Prof gets cracking as Eggs Canada policy chair

Egg Farmers of Canada has announced a new partnership with the University of Waterloo that establishes Bruce Muirhead as the industry’s first-ever research chair in public policy.

“We are delighted to be working with Professor Muirhead. With the creation of this Chair, we hope to continually elevate the calibre of the dialogue on supply management and ensure that any future policy decisions that could affect supply managed commodities are as informed as possible,” said Tim Lambert, Chief Executive Officer of Egg Farmers of Canada.

Professor Muirhead will be developing a research program in public policy that relates to the current and future challenges faced by Canadian egg farmers, providing historical context to the growing conversation about the value of supply management for all Canadians.

“This Chair will allow me to fully engage in the discourse surrounding supply management and its obvious benefits to Canadian consumers and processors, as well as farmers,” said Bruce Muirhead. “This approach is increasingly important given Canadian involvement in various trade negotiations where supply management needs to be understood for its value and benefits to the entire food chain.”

Egg Farmers of Canada’s contribution to the University of Waterloo will serve these goals by investing in students, research and dialogue around public policy issues.

“Partnerships like this are a valuable element of transformational research at Waterloo. This chair will stimulate high-quality research and international dialogue that will, in turn, generate new knowledge to serve the needs of the egg farming industry,” said D. George Dixon, vice-president, university research. “This collaboration underscores the significance and impact of research at Waterloo, and I congratulate Bruce and Egg Farmers of Canada on their success.”

Professor Muirhead is associate vice president, external research, and a professor in the department of history at the University of Waterloo. He has written extensively on Canadian trade negotiations since the Second World War, as well as Canadian politics, diplomacy, economic and international development. His recent work, funded by the Norwegian Research Council, has focused on the evolution of Canadian agricultural policy and on supply management in particular, which he views as a most sensible and rational system governing certain types of agricultural production.

 

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CDPI issues call for Seed Grant applications

Waterloo’s Chronic Disease Prevention Initiative (CDPI) offers seed grants of up to $10,000 to bring together new multidisciplinary teams and increase their success in applications for external funding.

This next call for applications was issued on November 7, 2014 with the deadline for electronic submission being January 9, 2015 at 4:30 p.m.

To download the RFA and Frequently Asked Questions click on the CDPI/Seed Fund page.

The CDPI web site has more information about seed grant funding and a list of past seed grant recipients.

 

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A Grimm look at environmentalism's roots

by Lori Strauss.

Today’s environmental movement may not have started with hippies, flower children, and tree huggers in the 60s: it may be able to trace its roots back considerably further to Germany’s literary and cultural scene in the 1800s.

Dennis Mahoney, the Wolfgang and Barbara Mieder Green and Gold Professor of German at the University of Vermont, will be giving a lecture on Tuesday, November 18^th entitled “Recreating Nature: German Romantic Landscapes as Cultural Ecology.” The lecture, hosted by the Waterloo Centre for German Studies, is open to the public and will suggest that today’s environmental movement has 200-year-old roots in Germany’s literary and cultural past.

Professor Mahoney will take the audience on a journey from the 1800s to today, starting with the economic, scientific, and philosophical developments in German territories around 1800 that helped lead to a new conception and depiction of nature in art and literature. He’ll then draw on the notion of art and literature as a cultural ecology that criticizes current practices and presents images of what society lacks or desires. To conclude, he’ll sketch out some of the German Romantic roots of today’s environmental movement.

The event is free and open to all. A reception will follow.

 

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Puck drops on International Education Week

Next week the University of Waterloo is joining over 100 countries to celebrate International Education Week (IEW). IEW showcases the significant contribution that international education makes to our social, economic, and cultural well-being and supports Canada’s ongoing efforts to engage on the international stage.

“International Education Week: Celebrating Canada’s Engagement with the World” is Canada’s theme for IEW 2014. It underscores the value that Canadians place on connecting with the world through studying abroad, internationalized curricula, and international service.

International Education Week launches this Sunday, November 17 when the Waterloo Warriors Women's Hockey team will play host to the Chinese National Women's Hockey team at 2:30 p.m. at the Columbia Icefield Arena. The last time these two teams played against each other was in 2009-10.

The gates will open at 1:30 p.m. and commemorative pucks will be made available to the first 100 fans to show up to the game.

Tickets will be $10 for adults and $5 for non-Waterloo students and seniors (cash only). Students with a valid Watcard and children under 12 will get into the game free.

This Canada-China hockey game is just the beginning of a full week's worth of International Education Week activities. Check out the calendar for the full event listing. Follow along on social media with the hashtag: #uwaterlooIEW.

 

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Gender & Equity Scholarship Series; other notes

"The Special Advisor to the President on Women’s and Gender Issues and the FAUW Status of Women and Equity Committee are proud to announce the inaugural speaker in the Gender and Equity Scholarship Series," says a note from Diana Parry, special advisor to the President on women's and gender issues.  "Please join us on Tuesday, December 2^nd (11:30 to 1:00 p.m.) in PAS 3025 to engage with Dr. Hilary Bergsieker of the Department of Psychology as she presents some insights from social psychology related to improving intergroup relations."

This new lecture series intends to assist not only with the promotion of gender and equity research currently being conducted at the University, but also with the creation of networking opportunities for equity minded faculty on campus.  

Light refreshments and desserts will be served. Register on the Status of Women and Equity Committee's website.

For the past two days, grade 12 students have been participating in Waterloo Unlimited's "Road Map to Research" program, a three-day immersive pre-university experience that includes an introduction to "the art and science of reading academic papers, an opportunity to explore cutting-edge discoveries with professors, and the chance to engage with current student researchers."

The program consists of skills sessions, small group activities, guest lectures, panel discussions with current university students, and campus tours. Road Map to Research reaches its destination today.

Waterloo Unlimited, a unique high school enrichment program, is run by the Knowledge Integration department in the Faculty of Environment.

There's still time to fill out the TravelWise employee travel survey for a chance to win prizes while informing the sustainable transportation group on how you get to work. And with today's weather, one would hope that "very carefully" is a possible answer.

Retail Services has a number of special events on the horizon:

• The Waterloo Store MONSTER Event, Tuesday, November 25 and Wednesday, November 26 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the SCH concourse;
• the Campus Tech Black Friday Headphone Sale, Friday, November 28 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Campus Tech, SLC; and
• the Bookstore Concourse Sale, Monday, December 1 and Tuesday, December 2 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the SCH concourse.
  

 

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