New Trail Autumn 2013

AU T UMN 2013

Meet the paleontologists who bring the past to life

UNIVERSIT Y OF ALBERTA

ALUMNI MAGA ZINE

The Green and Golden Years

50 years later, three grads look back

2013 Alumni Awards Celebrate our best

W W W.NEW TR AIL .UALBERTA .C A

Dinosaur Hunters

the Buns are Back

Plan your weekend at:

ualberta.ca/alumni/weekend

Proudly Sponsored by:

A U T U M N 2013 VOLUME 69 NUMBER 2

On the cover: Scott Persons, ’11 MSc, as seen through the eye of a Troodon, one of many dinosaurs we regard differently thanks to U of A researchers.

Illustration by Julius Csotonyi, ’98 BSc(Hons), ’02 MSc; photo by John Ulan

NE W TR AIL .UALBERTA .C A

features 19

19 Alumni Recognition Awards We celebrate the stories behind some of the university’s most inspiring alumni

28

40

28 The New Evolution of Dinosaurs Meet four researchers who are changing the way we think about dinosaurs

40 Caps and Gowns, Then and Now Fifty years after leaving the university and heading out into the world, three grads look back

departments 46

64

Executive Director Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA Supervising Editor Cynthia Strawson, ’05 BA Editor Lisa Cook, @NewTrail_Lisa Associate Editors Sarah Ligon, Karen Sherlock Art Director Marcey Andrews Contributing Photographer John Ulan Contributing Editor Kelly O’Hara Editorial Intern Kate Black Advisory Board Anne Bailey, ’84 BA; Linda Banister, ’83 BCom, ’87 MPM; Jason Cobb, ’96 BA; Susan Colberg, ’83 BFA, ’91 MVA; Deb Hammacher; Tom Keating; Lawrence Kwok, ’04 BSc(Eng); John Mahon, ’76 BMus, ’83 MBA; Robert Moyles, ’86 BCom; Julie Naylor, ’95 BA, ’05 MA CONTACT US Email (Comments/Letters/Class Notes) alumni@ualberta.ca Call 780-492-3224; toll-free 1-800-661-2593 Mail Office of Alumni Relations, University of Alberta, Main Floor, Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Ave., Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6

3

Your Letters Our Readers Write

4

Bear Country The U of A Community

17

Whatsoever Things Are True Column by Todd Babiak

Facebook U of A Alumni Association

46

Question Period TSN’s Natasha Staniszewski Plays Ball

Twitter @UofA_Alumni

48 Events In Edmonton and Beyond 50

Class Notes Keeping Classmates Up to Date

Address Updates 780-492-3471; toll-free 1-866-492-7516 or alumrec@ualberta.ca

61

In Memoriam Bidding Farewell to Friends

TO ADVERTISE ashley.davis@ualberta.ca

64

Photo Finish The Picture-Perfect Finale

This University of Alberta Alumni Association magazine is published three times a year and mailed free to more than 138,000 alumni. The views and opinions expressed in the magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Alberta or the U of A Alumni Association. All material copyright ©. New Trail cannot be held responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.

ISSN: 0824-8125 Copyright 2011 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40112326 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Office of Alumni Relations University of Alberta, Main Floor, Enterprise Square 10230 Jasper Ave. Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6

new trail autumn 2013 1

upfront OFFICE OF ALUMNI RELATIONS

Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA Associate Vice-President Tracy Salmon, ’91 BA, ’96 MSc Director, Alumni Programs Coleen Graham, ’88 BSc(HEc), ’93 MEd Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives

ALUMNI COUNCIL EXECUTIVE President Glenn Stowkowy, ’76 BSc(ElecEng) Vice-President: Reputation & Messaging Mary Pat Barry, ’04 MA Vice-President: Educational Engagement Lorne Parker, ’08 EdD Vice-President: Centenary Wanda Wetterberg, ’74 BA(RecAdmin) Vice-President: Nominating & Bylaws Jane Halford, ’94 BCom Vice-President: Histories & Traditions Rob Parks, ’87 BEd, ’99 MBA Vice-President: Volunteerism Tom Gooding, ’78 BSc(MechEng) Vice-President: Alumni Student Council Chris Grey, ’92 BA, ’95 MBA Board of Governors Representatives: Jane Halford, ’94 BCom Don Fleming, ’76 BEd Senate Representatives Cindie LeBlanc, ’01 BA Anne Lopushinsky, ’79 BSc Secretary Linda Banister, ’83 BCom, ’87 MPM FACULTY REPRESENTATIVES Academic Representative Jason Acker, ’95 BSc, ’97 MSc, ’00 PhD, ’09 MBA Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences Reint Boelman, ’97 BSc(Ag) Arts Glenn Kubish, ’87 BA Augustana Sandra Gawad Gad, ’12 BSc Business Charlene Butler, ’09 MBA Campus Saint-Jean Cindie LeBlanc, ’01 BA Dentistry Vacant

Education Lorne Parker, ’08 EdD Engineering Tom Gooding, ’78 BSc(MechEng) Extension Vacant Graduate Studies Chris Grey, ’92 BA, ’95 MBA Law Vacant Medicine Vacant Native Studies Darlene Bouvier, ’91 BA, ’09 BA(NativeStuHons) Nursing Vacant Pharmacy Sheena Neilson, ’06 BSc(Pharm) Physical Education and Recreation Wanda Wetterberg, ’74 BA(RecAdmin) Public Health Ximena Ramos Salas, ’87 MPH Rehabilitation Medicine Linda Miller, ’89 BSc(OT) Science Fred Johannesen, ’84 BSc(Spec) Members at Large Linda Banister, ’83 BCom, ’87 MPM Jason Krips, ’93 BCom, ’96 LLB Darryl Lesiuk, ’87 BA, ’91 BCom, ’07 MBA EX OFFICIO Honorary President Indira Samarasekera Vice-President (Advancement) O’Neil Outar Vice-President (University Relations) Debra Pozega Osburn Executive Director, Alumni Association Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA Dean of Students Frank Robinson Graduate Students’ Association M. Hasin Haroon, VP Student Life Students’ Union Petros Kusmu, President

There is a secret to the upbeat attitude of Tom Yonge, ’04 BEd, ’04 BPE. He calls it the Green Shake. The energy drink is an ominous-sounding combination of cucumber, avocado, Swiss chard, banana and a few more ingredients that could not possibly go well together. Yonge, a teacher at Strathcona High School in Edmonton, shares this recipe with any student who will listen and more than a few who will not.

I have no doubt that many of his students who roll their eyes in public find themselves privately staring down their Cuisinarts in hopes that the magic recipe will somehow lend them some of Yonge’s charisma and spark. Of course, the man who built Strathcona’s leadership program from 36 students to an army of 350 relies on more than just fruits and vegetables to transform his students into visionaries.

“Mr. Yonge leads by example. He not only asks us to rise to the challenge to combat poverty and injustice but also models what living a selfless life looks like,” writes a former student — one of six people who took the time to fill out the nomination forms that garnered Yonge a U of A Alumni Recognition Award.

The Alumni History and Traditions Committee went through 205 nominations to arrive at this year’s 38 award recipients. As you can imagine, narrowing down the list of inspiring alumni to find this year’s winners was a difficult and humbling task.

Distinguished Award winner Sister Annata Brockman, ’65 MEd, for example, still finds time to greet children at the school named in her honour. Douglas Stollery, ’76 LLB, argued in one of the most important legal decisions in Canadian history. The award nomination letter for Greg Abel, ’84 BCom, came from iconic investor Warren Buffett.

For me, though, one of this year’s most notable stories is an anecdote that Douglas Hamilton, ’80 BSc(ElecEng), ’84 MSc, likes to share when speaking to school groups. Hamilton, who is an engineer, a physician and, until recently, a NASA employee, likes to wave around a stack of rejection letters during his talks. “I tell them that other successful people have a pile like this, too. Just because something has not worked out is no reason to give up,” he says.

Hamilton’s message is a powerful reminder: even the most successful among us fails. It is how we handle failure that dictates whether we ultimately succeed.

Meet all of this year’s honourees on page 19 or join us at the Winspear Centre this Alumni Weekend. There will be a bagpiper and applause and champagne, but also friends and family who look on proudly as the awards are handed out. Tickets to the Sept. 25 event are complimentary to both alumni and the general public. Register at ualberta.ca/alumni/weekend.

Glenn Stowkowy, ’76 BSc(ElecEng), President, Alumni Association enviroink.indd 1

10/1/08 10:44:38 AM

2 newtrail.ualberta.ca

We would like to hear your comments about the magazine. Send us your letters by post or email to the addresses on page 1. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

Keep in touch between New Trail issues.

You’ll find web-exclusive content online and in e-Trail, our monthly electronic e-magazine. Visit ualberta.ca/ alumni/extras to see these stories and more.

Education’s New Wave I am currently working at Blessed Sacrament Outreach in Wainwright, Alta., an alternative school that provides high school course work for students ages 15 to 19.

While reading the “Building a Better Undergrad” article [Spring 2013, page 20], the phrase “make [the] undergrad experience work at [the student’s] pace” caught my eye because that motto is similar to what we do here at BSO. A lot of students that come to our school are academically intelligent but usually face challenges within their personal lives, including previous drug and/or alcohol abuse, mental health issues, unplanned pregnancy, upgrading needs and learning disabilities. By providing an educational environment that is accommodating and welcoming to these types of learners, we are truly working toward providing schooling that is as unique as the learner.

These schools, though not traditional in nature, are a new wave in providing education to those that either cannot attend a traditional high school or choose to engage in a learning environment that is toward their needs. This type of model, in my opinion, encompasses the ideology of educating to many. — Kristin Lapierre, ’06 BEd, Wainwright, Alta.

Volunteer — With Dinos!

Christopher Harrison, ’73 BEd, ’75 MEd, ’78 PhD, explains why he spends his Friday afternoons with 70-million-year-old bones.

Dino 101 Behind the Scenes Get the insider’s point of view as Phil Currie teaches Canada’s first for-credit MOOC.

Photo too political: readers Fascinating photograph from Hebron in your Spring 2013 issue [page 64]. Jewish settlers living above Arab shops in the old market and a “chain-link fence to protect the Arab Palestinians from objects that might come down from above.” Does this imply that the Jews do not know about garbage bins? Or do they amuse themselves by flinging objects at passing Palestinians?

You don’t suppose that the photographer might be a teensy bit biased, do you?

Almost certainly she would say no, just opposed to Israeli policy in the West Bank.

But sometimes it is not easy to tell the difference. I bet we are not getting the whole story. — Elizabeth Haigh, ’63 MSc, Halifax I object to the commentary on the picture “Hebron.” This is a common sight in Israel and I have many similar pictures of the market streets in the Old City in Jerusalem. The inference of the caption, however, bothered me.

I don’t think an alumni publication should pick sides in its reporting. Let the picture stand on its own. — Jim Moses , ’71 BSc(ChemEng), Edmonton

Steven Dollansky @StevenDollansky Take a moment to read @babiak’s exceptional column in #ualberta New Trail magazine. #yeg Todd Babiak @babiak @StevenDollansky Thank you, sir, it’s fun.

I was once turned down for an editorial job at New Trail because I failed their grammar test.

Lisa Cook @NewTrail_Lisa @babiak @StevenDollansky Today’s to-do list: 8 a.m., get coffee. 8:13, burn grammar test. #ReallyBadDecisions

CORRECTIONS Edy Wong, ’77 BCom, ’79 MA, ’84 PhD, was incorrectly identified in Photo No. 6 of our event photo gallery (page 49, Spring 2013).

The wrong Patricia Brine was listed in the Spring 2013 In Memoriam (page 62). Patricia “Paddy” Brine (MacRory), ’59 BEd, ’89 MEd, writes, “I am alive and well and on holiday.”

We apologize for the errors.

Five More Questions More Saturday Scholars (page 8) talk to us ahead of the Alumni Weekend series, including The Singing Professor and the mind behind Smart-e-Pants (above).

Perfecting His Bedside Manner Erik Saude, ’00 BSc, ’07 PhD, was a research all-star even before he earned his PhD. Now he’s out of the lab and putting his work to good use in Calgary hospitals.

Degrees of Success See more stunning photos of the Spring 2013 graduating class (page 64). new trail autumn 2013 3

RESEARCH IN THE NEWS U of A research is always making waves across the media. Here’s the lowdown on what’s up in our labs lately.

Hands-Free is Unsafe Talking on a hands-free device while driving is tied to a sharp increase in driver errors, according to U of A professor Yagesh Bhambhani, ’77 BPE, ’79 MSc, ’82 PhD, and graduate student Mayank Rehani, ’08 BSc. Their study found drivers who spoke on a hands-free cellular device made significantly more driving errors than those who didn’t, including crossing the centre line, speeding and changing lanes without signalling. – The Edmonton Journal

Awards Pile Up for New Trail

4 newtrail.ualberta.ca

The Power of Hemp U of A researchers have discovered a way to build supercapacitors — energy storage devices designed to deliver short bursts of power — using hemp waste rather than graphene, which is much more expensive. – The Register Online

Brain Foods Could Benefit Fetuses U of A researcher Jerome Yager found that rats that ate raw broccoli sprouts during pregnancy had fetuses with significantly more resilient brains than those that weren’t fed broccoli sprouts.

Yager is exploring whether eating antioxidant-rich foods during pregnancy can help reduce fetal brain injury, one of the main causes of cerebral palsy. – The Vancouver Sun

Researcher Cracks Pop Artists’ Code

What turns a song into a hit? Janine Stockford, graduate student in ethnomusicology, found two factors in Céline Dion and Shania Twain’s international success: an ability to rouse audiences’ emotions and an openness to exploring other cultures. Dion has sung in Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, English and French, while Twain released a South Asian-themed version of her 2002 album Up! – Lana Cuthbertson

TOP LEFT PHOTO BY ZHI LI

New Trail magazine has been on the receiving end of several industry awards recently.

“The Changing Face of the North” (Winter 2013, page 14) earned writer Scott Rollans the Prix D’Excellence gold prize for Best Writing – English from the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education, announced at the CCAE’s annual meeting in June. The story examined the U of A’s leadership role in studying the effects of climate change.

At the same event, the opening photograph for the story — a portrait by photographer John Ulan showing Canadian Circumpolar Institute Director Marianne Douglas gazing through a piece of ice — won a silver prize for Best Photograph. Two weeks later, the same image took the title for Best Photograph, People and Portraiture at the Western Magazine Awards.

Those titles will hang on New Trail’s wall next to the Bronze Award for Magazine Illustration awarded by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education District VIII (Western U.S. and Western Canada) in its 2013 competition. That honour came for the Spring 2013 cover illustration by Raymond Biesinger, ’04 BA.

Stephen Mandel, mayor of Edmonton: Post-secondary institutions help define who we are as a city and community.

They create opportunities for society to discover what we never thought we would. That’s why freedom of research, education and the independence of our universities are so important to our growth and prosperity.

“Intellectual exploration and curiosity are just as important as technical training for building a well-rounded economy.”

– Brad Ferguson

SP EA

Shawna Pandya, ’06 BSc(Hons), ’12 MD, neurosurgical resident and co-founder of CiviGuard: When it comes to breeding leaders and entrepreneurs, the U of A and Edmonton have seen incredible progress in the past decade. We are also embracing emerging technologies and novel teaching methods; this needs to trickle down to the undergraduate level. We need to engage students, capture their imaginations, and incentivize and empower them to dream big without being afraid of the stigma of failure.

(See more on Pandya, one of this year’s Alumni Recognition Award winners, on page 25)

lk a

F A

THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA and its value to Edmonton and the province was the focus of discussion at a one-day conference this spring.

“There hasn’t been a lot of community discussion until now, so I think this is really good for getting momentum going and getting a very real, honest conversation about what the U of A is good at — and what we can improve on, as well,” Csorba says.

bo

ut

th

un

e

Renée Vaugeois, ’04 MA, executive director, John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights: The U of A plays an integral role in our community, not only as an educational institution but also as a body that can advance efforts in the community. I proposed [in my talk] that the U of A work with an organization like the John Humphrey Centre — which it has been starting to do this over the past year — to create an open university where graduate students could gain valuable teaching experience by teaching community members.

BOUT THE U O

Leaders from the university, the City of Edmonton and the wider community spoke at the Stand Up for Edmonton conference, organized by U of A student Emerson Csorba. The point, he says, was to shift the focus of public discussions after provincial budget cuts to post-secondary education were announced in March. He wanted to hear people talking about the importance of the U of A to Edmonton and the province as a whole.

L o c a l leader s t a

Brad Ferguson, president and CEO, Edmonton Economic Development Corp.: Intellectual exploration and curiosity are just as important as technical training for building a well-rounded economy. Edmonton needs to be competitive, but we are experiencing a public policy environment that is placing an unusual emphasis on producing “units of production” for industry as opposed to “creative destructionists” that can transform our economy.

NG I K

TA U O

We talked to four speakers from the conference to find out why they felt it was important to speak out, and what Stand Up for Edmonton means to the U of A. – Kate Black

iv

er

s it

y ’s

va lue

to t he com

n mu

it y

Advertise in New Trail Magazine Your message delivered to the doorstep of more than 150,000 U of A grads. ualberta.ca/alumni/newtrailads new trail autumn 2013 5

WHERE ART MEETS ANATOMY

STUDENT LIFE

Laila Steen is the first to admit that having an arts student pursue a science degree seems pretty weird. In her fourth year at the U of A, the international student from Norway developed a way to create 3-D printable moulds for ear prosthetics during a practicum at the Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton for her bachelor of industrial design degree. Shortly after, she applied to the master of science in Rehabilitation Science program at the U of A. It might seem like a stretch for a design student to be delving into medicine, but Steen says arts and sciences have a lot more in common than you might think.

SO, WITH THE 3-D PRINTABLE MOULDS, YOU MADE CREATING THE PROSTHETICS MORE EFFICIENT? Yes. Facial prosthetics are usually made from silicone using dental plaster moulds, and then they’re coloured and painted to make them look real.

6 newtrail.ualberta.ca

So our goal was to make a digital version of this process.

The nice thing is that I was able to apply the design process that I use for design and furniture to this, as well.

HOW DO DESIGN AND MEDICINE ALIGN? It kind of makes a lot of sense. When it comes to surgery,

for instance, the way they cut bones and reassemble them is really similar to what you’d do when you make a piece of furniture. It’s kind of like cutting a piece of wood, but there’s just a lot more precision — and a lot more is at stake.

WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT DESIGN?

As a designer, it feels like an intuitive thing to see problems and then try to solve them or find a solution. We’re trained to look beyond the solution and try to prove things long term. We don’t just reconfigure things — we redesign them. The most exciting and rewarding thing is seeing how it can have an impact on people’s lives. – Kate Black

PHOTO BY RICHARD SIEMENS

DID YOU HAVE AN INTEREST IN MEDICAL DESIGN BEFORE YOUR PRACTICUM? I saw myself more in something like product design or furniture design, but then I heard about the Institute for Reconstructive Sciences in Medicine and its practicum. At the IRSM, they focus mostly on medical reconstructive devices for people who have had head and neck injuries due to cancer, trauma or birth defects. They have a research lab that focuses mainly on creating new and more effective ways to produce these devices, which is where I worked.

FROM THE COLLECTIONS

UNCOVERING CAMPUS TREASURES Flocking Back to Campus Just like the thousands of grads who return to campus for Alumni Weekend, familiar butterfly friends flutter back in the fall. Anglewing butterflies of the genus Polygonia emerge in the fall and then appear again in early spring. Alberta hosts five resident anglewing species and one occasional migrant, though they are spread across North America and into Northern Mexico. Curious to test your taxonomy skills? View more than a million of these Lepidoptera and other insects in person at the E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum — or see them in the online database.

PHOTOS BY RICHARD SIEMENS

An Ancient, Safely Updated It took 21st-century technology for the public to see this fourth-century Bodhisattva sculpture. The original, pictured, is far too fragile to display, but you can see an accurate reproduction in the new Classics Museum exhibition, which runs September to December in the Tory Building. The replica was constructed using a 3-D scanner and printer, created from about 50 million reference points on the original.

Instant Recognition Distinctly Canadian and instantly recognizable, Inuit artwork will be featured in an upcoming exhibition of more than 120 pieces, including Saddled Muskox by Pudlo Pudlat. Through storytelling, explore the evolution of this iconic art form, from its historical roots to artwork that is now collected on a global scale. The exhibition runs from October to December in the Enterprise Square Galleries.

Spread across campus are the 29 interdisciplinary collections that make up the University of Alberta Museums. The collections are used for teaching, research and community engagement. Look for tour opportunities at Alumni Weekend; sign up at the Tuck Shop Tent in Quad. museums.ualberta.ca

All 90 Suites Feature: Complimentary WiFi Local and 1-800 Telephone Calls Limited and Full Kitchenettes Campus Tower Suit Hotel, adjacent to the University of Alberta campus, offers impeccable and spacious, smoke-free accommodations with a selection of diverse floor plans. Choose from a studio, one bedroom or two bedroom suite with rates designed to meet your individual or group accommodation needs.

11145-87 Ave, Edmonton, Ab T6G 0Y1

www.campustower.com 1-800-709-1824

new trail autumn 2013 7

Hear Gerhard Reuter speak as part of the Saturday Scholar Series at Alumni Weekend, Sept. 28. His talk, “Frankenstorms,” is one of several free 30-minute lectures open to the public. Visit ualberta.ca/alumni/weekend for more.

FIVE QUESTIONS ABOUT …

FRANKENSTORMS If it falls from the sky, Gerhard Reuter probably knows all about it. The earth and atmospheric sciences professor is the university’s precipitation specialist and the City of Edmonton’s go-to guy when it comes to developing weather-predicting models and flood forecasts.

Why was the flooding in southern Alberta so bad this year? It was a mixture of heavy rainfall and saturated soil. The thing is that in southern Alberta, when you’re close to the mountains, the water moves a lot faster.

Is climate change to blame? I think there’s something in common. Our understanding isn’t totally complete, though. As a researcher, you’re very skeptical. I think the main thing is that the mid-latitude wind belt or jet stream — where Edmonton, Calgary and all of southern Canada lies — is between the cold Arctic and the warm subtropics, and the temperature contrast is decreasing. The Arctic warms up, and there is less ice, less snow and the ice caps melt, so it’s getting a bit warmer. The implications are that the temperature contrast is less and the wind speed is less. And that means that systems don’t move as fast, and they stay over one space longer.

U of A weather expert Gerhard Reuter answers questions about the recent flooding in southern Alberta, Frankenstorms and how to change the weather

But I wouldn’t go as far as to say that we humans are completely responsible for all the climate change. Climate has always changed. Climate is the average of weather and the weather changes from day to day.

Are you more concerned about floods now? No. I think I’m maybe more nervous that people, as a whole, don’t organize ourselves to deal with disasters very well. I don’t think we’re the best stewards of our resources and energy. In this case, people had very little notice, and the impact of that could be weakened if people had better advance notice. I think science is in the stage that a better forecast is possible. You could go, “OK, it seems the weather patterns line up.

Several models say it’s very likely that it rains. We are not 100 per cent sure about that, but make some preparations.” [In southern Alberta] I think these flooding cases are predictable within a week before, knowing the conditions of that area.

What’s a Frankenstorm? When you look at the rainstorms where there’s more than 100 millimetres at one point, some people have called them giant storms. [Fifty millimetres of rainfall within 24 hours is enough for Environment

Communications & Technology

Canada to issue a rainfall warning.] You don’t have them every year, these “monster storms.”

Over 10 years, you might have five. Or, in some years you might have two or three of them within one month — always between May and August, but mostly in June. It’s not something completely new, but I think the atmosphere conditions might make these more common.

I heard you know how to change the weather. Is that true? I don’t think it really works. There’s a whole scientific hypothesis of weather modification, or cloud seeding, where you put materials into the clouds to increase precipitation. If you can make ice crystals in liquid clouds, you could turn the liquid phase into the ice phase, and I think it’s a really good way to clear up fog. If you put ice crystals there, the droplets will form drizzle and rain out and clear up. In Alberta, they use it for hail seeding, where they increase the amount of precipitation and decrease the size of the hail. I don’t think it works, but it’s probably worthwhile to do some research about it. Of course, we have inadvertent weather modification all the time. If you make a dam or drive a car or if you put pollution in the atmosphere, you change it. – Kate Black

BALAN CE

+

UA G R A D UAT E P R O G R A M

“Finely Tuned to Your Needs” 8 newtrail.ualberta.ca

WO R K / E DUCATIO N

A PERFECT STORM A perfect-storm-like set of circumstances combined to cause the incredibly destructive flooding in southern Alberta this June, says Uldis Silins, ’89 BSc(Forest), ’97 PhD, a University of Alberta professor of forest hydrology and watershed management. Here is a breakdown of the science behind the flooding, focusing on conditions around the headwaters of the Elbow River.

A mountainous geography promotes efficient, rapid run-off

The early stages of a slow-moving storm drop

OVER

36HRS ABOUT

40MM

which saturates the ground around the headwaters of the Elbow River before the main storm hits

240MM

the most intense portion of the storm adds a staggering

175MM

of “snow water equivalent” remains at the summit of nearby Little Elbow in the Rocky Mountains, about 40 minutes west of Calgary, which adds to the total precipitation

PHOTO BY RAQUEL MAURIER

The storm is slow-moving, releasing high-intensity rainfall for hours. Around the headwaters of the Elbow River, the heaviest period of rainfall lasts a full 24 hours

THE RESULT

FOUR LIVES ARE LOST

The soil is unable to absorb the extreme amount of rainfall, leading it to flow into areas that were not thought to be flood risks

24HRS

$$

2BILLION+ IN COSTS

$25M Boost in Fight Against Heart and Stroke IN 1956, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA HEART SURGEON JOHN CALLAGHAN PERFORMED THE FIRST OPEN-HEART SURGERY IN CANADA. He also co-created the pacemaker.

Now another milestone is cementing the U of A’s reputation as an international centre of excellence in heart and stroke medical research and patient care.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada has made a $25-million, multi-year commitment to funding cardiac and stroke research at the U of A. Over the next 10 years, the U of A’s cardiovascular surgeons, cardiac care professionals, cardiologists, stroke specialists and educators, and researchers will work collaboratively across the health sciences disciplines to help save lives through advancements in research.

The gift was part of the newly created Heart and Stroke Foundation Research Leadership Circle. The foundation will be donating a total of $300 million to 19 leading institutions across the country with the goal of reducing by 25 per cent the number of Canadians who die from heart disease and stroke by 2020.

Heart disease and stroke account for almost 30 per cent of all deaths every year in Canada. – Raquel Maurier

COUR SE D E LIVE RY

S PA R E T I M E

CU RRICU LU M ONLINE

+

+

+ MACT.CA

SE L F-I MP R OV EM EN T / L E I SU R E

I N -P E R S O N / O NLINE

THE O RY / APPLICATIO N

new trail autumn 2013 9

ALUMNI IN THE NEWS U of A alumni who made headlines recently

Robert Markus, ’10 BFA, plays the lead in The Who’s Tommy, which runs to Oct. 19 at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Markus performed with the cast on Q With Jian Ghomeshi. – Q With Jian Ghomeshi Lisa Belanger, ’09 MSc, is using crowd sourcing to raise $2 million in toonie donations to start Knight’s Cabin, a retreat for cancer survivors in the Rocky Mountains. – The Edmonton Journal Eric Tremblay, ’01 BSc(EngPhys), and his team at the University of California, San Diego created a contact lens with a built-in zoom that magnifies vision by nearly three times. It has the potential to restore vision for people with age-related vision loss. – The Toronto Star – Compiled by Kate Black

10 newtrail.ualberta.ca

U of A researcher Catherine La Farge, ’88 MSc, ’97 PhD, garnered rock star status in the botany world this summer.

After publishing the findings that seemingly dead moss can regrow after being under a glacier for more than 400 years, La Farge and her team were the focus of news coverage from around the world. The irony? That wasn’t initially the focus of their research.

It’s another example of the importance of curiosity-driven research, she says.

La Farge, director and curator of the Cryptogamic Herbarium in the Department of Biological Sciences, was on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut in 2007 for a project on mosses and other bryophytes, looking at heavy metal pollution in the High Arctic, species variation and diversity. She saw mosses with a greenish tinge peeking out from under a glacier.

“But we were not really thinking, ‘Should this regrow?’” says La Farge.

“We need to allow people to do basic research and curiositydriven research because that’s where we’re going to get dynamic new discoveries.”

– Catherine La Farge

“We just assumed that if it came from under the glacier, it would be dead.”

The team took samples back south and dated them to the Little Ice Age. In the lab, examination of the blackened specimens showed green lateral branches.

So when the team was back at the field in 2009, it collected samples of the mosses with the aim of seeing if they would regenerate. The samples were successfully recultured in the lab by master’s student Krista Williams, ’08 BSc. La Farge explains that mosses, along with the rest of the bryophyte family, are known to be able to “shut down” when growth conditions aren’t optimal and later “reboot.”

While she didn’t go into this experiment backed by industry, her findings have real-life applications.

Since the discovery, she and her team have been asked to collaborate with the energy company Suncor to see if vegetation under roads will regrow when the road materials are removed.

Beyond the more tangible applications of the research, La Farge says the most important take-away from these findings is understanding the true resilience of Arctic

TOP LEFT PHOTO BY DON DIXON

Blue Sky, Green Moss

TOP RIGHT PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN, BOTTOM RIGHT BY RICHARD SIEMENS

ecosystems — and the importance of this kind of research, popularly known as blue-sky research, undertaken without having a contsrained, pre-set objective in mind.

“We need to allow people to do basic research and curiosity-driven research because that’s where we’re going to get dynamic new discoveries that you wouldn’t necessarily get if you have to follow some mandate dictated by industry.” – Kate Black

NEW SUPPORT FOR DIAGNOSTIC SCANS The new $28-million Medical Isotope and Cyclotron Facility, which opened in June on South Campus, will provide a reliable supply of medical isotopes for diagnostic imaging such as bone, brain and heart scans. The kinds of clinicalquality isotopes produced are used for 80 per cent of nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures in Canada. Take a narrated tour of the facility at ualberta.ca/alumni/extras. – Bryan Alary

U of A Remembers Champion Philanthropist The University of Alberta community is mourning the loss of one its most passionate supporters, philanthropists and alumni.

Harry Hole, ’44 BSc(CivEng), died July 3 at the age of 91.

Hole was an ardent supporter of the U of A and will leave an enduring legacy for the entire institution, said U of A President Indira Samarasekera.

“I cherished the opportunity to meet Harry and his wife, Muriel,” said Samarasekera. “Their enthusiasm for the University of Alberta was boundless and I always appreciated their warmth and

generosity. On behalf of the University of Alberta, I extend my deepest sympathies to Harry’s friends and family.”

In 2002, Harry, along with his brothers Ralph, Robert and Jim, gave $5 million to the Faculty of Engineering for the construction of the Natural Resources Engineering Facility and what would become the Hole School of Construction Engineering. That gift proved instrumental in getting the $65-million project off the ground, a development that has put the U of A at the forefront globally of teaching and research in construction engineering.

Hole was born in Edmonton on Sept. 14,

1921. His parents, Annie and Harry Hole Sr., came to Canada from England and eventually sent all nine of their children to the University of Alberta.

Researcher Leader Physician Congratulations Dr. Cy Frank on your University of Alberta Alumni Honour Award Scientist Albertan Visionary Collaborator Surgeon Resea Leader Physician Visionary Scientist Albertan Collabora AIHS leads health research and innovation in Alberta by supporting top-quality, internationally-competitive research. We work to ensure research results have a direct and positive impact.

Cy Frank, MD, FRCSC Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions (AIHS) President & CEO

To learn more, visit aihealthsolutions.ca Transforming health and wellbeing through research and innovation

new trail autumn 2013 11

Before the treadle pump was installed, Chandrama Mali and other residents of her village in the Indian state of Odisha had to scoop water by hand from the bottom of this 12-metre-deep well.

by Michel Proulx

Growing Hope in India

A VISITOR EMERGES FROM A CAR in rural India and walks toward a group of villagers. The sound of drums and cymbals fills the air as three dozen men, women and children start to sing. The visitor, U of A development economist Brent Swallow, looks a little bewildered but keeps walking, his step slowing as he takes in the sound and spectacle.

Two women place garlands around his neck and wash his feet. Swallow clasps his hands to show gratitude. As he walks deeper into the village, the villagers walk with him. The traditional welcoming ceremony continues, music as loud as ever, and two men begin to dance. One insists that Swallow join them and, after some hesitation, he sheds his western inhibitions and dances with his hosts.

Welcome to the heart of India.

Swallow is visiting the village of Ghiuriaguda, in the Koraput District of the state of Odisha, as co-lead of the Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition project, a partnership between the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences and the

12 newtrail.ualberta.ca

MS Swaminathan Research Foundation.

The partnership came about through conversations with Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, ’10 DSc(Honorary), after he received his honorary degree from the U of A. The three-year, $4.9-million program runs initiatives in three of India’s 26 states, developing and testing agricultural interventions designed to improve people’s lives — specifically their nutrition and their opportunities to generate additional income. Funding comes from the International Development Research Centre, a Crown corporation that helps developing countries with projects such as this one, and the Canadian International Development Agency.

TANGIBLE BENEFITS Swaminathan’s genetic discoveries in the 1960s led to a several-fold increase in India’s wheat and rice yields. Sitting in his foundation office in Chennai, India, he says the country has all the resources it needs to feed its 1.2 billion people, yet hunger and extreme poverty continue.

“It’s a national shame,” thunders the normally soft-spoken Swaminathan. “We call it the Indian enigma.”

Those involved with the Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition project are working to solve this enigma.

Researchers work with Indian farmers to introduce different types of interventions aimed at improving their nutrition and income — providing seeds to grow fresh vegetables in home gardens, supplying treadle pumps for easier irrigation, testing different rice and cassava seeds to improve yields, building fish ponds or providing machines to grind millet.

Overall, the interventions have touched more than 2,000 households in each of the three states where the project is running.

PHOTOS BY MICHEL PROULX

Thousands of families in Indian villages have better nutrition — and lives — thanks to a partnership between the U of A and the father of India’s ‘Green Revolution’

The treadle pump plays a vital role in irrigating fields, especially in Indian regions that have only seven or eight months of viable cultivation.

In Manjalpatti, a village of 18 households in southern India’s Kolli Hills, a young mother of four who introduces herself as Annakkili, wife of Kaalidass, describes through an interpreter how the project has helped her family. Now that they’ve been eating more fresh, green vegetables from their home garden, she has noticed her children have more energy.

Her own health is improving, too. She feels better, she says, and a recent visit to the doctor revealed that her hemoglobin levels have improved. Other women listening to the conversation — each with a home garden — nod their heads.

Farther north in the state of Odisha, in a small house in the village of Samarathguda, Chandrama Mali, a widow and the mother of two adult children, is grinding rice into flour so her mother-in-law can bake little treats to sell for additional income. Sitting beside a well just steps from their house are two newly installed treadle pumps, which Mali and her neighbours use to irrigate the nearby four hectares of crop fields. To work the pumps, villagers step up and down on treadles that drive pistons to draw water to the surface.

Before the pumps were installed, Mali, who owns and cultivates about a

half a hectare, had to scoop water from the bottom of the 12-metre-deep well by hand — a process that was both labourintensive and dangerous.

PIECES OF THE PUZZLE In the end, of course, a single intervention — or even a series of them — won’t unravel the Indian enigma.

Swallow and project co-lead Nat Kav, plant biologist and associate dean of the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, point out that some interventions may be successful in some areas but not others.

“That’s part of the puzzle,” says Swallow, chair of the U of A’s Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology. “What works for some people in the Kolli Hills may be completely inappropriate for people in the Odisha and vice versa. It can even

vary from village to village.”

Yet Swallow, who spent 25 years working in international development before coming to the U of A, is optimistic.

Ultimately, he says, the real success of the project will be measured by whether villagers adopt and continue the new practices once the project ends as scheduled in August 2014.

“We’re getting some very good, very positive feedback from the [Indian] participants,” he says. “It’s looking good … really good.”

Michel Proulx, communications manager with ALES, travelled with a team of six from the U of A to India in February. They toured two of the three project sites run by the Alleviating Poverty and Malnutrition project.

www.ecsd.net/125 • 780 441-6000

new trail autumn 2013 13

Discover why over 375,000 graduates enjoy greater savings

Join the growing number of graduates who enjoy greater savings from TD Insurance on home and auto coverage.

Most insurance companies offer discounts for combining home and auto policies, or your good driving record. What you may not know is that we offer these savings too, plus we offer preferred rates to members of the University of Alberta Alumni Association. You’ll also receive our highly personalized service and great protection that suits your needs. Find out how much you could save.

Request a quote today 1-888-589-5656 Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

melochemonnex.com/ualberta Insurance program recommended by

The TD Insurance Meloche Monnex home and auto insurance program is underwritten by SECURITY NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY. The program is distributed by Meloche Monnex Insurance and Financial Services Inc. in Quebec and by Meloche Monnex Financial Services Inc. in the rest of Canada.

Due to provincial legislation, our auto insurance program is not offered in British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan. *No purchase required. Contest organized jointly with Primmum Insurance Company and open to members, employees and other eligible persons belonging to employer, professional and alumni groups which have an agreement with and are entitled to group rates from the organizers. Contest ends on October 31, 2013. Draw on November 22, 2013. One (1) prize to be won. The winner may choose between a Lexus ES 300h hybrid (approximate MSRP of $58,902 which includes freight, pre-delivery inspection, fees and applicable taxes) or $60,000 in Canadian funds. Skill-testing question required. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. Complete contest rules available at melochemonnex.com/contest. ÂŽ/ The TD logo and other trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank or a wholly-owned subsidiary, in Canada and/or other countries.

SuperlativeU

All universities

love to boast about their campuses having the best researchers, the brightest students and the newest facilities. But the U of A really does have several things worth bragging about. Here is our list of some

Sharpest

Robert Wolkow, a professor in the physics department, has won the Guinness World Record for the sharpest point — a “blade” with a tip only one atom thick, which he created in his lab at the National Institute for Nanotechnology on the U of A campus. Wolkow’s tungsten nano-tips are created using an etching technology he patented and that will be used in electron microscopes.

And unlike a lot of Guinness records, Wolkow’s win certainly can’t be beaten.

superlative things on campus. – Sarah Ligon

Coldest Physicist John Davis’s ultra-low temperature lab in the basement of CCIS looks for new physical phenomena in quantum physics by cooling down helium to temperatures as low as 0.007 Kelvin. To put that in perspective, it’s about -273 C — the lowest temperature ever reached in Alberta.

(And that’s really saying something.)

Windiest The combustion wind tunnel in the Mechanical Engineering Building can produce winds of up to 35 m/s, or about 126 km/h. Since it was constructed in the 1970s, the tunnel has been used for environmental testing, aerodynamic research and to help a ski jumper reduce drag during competition. To put that in perspective, the highest sustained wind recorded in Edmonton last year was 11 m/s, or about 40 km/h. If that’s not enough to blow your mind, what is?

Highest

Once completed, the Innovation Centre for Engineering will be the highest point on campus at 65 metres, “towering” over the Tory Building (56 metres) and the Clinical Sciences Building (62 metres).

Darkest

While it might not be within the physical boundaries of the U of A campus, the research being conducted by particle-physics professor Darren Grant at the IceCube neutrino detector at the South Pole certainly qualifies as the darkest. Buried in ice some 2.5 kilometres deep, the detector is searching for information about neutrinos and dark matter, which make up about 85 per cent of the universe’s total mass but about which we understand very little. Hopefully, Grant’s research means that we won’t be in the dark on dark matter much longer.

ILLUSTRATION BY DUSHAN MILIC

Oldest The oldest object on campus is, without a doubt, a piece of the Allende meteorite on display in the Mineralogy and Petrology Museum (ESB-B08), dating from nearly 4.6 billion years ago. It was probably once part of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and slammed into northern Mexico in the early hours of Feb. 8, 1969.

Smelliest

In the Department of Human Ecology, assistant professor Rachel McQueen is trying to build odour-free garments, which often requires her to get up close and personal with the bacteria found in actual sweaty gym clothes. McQueen has also worked with a student to study the bacteria count of a pair of blue jeans, which he wore for 15 months without washing. Remarkably, the jeans were as “clean” after 15 months of wear as they were after just two weeks.

Lowest The lowest point on campus is the cooling plant, tucked along the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River so that most passersby don’t even know it’s there.

It has a cooling capacity of more than 26,000 tonnes used for air-conditioning, cooling computers and medical equipment, and power generation for facilities on North Campus.

Quietest

To study the acoustics of the human singing voice, professor Laurier Fagnan, ’87 BMus, ’05 DMus, has created an oasis of silence in the basement of Campus Saint-Jean’s main academic building. In order to make the Bel Canto Vocal Acoustics Laboratory as quiet as possible, the room-within-a-room is surrounded by 15 centimetres of insulation and lined with fibreglass panels. It includes a raised floor, a lowered ceiling, a super-quiet ventilation system and two 160-kilogram soundblocking steel doors.

new trail autumn 2013 15

The Making of a Citizen

by Todd Babiak

N

ILLUSTRATION BY KATY LEMAY

ear the end of my undergraduate degree, I decided not to become a lawyer, after all, and to pursue an MA in English literature. My father was a kind man, and supportive in his way, but he was also perplexed and a little embarrassed at gatherings of his extended family.

His sisters and their husbands could not fathom why a young man would waste his time, his money, his parents’ money and taxpayers’ money on a degree that would make him, if anything, less employable.

School was about economic inputs and outputs. What would I get out of an MA? What would they get out of it?

My father lacked the vocabulary, the logic and the passion to argue on my behalf. The leading politicians of the time had taught everyone to apply “common sense” to their decision-making. A master’s degree in English literature did not make a lot of sense, given the alternatives: law, medicine, engineering, business, science, anything with computers.

One warm summer evening before I moved to Montreal for graduate school, we were sitting at a vast table at my uncle and aunt’s house. Windows were open to fragrant fields. Food was growing out there, something practical.

The old-world patriarch, my grandfather, had died. Uncles and aunts and cousins were keen to fill his void. Everyone had taken cocktails and beer before dinner and now we were into the wine.

“You’re spending two or three years, and thousands of dollars, to learn how to read books?” My uncle was having trouble focusing. “Don’t you already know how to do that?

Why not take basket weaving? At least you can sell a basket.”

His wife placed a hand on his arm.

“Leave him be. It’s scary out there. Not everyone is like you.”

By “like you” she meant courageous.

My uncle and aunt had been courageous enough to avoid the temptations of university. They had started things and failed and now they worked at a government-funded institution. I admired them for starting things and I admired them for failing.

I tried to talk about what I knew of the history of the university in our culture. new trail autumn 2013 17

The trouble was, I didn’t know how to make that argument. I had not been equipped with a good response to my uncle or to anyone else, even though I had already spent four years at one of Canada’s finest universities. My professors had not spoken of the true value of my education and, frankly, the relationship between my degree and the job market never did progress beyond mysterious. I was confident but I could not explain why.

From time to time, I fantasize about going back in time and responding to my uncle and aunt, reassuring my humiliated father, who died before I fulfilled the vague promise of my liberal arts education. I’ve become a jolly capitalist. I publish novels, I co-own a business and I provide a service to people in law, medicine, science and engineering.

Not much has changed since I graduated from the U of A. Uncles and aunts, university professors and

administrators, bureaucrats, business people and politicians remain uniformly terrible at talking about what universities actually do for us, as citizens and as cities, as provinces, as countries.

What is the relationship between intellectual pursuit and the market?

Can the University of Alberta, or Alberta universities, learn from what is happening in Palo Alto, Calif., and Cambridge, Mass.? Ultimately, students and decision-makers and parents and professors have a common goal.

What is it?

Todd Babiak, ’95 BA, is now a full-fledged member of the marketplace. He co-founded his own company, Story Engine, and has published (and sold) several novels. His novel Toby: A Man was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour and won the Georges Bugnet Prize. His fifth novel, Come Barbarians, will be in bookstores Sept. 24.

The faculty and staff of NorQuest College would like to congratulate our President & CEO

Dr. Jodi L. Abbott on the receipt of an Alumni Award from the University of Alberta. Dr. Abbott’s vision of a College where learners of all backgrounds realize their potential is an inspiration to us all.

Step Forward | norquest.ca

18 newtrail.ualberta.ca

PHOTO BY GREG SOUTHAM

We learn to be citizens first, and then we master our trades or our professions.

I wanted to learn about literature and philosophy and politics and history before I entered the marketplace, in my fashion. And to be honest, when I was challenged, I could not tell them how I would enter the marketplace.

My uncle squinted at me. He had found his opening. “Go ahead, become a citizen. Why do I have to pay for it?”

It was not a good night for me, rhetorically. I lost my temper and called at least one blood relative a redneck. I failed to explain why it was crucial that I do an MA in English literature.

I wanted them to know it was good for me and it was good for my community. It made sense — common sense. I wanted to learn how to think a certain way, creatively and critically. I wanted to build things and I was confident I would be useful to my family and to millions of other Albertans and Quebecers who were investing in my education.

by RICK PILGER

2013 ALUMNI RECOGNITION AWARDS A HUMAN RIGHTS CHAMPION. AN EDUCATOR WHO BRIGHTENS LIVES. A SPACE DOCTOR. AN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY INNOVATOR. MEET ALUMNI WHO HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD, EARNING THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION’S HIGHEST HONOURS

ALUMNI HONOUR AWARD Recognizes the significant contributions made over a number of years by alumni in their local communities and beyond JODI ABBOTT, ’93 MEd, ’96 PhD, has officiated at the most elite skating competitions in the world, including the Olympic Games, four International Skating Union world championships and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. One of several individuals chosen to revamp the judging system following the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, she played a significant role in designing the system now used for judging figure skating. Abbott, president of Norquest College in Edmonton, has long been an advocate for people with disabilities and a champion for

improved health-care services. Her impressive career history includes senior positions with the Canadian Paraplegic Association in Edmonton, Catholic Social Services, the Canadian Diabetes Association and Capital Health.

PETER B.R. ALLEN, ’54 BSc, ’56 MD, was well-known internationally for his contributions to medicine, particularly in the field of neurosurgery. Allen, who practised in Edmonton and held a U of A clinical appointment, was respected for his surgical skills and his equanimity under the most trying circumstances. Early in his distinguished career, he was named divisional director of neurosurgery and went on to create Alberta’s first formal training program in neurosurgery. At the national level, he served as president of the Canadian Neurological Society and chief examiner in neurosurgery for

the Royal College of Surgeons.

After retiring from medicine, Allen joined Alberta’s Criminal Injuries Review Board, serving as board chair for 10 years. The U of A Hospital renamed its neurosciences ICU after Allen last November.

(Sadly, Allen passed away in April.)

STEELE C. BREWERTON, ’45 BSc, ’48 MD, loved helping people and practising medicine.

Now 90 years old, he continues to keep abreast of medical developments. During years of general practice, Brewerton did a residency in obstetrics/gynecology and surgery. Practising in southern Alberta, he made house calls in both town and country. He followed 31 years of practice in Alberta with another 17 in Texas.

He delivered thousands of babies without one maternal death or lawsuit. In the communities in which he lived, he gave generously

of his time. He was councillor and mayor in Magrath, Alta., and served as the branch president of the Latter-day Saints congregation in Graham, Texas, for 15 years.

ELIZABETH “BETTY” DAVIES (BRUCE), ’69 Dip(Nu), ’70 BScN, is a tireless advocate for children with life-threatening conditions and their families, and she has contributed extensively to both knowledge and practice related to hospice care for children. Her work has helped nurses and other health-care workers, as well as family members, deal with one of the most traumatic experiences a human can encounter — the death of a child.

Davies, whose extensive publications include three books, began her academic career at the U of A before accepting appointments at UBC and then at the University of California San new trail autumn 2013 19

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD The Alumni Association’s most prestigious award recognizes living graduates whose truly outstanding achievements have earned them national or international prominence.

STANDING UP FOR WHAT’S RIGHT

I

t is typical of Douglas Stollery that, as he considers his imminent retirement, his main concern isn’t what exotic locales to visit or how many rounds of golf he will get in.

Rather, he’s wondering how he can do some good in the world.

“I hope to find some way of using the knowledge I’ve acquired over 60 years to help make the world a better place,” he says.

Although he now works for the company — PCL Construction — that his father, Robert, ’49 BSc(Eng), ’85 LLD(Honorary), led and shaped, and although he has embraced the philanthropy so important to his parents, Stollery has followed his own path, beginning with his decision to study law. Why law? “Probably more from the process of elimination than anything else,” he says. “I really didn’t know much about lawyers and the law.”

It turned out to be a good 20 newtrail.ualberta.ca

decision. “Every day since has reconfirmed that it was the right choice for me,” he says.

The silver medallist in his class, Stollery spent a year clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada before earning a master’s degree from Harvard Law School and then returning to Edmonton to practise with Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP. During his career, he has been honoured as a fellow of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers, has been designated a Queen’s Counsel and recently won the lifetime achievement award from the Canadian General Counsel Association. He has also contributed to his profession in various leadership roles, including serving on the national executive of the Canadian Bar Association and as president of its Alberta branch.

In addition to his many accomplishments in day-to-day professional practice, Stollery’s

most noted contribution to Canadian law came when he volunteered. In the early 1990s, when Delwin Vriend, an instructor at King’s College in Edmonton who had been fired because he was gay, was denied a remedy under Alberta human rights legislation, Stollery asked what he could do to help.

A lot, as it turned out. At the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada, Stollery served as Vriend’s cocounsel, arguing that Alberta’s human rights legislation was unconstitutional because it did not include protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The resulting Supreme Court decision, which amended the Alberta legislation to include protection on the basis of sexual orientation, is now recognized as one of the most important decisions under the Canadian Charter

of Rights and Freedoms.

In 2006, Stollery, who had done work for PCL in his private practice, accepted a position as the company’s general counsel and corporate secretary. He has had the opportunity to continue to shape the evolution of publicprivate partnerships in Canada.

He was also involved in the deliberations of the G20 High Level Panel on Infrastructure Investment when PCL and its president, Paul Douglas, were invited to serve on the panel, which had a mandate to reduce world poverty through infrastructure development.

When Stollery retires later this year, international development is one area in which he plans to look for volunteer opportunities.

Human rights is another.

“Each of us has an obligation to help in whatever way we can,” he says.

And he, for one, takes that obligation seriously.

PHOTO BY AARON PEDERSEN/3TEN PHOTOGRAPHY

As a lawyer, he played a role in one of the Supreme Court’s most important decisions on human rights. Now, Douglas Stollery, ’76 LLB, sees retirement as an opportunity to give even more back in every way he can

Francisco. While in Vancouver, Davies founded the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice and served on its board for many years. She is now an adjunct professor and senior scholar at the University of Victoria.

KATHERINE DEKKER, ’81 BEd, ’95 Dip(Ed), ’03 MEd, is an innovative educator committed to improving the lives of her students in a positive and respectful way. As principal of St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School in Edmonton, she oversees a learning environment where 55 per cent of the students come from First Nations or Métis homes and another 40 per cent are of African background. Dekker has taken measures to better integrate the two groups, providing for sharing cultural backgrounds and greater understanding. She is also tireless in her efforts to provide students with the nutrition they need to fully engage in their studies. In addition, she keeps everyone focused on the fundamentals that underpin learning. In 2012, the Learning Partnership recognized her as one of Canada’s outstanding principals.

ROBERT DOWLING, ’55 BSc(Pharm), has made significant contributions to his community, his province and his country over the course of seven decades. His service to Canada began in 1942 when he volunteered and served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force. His subsequent career in pharmacy took him to Jasper, Alta., where he owned the Cavell and Whistlers drug stores and worked assiduously to obtain municipal status for the community. In 1969, he was elected to the Alberta legislature to represent the constituency of Edson. He served in several cabinet positions focusing primarily on business and tourism. Following his time in elected office, Dowling served as commissioner for Alberta’s 75th

COME MEET OUR AWARD-WINNING ALUMNI SEPT. 25 AT EDMONTON’S WINSPEAR CENTRE. PRE-REGISTER FOR THIS COMPLIMENTARY EVENT AT UALBERTA.CA/ALUMNI/WEEKEND.

anniversary celebrations and later led the province’s participation at Expo 86 in Vancouver.

KEN ESHPETER, ’71 BSc(Ag), is widely admired in his community as a leader, organizer, public speaker, poet, writer and singer. A longtime resident of Daysland, Alta., he has been a pioneer in all he has done — from his innovative agricultural techniques to spearheading the formation of Alberta’s first successful short-line railway. He is currently chair and CEO of Battle River Railway, which not only serves the grain-handling needs of its shareholder-farmers but also ships sweet crude — and may soon offer passenger service.

He has held office as the reeve of Flagstaff County and was a key volunteer involved in the preservation and resurrection of the Daysland Palace Theatre, now a thriving community focal point.

RICHARD FEDORAK, ’76 BMedSc, ’78 MD, has provided insight into the diagnosis and treatment of intestinal diseases such as peptic ulcer disease and inflammatory bowel disease. During his illustrious medical career, Fedorak has published more than 400 peer-reviewed manuscripts and secured two patents related to colonic-specific drug delivery and metabolomics. In addition to being a practising physician, Fedorak wears many hats at the U of A: he is a professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology, directs both the Centre of Excellence for

Gastrointestinal Inflammation and Immunity Research and the Northern Alberta Clinical Trials and Research Centre, and is an associate vice-president (research).

Recently, Fedorak and his research team discovered and developed a new, non-invasive colon cancer screening test based on the presence of metabolomic markers in urine.

CYRIL FRANK, ’70 BSc, ’73 Dip(Ed), is an orthopedic surgeon and pioneer in grafting and repairing ligaments. He has been a major contributor to medicine as a teacher, researcher and administrator. Frank was the scientific director of the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and chaired an international panel for the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences that developed a framework for capturing the impacts of health research. As the McCaig Professor of Joint Injury and Arthritis Research at the University of Calgary, he helped establish an Alberta Osteoarthritis Research Team, making innovations in care and prevention, and improving access to quality care. In April, Frank took on a new challenge as the CEO of Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions, which has a mandate to advance health research and innovation.

SELWYN JACOB, ’70 BEd, is an award-winning filmmaker with a commitment to telling important

narratives with a social impact.

Based in Vancouver, he has produced close to 50 films since joining the National Film Board in 1997. Jacob, who was born in Trinidad, came to Canada in 1968 with the dream of becoming a filmmaker. It was a dream that wouldn’t die: he became a teacher and eventually a school principal but chose to leave the security of that career to educate a wider audience through film. Many of his films have won awards, including the production Mighty Jerome, about Canadian Olympian Harry Jerome. This collaborative project earned four Leo Awards​ — celebrating film and television in British Columbia — and an Emmy Award in 2012.

BARBARA LADEROUTE, ’83 BEd, ’94 MEd, ’05 PhD, is a difference maker.

As an international expert on indigenous language literacy, she has raised the profile of the Cree language. As an educator, she is making a difference in the lives of children.

A Cree Métis from Alberta’s Gift Lake Métis Settlement, Laderoute followed her interest in Aboriginal education to the U of A, where she won numerous awards, including a national research award from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the U of A’s Andrew Stewart Memorial Prize. Laderoute could have continued in academia but chose instead to return to her community, where she is principal of Gift Lake School. Under her leadership, the school has earned recognition as one of Canada’s “Top Ten Schools for Aboriginals.” new trail autumn 2013 21

ALEXANDER D. PRINGLE, ’68 BA, is one of Canada’s most well-respected criminal defence lawyers, esteemed for his quiet and firm commitment to fundamental values. Pringle has practised as a criminal defence lawyer since 1973 and is the senior partner with Pringle Chivers Sparks in Edmonton. In addition to conducting a busy legal practice, he has been a sessional lecturer for the U of A Faculty of Law since 1982.

Named one of Canada’s top criminal defence lawyers by the National Post, he has appeared in all levels of court in Canada, as well

as before several commissions of inquiry. A founding member of both the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association of Alberta and the Environmental Law Centre of Edmonton, he also gives his time to numerous community organizations.

JAMES WHEATLEY, ’68 BEd, ’71 LLB, has made an extraordinary contribution to sport and community activities in Edmonton. Following a diverse practice of law, he was appointed in 2003 to the Provincial Court of Alberta. After serving from 2008

to 2013 as assistant chief judge in the criminal division, he has now returned to sitting as a trial judge.

He was the driving force behind successful Edmonton bids to host the 1994 Canadian Figure Skating Championships and 1996 World Figure Skating Championships, as well as four World Cup Swimming Championships. He was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2000 as a Multi-Sport Builder. Other community activities include the National Entrepreneur Development Institute, Victoria School Foundation for the Arts, City of Edmonton Salute to Excellence Awards and Players De Novo.

THE ALUMNI CENTENARY AWARD FOR VOLUNTARY SERVICE Recognizes alumni who have demonstrated commitment, dedication and service to the University of Alberta ROBERT LAMPARD, ’64 MD, ’66 BSc, ’67 MSc, was named a top 100 Alberta Physician of the Century after serving as director of medical health at the Michener Centre for more than 27 years. In addition to caring for adults with developmental disabilities, he has worked resolutely to uncover the accomplishments of Alberta’s medical pioneers, resulting in a website and numerous publications, including Alberta’s Medical History: Young and Lusty and Full of Life and Deans, Dreams and a President, which commemorates 100 years of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. In 2006, he was named adjunct professor of medical history by the faculty. He also served on the faculty’s alumni association for nine years and organized the Golden Bowl football game in 1963, a precursor to the Vanier Cup. PENNY LIGHTFOOT, ’77 Dip(RM), ’78 BSc(PT), ’83 MHSA, has made an extraordinary gift of time and energy to the U of A through her involvement in the School of Public Health. An executive director with Alberta Health Services, Lightfoot has shared her expertise generously with her alma mater and has been involved with the School of Public Health for more than a decade. As the external representative to the school’s faculty evaluation committee since its inception in 2007, she has never missed a meeting. She is also a member of both the school’s external advisory council and its professional degree committee. In addition, she is a regular guest lecturer and chairs the School of Public Health Alumni Chapter.

REGINALD MONCRIEFF, ’70 BA, has been, for more than three decades, the glue that holds together the U of A alumni family in New York. Moncrieff, who began a private dental practice in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in 1980, has enthusiastically given his time to the activities of the U of A Alumni Association. He spearheaded the formation of the alumni chapter in New York and has annually organized many innovative events that take advantage of the city’s rich cultural environment. He was the creative force behind a juried U of A alumni art show hosted at the former Alberta House in New York in the 1990s and founded the alumni skating event now held each year in Central Park. In addition, he generously makes time to welcome alumni newcomers to his city.

22 newtrail.ualberta.ca

RUDY WIEBE, ’56 BA, ’60 MA, ’09 DLitt(Honorary) is one of Canada’s most influential writers. His work is characterized by an unflinching depiction of the struggles and experiences of people who don’t typically have a voice in literature.

It has earned him widespread recognition, including two Governor General’s Awards for Fiction — in 1973 for The Temptations of Big Bear and in 1994 for A Discovery of Strangers.

A professor emeritus at the U of A, Wiebe has also won the Royal Society of Canada’s Lorne Pierce Medal and the LieutenantGovernor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award. In addition to his many novels, Wiebe has published short story collections, non-fiction, plays and children’s books. A passionate advocate for other writers, he was a founder of the Alberta Foundation for Literary Arts and the founding chair of the Writers Guild of Alberta.

PHYLLIS YAFFE, ’72 BLS, is a visionary and trailblazer whose appetite for learning has made her one of the most powerful women in Canadian media. In 1973, she became interested in publishing and co-founded a magazine for librarians. Later, as executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers, she played an integral role in securing federal government support for Canadian publishing. Moving to television, she joined Alliance Communications and was instrumental in winning specialty channel status from the CRTC — thereby introducing History Television and Showcase Television to Canadian viewers. As president and CEO of Alliance Atlantis, she achieved continued success with its television distribution business and company productions. Now board chair for Cineplex Entertainment, Yaffe also chairs the board of governors of Ryerson University.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD The Alumni Association’s most prestigious award recognizes living graduates whose truly outstanding achievements have earned them national or international prominence.

DIGNITY, RESPECT AND A SMILE More than six decades ago, Sister Annata Brockman, ’65 MEd, chose to let God take the lead on her life, changing her own destiny and that of countless others

PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

S

ister Annata Brockman could point to any number of accomplishments to indicate a life well-spent.

She has had both a school and a bursary named after her. Won prestigious awards from Newman Theological College in Edmonton. Was the first woman to receive a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Alberta. Was named a Woman of Vision by Global TV Edmonton.

She even helped organize the church arrangements for Wayne Gretzky’s wedding.

But Brockman doesn’t look at her life in those terms. For this petite woman known for her huge heart and long shadow, it has been more about keeping out of the way. “I’ve learned not

to get in the way of what God wants to do,” she says. “It’s not about what I do, but what God accomplishes through me.”

Now in her mid-80s, she walks with the help of canes, but she hasn’t lost the vitality she had as a child growing up in northern Saskatchewan. From her devout Catholic parents, Brockman absorbed the certainty that has formed the foundation of her life: “My parents taught us that every man, woman and child is part of God’s family, and we should treat them with dignity and respect, just as we would treat God.” When she was 17 and living with her family in Kelowna, B.C., she decided upon a religious vocation. It wasn’t an easy choice; she had looked forward to marriage and raising a large

family. “But I soon found out that the plan I had for me didn’t fit the plan God had for me.”

She joined the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul in Halifax in 1948. After teaching in Nova Scotia and British Columbia, she came to Edmonton in 1960 to teach. She completed her master’s degree in 1965.

Brockman served as principal at three Edmonton Catholic schools before retiring in 1981.

But retirement didn’t slow her down. She served as pastoral associate minister at St. Joseph’s Basilica in Edmonton for two decades, co-ordinating the program that initiated adults into the Catholic faith and working with schoolchildren.

She still has a full calendar, visiting the sick, elderly and dying.

She also keeps close ties with the elementary/junior high school that bears her name. It opened its doors in the 2010-11 school year. On the first day of school, she greets students as they arrive, and almost every Wednesday, she visits to share her stories, her faith and her compassion.

Perhaps nothing sums up her approach to ministry and to life better than a note she received from a Grade 3 student.

“One day,” the student recalled, “I came to school and I was down. Then you smiled at me and I wasn’t down anymore.”

Life can be so simple, says Brockman.

“All we have to do is the best we can each day in the situation we find ourselves, and trust that God will look after the rest.” new trail autumn 2013 23

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD The Alumni Association’s most prestigious award recognizes living graduates whose truly outstanding achievements have earned them national or international prominence.

ENERGY AND INNOVATION

W

hen Greg Abel began business school at the University of Alberta, he quickly gained an appreciation for numbers. In particular, he gained an appreciation for the numbers that — properly analyzed — give insight into a business’s performance.

“I started with a stronger interest in finance,” he recalls, “but accounting took over when I came to realize how critically important it was to understand things such as income and cash flow statements.”

Today, as chairman, president and CEO of the diversified energy company MidAmerican Energy Holdings, Abel puts what he learned about analyzing numbers to good use. And he has some interesting numbers to look at: 7.1 million, the number of electrical and natural gas customers that MidAmerican serves; 62,700, the number of kilometres of natural gas pipeline 24 newtrail.ualberta.ca

it operates; $11.5 billion, the company’s annual revenue; and $52 billion, overall assets.

While Abel’s success undoubtedly owes much to his attention to numbers, he is far more than a numbers man. Among the many who praise his leadership is iconic American investor Warren Buffett, whose investment company acquired a majority of outstanding MidAmerican shares in 2000. Buffett says he gets many phone calls a day, but he always makes time for Abel. “[He] brings me great ideas, and is truly innovative in his thinking and business approach,” wrote Buffett in recommending Abel for an alumni award.

Abel’s path into the energy industry was somewhat circuitous for an Albertan. After graduating from the U of A with his accounting degree, he went to work for Price Waterhouse.

He was seconded to the company’s San Francisco office,

where one of his clients was CalEnergy, a small, independent geothermal power producer. In 1992, CalEnergy hired him and began looking at diversifying into the emerging global energy marketplace. That strategy eventually led to the acquisition of a thriving U.S. regional energy provider and a reorganization as MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., based in Des Moines, Iowa.

Although the company has grown and diversified greatly — it now includes seven energy-related businesses, as well as the secondlargest full-service residential real estate brokerage firm in the United States — Abel hasn’t forgotten MidAmerican’s roots.

“Renewable energy is still important to us, and we are very focused on developing longerterm, low-cost resources,” he says. MidAmerican is the top rate-regulated utility owner of wind-generated power in the United States and has recently started construction on the world’s

largest solar power development: the Solar Star Project in southern California’s Antelope Valley.

Abel’s innovation extends to finding novel ways to ensure that MidAmerican companies and employees give back to the communities they serve.

He is actively involved in the community, and particularly likes to support causes that develop the leaders of tomorrow.

When he speaks to young people, he encourages them to find their passions. “With that will come a lot of drive,” he says.

Abel also advises them that integrity is of paramount importance in good leadership.

“It goes beyond how you conduct yourself. It’s also about how you communicate. You show respect by bringing a lot of candour to situations.”

He believes a good leader must make a significant commitment to serve. And, of course, paying attention to numbers never hurts, either.

PHOTO BY PAUL GATES

Greg Abel, ’84 BCom, started with an affinity for finance. Now he has a direct line to Warren Buffett and is leading development on the largest solar power project in the world

ALUMNI AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Celebrates recent outstanding accomplishments of graduates BRIAN FRYER, ’83 BPE, was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum in 2013.

One of the all-time great football players to wear a Golden Bear uniform, he was the first player in CIAU (now CIS) history to have more than 1,000 yards in a season.

In 1975, he won the Hec Creighton trophy, awarded to Canada’s best university football player, and was a three-time Canada West All-Star and two-time All-Canadian player.

Fryer was the first Canadian university player to be drafted by an NFL team and later became part of the Eskimo dynasty that won five straight CFL championships. He has been inducted into the U of A Sports Wall of Fame and the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame. Since 1985, he has served as executive director of Football Alberta.

KENDA GEE, ’82 BA, is an Edmontonbased filmmaker and graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School. His documentary Lost Years: A People’s Struggle for Justice has received international media attention and critical acclaim, including the award for best feature documentary at the Asians on Film festival in Los Angeles. Centred on Gee’s own family history, Lost Years explores the last 150 years of the Chinese diaspora in Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia.

It premiéred in 2011 at the Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, where it was named best documentary in the history and culture category, and has appeared on CBC and CTV Two Alberta as a two-part television miniseries.

MATTHEW GAUDET, ’12 BSc, a master’s student at the U of A, is the recent winner of two significant awards in computing science. He is part of a collaborative research project with IBM, evaluating the new hardware support for transactional memory that had been implemented in the IBM computer that was the fastest in the world in 2012. The paper he prepared based on this work was selected as the best paper at the 21st International Conference on Parallel Architectures and Compilation Techniques. He also received the gold medal at the associated student research competition.

While an undergraduate, Gaudet had a very successful industrial internship with the IBM Toronto Software Laboratory, and some of the code he implemented is now part of the commercial compilers that IBM distributes worldwide.

ALUMNI HORIZON AWARD Recognizes the outstanding achievements of U of A alumni early in their careers ABRAAM ISAAC, ’09 BMedSc, ’10 MD, the chief resident for internal medicine at the U of A, is known for his ability to tackle complex medical problems and for his passion for world development. A co-founder of the Kenya Ceramic Project, which developed and manufactured ceramic water filters and highefficiency stoves, Isaac continues his commitment to working with the world’s disadvantaged through his involvement with Innovative Canadians for Change (ICChange).

He co-directs this group, which brings together experts and students from across Canada to improve the quality of life for

vulnerable populations. He is also involved in related projects in Burma, where he helps implement vocational training programs in high-efficiency stove design, and in Ethiopia, where the goal is to improve access to education for young girls.

SAMUEL JENKINS, ’05 BCom, is part of the wave of young professionals leading the charge in making Edmonton a hub for technology entrepreneurs. The co-founder and CEO of WellNext, an IT startup that encourages active, healthy choices in life through the workplace, Jenkins was also a founder of Startup Edmonton, a vehicle for nurturing new ideas and sharing entrepreneurial lessons. In keeping with his commitment to the arts and his community, he is an organizer with TEDxEdmonton and with artsScene Edmonton and serves as president of Edmonton’s Fringe Theatre Adventures. Since becoming involved as a volunteer in 2009, he has helped lead the Edmonton Fringe to a 40 per cent increase in ticket sales. He also shares his expertise as a director of the alumni association of the Alberta School of Business.

ANDREW KUSHNIR, ’02 BFA, is a soughtafter actor and playwright who has emerged as one of Canada’s leading practitioners of verbatim theatre — plays created from the transcripts of original interviews. As the creative director of Project: Humanity, a Torontobased group committed to raising awareness of social issues through the arts, Kushnir (who was known as Andrew Wasyleczko in his U of A days) created the award-winning play The Middle Place. Crafted word for word from interviews at a youth shelter, it went on to a national tour. As current playwright–in-residence at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto,

Kushnir is working on a multilingual epic about Ukraine’s struggling democracy. Other works in progress include a look at the intersection of homophobia and racism in Canadian society and a piece about at-risk high school youth and the drama teachers working to enrich their lives.

SHAWNA PANDYA, ’06 BSc(Hons), ’12 MD, a neurosurgical resident at the University of Alberta Hospital, is combining her interests in neurosurgery, aerospace research and crisis management technology to make a difference in the world. Through her work and studies — including research on a robot capable of performing neurosurgery — Pandya has established a niche in the field of space technology spinoffs for medical benefit. While a student at NASA-backed Singularity University, she co-created an emergency response software, CiviGuard, that leverages the prevalence of smartphones for disaster response. The company formed to market the software was named one of Entrepreneur magazine’s “100 Brilliant Companies.” In 2012, Pandya was one of five medical students chosen by the Canadian Space Agency for a four-week program at NASA’s space centre in Houston.

KUEN TANG, ’06 BEd, is fearless in her approach to life and inspirational in her unwavering determination to achieve her goals. Tang, who became a quadriplegic after a 2001 car accident, was the first female quadriplegic to graduate from the U of A with an elementary education specialization. Her interest in graphic design led her to become the first quadriplegic to letter comic books for DC Comics and she later created her own comic strip. Tang’s long list of new trail autumn 2013 25

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD The Alumni Association’s most prestigious award recognizes living graduates whose truly outstanding achievements have earned them national or international prominence.

BOOSTING CANADA’S REPUTATION IN SPACE

W

hen Douglas Hamilton was an engineering graduate student at the U of A, he had a flash of insight that would alter his life.

Hami — as he’s known around the world and in the near regions of space — has always had a fascination with how things work, so engineering was a logical career path for him. It was while he was a master’s student designing surgical lasers that he began looking into human physiology.

And that’s when it hit him: The human body is “just one huge, incredible, complex, negative feedback and control system.”

That realization would later underlie his decision to enrol in a PhD/MD program at the University of Calgary. In 1991, he graduated with his medical degree and was class valedictorian.

26 newtrail.ualberta.ca

The following year, he received his PhD in cardiovascular physiology and decided to enter the Canadian Space Agency’s competition to select four new astronauts. He made it through cut after cut but ultimately came up just shy of space.

When he speaks to school groups these days, he brings along the CSA letter turning him down and a stack of other rejection letters he has received.

“I tell them that other successful people have a pile like this, too. Just because something hasn’t worked out is no reason to give up.”

For Hamilton, failing to make it into astronaut training led to the chance to be involved in space medicine. He attended the International Space University (where he would later teach), qualified for his United States

Air Force flight surgeon wings and went to work for NASA. He supported numerous space shuttle and International Space Station missions, and his notable contributions include a redesign of the astronaut heart monitoring system. In 2012, he received NASA’s Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal for work related to the risk of electric shock for astronauts performing spacewalks.

Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk describes Hamilton, who served as flight surgeon during Thirsk’s 188-day mission in 2009, as an engineer of astonishing ingenuity. He says his friend’s contributions at NASA helped secure Canada’s reputation as a “top-tier space-faring nation.”

Hamilton, who returned to Canada a little more than a year ago, has many memories of his

time in Houston, but the most gripping has nothing to do with space. While in Texas, he helped provide medical care to Houston’s indigent population. Through that involvement, he found himself serving as the lead night physician at the Astrodome in 2005 as victims of hurricane Katrina and its aftermath flooded into Houston — 30,000 people in all.

For two weeks, he managed 3,000 medical personnel overseeing the care of the evacuees.

Now that he’s back in Canada working as a faculty member at the University of Calgary, Hamilton is keen to use space-based technologies to fix patient-care problems in Canada. In particular, he wants to develop new telemedicine techniques for use in remote regions and to implement non-invasive technologies for monitoring brain pressure.

PHOTO BY RICHARD SIEMENS

While working for NASA, Douglas Hamilton, ’80 BSc(ElecEng), ’84 MSc, made space safer for astronauts. Back in Canada, he’s turning his attention to improving medicine in the remote regions of his home country

THE HONOURABLE DR. LOIS E. HOLE STUDENT SPIRIT AWARD Celebrates student spirit and the many contributions students make to the betterment of the university community and beyond KIRSTEN LINDQUIST, ’08 BCom, ’13 BA(NativeStuHons), played an influential role as a Métis student in the Faculty of Native Studies. As president of the Native Studies Students Association, she took the lead on initiatives designed to increase out-of-class interactions among fellow students by creating an open community environment through events and shared spaces. She transformed the faculty’s space in Pembina Hall and was the force behind creating a garden space for native plants outside Pembina. Lindquist also helped at faculty recruitment events and served as student representative on both the Faculty of Native Studies Council and the faculty’s academic affairs committee.

AMIT R.L. PERSAD is a third-year science student and the founder and leader of Cardiovascular Health Initiatives. The group, which seeks to improve cardiovascular health on campus, works with food vendors to make available better nutritional information to students. Persad is also a co-chair of the Smoke Free Campus Initiative and a member of the Heart and Stroke Foundation Student Association. He is a council member for the Edmonton Regional Science Fair, working to increase participation and help students receive mentorship from the post-secondary community.

accomplishments includes creating the world’s first video resource for women with spinal cord injury; serving on the Alberta Premier’s Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities; creating a program enabling people with higher-mobility disabilities to go skiing; and climbing a 2,500-metre mountain.

TOM YONGE, ’04 BEd, ’04 BPE, is inspiring a new generation of volunteers and making a big difference in the lives of his students. When Yonge joined the staff of Edmonton’s Strathcona High School, the school leadership program involved only 36 students.

By creating engaging and meaningful experiences, he has expanded enrolment almost tenfold, and the program is so popular some students opt to take sessions on weekends. At the heart of Yonge’s leadership model is service work. With his involvement, Strathcona’s leadership program has raised more than $265,000 for

charitable organizations, while his students have learned important life lessons and the emotional reward of giving back. For his positive impact on his students and his community, he was recently named by Avenue magazine as one of Edmonton’s “Top 40 Under 40.”

SPORTS WALL OF FAME Recognizes the contributions of alumni as athletes and builders of U of A sport

SID CRANSTON, ’89 BEd, and DENNIS CRANSTON, ’86 BA, ’88 BCom, were high-scoring and high-achieving brothers who played as centres with the Golden Bears hockey team in the 1980s. Together, they set numerous Golden Bears and Canada West scoring records and won the CIAU (now CIS)

national hockey championship in 1986, with Dennis earning tournament MVP honours. Dennis, team captain for two years, graduated as all-time lead scorer for the Golden Bears. Sid’s best season was 1988, when he was selected as most outstanding player in the CIAU after being top scorer and establishing single-season Canada West and Golden Bears records for scoring. Sid finished his career as the third all-time lead scorer for the Golden Bears.

DON HORWOOD, ’79 MA, put basketball on the map in Edmonton while winning three CIAU championships and three CIAU coach-of-the-year honours. As head coach of Golden Bears basketball from 1983 to 2009, he led his Bears to seven Canada West championships and nearly 600 wins. Horwood knew how to get the best out of his players, particularly at playoff time. A tireless promoter of the game, he brought a colourful personality

and passion to the floor. He was honoured as Basketball Alberta provincial coach of the year in 1994 and 1995, and received the City of Edmonton Salute to Excellence Award in 2008.

MIRKA LINDBERG (PRIBYLOVA), ’03 BPE, won four CIAU women’s volleyball championships as a setter for the Pandas and was central to the program winning six straight championships, a CIAU record, in the 1990s. She was a first-team All-Canadian for all four years she competed. She won CIAU player-of-the-year honours twice, and the 1995 CIAU National Tournament MVP award.

Lindberg went on to play professionally in Switzerland and Germany and subsequently competed for Team Canada. She competed at the World Volleyball Championships in 2002. She went on to be assistant coach with the Calgary Dinos, winning the CIS Championship in 2004.

MICHAEL PAYETTE, ’85 BEd, ’90 MA, thrived on the Golden Bears wrestling team in the 1980s, winning five Canada West championships and three national university championships.

The top Golden Bears wrestler for four straight years, he was named the U of A’s most outstanding male athlete in 1985. After his career as a competitor, Payette was head coach of the Golden Bears wrestling team for four years, winning Canada West coach-of-the-year honours in 1989.

He later held positions with the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association and oversaw national team selection and training, as well as initiating Canada’s women’s wrestling program.

Go to newtrail.ualberta.ca for more information. new trail autumn 2013 27

by SARAH LIGON illustrations by JULIUS CSOTONYI photos by JOHN ULAN

THE NEW EVOLUTION OF DINOSAURS DINOSAURS HAVE “EVOLVED” A LOT IN THE PAST 100 YEARS—SO HAS DINO RESEARCH AT THE U OF A

28 newtrail.ualberta.ca

The colour patterns on this Anchiornis huxleyi feathered dinosaur are based on comparisons with the cellular structures of modern birds. Researcher Phil Currie helped identify the first dinosaur specimens that showed evidence of feathers.

new trail autumn 2013 29

O O

n an afternoon in May, drivers zip down Anthony Henday Drive in Edmonton and children race home from school, all unaware that, in a wooded creek bed just a few hundred metres away, U of A paleontologists and about a dozen students are busy unearthing treasures buried nearly 73 million years ago.

This site, just a few minutes’ drive from campus and not far from the Century Park LRT station, is one of the university’s best-kept secrets: a graveyard containing the remains of at least a dozen dinosaurs.

Excavating the bones from the soft shale, the researchers use the same implements fossil hunters have wielded for more than 100 years — trowels, paint scrapers and dental picks — but they also have access to tools and techniques that

of an Edmontosaurus to the miniature teeth of a baby hadrosaur, measuring just a few millimetres. But what’s equally exceptional about the Danek bonebed is that it sits well within Edmonton city limits. This makes it the perfect place for students in the U of A’s Paleo 400 course to cut their teeth.

The activity at the Danek bonebed also speaks to why the U of A has become such a destination for paleontological research. There are just so many dinosaur deposits in the province.

At the turn of the last century, Alberta became famous for its easy finds, and the province suffered through a tremendous amount of indiscriminate digging. The “Great Canadian Dinosaur Rush” of the 1910s attracted foreign fossil hunters who hurriedly extracted the province’s dinosaur wealth and shipped it off to museums and

various bonebeds, the university was able to attract superstar academics such as Phil Currie, considered by many to be one of the top five paleontologists in the world — and, incidentally, rumoured to have been the model for the paleontological protagonist in Jurassic Park, Dr. Alan Grant. These researchers, in turn, are attracting and training a new generation of paleontologists from as far afield as Asia, Australia, Europe and South America. Together, they are challenging many of our long-held beliefs about dinosaurs.

“Our grandfather’s view of dinosaurs was that they were large reptiles, ‘terrible lizards,’ ” says Scott Persons, ’11 MSc, a PhD student whose own research has focused on the most terrible of lizards, the tyrannosaurs.

“Then there was a dinosaur revolution that changed our thinking of dinosaurs

Work by researchers based at the U of A has challenged many basic assumptions about dinosaurs — proving that some had feathers and that even the giant predators sometimes travelled in herds — while greatly expanding the number of known species.

are thoroughly modern. When a bone is uncovered, a student records its exact location with a handheld GPS tracking system, similar to the ones used in cars.

Each night the data are uploaded to a computer, creating a three-dimensional map of the bonebed. Later, back in the lab, some of the bones will be examined with CT scanners and electron microscopes to extract from these old bones every possible bit of information about how the dinosaurs lived and, ultimately, how they died.

Although modest by the scale of some bonebeds in Alberta, the Danek bonebed, as this one is called, is significant for its density and sheer variety of specimens.

There are about five to 10 bones per square metre, and this year alone, students have uncovered more than 50 bones from up to four different species.

They range from the metre-long femur 30 newtrail.ualberta.ca

collections around the world. Then, in 1920, a small group of professors decided it was essential that the U of A be at the forefront of dinosaur research.

That same year, the U of A mounted its first expedition, to collect fossils from the Red Deer River Valley near Drumheller and what is now Dinosaur Provincial Park. In 1965, the university hired its first vertebrate paleontologist and created a research program that today rivals any in the world.

“People from all over now come to the U of A to work with our researchers, study our specimens and go into the field here,” says Clive Coy, head technician in the U of A’s dino lab, who has personally prepared many of the 250,000 fossil specimens in the university’s paleontology collection.

Based on the wealth of that collection and the campus’s proximity to Alberta’s

from being cold-blooded sluggards to warm-blooded, athletic and probably socially gregarious animals.”

Work by researchers based at the U of A has challenged many basic assumptions about dinosaurs — proving that some had feathers and that even the giant predators sometimes travelled in herds — all the while greatly expanding the number of known species and, occasionally, even pruning and grafting the dinosaur family tree.

“One of the great things about the fossil record is that we find new things all the time,” says Michael Caldwell, ’86 BPE, ’91 BSc(Hons), a professor of paleontology and graduate of the U of A’s program. “New data has a spectacular capacity to completely rewrite the way we thought we understood a particular story. Whose ancestor is this animal? Did early birds fly?

RENDERING COURTESY OF TEEPLE ARCHITECTS

“There have been some 500 million years of vertebrate evolution. That’s an incredibly long period of time, and a lot of rocks have weathered away over the years. But there’s a lot of information caught between the pages of those sedimentary books, and you never know when the fossil record is going to cough up something for you,” Caldwell says.

“That’s the best part: that a surprise awaits around every corner.”

Read on to meet four U of A paleontologists whose research has surprised the world.

More Online One alumnus shares his passion for volunteering in the U of A Dino Lab at newtrail.ualberta.ca.

Construction Begun on Currie Museum Phil Currie has had his name attached to groundbreaking paleontology research throughout his career. Soon, his name will be part of something with even larger proportions. Construction of the Philip J. Currie Museum, which will be nestled between the Pipestone Creek bonebed (below) and Grande Prairie, Alta., began in June. It is scheduled to open in October 2014. Exhibits will include a mock dig site and eight recently discovered species from Alberta — some of which have never before been on public display. During the summer months, visitors will also be able to take in guided tours of some excavation sites. For more information, visit curriemuseum.ca/blogosaur.

new trail autumn 2013 31

Just imagine: a gang of more than 20 carnivores, each nine metres long and weighing up to three or four tonnes, with 10-centimetre-long teeth that could crush bone.

UNEARTHING A PACK OF ALBERTOSAURUS

W

PHIL CURRIE | PROFESSOR AND CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR IN DINOSAUR PALEOBIOLOGY

When Phil Currie floated down the Red Deer River in the summer of 1996, he wasn’t intending to change our very ideas about the makeup of dinosaur social networks. He was just on the trail of a good mystery. His research in the archives at the American Museum of Natural History in New York had turned up important evidence from a 1910 field expedition in southern Alberta led by the famous bone collector Barnum Brown. On that one outing, Brown had uncovered a bonebed with bones from nine different Albertosaurus, a type of tyrannosaur, making it one of the biggest finds in paleontological history.

Yet Currie had a hunch that, despite Brown’s large haul, he had only skimmed the surface of the bonebed.

32 newtrail.ualberta.ca

The problem was finding where Brown had been digging. “Their field techniques were a lot different than ours today,” explains Currie. “So even though he collected all this stuff, he never wrote about it.” Indeed, Brown’s field notes on the expedition were woefully incomplete. But there were four surviving photos among the archives, and Currie had a pretty good idea where they had been taken: Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park, an area Currie had excavated in 1977.

Sure enough, with just the photos as a guide, he was able to locate the bonebed Brown had discovered 86 years earlier.

And much to Currie’s surprise, he and his team uncovered not just bones from another Albertosaurus or two — which

would have been a significant discovery in its own right — but bones from as many as 26 Albertosaurus, including the very old and the very young.

Tyrannosaurs had never before been known to travel in such large groups. It was believed too many large carnivores travelling together would pass the point of diminishing returns, just as, say, a pride of 40 lions hunting on the savannah would quickly out-eat its food source. But Currie’s discovery turned that idea on its head.

Among the specimens from the Dry Island bonebed, he also found evidence of non-lethal face-biting, particularly among the youngest members of the group. This suggests that, like modernday pack animals such as wolves and hyenas, which often maul each other’s muzzles to establish dominance, there was a strong pecking order.

Just imagine: a gang of more than 20 carnivores, each nine metres long and weighing up to three or four tonnes, with 10-centimetrelong teeth that could crush bone.

Over the years, Currie’s research has also contributed to our understanding of herding behaviour in other dinosaurs, including a group of herbivorous Pachyrhinosaurs from a bonebed in Grande Prairie, Alta. He also helped identify the first dinosaur specimens that showed evidence of feathers and helped resurrect the theory that modernday birds are descended from dinosaurs.

Throughout his career, he has had a number of groundbreaking discoveries, but perhaps none quite so dramatic as that day he unearthed a gang of tyrannosaurs.

new trail autumn 2013 33

THE NEW FACE OF DINOSAUR REAR ENDS

A

SCOTT PERSONS | ’11 MSc, PhD STUDENT

Although he has only been at the U of A for a few years, doctoral student Scott Persons has already done a lot to change how we think about dinosaur derrières.

If you looked in any dinosaur book from Person’s childhood, some 30 years ago, Tyrannosaurus rex was always drawn with a big bulging tail that would have accounted for more than half of the dinosaur’s weight.

The thinking was that the tail served merely as a counterbalance, as in a see-saw, to the dinosaur’s heavy skull full of bone-crushing teeth. But that 34 newtrail.ualberta.ca

idea was probably wrong, explains Persons. “Instead, it’s better to think of it like a Volkswagen Beetle,” he says. “There was probably more than just ‘junk in its trunk.’ ” To find out for sure, Persons dissected the tails of T. rex’s modern relatives — crocodiles, caimans and monitor lizards such as the Komodo dragon — to see what was responsible for their tail bulges. It turned out to be mostly one large muscle, the caudofemoralis, which is attached to the upper leg bone. As the tail muscle

retracts, it pulls the leg backwards, propelling the lizard forward. “So when a crocodile or a lizard runs, it’s tail-propelled. The same appears to be true of dinosaurs,” says Persons. Using computer modelling to compare the tails of the two animals, he concluded that previous estimates of the muscle mass in T. rex’s tail were underestimated by as much as 45 per cent.

This challenges the prevailing wisdom that T. rex was a slow-moving scavenger. If its tail was not, in fact, dead weight but a powerful rear engine, it recasts T. rex as potentially one of the fastest hunters in the Cretaceous forest.

How fast? “It wouldn’t surprise me if T. rex could match the speed of a charging rhino, in the 45- to 50-kilometre-per-hour range.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if T. rex could match the speed of a charging rhino, in the 45- to 50-kilometreper-hour range.” — Scott Persons

new trail autumn 2013 35

DISCOVERING ANKYLOSAURS AMONG THE DUSTY BONES

I

VICTORIA ARBOUR | ’08 MSc, PhD STUDENT

In movies, paleontologists are all swashbuckling bone hunters stumbling upon new species in the field. However, many important discoveries come not by digging in the dirt but in meticulously sifting through the dusty collections of the world’s museums.

PhD student Victoria Arbour recently identified four new species of ankylosaurs — the distinctive club-tailed, armour-plated plant eaters — native to Alberta by closely examining variations among specimens in collections from Alberta, Ottawa, Toronto, New York, Washington, D.C., Montana and London.

36 newtrail.ualberta.ca

Arbour’s findings reversed a move by a researcher in the 1970s to lump the four variants into a single species, Euoplocephalus.

One of the most important clues to her breakthrough was a specimen in the U of A’s own collection: a skull originally unearthed in the 1920s in Dinosaur Provincial Park by the great bone collector George Sternberg. As part of her research, Arbour had the rare opportunity to unwrap other bones Sternberg collected, which had been languishing in storage for nearly 100 years.

Now that Alberta is known to have had five species of ankylosaur, three of them living in the same place at the same time, it raises new questions: How did these dinosaurs manage to exist in the same ecosystem, alongside so many other large herbivores?

“If you think about modern ecosystems here in Alberta, we have two different species of deer that are closely related: white-tailed deer and mule deer,” explains Arbour. “They’re pretty similar but still manage to coexist with other ungulates like moose, antelope and wapiti.”

From Microbiologist to Dino Artist

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA LEFORT (TOP); ROYAL CANADIAN MINT

THE MAN BEHIND OUR COVER AND DINOSAUR ILLUSTRATIONS IS THE U OF A GRAD WHO SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN CALLED A 'PALEOART ROCK STAR'

For her doctoral thesis, which she hopes to defend this fall, Arbour is using what she learned about Alberta’s ankylosaurs to expand the number of species elsewhere in the world, including China, Mongolia and other parts of North America.

Arbour’s skills in taxonomy aren’t surprising, since she has been honing her abilities since childhood. When she was 10, she made elaborate drawings of dinosaur types and assigned each one to a different friend or family member based on their personalities and physical characteristics. Naturally, she assigned herself the group “ankylosaur.”

When Julius Csotonyi, ’98 BSc(Hons), ’02 MSc, says he has “diversified a bit” from his background as a biologist, he’s putting it mildly.

Csotonyi has a PhD in microbiology from the University of Manitoba and has published nearly a dozen scientific papers, but his fulltime job is illustrating dinosaurs.

Csotonyi has been drawing since he was a child. (His parents insist that his first drawing was of a galliform bird, a type of ground bird like a pheasant or a partridge. He, however, is somewhat doubtful.) He continued the habit during grad school but never intended to turn it into a career.

“Art was something I wanted to do as a hobby so I didn’t feel the pressure associated with a real job,” he says. But after Anness Publishing commissioned him to contribute to a dinosaur encyclopedia by author Dougal Dixon in 2005, and as interest in Csotonyi’s work grew, he realized illustration was a viable career option.

He describes himself as a scientific illustrator and paleoartist. While on the surface the behemoths in his art might seem to have little in common with environmental ecology, he says his education at the University of Alberta has been invaluable.

“I had a really good professor at the U of A, Dr. [John] Addicott, and he was there for my whole undergrad and through my master’s.

It was a great experience and that’s part of what kept me in academia.”

His academic background has given Csotonyi the tools to do the hours of research that go into each drawing, making sure that every detail is accurate — from the dinosaurs themselves down to the individual plant species in their habitats. “You can’t throw grass into the Jurassic period, because it wasn’t around then,” he says. “The world has changed an enormous amount.”

He usually works with paleontologists and other scientists, but his education enables him to do his own research in scientific journals, as well.

In the illustrations he creates for museums, each drawing is subject to a review process where scientists critique the work to ensure accuracy. This led Csotonyi to switch to digital media. This makes it easier to send the work to researchers at distant museums and to make changes based on their critiques. Working digitally also allows him to incorporate photorealistic elements into his art from a collection of more than a quarter-million photographs he has taken of environments around the world that are analogous to those that existed when dinosaurs lived.

Since 2005, Csotonyi’s artwork has appeared in books and across North America, not only in the famous Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alta., but also in exhibits at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Royal Ontario Museum. Some of the art he has created for museum exhibits is enormous — up to 30 metres long — while some of his other work can fit into a pocket. He designed a series of collectible coins for the Royal Canadian Mint featuring prehistoric creatures, including the Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai, a horned dinosaur discovered in the Pipestone Creek dinosaur bonebed near Grande Prairie, Alta. The coins not only show off the amazing detail of Csotonyi’s work, they glow in the dark to reveal the dinosaur skeleton under the skin. — Alix Kemp new trail autumn 2013 37

THE LIZARDS THAT SNACKED ON SHARKS

T

MICHAEL CALDWELL | ’86 BPE, ’91 BSc(HONS), PROFESSOR AND CHAIR OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

The prehistoric oceans must have been terrifying when giant sea monsters like the mosasaurs ruled the deep.

“Like crocodiles and alligators, mosasaurs knew they were big, they knew they had lots of teeth. When it came to dinner, they weren’t afraid to give sharks a whirl,” says Michael Caldwell, who earned his PhD at McGill University.

38 newtrail.ualberta.ca

The largest were nearly 16 metres long, the size of a grey whale — longer than T. rex and with bigger teeth and a bigger mouth. That impressive size, as well as their ferocity in hunting prey, earned them the nickname “T. rex of the seas.”

It’s a bit of a misnomer, as Caldwell is forever reminding people. Mosasaurs weren’t dinosaurs at all but squamates,

or “true lizards” — a group of animals that includes modern-day lizards and snakes.

Many squamates are distinguished by their ability to dislocate their jaws in order to swallow things much bigger than they are.

Caldwell has made a career of studying the evolution of squamates: how they lost their limbs; how they evolved first with marine adaptations, then left the water again; and, above all, “that weird head that allowed them to swallow something the size of your mother.”

Caldwell first became interested in squamates when he travelled to Jerusalem as a post-doctoral student

50

Celebrating 50 Years

In honour of the 50th anniversary of the U of A’s vertebrate paleontology program, the campus will play host to the 2013 Canadian Paleontology Conference Aug. 29 - Sept. 1, as well as the inaugural meeting of the Canadian Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The Next Evolution of Dinosaur Study You, too, can be a dinosaur hunter, as the U of A offers Dino 101 this fall — our first massive open online course.

MOOCs allow anyone anywhere in the world with computer access to learn from some of academia’s greatest minds. Different from simple online courses, they harness the visual and interactive capabilities of the Internet.

in the 1990s to look at a collection of what he thought would be fossilized lizards. “It wasn’t until we actually pulled out the drawer that we realized, ‘This is not a lizard, this is a snake!’” He had uncovered the first fossils proving snakes once had four limbs.

More recently, he helped excavate and identify a new species of mosasaur, Pannoniasaurus, based on several specimens that date to about 84 million years ago found at an abandoned bauxite mine in Hungary. Pannoniasaurus is the first mosasaur known to have lived in freshwater rivers and, unlike its oceangoing cousin that had paddle-like limbs,

this mausosaur’s limbs suggest it would have been able to crawl on land, much like a modern-day crocodile.

“It makes the story of mosasaur evolution so much more complex,” explains Caldwell. “Instead of their ancestors having hopped in the water and become aquatic once, this means that different groups of mosasaur ancestors left the land for the ocean many times and, in the case of Pannoniasaurus, they never did lose the terrestrial-style limb.

It’s like saying birds evolved more than once, with different groups all achieving flight independently.”

Dino 101: Dinosaur Paleobiology is the first for-credit MOOC offered by a Canadian university. The course is led by Phil Currie, Canada Research Chair in Dinosaur Paleobiology and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, along with graduate student Betsy Kruk. It will include original artwork and interactive features created especially for the course, as well as footage of paleontologists at work in the U of A collections, at the Royal Tyrrell Museum and in Dinosaur Provincial Park — scenes few people normally have an opportunity to see.

The course is offered in a number of ways: • Dino 101 is open to the world for free as a non-credit MOOC. • Dino 101 is also available for transfer credit through any institution worldwide. Students pay that school’s tuition fees.

• The course can be taken by U of A students online for credit as Paleo 200. Students must write mid-term and final exams, and pay half the normal tuition cost.

• Paleo 201 offers the online components plus in-class instruction and field trips.

Students pay full tuition.

For more information, visit dino101.ca/newtrail.

new trail autumn 2013 39

& As the Class of 1963 prepares to celebrate its 50 th reunion, we ask three grads to think back to that time of celebration and anticipation

Caps & Gowns Then and Now

by Karen Sherlock » photos by John Ulan

The Alumni Association will celebrate grads who crossed the stage 50 years ago at the Cap ’n’ Gown ceremony Sept. 26 at Convocation Hall. The Class of ’63 is invited to relive the excitement of convocation and receive congratulations from Chancellor Ralph Young, ’71 MBA. All alumni can share campus memories at the video memories booth in Quad during Alumni Weekend or at ualberta.ca/alumni/classnotes.

40 newtrail.ualberta.ca

Mar

Margo Wyley (Niewchas) WHAT MEMORIES DO YOU HAVE OF YOUR CONVOCATION DAY?

“Convocation was a culmination of all those years of study, all those classes and labs, all the sports we played and all the train trips, because that’s how the teams travelled. So it came to that day and it was just a flood of memories — we had such a good time sharing stories, meeting each others’ families, taking pictures with the profs. It was the culmination of a time in my life that I really treasure.”

’63 PBE Margo Wyley was one of only three women in a class of 28 to graduate from the School of Physical Education in 1963.

Over three years of study, the group became “almost each others’ family,” playing on varsity teams — volleyball for Wyley — and sharing hijinks and laughter. She went on to teach high school phys‑ed in Edmonton for 25 years.

Her daughter, Kim Hertlein (Wyley), ’00 BPE, now teaches high school phys-ed in Edmonton.

Wyley cherishes the gift her phys‑ed degree gave her — the chance to live an active life and teach about what she loves. As an educator, she says, her goal was to teach good attitudes and good effort through sport.

She continues to stay active, swimming almost every day.

Margo Wyley gets her hands on some vintage sports equipment in a U of A locker-room.

new trail autumn 2013 41

42 newtrail.ualberta.ca

Eric Schlos

&

Eric Schloss gets behind the wheel of a 1961 Hillman in front of the Dentistry & Pharmacy building on campus, formerly the Medical Sciences Building.

Eric Schloss ’59 BA, ’63 MD

WERE THERE SURPRISES MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM STUDENT TO REAL LIFE?

“After graduating, I interned in Bermuda for four months. I walked into the emergency department the first day — as a young intern, I was feeling pretty good about myself, and they said ‘Oh, doctor, we’re glad you’re here. A man has been bitten by a shark.’ We had never learned in Alberta about shark attacks!

Fortunately, that’s the last shark bite I’ve had to deal with, and that was almost 50 years ago.”

Eric Schloss had planned to be a lawyer. Two years into prelaw, his honours English prof read one of his essays, called him into his office and asked gently whether he had ever considered science. Schloss took the hint. (Interestingly, his brother, Barry Schloss, ’61 BSc, started out studying medicine and switched to law.)

Eric Schloss spent a number of years in general pathology.

He now practises dermatology and dermatopathology in Edmonton and is a clinical professor in the U of A Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.

Schloss remembers his roommates piling into his 1954 Hillman to get to class in the mornings, racing down 112th Street (with his buddies leaning out the windows to guide him when he couldn’t see through the frosty windshield), parking in front of the medical building and making a mad dash to class.

They usually arrived late.

new trail autumn 2013 43

Ji

Jim Lockhart

IF YOU COULD GO BACK, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOUR YOUNGER SELF?

“If I went back, I would take courses in drama and communications. I would still do an Ag degree, but I would also hone my skills in presenting my ideas. So much of my job over the years has involved communicating…. No matter how smart you are, you have to be able to communicate.”

’63 BSc(Ag), ’67 MAg University was a big change for Jim Lockhart and his classmates studying agriculture in the early ’60s. Most had been schooled in small mixed-grade classrooms in rural Alberta. Lockhart credits the dean at the time, Fred Bentley, ’39 BSc(Ag), ’42 MSc, ’90 DSc(Honorary), and “superb” professors for helping his graduating class of 28 succeed. The day after convocation, Lockhart started a job with the federal agriculture department, launching a 32-year career with the Government of Canada. His work took him to farms and ranches across the Prairies.

Lockhart lives in Edmonton but still owns and runs part of the family ranch in southern Alberta where he grew up.

Jim Lockhart gets back in the saddle of a 1944 Massey-Harris tractor — not unlike the tractor he grew up with — at Fort Edmonton Park.

44 newtrail.ualberta.ca

We’re better, together.

Comprehensive coverage. Superior value.

Term Life Insurance Dependent Children Term Life Insurance Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance Critical Illness Insurance Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance Health & Dental Insurance

University of Alberta Personal Insurance Program For a personalized quotation or to apply online, please visit us at:

solutionsinsurance.com/uofa 1.800.266.5667

46 newtrail.ualberta.ca

by SARAH LIGON

Natasha Staniszewski,

’00 BCom

The TSN anchor and reporter talks about on-air goofs, locker-room interviews and being a woman in a male-dominated field You started your career in business. What made you switch to broadcasting? When I was in high school, I had always thought about sports broadcasting, but at the time it seemed like such a crazy thing to try. There weren’t a lot of women in it. Then one day I was in Calgary at a work conference and I was sitting in the lobby — unhappy to be at the conference — and I was watching a sports channel. There was a female anchor on, and I thought, “Why don’t I try that? If she’s doing it, why can’t I?”

PHOTO BY JOHN ULAN

Was this how you had imagined it would be? I never imagined I would be on a national channel with millions of people watching me. My goal at the time was to find a job in Edmonton and cover the teams I used to watch growing up: the Oilers and Eskimos and Bears and Pandas. Then I bumped into the vice-president of TSN at the Grey Cup when it was in Edmonton in 2011, and he was looking for somebody to fill a maternity leave. I auditioned and here I am.

What has been the secret to your early success? Hard work. It’s not as glamorous as everybody thinks. Being away from your family and moving six times in three years is not easy. The hours of the shifts that I’ve worked are not easy. I can think of countless times I would be driving home, by myself, in -40-degree weather on a little Saskatchewan highway, trying

to get back to the station to put my show together, carrying all my own equipment and editing all my own stories and getting paid nothing, basically. [But] in the end it showed news directors that I was really serious.

Tell me about those locker-room interviews. What’s it like being a woman in what is traditionally a man’s domain? You’re never sure how the players or coaches are going to react to having a female in their locker room, but it’s so much more common now than it used to be. Female or male, you get a little bit star-struck the first time you walk into a locker room to talk to NHL players, but you get over it quickly — otherwise you’ll get beat. You’ve got to get your interviews and get out.

What do you like most about your job? The fact that I get paid to watch hockey games. For sports fans, this is a dream job. For example, recently I was out covering the [Los Angeles] Lakers, and I was interviewing Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant. It doesn’t feel like work.

You don’t get star-struck interviewing Kobe Bryant?

Absolutely, but you get a couple of seconds to be star-struck and that’s it.

There are probably 25 media people huddling around his stall waiting for him for 25 minutes because he likes to take a long time in the showers.

When he finally comes out, people start throwing questions at him.

You’ve got to pay attention and get your question in, because that’s it.

What have you learned about an on-camera career? When you’re on live TV, nothing is ever going to be perfect. You’re under heavy time constraints. When it’s 11 o’clock, you’re on, and if you’re not ready, you’ve got to figure out how to sell it anyway.

Any on-air goofs that still make you cringe? I’ve called reporters by the wrong name. But the worst one was in Edmonton at an Oilers game. I was doing a live hit, and I dropped my script on the floor.

How do you deal with criticism?

They always say in broadcasting school that you have to have a thick skin because people love to complain: I hate the shirt you’re wearing, or what’s wrong with your hair? You can’t let it get to you or you’ll go crazy.

Do you think audiences are more critical because you’re a woman?

There’s more pressure on women to be perfect. If a male anchor mixes up the names of two athletes, people will say he made a mistake. If a woman makes that same mistake, it’s, “Oh, well, she clearly doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

More Online Staniszewski answers more questions at newtrail.ualberta.ca.

new trail autumn 2013 47

ALUMNI EVENTS

REGIONAL ACTIVITIES Stay involved with the U of A through one of the more than 50 active alumni chapters around the world. Check online for information about events near you.

EDMONTON | AUG. 15–25

Summer of Service Volunteer Opportunity Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival TORONTO | AUG. 18 Annual CFL Football event CALGARY | SEPT. 2 Labour Day Classic Tailgate Party EDMONTON | OCTOBER TBD Annual CFL Football event

SEPT. 25–29 DO GREAT THINGS AT ALUMNI WEEKEND 2013 Volunteers are needed to assist with the Alumni Association’s largest event of the year. Join the fun serving cinnamon buns, assisting at various events or helping with pre-event set-up! Volunteer now!

SEPT. 25 | 2013 ALUMNI RECOGNITION AWARDS Join us at the Winspear Centre in Edmonton to celebrate some of the University of Alberta’s most outstanding graduates.

SEPT. 26 | RATT REDUX Stop by for ’80s music trivia and a chance to hang out in RATT. SEPT. 27 AND 28 | TUCK SHOP TENT Quad (by Athabasca and Pembina Halls) Friday, Sept. 27, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. | Saturday, Sept. 28, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Be at the centre of all the action — in Quad. Come by to register, find event information or join a campus tour. While you’re there, grab an original recipe cinnamon bun and check out the entertainment.

SEPT. 28 | ALUMNI DINNER & DANCE Join us for an unforgettable evening of fantastic food, fun and friends, plus a few surprises! Celebrate your favourite U of A memories and make new ones catching up with old friends or taking a turn on the dance floor.

More on all events at ualberta.ca/alumni/weekend.

EDUCATED SERIES Starting in October, join us for our regular Educated series of events.

Registration will be avilable at the end of August.

THE EDUCATED LEADER A three-part series for managers and executives wanting to explore the demands of leadership and the skills required to lead effectively.

Alumni Council member Linda Miller, ’89 BSc(OT), (left) works alongside ALES student Chen Gai at the Edmonton River Valley Clean Up in June — part of the Do Great Things Alumni Volunteer Challenge.

Look for this symbol to find volunteer opportunities.

More at ualberta.ca/alumni/ volunteer.

Marvin Washington Oct. 16 Wendy Wilton, ’91 BEd, and Kim Arsenault, ’01 BEd, Nov. 6 and Dec. 5

Dates are subject to change; events are added daily. For more or to register, visit

48 newtrail.ualberta.ca

THE EDUCATED WALLET Oct. 17, Nov. 7, Nov. 21 Considering a real estate purchase in the United States? Need a financial checkup? Want to start your own business or take it to the next level? Tap into guidance from experts who will help you navigate your way through these personal finance decisions.

EDUCATED LUNCHEON Oct. 9, Nov. 13, Dec. 11 Have lunch and listen to the university’s top thinkers share their amazing work.

1

1. Don Weiss, ’60 BSc(CivEng), and his granddaughter, Maja Buconjic, enjoy the 18th annual alumni dinner and reception at Spruce Meadows.

2

2. Chancellor Ralph Young, ’73 MBA, rides in style during the Grande Prairie Alumni Reception. Photo

by Chris Beauchamp

3

3. Left to right, Joel Ward and Dave Russell from Red Deer College celebrate 25 years of collaboration alongside U of A Chancellor Ralph Young, ’73 MBA; Red Deer Mayor Morris Flewwelling, ’64 BEd, and Alumni Association President Glenn Stowkowy, ’76 BSc(ElecEng).

4

4. Face paint and egg hunts were just part of the fun at the Alumni Easter Egg Hunt at the U of A North Campus.

Photo by Selena Phillips-Boyle 5. Dan Chow, ’83 BA, ’85 LLB, and Channy Chow, ’76 BSc, ’03 MBA, gather with coastal alumni for a spring lunch and harbour cruise in Vancouver.

Photo by David Tam

5

6

7

6. Muriel Brown, ’45 BSc(HEc) (left) and Michele Shea enjoy the Ottawa alumni reception at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que. Photo by Patricia Blake 7. David Leoni, ’11 DDS, and dentistry student Morgan Gwin are all smiles at the Dental Alumni Association reception at the Pacific Dental Conference in Vancouver.

— Compiled by Kate Black

The University of Alberta Conference and Event Management team offers a variety of services including: on-line registration, budget management, event logistics

Call us today 780-492-6057 Need assistaNCe with your Next eveNt or CoNfereNCe? conference.services@ualberta.ca conference.ualberta.ca Call us today 780-492-6057 | conference.services@ualberta.ca | conference.ualberta.ca

to full conference management assistance.

new trail autumn 2013 49

CL A SS NOTES

WE LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU’RE DOING

1940s 1950s ’48 Jack Scrimgeour, BSc(ElecEng), worked for 23 years with Canadian General Electric, 12 years as a science adviser with the federal Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce and eight years as a senior technology adviser at the National Research Council. In the latter part of his career, his focus was competitive technology threats facing the Canadian manufacturing industry. For 20 years, Jack wrote a monthly report — some 240 issues — on international publication references that was distributed to about one million readers. During his time at the U of A, Jack played saxophone in a class dance band, an experience that gave him the opportunity to play semi-professionally later in life. He played for 30 years in two concert bands and for 34 years in two symphony orchestras, on flute and piccolo.

’55 Shirlee Drever, Dip(Ed), taught for a year in Edmonton after graduation, then married and had four children. The family moved to Vancouver in 1964. In 1972, Shirlee decided to go back to work and studied to become a real estate agent. She worked in real estate

CITADEL THEATRE ROB B I N S

ACADEM Y

Sept. 21 - Oct. 13

TICKETS START AT $

for 25 years and retired happily at age 64.

Travel has been Shirlee’s passion throughout her life, and she has visited every continent extensively except Antarctica. She moved to beautiful Nanaimo on Vancouver Island in 2006 and loves it there.

’58 Sheila McKeage, Dip(Nu), wrote to share news that she and her classmates of the 1958 nursing program took a cruise on the MS Westerdam in October.

Left to right, (back row) Ruby Dyberg, Betty Nesselbeck, Ann Carol Richardson, Eve Fairbanks; (front row) Margaret Ann Puffer, Sheila McKeage, Roberta Cronquist

Fall 2013 Sept. 28 - Nov. 17

35 Buy Now

50 newtrail.ualberta.ca

Tell us about your new baby or your new job. Celebrate a personal accomplishment or volunteer activity, or share your favourite campus memories. Submit a class note at ualberta.ca/alumni/ classnotes or email alumni@ualberta.ca.

Oct. 26 - Nov. 17

780 425 1820 •

•

citadeltheatre.com

PRO F I L E

SOLVED: THE GREAT BAR NONE CAPER OF ’55

ILLUSTRATION BY JAMES BRAITHWAITE

The young women who entered Athabasca Hall for that year’s dance couldn’t have guessed what awaited them I CONFESS. Confession is good for the soul, so for the sake of what is left of mine, I confess to being the mastermind behind the great Athabasca Hall Washroom Caper of 1955. Never heard of it? That’s understandable.

But since I’m on the wrong side of age’s slippery slope by an escapade or two, I feel it is time to “come clean” (appropriate, given that a washroom is involved).

It was the last dance of the year — the much-anticipated Bar None hosted by the Aggies. One of the locations chosen for this night’s event was Athabasca Hall, a men’s residence (and, incidentally, now home to the Department of Computer Science).

I lived in Room 318, one of the choicest in Athabasca Hall because it had weatherstripping around the windows and was close to the water fountain, the washroom and the telephone. (Some of you might remember the old line: “Good evening. This is Athabasca Hall. Who in the hall do you want?”)

Pleading undone assignments that had been due in the pre-Christian era, I told my friends I would not be “whoopin’ it up” with the local lovelies on the dance floor but “whoopin’ it down” with library books.

However, after a few minutes spent filling my pen with ink, contemplating the meaning of life and trying to decide if I wanted to use the washroom, it came to me: not the meaning of life, but an idea involving a washroom.

To be more specific, it involved the single “ladies only” washroom provided for female visitors to Athabasca Hall. I tracked down a pair of worn but still serviceable pants (called “faded blues,” I believe), a pair of shoes and some newspapers that I rolled around two bottles. By 7:30 that evening, when most of

my fellow “residence rakes” had left to pick up their dates for the dance, I took the scrounged items and, accompanied by an accomplice who will remain nameless to protect his reputation, crept down to the ladies’ oasis and snuck in.

We set the shoes in front of the toilet, inserted the rolled newspapers into them, draped the pant legs around the newspapers and folded the top of the pants over the toilet seat. My partner in crime then locked the cubicle door and crawled out underneath.

I was never able to verify the events that followed, but this is the version I was told.

The first young woman to use the washroom walked in, saw the pants and shoes under the cubicle door and walked straight out to tell someone in authority there was a man in the women’s washroom. All of those who heard the commotion dashed

down, opened the washroom door and saw what seemed to be a man using the ladies’ convenience — a man who did not answer when spoken to. Who could this be? The answer was obvious: It had to be one of the usual suspects — a drunken engineer. And he had passed out sitting on the throne!

A call went out to Reg Lister, once the superintendent of residences, the man for whom Lister Hall was named and someone who had probably seen every type of residence prank — except, possibly, this one. The cubicle door was opened and the truth revealed. Reg laughed and left, as did everyone else. (The reaction of any engineers present was not recorded.)

That’s my confession. In my defence, all I can do is apologize to the Aggies, the engineers and any of the ladies who may have been inconvenienced that evening. Having apologized, I have a request to make on bended Athabascan knee: If you have the pants, would you please return them? If I lost two or three of the “Tuck Shop pounds” I put on in 1955, I think they’d fit me! — Charles “Chuck” Crockford Tell us about a prank you’ve pulled, or share other campus memories, at our video memories booth in Quad during Alumni Weekend or at ualberta.ca/alumni/classnotes.

Chuck Crockford, ’62 BEd, lives with his wife, Arline, ’61 BEd, and his 1986 Toyota Celica in Waterloo, Ont. He is sure that his fellow Athabascans will be surprised to learn what meek, mild-mannered Chuck Crockford was up to 58 years ago. new trail autumn 2013 51

CL A SS NOTES

1960s

’60 Robin Leech, MSc, ’71 PhD, has been awarded the J. Dewey Soper Award from the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists. This award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions in the field of biology. The award consists of an original display painting and a life membership in the ASPB. ’63 Nick Skinner, BSc, ’65 BA, ’67 MSc, ’71 PhD, is about to begin his 42nd year teaching psychology at King’s University College at Western University in London, Ont. In addition to personality correlates of learning, Nick is very interested in the variables that influence effective teaching and, consequently, he has been chair of the Section on Teaching of Psychology of the Canadian Psychological Association for the past 25 years. The association honoured Nick with its Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology Award in 2000. ’65 Evelyn Abell (Nash), BEd, spent 10 very enjoyable years teaching mostly high school English in the Alberta communities of Westlock, Red Deer, Leduc and Edmonton, and later taught as a substitute in Edmonton while her children were young. Evelyn also supported her husband, Bob Abell, ’83 PhD, with various educational companies until their move to Ottawa in 1996. In 2000, Evelyn and Bob founded Automated Learning and continue to support an international clientele with proprietary online training. Evelyn volunteers for a number of environmental groups, edits books, gardens and travels. She

’63 Allan Olson, BSc(CivEng), was recently inducted into the Alberta Business Hall of Fame for his contributions to Junior Achievement in northern Alberta. His advice for a young person dreaming of entrepreneurship is: develop business knowledge, build leadership skills and know yourself — and continue doing these things throughout your career, because there’s always more to know.

enjoys spending time with her grandchildren and connecting with the many different people she meets in her various roles. ’66 Mark Burggren, BSc(MechEng), moved to the United States 11 years after his graduation, living and working there for the next three decades. Since then, Mark worked as an independent manufacturing consultant and is now working halftime, easing into retirement. ’67 Dianne Oberg, BEd, ’78 Dip(Ed), ’84 MLIS, ’92 PhD, taught her first year in her hometown of Forestburg, Alta. She then worked as a classroom teacher and teacher-librarian for Edmonton Public Schools until 1986, when she began her career at the U of A. In 2011, she retired as chair of the U of A Department of Elementary Education and professor of teacherlibrarianship. Dianne’s work with two library associations, the International Association of School Librarianship and the International Federation of Library Associations, continues to take her around the world. Currently, she enjoys working as a freelance editor. ’67 Laurana Rayne (formerly Shirley Rebus), BSc(HEc), of Calgary, recently published a book, Conscious Spending. Conscious Life, based on a consumer economics course she taught at Mount Royal College for many years. Laurana notes the experience made her aware of how tricky it is for inexperienced

’60 Chrys Dmytruk, BSc(ChemEng), along with his wife, Leslie, ’87 BScN, and Orest Talpash from the Faculty of Medicine recently donated two new collections of historical maps of Eastern and Central Europe, including the Ukrainian territories. These collections are valuable additions to the sizable map collection at the U of A. An exhibition of the maps ran at the library in June in collaboration with the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and the Alberta Society for the Advancement of Ukrainian Studies.

52 newtrail.ualberta.ca

and unprepared individuals to successfully navigate the consumer culture. ’68 Darell Morrison, BSc(MetEng), worked in Edmonton and Calgary until 1973, when he accepted his first overseas job, in Libya. Darell loved the challenge of being a Canadian overseas engineer ambassador and just returned to Canada last November after 37 years abroad. He is proud of what his engineering colleagues have accomplished in Canada and plans to continue working in his field now that he has returned. ’68 Jack Rootman, MD, has spent the last 40 years in academic medicine at the University of British Columbia, in the fields of ophthalmology and pathology. Jack chaired the department for 11 years and has published more than 200 papers as well as three textbooks on orbital disease. Two of his books are in their second edition and one has also been published in Chinese. Jack is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Ophthalmological Society and a University of Alberta Alumni Recognition Award. He will be assuming a professorship at UCLA Medical School this September and also maintains a second career as an artist.

1970s

’70 Bodil Jensen, BA(Hons), ’72 MA, ’79 LLB, wrote in with an intergenerational story of advanced education. Inspired by the convocation of her daughter, Madeleine Jensen-Fontaine, ’12 MSc, Bodil began thinking about her family’s story: Bodil, a lawyer, has three degrees from the U of A. Her husband, Bernard Fontaine, is also a lawyer, a graduate of Sherbrooke and McGill universities. Bodil’s father, Erik Jelhof Jensen, graduated with a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Copenhagen and worked as a research engineer at the Research Council of Alberta — then across from the Education Building — before retiring in 1979. Her mother, Agnes Jelhof Jensen, graduated with a BSc from Landbrughojskolen, now part of the University of Copenhagen. Both parents were refugees to Sweden in the Second World War, where they met and married. The family emigrated to Edmonton in 1954. At the time of writing, Bodil’s son, Etienne Jensen-Fontaine, was close to being a full CA. He is a graduate of HEC business school and works for the auditor general of Quebec. Bodil wrote: “With the mess and corruption being unveiled in Laval and Montreal these days, he should be gainfully employed for years.” ’72 Arlene Bishop, BA, obtained two other degrees after her graduation from the U of A

’77 Patricia Trudeau, Dip(Ed), has published Crime in the Cul-de-sac, her fifth novel in the Agnes Carroll mystery series, and is working on number 6. Patricia has also contributed an essay, “Travelling Light,” and the cover illustration to Welcome to the Zoo, a recently published anthology of Saint City Writers in St. Albert, Alta.

and had a rewarding 30-year career in the field of human services. Arlene is now retired and is enjoying travel, painting, singing and gardening.

at the U of A, and Matthew, who is completing his physical education degree and plays on the Golden Bears hockey team.

’73 Mike Znak, BSc(CivEng), is semi-retired after 35 years with the Alberta government.

Running is a longtime passion and he has run 21 marathons in the past 15 years. He is also enjoying hunting, fishing, renovating rental and recreational properties, and travelling.

’76 Madeleine Lefebvre, MA, ’78 MLIS, is the chief librarian at Ryerson University and is active on the local, national and international library scenes.

’74 Gregg Meropoulis, BPE, ’78 MA, travelled in Europe for four months after graduation, then accepted a teaching and coaching position at NAIT in the fall of 1978. He has worked there ever since, coaching women’s basketball until 1999 and then serving as athletics manager. Gregg and his wife, Patti, have two children: Alexandra, ’08 BPE, ’10 MSc, who studied physical education and physiotherapy

’76 Mary-Anne Neal, BEd, is teaching courses in the master’s program in educational leadership at Royal Roads University in Victoria and is also conducting professional development workshops for teachers in British Columbia, China, Vietnam and Africa. ’77 Valerie Richmond, BA, ’80 MA, worked for the Alberta government for 13 years, then moved to Vancouver to become director of an international language school. She has

Management Programs Citation Programs

Business Seminars

Certificate Programs

Supervisory Development

Financial Management

Management Development

Business Analysis

Workplace Coaching

Human Resources Management

Social Media Strategic Marketing

Conflict Resolution

Social Media Communications

Information Technology Management Risk and Insurance Management

Workplace Communication

Entrepreneurship

Management Bootcamp

780.492.3027 www.extension.ualberta.ca/management new trail autumn 2013 53

CL A SS NOTES

70s travelled to more than 30 countries marketing language programs and served as president of the Canadian Association of Private Language Schools. Now retired, she audits public and private language schools — between cruises and spending time with her daughters, grandchildren and grand-puppy.

’78 Gordon Cove, BSc(Ag), has worked in the meat industry in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., and is now CEO of the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency. He is married to Deborah Cove (Papirnik), ’77 BSc(MedLabSci). Their two daughters are also U of A alumnae: Leslie Cove, ’04 BA, and Michelle Cove, ’06 BSc(Spec). ’78 Mary Crisp, ’78 BScN, worked for two years as a home-care co-ordinator in

{

Edmonton, and then for eight years as a nursing supervisor in Comox, B.C. Mary spent eight years working as a general medical/surgical co-ordinator in a military hospital in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, where she met the love of her life, an Englishman. She married him in 1997.

They returned to Canada, where Mary worked medical/surgical day care and endoscopy until her retirement in 2004. She is thoroughly enjoying her retirement and the opportunity to travel with her husband.

practising law in Calgary for almost a decade, during which time she had a son. Barbara and her son moved to La Paz, Mexico, where she pursued a career as a writer. From 1997 until 2005, she instructed law and management at SAIT Polytechnic and Mount Royal University in Calgary. In 2012, she released her debut novel, Mirrored in the Caves, published by Inanna Publications. Barbara has lived in Crowsnest Pass, Alta., since 2005 and has been a contributing writer for a number of publications. She is working on her next novel.

’78 Barbara Janusz, BA, ’82 LLB, was called to the bar in 1983 and relocated to Vancouver, where she worked as a writer/researcher for the BC Civil Liberties Association and as a digest contributor for Carswell Legal Publications. Barbara later returned to Alberta,

’78 Katherine Koller, BA, ’87 MA, recently had a collection of plays titled Voices of the Land: The Seed Savers and Other Plays published

by Athabasca University Press. In addition to playwriting, Katherine writes fiction and also writes for dance, ballet, opera, film and radio.

}

s e t o N s s a Cl s e i r o m e M &

54 newtrail.ualberta.ca

1980s

’80 Liz Good-Gerow, BEd, has taught at the Sexsmith Secondary School in Sexsmith, Alta., for 33 years and has thoroughly enjoyed the position. Liz loves the community, has loved teaching and now finds herself teaching a second generation of children.

PHOTO BY RICHARD SIEMENS

’81 Niels Jensen, PhD, spent some time working with a major Canadian oil company, first in Toronto, where he met his wife, and later in Sarnia, Ont., where they started their family. At the end of the ’80s, Niels moved into academia at the Technical University of Denmark and his family moved to Denmark, where they had two more children. At DTU, Niels became a manager in the Department of Chemical Engineering and was involved in conducting and teaching risk assessment of experimental work. Lately, Niels has been involved with risk assessment of a biochemical pilot plant, but otherwise he has been enjoying his retirement. ’81 Steve Meriam, BSc(Forest), of Virginia Beach, Va., has been promoted to director of sales for Stihl Inc. after more than a decade with the company. Steve began his career with forestry and logging jobs in Canada.

He was appointed territory manager of Manitoba and Saskatchewan when Stihl opened its Canadian operation, and held multiple executive-level sales positions before relocating to the United States in 1997 as

’80 Sharon Compton, Dip(DentHyg), ’02 PhD, associate chair and director of the U of A dental hygiene program, was recently awarded the 2013 W.W. Wood Award for excellence in dental education. Sharon teaches and mentors dental hygiene students across Alberta through online distance learning. These students are practising dental hygienists who are completing their degrees while working in communities like Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Olds, Airdrie and other smaller centres in Alberta.

branch manager at Northeast Stihl. He was promoted to manager of national sales and product development in 2002. ’81 Jackie Robinson (Smith), BSc(OT), worked at Calgary General for two years after graduation, then returned home to England. Jackie worked there as an occupational therapist for nearly 25 years before retiring in January 2011. She has travelled to China, Iceland, Hawaii, Panama, the Caribbean and back to Canada, and she is planning more trips, including to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. At home, Jackie sings in a choir, enjoys line dancing, plays handbells, takes drum lessons and does volunteer work. She recently moved into a home on the top of a cliff with beautiful views of the English Channel. ’83 Jerry Iwanus, BA(Spec), ’86 MA, worked after graduation as a contract historian for Alberta Culture and wrote numerous reports pertaining to the settlement of Ukrainians in Alberta. In 1990, Jerry became a financial adviser, a field that brought him to rural Alberta, where he fell in love with small-town life. He moved to Bawlf, Alta., in 1995 and has lived there ever since, serving six years as mayor. Jerry sold his financial planning practice in 2001 and became an accredited

real estate appraiser. He now owns his own appraisal firm in Camrose, Alta. He is a member of the U of A Senate and chair of the Daysland Pastoral Charge of the United Church of Canada. Jerry credits his time at the U of A as being the root of his many opportunities to do interesting things and meet fascinating people. ’84 Scott Bower, BPE, of Chiba prefecture in Japan, wrote recently to say that after working as a child-care worker with Catholic Social Services for a couple of years after graduation, he and fellow alumnus Darren Kudrinko, ’84 BA, spent eight months circling the globe. Scott says volumes could be written about their adventures. After he returned home and began working for Catholic Social Services again, he responded to an ad for English teachers in Sapporo, Japan, in July 1987 and landed the job. Highlights included working with English-speaking young people from around the world, playing and coaching hockey, and enjoying some of the best powder skiing in the world. In 1992, Scott settled in Chiba, just outside Tokyo. Having opened a vehicle export company in 2005, Scott writes to say that he expects to call Japan home at least until retirement.

Inspired meetings. Inspirational setting.

Toll Free: 1.877.760.4595 E-mail: conferences@banffcentre.ca www.banffconferences.ca/ualberta The Banff Centre provides exceptional meeting facilities and services in a location that cannot help but inspire.

BANFF, CANADIAN ROCKIES

new trail autumn 2013 55

CL A SS NOTES

Steve Patterson

’86 Jide Familoni, PhD, has published a novel, Losing My Religion. The novel recounts Jide’s

days as a graduate student and post-doctoral fellow at the U of A, with familiar settings such as the Power Plant, Mackenzie Hall and Emily Murphy Park. More information is available at facebook.com/losingmyreligionnovel. ’88 Cheryl Lumley, BScN, worked as a nurse for 3½ years and for the last 21 years has worked as a pastor. She has been posted in many parts of Alberta and has travelled through the United States. Her current posting is in Fort St. John, B.C., covering an area that extends north to Whitehorse, Yukon. Cheryl recently spent several months in Hong Kong and travelled to neighbouring countries. She enjoys cross-stitch, knitting, travel and photography, and writes that life is busy, but good.

Volunteer spotlight:

Christopher Harrison, ’73 BEd, ’75 MEd, ’78 PhD Christopher volunteers his time digging up dinosaur bones and you can too.

ualberta.ca/alumni/volunteer 56 newtrail.ualberta.ca

PHOTO BY MICHAEL HOLLY

’84 Steve Patterson, BSc(Dent), ’86 DDS, associate chair of academic affairs at the U of A School of Dentistry, was awarded the 2013 Bisco National Dental Teaching Award by the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry. Steve started his career as a general dentist in Wetaskiwin, Alta., and later followed his passions into the practice of dental public health and teaching. In 1994, he began teaching undergraduate students in the doctor of dental surgery, dental hygiene and doctor of medicine programs at the U of A. It was during this time that he discovered his true passion for teaching.

1990s

’90 Luis Alberto D’Elia (Betolaza), BSc, ’98 BEd, ’03 MEd, wrote in with memories of being one of those alumni fortunate to do research and work overseas. “Before venturing overseas, I taught undergrad courses in the U of A Department of Educational Policy Studies, Faculty of Education, and worked in the faculty’s field experiences program. Four years ago, I ventured with my wife to Spain, Costa Rica and Argentina to do research and to teach part time. In Argentina, I was invited to deliver a seminar related to research I was writing with a U of A colleague: scienceteaching strategies for academic at-risk undergrad students. The seminar was so well-received that I was offered the post of pedagogy consultant at the faculty of food sciences. That was how my wife and I spent

the recent two years in Gualeguaychu, a city of some 100,000 amid lush green forests and productive pampas. As a matter of great coincidence during that time, my wife and I — former “prisoners of conscience” who were detained and tortured in secret detention camps during the military dictatorship in Argentina in the ’70s — observed and gave testimonials in public human rights trials carried out by the hundreds in most provinces of this country by the Argentine federal courts. Finally, as a painter, I was invited to exhibit in a Gualeguaychu gallery.

As well, as a musician of Andean ancestral instruments, I played at different events and concerts with other musicians. I am now back in Canada and by the summer I will be, God willing, in my beloved Edmonton.”

VOL UNT EER

’90 Marie Reed, BEd, of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., has spent the better part of the last 20 years teaching in a classroom. However, she has recently written And Not to Yield, a story that follows a journey of parallel lives: her husband’s in heaven and her family’s on Earth. Readers are taken along on a roller-coaster ride of emotions experienced during her husband’s illness and after his death.

This story is about faith and the miracles that carry us through difficult times. For more, go to friesenpress.com/bookstore.

From our campus to our communities, u of A alumni are doing great things through volunteerism.

Make your time count. Be a part of the Alumni Volunteer Challenge and contribute to 2,015 alumni volunteer experiences by 2015. to get involved, visit ualberta.ca/alumni/volunteer or call 780-492-3224.

new trail autumn 2013 57

CL A SS NOTES

’93 Gillian Mah-Thompson, BSc(Pharm), is a long-term-care pharmacist with Capital Care in Edmonton. Gillian and her husband, Richard Thompson, ’93 BSc(EngPhys), ’99 PhD, live in the university area and have two beautiful children, Sam and Eve. ’95 Todd Babiak, BA, will release Just Getting Started: Edmonton Public Library’s First 100 Years, 1913–2013 this fall. It tells the story of the EPL’s birth and coming of age within the city and province. Todd’s history of the EPL is one-of-a-kind: it reads like a novel, mirroring the institution it commemorates.

issues. Research showed that many Alberta child-care centres and day homes support inclusion but sometimes lack training and support. This research influenced a new pilot program offered by Getting Ready for Inclusion Today, which supports the inclusion of children in care settings. Lesley completed this research as part of her post-doctoral project in the U of A Faculty of Nursing.

’98 Natalie Preikschat, BSc(Ag), was accepted into the Western College of Veterinary Medicine immediately after her graduation from the U of A. Natalie practised as a mixed animal veterinarian in Stony Plain, Alta., before taking a position in Moose Jaw, Sask., to be closer to family. She has been in Moose Jaw for 10 years and plans soon to become co-owner of the five-doctor practice in which she works. ’98 Emmy Stuebing, BA, started working with the Fort Edmonton Foundation after

’95 Julia Rhéaume, BEd, ’01 MEd, taught French immersion for 15 years and then taught in the U of A/Red Deer College collaborative BEd program. Julia has also served as a high school vice-principal and has held a number of other leadership positions. ’95 Kelly Small, BSc(Spec), of Calgary, earned her BEd at the University of Calgary in 2001 and began working in formal and non-formal education. Kelly and her partner adopted a newborn boy in November 2011 and she reports “living the high life as a stay-at-home momma.” ’96 Lesley Wiart, BSc(PT), ’02 MSc, ’08 PhD, is the lead author of a study that identified challenges in providing inclusive spaces for children with physical disabilities, cognitive impairments and behavioural 58 newtrail.ualberta.ca

’97 Sharon Morsink, PhD, was awarded a 2013 Community Leader Award for her efforts to welcome the public to the U of A Observatory and share the love of astronomy with schoolchildren. The award was one of three inaugural Community Connections Awards bestowed by the U of A to honour efforts to engage with the community.

’97 Tim Bowling, MA, has gathered his finest poems from a 25-year period in his new work Selected Poems, available through nightwoodeditions.com.

graduation, the beginning of her career in the not-for-profit sector. Emmy has worked for a number of local causes, including two years with the Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research at the U of A. She is enjoying her fifth year serving as executive director of the Alberta Emerald Foundation, which recognizes, celebrates and inspires environmental excellence in Alberta. Emmy writes that she is always proud when she sees an Emerald Award nomination from the University of Alberta.

PHOTO BY RICHARD SIEMENS

90s ’92 Diana J. Logan, BEd, of Calgary, graduated this spring from the University of Calgary with an MEd. Since graduating from the U of A, Diana has been teaching at Springbank, Cochrane and Airdrie, Alta. In September, she will teach a Grade 2 class at Bearspaw School in Calgary, where she lives with her husband, Mark, and sons, Connor and Liam.

2000s

’06 Logan Mardhani-Bayne, BA, ’12 MA, who is now pursuing his doctoral studies in history at Yale, and Leah Trueblood, ’09 BA, who is pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Oxford, were recipients of 2013 Trudeau doctoral scholarships.

’01 Cindie LeBlanc, BA, works with the provincial public service, helping government better fulfil the needs of francophones in Alberta. Cindie married a fellow Campus Saint-Jean alumnus in 2011, Michel Lapointe, ’00 BEd, ’07 MEd, and in 2012 they welcomed their first child, Nico Lapointe.

PROFILE

’02 Carey-Ann Burnham, BSc(MedLabSci), ’07 PhD, was awarded the 2013 Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Young Investigator Award in May in Denver. This award is given to a young clinical scientist who has done outstanding laboratory research in clinical microbiology or antimicrobial agents. ’02 Jeevan Nagendran, BSc(Eng), ’06 MD, was awarded the C. Walton Lillehei Resident Forum award in May at the annual meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery in Minneapolis. ’03 Denis Lacroix, MLIS, has worked at the U of A since graduation and is the librarian responsible for Romance languages and literature, the history of Western Europe, Latin American studies and film studies. ’03 Helen Ramirez-DeLeon, BEd, held several jobs outside education before accepting a teaching job in South Korea. Helen lived there for a year, then taught on a reservation in northern Quebec. After three years there and one in Montreal, she taught in another Inuit village, returned to Edmonton, then accepted her current job in northeastern China, teaching at an international school. She has travelled South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, northern Europe and China, and is amazed time has passed so quickly since graduation. ’04 Jenny Liu, MEng, worked as a mechanical and utilities engineer at the University of British Columbia after graduation. She has been involved in planning six utility infrastructure systems, design approval and

Alumni Share the Gift of Literacy IMAGINE GROWING UP without access to books or a school. As university graduates, that can be hard to fully understand, but it’s the sad reality for millions of children around the world.

U of A alumni in Edmonton are working to change that through Room to Read.

I’ve been involved in the Edmonton chapter, one of 52 around the world, since it was founded in August 2008. I continue to find it amazing and inspiring the way a small amount of money can have an incredible impact on the lives of children and their communities. And that world change starts with educated children.

According to Room to Read’s research, more than 60 million elementary schoolaged children have no access to education and likely will never learn to read or write.

As volunteers, we help partner with local communities and governments in Asia and Africa to build libraries and classrooms, publish children’s books in local languages, train educators and support education for girls where it is often neglected or discouraged. There are Room to Read projects in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania.

Joelle Weisbeck, ’03 BEd, joined me at the Edmonton chapter of Room to Read in April 2010. “They truly are making a difference in our global community,” she said. There’s no doubt she’s right. Room to Read reports that it has given seven million

children the gift of literacy so far. Its target is to help 10 million children by 2015.

Imagine a world in which every child has access to an education. As volunteers, Joelle and I are doing our best to make this dream a reality, one child at a time. — Kerri Tulloch For more information, visit roomtoread.org or email edmonton@roomtoread.org.

Kerri Tulloch, ’92 BA, ’97 MScSLP, is a speechlanguage pathologist with Alberta Health Services. She hopes to have the opportunity to visit a Room to Read project in person in the near future.

new trail autumn 2013 59

00s CL A SS NOTES

system maintenance. Jenny’s daughter is finishing her third year of civil engineering studies at the University of Toronto.

’08 Kayleigh Harris, BA, earned her master of science in comparative politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science in England before moving back to Edmonton. She currently works in administration and policy in the health-care field.

’09 Nicole Littlemore, BSc, was inspired by her degree in environmental biology to educate others about the world around us. Since October 2010, Nicole has been working at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at the University of British Columbia. As a programs assistant, she organizes and plans outreach activities, supplementary materials, talks, lectures and other activities to get people excited about life on Earth. Nicole’s work challenges and inspires her daily, and being surrounded by biological specimens and world-class biodiversity researchers, it feels more like play than like work. Nicole is amazed by the path her career has taken and is excited to explore her future.

Daily Planet host Dan Riskin, ’97 BSc, strikes a pose with students after his guest lecture at the U of A this past May titled “Vampire Bats, Leeches and Celebrities. Oh, the Dirty Consequences of a Degree from the U of A.”

WE LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU’RE DOING Tell us about your new baby or your new job. Celebrate a personal accomplishment or volunteer activity, or share your favourite campus memories. Submit a class note at ualberta.ca/alumni/ classnotes or email alumni@ualberta.ca.

2010s

’10 Cameron Brown, BSc(Eng), wrote recently that he moved to Denmark to continue his studies in an MSc program at the Technical University of Denmark and is staying on to work at the national energy company, Dong Energy. Cameron was appointed Youth Goodwill Ambassador and is taking part in a development program to increase talent mobility between Canada and Denmark.

LIFE. LOVE. ART. a conversation with

ALANIS MORISSETTE AND

MARGARET ATWOOD FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22 | 8:00 PM | WINSPEAR CENTRE Tickets on sale August 15 at the Winspear Centre

festivalofideas.ca

60 newtrail.ualberta.ca

IN MEMORIAM

The Alumni Association notes with sorrow the passing of the following graduates (based on information received between March and June 2013)

’35 Clinton Constant, BSc, of Houston, TX, in April 2013

’43 Edmund Crowder, BSc, of Winnipeg, MB, in May 2010

’47 Dennis Alfred E.E. Townsend, BA, of Toronto, ON, in December 2012

’49 Frank Albert Ronaghan, BSc(Eng), of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’50 Henry William Shewchuk, BSc, ’55 MD, of Mississauga, ON, in March 2013

’36 Hugh Risdon McIntyre, BA, ’39 MD, of Moose Jaw, SK, in April 2013

’43 Gerard Joseph Amerongen, BA, ’44 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

’48 Floyd George Williams, BSc, ’52 MD, of North Vancouver, BC, in November 2011

’49 George John Zytaruk, BEd, ’53 BA, ’58 MA, of North Bay, ON, in April 2013

’50 Lawrence Robert Canning, BSc(Ag), of Vulcan, AB, in March 2013

’38 Jack Arnold Cowan, Dip(Pharm), of Edmonton, AB, in June 2013

’43 Shauna Gibson Makaroff, BSc, ’48 MD, of Vancouver, BC, in May 2012

’48 Francis Clare McDermott, BA, of Telford, UK, in June 2013

’49 Herbert Thomas Pritchard, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’50 Louise H. Fabian (Courrier), Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

’38 Margaret Whitfield (Humphries), BA, ’43 BEd, of Cheney, WA, in November 2008

’44 Bernice Mary Balfour (Butteris), BSc(HEc), of Vancouver, BC, in March 2013

’48 Fred Terentiuk, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in February 2013

’49 John Frederik Parder, BSc(Eng), of Calgary, AB, in February 2012

’51 Anthony Pomahac, BSc, ’61 MD, of Lethbridge, AB, in October 2012

’39 Clyde Rodier Patterson, BA, ’40 Dip(Ed), of Mission, BC, in May 2013

’44 Howard Benedict Carrico, BSc, ’46 BEd, ’47 MEd, of Redmond, WA

’48 George L. Wong, MD, of Peoria, AZ, in December 2012

’49 L. Lamonte Palmer, BSc, ’51 MD, of Ottawa, ON, in February 2012

’51 Edmund Samuel Marshall, BSc(Ag), of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’39 James George Darroch, BSc(Ag), ’43 MSc of Honolulu, HI, in May 2013

’44 J. Arthur Webb, BSc(Eng), of Victoria, BC, in March 2013

’48 Marion Anne Black (Puffer), Dip(Ed), ’49 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2013

’49 Lois Ida Marshall, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in April 2013

’51 Frederick Lorne Fenwick, BSc(Eng), of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’39 Kathleen Mary Repka (Shelton), BA, ’40 Dip(Ed), ’42 BEd, of Toronto, ON, in December 2012

’45 Dorcas Jean Outhet (Stewart), BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’48 Marjorie Ruth Lewis (Coxon), Dip(Nu), of West Vancouver, BC, in April 2013

’49 Norma Vaughan Olmstead (Ryan), BSc, of West Vancouver, BC, in March 2013

’51 Gordon Gilson, Dip(Ed), ’54 Dip(Ed), ’58 BEd, of Didsbury, AB, in February 2013

’39 Stanley H. Ward, BSc(Eng), ’48 MSc, of Mississauga, ON, in November 2012

’46 Douglas Peter Love, BSc(Eng), of Kingwood, TX, in May 2013

’48 Miriam Elizabeth Roberts, Dip(Ed), ’49 BEd, of Calgary, AB, in April 2013

’49 Robert William McQueen, BSc(Eng), of Granbury, TX, in February 2013

’51 Helen Kathleen Steadman (McCracken), Dip(Ed), ’74 BEd, of Alliance, AB, in March 2013

’40 Donald Ross, BSc(Eng), of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

’46 Frank Tuma Twidale, BSc(Eng), of Red Bank, NJ, in May 2013

’48 Raymond Stanley Phillips, BSc(Eng), of Calgary, AB, in March 2013

’49 Stanley George Mallett, Dip(Ed), ’53 BEd, of Red Deer, AB, in May 2010

’51 Jean Lillian Green (Toutant), Dip(Nu), of Campbell River, BC, in February 2013

’40 Gordon Albert Asher, BSc, of Ottawa, ON, in December 2012

’46 Jack Leland R. Williams, BSc, of Sturgeon County, AB, in February 2013

’48 Thomas Claude Humphreys, BCom, of West Vancouver, BC, in May 2013

’49 Stanley Gordon Craig, BSc, of Shelton, WA, in December 2012

’51 Kathleen Emily Smith, Dip(Ed), ’76 BEd, of Lacombe, AB, in January 2013

’40 Harry Naylor Hewitt, BSc(Eng), of Beaconsfield, QC, in March 2013

’46 Lawrence Joseph Filippelli, BSc, of Vancouver, BC, in August 2012

’49 Beulah Bessie Gilson (Rose), Dip(Nu), ’51 Dip(PHNu), of Didsbury, AB, in 2008

’49 Valdomir Roger Miller, BSc(Eng), of Renton, WA, in February 2013

’51 Louis Gustave Mandin, DDS, of Sherwood Park, AB, in May 2013

’41 Donald Lee Redman, BSc(Eng), of Calgary, AB, in April 2013

’46 Patricia Sophia Holmes (Alcock), Dip(Nu), ’47 BScN, of St. Albert, AB, in May 2013

’49 Clarence Edwin Mellom, BEd, of Red Deer, AB, in October 2004

’49 Vivian Harriet M. Stogsdill, Dip(Nu), ’50 Dip(PHNu), of Silver City, NC, in May 2005

’51 Paul Kozub, BSc, ’53 MD, of Kamloops, BC, in February 2012

’42 Effie Evangel, BSc, of Albuquerque, NM, in August 2007

’46 Richard Alexander Kroening, BSc(Pharm), of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’49 Edward Harmon Caldwell, BSc(Eng), of West Vancouver, BC, in 2010

’50 Harold Haltrup Christensen, BEd, of Victoria, BC, in July 2008

’52 Edna Evelyn Lanam (Kapitski), Dip(Nu), in January 2005

’42 Eugenia Isabella Kwasney, Dip(Nu), ’50 Dip(PHNu), of Calgary, AB, in April 2013

’46 Robert William Rimmer, BSc, ’48 MSc, of Edmonton, AB, in June 2013

’49 Edward James Allen, BCom, of Victoria, BC, in August 2011

’50 Harold Stanley Ragan, BSc(Eng), of Calgary, AB, in March 2013

’52 Gordon H. Wright, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’42 Joseph Urbane Heath, BSc, of Quesnel, BC, in January 2013

’46 Shirley A. Elliott, BEd, of Beaumont, AB, in March 2013

’49 Ethel Marguerite KingShaw (King), BEd, of Calgary, AB, in March 2013

’50 Henry John Unger, BEd, of Abbotsford, BC, in May 2011

’52 John Sidney Lore, BSc(Ag), of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

new trail autumn 2013 61

IN MEMORIAM

’52 Robert Laird Foster, BSc(Eng), of Canmore, AB, in June 2013

’57 Earl B. Cooper, BSc(Ag), of Sangudo, AB

’60 Frank Edward Smith, MD, of Houston, TX, in May 2013

’64 Mangesh Ganesh Murdeshwar, PhD, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2013

’68 Benjamin Coles Harrison, PhD, of Homewood, IL, in May 2013

’53 John Francis Switzer, BSc(Pharm), of Edson, AB, in April 2013

’57 William Fred Tichkowsky, BEd, ’62 BA, ’77 Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’60 John Paul Marshall, BEd, ’77 MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in June 2013

’64 Morley Bleviss, BSc, ’67 MSc, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’68 Bryna E.E. Clarke, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2013

’53 Marie Dolores Poburan (Longchamp), Dip(Ed), ’66 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’58 Donald Ingraham MacLeod, BSc(Eng), of Calgary, AB, in April 2013

’60 William Peter Baergen, BEd, ’63 BA, ’67 MA, ’79 MEd, of Stettler, AB, in April 2013

’64 Morris Wilfred Campbell, Dip(Ed), ’64 MEd, of Regina, SK, in February 2013

’68 Donald Gordon Watts, MA, of Calgary, AB, in November 2011

’53 Myroslawa Hoshowsky, BSc(Pharm), of Calgary, AB, in March 2013

’58 Frances J. Clark (Fisher), BCom, of Boyle, AB, in April 2013

’61 Abraham Nikkel, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in January 2013

’64 Peter G. Condon, BEd, of Medicine Hat, AB, in January 2013

’68 Eileen B. Teske, BEd, of Bellingham, WA, in April 2013

’53 Peter Bazowski, BCom, of Victoria, BC, in March 2013

’58 Joseph Francis Reichert, BSc(Eng), of Calgary, AB, in March 2012

’61 Bruce Edwin B.B. Cameron, BSc, ’62 MSc, of Gold River, BC, in February 2013

’64 Robert Stephen Koles, BSc(Eng), of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

’68 Erik Oliver Goble, BSc, of Lethbridge, AB, in February 2009

’53 Walter Alexander Buck, BSc, ’55 DDS, of Fort Saskatchewan, AB, in March 2013

’58 Lois Eleanore Hayes, Dip(RM), of Arrowwood, AB, in August 2012

’61 Janet Diane Anderson (Park), Dip(Nu), of St. Albert, AB, in May 2013

’64 Thomas Peter Seland, MD, of Kelowna, BC, in March 2013

’68 Kathleen Ellen Stonehouse (Dales), BSc(HEc), of Delta, BC, in April 2011

’54 Deana Huff (Gibbons), Dip(Nu), of Calgary, AB, in April 2013

’58 Olga Zuk, Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in May 2013

’61 Roderick Allan Gaunt, BSc, ’66 MSc, of Barons, AB, in January 2013

’64 William Adam Day, BEd, ’65 BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2013

’68 William James Piggott, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

’54 Peter Baker R. Allen, BSc, ’56 MD, of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

’58 Richard Lee Yuen, BSc, ’61 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’62 Brian Douglas Blackbourne, MD, of Coronado, CA, in December 2012

’65 David Thomas Paley, BA, ’69 MEd, ’72 PhD, of Calgary, AB, in June 2013

’69 Fred Kenneth Hatt, PhD, of Victoria, BC, in December 2012

’54 Thomas Raymond Kirkham, BSc(Eng), of Pinawa, MB, in September 2012

’58 Stuart Gunn Bailey, BSc(Pharm), of Camrose, AB, in May 2013

’62 Dennis Freeman Mercer, BSc, ’67 MD, of High River, AB, in May 2013

’65 Jack Cameron Groot, BA, ’72 BSc, ’74 DDS, of Victoria, BC, in March 2007

’69 James Alexander Mitchell, BEd, of Vernon, BC, in February 2013

’55 Alice Ellen Maddison (Dudman), Dip(Nu), ’56 BSc(Nu), of Coquitlam, BC, in March 2013

’59 Emil Drucker, BSc(Eng), of Vancouver, BC, in July 2007

’62 Gordon Burpee Steeves, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in March 2013

’66 Frederick Jaakson, BCom, of Ottawa, ON, in May 2013

’69 Paul Herbert Thompson, MEd, of Cambridge, ON, in August 2012

’55 Margaret Raye McAllister (White), Dip(Ed), ’56 Dip(Ed), ’63 BEd, of Nanaimo, BC, in March 2013

’59 Kenneth Edward Machon, BA, ’62 BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’62 Maryon Stewart Robertson, MD, of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’66 Kenneth Raymond Gillespie, MSc, of Calgary, AB, in March 2013

’69 Uwe Kastner, DDS, of Victoria, BC, in January 2013

’56 Edward William R. Zahar, BSc, ’58 BEd, ’65 MA, of Saskatoon, SK, in May 2013

’59 Vernon John Magnus, MD, of Kent, WA, in April 2013

’62 Victor Albert Perron, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’66 Thomas Peter Byrne, BSc(Eng), ’71 PhD, of Mississauga, ON, in March 2013

’70 Anne Lenore Hopchin (Calder), Dip(Ed), ’76 MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

’56 Joseph S. Neufeld, Dip(Ed), ’57 BEd, ’71 PhD, of Winnipeg, MB, in June 2012

’59 William Edmund Lambert, BSc(Pharm), of Lac La Biche, in February 2005

’63 Keith Rodney Miller, BSc(Eng), of Saskatoon, SK, in May 2013

’67 Arthur John Clausen, BEd, of St. Albert, AB, in April 2013

’70 Lolita Galipeau, BEd, of Manchester, NH, in February 2003

’56 Richard Norman W.W. Gareau, LLB, of Montreal, QC, in April 2006

’60 Nancy Patricia Brine, Dip(Nu), ’87 MHSA, of Edmonton, AB, in September 2012

’63 Rodney Allen Butler, BA, ’65 BEd, of Delburne, AB, in July 2001

’67 Carol Annette Tangjerd, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2013

’71 Donna M. Shantz (Trautman), BPE, ’72 Dip(Ed), of Camrose, AB, in February 2013

’56 Roy J. Wiedemann, BA, of Medicine Hat, AB, in March 2005

’60 Barbara Anne Secter, BSc, ’64 MD, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2013

’63 Victor Edward Roberts, BSc, ’66 BSc(Eng), of Fort Saskatchewan, AB, in May 2013

’67 Clifford William Vermette, PhD, of Vancouver, BC, in September 2011

’71 George Robert Scott, BA, of Australia, in May 2013

’56 Russell Bernard Quinn, BSc(Pharm), of Medicine Hat, AB, in August 2011

’60 Bernard Wendolin McCarron, BEd, of Victoria, BC, in September 2012

’64 Anne Elias, BEd, ’71 Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

’67 Glenn Martin Gebhard, Dip(Ed) of Delta, BC

’71 Irene Marjorie C. Melin, Dip(RM), of Elk Point, AB, in May 2013

’56 Victor Lopushinsky, BCom, ’57 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2013

’60 Betty Helena Smart (Wood), BEd, of Calgary, AB, in March 2012

’64 Elizabeth Ann Fletcher (Wilson), Dip(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in June 2013

’68 Albert Raymond Haskell, BCom, of White Rock, BC, in January 2013

’71 Lorraine Joyce Wilson, BLS, of Toronto, ON, in May 2011

62 newtrail.ualberta.ca

’71 Mary Stella Klimczak, BEd, of Maple Ridge, BC, in October 2008

’74 Katherine Alexandra Van Horn, BEd, of St. Albert, AB, in September 2012

’77 Louis Joseph Jacques, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2013

’86 Corilla Ann Wildeman (Mason), BSc(Speech/Aud), of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’04 Felicia Cassandra Bobyak, BA, of St. Albert, AB, in February 2011

’71 Maurice Warick, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

’74 Joanne Helen Rauch, BEd, ’91 Dip(Ed), of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’78 Alexander Pieterse, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’86 Curtis Myers Healy, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2013

’05 Aristotle George Hadjiantoniou, BA, ’09 MA, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’72 Cheryl Jean Morrison, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’74 Louanne Marie Pratch, BEd, of Grande Prairie, AB, in August 2012

’78 Sandra Marie Mykytiuk (Evans), BEd, of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’87 Cameron Brent McLean, BEd, of Red Deer, AB

’05 Jordan Dwaine Skappak, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in April 2013

’72 Helen Quelch, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2013

’75 Joan Eleanor Jacob, BSc, of Vancouver, BC, in April 2013

’78 Pauline Theresa Saretsky, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in June 2013

’87 Vasile G. Roman, MSc, of Edmonton, AB, in April 2005

’05 Thomas Niels Orr McKibbin, BSc(Eng), of Calgary, AB, in April 2013

’72 Lorne Stephen Dushenski, BEd, of Willingdon, AB, in March 2013

’75 Susan Margaret Ranger, BEd, of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’78 Rose Marie Mudrik, BEd, of Sherwood Park, AB, in April 2013

’87 Wallace Gregory Pedersen, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in April 2013

’07 Chelsea Dawn Friesen, BEd, ’07 BSc, of Vernon, BC, in August 2012

’72 Michael Joseph Brode, PhD, of Essex, ON, in April 2013

’76 David Hugh Planche, BA, ’78 BCom, of Calgary, AB, in March 2013

’78 Wolf Manfred A. Witschl, BEd, of Crofton, BC, in March 2005

’89 Barbara Anne MacLean, LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’07 Melissa Lauren Clark, BA(Rec/Leisure), of Sherwood Park, AB, in March 2013

’72 Paul Scott Hinman, BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2013

’76 Emma Marie Bosse, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

’80 Dianne Rene Litchfield, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in November 2008

’89 Catherine Mary Kennett, BEd, ’94 MEd, of Edmonton, AB, in September 2012

’09 Chelsea Marie Eileen Caines, BSc, of Campbell River, BC, in May 2013

’73 Dagne Emelia Maertz (Lindstedt), BEd, of Spruce Grove, AB, in April 2013

’76 Lavern Edward Eagles, BSc, of Dawson Creek, BC, in July 2012

’80 Dorothy Elizabeth Cameron, BEd, of Wetaskiwin, AB, in March 2013

’89 Shirley Aileen Romalo (Shaw), BA, of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’10 David Wallington-Didow, BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2013

’73 Harry Morris Goldberg, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’76 Maureen Woods, BLS, of Regina, SK, in April 2013

’81 Erin Leigh Sawchuk (Williams), BEd, of Hythe, AB, in May 2013

’89 Tonia E. Chrapko, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2013

’73 Linda June Lilge (Taylor), BFA, of Toronto, ON, in June 2013

’76 Michael Francis Hallihan, BSc(Eng), of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’82 Richard Montegue S.S. Mrazek, MEd, ’89 PhD, of Lethbridge, AB, in March 2013

’90 Carl Samuel Alexandruk, BSc(Forest), of Kelowna, BC, in March 2013

’73 Martin Davis, BEd, of Sherwood Park, AB, in June 2013

’76 Michael James Arnason, BA, ’80 BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2013

’83 Nelson Gordon Durdle, PhD, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2013

’90 Jacqueline Rose Zajac, BEd, of Grande Prairie, AB, in August 2012

’73 Paul Norman Sicard, BA, of Millet, AB, in November 2012

’76 Murina Mclean Bauer, PhD, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’83 Paul Alexander Sacuta, BSc(Eng), of St. John’s, NL, in May 2013

’91 Phillip Bruce Arendt, MA, of St. Albert, AB, in April 2013

’73 Raymond Harry Ball, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2013

’76 Peter Kim Blundell, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in October 2011

’83 Timothy Robert Donnelly, BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’92 Paul Anthony Altrogge, MA, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’73 Roger Gerald Parent, BEd, ’81 Dip(Ed), of Camrose, AB, in May 2013

’76 Philip Vincent Martel, BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in October 2006

’83 Wilma Marion Anderson, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’93 Armand Denis Mercier, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in April 2013

’73 Terence Ernest M. Sambrook, PhD, of Edmonton, AB

’76 Robert Billey, BEd, of St. Albert, AB, in April 2013

’84 Douglas Anthony Gerwing, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in May 2013

’96 Heidi Anne Lobitz, BEd, of Sherwood Park, AB

’73 Theodore Stephen Sadlowski, BEd, ’79 MBA, ’93 PhD, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2013

’77 Ardis Ardean Suek, BA, of Calgary, AB, in May 2013

’84 Sharon Lynn M. Brodie, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in March 2013

’96 Ian Edward Carrigan, MBA, of Edmonton, AB, in February 2013

’73 Thomas Ting Wai Yan, BCom, of Sherwood Park, AB, in January 2006

’77 Dolores Bernice O’Sullivan, BEd, ’83 MEd, of London, ON, in February 2013

’85 Anita Margaret Russell, PhD, of St. John’s, NL

’01 Jennifer Dawn Carlson, BSc(EnvSci), of Welling, AB, in June 2013

Submit remembrances of U of A graduates by sending an email to alumni@ualberta.ca.

Tributes are posted to the “In Memoriam” web page at ualberta.ca/alumni. new trail autumn 2013 63

A NEW PATH

PHOTO BY RICHARD SIEMENS

Beth Warner Hudson, ’13 BSc(Kinesiology), has a deep interest in physical activity and her own Aboriginal heritage.

She was able to explore both through the U of A’s new Certificate in Aboriginal Sport and Recreation, which is open to students in any degree program. After graduating this spring, she spent the summer in a Play Around the World pilot project in the North, working with Aboriginal youth in Fort Providence, N.W.T. Her experience at the U of A has altered her life’s path, she says, inspiring her to take on graduate studies this fall.

64 newtrail.ualberta.ca

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

ALBERTA MBA MBA

Short Courses

Certificate Programs Custom Programs

For more information visit:

www.executiveeducation.ca

Executive MBA Master of Financial Management

For more information visit:

www.mba.net

PM40112326

What will your legacy be?

Ev and Darol Wigham were inspired to make their first gift to the University of Alberta after seeing a classmate’s donation in New Trail magazine. “Darol said, ‘Here’s Cam Lee—he’s given this money to the University. We have to pay back, too,’” recalls Ev. “So we started small and gave faithfully, because we felt we owed it for our education.”

Though Darol passed away in 2009, Ev is carrying on the Wigham legacy by including the University of Alberta in her will.

“We had 54 wonderful years of marriage together,” says Ev. “If we felt that we could help people with their studies, that’s what we did. And I feel good doing that.”

giving.ualberta.ca

To create a legacy gift that keeps on giving, please contact us: P 780-492-0328 | Toll-free 888-799-9899 | email giving@ualberta.ca