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porticoU N I V E R S I T Y O F G U E L P H M A G A Z I N E F O R A L U M N I A N D F R I E N D S

Our worldneedscleanwaterGuelphengineerssolve waterproblems athome andabroad

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i n and around the un ivers i ty

U of G held winterconvocation and

hosted both a President’sDialogue and an interna-tional conference onworld hunger. Several faculty and studentsreceived prestigiousawards, including a 3MTeaching Fellowship, andresearchers publishedresults on fatty foods andcaffeine and on potatofarming in Peru.

a lumni mat ters

T he winter months

were filled withalumni gatherings for former hockey players,veterinary grads andFlorida snowbirds. Thissummer, you can visit thecampus and meet friendsduring Alumni Weekend,June 17 and 18.

424

8

2 — alumni weekend • president’s page — 3 • grad news — 28

on the coverEnvironmental engineer

Ed McBean

PHOTO BY DEAN PALMER

building a better planetRecent gifts to The

BetterPlanet Project will

build a water research

lab and help U of G

produce top mechanical

engineers.

contentst h e p o r t i c o • s u m m e r 2 0 1 1

WHY CANADIANS WAVE THE FLAG

Are fireworks and flag-waving on July 1 signs of spontaneous patriotism or a politician’s plan

to define the Canadian identity?

— 16 —

INTRAMURAL SPORTS CAN’T BE BEAT

Every year, more and more Guelph students sign up for intramurals — not for fitness alone but for friendship, too.

— 19 —

ALUMNI PROFILESLandscape architect Patrick Morello and lawyer Cynthia Sarthouare both designing strategies for a greener world: he where the

desert meets the Atlantic in North Africa, she where theMississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

— 10 — cover story

OUR WORLD NEEDS CLEAN WATER

Prof. Ed McBean’s engineering team is developing practical solutions to water problems that threaten human

health and the environment.

14

Portico onlineMore U of G news at

uoguelph.ca/theportico

2 The Portico

porticoSummer 2011 • Volume 43 Issue 2

EditorMary Dickieson

Assistant Vice-PresidentCharles Cunningham

Art DirectionPeter Enneson Design Inc.

ContributorsEd ArnoldSusan BubakLori Bona HuntWendy JespersenTeresa PitmanAndrew Vowles, B.Sc. ’84

Advertising InquiriesScott Anderson519-827-9169

Direct all other correspondence to:Communications and Public AffairsUniversity of GuelphGuelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1E-mail m.dickieson@exec.uoguelph.cawww.uoguelph.ca/theportico/

The Portico magazine is published three timesa year by Communications and PublicAffairs at the University of Guelph. Its mis-sion is to enhance the relationship betweenthe University and its alumni and friendsand promote pride and commitment with-in the University community. All materialis copyright 2011. Ideas and opinionsexpressed in the articles do not necessarilyreflect the ideas or opinions of the Univer-sity or the editors.Publications Mail Agreement # 40064673

Printed in Canada — ISSN 1714-8731

To update your alumni record, contact:Alumni Affairs and DevelopmentPhone 519-824-4120, Ext. 56550Fax 519-822-2670E-mail alumnirecords@uoguelph.ca

Register at www.alumni.uoguelph.ca

Alumni WeekendJune 17 and 18

It is my pleasure to invite you to attend Alumni Weekend2011. As graduates of the University of Guelph, we shareso many wonderful memories of our time spent together.

Alumni Weekend is a great time to reconnect and celebrateour alma mater and everything it means to us. Please join usat the University of Guelph in June. I look forward to seeingyou there.

Dave Hume,BSA ’61, Honorary Chair

Friday Evening■ OAC AA annual general meeting and reception■ Star Party in the physics observatory

Saturday Morning ■ OVC AA welcome breakfast and annual general meeting■ Campus walking tours■ CBS AA breakfast and annual general meeting■ Mac-FACS-FRAN AA annual general meeting■ Macdonald Institute tour■ Human anatomy open house■ President’s House tours

Saturday Afternoon■ Trial garden tour at the Turfgrass Institute■ President’s Lunch celebrating the class of 1961■ Drop into The Brass Taps■ UGAA annual general meeting■ Tours of Macdonald Institute and Johnston Hall■ Bioproducts Development and Discovery Centre tour■ Macdonald Stewart Art Centre walking tours■ Campus bus tours

Saturday Evening■ Alumni Reception and Dinner■ Lost in the ’80s pub night

the

T his past winter semester, the University ofGuelph saw many events and campus milestones

connected under the broad theme of “sustainability.” At the end of January, we published the report of our

Sustainability Task Force. A week later, we released ourannual report on U of G’s Community Energy Plan, areport card of sorts on our ongoing efforts to reducethe institution’s environmental footprint. In the last fis-cal year, our conservation efforts saved $734,000, most-ly through lighting retrofits, and reduced our green-house-gas emissions by more than 1,300 tonnes.

Many energy-saving projects receive funding fromthe University’s Energy Conservation Fund, supportedeach semester by a $10 contribution from all studentsand by additional donations from staff, faculty, retireesand alumni. The University matches all funds, and a cam-pus working group representing contributors determineshow the money will be used.

We hope the Sustainability Task Force report willspark ideas for duplicating our energy-saving successthroughout the University’s teaching, research and phys-ical operations. As important as these actions are, thereport isn’t just about protecting the environment. Thetask force also considered how we might achieve eco-nomic and social sustainability.

Its report offers many recommendations, includingcreating a “sustainability action network” to help increaseinvolvement across campus and create awareness amongincoming students. We aim to motivate the entire Uni-versity community to consider how to live and workmore sustainably.

Days after publishing these two documents, the Uni-versity held winter convocation ceremonies, the sixthannual President’s Dialogue and an international stu-dent conference — all connected by the common themeof alleviating world hunger. Again and again, we heardthat, although food aid is essential for people facing animmediate crisis, what’s needed long-term in affectedcountries is sustained food production.

Conference participants from government, industry,social organizations and universities — most from Cana-da and the United States — pledged to ensure that theirorganizations commit to helping almost a billion hun-gry people worldwide. The event nourished the enthu-siasm of young leaders and sustained a movement tomake the world a more equitable place.

Food production and supply are among the greatestchallenges for our society and in our time. In yet anoth-er initiative to address those challenges, the Universityannounced in early April a new faculty appointment to

the Loblaw Chair in Sustainable Food Production. Thisnew chair, to be funded by a gift from Loblaw Com-panies Ltd. to U of G’s BetterPlanet Project campaign,will be held by Prof. Ralph Martin, a Canadian expertin organic research and education.

At Guelph, Prof. Martin will help address issues ofglobal food sustainability. We plan to develop a nation-al program in sustainable food production, one that willalmost certainly produce a model for use in many oth-er countries.

Through this chair, we will engage public- and pri-vate-sector stakeholders in Canada’s agri-food industryin developing new research collaborations and a teach-ing curriculum in sustainable practices and food poli-cies for greater food production and profitability and acleaner environment.

Sustainability is all about the future — improvinglife today while preserving resources for tomorrow. It’sa keystone of The BetterPlanet Project, a University ofGuelph invitation for all concerned citizens to supportour researchers, teachers and learners working togeth-er toward solutions for a healthy, equitable and — yes— sustainable world.

Alastair Summerlee, President

Summer 2011 3

the president’s pageSUSTAINABILITY IS U OF G GOAL FOR A BETTER FUTURE

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in around Convocation, Dialogue, Summit: It Was a Big Week

D uring f ive days in February ,the University of Guelph responded to

president Alastair Summerlee’s assertion that“universities should be the moral and socialconscience of society and must play a lead-ership role in resolving problems that oppressthe world’s most vulnerable citizens.” Hungerwas the topic addressed by honorary degreerecipients at U of G’s winter convocation,by participants in a special President’s Dia-logue and by attendees of a three-day hungersummit that drew 400 people — aid work-ers, politicians, social activists, faculty and uni-versity students from several countries.

Former Canadian governor generalMichaëlle Jean was among five recipients ofhonorary degrees. U of G also honoured ecol-ogist Daniel Janzen, anti-poverty advocateJune Henton, health advocate Quentin John-son and Ken Knox, former Ontario deputyminister of energy, science and technology.

Alan Meek, former dean of the OntarioVeterinary College, was named an Hon-orary Fellow of the University, and more

than 900 degrees and diplomas were pre-sented to graduating students on Feb. 23.

Jean received her degree at a special cer-emony held during the Feb. 25 President’sDialogue, which opened the sixth annual Uni-versities Fighting World Hunger (UFWH)summit. Summerlee moderated a discussionof complex issues that see close to a billionpeople going hungry in the world today.

The panellists were U of G graduateKwadwo Asenso-Okyere, director of theInternational Food Policy Research Institutein Africa; Ramiro Lopes da Silva, deputyexecutive director of the World Food Pro-gram in Rome; Canadian senator and U ofG chancellor Pamela Wallin; Johnson, an inter-national consultant on food supplementation;and Henton, UFWH founder and dean ofhuman sciences at Auburn University.

Jean, who is now UNESCO SpecialEnvoy to Haiti, spoke forcefully about con-ditions in her country of birth. “If I agreedto campaign tirelessly in support of Haiti,it is because I can no longer bear to hear

about the resilience of the Haitian people.It sounds as if they were put on this Earthonly to recover from one crisis, one tragedy,one ordeal after the other. Resilience is butthe last resort before dying.”

She told the audience that combatinghunger must not focus on short-term,piecemeal initiatives for immediate relief.Instead, she urged adoption of a new ethi-cal standard of sharing that includes “every-one, everywhere.”

During the hunger summit, a new inter-national award was named in Jean’s honour.The Michaëlle Jean Emergency HungerRelief Award will be presented annually toa student, from any country, who has demon-strated outstanding leadership in fightinghunger during emergency relief. The awardis sponsored by U of G and UFWH, analliance of more than 150 higher-educationinstitutions.

Guelph was the first Canadian univer-sity to join the organization and hosted itsfirst conference outside the United States,co-chaired by Summerlee and U of Gundergraduate student Gavin Armstrong.The fourth-year commerce student receivedthe annual President William Jefferson Clin-ton Hunger Leadership Award during theevent to recognize his efforts to increaseUFWH membership and influence.

Armstrong is the first Canadian to receivethe international award, which honours theformer U.S. president’s commitment tohumanitarian causes. The Clinton award ispresented by the organization Stop HungerNow and the Centre for Student Leader-ship at North Carolina State University.

At U of G, Armstrong serves on theBoard of Governors and The BetterPlanetProject steering group. He has been a mem-ber of Senate and is co-president of theundergraduate chapter of Net Impact, anorganization that promotes leadership inbusiness; he also serves on the board of direc-tors of the Guelph-based Masai Project.

Michaëlle Jean responds to a standing ovation after receiving an honorary degree from the

University of Guelph at the Feb. 25 President's Dialogue.

Summer 2011 5

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Maureen Mancuso , vice-pres-ident (academic), has been award-

ed a 3M National Teaching Fellowshipfrom 3M Canada and the Society forTeaching and Learning in Higher Edu-cation.

She is one of 10 Canadian professors— and the only senior administrator —recognized this year for exceptional con-tributions to teaching and learning.

Mancuso is U of G’s fourteenth 3Mfellow. Her award makes Guelph the onlyCanadian university whose current pres-ident and provost hold the prestigiousteaching awards; president Alastair Sum-merlee received a 3M fellowship in 2003.

“Teaching is one of the core missionsof our university,” said Mancuso, a polit-ical science professor. “I consider teach-ing a responsibility and a privilege.

“The teaching process is always alearning process for me as well as for mystudents. I engage them as active par-ticipants in their learning, and their freshideas and inquisitive minds inspire me

to explore new perspectives in my fieldof study.”

Mancuso won a U of G teachingaward in 1996 and has twice beennamed among Guelph’s most popularprofessors by Maclean’s magazine.

As an administrator, she has led sev-eral key institutional initiatives toenhance teaching and learning. Shelaunched a review of undergraduatelearning, introduced the first-year sem-inar program and chaired the Presiden-tial Task Force on Accessibility to Post-Secondary Education. She has served onlocal and provincial committees, includ-ing task forces to improve educationalquality, productivity and equity. She haspublished papers on student engagementand the learning experience and onaccessibility issues.

Mancuso was appointed provost in2004. She served as chair of the Depart-ment of Political Science from 1996 to2000, when she was appointed associ-ate vice-president (academic).

U of G Provost Receives 3M Fellowship —Canada’s Top Teaching Award

Maureen Mancuso with students in her fourth-year political science course.

universityORDERING FAST FOOD?SKIP THE COFFEE

E ating a fatty fast-food meal is never good

for you, but washing that meal down with

a coffee is even worse, according to a new study

by PhD student Marie-Soleil Beaudoin, Human

Health and Nutritional Sciences. She discovered

not only that a healthy person’s blood-sugar lev-

els spike after eating a high-fat meal but also

that the spike doubles after having both a fatty

meal and caffeinated coffee, jumping to levels

similar to those of people at risk for diabetes.

“The results tell us that saturated fat inter-

feres with the body’s ability to clear sugars from

the blood, and when combined with caffeinat-

ed coffee, the impact can be even worse,” says

Beaudoin, who conducted the research with

Profs. Lindsay Robinson and Terry Graham.

“Having sugar remain in our blood for long peri-

ods is unhealthy because it can take a toll on

our body’s organs.”

Published in the Journal of Nutrition, the

study also found that the effects of a high-fat

meal can last for hours. “What you eat for lunch

can impact how your body responds to food

later in the day,” says Beaudoin.

Marie-Soleil Beaudoin

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“Every day in my clinic is like a vis-it to the zoo,” says David Eshar, a

new veterinarian at the Ontario VeterinaryCollege’s primary-care facility. While cats,dogs and livestock make up the majority ofpatients at the clinic, Eshar keeps busy car-ing for birds, reptiles and other exotic pets.

His recent patients include a guinea pigwith overgrown molars, an injured hawk, agecko, a serval cat, a baby lion, lizards, snakes,tortoises and many birds. “Parrots are a sig-nificant percentage of our clients,” he says.

Eshar worked with these less-than-common animals in a zoo and in privatepractice in his native Israel before trainingas a specialist in exotic pets at Tufts Uni-versity in Massachusetts and the Universi-ty of Pennsylvania. He moved to Guelphto work in the OVC Health Sciences Cen-tre, a facility he says “offers the best spe-cialized medical care for owners and pets.”

Eshar enjoys teaching and feels it isimportant to pass on his expertise to new

vets; he plans to promote a standardapproach to diagnosing medical conditionsin exotic species. “I want to take what isknown to us in well-studied animals, such

as cats and dogs, and see what can beapplied to these less-studied species, withattention to the differences in anatomy andphysiology.”

Exotic Pets Are Common at OVC

It might be a stretch, but Guelph plant breed-

er Dave Wolyn hopes to coax natural rubber

from Russian dandelion to feed a growing glob-

al rubber market and to offer a potentially lucra-

tive new crop for farmers in southern Ontario.

This summer, he’ll conduct plant trials using

dandelion seeds from Kazakhstan and the U.S.

Department of Agriculture.The research is sup-

ported by the Sand Plains Community Devel-

opment Fund in Tillsonburg, Ont., and KoK

Technologies Inc. in Penticton, B.C. KoK own-

er Anvar Buranov has developed a patented

process for recovering natural rubber.

Wolyn joined the project after Buranov con-

tacted U of G to find a plant breeder. The Guelph

professor has bred asparagus since 1988 and

developed an award-winning hybrid that now

has almost three-quarters of the Ontario aspara-

gus market. “I thought it was exciting,” says

Wolyn. “You’re taking a wild plant and trying to

turn it into a crop.”

Most rubber is used for making tires. Nat-

ural rubber is better for airplane and heavy-

equipment tires than the synthetic oil-derived

rubber used in car tires.

The only commercial source of natural rub-

ber, the Brazilian rubber tree, grows mostly in

Southeast Asia. After rubber trees were trans-

planted to Asia, a fungus wiped out most of the

South American trees.

Rubber forms naturally in dandelion roots

and in parts of other plants. Russian dandelion

rubber is chemically suited for use in tires and

as latex for gloves, making it an ideal replace-

ment for rubber tree products, says Wolyn.

Unlike other rubber-bearing plants, this dande-

lion species also contains inulin, a food additive

and feedstock for biofuels that might also ben-

efit growers.

in around university

Rubber From Dandelions? Dave Wolyn

David Eshar

NOTEWORTHY• Pamela Wallin has resigned as U of

G chancellor, citing increased

responsibilities in the Canadian Sen-

ate. One of Canada’s most promi-

nent media figures, a diplomat and

an entrepreneur, she was named

chancellor in 2007 and joined the

Senate in 2008.

• The Board of Governors has

extended president Alastair Sum-

merlee’s second term in office by a

year to June 30, 2014. He will now

end his presidential term after the

completion of The BetterPlanet Pro-

ject and the University’s 50th

anniversary in 2014.

• Professor emerita Elizabeth Water-

ston has been named to the Order

of Ontario for her distinguished

career in writing, research and

teaching. An expert on Canadian

authors, she taught literature at U

of G for more than two decades

and is a leading expert on the life

and writings of Lucy Maud Mont-

gomery, author of the Anne of

Green Gables series.

• Toronto-based musician Jane Bun-

nett is U of G’s first improviser-in-

residence. During her year on cam-

pus, she’ll make announced and

impromptu public appearances in

Guelph and work with students and

local musicians, including children

with disabilities who will appear at

the Guelph Jazz Festival in Sep-

tember.

• International development student

Yvonne Su was named a 2011

“Global Changemaker” by the

Ontario Council for International Co-

operation. She has raised aware-

ness and funds for everything from

environmental issues to hunger and

was a finalist in the 2010 Earth Day

Canada film competition for her

documentary, Dancing With the

Wind. View a video about Su and

her international experiences at

www.ocic.on.ca/.

Summer 2011 7

S i lv ia Sarapura is here inGuelph, completing her PhD in

U of G’s rural studies program. But partof her is still back in Peru, high up inthe Andes where she grew up andwhere she hopes her studies will helpnumerous families, especially women,to improve their own lives.

Her main tool is the potato, nativeto the South American highlands,where thousands of native varieties aregrown today. Compare that to thehandful of different kinds of spuds youmight find at your grocery store orfarmer’s market.

Potatoes have been cultivated inPeru for 8,000 years. In cool, dry con-ditions about 4,000 metres above sealevel, numerous mountain farmers tendsmall potato plots. Many wield thesame implements used there for gen-erations, including a wooden foot plowcalled a chaquitaclla that was developedby the Incas.

Sarapura makes yearly field trips tothe Andes to document the farmers’way of life and to help growers findnew markets.

Most of those growers are women. Asin other rural parts of the world, it’s

women who cultivate the crop. Somemen tend farms as well, Sarapura says, butmany look for work elsewhere. “Womenhave preserved the species,” she says, refer-ring to potato genetic diversity.

Some grow their crop only for sub-sistence or for exchange for other cropsand commodities. Others sell their pro-duce at farmers’ markets. Still others aremore ambitious, hoping to sell potatoproducts nationally and even to inter-national markets like North America.

During her visits, Sarapura providesinformation and advice to help thosegrowers learn about export opportu-nities - perhaps through companieslooking for new processed products.But she also offers training and devel-opment by talking to women and girlsabout business, education, communi-cation and public speaking, leadership,and skills training.

After studying agronomy in Peru,Sarapura worked on plant breeding atthe International Potato Centre (CIP)in Lima. She started her PhD at U ofG in 2008 with Prof. Jim Mahone,School of Environmental Design andRural Development. Her co-adviser isGraham Thiele at CIP.

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Potatoes Are Key to Prosperity for Farmers in Peruvian Andes

8 The Portico

Water Lab Receives Funding

Loblaw Chair Appointed

A n anonymous $1-million gift willallow the University of Guelph toestablish a water teaching laboratory

in the School of Engineering to be named forProf. Ed McBean.

McBean came to U of G in 2003 as theholder of the Canada Research Chair in WaterSupply Security. He had been vice-presidentof Conestoga-Rovers & Associates in Water-loo, Ont., whose Guelph alumni have provid-ed additional funding. Along with a gift fromMcBean, almost $1.25 million will support thisnew environmental teaching lab.

McBean built a reputation as a risk-man-agement specialist in the private sector (seestory on page 10); at U of G he teaches envi-ronmental and water resources engineering,and has seen about 100 grad students fan outto work with companies, government and uni-versities in Canada and abroad.

Many more graduate and undergrad stu-dents will learn to solve water problems in thenew U of G lab. As part of the second phaseof renovations to the Thornbrough Building,the facility is scheduled to open in 2012.

Ralph Martin, a professor at Nova Scotia Agri-cultural College, has been named to the LoblawCompanies Limited Chair in Sustainable FoodProduction at U of G. Martin is director of theOrganic Agriculture Centre of Canada; in 2010he launched Canada’s Organic Science Clus-ter with support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and industry partners.

U of G’s Loblaw chair was announced inApril 2010; it is funded by a $3-million giftfrom Loblaw and will enhance Guelph effortsto strengthen food production systems. OntarioAgricultural College dean Rob Gordon says:“We are pleased to partner with Loblaw in thisnew initiative. It will provide benefits to con-sumers, to Canada’s food industry and to theenvironment we all share.”

As chairholder, Martin will lead a nationalprogram in sustainable local food production,organize roundtables on the topic and create

an industry advisory group to guide novel cur-riculum development. He will also co-ordi-nate researchers in agriculture and food pro-duction, and lead public- and private-sectorcollaborations.

The Better P

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Ralph Martin

Ed McBean at a

tree-planting in Yinchuan, China

HISTORY GOES DIGITALAT U OF G U of G is well known for its

extensive library collection of

Scottish studies material, the

largest in the world outside the

United Kingdom. What many

people don’t realize is how

much material is going digital

with the help of historians like

Prof. Elizabeth Ewan. More

than 600 books from Guelph’s

Scottish collection will be online

by the end of 2011, making

these rare items freely acces-

sible around the world.

Ewan studies urban histo-

ry, crime and the role of

women in medieval and early

modern Scotland. Listen to her

BetterPlanet message by

scanning this QR code with

your smartphone.

Maizex Seeds SupportsRidgetown Campus

M arking its 25th anniversary, Maizex Seeds

Inc. of Tilbury, Ont., has donated

$150,000 to U of G’s Ridgetown Campus. The

gift will support construction of a $2.5-million

addition to the Reek Building for new classrooms

and a student services and recruitment centre.

Maizex president Dave Baute announced

the gift at the Southwest Agricultural Conference

in Ridgetown in January. “On behalf of the entire

team at Maizex, I’m pleased to support this

important project at the Ridgetown Campus.

This gift is made possible thanks to the support

of Canadian growers from coast to coast,” said

Baute, a 1977 graduate and current chair of the

Ridgetown Agri-Food Foundation.

Noting Ridgetown’s current high enrolment,

he stressed the importance of investing in future

producers and agribusiness leaders.

OVC Welcomes New Scholarship

T he OVC Class of 1960 celebrated its 50th

anniversary by establishing a scholarship

for graduate students pursuing specialty certi-

fication recognized by the American Veterinary

Medical Association. Students in all OVC

departments are eligible for the $5,000 annu-

al award, which has been funded for 10 years.

Members of the organizing committee of

the OVC 1960 Graduate Award were Tim

Lumsden, Don Moore, John Sankey, Don

Stimpson and the late Peter Wybenga.

Summer 2011 9

Planet Project

L inamar Corporation CEO LindaHasenfratz says innovation is keyto her company’s ability to com-

pete on a global stage. And innovation,adds U of G president Alastair Sum-merlee, along with a commitment toresearch and learning, is something theGuelph-based manufacturer has in com-mon with the University of Guelph.

Those shared interests have resultedin a novel scholarship program for under-graduate students in Guelph’s School ofEngineering. Linamar’s $1-million giftwill fund 10 entrance scholarships a yearin perpetuity, each worth $2,500.

“Through its generous support,Linamar has made a significant contri-bution towards creating highly skilledengineers in Canada,” said Summerlee.“The new Linamar Engineering DesignScholarships will enhance our ability toattract top students who excel in engi-neering design and innovation.”

Each year, five scholarships will goto students coming directly from high

school and five to students transferringto engineering programs at Guelphfrom Ontario college and internation-al technology programs.

Announcing the scholarship programMarch 30, Hasenfratz said her companylooks for grads with practical skills andtheoretical smarts. Linamar has 12,500employees in 39 manufacturing locations,and plans to double in size in the nextfour years. The new scholarship program,she said, addresses the company’s interestin innovation and supports its need fornew people.

“What we’re doing today will supportengineering in this community for a longtime. This is not only an investment in thefuture of the University, but an investmentin the future of Linamar and an invest-ment in the future of a better planet.”

Guelph engineering programs cov-er biological, biomedical, computer,engineering systems and computing,environmental, mechanical and waterresources engineering.

Linamar Partnership Promotes Innovation

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……

…Emily Nickerson

Summer 2011 11

“Why don’t we go back tothe days of the horse and buggy?” That’swhat one young teen asked during aGuelph high school talk given this year byU of G student Emily Nickerson about theworld’s water woes.

Reversing the clock sounds like a drasticand unrealistic solution to stemming pollutionand other problems on our increasingly pop-ulated planet, says Nickerson, who in fall 2010carried her own high school activist creden-tials into her first year of water resources engi-neering as a U of G President’s Scholar. Butshe applauds the idea of seeking different, evenseemingly radical, solutions. After all, we’re talk-ing about the century-defining issue, she says.And it doesn’t matter if we’re Canadians in aland brimming with fresh water or inhabitantsof many nations around our crowded globewho have less and less clean water to spare.

It’s that humanitarian sentiment that droveNickerson’s own volunteer activities at Fred-ericton High School in New Brunswick. It’swhat has pushed her this year to work withthe Guelph chapter of Engineers WithoutBorders (EWB). And it’s what brought herto U of G to begin with, to pursue waterresources engineering in one of the few suchuniversity programs in Canada — or at leastone within a comfortable distance for momand dad back home in the Maritimes. Nowshe’s drilling down further by working thissummer with one of the country’s top waterresources engineers.

That’s Prof. Ed McBean, a respectedenvironmental engineer and risk-manage-ment specialist at Guelph who holds theCanada Research Chair in Water SupplySecurity. Before coming to U of G in 2003,he had been a vice-president of Conestoga-Rovers & Associates in Waterloo, workingon water supply projects in dozens of coun-

tries across six continents. Eight years later,he’s still in demand here and abroad, help-ing to find solutions for surface and ground-water contamination, infrastructure failure,flood and drought control, and solid wastemanagement. Those solutions can involvesophisticated tools and ideas: contaminantwarning systems, risk assessment algorithms,Bayesian belief networks. Or “flowerpots.”

It’s not quite horse and buggy. But ifthere’s one thing the professor has learnedfrom his work in developing countries withthe World Bank, the United Nations and theCanadian International Development Agency(CIDA), it’s the need to find simple, work-able ideas to protect human health and theenvironment. Hence the flowerpots picturedhere with Nickerson and McBean.

More correctly, these are ceramic waterfilters for household use — the developingworld’s answer to your snazzy countertopdevice.

……is definingthe 21st

centuryWe need to find simple, workable

ideas to protect human health and the environment

STORY BY

ANDREW VOWLES

PHOTOS BY

DEAN PALMER

Clay pots without a hole but porousenough to filter two litres of water an hourand permeated with a bacteria-killing bio-cide. McBean didn’t invent them, but he andhis colleagues bring their engineering smartsto bear in testing and improving the potdesign and related bio-sand filters for use inAfrica and Southeast Asia.

“A world fit for children is a world fit foreveryone.” That’s what they say in far-offMadagascar, where Guelph grad Heather Mur-phy took her water sanitation interests last yearafter completing her PhD with McBean. Butit’s still an unfit world, judging by what shesaw during her one-year post as a water, san-itation and hygiene officer with UNICEF. Inthat East African island nation, three out offour people live on less than $1 a day.

The country will not meet the Millenni-um Development Goals for water and sani-tation. Only 11 per cent of the populationhas access to improved sanitation, and less thanhalf has access to improved water supplies.

Still, she says there’s hope, in the form oflow-tech ceramic filters developed by a localnon-governmental organization (NGO).

Murphy had worked on a similar projectwith another NGO in Cambodia, where shereceived CIDA funding for her doctoral pro-ject supervised by McBean and engineer-ing professor Khosrow Farahbakhsh.

“Household water treatment is a low-cost method that can provide safe drinkingwater at the point of use,” she says. “Ceram-ic and bio-sand filters have both been shownto reduce diarrheal disease by up to 40 percent in children under five. They can poten-tially provide a long-term health benefit ifused and maintained properly.”

Health — human and environmental —took McBean to India earlier this year. He’sbeen there about 35 times since the mid-’80s.He remembers his first visit in the days beforebottled water. “I was sick as a dog. I lost 25pounds in six weeks.” This year he returned toCalcutta to speak at a conference about howfarmers can adapt to climate change.

Two out of three Indians still work theland, placing enormous stresses on shrink-ing groundwater resources. Under climatechange, those stresses will only increase withless rainfall — although more potential flash

flooding during monsoon seasons — andmore water lost to evaporation. “Theirgroundwater withdrawals are not sustain-able,” he says. “It’s as frightening as can be.”

From Calcutta, head west across Indiaand you arrive at the Gulf of Khambhat, anotch cut by the Arabian Sea into India’swestern coastline. McBean started consult-ing there a decade ago on what may be thelargest public works project in the world.They’re building a 40-kilometre-long damacross the gulf, which extends inland abouttwice that distance. By flushing out the saltand holding back the tides that regularlyswamp the 10-metre-deep gulf, the state ofGujarat hopes to create a giant reservoir tohold rainwater and freshwater runoff. It’s ahuge challenge, says McBean, who expectsto return late this year to help authoritiesfigure out how to remove all of that salt.

Huge challenges also face Chinese com-munities, including northern parts of thecountry where desert expansion — exacer-bated by climate change — threatens to gob-ble up farmland. Describing his role in a pro-ject to grow caragana plants to help preventerosion and provide livestock feed, McBeansays, “We’re trying to stabilize the desert.” He’salso proposing a broader project to help Chi-na develop sustainable crops and farmingpractices intended to improve environmen-tal health and human health and nutrition.

Hailiang Shen knows firsthand aboutthose issues in his home country. Says Shen,who returned to China’s Henan provinceafter defending his PhD at Guelph earlierthis year, “A severe problem China is facingis extreme weather, such as more frequentflooding and drought, which are dramati-cally impacting both urban and rural areas.”He worked with McBean on designing opti-mum numbers and placement of water qual-ity sensors in drinking water distributionsystems to help pinpoint contaminantsources. “My goal is to apply my comput-ing skills to solve water resources engineer-ing problems under uncertainty,” says Shen.

Mention drought problems abroad, andMcBean relates his research back to Canada’swestern provinces. Southern Saskatchewan isalready desert-like in places, he says, and theamount of water carried eastward by the SouthSaskatchewan River is lessening. Predictedglacial melt in the Rockies may deepen theproblem, in both Saskatchewan and Alberta.

12 The Portico

Ed McBean

A number of municipalities have called on theGuelph engineer to help assess resources forwater supply indices used in determiningwhether land uses jeopardize water systems.

On the other end of the spectrum, he andhis students have helped assess flood risk anddeveloped flood vulnerability indices usedby municipalities and agencies such as Cred-it Valley Conservation in Mississauga, Ont.

Risk assessment also involves developingcontaminant warning systems that helpdetect pollutants in drinking water. Arsenicis a big problem in groundwater, both abroadin developing nations like Bangladesh, whereMcBean says much of the population is nowthreatened by arsenic poisoning, as well asparts of Canada.

Looking at drinking water systemsincludes examining infrastructure problems.

For Ontario, it’s a nearly $75-billion issue, theestimated value of buried infrastructure, muchof it nearing the end of its lifespan. About1,500 pipe breaks occur each year in Toron-to, where McBean is helping city engineersto make asset management decisions, or deter-mine where and what to replace. He’s doing

similar work here in Guelph, where up to 20per cent of sanitary sewer flows fail to reachthe treatment plant, posing a potential threatto the area’s groundwater.

McBean says he brings a big-picture per-spective to these issues, including an abilityto predict where problems may occur. Col-loquially, he frames the questions as: “Whereare people getting water from, and where arethey going to the bathroom?” That kind ofwork was his bread and butter as a consul-tant. Hoping to make a broader impactthrough students, he came to Guelph in 2003.

Guelph makes sense, McBean says, giv-en its own “infrastructure connections” thatlink him with researchers in the agricultur-al, veterinary and science colleges. Sincespring 2010, he has also served as assistantdean (external partnerships) for the Collegeof Physical and Engineering Science, wherehe’s drawing on his connections to help raisemoney for such projects as a proposed waterresearch institute (see page 8). Last year,funding for his Canada Research Chair wasrenewed for another seven years.

He traces his environmental interests togrowing up in Vancouver in the 1960s, wherehe could smell the pulp mills even from 30kilometres away. After his undergrad at theUniversity of British Columbia, he complet-ed his graduate degrees at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology. A prolific researcher,McBean has written two books, edited 15volumes, written about 250 refereed journalarticles and given hundreds of presentations.

On campus, he teaches students in envi-ronmental and water resources engineering.He’s seen about 100 grad students fan outto work with governments, companies anduniversities in Canada and abroad, includ-ing a vice-president of the largest construc-tion company in Southeast Asia. “They’re allover the place. It’s the best part of the job.”

For her master’s program, KimberleyThomas studied diarrheal disease risk indrinking water supplies in Cambodia, includ-ing field work in the capital, Phnom Penh.She now works in the wastewater group atAECOM, a global engineering, design andprogram management company. She came

to Guelph after an EWB project in Malawi.“I decided to work with Ed because of hisresearch interests and experience, the inter-esting sorts of projects he is involved withand the level of freedom he gives his stu-dents,” she says. “I was able to combine myinterests in water resources, risk assessmentand management, and my love of travel andinterest in working in developing countries.”

Those are drawing cards for about 15 gradstudents, post-docs and undergrad studentsnow working with McBean. Derek Edward-son is completing master’s research co-super-vised by Prof. Steven Liss, Animal and Poul-try Science, on the DNA of bacteria used inwastewater treatment. Second-year under-graduate Emma Thompson is working thissummer on lab work and a literature reviewof treatment of fluoride-contaminatedgroundwater, particularly in China.

Says Thompson: “I think it is crucial forengineers to explore low-tech and low-costsolutions to environmental problems, becausethe majority of the world population is livingin conditions that can’t accommodate high-end technology to solve everyday problems.”She also discusses clean-water challenges indeveloping nations through workshops at localschools through the EWB outreach team.

So does Emily Nickerson, who willspend this summer in McBean’s lab study-ing those ceramic filters and reviewing lit-erature on ponds in coastal Bangladesh. She’sco-director of that EWB outreach groupand also helps run a campus advocacy grouppushing for more transparency in Canadianinternational aid policies. Quoting a linefrom an EWB presentation by Anna Tibai-juka, head of the United Nations HABITATagency, the Guelph student says, “Water willbecome the dominant global issue this cen-tury, and the availability of its supply couldthreaten the world’s social stability.”

Thinking back to her experience inSenegal, Nickerson says meeting that chal-lenge calls not for a return to the horse andbuggy, but for a wider world view amongstudents, or “getting kids thinking outsideof Guelph or Canada to see other parts ofthe world that we need to consider.”

Summer 2011 13

……

In this century, an increasing global need for water could threaten the world’s social stability

14 The Portico

PatriotismWe wave the flag and watch fireworks onCanada Day,but Ottawa’scelebration has often been designedto influenceour national identity Story by Teresa PitmanPhoto by Dean Palmer

For most of us , Canada Daymeans a day off work, a picnic inthe park, maybe some fireworks oran evening watching the broadcast

from Ottawa on TV. It’s a day we celebratebeing Canadian. For more than 50 years,though, Canada’s politicians have been usingthis holiday celebration to send their ownmessages to citizens.

That’s the finding of U of G history pro-fessor Matthew Hayday, who reminds us that

July 1st was originally called Dominion Dayand says it was that name Prime MinisterJohn Diefenbaker was trying to honour backin 1958, shortly after he was elected. Diefen-baker was critical of the previous Liberal par-ty’s attempts to distance Canada from Britishconnections and symbols, and thought anenthusiastic celebration of Dominion Daymight strengthen the ties.

It had been a holiday before that, of course,says Hayday, who researched the history of

Prof. Matthew Hayday

Summer 2011 15

and PoliticsOttawa’s Canada Day celebrations and haspublished several articles on the topic. His“Fireworks, Folk-dancing and Fostering aNational Identity: The Politics of CanadaDay,” appeared last June in the Canadian His-torical Review.

Hayday’s scholarship deals primarily withissues of public policy, English-French rela-tions, federalism and identity politics in Cana-da. He has also authored Bilingual Today, Unit-ed Tomorrow: Official Languages in Educationand Canadian Federalism, as well as a numberof articles on language policy, commemora-tion and Canadian political history.

The anniversary of Confederation hasbeen observed since 1868, and it has been anational holiday since 1879, but it wasn’t aday off for everyone. Hayday says, “Parlia-ment was actually in session on July 1st formany years.” Local communities often heldpicnics or sporting events to mark the day,but that was all.

Diefenbaker made it a big deal. His firstevent to celebrate Dominion Day was veryformal, with a speech from the governor gen-eral, a carillon concert and military bands onParliament Hill. The day ended with fireworks.

Over the years, the form of the eventchanged, says Hayday. “On the advice ofDiefenbaker’s minister of citizenship andimmigration, Ellen Fairclough, they beganbringing in folk singers, dancers and otherperformers and turning the day into anevent with more appeal for families and chil-dren.” The performers represented variousethnic communities but were generally peo-ple living close enough to Ottawa that theycould be bussed in.

Prime Minister Lester Pearson, who wasworking towards a lavish centennial celebra-tion for Canada’s 100th birthday, sponsoreda broader and more costly show, with actsfrom each province, as well as a mix of Eng-lish and French performers. CBC-TV sta-tions broadcast the show across the country.

Some of the acts would be a bit shock-ing to audiences today, Hayday says, such asthe Cariboo Indian Girls Pipe Band broughtin from British Columbia. These were FirstNations girls from residential schools whodressed in plaid kilts and played bagpipes.They had been recommended by the school’sprincipal for the Dominion Day celebrationas an example of “good” Indians who hadbecome integrated into Canadian society.

After Centennial Year (1967), the pro-ductions became less lavish. The CBC vac-illated in its willingness to broadcast theevents, and provincial anniversaries some-times overshadowed the national holiday. By1976, all funding had been cancelled, andthe only celebration of Dominion Day inOttawa that year was the presentation of cit-izenship certificates.

“That fall, the Parti Québécois was elect-ed, separatism was the topic of the day, andpanic set in in Ottawa,” says Hayday. “Thenext year, the government threw millions ofdollars at celebrations not only in Ottawabut in communities across Canada, and thesewere aired on every single TV channel inthe country except for two in Quebec. Itwas a mega-spectacular show with stars likeBuffy Ste. Marie, Anne Murray and BruceCockburn.” Despite efforts made to includeQuebec artists and attract the French-speak-ing audience, Quebec newspapers describedthis as a desperate attempt by Ottawa to holdthe country together.

By the early 1980s, after the referendumabout whether Quebec should separate hadfailed, the funding was again scaled back.

The July 1st holiday was renamed Cana-da Day in a somewhat suspicious Friday-afternoon vote by Parliament in 1982. Hay-day says: “While no one asked or checked,it is suggested that they didn’t have enoughpeople present for quorum.” Since no oneasked, the law stands, and we all celebrateCanada Day now. He adds that when he

does talks on this topic, there’s usually some-one in the audience who still clings toDominion Day.

As the economy improved towards theend of the 1980s, so did the show. Haydaysays there had always been some frictionbetween the politicians who wanted to havetheir say and the performances. This wasresolved by having the politicians do theirbit at noon, and the evening was turned overto become a huge show and party.

But just as before, the choice of perform-ers says something about the message the gov-ernment is trying to get across. “The CanadaDay events are always bilingual,” says Hayday,“and they try to have French-speaking per-formers from places other than Quebec, suchas New Brunswick or Saskatchewan, tocounter the idea that Quebec is the only bas-tion of French-Canadian culture.” Early cel-ebrations focused on showcasing diversity andmulticulturalism. By the late 1980s the focuswas more on what Canadians have accom-plished, especially if those accomplishmentshad been recognized internationally, althoughHayday notes that the selection of these“achievers” always includes individuals froma variety of ethnic groups and First Nations.

“I think that’s part of our national inse-curity complex,” he says. “We need to be pat-ted on the back and told that we’re good.”

Hayday, who lived in Ottawa as a grad-uate student, says he still goes often to thecapitol on July 1st to be part of the cele-bration. The recent showcasing of Canadi-an artists has helped make the massiveOttawa celebration more popular than ever.

“It’s taken on a life of its own now. It’sbecome less political and more patriotic. Youeven see more U.S.-style patriotism, withpeople painting maple leaves on theircheeks, wearing flags as capes and sponta-neously singing the national anthem. Youseldom see that anywhere except CanadaDay in Ottawa.”

16 The Portico

Decked out in three layers ofclothing and her first-ever pairof snow boots, Tanya Lee runsthrough fresh snow, looking

over her shoulder to see if there’s a Bolgasaurin pursuit or if she’s in the clear for the catch.It’s an important game: a victory this Sun-day afternoon means an undefeated seasonfor the Snowplow Blitz and bragging rightsfor team captain Lee, who admits she had tocoerce 10 other grad students to sign up forthe brutish intramural sport of snow flagfootball. “As a West Coaster, I was intriguedby the notion of snow that grew highenough to provide cushioning for Supermandives and incomplete somersaults.”

Who knew she’d find someone who has adeadly aim with a football and several otherswho could not only catch cold leather in thickmitts but run fast in deep snow. No one hasany regrets, says Lee, who bought her snowboots after moving from Coquitlam, B.C., tojoin Guelph’s School of Environmental Designand Rural Development. “Snow flag footballis the most exhilarating intramural I have everplayed at the University of Guelph, surpassingsoccer, volleyball and basketball, to be numberone in my heart, just as we are number one inthe league.”

“Number one in my heart.” That’s thefeeling they’re going for in the Departmentof Athletics, and it’s one of the reasonsGuelph’s intramural sports program is con-sidered one of the best in the country.

The department and, in particular, intra-mural supervisor Dave Trudelle take pridein having received an achievement award

from the Canadian Intramural RecreationAssociation (CIRA) for the last seven years.(By the time The Portico is published, it willprobably be eight years running.) Largerschools may have more students playingintramurals, but they can’t touch Guelph’s25-per-cent participation rate. “One-quar-ter of our student body signs up everysemester; that’s huge in comparison to oth-er Canadian universities,” he says.

Those larger schools may offer more sports,but they envy the school spirit created by ourfree-agent program. Guelph students need notform their own teams; they can sign up for asmany sports as they want, and Trudelle willassign them to a team. “It’s a great way to meetpeople and make friends. A student who does-n’t know anyone else suddenly has a wholegroup of people to talk to,” he says.

And Canadian universities with moreathletics staff may be able to mount large,spectacular special events – Trudelle is theonly full-time employee in Guelph’s intra-mural program – but U of G’s student-staffmodel is a winner when it comes to keep-ing students involved. “We hire more than130 students every semester. They do anexcellent job of running their programs.They bring ideas and enthusiasm to the job,and I rely on them to help me stay on topof what all students are interested in andwhich sports they would like to try.”

Trudelle himself was an intramuralemployee and a player when he enrolled atU of G in 2001. He sometimes played asmany as 10 different sports in a semester,often with the same teammates.

Trudelle earned his degree in marketingmanagement, taught English in Korea andeventually landed a job running the intra-mural program at the University of WesternOntario. But as soon as there was an open-ing at Guelph, he applied for it and returned,as he says, “to the program that got me start-ed on this track.”

What attracted him to Guelph as anemployee is the same feeling that made himchoose U of G as a student. “We’re a close-knit university, not physically spread out, andstudents feel they are part of a community.When you feel that way, it matters more toyou what you’re involved in.” So if you’reorganizing an intramural program, you real-ly care about its success.

16 The Portico

It’s cold outside, crampedinside, but U of G’s intramuralprogram keeps on growingStory by Mary Dickieson | Photos by Martin Schwalbe

It’s not the sport,

Summer 2011 17

Marta and Asher Kirk-Elleker often playedon an intramural team with Trudelle, and they,too, see lasting benefits. “I’m probably a bitmore understanding of other people’s needsand abilities,” says Marta, adding that team-building skills became important for both ofthem as they started teaching careers. Sheearned a B.Sc. in 2009 and now teaches adulteducation courses in Kitchener; Asher, BA ’05and MA ’08, teaches high school in Guelph.

They played several intramural sports, butvolleyball was their favourite. Asher recallsliving in a 12-person suite in Lanark resi-dence where everyone played together onan intramural volleyball team. He says hisSunday afternoons were often filled withintramural sports, with three or four differ-

ent games only 45 minutes apart. “It literal-ly took all afternoon, but we were happywith that. It was fun to hang out at the ath-letics centre all day, playing and watchingother games in between.”

Veterinary student Daniel Caudle, B.Sc.’08, seems to be following in their gymshoes. Ultimate Frisbee is the only intra-mural sport he hasn’t played at U of G. Butthere’s still time. He’s completed a degree inanimal biology and has one year to go in theDVM program. “It is a really good way toget exercise, and I find it a more entertain-ing way to do it than going to the gym. Ihave played on the same team in manysports for three or four years.” This year heplayed hockey with the 2012 Silver Foxes,

on both the gym floor and the arena ice.Sarah Cahill is a new master’s student

who says working with Trudelle as an intra-mural co-ordinator has helped her make thetransition to a new school. “I recently trav-elled to a conference in the States hosted bythe National Intramural-Recreation SportsAssociation (NIRSA). It gave me a chanceto discuss with other schools — like OhioState and the University of Indiana — whattheir intramural programs offer and theirproblems,” she says. “I was extremely proudwhen I realized how far ahead of the gameU of G’s intramural program is compared tosome larger U.S. schools.”

Caudle has worked for the Departmentof Athletics for six years, first as an intramuralreferee and last semester as assistant co-ordi-nator of the basketball league. With morethan a dozen intramural sports, gym, fitnessclasses, sports clubs, drop-in recreation andvarsity sports, he says the department offerssomething for everyone. Still, he says, “We’dlike to build our program, but it’s hard dueto the limited gym and arena time, and nowmissing the Gryphon Dome.”

He’s referring to the University’s fabric-covered athletic field that was closed in Sep-tember due to safety concerns. A buildingerected by the same manufacturer collapsedduring a windstorm in Texas in 2009,prompting two structural inspections of theGryphon Dome. The review suggested thebuilding could be unsafe in high wind orice; the University decided to close it ratherthan take chances, says Brenda Whiteside,associate vice-president (student affairs).

U of G’s 2011 snow flag football champs.

Standing left to right: Laura McGregor,

quarterback Andrew McEachern, Tina

Ladu, Kevin Noble, Brock Bersaglio and

Snowplow Blitz captain Tanya Lee.

Sitting: Reuben Joosse, Kerry Ground and

Jeff Medeiros. Missing from photo: Rob

Sissons and Cristal Heintzman.

it’s the team

The closure left both varsity and intra-mural programs scrambling to accommo-date their athletes. The Department of Athletics website documents how Guelph-arearesidents helped the Gryphon cross-countryand track and field teams find alternative training facilities, but the intramural program couldn’t move off campus.

Trudelle says the field sports normallyplayed indoors during the winter semesterwere severely impacted: Ultimate Frisbeewasn’t offered and the usual 130 soccerteams were cut back to 56. A special indoorsoccer tournament was held in March usingsmaller soccer nets on a gym floor to enablemore students to participate and to provideemployment for the students whose part-time jobs were affected.

As we already know, some of the flag foot-ball teams opted to play outdoors in the snowrather than miss out. “I thought the new out-door experience would add a little flair andchallenge to the game,” says Nguyen Bui, cap-tain of the Get Money Get Paid team.

The dome had already been scheduled forreplacement in a few years by a bigger fieldhouse; more gym space is also on the draw-ing board. Athletics director Tom Kendall ledthe design of a master plan to redevelop ath-letics facilities; it was approved by U of G’sBoard of Governors in 2008. The 25-yearplan lists projects with immediate benefit forstudents, such as outfitting outdoor playing

fields with artificial turf, expanding from twoto six indoor gyms, and enlarging weighttraining and fitness areas. Eventually, the Uni-versity will also upgrade Alumni Stadium.

The dome closure meant modifying theDepartment of Athletic’s master plan, andpreparations are underway to build a newfield house on the soccer pitch beside Alum-ni Stadium. “Our hope is to have it open forthe winter 2012 semester; fall 2012 at thelatest,” says Kendall.

That means another winter of snow flagfootball and waiting lists for other sports, yetTrudelle says few students have complained.“I think students see this as an event beyondour control,” adds Whiteside. “They see ourplanning to address facility needs, includingthe new field house, and everyone understandsthe difficulties in budgeting for new facilities.”

Kendall applauds Guelph students forsupporting athletics facilities. A student ref-erendum in 1998 generated $2 million over10 years to build the dome and convert onegrass field to artificial turf. In 2009, studentsvoted again to contribute $38 a semester toan athletics building fund. Faculty and staffwho buy fitness memberships also pay the$38 fee. Those contributions will add up to$75 million over the 30-year agreement.

This is “our students’ legacy for thefuture,” says Kendall. Caudle puts it this way:“I won’t be here to use those new facilities,but the school really needs them.”

The University is seeking additionalfunding from private donations, grants andother sources. “In the University’s currentfundraising campaign, the revitalization ofathletics facilities is the No. 1 priority forStudent Affairs,” adds Whiteside. “Our facil-ities were designed for a student body halfthe size we’ve grown to. It’s not somethingwe simply ‘want’ to do. We have to developour athletics facilities. They’re too importantto the student experience.”

Numerous studies cited by CIRA andNIRSA show that participation in intra-murals provides balance in a student’s lifeand increases self-esteem and their ability tocope with stress and mental-health issues.

William Hope, captain of the XXX-Stars,agrees that intramurals can help people makefriends and reduce stress, but says the teamaspect is equally important. “In a setting wherea group organizes to achieve a common pur-pose, intramural sports help students hone skillsthat they will eventually use later in life.”

Kendall says he often hears that refrainfrom former varsity athletes who laud theirsports experience for helping them developleadership abilities. “It’s important to remem-ber that those positive outcomes are alsoavailable to intramural participants. We haveone of the biggest intramural, recreationaland varsity athletics programs in the coun-try, and we need to keep building on thosesuccesses,” says Kendall.

18 The Portico

BY THE NUMBERS

Current U of G students = 20,000

8,000 intramural registrations per

semester

5,000 fitness memberships per

semester

688 varsity athletes

Summer activity campus for 8,000

children

Varsity team summer camps draw

500 kids per week

50% of sports club applications

turned down for lack of space.

Learn more about Department of

Athletics programs and the facilities

redevelopment plan at

www.uoguelph.ca/theportico.

Summer 2011 19

I n the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy follows the yellow brickroad to the Emerald City, where she hopes to meet the

Wizard who can help her find her way back home toKansas. Plans are underway to build Morocco’s own Emer-ald City, a diamond in a rough part of the country thatwill provide homes for the homeless. And a group ofGuelph grads are the wizards who can make it happen.

With an expected population of 300,000 people, theNouvelle Ville de Zenata will be Morocoo’s first “greencity,” but unlike most large-scale urban developmentprojects, protecting the environment will be a top pri-ority. LANDinc, a Canadian consulting firm specializ-

ing in sustainable community design, has been com-missioned for the project.

“It’s not every day that you get to design a city of300,000 people using your knowledge of sustainabledevelopment,” says project leader Walter Kehm. The retiredU of G landscape architecture professor and former direc-tor of the School of Landscape Architecture establishedLANDinc in 2006 with alumni Patrick Morello, BLA’94, Rob LeBlanc, MLA ’94, and Jeff Cutler, BLA ’94.

Building a big city in a foreign country doesn’t hap-pen overnight. In 2006, Morocco’s King MohammedVI signed an agreement to build Zenata. More than four

great guelph gradBLA GRAD LEADS A GUELPH TEAM TO MOROCCO’S ‘GREEN CITY’

PH

OTO

BY

RIC

H-JO

SE

PH

FAC

UN

Patrick Morello admires Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque. Opened in 2007, it is the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates.

patrick morello

20 The Portico

years later, LANDinc won an international competitionin September 2010 to plan and design the city on 3,000hectares of land along 5.6 kilometres of Morocco’sAtlantic coast near Casablanca.

“We went up against some pretty big names,” saysMorello. The Canadian company was a David amongGoliaths, competing against larger, more established land-scape architecture firms from the United States. The Zena-ta project is currently in the planning stages. LANDincwill prepare five concept plans and a final plan. Con-struction could begin as early as fall 2011.

Morello had been travelling back and forth betweenLANDinc’s offices in Toronto and Abu Dhabi for severalyears before moving to the latter city with his wife and twochildren in October 2010. His children, ages six and four,have adjusted well to the Middle-Eastern lifestyle, taking fulladvantage of year-round outdoor swimming. Although thetropical climate is ideal for aquatic activities, the summerscan be “unbearable,” with temperatures reaching a swelter-ing 50 C, says Morello. Like many people, he seeks refugefrom the summer heat in cooler climes. “The place shutsdown over the summer,” he says, adding that he spends thehottest summer months in Toronto.

Morello is one of several Guelph grads working onthe Zenata project, along with LeBlanc, Cutler, Jeff Bray,BLA ’88, Jill Robertson, B.Sc. (Env.) ’01 and MLA ’05,and Karen Arnold, BLA ’05. Morello is the only teammember living in Abu Dhabi.

Some of them were students in Kehm’s thesis class.“They’ve been working together from their student daysto their professional days,” says their former professor,now employer. Knowing your colleagues since your uni-versity days ensures a professional relationship built onhonesty and trust, adds Kehm.

Although Morello didn’t take any classes with Kehm,the professor left an impression on him as an under-graduate student. “I often found myself in his studio,”says Morello. “I remember even as a first-year student,I would go into his fifth-year seminar. He was just a verycaptivating person. He really changed my view of whatlandscape architecture was.”

Morello and his fellow classmates are now colleagueswho are putting their education into practice. Whetherthey’re designing a small park in Guelph or a major cityon the other side of the world, the design principles arethe same, says Kehm, adding that the education theyreceived at Guelph provided them with a strong foun-dation for projects like Zenata. “The School of Land-scape Architecture has always been known for integrat-

ing ecological and natural science with built form,” hesays. “There is always an environmental ethic behind thestudents’ work.”

That ethic will come into play as they design a citythat balances the need for human settlements with envi-ronmental sensitivity. Priorities include restoring sanddunes on the beach, cleaning up plastic debris and col-lecting rainwater for agricultural use. Solar energy, whichis abundant in Morocco, will reduce the city’s dependenceon a nearby oil refinery. Public transportation and pedes-trian-friendly streets will be vital since most of the city’sfuture inhabitants don’t own cars. Plans for a university,medical facility and research parks are also in the works.

One of the keys to LANDinc’s success is its process-oriented approach to design and planning, says Morello.Planning a city like Zenata requires a multi-facetedapproach that incorporates all aspects of design and con-struction.

“You can’t look at things independently,” Kehm adds.There’s more to building a city than bricks and mortar.Environmental factors such as the climate, soil, vegeta-tion and wildlife are the building blocks of sustainabledevelopment. “How do you put everything together tocreate a new environment with the smallest footprint?”The project must balance urban development with pro-tection of the environment. “We’re all living on space-ship Earth, looking for a manual,” says Kehm, quoting

LANDinc HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO LAND THE BIG JOB: ENVIRONMENTAL

A rapidly growing bidonville (slum) in Morocco.

Summer 2011 21

EXPERTISE, SENSITIVITY TO LOCAL ISSUES, BOLD IDEAS AND PERSEVERANCE

the title of Buckminster Fuller’s 1968 book, OperatingManual for Spaceship Earth.

Before a single shovel breaks the soil, LANDinc mustsurvey the site to collect physical data regarding geology,hydrology, topography and solar aspect as well as the area’scultural, historical and social background. A recipe thatlacks even one of these ingredients is a recipe for failure.

When it comes to sustainable community design,Morello doesn’t use the term “sustainability” lightly. “It’sa set of values that comes from Guelph,” he says. “Wecall it sensible design. Sustainability is a word that’soverused. We’ve pushed the limits on that.”

But not everyone shares LANDinc’s approach to sen-sible design. While assessing another project in Moroc-co, the client wanted to present an impressive proposalto the King without looking at the impact on sur-rounding villages.

“We said, ‘You’ve got 30 villages downstream fromour site and each one of those villages depends on thewater that runs through our site,’” says Morello. “Wehave to be very careful about the quality and the quan-tity of the water as we try to populate this area.”

Since a city’s future is deeply rooted in its past, cul-tural authenticity also factors into the design. A plan tobuild a city for 25,000 people on a plateau in Moroc-co’s High Atlas Mountains needed to take the local his-tory into consideration. For the past 3,000 years, the

Berber Nomads have travelled from the Sahara to theplateau, bringing their sheep and goats to graze.

The Zenata project also requires a multidisciplinaryapproach. “One of the areas of our strength is pullingother teams together,” says Morello. “This comes direct-ly from the University of Guelph: the ability to look atthe big picture. We’re always looking at the systems andhow to integrate other disciplines and expertise.”

Morello is part of a multinational team in Abu Dhabi,a cosmopolitan city with residents from all over theworld, many of whom speak English. That blend ofnationalities is reflected in the group of experts work-ing on the Zenata project. It’s not unusual for Morelloto attend meetings with team members from the UnitedStates, Europe and Australia.

“They have hired the world around them to buildtheir country,” he says. “We’ve got the top consultantsfrom around the world.” They include a local architectand planner, social and physical scientists, an economistto create marketing strategies and a consultant to devel-op alternative transportation methods.

In addition to sustainable development, Zenata will alsopromote social integration. One of the King’s main prior-ities is to provide housing for low-income residents whocurrently live in a slum, also known as a bidonville, wherecrime is rampant, children don’t attend school and mostof the residents are squatters who earn less than $7,000 peryear. During a visit to the shantytown, Kehm and Morel-lo were shocked by the living conditions they saw. Ironi-cally, their client had been involved in some of the devel-opments, so they risked biting the hand that feeds them.

“Walter openly criticised the way these things werebeing developed,” says Morello. “There was no site inte-gration, no recreation, the buildings looked like prisons.There was no articulation in form, no urban design, andnot even a hint of respect for integration of these com-munities with surrounding areas. It was totally segregat-ed. It hadn’t been successful from a social point of view.”

Their criticism didn’t fall on deaf ears. When thegovernor found out, he insisted that the client allowLANDinc to redesign a low-income housing develop-ment that was already under construction. The end resultcould have been much different had the governor notbeen as receptive to a Westerner’s constructive criticism.

“A lot of times, it’s an uphill battle,” says Morello.“You get this kind of response from the governor inCasablanca, and you just think, ‘Wow, this is great. You’rereally going to have a chance to make a difference here.’”

BY SUSAN BUBAK

A Moroccan village in the Anti-Atlas Mountains.

22 The Portico

“T wenty-five square miles of coastal wet-lands are lost every year in Louisiana,” says

Cynthia Sarthou, executive director of the Gulf Restora-tion Network based in New Orleans. “That’s a footballfield of wetlands gone every 45 minutes.”

Those coastal wetlands not only support a huge vari-ety of wildlife but also feed into the Gulf of Mexico, whichSarthou calls “a very important — and very beautiful —body of water.” Besides providing much of the seafoodeaten in North America, it’s visited by millions of touristsannually. Yet only one-third as much money is spent onprotecting the Gulf as on preserving the Great Lakes.

For many years, the Gulf Restoration Network’sefforts garnered little attention and sometimes camebehind the need for jobs in the area. But since the BPHorizon oil-drilling disaster, that has changed.

BP’s offshore drilling rig exploded and collapsed April20, 2010; oil spewed into the Gulf waters for three monthsbefore the well was finally capped. That disaster, says Sar-thou, is far from resolved, even as media attention hasbeen diverted to other world crises and disasters.

Then and now, the Gulf Restoration Network is rec-ognized by other advocacy groups as one of the mainfrontline environmental groups addressing the BP oilspill. “We are currently documenting that the oil is stillthere and working to define what a real recovery wouldinvolve,” she says. “Our rallying cry is ‘the oil is still hereand so are we.’”

Sarthou didn’t set out to be an environmental attor-ney. “I thought I’d like to do different things, tried them,discovered I didn’t like them, so went on and tried some-thing else,” she explains. After graduating from U of Gwith a BA in sociology, Sarthou went to the Universi-ty of Mississippi and earned a master’s in criminal jus-tice, thinking she’d work in probation and parole. “I wasoffered a caseload of about 100 hard-core criminals —murderers and rapists — and soon realized that wasn’tfor me.” After completing law school, she found workwith a federal district court. Then she went into civillaw and represented insurance companies, work shefound unsatisfying.

“I went back to working for a federal judge on casesof people exposed to asbestos, and then was hired to doasbestos litigation on the defence side,” she says. ButSarthou was not interested in just winning cases andmaking money, so she returned to school and earned amaster’s in law and marine affairs.

Her first job focused on the cleanup of nuclear wastein Washington state at the Hanford Nuclear Reserva-

tion. “This has been called the most polluted place inthe U.S.,” Sarthou says. “In the 1940s, when this site wasstarted, nobody understood radiation, so they justdumped the nuclear waste into the soil or in tanks. Ispent four years trying to get the Department of Ener-gy to clean this up in a responsible way.”

A 1989 agreement among Washington state, theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the fed-eral Department of Energy laid the legal framework forthe cleanup, which was originally scheduled to take 30years. But in a 2008 story, the Seattle Post-Intelligencerestimated the cleanup was less than half finished.

Sarthou’s interest in the marine environment led herto the Gulf Restoration Network in 1995. She says: “Ihave lots of job security. The problems in the Gulf arenot going away anytime soon. And while the work issometimes frustrating, it’s also very rewarding.”

The network covers coastal regions as well as theGulf waters. “Our approach is generally to work in coali-tion, gathering groups of other like-minded people,because there is more power in numbers,” she says. “Theycould be taxpayer groups, religious groups, really any-one who agrees with us on this even if they don’t agreeon anything else.” She’s also willing to use her law degreeand initiate litigation if there’s no other way to get whatis needed.

Last year, the environmental group River Networkand the California Academy of Sciences recognizedSarthou for her efforts to grow the Gulf Restoration Net-work from a staff of one to “a robust organization of 12full-time employees and three offices.” In particular, shewas commended for her efforts to prevent constructionof a large hydraulic pumping system on the Yazoo Riverin the Delta area of Mississippi. She fought the flood-con-trol project for more than a decade with national and localpartners who had predicted it would destroy 200,000 acresof wetlands in the Mississippi Delta. The EPA vetoed theYazoo project in 2008 because of its environmental impact;it was only the 12th time the agency has used its author-ity to scrap a project under the U.S. Clean Water Act.

The Gulf Restoration Network is entirely support-ed by private foundations and individual donations, sofundraising has become a necessary part of Sarthou’swork. “Pretty good for a girl who never made it throughaccounting,” she jokes. “Our budget is now over $1 mil-lion, and none of it comes from the government.”

She adds that her education at U of G “set the stagefor me not being willing to just walk in lockstep witheveryone else, and not to accept being less than satisfied

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Cynthia Sarthou stands among trees growing in the batture land between the Mississippi River and the New Orleans levee.

with my work. There was a lot of discussion at U of Gabout exploring who you are and what you believe in,and finding work that mattered. I don’t think I couldhave gotten that anywhere else.”

In her free time, Sarthou works in animal rescue andadoptions and foster care for the SPCA. She helps findhomes for animals, including raising money for heart-worm treatments to ensure animals are healthy enoughfor adoption. Sarthou has personally fostered 10 dogs

and five cats, and currently shares her home with twodogs and three cats, all rescued. “I tend to take special-needs dogs and get a lot of satisfaction out of caring forthem,” she says. She recently rode 150 miles over twodays in an event to raise money for multiple sclerosis.

Sarthou’s motivation and her commitment comefrom a simple philosophy: “My goal is to leave this placebetter than it was.”

STORY BY TERESA PITMAN

24 The Portico24 The Portico

A s an economics student

at U of G, Paul Redman nev-er imagined that he would

return to campus as a guest lecturer,but he found himself standing in frontof several hundred economics studentson March 9, lecturing on the role thatregulators play in keeping the financialsystem on track.

“It’s great to be back here inGuelph,” said Redman as he addressedProf. Evie Adomait’s class in RozanskiHall. “Evie was just asking me if I everthought that I would come back andbe on this side of the lecture hall, andI can safely say, no, that never crossedmy mind.”

Yet Redman is no stranger to eco-nomics classes at U of G, having com-pleted both bachelor’s and master’sdegrees in economics.

As principal economist at theOntario Securities Commission (OSC),he keeps a close watch on developmentsin the financial markets. He and theeconomics group at the OSC monitormarket developments and trends andwork with other policy staff to analyzethe economic impact of new regulatorypolicies.

“The OSC administers and enforcessecurities law in Ontario,” he explained,

adding that such regulations aredesigned to protect investors fromfraudulent activities and foster fair andefficient capital markets and confidencein capital markets.

Using examples from the recentfinancial crisis, Redman explained thatconfidence plays a vital role in main-taining the stability of financial markets.Many countries experienced rapidincreases in housing prices from 2000to mid-2006, but it was the problems inthe U.S. market that seemed to have thelargest impact on the global economy.

Redman said: “People look at theUnited States as the financial centre ofthe world. When it became apparentthat the U.S. banking system was expe-riencing problems, fear spread, and

people started to think, ‘If it can hap-pen to U.S. banks, it could happen toanybody’s banks.’”

Another focus of Redman’s remarkswas how interconnections betweencapital markets and their participants canmean that if one market fails, the entiresystem can suffer disruptions. There is agreater appreciation amongst regulatorsof the risks posed by interconnectedfinancial markets. Regulators in the bank-ing, insurance and securities industries allplay a role in maintaining transparencyand overseeing business conduct toprevent financial meltdowns.

“All of these organizations worktogether to promote financial stabili-ty,” said Redman.

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EconomistTalks Dollarsand Sense

Paul Redman

Regional Alumni Events PlannedAlumni Affairs and Development will bevisiting a city near you: Vancouver in May,Halifax in June, Calgary in November. Makesure your name is on the invitation list; con-tact Mary-Anne Moroz at mamoroz@uoguelph.ca or call 519-824-4120, Ext.53170. For event details, visit www.alum-ni.uoguelph.ca.

STAND UP AND CHEER FOR THE GRYPHONS!

Homecoming, Sept. 24, 1 p.m., Alumni StadiumGuelph hosts McMaster

For details about alumni reunions, contact

Sam Kosakowski at skosakow@uoguelph.ca

u of guelph alumni

Summer 2011 25

D espite the threat of a win-ter storm, almost 200 students

and donors turned out to celebrate 40undergraduate and graduate awardsduring the annual University-wideawards evening Feb. 1. Several new ath-letic scholarships were announced,including one named for Tom Mooney,a popular Guelph football coach.

Another new award is the NoraCebotarev Memorial Graduate Schol-arship. Established by a beloved profes-sor’s estate, this $25,000 annual awardwill help a female student from a devel-oping country to begin a master’s ordoctoral program.

Presented for the first time was theAnne and Ross Bronson Scholarship inEnvironmental Science. This award com-memorates the couple’s 50th anniver-sary and the campus where they met as

students. On hand on Awards Night wastheir granddaughter, Amy Bronson, cur-rently a student in the College of Socialand Applied Human Sciences.

President Alastair Summerlee, left, with

Jean and Colwyn Rich, donors for the

Jean Rich Foundation Travel Grant.

Tony and Anne Arrell Scholarship winners and presenters, back row, left to right:

Patrick Corrente, Saskia Knol, Bethany Woods, Justin Puntillo, Matthew O’Hal-

loran, Kulraj Singh, Izabella Wojciechowska and Daniel Recoskie. Middle row:

Liwei Li, Xiaoting Ni, Anne and Tony Arrell, and Alissa Tedesco. Front row: Andrea

Alasi, Travis Traini, Galya Schwartz and Paul Chartrand.

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BetterPlanet Gifts Turn Ideas into Action

B y now you have heard or read about

The BetterPlanet Project, the most

ambitious fundraising campaign in U of G’s

history. The $200-million campaign focus-

es on the University’s key strengths — food,

environment, health and communities. By

concentrating on areas in which U of G can

make a difference, The BetterPlanet Project

will accelerate change through teaching,

learning and research.

Recent gifts are turning ideas into action.

Among them, U of G’s new chair in food

sustainability will address some of the

world’s most pressing challenges in agri-

culture. A new chair in environmental gov-

ernance will focus on responsible natural

resource management. Support for first-

year seminars will re-establish a program

that engages students in learning and citi-

zenship and that nurtures future leaders. A

recent gift supporting 10 new scholarships

will cultivate bright minds for new develop-

ments in engineering. As momentum builds,

we are beginning to see the impact.

The benefits will be felt by our neigh-

bours near and far. Please support The Bet-

terPlanet Project as we work towards an

ambitious and unprecedented goal

(www.thebetterplanetproject.ca).

Joanne Shoveller

Vice-President

Alumni Affairs and Development

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Awards Night Honours Donors and Students

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HOCKEY DAY RECEIVESACCOLADES

The Hockey Day in Gryphonville organizing

committee, standing from left: Dylan Fur-

long, Bob Miller, Jennifer Kaufman, Shawn

Camp and Bill Clausen. Kneeling: Alec

Bowes and Sam Kosakowski. Absent: Tom

Sawyer, Gerry Pullin and Peter McCarthy.

U of G recently received a gold award forits annual Hockey Day in Gryphonvillehonouring former varsity hockey players.The event took top honours in the “Alum-ni Relations Programming” category at theannual CASE District II Accolades Awardsin Baltimore, Maryland, in February. Thisyear’s Hockey Day will be Nov. 19.

GRADS GATHER INFLORIDA Almost 100 U of G alumni enjoyed thesun during a reunion March 2 at theMaple Leaf Golf and Country Club inPort Charlotte, Florida. The annual Prof.Baker Award for the largest alumni class atthe reunion went to the OAC ’51 class.

OVC WATERING HOLE

Roger Thomson, left, treasurer of the OVC

Alumni Association; Lisa Kostandoff, cen-

tre; and Rosalie Rowland attended the Jan.

27 OVC Watering Hole, a networking event

for alumni and the OVC class of 2011.

Front row, left to right: Wendy Parker and Gayle Trivers. Back row: Paulette Samson, Beth

Farley, Shirley Peterson, Holly Dodd, Kirsten Baker, Lianne Foti and Clare Hammonds.

W omen ’s hockey alumni came back to campus Feb. 5 for a shinny game andlunch. They also watched the current women’s team defeat the University of

Ontario Institute of Technology 7-0. For information about next year’s reunion, contactSam Kosakowski at skosakow@uoguelph.ca.

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CollaborationThrives at U of G

A t first glance, the premise behind The

BetterPlanet Project is as simple as

the name suggests. A closer look reveals

the interdisciplinary nature of this exciting

initiative.

The campaign’s five key areas of inter-

est — food, health, environment, people

and education — involve all of the Univer-

sity’s colleges. Faculty and students con-

tribute insightful crossover research to each

area. Bringing together expertise and ideas

has always been a hallmark of our alma

mater.

From social scientists working with

women in science and engineering to

scholars collaborating on human-animal

relationships, the colleges share research

and development to meet the goals of The

BetterPlanet Project. It’s exciting for us as

alumni to witness the outstanding innova-

tion that occurs every day across campus.

Alumni contributions to The BetterPlanet

Project will also leave a lasting legacy. Our

efforts will be honoured through a new

donor wall in Rozanski Hall that will display

donors’ names, photographs and testimo-

nials about this visionary initiative.

We can contribute in many ways to cre-

ate a better planet. The UGAA’s contribu-

tion of $1 million to the first-year seminar

series will introduce the class of 2016 to the

vision of Guelph’s BetterPlanet Project.

From there, anything is possible!

C. Bradley Rooney,

ADA ’93 and B.Sc.(Agr.) ’97

UGAA President

26 The Portico

alumni matters

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28 The Portico

universityof guelph

Lichenologists are few and far between

“They’re like the coral reefs

of the forest. ”So says TroyMcMullin, one of a rare breed of ecolo-gists studying an often-overlooked butcomplex mini-ecosystem that serves as anearly warning system for mounting pol-lution and habitat destruction threateningthe Earth’s biodiversity.

To visit these “reefs,” you don’t needflippers or a snorkel. Maybe rubber boots ‒like the pair he pulled on each morningtwo springs ago for a week-long collec-tion blitz among the royal palms, giantferns and lurking alligators of the FloridaEverglades.

McMullin is the sole Canadian co-author of an international paper describ-ing hundreds of lichen species found inthat corner of Florida, including 18 kindsnew to science and 89 notched in NorthAmerica for the first time.

Lichens? Those mossy or scaly growthsthat can make rocks and tree branches looklike they’ve contracted some weird skindisease? Look closer, says McMullin, alichenologist and forest ecologist who willcollect his Guelph PhD this fall.

Lichens marry fungi and algae in apartnership benefiting both sides. Fungiprovide water and minerals, while algae

use photosynthesis to make food. About17,500 species are found all over the world,including about 1,000 species in Ontario.

Highly sensitive to habitat disturbanceand air pollution, lichens serve as a barom-eter of air quality and ecological change.

Their inconspicuous nature belies theirbenefits, says McMullin. Lichens are animportant food source for numerous ani-mals, insects and birds, particularly in theboreal forest and the tundra where they sus-tain such iconic creatures as caribou throughwinter. Certain kinds of blue-green algaein lichens grab nitrogen and improve soilfertility. Some lichens may contain rare

Troy McMullin in Florida’s Fakahatchee Strand preserve, which has 400 species of lichen, including one, top right, called Christmas lichen.

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ledge, B.Sc. ’60, is retired andlives in Dieppe, N.B. She con-tinues to improve her water-colour painting skills.

Peter Salonius, BSA ’64and M.Sc. ’66, retired from theCanadian Forest Service in NewBrunswick at the end of 2010.

Rudy Stocek, M.Sc. ’64, hasretired after 35 years of workingas a wildlife biologist, fisheriesscientist, provincial consultantand professor at the Universityof New Brunswick’s MaritimeForest Ranger School. He haswritten more than 50 publica-tions about his research. His 2006book, Through the Eye of an Eagle,

capped his 30 years spent study-ing the bald eagle in NewBrunswick. He was honoured in1995 by the Atlantic Society ofFish and Wildlife Biologists andin 2010 by the University ofMaine Wildlife Program.

1970sPeter Adrian, ADA ’70, is

RUDY STOCEK

chemicals useful for medicines. In 2009 McMullin picked his way

through Fakahatchee Strand Preserve StatePark in southwest Florida as part of aninternational team of lichenologists head-ed by Robert Lücking from the FieldMuseum in Chicago. Their research paperdocuments the collection of more than400 species.

That’s a surprisingly rich assortment oflichen flora for a marshy corner of thetropics, says McMullin. A narrow striproughly 300 square kilometres in size, thepark is tucked near Big Cypress NationalPreserve and Everglades National Park.

Says McMullin, one of a handful of Cana-dian lichen experts and just about the onlyone in southwestern Ontario: “It’s one ofthe richest locations for lichen diversity inNorth America.”

Not the richest location on the conti-nent. That’s the Klondike Gold RushNational Historical Park in Alaska, hometo more than 700 species.

One of Ontario’s hot spots is BrucePeninsula National Park, with about 330species. That number was rung up duringanother week-long collection blitz bymany of the same lichenologists on theFlorida trip. McMullin was also part of thatBruce team; this spring, he joined thegroup again on a trip to New Brunswick’sBay of Fundy.

Lichen biomass is greater in temperateand cooler regions such as northern Cana-da, where some can spread in vast ankle-deep mats. There they face less competitionfrom fast-growing vascular plants with theirlight-hogging leaves and large root systems.

Wherever they grow, lichens are com-ing under increasing threat. Like coral reefsendangered by pollution, ocean warmingand other factors, lichens are sensitive tohuman disturbances. “They speak to issuesof our time,” says McMullin. “They’re likethe canary in the coal mine for the envi-ronment. You don’t find them wherethere’s air pollution.”

Or at least you find fewer of them, as

in Guelph. McMullin’s survey of the U of G

Arboretum has turned up only about 40lichen species, compared to the hundredscarpeting the Bruce Peninsula. All ofGuelph’s varieties are included in a chap-ter he co-wrote for Woodlot Biodiversity,a book published last year by Guelph pro-fessor Steve Newmaster in the Depart-ment of Integrative Biology.

For his doctorate, McMullin comparedlichen diversity in natural and disturbedlocations in Northern Ontario, helping todetermine which species are available foranimals around Iroquois Falls and EnglishRiver and how to manage for them.

After graduating this fall, he plans tospend a year as a post-doc at Guelph turn-ing part of his thesis into another Ontariolichen guidebook. Many of his samplesend up in the U of G Herbarium and theBiodiversity Institute of Ontario.

With so few lichenologists in Canada,McMullin is often called upon to helpconduct surveys and status assessments forecologists and governments. He has sur-veyed a national park in Nova Scotia anddeveloped a list of all lichens growing inPrince Edward Island. He’s co-authoringa field guide to lichens of the Maritimes.

A former canoeing and hiking guide,McMullin grew up in Oakville, Ont., andcompleted his first degrees at Trent andDalhousie universities.

BY ANDREW VOWLES

McMullin in U of G’s Arboretum

Summer 2011 29

news

retired from the New SouthWales Department of Planningin Sydney, Australia. He and hiswife, Amanda, recently movedto Bungendore, 30 kilometresnortheast of Canberra, to ahouse on a hectare of land. Hesays: “I now have the space toget on with creating metalsculptures, a post-retirement

hobby, and Amanda now has aneasy commute in to Canberra.”

Jan (Virtue) Dobson, B.Sc.’76, has fulfilled her lifelongdream of touring the GalapagosIslands. She is retired and livesin Oakville, Ont.

Jim Erhart, B.Sc. ’78, hasretired after working for 32 yearsin the pharmaceutical industry.

He writes: “I stay active withvolunteer activities, going to thegym and chasing my grandsons.”Friends are invited to contacthim at jerhart@shaw.ca.

Gary Gravelle, BA ’70,retired in 2001 after teachinghigh school English for 30 yearsin Orangeville, Ont. He has pub-lished several books of poetry.

Linda Hutsell-Manning,BA ’75, enrolled in U of G’sEnglish program as a maturestudent planning to become ateacher. Encouraged by Profs.Doug Daymond and LeslieMonkman to pursue writing,she eventually wrote 12 chil-dren’s books and publishedshort fiction and poetry in

several literary magazines. InMarch 2011, at age 70, shepublished her debut novel, ThatSummer in Franklin, with Sec-ond Story Press in Toronto.Living near Cobourg, Ont., shehas begun writing anothernovel and a poetry collectionand says that she is “lookingforward to another 15 to 20years of writing.”

Gretchen MacMillan, BA’70 and MA ’74, retired last Juneafter 22 years in the Departmentof Political Science at the Uni-versity of Calgary. At Calgary, sheserved for a year as acting assis-tant dean for students and for twoyears as acting head of the depart-ment. She says she strongly rec-ommends retirement and haskept active giving public lecturesand catching up on her reading.

Carol Ring, B.Sc. ’79, isvice-president of strategic ini-tiatives with Rogers Commu-nications Inc. She has beennamed the 2011 Woman of theYear by Canadian Women inCommunications for her con-tribution to the communica-tions industry and her commit-ment to the advancement ofwomen in the industry. Ringhas served as the Certified Man-agement Accountants (CMA)Ontario chair and as a memberof the board of CMA Canada.She was appointed a Fellow ofthe Society of ManagementAccountants in 2002. She beganat Rogers as controller in theCornwall cable system andbecame regional president ofthe GTA business unit beforeassuming her current role. Shehas served on several other cor-porate boards and is a foundingmember of the RogersWomen’s Network. In 2008 shewas named one of the Women’sExecutive Network’s Top 100Women, and in 2001 she wasrecognized as one of the Top 50Important People in Ottawa.

Lyz Sayer, BA ’71, hasmoved to Vancouver after morethan 25 years as principal andpsychologist with Sayer & Asso-ciates, an industrial/organizationalpsychology firm in Toronto. Shenow heads a new MA programin organizational psychology withthe Adler School of ProfessionalPsychology in Vancouver. She saysmoving to Vancouver has allowed

her to blend her loves of teach-ing and consulting, golf and ski-ing, and sharing the city with hertwo children.

Peter Van Adrichem,B.Sc.(Agr.) ’79, has seen all threeof his daughters graduate fromhis alma mater. In February, hisyoungest daughter, Sylvia,earned a B.A.Sc. in appliedhuman nutrition; she plans to

work with seniors. Julianna, BA’08, is a program manager atBackyard Bounty, an urban gar-dening business that sells producethrough a share program. Mon-ica, BA ’09, is an office manag-er with P&P Optica. All threesisters live in Guelph and cele-brated at convocation with theirdad and mother, Rina. Peter is awood sculptor and chainsawcarver who works from Fleet-wood Studio in Manotick, Ont.

1980sDouglas McDonald, B.Sc.

’81, is the assistant naval attachéon the Canadian defence liai-

30 The Portico

Y ou can hum that song you heard on the radio, but you can’t

quite remember the lyrics. The easiest way to find the words

is to do an Internet search, yet many sites that post song lyrics lack

accuracy and may violate the songwriter’s copyright.

There’s a legal source of lyrics, though, and it has a U of G con-

nection. Guelph grad Roy Hennig is sales director for LyricFind, a

Toronto-based firm that provides content and licensing for companies

displaying song lyrics online or in mobile devices and applications.

LyricFind pays song publishers and artists to license the words

they’ve written, so the songs are both accurate and legally used by

companies who purchase these services from Hennig. The com-

pany has amassed licensing from more than 2,000 music publish-

ers. He says LyricFind can also provide licensed lyrics free to web-

site owners; paid advertising on the website covers the cost.

Hennig grew up in Kitchener-Waterloo and Mississauga. He attend-

ed Carleton and Ryerson universities before coming to the University

of Guelph to study English. “There was a great community within the

English department at U of G,” he says. “In second year, I joined with

a few other students to form the U of G English and Literature Society

(UGLES). It brought a lot of people together, and we had trivia nights,

outings and talks from professors about writing and related topics.” He

graduated with distinction and an honours BA in 2007. Also a Guelph

grad is his long-term partner, Emily Taylor, B.Sc.(Env.) ’02.

Hennig worked in telecommunications before taking the job with

LyricFind. It’s been a good fit. “I love music,” he says, adding that

he also manages a musician after-hours.

Read more about Hennig’s career at www.uoguelph.ca/theportico.

Can You Name That Lyric?

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FROM LEFT: RINA, MONICA,

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VAN ADRICHEM.

LINDA HUTSELL-MANNING

Summer 2011 31

son staff in Washington, D.C.Commander McDonald joinedthe Canadian Forces in 1983after completing his M.Sc. inatmospheric physics at the Uni-versity of Toronto. After train-ing as a marine systems engi-neer, he held several relatedposts and completed a tour ofduty in Bosnia and Herzegov-ina, where he oversaw civilianassistance projects. Among hisshore appointments, he hasserved as staff officer for thedirector general of nuclear safe-ty, project manager for installa-tion of “black water” collectionsystems in the Iroquois-classdestroyers and division com-mander at the Canadian ForcesNaval Engineering School inHalifax. He also worked in asubmarine project and attend-ed Canadian Forces staff collegein Toronto. From 2006 until2007, he was a defence analyst.He then spent three years atNATO’s allied command head-quarters in Virginia. He and hiswife, Millan, are empty nesters:their daughter, Leanne, works inHouston, Texas; and their son,David, attends college inOttawa.

Mark Finnimore, ADA ’84,is vice-president of operationsand logistics for Maple LodgeFarms Ltd. in Brampton, Ont.,where he manages manufactur-ing and logistics. He lives inCambridge and has two chil-dren: Nathan, 9, and Gwen-dolyn, 6.

Renee Gregor, MA ’08,graduated from Bond Univer-sity Law School (Australia) inOctober with first-class honoursand was recognized by theschool for high academicachievement. She is a judge’sassociate for the district court ofQueensland.

Lou Maieron, B.Sc. ’83, hasrepresented the Town of Erinon Wellington County Councilfor seven years and was electedmayor of Erin in 2010. He andhis partner, Karen Jeffery, B.Sc.’83, own and run Silver CreekAquaculture.

Paul Quinton,ADA ’80, lives

in Vancouver, but is planning avolunteer trip to Ratanakiri,Cambodia, with CUSO-VSO asa program management adviser.He will coach staff at a Cambo-dian NGO and develop man-agement modules and manualsto help small, local enterprises.Follow his experience at http://paulfquinton.blog.ca.

Peter Schenk, B.Sc.(Agr.)’84, has been a financial adviserwith Edward Jones since 1998.This year he was named a prin-

cipal with the firm’s holdingcompany, The Jones FinancialCos. LLLP. Of the firm’s morethan 40,000 associates, he is oneof 26 to be chosen for this hon-our. He and his wife, Catherine,and their children — Ryan,Dylan and Kathryn — live inKingston, Ont.

Ron Vanderstarren, ODH’89, was recently promoted togrounds team leader for theToronto District School Board.Along with 13 employees, helooks after 165 schools. Previ-ously, he was assistant groundsteam leader.

1990sShona Anderson, BA ’95,

recently published her first bookcalled No More Bystanders = NoMore Bullies. She wrote the book

to help school administratorsand teachers address school bul-lying. An educator since 1996,

Anderson has focused onFrench and computers in theclassroom. She became anadministrator in 2003 with theBluewater District SchoolBoard and is a part-time onlinelecturer for the University ofWestern Ontario. She has stud-

K wadwo Asenso-Okyere, M.Sc. ’76, is a division director for the

International Food Policy Research Institute in Africa and was

one of five panellists invited to participate in the Feb. 25 President’s

Dialogue themed “Hunger Has No Boundaries.” He also spent two

days on campus speaking at the Universities Fighting World Hunger

Summit. U of G is a member of that student organization.

After earning his Guelph degree in agricultural economics, Asen-

so-Okyere joined the University of Ghana faculty and later served

as vice-chancellor. While in Guelph, he met several other Ghana-

ians, including current U of G faculty and students. From left: George

Cole, associate director of residence life, grad students Henry and

Rosemond Anim-Somuah and Asenso-Okeyere.

Ghana/Guelph Grad Joins President’s Dialogue

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DOUGLAS MCDONALD

PAUL QUINTON

PETER SCHENCK

SHONA ANDERSON

ied at Guelph, the University ofStrathclyde in Glasgow, Scot-land, and Charles Sturt Univer-sity in Australia, where sheearned a master’s degree in edu-cational research on bullying.She has two-year-old twins: Zoeand Ewan.

Valerie Blackmore, B.Sc.’94, co-owns Wyndham Foren-sic Group, a private forensic biol-ogy and DNA lab in Guelph.She and her partner, Jack Laird,B.Sc. ’92, serve as interested par-ties in the justice system. Black-more has worked for provincialand private-sector forensic labo-ratories, has reported hundreds ofcases for prosecution and defenceclients, and has testified as anexpert witness in Ontario courts.www.wyndhamforensic.ca.

Thomas Dimitrioff Jr., BA’90, is general manager of theAtlanta Falcons in the NationalFootball League. Last fall Sporting

News named him NFL executiveof the year for the second timein three seasons. He was a defen-sive back with the Gryphonsfrom 1985 to 1990 and served asteam captain in his last two years.His brother, Randy Dimitri-off, BA ’86, also played for theGryphons, and their father,Thomas Dimitrioff Sr., coachedthe team from 1979 to 1983.Randy’s son, Dillon, currentlyplays on the Gryphon squad.

Darryl Dobbs, BA ’97,studied mathematics and statis-tics. He is founding editor ofDobberHockey.com, which hebelieves is the world’s biggestindependent fantasy hockeywebsite. The site attracts morethan six million page views (andgrowing) each month.

David Elliott, BA ’90, isgeneral manager of KitchenAidSmall Appliances in St. Joseph,Mich., and was recently elected

to the board of directors of theInternational Housewares Asso-ciation. In 2009 he joinedWhirlpool Corp., the parentcompany of KitchenAid and thelargest manufacturer of majorand small appliances in theworld. Previously, he was vice-president of global marketingfor Jarden Corp., where he alsoserved as vice-president of glob-al marketing for SunbeamAppliances and as president ofSunbeam Canada. He began his

career in 1990 with GeneralElectric in Ontario, where heheld various sales and market-ing positions. Elliott lives inStevensville with his wife,Andrea, and their three children.

Deborah Everest-Hill, BA’93, works in communicationsand has launched a line of organ-ic tees, totes, hoodies and stainlesssteel bottles bearing altered pho-tographs of trees. She started thebusiness T-Art in 2008: “I thoughttrees and branches would lookgood on tees, so I started playingaround with the art and now havea few different tree styles.” Herwebsite is www.tee-art.ca.

Michael Gordon, BA ’96,is a health and safety professionalwith Cargill Ltd. He has justpublished his second book, anovel called Tamarindo: CrookedTimes in Costa Rica. His firstbook described his adventuresin Ontario caves.

32 The Portico

Hire GuelphCo-op Students

Current StudentsAlumni

Guelph

Post a Job now:www.recruitguelph.ca

Hire GuelphCo-op Students

Hire GuelphCo-op Students

Hire GuelphCo-op StudentsCo-op Students

Current Students

G

Co-op StudentsCurrent Students

Alumni

Co-op StudentsCurrent Students

Post a Job now:.recruitguelph.cawww

Post a Job now:.recruitguelph.ca

DAVID ELLIOT

Summer 2011 33

Joel Grineau, BA ’93, is alogistics officer in the Canadi-an Armed Forces. He spentmuch of last year in Afghanistanwith the operational mentorand liaison team, helping hiscounterparts in the AfghanNational Army to improve theiroperations logistical support.

Katherine Martha Jones,M.Sc. ’96, is associate professorand chair of the Department ofBiology at Cape Breton Univer-sity. In 2010 she received both theAward for Science Promotionfrom the Natural Sciences andEngineering Research Counciland the Nova Scotia DiscoveryCentre Award for ScienceChampion. She created ProjectUFO (“Unidentified ForeignOrganisms”) in 2008, includingclassroom visits and invited lec-tures about invasive alien speciesin Cape Breton. Her studies in2003 at the Sydney tar ponds

helped to teach people aboutaquatic life. “I’ve found the bestway to communicate science isto get out there and do sciencein highly visible places, and inter-act with the public while you aredoing it,” she says. She is presi-dent of the Atlantic Coastal andEstuarine Science Society, andmaintains its website to shareresearch in estuarine and coastalscience in the Atlantic provinces.

Jane Lewis, BA ’95, releasedher debut recording of original

music at the end of 2010. Herfour-song EP will be followedby a full-length CD to berecorded in 2011-12. She livesin Guelph, where she leadsworkshops on finding yourvoice, singing harmony andmore. Read about her career atwww.janelewis.ca and www.all-together-now.ca.

Becky (Miller) Madill,B.A.Sc. ’94, is on maternity leavefrom her position as a Grade 1teacher with the Bluewater Dis-trict School Board. She gavebirth to twins Elizabeth Jean andJacklin Ruby on Oct. 20, 2010,and has two older daughters,Alexandria and Gabrielle. AuntColleen (Posthumus) Madill,B.A.Sc. ’95, is also enjoying hernew nieces.

Alison Pick, BA ’99, haspublished her second novel, Farto Go, with House of AnansiPress. It’s about a Czech-Jewish

family before the Second WorldWar. Pick says she began writ-ing after taking an English elec-tive at Guelph. She has wonseveral national awards, includ-ing the Bronwen Wallace Awardfor Emerging Writers. She livesin Toronto with her family andteaches at the Banff Centre forthe Arts Wired Writing Studio.

Theo Selles, BA ’90 andM.Sc. ’93, is an organizationalpsychologist and consultant whorecently published a self-help par-

For information on bequests and planned giving, please contact Ross Butler at 519-824-4120, ext. 56196, rbutler@uoguelph.ca, or visit www.alumni.uoguelph.ca

Make your legacy a better planet.

JANE LEWIS

ALISON PICK

ody book called Selfishness Mat-ters. A trained family therapist andself-help skeptic, Selles believesself-help harms people and theirrelationships. He has been inter-viewed on television and innewspapers about his humoroustake on how to write “a self-helpbook even a man would read.”For details and blog, visitwww.selfishnessmatters.com.

Oswald E. Zachariah, PhD’99, has worked in the Ontariopublic service for 13 years, fol-lowing studies and doctoralresearch in the predecessordepartment to U of G’s Depart-ment of Food, Agricultural andResource Economics. Hebelongs to the provincial teamthat manages research planning,priorities, funding and opera-tions. He says: “My job keepsme well connected with theUniversity’s Office of Research

and faculty researchers. I feelthat I keep doing research at Uof G; the only difference issomeone else writes the papers.”

2000sJohnatan Basden, BBA ’09,

is a Toronto realtor and wel-comes queries from other Uni-versity of Guelph-Humber andU of G grads: johnatanbas-den@hotmail.com.

Hannah Reid Bennett,B.Comm. ’00; her husband,Paul; and their children Macken-zie, 12, and William, 4, wel-comed Matthew John ThomasBennett on Oct. 1, 2010.

Kiah Berkeley, BA ’08, hasworked at the SmithsonianInstitution in Washington, D.C.,since graduation, beginning atthe National Museum of Amer-ican History and now at theNational Postal Museum.

Benjamin Coe, B.Comp. ’08and M.Sc. ’10, and Jesse Miller,B.Comp. ’04, are co-founders ofAttachments.me, a service thathelps users find information hid-den in email files. They say:“Attachments.me indexes youremail account and presents anattachment-centric view of it.”

Tyler Denham, B.Comm.’09, works for ADM Agri-Industries Ltd., a subsidiary ofinternational agricultural com-pany Archer Daniel Midland, inWindsor, Ont. As a merchan-diser, he trades soybeans, canolaseed, corn, wheat, and soybeanand canola meal.

Jenna Healey, BAS ’09, fol-lowed her mother to U of G.Donna (Deir) Healey, B.A.Sc.’75, became a teacher. In 2010Jenna completed a University ofToronto master’s degree in his-tory and the philosophy of sci-ence and technology. She isworking on a PhD in the histo-ry of science and medicine at YaleUniversity in Connecticut.

Joanne Trozzolo Hyde, BA’04, is program co-ordinator foroncology research at CancerCare Ontario in Toronto’sPrincess Margaret Hospital. Herunit develops pain managementtools for oncology patients.

Caridad Malebranche,M.Sc. ’01, works with MarvillaDevelopments and ConsultingInc., a land development com-pany based in Paris, Ont., withprojects in Canada and Panama.

Ellen “Nelle” McCannLabbe, B.Sc.(Env.) ’06, workedfor several years as an environ-mental educator, but is nowpursuing graduate studies inbiological sciences through theUniversity of Southern Maine.She studies landscape geneticsof anadromous river herring inthe Gulf of Maine. She marriedher long-time partner, AdamLabbe, in October 2008 andlives in Portland.

Kimberly McCaw, B.Sc.’03, has returned to U of G tocomplete her M.Sc. in animalsciences. She received a $1,500community scholarship fromthe Metro Scholarship Programfor her exemplary involvementwith the Junior Farmers’ Asso-ciation of Ontario.

Heather (McCready),B.Comm. ’05, and Jeremy Her-tel, B.Sc. ’03 and M.Sc. ’05, metat U of G, were married in 2008and had their first child, JakeWilliam Hertel, on July 25, 2010.

Laura Mousseau, B.Sc. ’05,has joined Team Diabetes Cana-da in honour of her father, whowas diagnosed with Type 2 dia-betes early last year. Among herfundraising efforts for diabetesresearch, she has dyed her hairblue and organized a silent auc-tion. Learn more at http://how-toclimbavolcano.blogspot.com/.

Cristina Ribeiro, M.Sc. ’08,studied computer science atGuelph and is now a doctoralcandidate at the University ofWaterloo. She is engaged to Pri-

34 The Portico

KIMBERLY MCGRAW

CHRISTINA RIBEIRO AND

PRIMOZ CRESNIK

F rom your first day as a Guelph student, you took on the chal-

lenges of university life and left your mark at U of G. Now your

alma mater challenges you to stay involved no matter where you

are in the world — and win great prizes — through the U of G Alum-

ni Challenge. A new challenge will appear in U of G’s alumni e-

newsletter each month. They’re fun and easy — posting a photo

on Facebook or tweeting about U of G.

To make sure you receive the e-news, send your email address

to alumnirecords@uoguelph.ca. Look for the names of challenge

winners on the Alumni Affairs and Development website:

www.alumni.uoguelph.ca.

Take the Alumni Challenge

PH

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Dawn (Gerrard) Adams, B.Sc. ’71,Nov. 27, 2010

Murray Allen, BSA ’54, Dec. 20, 2010Robert Anderson, B.Sc. (Agr.) ’67,

Jan. 3, 2011Stanley Bah, BSA ’53, Nov. 4, 2010Vystas Beniusis, B.Sc. ’70,

Nov. 30, 2010George Best, BSA ’48, Feb. 7, 2011Donaldson Black, BSA ’49,

Aug. 4, 2010Judith Blasco, B.Sc. ’72, Sept. 27, 2010Jiri Bohac, PhD ’73, Oct. 6, 2010George Bobowski, B.Sc. ’72,

Jan. 16, 2011William Brisbane, DVM ’42,

Dec. 22, 2010Gladstone Brown, DVM ’56,

Aug. 31, 2008Lloyd Buckley, DVM ’49, Jan. 17, 2011Alison Chard, B.A.Sc. ’79,

Dec. 29, 2010Barbara (Marshall) Cline, B.Sc. ’56,

Jan. 15, 2011Gerald Crunican, ADA ’49,

Feb. 16, 2011Shane Daniell, B.Sc. ’09, Sept. 28, 2010Dalton Docksteader, DVM ’40,

Jan. 25, 2011Jeffrey Draper, B.Sc.(Eng.) ’06,

July 26, 2010James Elliot, BSA ’62, Aug. 28, 2010Redmond Elliot, DVM ’50,

Jan. 18, 2011Arnold Falconer, BSA ’49, Feb. 7, 2011Bob Ferguson, BSA ’53,

March 30, 2010

Howard Filsinger, BSA ’53, Nov. 26, 2010

Maxwell Graham, BSA ’51, April 18, 2009

William Hagarty, BA ’76, Nov. 16, 2010

Vincent Horrigan, ADA ’49, Dec. 28, 2010

Lewis Howe, BSA ’49, Dec. 7, 2010David Hughes, ADA ’68, Dec. 21, 2010Donna (Mackey) Hunter, B.A.Sc. ’95,

Jan. 9, 2011Eric Irving, BA ’86, Sept. 22, 2010Marion (Shaw) Jamieson, DHE ’39,

July 25, 2010Donald Jose, BSA ’49, Jan. 17, 2011 Bruce Knox, BSA ’48, Dec. 4, 2010Clare Kravchenko, BA ’98, Jan. 8, 2011Deborah (Bertrand) Lloyd, BA ’69,

Jan. 27, 2010John Loos, DVM ’43, Jan. 16, 2011Michael Mason, BA ’74, March 2, 2010Donald McCorquodale, BSA ’49,

Dec. 17, 2010Donald McLachlin, BSA ’52,

March 12, 2010Douglas McLaurin, DVM ’52,

Jan. 11, 2011Richard McLean, DVM ’67, March 5,

2010John McNicol, BSA ’51, Jan. 18, 2011Donald Menzies, B.Sc.(Eng.) ’65,

Jan. 1, 2011Bruce Milne, B.Sc. ’76, Feb. 13, 2011Scott Muir, B.Sc. ’85, Dec. 3, 2010Norman Nash, DVM ’50,

Aug. 15, 2010

Frances (Wright) Needler, DHE ’33, Jan. 12, 2011

Shirley Osmaston, BSA ’56, Jan. 24, 2011

Walter Pamenter, BSA ’42, Aug. 4, 2009

Elizabeth (Drury) Partridge, DHE ’31, Aug. 8, 2010

Jeanette (Russell) Peck, DHE ’49, in 2010

John Price, DVM ’52, Dec. 19, 2010Geoffrey Rourke, DVM ’50,

Aug. 4, 2009Audrey (McLachlan) Slater,

DHE ’41, Dec. 11, 2010Grant Smith, BSA ’41, Sept. 27, 2010Howard Stensson, BSA ’36,

Jan. 16, 2011Frances Tanner, B.A.Sc. ’83,

Dec. 19, 2010Jack Thomson, DVM ’42, Jan. 3, 2011Peter Tron, BA ’69, Feb. 14, 2011James Vice, BSA ’51, June 19, 2009Elizabeth (Daub) Viola, B.H.Sc. ’52,

Feb. 18, 2011Richard Wagner, BSA ’63, Oct. 15, 2009Robert Walsh, BSA ’52, Feb. 7, 2011Bob Winch, BSA ’53, April 4, 2010John Windrem, DVM ’51,

March 28, 2010Wendy Wood, BLA ’85, Jan. 13, 2011Peter Wybenga, DVM ’60, Feb. 21, 2011

To honour alumni who have passed away,the University of Guelph Alumni Asso-ciation makes an annual donation to theAlumni Memorial Scholarship.

moz Cresnik, an aerospace engi-neer at Ryerson University.They are planning a June 2012wedding and invite friends tocheck out their engagementvideo on YouTube: “TorontoCentre Island Engagement.”

Rebecca Schalm, PhD ’00,has been appointed senior vice-president, human resources, withFinning International Inc., basedin Vancouver.

Daniel Vautour, ADA ’04,

shared his expertise in photog-raphy with U of G agriculturalstudents during a workshopheld last fall as part of thefourth-year project course inenvironmental sciences. Hetalked about the use of photog-raphy and design to convey amessage more effectively; a skillVautour says will benefit stu-dents during their course workand when they work with com-munity organizations after grad-

uation. Vautour has 25 years ofwork experience in public rela-tions and is a former commu-nications instructor at Con-estoga College and the OntarioAgricultural College at Guelphand Ridgetown.

2010sJan Jones, MA ’10, is vol-

unteering in Senegal. Check outhis blog: http://www.travel-blog.org/Bloggers/Jan-Jones/.

Summer 2011 35

DANIEL VAUTOUR, RIGHT,

WITH U OF G ENVIRONMENTAL

SCIENCE STUDENTS

PASSAGES

36 The Portico

Jeremiah not afraid of the darkI enjoyed the art icle by SusanBubak on the restoration work byDawn Johnston on the famous campuscannon. But her assumption that,according to campus lore, painting mustbe done after sunset is incorrect. I tookthis photo on Oct. 15, 1975, at about 4p.m. On that day, 21 of us from La Mai-son Française, including two teachersfrom the French department, descend-ed upon the cannon and transformed itinto a work of art. We were VERYproud of the super paint job we did.

While in my frosh year, I lived forone semester with a veterinary studentwho told me that it was he and a fewfriends who moved the cannon fromits original spot near the President’sHouse to its current location. Theyused a tow truck from a garage inGuelph. He also told me that the offi-cial name of the cannon is Jeremiah.

Keep up the great work with ThePortico.

Rod Hodgson, BA ’78

Hudson, Que.

Another cannon story I read your article on the can-non with great interest in the Winter2011 issue of The Portico. It’s unfortu-nate that your ‘history’ of the cannonstarted in the 1960s, as it no doubt hasa fascinating past. My friend and fellowalumnus, Robert Reid, B.Sc.(Agr.) ’87,

told me his father’s stories (Julian Reed,ADA ’56) about that cannon.

I understand that, from the late 19thcentury, it was a fully functional can-non. Large groups of students wouldhaul it around and set it off — a perfectaddition to football games and ringingin the New Year. Sometime in the1960s, the wheels broke while the can-non was being hauled down some steps,and it came to rest where it is today.

In a sense, that cannon representswhat it means to be a U of G student,past and present. Right up until itswheels broke, it was an object of cele-bration that united students and fosteredschool spirit. Once it became stationary,the cannon morphed into a focal pointfor nocturnal individual expression, “anobject of joke” as Dawn Johnston suc-cinctly puts it. That’s progress, I guess.

Ian Cutcher , BA ’90

Dhahran , Saudi Arabia

Editor’s Note: We love hearing storiesabout the cannon; send more! Writeto The Portico, Communications andPublic Affairs, University of Guelph,Guelph, ON N1G 2W1; or emailm.dickieson@exec.uoguelph.ca.

Perfect is perfectWe rece ived your Winter 2011issue because my husband is an alum-nus of Guelph.

I wish to register a criticism of thetitle on the cover: “Nature’s Perfect

Food Gets Better.” If something is per-fect, it cannot be made “better.” As anacademic institution putting out first-rate periodicals such as The Portico, I wasstunned that this title got by the editor.

Patti Maurice

Guelph , Ont .

Encouraged by Guelphresearch on Crohn'sI read Andrew Vowles’ article “There’sa Complete Ecosystem Inside yourGut” with much interest. Our 13-year-old son was diagnosed with Crohn’s andcolitis at the age of nine. We wereencouraged by this group of Guelphresearchers who are dedicating so muchtime and energy to this disease.

Imagine our surprise when we readthe line about how there might be acorrelation between early childhoodantibiotics and Crohn’s; our son was onantibiotics for 11 months before the ageof two for continuous ear infections.

We hope The Portico will publishresults from this research when theirwork is completed. We remain opti-

mistic that, with dedicated scientists likeDr. Emma Allen-Vercoe and her teamof researchers, a cure will be found.

K imberly Morissette-Scott ,B.A.Sc . ’90

Robert Scott , BA ’89

T illsonburg , Ont .

Correction: In the last issue of The Por-tico, we printed the wrong photo in astory about the opening of U of G’snew pathobiology building. It was actu-ally a photo of the Primary HealthcareCentre for companion animals.

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