schools across Canada.

Today, Oakes is considering developing another resource, this time for religious parents who are struggling with understanding their children who identify as LGBTQ+. “A lot of resources for religious parents are outdated and they paint queer life with a doom-and-gloom narrative heavily influenced by the AIDS epidemic,” says Oakes. “We need resources that reflect today’s realities for LGBTQ+ folks, and that provide both parents and children with hope.”

Oakes, who hopes to become a professor, says he draws inspiration from his late brother, Steve Wall, who died in a plane crash last year leaving behind a young family and vocation as a Christian minister. Oakes says his brother always challenged people to ask the big existential questions: "Instead of living from a to-do list, take some time to step away from that list and ask yourself: ‘Why am I here? Why am I doing what I’m doing? Is this the life I want to live?"

Friday's notes

Opinions wanted on Natural Areas Management Survey: "Do you maintain or manage natural or semi-natural areas (e.g., garden or greenspace) on campus?" ask a group of graduate students from the Faculty of Environment. "If so, you are invited to participate in a voluntary, 10-minute Natural Areas Management Survey as part of the Stewardship UW: Campus EcoMap initiative."

This survey is delivered through Qualtrics and is available until June 18, 2021, though early participation is encouraged. You can find it at Natural Areas Management Survey – Campus EcoMap. 

"The purpose of the Natural Areas Management Survey is to gather opinions about the management of natural and semi-natural areas on campus. The team will use the survey results to build an interactive web map to inform project-based learning and advance the campus as a Living Lab. This interactive map will help with planning, documenting, and archiving research and projects on campus ecosystems. The Campus EcoMap project is funded by the Sustainability Office’s Sustainability Action Fund."

Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion has announced some workshops for next week:

• 2Spirit, Queer & Trans Futures Panel, Wednesday, June 9, 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. The panel features Amy Smoke, Danielle Araya, and Maddie Kathleen Resmer in discussion with Sarah Grzincic. The conversation centres around issues 2Spirit, trans and queer racialized people experience when it comes to navigating different systems in and out of academia and how these experiences are shaped by colonization.
• Happy Pride: Steps towards creating and maintaining healthy queer positive relationships, Wednesday, June 9, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Relationships are unique. The connections we form take work and this session is a space for queer identified individuals to come together, alone or with partner(s), to explore how we can have healthier relationships, healthy communication and healthy boundaries for the respect and benefit of ourselves and others.