The goal is to stop cancer Treating pets with cancer is our first priority, but humans benefit, too.

Climate change has a human face Sustainable r: taurants

c

I

Rest assured.

Knowing you're protected, especially when you have people who depend o

you, can be very reassuring. Whatever the future brings, you and your family

can count on these Alumni Insurance Plans:

Term Life Insurance Health & Dental Insurance Major Accident Protection

Income Protection Disability Insurance Critical Illness Insurance

Visit www.manulife.com/uofguelphmag to learn more or call toll-free 1-888-913-6333

UJJ~~rr'Alumn i Im Manulife Financial For your future~

Underwritten by

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (Manulife Financial) . Manulife. Manulife Financial. the Manulife Financial For Your Future logo and the Block Design are trademarks of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and are used by it. and by its affiliates under license. Exclusions and limitations apply.

the portico • summer 2013

3 - president's page • BetterPlanet update - 8 • great guelph grads - 22

in and around th e university

U o F G scientists use

plant breeding tech­

niques to create enriched

eggs. Other researchers

look for new ways to

fight drug- resistant

bacteria and partner

with industry to reduce

Canada 's greenhouse gas

emissions.

on the cover DVM student Laura Golding with

Bailey, a cancer patient at the

Ontario Veterinary College

PHOTO BY DEAN PALMER

Portico online More U of G news at

uoguelph.ca/theportico

- 10 -cover story

ANIMAL CANCER CENTRE OPENS TO WIDE ACCLAIM

A new cancer centre at the Ontario Veterinary College offers

Canada's most advanced diagnosis and treatment for pets.

-16-

CLIMATE CHANGE HAS A HUMAN FACE Geographer Barry Smit says

younger Canadians recognize that we need to do a better job

of adapting to the realities of global wanning.

-19-

STUDENT RESTAURANT IS ALSO A LABORATORY

Guelph students rethink PJ's food service every semester;

now it's one of Canada's most sustainable restaurants.

alumni matters

U GAA HONOURS

three distinguished

alumni, prepares for

Alumni Weekend and

gets ready to launch a

new educational travel

program. Student

scholarship winners thank

their donors, and the

Gryphons think ahead

to Homecoming.

College News Look inside for news from

your college and alumni

association. See page 19.

The MA (Leadership) Program

Your Career. Your Way. At Guelph. www. uoguelph.ca/cme/ma-leadership

'' One of the best decisions I have made in terms of my future, my career and

how I can be a better me."

Marva Wisdom Principal, Wisdom Consulting

Don't Let Your Memories Fade Visit:

www.guelphgradphotos.ca

ANDERSON-COATS PHOTO WE STILL HAVE ALL IMAGES FROM 2004 - PRESENT

Located in the University Centre since 1995 519 766 4587 or U of G Ext. 56830

Email: coats0922@rogers.com

2 THE PORTICO

•••

'lf · . theportico

Summer 2013 . VOLUME 45 ISSUE 2

Editor Mary Dickieson

Assistant Vice-President Charles Cunningham

Art Direction Peter Enneson Design Inc.

Contributors Susan Bubak Lori Bona Hunt Kevin Gonsalves

Wendy Jesper.;en Teresa Pirman Andrew owle , B.Sc. '84

Advertising Inquiries Score Ander.;on 519- T-9169

Direct all or!rtT (orrespo11dence to:

Commumcanons and Public Affa irs

Unl\'Cr'<1ty of Guelph

Guelph. Onurio. Canada I G 2W1 E-111a1l 111.dic 1e on@exec.uoguelph.ca

www.uogudph.ca theporrico/

Tiic P,>rru,, n~ne IS published three rimes a year b~ Communica tions and Publ ic

Affam at the Lm,·ersity of Guelph. Its mis­

sion IS to enhance the relationship between

the Um,·emrv and 1ts alu mni and friends

and promote pride and commitment with­in the Um,·cr'<m· community. All material

is copyright ~ 113. Ideas and o pinions

expressed 111 the amcles do not necessa rily

reflect the 1de;i, or opinions of the Univer­

sity or the editor'<.

Publication' 1J1l Agreement # 40064673

Printed 111 Caruda - I 171+-873 1

To update ,·our alumni record, contact:

Alum111 Affair'< and De,·elopment

Phone 519- ·~+-41 20, Exe. 56550 Fax 519- n-2670 E-mail alumrnrecords@uoguelph.ca

c, f'\ MIX

'1 ...,-) Paper from SC responsible sources

~"'''"'' FSC• C002609

_llNBlERSITY COMMUNITY ADVANCES BE

I WISH ALL OF OUR READERS could see the series of

lamppost banners now adorning Go rdon Street and

Stone Road around our campus. Installed this year, those

banners highlight 35 Guelph faculty members who hold

Canada Re~earch Chairs (CR C) and put a human face

on the important re earch being done here at U of G.

The federal g0\·enm1ent's CR C program is designed

to help umver itie attrac t some of the wo rld 's top

re ·ear her - both established and rising stars. Canada

pmnde funding to encourage research excellence in

Jl\'..1! that impro\'e both our quality of life and the coun­

~·· economy.

\: 'e \\ nred to champio n G uelph 's C R C fac ulty

becau e they are exceptional leaders and because their

work ad\''Jnces the University's vision of building a better

planet. H1ghlighring their photos on these street ba1mers

1gnal the fact that we are a communi ty of individuals

\\ r mg together to achieve that vision.

Our rnnununal efforts are al ready payi ng off in those

al\'.a 1denafied as BetterPlanet Proj ect priorities: health,

i . ennronrnent, community, and teaching and learn­

mg. The articles in this issue of The Portico demonstrate

that ucce s, beginning with the cover story on cancer

tream1ent for companion animals. Guelph research that

improves health care fo r our pets - no matter what the

d1 ea e or affliction - contributes new knowledge that ultimately benefits human health as well.

Thi magazine and th e U niversity of G uelph web-

1te regularly fea tu re sto ri es that show how we are

ach1t:nng our BetterPlanet goals.Among examples pub­

lished durmg the win ter semester are the fo llowing:

• Health re-;earchers are identifying interactions between

gene . diet and nutrition to help reduce obesity;

• uenti ~ here have developed a new breed of corn

cont.11nmg antioxidants that can be transferred through

chic ·en teed to eggs, to help protect our vision;

• • .\ tudy led by Guelph microbiologists pi npoints a

ba< renal enzyme with promise in the fight against drug­

re 1 m bacteria;

• oi G and three other O ntar io universities hosted

a forum to envision "Life in 2030," including a Guelph

pre emanon on the ro le of the arts and humanities in

bu1ldmg u tainable communities;

• .<)mmerce student Shwetha C handrashekhar won

a national bu ine · competition for predicting what the

workforce w1ll look like in 2040 and developing pro­

po al to prepare employers and employees;

• Guelph chemis are collaborating wi th colleagues in

France on more efficient ways to capture and separate C02,

processes essential for controlling greenhouse gases.

-0 I

~ ~ :0 0 gi 0

~ T he Bette rPlanet Proj ect not on ly foc uses ou r 8

research and teachin g goals but also drives our efforts ~ to accelerate the pace of discoveries that will improve ~ our lives and sustain the resources we depend on . We ~ can measure our impact through more frequent U of G

stories in the national media and continuing growth in

research funding. In the las t decade, funding fro m fed­

e ral g ranting co un cils and business and industry has

grown by 25 and 39 per cent, respectively. Overall , U

of G's research budget now exceeds $150 million a year.

T hat's also the number of dollars raised so far through

the BetterPlanet Proj ect fundraising campaign . Donors

have already designated more than $110 million fo r fac il­

iti es, resea rch and teaching initiatives, and almost $40

million to help students more directly through scholar­

ships and awa rds. We hope to reach th e target of $200

million in 2014.

Prospective students are payi ng attention. T he num­

ber of students who nam ed U of G thei r first choice for

admission this fa ll increased by 7 .2 per cent over las t

year, according to a Janu ary report from the Ontario

Universities' Application Centre.

T he University of Gu elph-Humber saw an increase

of 14.6 per cent; the average among Ontario universi­

ti es was 2.4 per cent. These increases reflect the strength

of our reputation, the diversity of our programs, and the

accomplishments of our facul ty, staff and grads.

It 's shaping up to be a banner year for the Univer­

sity of G uelph - in more ways than one.

A LASTA IR S UM MERLEE, P RES IDENT

Summer 2013 3

I

&

Corn Breeders Create Enriched Eggs

~ C ORN COULD OFFER a solution to ~ vision problems that many people face

~ as they age, according to a new U of G

z study led by plant agriculture professor Eliz­

~ abeth Lee. :::;;

iii

§ 0..

Researchers at Guelph crossed Argen­

tine Orange Flint maize with standard

North American corn to create a new strain

of corn containing the antioxidants lutein

and zeaxanthin, which protect eyes. The

novel corn was fed to chickens that laid eggs

rich in these helpful carotenoids.

The paper published in the journal Crop

Science reported that the high-carotenoid

diet produced eggs containing the antioxi­

dants, although eggs from hens fed this corn

contained less lutein than those of hens fed

marigold petal extrac t, the current way of

producing hi gh-lutein eggs . But the

researchers believe that it is possible to make

a new breed of corn that contains even more

lutein and zeaxanthin, leading to eggs with

more of these beneficial compounds.

In age-related macular degeneration, a

progressive eye disease that is the leading cause

of blindness in older adults, the eyes are low

in lutein and zeaxanthin. Doctors routinely

recommend eating leafy greens, the only oth­

er vegetables rich in these antioxidants.

Prof. Barry Shelp, Plant Agriculture, also

worked on the study. "Elizabeth had th eo-

Make Sense of Functional Foods

HELP ING OLDER ADULTS understand

the benefits and labelling of functional

foods is th e purpose of a new toolkit devel­

oped by U of G professor Alison Duncan,

Human Health and Nutritional Sciences.

Designed primarily for health profes­

sionals, the Functional Foods for Healthy

Aging Toolkit is available to the public on

the Agri-food for Healthy Aging website:

aha.the-ria.ca .

rr: Duncan says functional foods such as pro­

~ biotic yogourt, otnega-3 eggs and high-fibre

it cereals contain "bioactive ingredients" shown

~ to improve health. "Functional foods have a 0

iii lot of potential as a strategy to help optimize

§ health, but there is so much information on

ii the labels of these products that consun1ers

4 THE P ORTICO

Alison

may not have the tools to fully understand

them. This toolkit will help, and it will be

especially beneficial to older adults."

The toolkit provides definitions of func-

rized that it was possible to breed corn with

increased lutein and zeaxanthin, and we

wondered whether it was possible to get

these antioxidants to people;' he said. "Since

most hens are fed corn, the best solution

seems to be egg yolks where the carotenoids

would be accompanied by oils, which may

facilitate absorption by the human body. We

fo und that lutein and zeaxanthin contents

of the eggs were increased in hens ingest­

ing this novel corn."

"This was something that we felt had

potential for not just egg producers but also

Ontario corn farmers," said post-doctoral

researcher Andrew Burt. "The goal for our

tea m was to take our co ncept and create

products that would be beneficial to farm­

ers and which consumers will want. We still

have some work to do, but we proved the

concept is a valid one."

Lee and her team are encouraged by the

findings, wh ich show that researchers can

breed plants to produce functional foods.

tional foods, regulatory information, detailed

explanations and case studies oflabels found

on common products.The kit also provides

resource sheets for cli ents and results of a

study funded by the Canadian Foundation

for Dietetic Research (C FDR) on func­

tional food consumption by older adults.

Duncan worked on the toolkit with for­

mer graduate students Hilary Dunn, Laura

Stratton and Meagan Vella, and undergrad­

uate students Sarah Dainty and Brittney Kay.

This project was funded by the utti­

tion R esearch in Focus program ofCFDR

and the Agri-Food and Rural Link pro­

gram, a partnership between the Ontario

Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and the

University of Guelph.

Cl) .c: .... ~-

Anthony Clarke, left, and John Pfeffer

I

U of G Researchers Fight Drug-Resistant Bacteria

DRU G COMPAN I ES looking for new

ways to fi ght antimicrobial drug

resistance are paying attention to a new

study led by Prof.Anthony Clarke, Mol­

ecular and Cellular Biology. His research

team has shown for the first time the

workings of a common bacterial

enzyme that might offer a new target

for battling disease-causing bacteria.

Their paper was published in the

]011rnal of Biologica l Chemistry . The lead

author is John Pfeffer, who began work­

ing with Clarke as an undergrad, com­

pleted a PhD in late 2012 and is now a

po t-doc re earcher in the professor's lab.

Their co-author, Joel Weadge, complet­

ed hi s doctorate with Clarke in 2006 w and is now a biology professor at Wil­~ ~ frid Laurier University. I 0 en z

Bacteria have evolved many varia­

tions of defensive enzymes, say the ti= ~ researchers . Knock out one target with

fu an antibiotic, and the bug often deploys

§ I o._

a different protein to elude treatment.

What's promising is that the panic-

ular enzyme they are looking at - called

0-acetylpeptidoglycan esterase, or

"Ape" - has shown little redundancy. So

drugs might be more effective or doc­

tors might be able to outwit the bugs

longer, although Pfeffer says bacteria will eventually find a way around potential

new treatments.

The Guelph team studied bacteria

that cause gonorrhea - U.S. surveys show up to three-quarters of infections may

involve antibiotic-resistant strains - but

Pfeffer says the Guelph finding might

also help in treating other drug-resistant

strains that pose a threat for people in

hospitals and long-term care facilities.

This winter Clarke attended a meet­

ing of the Canada/UK. Partnership on

Antibiotic Resistance, a collaboration of

the Canadian Institutes of H ealth

Resea rch and the British Medical

Research Council. He is co-leader of a

research tean1 studying infectious organ­

isms that are increasingly impervious to

drug treatments.

NEW ART GALLERY OPENS DOWNTOWN

U of G's School of Fine Art and Music

(SOFAM) and the Macdonald Stewart Art

Centre (MSAC) are partners in a new public art

gallery in downtown Guelph.

The Boarding House Gallery opened Feb. 28

with an exhibition of contemporary Canadian art

works by SOFAM faculty Diane Borsato, James

Carl, Susan Dobson, FASTWURMS, Christian

Giroux, Will Garlitz, John Kissick, Nestor Kruger,

Jean Maddison, Martin Pearce, Sandra Rechico,

Monica Tap and Laurel Woodcock. The show

also featured a number of works selected from

MSAC's permanent collection.

The gallery will feature the work of SOFAM

faculty and students for nine months each year.

MSAC will use the other three months to exhib­

it items from its permanent collection, most of

which is in storage.

The gallery will feature a new exhibition every

month. Admission is free.

Located at 6 Dublin St. S. , the Boarding

House Gallery takes its name from the origins

of the historical building; it is also the former

location of the Guelph Civic Museum.

SOFAM and MSAC say the gallery helps ful­

fill their mandate of presenting contemporary art

exhibitions in a space that is accessible and free

to the public. ''The gallery is a venue for the exhi­

bition of work by practising professional artists,

and for bringing the work and ideas of our best

and brightest students to the downtown core,"

says Kissick, SOFAM director.

Summer 2013 5

I

I the u Forest Ecologist Named Arboretum Director

Librarian Donates Rare Book T HE U OF G Library recently received

a first Canadian edition of Winnie the

Pooh, thanks to special collections librarian

Melissa McAfee, w ho purchased the rare

book and donated it through her 15-year­

old Bengal cat, Sandy.

McAfee started to work at U of G last

summer, but Sandy still lives south of the bor­

der with McAfee's partner, Paul Saenger, a

curator at Chicago's Newberry Library.Their

6 THE PORTICO

PROF. SH ELL EY HU NT, School of

Environmental Sciences (SES), took up

her new role as director of the U of G

Arboretum in February. She oversees the

largest and most comprehensive sanctuary

of its kind in Ontario - home to more than

18,000 specimens in more than 30 plant col­

lections as well as gardens, wetlands, nature

trails and forests.

Hunt completed her B.Sc. and PhD at

Guelph and says the 165-hectare green space

was one of her favourite places to visit on

campu s w hile a student at the University.

"When I was living in East R esidence, the

Arboretum was our backyard , the go-to

place for walking, running and occasional

late-night cross-country skiing. lt was also

wonderful to have a place on campus to

hone my tree identification skills."

A faculty member since 2006, Hunt has

used th e sanctuary as a fi eld site for under-

gift presumes that Sandy wanted to honour

the field of veterinary medicine in Canada.

Complete with original illustrations by

E.H. Shepard, the book was published by

McClelland and Stewart in 1926. Until

McAfee tracked down the volume last fall,

the library lacked any first edition of Pooh -surprising to some, given Winnie 's Canadi­

an and OVC provenance.

The original Winnie was a female black

bear orphaned in 1911 in White River, Ont.

The cub was purchased by Harry Cole­

bourn, an OVC-trained veterinary surgeon,

graduate research projects and led classes on

walk-and-talks through the space to rein­

force lecture concepts. She will continue to

teach and conduct research on forest restora­

tion in southern Ontario.

Each year rnore than 73,000 people vis­

it the Arboretum, and more than 6,000 peo­

ple participate in workshops, guided tours

and special events.

"The Arboretum provides opportunities

for teaching and research and extensive out­

reach to the broader community, with ded­

icated volunteers from on and off campus.

This is important green space on campus

and part of the City of Guelph's natural her­

itage system,'' she says .

Hunt took over from SES director

Jonathan N ewman, who had served as inter­

im director since Prof. Alan Watson stepped

down from the position in 2012 after more

than 20 years at the Arboretum.

who named the bear Winnie for his home­

town ofWinnipeg. Part of th e Ca nadian

Army Veterinary Corps, he tookWim1ie with

him to Europe during the First World War

and eventually donated her to the London

Zoo.There Winnie became a crowd favourite

and the subj ect of A.A. Milne 's stories.

Presidential Search Underway

A PRESIDENTIAL SELECTION commit­

tee appointed in February is chaired by

Dick Free borough, chair of the University of

Guelph Board of Governors, and includes fac­

ulty, student and alumni members.

Amon g the selection committee's first

tasks are deterrnining general characteristics

and capabilities required in a candidate, and

soliciting co mment from the University

community. To participate, link to the com­

mittee's website at www.uoguelph.ca or send

email to search.president@exec. uoguelph.ca.

U of G's next president is expected to be

in place by summer 2014, when Alastair

Summerlee's second term will end.

Read U of G daily news at www.uoguelph.ca

Reducing Greenhouse Gases Goal of Canada/France Project

From left: John Carroll, a process engineer at Canada's Gas Liquids Engineering;

U of G post-doc Yohann Coulier, Prof. Peter Tremaine; post-doc Lucas Applegarth;

and research associate Hugues Arcis, all in the Department of Chemistry.

FI ND I NG COST - EFl'EC I !VI: ways

to help in dustries reduce carbon

emissions and reduce Canada's green­

house gas contribution are the goals of

a new federa lly funded project involv­

ing chemists at the University of

Guelph and in France.

The atural Sciences and Engi­

neering R.esearch Council (NSER C)

supports Guelph researchers led by

chemistry profe sor Peter Tremaine

who are studying no\·el chemicals for

capturing and toring carbon dioxide

produced by mdu try.

Guelph's 1 ERC funding -

-152,000 O\'er three year - will be

matched by the French gm·ernmem for

scientists at Blaise Pascal Univer iry in

C lermont-Ferrand. Both group will

work with industrial partners Ga Liq­

uids Engineering Ltd. and lFP Ener­

gies N ouvelles in Canada and France,

respectively. Canadian industries generate about

600 million tonnes of C02 a year, among

the highest per-capita emissions in the

world, says Tremaine. "Carbon capture

and storage is an option for reducing car-

bon dioxide emissions from power plants

and industry, and for helping Canada

meet targets for lowering greenhouse gas

emissions causing global warming.

"Current technology for capturing

and sequestering carbon dim .. -ide from

a coal-fired power station can consume

as much as 30 per cent of th e energy

produced by the plant," he adds.

The researchers will study chemicals

that trap carbon dioxide and then sep­

arate into phases under changing tem­

perature to release the C02 for storage. "More energy-effi cient processes

for capturing and separating C02 are

essential if this is to be a viable tech­

nology for controlling greenhouse gas­

es," says Tremaine. His research group

is one of only a few worldwide with

precision equipment for studying high­

temperature, high-pressure chemistry

for applications in nuclear power and

other industries.

"We and others in the Department

of Chemistry are doing research sup­

ported by industry to address global

emission problems and energy prob­

lems," he adds. " It's exciting."

NOTEWORTHY • Guelph professors Bill Nickling and

Ze'ev Gedalof have helped devel­

op a monitoring system for the Jor­

danian government that includes

technology to gauge changes in soil

moisture, vegetation and erosion.

They hope their system will help the

Middle Eastern country assess land

resource changes and, ultimately,

halt desertification.

• Geography chair John Smithers will

serve as interim dean of the College

of Social and Applied Human Sci­

ences, when Prof. Kerry Daly's term

ends July 1 . The search for a new

dean will begin after the college com­

pletes a prioritization and planning

process now underway at U of G.

• Thanks to cultural evolution, male

sparrows are changing their tune,

partly to attract "the ladies." Integra­

tive biology professors Ryan Norris

and Amy Newman worked with

U.S. scientists to analyze the songs

of male Savannah sparrows record­

ed over three decades and found

distinct changes in those songs.

• The Canadian Centre for DNA

Barcoding based in U of G's Bio­

diversity Institute of Ontario con­

ducted a market study for the inter­

national oceans advocacy group

Oceana. The DNA analysis showed

mislabelling of 33 per cent of fish

sold in grocery stores, restaurants

and sushi bars in the United States.

• U of G president Alastair Summer­

lee ; Kevin Hall , vice-president

(research and external partnerships);

Rich Moccia, associate vice-presi­

dent (strategic partnerships); and

Profs. Cate Dewey, population med­

icine, and Alice Hovorka, geography,

led workshops in Tanzania this win­

ter to improve social, economic and

environmental sustainability in East

Africa. Their discussions attracted

academics, government leaders,

industry, non-governmental organi­

zations, grads and others from

Canada, East Africa and beyond.

Sununer 2013 7

FROM A SON'S LOVE, A GIFT TO FUTURE VETERINARIANS

U of G veterinary students

are the beneficiaries of a

generous bequest from the late

George A. Whitehead of Vic­

toria, B.C. His gift will support

summer stipends for DVM stu­

dents to conduct research in

rural community veterinary

medicine.

Whitehead's father gradu­

ated from the Ontario Veteri­

nary College (OVC) more than

100 years ago; the gift honours

his father's memory.

Whitehead's own career

included many years working

as a detective in the Portland,

Ore., police department before

retiring to Victoria. He was also

a U.S. army veteran.

The summer research

stipends benefit ongoing OVC

research projects , but, more

importantly, they give students

experiential learning opportu­

nities and motivate them to

consider alternative career

options in veterinary medicine.

8 T H E P ORTICO

The Better Scholarships a Gift From the Heart

E NGL!SH LI TERATURE, H olstein bulls

and criminal law may seem dispara te

interests, but they are all important pur­suits for Edward M arwick.

A lawyer fo r almost 40 years, he spent most

of his early career prac tising criminal law in

Hamilton, O nt. M orwick also tu rned his hand

to property development, creating the M ead­

owbrook Manors and M arshall Estates subdi­

visio ns in Ancaster. Eventu ally, he started a

mortgage investment and venture capital firm,

to which he now devotes most of his time.

H e lives on a farm near Jerseyville, but it 's the Holstein breed he favo urs. H e and earlier

generations of his family have made significant

contributions to H olstein breeding in Canada.

M arwick enrolled at the University of

Guelph in 1968, intending to become a jour­

nalist. He excelled in English literature and writ­

ing but changed his career plans when O sgoode

:;: Hall Law School offered him early admission.

~ He still writes, however, and has supported I ~scholar s hips fo r graduate and undergraduate

~students in U of G's College of Arts fo r sev­

fn era! years. H is recent $1 -million pledge will

@ increase the number of students who benefit

ii: each year from three to more than 20. M or-

wick's total giving to Guelph scholarships now

tops $1.4 million .

T he motiva tion for his generosity is four­

fold . "The U niversity of Guelph is the place

where I found myself and came to realize what

l wanted to do with my life," he says. "T he pro­

fessors and staff made me feel appreciated and

encouraged me to exercise my talents . I owe

them a debt of gratitude."

H e also wanted to boost the reputation of

Guelph 's creative w riting program : "That's a

subj ect very dear to my heart." M orwick says

scholarships are a way to build the Universi­ty's stature by attracting superior students who

will go on to become literary greats.

And along the way, he's enjoying the satis­

fac tion of being able to help deserving stu­

dents: " I have no children of my own, and I

think of the scholarship recipients as my

extended family."

When Morwick's career moved away from

criminal law, he found more time to pursue

his other interests. H e penned: Th e Chosen Breed, a book that chronicles the history of

Holsteins in Canada and was sold in 69 coun­

tries. He also wrote The Holstein History, about

the breed's development in the U nited States.

Planet Project U of G Library Preserves Local Brewing History

John H. Sleeman established Silver Creek Brewery in Guelph in 1851 . Pictured is

the brewery delivery wagon, ca. 1870s - 1890s.

A FEW KEGS ' -WO RTH ofCana­

dian and local heritage have

come to the University of

Guelph for safekeeping.

The University has acquired the Slee­

man Collection , chronicling the history

of one of the country's oldest breweries,

for its archival and special collections at

the McLaughlin Library.

The collection includes photographs,

business records, newspapers, correspon­

dence and other materials showing the

brewing dynasty's impact on Canada in

the past 150 years, from industry advance­

ment to infrastructure to politics.

" For many years, we have been accu-

mulating my family's historical artifacts ,"

z said John W Sleeman, company founder 0 G and chairman and great-great-grandson

j of the original brewmaster,John H . Slee-8 :1:man. 3!j " I have always hoped that we could

~somehow preserve them for the future

§ but also make them available for the pub­

it lie to see and enjoy. I'm delighted to say

that , with the University of Guelph's

wonderful archival facilities, this has now

been made possible."

"This is an important contribution

to our regional history collection," said

Kathryn Harvey, head of archival and

special collections.

"The Sleeman family has a long and

rich history in this area, play.ing a role not

just in the brewing business but in the

very fabric of Guelph society. They were

involved in early transportation, sports

and community growth, and contributed

to political and social life."The Univer­

sity· hopes to have the collection desig­

nated as Canadian cultural property.

On April 3, the U ofG library launched

a Sleeman Collection website that highlights

the company's history from its founder's

arrival in Upper Canada through Prohibi­

tion to today's brewing operation.The web­

site covers four areas: biographies, breweries,

regional history and sports and social clubs.

More information on these and other areas

are available for study in the collection itself.

"HEALTH FOR LIFE RESONATES WITH US"

Bob and Gail Farquharson have supported

the University of Guelph for many years .

"Our friendship began with our interest in hor­

ticulture and our respect for the Arboretum pro­

jects," he says. "The friendship deepened with

our dependence on their veterinary services."

The Farquharsons' most recent gift advances

U of G's proposed Health for Life initiative - a

plan to build a world-class program of preven­

tive health initiatives that reduce the incidence

of chronic diseases. Their $537,000 donation

will support research on nutrition and personal­

ized health assessments.

"The work that is proposed for Health for

Life resonates with us," says Gail. "As our

demographic ages, it seems ever more intu­

itive to focus on our food to gain maximum per­

formance and quality of life. We need to bring

our attention to the proven success of pre­

ventative measures."

Bob Farquharson is also generous with his

financial expertise. As vice-chair and director

of AGF Management Ltd. and chair of AGF

Management Asia Ltd . and AGF International

Advisors Company Ltd., he brings valuable per­

spective to the University's Board of Trustees

and advisory councils for The BetterPlanet Pro­

ject and the Health for Life initiative. He is also

a member and chair emeritus of the Royal

Ontario Museum Board of Governors.

Summer 2013 9

Bailey waits in the Mona Campbell

Centre for Animal Cancer while

small-animal intern Steve Patten and

fourth-year student Ann Dion discuss

the dog's treatment regimen.

10 TH E PORTI CO

•--

/

(

Treating pets with cancer is our first priority, but studying the disease in animals benefits humans, too.

BY ANDREW VOWLES PHOTOS BY DEAN PALMER

Walk through the space-age entryway of the Mona Campbell

Centre for Animal Cancer at the University of Guelph, and you

enter a bright brand-new space for treating pets with cancer.

But that's only part of the story.You've also reached the front

line for clinical cases that help researchers study and develop

treatments for the feared disease, not just in animals but in humans, too.

The 12,000-square-foot facility - the most comprehensive animal cancer treat­

ment and research centre in Canada - opened in fall 2012. Part of the Ontario

Veterinary College (OVC), the centre is located in the former pathobiology wing,

next door to the college's small-animal clinic. Inside that new College Avenue

entrance are clinical experts - some 20 in all, including oncologists, technicians,

interns, students and support staff. Housed here are advanced tools for cancer diag­

nosis, treatment and teacrung, including a linear accelerator for radiation treatment

unmatched at any veterinary school in Canada.

The new centre is named for the late Mona Campbell, a longtime animal advo­

cate who donated $9 .5 nUllion to OVC, half of wruch has supported the centre. The

other key supporter was the OVC Pet Trust Fund, which launched a $15-rnillion

campaign to create tills comprehensive animal cancer centre.

riority No. 1 Treatment and care come first here, says clinical studies professor Paul Woods.

Standing in the centre's spacious waiting room, he says every week brings about

100 patients here, including 15 to 20 new cases. Pets with cancer make up about

one in three visits to the adjoining companion-animal hospital, part of OVC's

Health Sciences Centre.

They're mostly dogs and cats, and many more of the former, says Woods. One

in four dogs will die from cancer versus one in eight cats. Common cancers in

dogs include lymphoma, bone cancer, mast cell tumours, soft tissue sarcomas, uri­

nary tract cancer and hemangiosarcoma of blood vessels.

Patients come mainly from central Canada but also from northern Ontario, the

Maritimes and western New York state.A few are more far-flung. "One dog came

from Korea," says Woods, recalling the clients who stayed in Toronto last fall and

visited Guelph with their cocker spaniel.

Now and then, the centre sees an unusual creature, he adds. "A lot of ferrets get

lymphoma."

Touring the new centre, Woods shows off chemotherapy and surgical oncolo­

gy wards; examination, treatment and procedure rooms; and family visiting areas.

The space brings together medical, radiation and surgical oncologists as well as a

counsellor trained in social work and a clinical nutritionist.

He notes that the nutritionist can help in comparing effects of diets in animals

with and without cancer, working with faculty in U of G's Department of Human

Summer 2013 11

Above: Cancer patient Ramona has

the attention of Profs. Paul Woods and

Brenda Coomber, co-directors of the

Institute for Comparative Cancer

Investigation .

Next page, top to bottom: Cancer

researchers Geoff Wood, left, and

Byram Bridle were attracted to the

Ontario Veterinary College partly

because of its state-of-the-art cancer

treatment centre for animals. Two-time

Guelph graduate Kaya Skowronski

co-ordinates clinical trials and manages

the tumour bank that stores tissue

samples for future research. Biomedical

sciences professor Alicia Viloria-Petit

studies breast cancer in humans, using

cell cultures provided by OVC's canine

patients.

12 THE PORTICO

Health and Nutritional Sciences.

Housed inside concrete walls six feet

thick is the new linear accelerator for radi­

ation therapy. lt produces what Woods calls

"super-powerful X-rays" that target a

tumour with minimal damage to normal tis­

sue. That means fewer radiation burns and

other side effects such as cataracts, and thus

better recovery for patients.

You'd find similar equipment for treating

human patients in nearby centres, but you'd

have to go to Colorado State University or

the University of Florida for comparable

tools in a veterinary teaching hospital.

Comparative studies Besides serving veterinary patients, the cen­

tre enables U of G researchers to cond uct

clinical trials and test new ca ncer therapies

intended for both humans and animals. For

those projects, Woods and the centre's experts

become clinical research partners with sev­

eral fac ulty members, notably in OVC's

departments of Pathobiology and Biomed­

ical Sciences. Those scientists are part of U

of G's [nstitute for Comparative Cancer

[nvestiga tion (lCCI) , launched in 2007 .

Led by Woods and biomedical sciences

professor Brenda Coomber, lCCI integrates

studies by more than 30 investigators from departments across campus, including can­

cer biologists, veterinarians, chemists, math­

ematicians, computer scientists, toxicologists

and psychologists .

Beyond the campus borders, Guelph can­

cer researchers also work with larger groups

in Canada and abroad. OVC is the first

Canadian member of the U.S. National

Cancer lnstitute's Comparative Oncology

Trials Consortium. Under that network of

20 schools, experts co-operate in clinical tri­

als and studies of new therapies for treating

cancer in dogs and finding applications in

human cancer. Those kinds of comparative

cancer studies take place in several OVC labs

not far from the new animal treatment cen­

tre on College Avenue.

In her lab, Coomber is testing a com­

pound normally used for treating fungal

infections in dogs for possible use against mast

cell tumours. In humans, mast cells are

involved in immune responses such as aller­

gies rather than in cancer. In dogs, mast cell

tumours account for up to 20 per cent of

skin twnours and are the most conunon kind

of skin cancer. They're normally treated with

surgery, although clinicians may need to use

radiation or chemotherapy to treat tumours

that have spread to other parts of the body.

Coomber learned that an anti-fungal

drug may interfere with signalling pathways

used by mast cancer cells to co ntro l cell

growth and spread. The drug might cause

fewer side effects and be cheaper than stan­

dard treatments, but its benefits are far from

clear-cut. Studies even suggest that the drug

may end up enhancing rather than inhibit­

ing growth of cancer cells.

"We need to know th.is before we start

treating dogs with mast cell tumours with

this agent," says Coomber, "and our mast cell

cancer cell lines are ideal for these studies."

She maintains those cell lines taken from

surgical tumours in her lab as a bank for study­

ing potential therapies involving cell signalling

systems.These lines m.ight help in developing

treatment for cancer in pets and humans.

"Humans don't generally get mast cell

tumours, but what we find might be rele­

vant for human cancers that use the same

signalling pathways.We know so much about

human disease because of decades' worth of

fundam ental studies ."

Coomber adds that it's ironic how hard

it is to grow cancer cells directly from

tumours. "You'd think it would be the eas­

iest thing in the world, but it's not."

Diagnostic tools She and other OVC facu lty are also work­

ing on a predictive test fo r potential use in

canine lymphoma. Lymphoma in dogs is one

of the most common types of ca ncer in

companion an imals ; it resembles non­

Hodgkin's lymphoma in people.

Canine patients with th.is disease under­

go chemotherapy involving multiple rounds

of four drugs. In about 80 per cent of dogs,

this treatment leads to complete remission

of the ca ncer, measured by shrinkage of

lymph nodes to normal size. But about half

of those dogs w ith complete remission will

suffer a relapse within six months and will

need new treatment.

Second-line therapies exist to treat dogs

that fail to achieve remission and those that

relapse and develop resistance to existing

drugs . Currently, all dogs are treated using

the standard approach; second-line therapies

are used when that approach fails .

Clinicians need a better way to tell soon­

er which dogs will have a longer remission

and which ones will have a short remission

or no ne at all, says C oo mb er. Certain

molec ules called biomarkers can help in

predi ctin g disease outcome o r respo nse

to therapy. Cancer researchers are loo king

for reliable biomarkers that can be easily

1neasured and help to improve treatment.

One such biomarker has been developed

by Rna Diagnosti cs , a company based in

Toronto. In a clinical trial with human breast

cancer patients sponsored by the National

Cancer Institute of C anada, the company

showed that its assay can pinpoint which

pati ents will not respond to their

chemotherapy. The Guelph team will te t irs

use fo r predicting relapse in dogs with lym­

phoma receiving the convencional drug pro­

tocol at the Mona Campbell centre. Coomber ays a rouane d1agnomc test

fo r therapy re pon e would help clrnicians

decide earlier whether ro u e the tandard

drug cocktail for a pamcular animal or

switch ro another rrearrnenr.

She's also running a new rumour bank

she established at the cancer centre. The bank

stores tumour and normal ci ue from ur­

gicaJ pati ents - mostly dogs - as well a

blood and urine. T he samples are bemg

sto red fo r po tential research by scienn t

around the world studying animal or human

disease. They mi ght want to look at b10-

markers, altered genes or proteins; study sig­

naJJin g pathways; or design clinical srudies.

"We have to try to imagine the research

world of the future," says C oomber.

Kaya Skowronski , a form er PhD student

ofCoomber's, runs the bank and co-ordinates

clinical trials at the cancer centre. No com­

parabl e fac ili ty exists in another Canadian

veterinary school, but in the United States,

tumour and normal tissue from dogs is held

by the Canin e Comparative O ncology and

Genomic Consortium in Bethesda, Md.

Treatment regimens Fighting the spread of cancer in the body is

part of the goal of studies by biomedical sci­

ences professor Alicia Viloria-Petit.

"M ost patients don 't die of the primary

tumour but die after the tumour migrates

to and colonizes distant organs ," she says.

She studies how tumour cells change to

allow metastasis and hopes to develop more

Sull1111er 2013 13

effective treatment for advanced breast can­

cer. In Canada, one in nine women will

develop breast cancer during their lifetime,

and one in 29 will die of the disease.

Before corning to Guelph in 2009,Vilo­

ria-Petit worked on breast cancer metasta­

sis as a post-doc at Mount Sinai's Samuel

Lunenfeld Research Institute in Toronto.

There, researchers had learned how a mol­

ecule called transforming growth factor beta

(TGFb) changes the cell 's shape to promote

tumour cell migration and metastasis. Last

year she was part of a team that discovered

that nucrovesicles made and secreted by nor­

mal cells near a tumour affect cancer's abil­

ity to spread to other body tissues. She says

doctors might be able to target proteins in

th ese microvesicles to halt cancer spread.

That study was published in the journal Cell

in late 2012. " It's an important example of how the environment of the tumour co n­

tributes to metastasis ."

She's also looking at howTGFb helps

cause angiogenesis. That process allows a

tumour to sprout new blood vessels to gain

nutrients and oxygen. Hitting the common

signalli ng networks activated by this protein

in endothelial and tumour cells might pro­

vide a one-two punch, she says.

"We want to target and simultaneously

block what happens in tumour cells to pro­

mote metastasis and what happens in

endothelial cells to promote angiogenesis."

Many researchers work on one process

or the other, but Viloria-Petit aims to under­

stand both. She hopes to figure out how to

disrupt the entire signalling network con­

trolled by TG Fb. Besides breast cancer, this

molecule is involved in tumour types such

as colon and prostate cancer. She works with

cell cultures using OVC's stored dog cell

lines and collaborates with Toronto col­

leagues using robotic screening to identify

different signalling molecules connected to

and modulated byTGFb.

Signalling in bone cancer is another focus

of her lab.A particular problem in larger dog

breeds such as greyhounds, osteosarcoma is

highly metastatic and resistant to therapy. For

dogs treated with both surgery and

chemotherapy, only 30 per cent will survive

for two years. In people, current therapies

prolong life in only 30 per cent of patients.

Osteosarcoma cells can produce large

amounts ofTGFb proteins, and bone cells are

14 THE PORTICO

the biggest source of this protein in the body.

Viloria-Petit is using an osteosarcorna bank

containing specimens of tumours from dogs

treated at OVC, as well as cell lines derived

&om those tun10urs. Along with pa tho biolo­

gy professor GeoffWood and clinical studies

professor Tony Mutsaers, she studies proteins

expressed in those cell Ii nes and their con­

nection to metastasis and therapy resistance.

Connecting protein expression with

patient survival and metastasis nught help sci­

entists develop drugs to target those proteins,

she says. Having access to OVC's anin1al can­

cer centre helps in drawing those connections.

" I hadn't been exposed to veterinary

patients before I came to Guelph," says Vilo­

ria-Petit, who studied biology and inummol­

ogy in Venezuela and did her PhD at the

University ofToronto. Her grandfather died

of metastatic lung cancer when she was 14.

"That was my first contact with metastatic

disease; it intrigued me a lot. I couldn't

understand how something that started in

his lung ended up in his brain."

Models of disease Following veterinary studies at OVC, Geoff

Wood studied cancer biology for his PhD

and for a D.VSc. split between Guelph and

his supervisor's labs at two Toronto hospi­

tal . He also worked at the Toronto Centre

for Phenogenomics, where researchers use

genetically engineered nuce to study a range

of diseases . He returned to Guelph in 2007

to study bone cancer.

Wood says dogs provide a more real-life

look at cancer, particularly human forms of

the disease. "Certain sponta neous tumours

in dogs are very good models of disease .

Until recently, we lacked a good model for human bone cancer."

Working with tumour samples from the

animal cancer centre, he uses whole-genome

chips containing thousands of dog gene sam­

ples to search for changes linked to bone

cancer. So far, he has pinpointed several pos­

sible culprit genes in comparative studies of

mouse, dog and human genomes.

Wood is also looking at tissue samples to

study metastasis, specifica ll y by studyi ng

geneti c changes between primary tumour

cells in bone and "met" cells in the lung.

He's found at least one gene associated with

post-chemotherapy survival . That's impor­

tant for clinicians and pet owners deciding

on treatment options, he says .

Wood's interest in cancer stems from

pathology classes taken during hi s DVM

studies. He was intrigued by the complicat­

ed mix of enviroru11ental, dietary and genet­ic factors involved in the disease.

Retunung to Guelph made sense for two

key reasons , he says. One draw was the

planned animal cancer centre, a tangible sign

of a growing ca ncer biology community

embodied in ICC!. "There's a good con­

nection between the clinic side and research

- the barriers here are a lot less than in a

human hospital."The other compelling fac­

tor was Guelph 's new Pathobiology/ Aiumal

Health Building, which opened in late 2010.

Vaccine therapy A similar path took pathobiology professor

Byram Bridle from stud ies at Guelph into

research elsewhere and then back to U ofG.

A cancer inummologist, he returned in 2012,

bringing hopes of developing a cancer vac­

cine that would use the body's inm1une sys­

tem and viruses to fight the disease.

His idea rests partly on so-called oncolyt­

ic viruses, which prefer to invade cancerous

cells rather than normal ones. It ni.ade sense

to use these viruses to get rid of cancer, he

thought. But how to surmount the body's

inunune system, normally primed to find and

destroy such invaders' His answer: make the

viruses and immune system work together.

First, vaccinate a patient with proteins

taken from the tumour to prime the

immune system . Then inject an oncolytic

virus modified with the gene for that pro­

tein. That would trigger the immune system

to attack the protein , including the original

tumour, while the virus is left intact to

invade the cancer cells. Having obtained

proni.ising results in ni.ice, Bridle now plans

to work with dogs and cats as the next step

toward testing this seek- and-destroy

approach in people.

For both the immune system and viruses,

a hallmark is their specificity, he says. "We can

both kill tumour cells wi th high specificity

and leave the normal cells alone."With this

approach, doctors would not have to pinpoint

the precise location of the tumour target and

could treat patients without the toxic side

effects of other forms of therapy, he says.

This work effectively turns Bridle's grad­

uate studies on end. For his PhD with

pathobiology professor Bonnie Mallard, he

looked at ways not to ramp up the immune

system but to dampen it. He studied xeno­

transplantation , where the challenge is to

effectively fool the body into accepting a

foreign tissue graft . His interest stemmed

from his mother's experience with lupus, a

systemic autoimmune disease.

With cancer, he says, "it's completely the

opposite.You want to get an autoimmune

response to kill the cancerous 'self' but not

the normal 'self."'While completing his doc­

torate at Guelph, his grandfather di ed of

metastatic melanoma . That experi ence

helped direct his interests: "Through your

job, you can do something about problems

with a real negative impact on life."

Guelph offers him acces ro companion

animals for veterinary clinical trials. A. an

artifi cial model, engineered mice take a resea rcher only so far. he ay ·. Dogs hare

our home . em·ironmenc. water. e\·en food

- all prm·iding a more real-life model for

human di ease.

·· rts a real advantage for us to work with

companion animals as an imermediate,' ' says

Bridle, who ca me ro U of G from a post­

doc at McMaster University. He's also part

of the Ontario R egional Bio-Therapeutics

program run by the Ontario Institute fo r

Cancer Research in Toronto.

Cancer biotherapies such as oncol yti c

viruses are a promising field , although still a

fairly small piece of the treatment picture and

one that will probably complement rather

than replace conventional treatments, at least

for now. Canada is one of the world leaders

in oncolytic viri:ises, he says, noting that many

Canadians are among the organizers and

speakers at an international meeting on the

topic taking place this year in Quebec City.

Bridle is also involved with a study of the

virus that causes Newcastle disease in poul­

try as a cancer therapy; that work involves the

Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre in

Hamilton, Ont. Being at Guelph allows him

to work with poultry experts in the Animal

Health Laboratory on campus and in both

OVC and the Ontario Agricultural College.

And, of course, he's now looking at

opportunities with the hands-on experts at

U of G's brand-new cancer centre just a short

walk from his office. 'Tm a basic researcher.

What I get excited about is the opportuni­

ty to work with clinician scientists ." •

U of G researchers study many aspects of cancer

P rots. Brenda Coomber, biomedical

sciences, and Paul Woods, clini­

cal studies, launched U of G's Insti­

tute tor Comparative Cancer Investigation

(ICCI) in 2007. The group integrates the

work of more than 30 cancer researchers,

not just in the Ontario Veterinary College

(OVC) but from across campus.

ICCI aims to improve pet health, pro­

mote interdisciplinary cancer research, and

train new cancer specialists and scientists.

Beyond disease in companion animals, it

also promotes comparative studies

between animals and humans.

Since 2008, ICCI has run a summer

cancer research symposium on campus.

The event showcases U of G investigations

into numerous aspects of the disease from

basic science to clinical therapies to social,

emotional, philosophical and ethical facets

of cancer.

The annual event has attracted facul­

ty members and students from all four

OVC departments: biomedical sciences,

clinical studies, pathobiology and popu­

lation medicine. OVC researchers have

looked at various topics in animal cancer,

including the following:

• Molecular genetics of bone cancer

• Palliative treatment for bone cancer

in dogs

• Leukemia in horses

• Factors affecting referral to specialty

oncology services

• Colorectal cancer proteins

• Mast cell tumour therapy

• Hyperglycemia and ovarian cancer

• Viral factors in lung cancer

• Quality of care for oncology patients

• Feline cancer and limb paralysis

• Viral causes of tumours in sheep

• Radiation, surgery and

chemotherapy for dogs

• Anti-angiogenic cancer treatment

• Tumour regression

• Guelph cancer registry for

companion animals

• Prostate cancer progression

• Growth factors in lung cancer

• Client expectations in cancer

treatment

• Mammary cancer metastasis

• Dog and mouse cancer models

• lmmunotherapy

• Quality of life in animal cancer

patients

A number of researchers outside the

veterinary college have also discussed

their studies during ICCI gatherings.

Guelph cancer researchers include

experts in mathematics and statistics,

plant science, molecular biology, psy­

chology, philosophy, human health and

nutrition, family studies, food science

and computer science. Among their

research interests are the following:

• Cell signalling pathways and proteins

• Gut pathogens and colorectal

cancer

• Plant nutrients, medicines and

colon cancer

• Niacin supplements

• Omega-3 fatty acids and breast

cancer

• Economic evaluation of cervical

cancer prevention

• Proteins and signalling networks in

breast cancer

• Tumour growth and cell death

• Biomarkers of cancer progression

and metastasis

• Health services for men with cancer

• Food group combinations and

anti-cancer properties

• Cannabinoids for vomiting and

nausea

• Chemotherapy drug pumps

• Computer analysis of protein in cell

cycle regulation

• Psychosocial aspects of cancer

• Cell adherence and migration

• Nutrients as anti-tumour agents

• DNA modification in cancer treatment

• Reflections on loss and death

http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/icci/

Discussions about global warming were just starting when a

federal deputy minister called Barry Smit

in 1978 for help in analyzing the impacts

of rising temperatures on Canadian agri­

culture. By then, Smit had been a geogra­

phy professor at the University of Guelph

for only two years. He has been at it ever

since, and has had a front-row view of the evolution of the climate change debate.

Smit was anlong the first researchers

to investigate the "human face" of climate

BY LORI BONA HUNT PHOTO BY DEAN PALMER

change, or the effect of rising tempera­

tures on people, communities and culture. "I can recall the earliest Canadian think

tanks: there were climatologists, oceanog­

raphers, meteorologists - and me. I was

the lone person in those meetings look­

ing at the social and economic aspects."

Today, in Canada and abroad, his

name connotes research on climate

change impacts and human adaptation. Smit's work has taken him to 68 coun­

tries and dozens of towns and villages in

some of the most remote and underde­

veloped regions of the world. He's writ­

ten books and numerous research articles,

taught hundreds of students, attended

prestigious international conferences and

gatherings, and advised organizations,

governments and world leaders.

He's been a member of the United

Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Cli­

mate Change (JPPC) since its establish­ment 25 years ago. The first IPPC report,

published in 1990, sparked international

negotiations that led to the adoption of

the 1992 UN Framework Convention

on Climate Change and, later, the Kyoto

Protocol. Smit was a lead author of the panel's 2007 report, the same year that he

and the IPPC team shared the Nobel

Peace Prize with environmental activist

and former U.S. vice-president Al Gore.

Smit has held the Canada Research

Chair in Global Environmental Change

for a decade, a position that recognizes

him as a world leader in his field. He has

brought grants and contracts worth more

than $15 million to the University, and

received the Order of Ontario, the

province's highest honour.

After nearly four decades at U of G,

Smit is packing up his Hutt Building

office for retirement this fall. But he has no plans to disengage from research or

debate about the world's rising temper­

atures and Canada's role in dealing with

climate change.

He says Canada has gone from being

an international leader on climate change

to watching nations in Scandinavia and

elsewhere pass it by as they invest in new

ways to meet their Kyoto targets and

diversify their economies. "We seem to be

going backward on the climate change

file," he says. "They are leading edge, and

we are back in the donkey era, sticking to

our old visions of energy and resources,

and not benefitting from more efficient

and sustainable technologies and practices.

"It's frustrating to see such limited

progress in Canada, let alone among nations

of the world. Instead of providing incen­

tives for people to emit less greenhouse gas because it causes harm to everyone, we

seem to be in a race, one country against

another, to emit as much as we can because

we believe it's good for economic growth.

Short-term economic interests seem to be

trumping everything."

Smit acknowledges that the cost of

mitigating climate change would be sig­

nificant. He points to a respected eco­

nomic analysis that estimates slowing or

stopping climate change would cost

about two per cent of global gross

domestic product (GDP) annually. "That's

huge, it's trillions of dollars."

However, the same analysis found

that, if nothing is done, problems caused

by climate change would cost upwards

of20 per cent of global GDP each year.

"So from a simple cost-benefit point of

view - not even considering how peo­

ple's lives or the state of the environment

are being affected - it clearly makes sense

to do something," he says, "but we can­

not seem to agree, even on principle,

about what to do, even though the costs

and risks are serious."

The problem lies in convincing gov­

ernments, organizations and ordinary

people to view climate change in both

the short- and the long-term, and to con­

nect the issue to other global challenges.

"We need to understand our social and

political systems and how they relate to

decision-making and environmental pol­

icy in order to identify ways to operate on

this Earth and do a better job than we are

currently," he says. "This means that we

need to know as much fi:om social science,

political science and economics as we do

about biology, chemistry and the physical

sciences. We need to utilize all of the

disciplines instead of pooh-poohing dis­

ciplines that are different from our own."

Doing things in new ways can be dif­ficult - a lesson Smit learned firsthand.

In the late 1970s, he created a numeri­

cal model to predict effects of climate

change on agriculture. That's when the

federal government called and asked him

to plug in possible climate scenarios and

then discuss the results in meetings with

interested groups across Canada.

"The model was based on what peo­

ple sitting around an office thought

might be important, based on our sci­

ence, not what people on the ground

thought was important. It did not con­

nect with reality." One day in New

Brunswick, "we were talking to a room

of about 100 farmers, telling them: 'Here

is the future with climate change, and

here is what you should do when that

happens.' After 20 1ninutes, half the room

had left and the other half had fallen

asleep. We were so out of touch. It was

an important lesson for me."

That's when Smit changed his

approach. "I began to look at how peo­

ple experience changes. Now, we do not

assume what matters to people; we find

that out and use it to guide our research

and outreach."

He focuses on the "front lines" of

global warming: the world's most vul­

nerable communities whose livelihoods

and lives are threatened by rapid and

traumatic changes. Such places are bear­

ing the brunt of a problem they did not

cause, Smit says, and are sentinels of a sort

for the rest of the planet. "We have to

acknowledge but not condone climate

change and figure out how the Earth's

inhabitants are adapting. Som.e adaptive

strategies are effective; others are doomed

with ongoing changes in climate."

Backed by research grants from agen­

cies such as the Social Sciences and

Humanities Research Council of Cana­

da, Smit has travelled the globe, ofi:en with

graduate students in tow. Sometimes those

students stay and live with the people they

are studying. Many of those students are

now his research collaborators. His

approach reqmres dedication and

patience : "You have to get people to

accept and trust you, so you must follow

the rules of their culture. l t's the only way

to open the door for the communication

that is necessary for our research."

Geography provided a good training

ground, allowing Smit to work across

boundaries and mix the natural, social

and physical sciences. Growing up in

New Zealand, he was only the second

person in his high school to attend uni­

versity. "I didn't have a clue what I want­

ed to study. 1 was a babe lost in the

woods, but I've always loved the out­

doors. I also loved to draw. Once I found

out that in geography, you could present

material by drawing maps and diagrams

- well, it seemed a good enough reason."

After studies at the University of

Auckland, he applied to graduate schools

in the United Kingdom, United States

and Canada . He received several offers

but chose McMaster University after

receiving a personal reply from a profes­

sor there. "It became a model for me;' he

says, adding that he replies personaJJy to

students who apply to work with him.

To give his own students real-world

context, Smit illustrates his courses with

case studies, photos, data and stories from

his international fieldwork. "The students

reaJJy welcome the personal experiences,

especiaJJy my graduate colleagues. They are also attracted to the topic of climate

change and know a lot about the issue,

and that gives me hope.

"In Canada, we have a generation for

whom climate change is real. They 've

grown up with the evidence; it's part of

the school curriculum, so to them, argu­

ing that it is not real is as stupid as saying

the world is flat. The nature of the debate

is changing for this generation."

He says history provides both a les­

son and foresight. "If I went back in time,

say, 30 years ago, and walked into a board

meeting, half of the people would be

s1noking.And ifl told them, 'Hey, in the

future no one will be allowed to smoke

in meetings; they would have said, 'Are

you nuts? What are you talking about?"'

As with tobacco, says Smit, so with

climate change. "The truth is so power­

fully compelling, and eveiy day it's accept­

ed by more people who will start to

demand more and more changes. Soon

it will be very difficult for political lead­

ers to not take meaningful action."

That change is one reason why Smit

is retiring. "There are so many people

studying cli1nate change now, it's beyond

my abihty to even comprehend all that

is going on. Some people are doing

things sinUlar to our work, and others are

doing stuff I never even imagined try­

ing." He plans to spend more time read­ing, volunteering, getting fit, cooking and

entertaining, and working on his golf

game. But he will continue to study, col­

laborate and consult in climate change

and sustainable development. •

Barry Smit says the world 's

most vulnerable communities

bear the brunt of global warm­

ing. His visits include, clock­

wise from left: Kenya, Arctic

Bay, Nigeria, Bangladesh,

Chile, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

-.

BY SUSAN BUBAK PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTIN SCHWALBE

"PJ's is a restaurant, but it's also a laboratory. Every class is asked to rethink how we produce our product."

"Straws suck," reads a T-shirt worn by

Prof. Bruce McAdams, School of Hospi tali ­

ty and Tourism Management. "Not everyone

gets it," he aclm.its of the pun, but they would

if they had a meal at PJ's Restaurant, where

straws have been banned to reduce waste.

It's just one of many steps the student-run

restaurant has taken to reduce its carbon foot­

print in an industry often criticized for its

unsustainable practices. Think shark fin soup,

which you also won't find on PJ's menu.

ln fact, some of the seafood at Pj's is so

local, it's raised on campus . Just take a walk

over to the Aquaculture Centre, where

extensio n programs designed to aid fish

farmers also produce Arctic char destined

for PJ's plates.

The restaurant's green initiatives are part

of the University of Guelph Sustainable

Restaurant Project (UGSRP), which began

in May 2011 . " lt started with the objective

of incorporating more about sustainability

in the curriculum," says Prof. Mike von Mas­

s ow, School of Hosp itality and Tourism

Management. "When we started, the focus

in the sustainable res taurant project was on

environmental sustainability, and it was a big

part of getting srndenrs aware of issues in

sustainability in food service."

Earlier this year, Pj's received level 2 cer­

tification from Leaders in Environmentally

Accountable Foodservice (LEAF) for its

commitment to sustainability. Even before

Summer 2013 19

In 2012, PJ's was named among Canada's 24 "greenest" restaurants by Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Food S

Portion control: Food Save twice: Buy No trucking: U of G Reduce: A 300-seat, Reuse: Using bottled

waste at PJ's is 11.5 per energy-efficient students helped preserve full-service restaurant milk eliminates non-

cent overall; making fries equipment and wash 500 pounds of tomatoes uses about one million biodegradable plastic

an option dropped it to your own linens.

eight per cent.

the restau rant received the cer tifi cati on,

LEAF named it one of the top 24 sustain­

able restaurants in Canada.

Sustainability is a buzzword that means

different things to different people. UGSRP

takes a three-pronged approach to sustain­

ability, looking at it from environmental ,

economic and social perspectives.

Von Massow and McAdams aren't afraid

to get their hands dirty in the name of sus­

tainability. "We did the glamorous j ob of

scraping plates and weighing food waste,"

says von Massow. As part of their food waste

study at PJ's, they weighed each plate of food

before it was served and after it came back

to the kitchen. "That is food we pay for, food that can never be repurposed," he adds. Food

waste is not only bad for the environment

- resources get thrown out along with th e

food - it 's bad for a restaurant's bottom line.

PJ's food is prepared from scratch by stu­

dents in the res taurant operations course

taught by chef Simon Day. H ere, students

take turns working as manager, servers and

kitchen staff.

"They're working in an environment

that's a sustainably conscious environment,"

says McAdams. That's why the students have

a vested interes t in knowing what part of

th e meal th ey serve is not being ea ten -

almost 11.5 per cent of the food comes

20 TH E PORTICO

last fall and cut trans- litres of water per year; packaging.

portation-heavy garnish- more than half of it is

es like lemons and limes. fiushed down the toilet.

back. " I believe that custo mers are tell ing

you something when th ey're not eating it,"

adds von Massow.

Sandwiches served with fri es produced

the most waste at the res taurant, usually in

the form of bread, fri es or both. One solu­

tion was to make the fries optional, which

cut th e orders for fries in half and dropped

food was te overall to eight per cent.

Although selling fewer fries mea ns fewer

fries end up in the garbage, th e restaurant

also makes less mon ey, so prices need to be

adjusted elsewhere on the menu . Sustain­

ability also means economic sustainability.

Portion size isn't necessarily to blame for

food waste, he adds, because th e largest and

most calorific meal on PJ's menu - the fi sh

and chips - produces only about five per

cent waste. Students learn what custom ers

like and don't like and adjust the m enu

accordingly. Even changing the garnish from

kale to a carrot stick, which most customers

would prefer to eat, can reduce waste.Von

Massow says, "We look at what we're offer­

ing and how we can change it to continue

to give people a positive dining experience

and reduce the waste."

Not only did PJ's elim.inate straws, it also

stopped serving lemon and lime wedges

with beverages because that spritz of citrus

comes from fruit that was transported sev-

eral thousand kilometres. All of the beer and

wine served at the restaurant is local, and the

organic milk co mes from a local fa rm in

reusable g.lass bottles .

When preparing menu items, students are

required to do a life cycl e analysis to deter­

mine how the food was produced, packaged

and transported. Kitchen scraps and plate

waste are composted on-site. Used cooking

oil is coll ected and sold to a company that

uses it to make biofuel. PJ's also purchased a

washer and dryer so that linens and un.iforms

can be laundered on-site. Even some of the

restaurant's furniture came from a local hotel

that was undergoing renovations.

All of th ese steps are teaching students

about sustainability. "We've achi eved some

remarkable things in terms of the learning

that students get," says von Massow. " It's mak­

ing a difference. You talk to them and they

say, 'This has never occurred to me before.'"

Students also get course credit for doing

independent study proj ects on issues facing

th e food service industry.Von Massow says

those issues often stem from aski ng restau­

rant owners one simple questi on : "What

keeps you awake at night?"

One student project is looking at the per­

ception of the food service industry as an

employer. "We realize tl1at in our industry, we

are often losing people at a young age because

rvice, an environmental and sustainability certification program for the Canadian food service industry.

Recycle: Much of the

paper, plastic, metal and

glass that comes through

a restaurant's back door

can go out again o e

recycling btn.

No straws, no bottles:

An estimated 2.4 m ion

tonnes of plastic are

used wor1dwide to bottle

wa er each year.

Happy staff: Tipping is

optional at PJ 's, but tips

received are pooled for a

student party.

Offer options: PJ's

offers a low-sodium pas­

ta dish that contains only

380 milligrams of sodium.

Compost: Plant waste

is composted on-site at

PJ 's, reducing the volume

of waste headed for

landfill and cutting the

cost of garbage pickup.

of 1s ue uch as wages and work environ­

ments and e:'l.-pecrations," says McAdams, who

teaches a fourth-yea r course on hospital ity

operations planning. T he course includes a

case study of an environmental issue fac ing

th e res taurant industry. T his summ er, a

research ass istant will produce a discuss ion

paper on takeout packaging.

U GSRP 's resea rch on sustainabili ty not

only enhances student learning but also ben­

efi ts restaurant owners by addressing concerns

such as how to save money, reduce waste and

keep empl oyees happy. "One of the thin gs

that we think is important is contributing to

the discussion in the industry," says von Mas­

sow. T hat means making U GSRP's research

accessible th rough industry events and trade

j ournals instead of only publishing it in aca­

demic j ournals, which he admits restaurant

owners don't have time to read .

On the social side of smtainability, von

Massow and McAdams hosted a fo rum on

tipping practi ces in April. "Tips have been

studied extensively at the consumer-server

interface," says von M assow. "What has had

considerably less attention is: What does that

dynami c mea n for th e w hole restaurant?

What does it mean fo r the manager of the

restaurant? What does it mean for the rela­

tionship between those working i11 the front

of the house, who are getting tips, and the

back of the house, who aren 't?"

U GSRP 's foc us on social sustainability

also includes the heal th of restaurant patrons,

which can be affected by the foods they ea t.

As waistlines grow along with portion sizes,

more din ers are asking fo r healthier menu

options. C hef Day incorporated nutriti on­

al-analysis software into th e curriculum fo r

the restaurant operations course so students

could display the nutritional content of each

item on their menu : calories, good and bad

fats, protein and sodium levels.

PJ's menu often in cludes a low-sodium

mea l, a decision the res taurant made long

before sodium levels were making headlines.

" ! expect it 's going to make a difference on

peopl e's choices," says von Massow. "Once

people change their choices, it changes what

we offer them." A low-sodium pasta dish at

PJ's has only 380 milligrams of sodium, com­

pared to some fas t-food meals that contain

more than a day's worth of sodium: 1,500

milligrams fo r adults.

Teaching students how to prepare healthy

meals also boosts their j ob prospects after

graduation. " It doesn 't just allow these stu­

dents to effect change once they're out

working," says von M.assow, " it also allows

them to have a competitive advantage in the

marketplace."

As part of its focus on health , PJ's serves

as much local food as possible when it 's in

seaso n. Even during the winter months,

you 'll find local fo od on the menu in the

fo rm of preserved tomatoes, beets, garlic and

pi ckles g row n o n campus at the Gu elph

Centre fo r Urban Organic Farming. Pre­

serving food for the winter months is a cen­

turies-old prac tice, and it's just as rel evant

today as "locavores" dem and fo ods that

require minimal transportation.

"The obj ective was to come up with a

program that communicated that you can

extend the growing season," says von Mas­

sow, who alon g with Andria Baxter and

Madison Hurst, bo th fourth-year students

in hotel and food administration, preserved

500 pounds of to matoes from the Elmira

Produce Auction last fall . The tomatoes are

cheaper to preserve than purchasing canned

tomatoes, and th ey contain abo ut 80 per

cent less sodium.

T he stu dents intended to sell the pre­

served tomatoes on campus, but D ay pur­

chased all of the jars, which are now promi­

nently displayed in PJ's kitchen and served

in the restaurant.

"We actually had someone ask, 'Why are

you teaching students tliis 200-year-old tech­

nology?"' says von Massow. "Because there's

value in it.We don 't always need to do what's

new; we need to do what's right ." •

Summer 2013 21

W HEN C AR OLI NE L AURIN LUKAS took up her

new CBC position in Washington, D.C. , in 2008,

D emocratic candidates Hilary Clinton and Barack Oba­

ma were still fighting it out for the party nomination.

"Three weeks after I started, l was sent to Kentucky

to cover th e primary there," says Lukas. " l could see

Clinton was losing support, and soon after, Obama won

th e nomination. T hen on election night, I was sent to

Grant Park, w here Obama held his victory party. That

was the single most amazing experience of my life. The

feeling in the crowd, the electricity in the air - and when

he was declared the next president, it was like a wall of

sound going through the crowd. People were celebrat­

ing in th e streets. It 's a moment I will never fo rget."

She foll owed up that January by interviewing peo­

ple in th e National Mall on the day of Oba ma's inau­

guration. "There was such a sense of history. People stood

there waiting fo r hours and hours and hours just to see

the first African-American president being sworn in."

Lukas worked for CBC in Washington fo r a to tal of

fo ur years before leaving to take on a new position as

media relations manager at the Washington M etropol­

itan Area Transit Authori ty.

" My Life took a bit of a turn ,'' she says. ' 'I'd expect­

ed to stay with CBC and eventually move back to Cana­

da, but I met someone and got married. l knew this job

at D.C. Metro wouldn't be boring; transit is a real cor­

nerstone of life in the city."

Born in Montreal , Lukas moved to Brampton, Ont.,

when she was 11 and chose the University of Guelph

in part because it was "far enough away to live on ca1n­

pus and close eno ugh to visit my mom." She studi ed

criminal justice and publi c policy, thinking it would be

a good background fo r going into law.

H er career plans changed w hen she took a course

on women,justice and public policy with political sci­

ence professor Judith McKenzie. "She talked about how

policies affec t wo men and rea ll y got me fired up,"

remembers Lukas." ! decided that, if ! got into journal­

ism , I could report on injustice and the other topics I

was passionate about."

It was her background in political science, though,

that helped Lukas find her firs t job. She was studying jour­

nalism at Humber College when CBC decided to host

a panel of students to discuss the current election. "They

were looking fo r j ournalism students but wanted that

background, so I was able to get the job. Our show was

early on Sunday mornings. I don 't know how big the

audience was, but it got my foo t in the door," she says.

22 T HE P ORTI CO

S THE PLACE TO_B_E_

Soon she was hired as an assistant producer. "That

basically means finding guests to come in and talk about

th e issues of the day. It's very time-sensitive; you have

to think fas t and work effi ciently. Fortunately, l appar­

ently do my best work in a pressure cooker. Sometimes

it would be so quiet, then news would break and you'd

be running around with your hair on fire."

When a CBC j ob in Ottawa opened up, Lukas

appli ed and was hired. H er childhood years in M ontre­

al had made her flu ent in French, a big help in getting

that position.

" [ was coni.p letely immersed in all things political,"

she says ." ! remember going to press confe rences with

Stockwell Day and aski ng him questions while he tried

to ignore me. I also covered the Supreme Court, watch­

ing the cases and letting my producer know w hat the

signifi cant aspects were and whether a particular case

might matter to people in Halifax or Alberta, even if it

wasn't of national importance."

Just as that contrac t ca me to an end, Lukas applied

fo r the position in Washingto n. " If there was one place

[ wanted to go, it was Washington. I'm a politi cal junkie

and l am fasc inated by U.S. politics."

T hat hasn't changed, even though she's left the CBC.

Commenting on the 2012 presidential election, Lukas

says : "Barack O bama's re-electi on was viewed by many

as an endorsement by th e American people for his poli­

cies, and it 's given him the political capital to push his

age nda fo rward wi thout having to compromise. At a

time when there is gridlock in Congress, that's a good

positi on to be in."

Lukas is also still committed to social justice. With­

in three weeks of starting her new job with D. C. M etro,

she becam e awa re that sexual harassment of wom en

using public transit was a sign ificant problem. " I leapt on this," she says."! was named a co-chair of the task

fo rce, and we've developed a w hole campaign with a

website, posters, recorded ann oun cements and more

ways for people to report these incidents.The feedback

has been very positive, and I'm very proud of it. Nobody

should feel threatened or unsafe on our properties."

Lukas expects to apply fo r U.S. citizenship in a few

years but will maintain her Canadian citizenship as wel.I .

She comes back to Ontario frequently to visit family

and th e U of G campus. "The U niversity of Guelph

taught me to think critically and to prioritize," she says.

" It real.ly shaped who I became and set the stage fo r my

life. Deciding to enroll there was a great step fo r me."

BY TERESA PITMAN

I

el I

Caroline Laurin Lukas traded reporting for media relations at D.C. Metro. She says: "I knew this job wouldn 't be boring."

Summer 2013 23

-----1-___,___._.~lS MEET IN UNLIKELY PLACES, PAINT TABLEAU OF LIFE

In a life-drawing class in Hamilton, Ont., Guelph biology grad Doug Price strikes a pose for both amateur and professional artists.

S H E CAME FOR a three-year degree, finish ed it in

two years." l was really in a hurry," says Aleda (Scott)

O'Connor, BA '72. For Doug Price, the route to a biol­

ogy degree was long and rambling - even stumbling,

what with being on probation three times along the way

- and found its end only in 1998, two full decades after

he started .

Now, hare and tortoise have landed on opposite sides

of the drawing easel in a couple of art studios in Hamil­

ton, Ont. Two Guelph grads: one still working quickly

with her charcoal and watercolours, the other rendering

himself inm1obile as a model for life-drawing sessions.

O'Connor says she'd always been in a hurry. Grow­

ing up in Toronto in the 1950s and '60s, " I was always

24 THE PORTI CO

the oldest in my class, and it was important to get out

and be living."

She heard about U of G during childhood weekends

at her fanlliy's farmhouse north of the city. "The farm fam­

ilies there all knew Guelph;' she says. It wasn't agriculture

that attracted her but the chance at early admission.

Art school was a natural choice fo r O 'Connor, who

started painting as a youngster, encouraged by her father,

a doctor and neurophysiologist. Both he and her moth­

er, a zoologist, were amateur artists. But art school at

Guelph was not quite w hat she expected. H ere, she

encountered new ideas and approaches to art in a pro­

gram run by conceptualist Eric Cameron .

"That was completely beyond my experience to that

EXPERIENCES BY ANDREW VOWLES • PHOTOS BY WARD SHIPMAN

Drawing landscapes is her passion, but fine art grad Aleda O'Connor says sketching the human body helps her to really "see" shapes.

point. It was a bit of a shock. I was used to more tradi­

tional painting."

Her instructors included Gene Chu, Wal ter Bachin­

ski,John Filion and Helen Dow.Ask about Zavi tz Hall,

and she smiles. "Creaking floors, plaster. The basement

was the print studio. We used acid baths for copper etch­

ing." Painting classes were upstairs. "The attic was no­

nun's land ."

Two years later, O'Connor was out in the world, but

she wasn't sure what to do. " I realized I was probably

not going to make a living as a working artist , but I

wanted an art-related field . There was no question it was

rn.y favourite thing to do."

She spent a few months at a business college in Guelph,

married a U of G classmate and traded campus stories

with her brother,Jamie Scott, who graduated in 1979 \'.rith

a degree in geography.

The O'Connors moved to Prince Edward County,

where Aleda worked as a writer and photographer for

local newspapers for seven years. Both of her children

were born there. Eamonn now runs a Toronto film pro­

duction company; Kate is an art director for a Los Ange­

les advertising agency. The family lived 18 months in Ireland before moving

to Toronto, where the marriage eventually ended. Aleda

joined the communications department at the Ontario

English Catholic Teachers Association in 1981 and retired

as communications director in 2010.

Summer 2013 25

Throughout her career, she continued

drawing and painting after-hours. Original­

ly working with oil paints, she discovered oil

pastels about 20 years ago. " I wanted a line I

couldn 't get with a brush. I reached into a

box and pulled out a pastel stick. Suddenly it

was happening."

And it was happening out-of-doors.

"Landscape is my muse, the thing that speaks

to me most directly. It 's about light and the

interaction between light and surface and

atn10sphere."

O 'Connor has a111assed numerous pieces

drawn around so uthern Ontario - th e

Hw11ber River, Georgian Bay - and in N ew

Brunswick and N ewfoundland . She's also

painted in Ireland, Greece, Sicily, France and

M exico. While travelling, she uses mostly pen

and ink, working sometimes from photos,

sometimes en plein air. In 2012, she moved to HanUlton witl1 her

partner, Barry C oombs, an artist and art

teacher. She's shown her work in area gal­

leries and gotten acquainted with local artists,

including members oflife-drawing circles.

Those sessions are more for practice than

anything, she says. Flipping through an over­

sized newsprint pad containing ges ture

drawings and quick studi es, she says they're

an exercise in seeing and capturing shapes.

" I throw a lot of them out. I don't draw

those on good paper. I don 't think of them as

things to show." (www./aledaoconnor.word

press.com/)

Well after O'Connor had barnstormed

through U of G's art program , Doug Price

showed up at Zavitz H all one day around

1994. Not to draw but to model.

He had return ed to G uelph for unfin­

ished business . The eldest so n of a fami ly

do ctor in Hamilton , Price first arrived at

Guelph in 1978 to study biology. High

school had been hit-and-miss for him , and

so was his first run at university.

"After my first semester, my highest mark

was a 50," he says . Over the next five years,

he obtained only 20 credits.

Following whims, Price took on various

jobs around campus. H e was a cook in the

Massey Hall coffee shop and worked as an

elections poll clerk. In the University Cen­

tre, he helped set up and take down sound

and stage equipment for concerts and other

events. "I set up for Margaret Atwood once."

Those extracurricular activities distract-

26 TH E PORTICO

ed him from his studi es . Testin g later on

showed that he had attention deficit disor­

der, alth ough not until he had nearly co m­

pleted his degree. H e lived downtown with

several other students in rather sketchy sur­

roundings. One visitor's comment: "So this

is what a hippie house looks like."

Price packed up his 20 credits in 1983

and left ca mpus. H e cooked , did factory work, trave ll ed . H e planted trees with a

Guelph company, first locally, then up north

near the Ontario-Quebec border. H e still

spends part of the year planting, mostly in

conserva tion areas in southern Ontario.

After returning to U of G in 1993, he

learned that art classes needed models for life

drawing. It was a bit unsettling at first to strip

and pose nude, he says. Then he realized the

artists staring at him weren't staring at him.

They were seeing shapes and lines and angles.

M entioning his job still draws the odd

nonplussed reaction . "Other people think

you're not supposed to be naked, despite the

fact that we're born that way." H e figures

he's a bit like a barista at a cafe . " It 's weird

having people watch you make coffee."

That weirdness - and even the hint of

unspoken taboo - might have been part of

what attracted him in the fi rsr place. Now

he worries less about standing o r lying

around nude and more about providing a

compelling tableau for the artists.

Locked into a pose for up to half an

hour, he looks corn.posed. Inside, he's often

wondering: " ls this an interesting pose? Am

I doing it right?" Call it a kind of self-inflict­

ed test, a way of challenging himself.

" I like it because of the anxiety. It 's like

riding my bike: I've got to go up that hill.

Everybody has that stuff in them: they don't

beli eve they co uld do things. Maybe it 's

more extreme in me."

H e fini shed hi s studies in 1998, two

decades after he began. " I finally realized it

was a good idea to go to class ," he says. Fin­

ishing the program "was important because

I had trouble in sc hool - to prove that l

co uld do things ."

N ow he models abom 30 hours a week

during the academic year. He works not just

in Hamilton for informal artist gro ups but

also for formal classes at places such as the

Dundas Valley School of Art, Ryerson Uni­

versity, and Sheridan and George Brown col­

leges. H e modelled at Guelph until moving

back to Hamilton to help his elderly parents.

H e keeps himself in model shape

through yoga and cycling. For the past three

years, he has taken his bike each summer to

Colombia and Ecuador, where he rides for

up to 12 hours a day. H e's been visiting

South America for about 10 years .

From his home on ilie Hamilton Moun­

tain , he rides that well-travelled bike to low­

er-city studios for periodic modelling gigs.

In bo th places, he usually poses fo r a dozen

or more artists at a time.

Amo ng them is Ward Shipman, a high

school art and photography teacher in Hamil­

ton. When The Portico went looking for some­

one to catch both hare and tortoise to illus­

trate this feature, Shipman was an obvious

choice. (www.bluecanvas.com/ wshipman)

It also made sense to assign this story to

U of G writer Andrew Vowles, B.Sc. '84, a

long-time contributor to The Portico. Also a

H amilton resident, he's an amateur member

of those drawing groups as well. Guelph

grads drawn together, indeed. •

LOCATED IN THE YlLLAGE BY THE ARBORETUM ON STONE ROAD, EAST Of GORDON STREET

Opening__ '<flzis I uummer.

The Village of Arbour Trails offers a full range of living and care support options all on one campus.

If your need for assistance changes, you can chose to move to another neighbourhood within the Village or

take advantage of additional living choices in your suite.

With our Main Street and Town Square, The Village of Arbour Trails has an internal

neighbourhood design that promotes a caring and cohesive community, independence

and on,going social engagement.

A '.7£e V,ffa_ye of s

RBOUR TRAIL A SCHLEGEL VILLAGE ~I

www.schlegelvillages.com 33 Bayberry Drive, Guelph, Ontario 226.251.3065

uof guelph

UGAA awards honour educator, economist, hospitality professional

T HE UNIVERSITY of Guelph

Alumni Association honours

three outstanding graduates

each year through its Awards of Excel­

lence program. The following alumni were honoured March 27.

ALUMNA OF HONOUR Barbara Arrowsmith Young is the

founder of the Arrowsmith School and

Arrowsmith program. A 1974 child studies graduate from U of G, she is a

pioneer in the field of neuroscience, and her work has transformed the lives

of children and adults living with learning disabilities.

At a young age, Young was diag­nosed with a learning disability that

caused her to struggle with reading,

writing and telling time. She also had a physical disability and was labelled, even by teachers, as "slow" and "difficult."

Through hard work and determi­nation, she finished high school and

earned a university degree. After grad­uation, she worked for two years as

head teacher in U of G's lab preschool, where she began to observe learning

differences in preschool children.

When she was 25 years old,Young

Spread Your Wings Gryphons: Get ready to explore the world

with U of G's new alumni travel program.

Plans are well underway for a series of

educational travel programs. Beginning

early in 2014, you can join like-minded

travellers and enjoy an educational expe­

rience as you visit some of the most

28 THE PORTICO

happened upon a book about neu­

ropsychology; there she saw her learn­

ing issues reflected in the story of a sol­dier with brain damage from a gunshot

wound. She sought out more research on neuroplasticity and began an exer­

cise program to change her brain. Through systematic use of flash cards

and mental exercises, she learned to understand text, recognize math logic

and improve her co-ordination.

In 1978, she began using her brain exercise program to help children with learning disabilities in an after-school

program. Two years later, she founded a private school to deliver programs to

children, adolescents and adults. The Arrowsmith program now runs in 40

schools in Canada, the United States and Australia.

Young also earned a master's degree

in school psychology from the Ontario

remarkable places in the world.

Travel with U of G to Tanzania; celebrate

the Panama Canal 's 1 OOth anniversary;

cruise the rivers of Holland and Belgium;

enjoy Sorrento, Italy; or commemorate the

70th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy,

France. For more details, visit

www.alumni.uoguelph.ca/travel.

Institute fo r Studies in Education at the

University ofToronto. In her interna­

tional bestseller, The Woman Who

Changed H er Brain , she offers her sto­

ry as in piration fo r people struggling with learning disorders.

ALUMNI VOLUNTEER AWARD Warren Jes tin is Scotiabank 's chief economist and senior vice-president.

Before j oining Scotiabank in 1979, he

spent a number of years working in the research department at the Bank of

Canada and teaching economics at sev­

eral Canadian universities.

He graduated from U of G in 1971

with a master's degree in economics and received a doctorate from the Uni­

versity ofToronto in 1977. Jestin is a committed supporter of the

University of Guelph. He served on the

Board of Governors from 1997 to 2003,

I

was a trustee fo r the Heritage Trust,

chaired the advisory board of rhe Col­

lege of Management and Economi and

was the college's economist-in-residence.

He has conrribured ro chobnhips.

including the Warren Jestin chol.arlhip

in Canadian Economic Policy.This annu­

al scholarship recognizes rhe srudent wuh

the highest cumulative average m all courses related to economic policy.

Jestin belongs to the C.D. Howe

Institute's council on monetary policy

and has worked with economic policv

committees of the Canadian and

Ontario Chambers of Commerce and the Toronto Board ofTrade. H e i a

board member of the Markham- touf­

fville Hospital.

As chair ofScotiabank's sponsorship

and donations committee, he works

closely with Canadian charitable insti­

tutions.

J es tin 's extensive knowledge and

leading-edge research make him a pop­

ular public speaker and media com­

menta tor on economic issues.

ALUMNI MEDAL OF ACHIEVEMENT

icole Chuchmach is an accomplished

hospitality and tourism professional and

a philanthropic champion for colorec­

tal cancer awareness and research.

After graduation from the School

of H ospitality and Tourism Manage­

ment in 2002, she became a sales rep­

resentative with Gordon Food Services.

he put her professional life on hold,

however, when her mother was diag­

nosed with colorectal cancer.

Chuchmach started running as a way

to cope with her mother's illness and was

later inspired by her mother's strength to

launch Sophie's Run. The eight-week

run from Milton, Ont., to New York

City raised almost $200,000 for the Col­

orectal Cancer Association of Canada.

She shared her inspirational story at

the University's welcome for first-year

rudents during Orientation Week in E ;::

2009. She is now writing a book based ~

on her journals to help other young ~ adults heal from loss . 1Ji

After her mother's death, Chuch- ~ mach completed an MBA in hospital- ~ iry and tourism management. She 5 teaches in the School of Hospitality, ~ R ecreation and Tourism at Humber !'i

-0

College, and has taught distance edu- 6 (/Jo cation courses at U of G.

Too cool for school? Don't be too cool; come back to U of G

and cheer on the Gryphons at Home­

coming 2013. Alumni Stadium will host a

rematch of last year 's Yates Cup con­

tenders - the Guelph Gryphons vs. the

McMaster Marauders - Sept. 21 at 1 p.m.

Alumni Reunions, Campaign Gifts Remember U of G

E very summer, U of G grads gather to

celebrate their connection to their alma

mater. Alumni Weekend 2013, to be held

June 14 and 15, will be a memorable week­

end for our anniversary classes. We will host

several reunions on campus this year,

including our 50th-anniversary class of

1963. We are delighted that Martha Billes, B.H.Sc. '63, is serving as honorary chair of

Alumni Weekend. She is director of Cana­

dian Tire Corp. and chair of Jumpstart, the

company's national charity that helps finan-

cially disadvantaged kids participate in orga­

nized sport and recreation.

She is also the first Mac alumna to serve

as honorary chair for U of G's reunion week­end festivities .

I am happy to report that we have raised

$150 million of our $200-million goal for The

BetterPlanet Project. Almost 16,000 grads

have given to the campaign. This record­

breaking generosity is a testament to the

commitment of our graduates. Thank you

for your support.

We look forward to celebrating with grads

and friends during Alumni Weekend 2013. For

information on our activities, please visit

www.alumni.uoguelph.ca.

JASON MORETON

ASSISTANT VICE-PRESIDENT,

ALUMNI ADVANCEMENT

Summer 2013 29

COMING EVENTS June 14 and 15 • Alumni Week­

end. See page 37 for details.

June 17 • HAFA/HTM AA golf

tournament at the Royal Woodbine

Golf Course.

August • Countdown to Guelph.

Hometown volunteers are needed

to meet with local students headed

for U of G in September. Share your

campus experience and help these

incoming students make a smooth

transition to university.

*Aug. 5: Guelph at U of G campus

*Aug. 6: Hamilton at the Dave

Andreychuk Mountain Arena

*Aug. 8: Pickering at the Pickering

Recreation Complex

*Aug. 13: St. Catharines at the

Holiday Inn Parkway Conference

Centre

•Aug. 15: London at the Earl Nichols

Recreation Centre

*Aug. 18: Mississauga at the Mis­

sissauga Valley Community Centre

*Aug. 20: Kitchener/Waterloo at the

Stanley Park Community Centre

All Countdown events run 7 to 9

p.m. Contact Ryan Brejak at rbrejak

@uoguelph.ca.

Gryphon Football • Home

games in Alumni Stadium, 1 p.m.

*Aug. 25 • Gryphons host Laurier.

*Sept. 2 • Gryphons host Windsor.

*Sept. 21 • Homecoming 2013,

Gryphons host McMaster.

*Oct. 4 • Gryphons host York.

Full season schedule at

www.gryphons.ca.

Nov. 16 • Hockey Day in Gryphon­

ville. Contact Sam Kosakowski at

skosakow@uoguelph.ca.

For details of these and other

events, visit alumni.uoguelph.ca

or call 519-824-4120,

Ext. 58706.

30 THE PORTICO

Grads flip over College Royal

U of G graduates were out in full force at College Royal on March 16, including these grads

who spent the morning flipping pancakes in the University Centre. From left: UGAA presi­

dent Brad Rooney; vice-president, external, Rob Naraj; and director Elizabeth Thomson; as

well as Jason Moreton, assistant vice-president, alumni advancement.

Women's Gryphon Hockey grads gathered Jan. 26 for a reunion of players from the 1960s

to the 2000s. Fifty former players enjoyed a game of shinny and lunch at Gryphs Sports

Lounge, and watched the current women's team beat the Queen's University Gaels 7-2.

Plans are already underway for next year's reunion.

U OF G LOOKS AHEAD TO 2014

PLANS ARE UNDERWAY for the 2014 cele­

bration of Guelph's SOth year as a full

university. Celebratory events will highlight

the University's history and its achievements

since the Ontario Agricultural College, the

Ontario Veterinary College and Macdonald

Institute j oined forces in 1964.

R emember these 2014 dates: Jan. 4,

when a major U of G exhibit will open at

the Guelph Civic Museum; M ay 8, w hen

th e Board of Governors and the cam pus community will commemorate the Uni­

versity of Guelph Act of Incorporation; and

June 21, when Alumni Weekend will host a

modern-day conversat ball and open house.

Details to follow in T1ie Portico fall issue.

Find more U of G alumni news and events at www.alumni.uoguelph.ca

•• c

erPla e Pro1ect

From left: Maureen Mancuso, Bonnie Maclachlan, Brieanne MacKay and Richard

Maclachlan.

U of G donors invest in the future 0 F THE $ I 5 0 Ml LL I 0 N raised

toward the University's Better­

PJanet Proj ect fund raising goal of $200

million, 26 per cent has been directed

to student support. This translates into

900 new and continuing awards and an

immeasurable impact on th e students

who will benefit from them.

Recipients of some of those new

awards thanked donors in person at the

annual University-wide awards evening

held in February. In tota l, 70 under­

graduate and graduate awards were rec­

ognized. More than 300 people attend­

ed, including donors, student recipients,

fami ly members and friends.

The annual event also allows U of

G to thank donors - individuals, fam­

ilies, corporations and organizations -

for investing in these students.

Among donors at the event were

Bonnie and Richard MacLachlan, chil­

dren of the University's first president,

John D. Maclachlan.The MacLachlans

attended to celebrate the annual pre­

sentation of the J.D. acLachlan Schol­

arship. Although Bonnie has attended

several times, this wa Richard" fir t

trip back to campus in many years. As

the former president 's children, they

grew up on campus.

The annual scholarship honours

M acLachJan 's determination and lead­

ership in found ing the University of

Guelph in 1964, while maintaining the

identities of the Ontario Agricu l tural

College, the Ontario Veterinary Col­

lege and Macdonald Institute.

The]. D. MacLachJan Scholarship

recognizes the student entering the

University each fa ll with the highest

admission average . This year's award

went to Brieanne MacKay, a student in

the College of Biological Science.

Irene Thompson, d irector of student jl

housing, left, presented the Walter and Q 0

Helena Slabikowski Scholarship to first- g; -<

year student Melody Minhorst. The ~

award goes to a student whose parents :;;

immigrated to Canada and have never ~ participated in post-secondary studies. ~

Making memories

T here is a feeling you get, especially

after a long absence, while taking a

stroll around the campus. The memories

come streaming back as your feet take you

down fami liar paths to almost forgotten

places: Winegard Walk, Johnston Green,

Branion Plaza, the Keg and the AC.

My work with the University of Guelph

Alumni Association (UGAA) is full of surpris­

es and, in the past few months, I have expe­

rienced a strange, recurring phenomenon:

people recognize me. Whether at work, at

home or away, I meet grads who have read

a recent publication or seen my picture.

Each time, as we discuss either the Univer­

sity or the work of UGAA, the conversation

comes back to the same unstoppable

theme: they love the University of Guelph.

Alumni Weekend is an amazing time to

return to campus. If you haven't been back

in a while, you'll be overwhelmed and

delighted with the many improvements to

campus : the field house, the new engi­

neering building and the facelift to the Uni­

versity Centre. The updated Alumni Stadi­

um is primed for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats'

2013 season, and the athletics department

is raising money for a new athletic and recre­

ation centre. A new campus master plan is

complete and will take our old stomping

ground into the future, guaranteeing a place

for many more generations of students to

live, learn and love our University.

Come back this June and find out what

stories are waiting to be rediscovered!

BRAD ROONEY, ADA '93 AND

B.SC.(AGR.) '97

UGAA PRESIDENT

Summer 2013 31

university of guelph

SMALL THINGS CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE

Tom Affleck gets a hug from two Nicaraguan children who have been helped by SchoolBOX supply kits and building projects.

TOM AFFLECK has told the story

hundreds of times now. He was

travelling through Nicaragua after leav­

ing his job. "It was a difficult time in

my life," he says. Like many tourists,

he'd brought small gifts for the people

he met, and when he came across two

little girls in a small village, he gave

them each a notebook and a pencil.

Affleck recalls, "The father of one

girl smiled broadly and said, 'Now that

you have a notebook and a pencil, you

can go to school this year."' That

moment was a revelation for Affleck.

He had studied international devel­

opment at U of G and worked a few

years for a non-profit company in

x Guatemala and another in Peru, but

§ found his job in Nicaragua was no

8 longer a good fit. He was searching for I &l another way to contribute.

~ ''I'd been doing big projects," he f-

~ says, "but I saw the value of a practical, 0 ~ hands-on, grassroots approach to help

§ kids get an education."

iE Affleck returned home to Almonte,

32 THE PORTICO

Ont., and started SchoolBOX. "In our

first year we raised $8,000 to buy school

supplies for children in Nicaragua."

Those gifts empowered more than

1,000 children to attend classes.

Nicaragua, he points out, is the sec­

ond poorest country in the Western

Hemisphere. More than half the chil­

dren don't finish Grade 6, and many

families live on less than $1 a day.

As his fundraising efforts became

increasingly successful, Affleck saw that

there was also a need for school build­

ings in many communities. "We saw

schools being held in shipping contain­

ers in 40 C, or under a tree while the rain

came down." Since 2006, SchoolBOX

has built 40 classrooms in Nicaragua.

Four classrooms built in one com­

munity means that 118 children are now

attending school. Another school with

two classrooms was funded by U of G

students who raised more than $10,000.

As well as raising funds , up to 100

Canadian volunteers each year head to

Nicaragua to help with school projects.

SchoolBOX provides an engineer to

oversee the construction, materials and

volunteers; th e community provides

additional labo ur and the land; and the

Nicaraguan Ministry of Education pays

the teachers' salaries .

Affleck 's schoolbox.ca website

shares some of the stories of the 14,000

children who have been helped by the

charity. H e now has 12 staff and spends

about five months each year in

Nicaragua. He is working to create an

independent SchoolBOX Nicaragua

organization that will be run by

Nicaraguans. "We'll still provide fund­

ing, but they'll run the show," he

explains. Once that's set up, Affleck will

consider initiating a similar program in

South America.

And the two little girls? Now

teenagers, both are still in school; one

is planning to be a doctor and the oth­

er a veterinarian - big dreams that

started with the gift of a simple note­

book and pencil.

BY TERESA PITMAN

1950 • Bernard "Bernie ' Bren­

nan, DVM '51. ofKempr\-ille,

Ont. , was recently a pointed co the board of clrreccor5 -Rideau

Carleton Racewa) H ldmgs

Ltd. H e wa prenou. ly a co­

owner of the :\!CJ t.t .-\nimal

Hospital. H e was

owned numerous ho ing Cam Fella. Br nnan ha

served on the T nllium Founda­

tion, the Ontario Ra <" Com-

1960 • Ross Fitzpatrick DVM

'66, says it's a m;.'.i rid. While

vacationing m Gor.• na. Pana­

ma , in February. he met three

other Guelph graduates around

the villa swimmin_ pool: Doug Rapley, BA ·--:Joanne, 'eilsen,

BA '78; and Carl , 'eilsen, B.Sc.

'77. "Lots of remm1scing and

tale-telling we did," he says, "and

promises to meet again!"

1970 • Dermot McCann, BA '70,

ofVictoria, B.C., recently pub­

lished McCann's Shorts , a book

of stories in the tradition oflrish

storytelling. Born in Northern

Ireland, he inunigrated to Cana­

da at age three and lived in

Guelph from 1955 to 1993 .

Since graduating from U of G,

he has made a living as a

teacher, carpenter contractor.

artist and writer. Since 1995. he

has lived on a 41-foot sailboat

in Victoria's Inner Harbour. Find

out more about McCarm's book

at www.dermotmccann.com.

• Steven Oliver, B.Sc. '79, has

been working in the pharmaceu­

tical industry since graduation,

although he did find time to complete an MBA at McMaster

University He lives in Waterdown,

Ont., with his wife, Barbara, and

is a sales consultant for Fresenius­

Ka bi Canada. Thirty-four years

after graduation, Oliver says he

still misses daily life on campus .

"How lucky for me that my son,

Peter, is in second-year environ­

mental sciences. I attended the

miracle comeback football ganle

when the Gryphons defeated

Queen's in overtime last fall, and

I look forward to coming back

this year to take in Hamilton

Tiger-Cats games and cheer the

Gryphons on again."The Olivers

also have a daughter, Laura.

• John Pollock, BA '76, is looking for hockey players who

studied geography I earth sciences

at U of G between 1976 and

1980 to help form a team for

ovember's Alumni Intramural

Hockey Tournament. Their stu­

dent/ alumni children are also

welcome. "It will be a great time

to meet up with old friends,

classmates and roommates," says

Polloc k, who invites anyone

who wants to play hockey or

"just to catch up" to email him

at john@designasylum.ca."

• Catherine Saul says she is

happily married to fellow child

tudies grad Stephen Milligan,

both B.A.Sc. '79, and they now

have five grandchildren. She is a

upervisor for the Regional

Munici pality ofYork, working

\vith fanlliies who have children

with special needs. In her spare

time, she sings with her guitar­

playing husband and their son,

Luke, a drummer, in a local band.

• Davis Swan, BA '73, stud­

ied geography at U of G and

went on to earn a B.Sc. in geo­

physics at the University of

British Columbia. He worked

in the Calgary oil patch for

many years before returning to

Vancouver in 2007. At the end

of2012, he started a new job

with the B.C. Institute ofTech­

nology, leading one of the larg­

er IT teams. He also writes a

blog on alternative energy at

www.debarel.com/ blogl. Swan

and his wife, Barbara, have three

children: Elliot, Devon and Lau­

ren. "I would love to hear from

other Guelph alumni in th e

lower mainland," he says.

• Peter Taylor, BA '76, is exec­

utive director of the Canadian

Celiac Association, a board mem­

ber of the Canadian Hard of

Hearing Association, and princi­

pal and writer of his own busi­

ness, in Aurora, Ont. He also vol­

unteers with Certified Fund

Raising Executives International.

1980 • Terry Graff, BA '81,

became director, CEO and chief

curator of the Beaverbrook Art

Gallery in Fredericton, N.B.,

Feb. 1. He joined Beaverbrook

in 2008 as deputy director. H e

curated a large-scale exhibition

for the gallery called "Master­

works," which has since opened

at the Society of the Four Arts

in Palm Beach, Fla. Graff has

also distinguished himself as a

visual artist, art writer, art edu­

cator and gallery director. Before

joining Beaverbrook, he was

direc tor and CEO of the

Mendel Art Gallery in Saska-

toon; Rodman Hall Arts Cen­

tre in St. Catharines, Ont., and

the Confederation Centre Art

Gallery in Charlottetown.

• Robert Henderson, ADA

'84, operates Henderson Farms

on Ontario's Wolfe Island. Last

November, he was named grand

chan1pionjam and jelly maker at

the Royal Agricultural Winter

Fair in Toronto and also received

the judges' choice award for his

pear and raspberry jam. He made

his first jam 25 years ago to use

up leftover fruit after a farmers'

market and has won many awards

since then. He says his recipe for

success is lots of fruit and very lit­

tle sugar. You can learn more

about his products at www.hen­

dersonfarms.on.ca.

• Valerie Jenner, BA '81,

completed her international cer­

tifi cation as a greenhouse-gas

quantifier at the University of

Toronto in December.

• Len Kahn, B.Sc.(Agr.) '85

and M.Sc. '90, has launched

Kahntact, a Guelph-based mar-

LEN KAHN

keting communications firm spe­

c iali zing in agri-food, animal

health and life sciences. A mar­

keter since 1985, he is founder

and fo rmer president of Kahn­

tact Marketing Inc., a former

partner at AdFarm and, most

Summer 2013 33

recently, a partner at McCormick

Global Conmmnications.

• A.K. Kumaraguru, PhD '83 , is vice- chancellor of

AK. KUMARAGURU

Manonmaniam Sundaranar

University in India. H e has 36

years of research, teaching and

administrative experi ence and has been a professor at Sundara­

nar for more than 16 years. Pre­

viously, he established a marine

and coastal studies department

at Madurai Kamaraj University,

was a Fulbright Fellow at th e

IMPROVING L IFE

University of Southern Califor­

nia and made three research vis­

its to U of G, where he devel­

oped an aqu aculture di et from

India 's market wastes of veg­

etable and ani..m.al origin . H e is

also a fellow of the Academy of

Environmental Biology ofindia .

• D esmond Layne, B.Sc.(Agr.)

'86, joined the faculty ofWash-

DESMOND LAYNE

ington State University in Feb­

ruary. He was formerly the state

extension horticulture program

leader and extension fruit spe-

Co-operat~x Education & Career Services

34 TH E P O RTI CO

cialist at Clemson University in

South Carolina. Born in Ontario,

Layne started working in fruit

crops as a teenager and studied

horticulture at U of G. He began research on the pawpaw during

graduate work at Michigan State

University and remains an inter­

national authority on both the

pawpaw and peaches.

• Steve Polewski, BLA '89, went on to earn fo ur more

degrees after leaving U of G. H e

has been teaching high school in Windsor, O nt., for 15 years and

says he's "loving every minute of

it . l never tho ught of being a

teacher when I was at Guelph,

but then I never thought the

Bullring would stop having all­

nighters. Living in Mills Hall and

then in Arts H ouse were great

times! I reconm1end Guelph to

all my graduating students!"

• William Shotyk, B.Sc.(Agr.)

'81, is the 2013 recipient of the

Philippe Duchaufour M edal

from the European Geosciences

Uni on (EGU) for outstanding

work related to soil system sci­

ences. He received the medal and

gave a lecture at the EGU Gen­

eral Assembly in Austria in early

April. A PhD graduate of the

University ofWestern Ontario,

Shotyk held research positions at

Western, the University of Cal­

ifornia and the University of

Berne in Sw itzerland before

joining the faculty of the Uni­

versity of H eidelberg in Ger­

many in 2000. In 201 l , he

became the first Bocock C hair

in Agriculture and Environment

at the University of Alberta.

• Mike van 't Slot, B.Sc. '87,

has been teaching high school

biology and math for almost 23

years . ln 2009, he joined the

Toronto N orthern Lights bar­

bershop chorus. "We are five­

time international silver medal-

Post co-op, full-time & part-time jobs Manage your recruitment process online Select from over 35 co-op programs

Hire a co-op student for the FALL 2013 work term!

Begin Posting Jobs May 6th Interviews Begin May 30th

lists," he says. "T his past Septem­

ber, we travelled to Beijmg and

performed on the Great \\J.ll of

China. In Wit." pert rmed in

the 1etherLn . d we \ ·e been

m , ·J · cr.i el to Germany in

r h ~ I to perform at its

nal barbershop convention."

• Diana Twiss, BA '88 and

MA '90, and her husband,

David Flurey, MA '90, are cel­

ebrating a Diam ond Jubilee

Medal presented to Twiss for her

work in adult li teracy. She is

director of adult and workplace

learning at D ecoda Literacy

Solutions in Vanco uver and a

longtime faculry member at

Capilano University. She says the

award "is incredibly humblin g

because r have rarely done any­

thi ng alone. Every progra m

developed. project completed

and document published was

done as part of a team of dedi­

cated and highly talented litera-

cy practitioners - many who

deserve this recognition as well ."

A member ofU of G's residence

staff during her student years,

Twiss was the program director

of Arts H ouse when the couple's

first child, Ursula, was delivered

in her Lennox H all apartment,

assisted by local midwives. They

have since had two other chil­

dren: Jasper and Georgia Rose.

1990 • Anna-Marie Burrows,

B .Sc.(Agr. ) '90 , is manager of

horticulture and grounds at the

Toro nto Zoo and is looking

fo rward to this spring's arrival

of a panda co uple.

• Jasse Chan, BA '98, has moved back to Ca nada after

spendi ng six years in E urope.

H e's livin g in O kotoks,Alta.,

and workin g as a manager fo r

N exen Inc. in Calgary.

• Laura-May Culver, BA

'96, went on to earn a 1naster's

degree in social work from Wil­

frid Laurier University and

became a registered social

worker. She recently complet­

ed a second nuster's in arts, cul­

ture and spiritualiry at Holy

N ames Universiry in O akland,

Calif. , and writes that she is

"deeply corrunitted to a thriv­

ing, just and sustainable life on

Ea rth . My planetary healing

wo rk extends to fa milies and

conununities internationally."

• Sandra Stewart-Fearnside,

B.Conun . '98, is manager of the

operations resource centre at

C hoice H otels Canada Inc. in

Mi ss issa uga , O nt. She j oined

Choice H otels five years ago as

a franchise performance co n­

sultant , supp orting almost 80

hotels, before moving into her

managem ent role. She lives in

Milto n w ith her daughters,

Chloe and Ashleigh.

• Robert Timko, PhD '95, is

retired from full-time teaching

and administra tion bu t works

part-time as a visiting professor

in the Ins titute for Catholic

Bioethics at St . Joseph 's Uni­

versity in Philadelphia.

2000

LISA FELDSTEIN

• Lisa Feldstein, BA '07 ,

recently opened the doors to her

own law prac ti ce in Ontario's

York R egion. Drawing on her

backgroun d as a health lawyer,

The BetterPlanet

Project

Summer 2013 35

she has created a niche firm that

provides advice to families inter­

acting with the health-care sys­

tem in areas such as reproduc­

tion, mental health, employment, and long-term care and end-of­

life services. She credits her time

at U of G for leading her to this

business area and would like to

reconnect with other alumni

through social media, by email

to lisa@lisafeldstein .ca or via

www.familyhealthlaw.ca.

lough, BA '03, married John

Kellough inJuly 2009.They are

the parents of Lauren, 3, and

baby Jacquelyn and live in

Schomberg, Ont.

PhD in the Department ofEcol­

ogy and Evolutionary Biology at

the University of California, Los

Angeles. The university's daily

news recently featured her research on bird behaviour, par­

ticularly aggressive interactions

between different bird species. She

often travels to the Caribbean to

observe the thick-billed vireo and

the white-eyed vireo.

• Lee Mizzi, B.Sc. '09, is oper­

ations manager at three record

labels based in Burlington, Ont.:

CRISTINA RIBEIRO

• Amanda Gameson) Kel-

True North Records, T he Chil­

dren 's Group and Divergent

Recordings. She also writes a blog called "Festival Traveller."

• Kathryn Peiman, B.Sc. '02 and M.Sc. '05, is completing a

• Cristina Ribeiro, M.Sc. '09,

and her husband, Prin1oz, were

married June 2, 2012, in what

she describes as her "dream

wedding." Monarch butterflies

Elizabeth (Winch) Bailey, BA '77 ,

May 16, 2012 John Bates, B.Sc.(Agr.) '67,

Jan. 18, 2013

Norman Beckham, BSA '53,

Nov. 20, 2012

Stanley Bell, DVM '54, date unknown

Paul Bishop, BSA '59, Jan . 25, 2013

Joel Bornstein, DVM '79,

Dec. 29, 2011 Grant Bowlby, DVM '50,

Dec. 9, 2012 Albert Burrow, BSA '50,

Oct. 19,2012 Kenneth Carkner, BSA '51,

Jan . 13, 2013 Trevor Clacken, DVM '54, date

unknown

Gordon Chesney, R.Dip. '87 ,

Sept. 9, 2012

Sarah Collin, MA '96, July 25, 2012

Royden Davis , BSA '50, March 6, 2012

William Davis, B.Sc.(Agr.) '65,

Nov. 11, 2012

Gregory de Gannes, DVM '88,

February 2013 Paul Dean, BSA '62, May 24, 2012

Wayne Donders, BSA '55,

March 13, 2013

Robert Ford, BSA 'SO, Oct. 30, 2012

Bruce Found, BSA '47,Jan. 31, 2013

John Fraser, DVM '76, March 1, 2013 Robert Freeman, BA '74,

Dec. 22, 2012

John Honey, ADA '52,Jan. 2, 2012

36 THE PORTICO

PASSAGES

William Bossie, K.Dip. '68,

Jan. 22, 2013 Ross Irwin, BSA '51, March 17, 2013 Marion (Crawford) Jose, DHE '47,

Feb. 24, 2013

Gizaw Kebede, M.Sc. '96, June 2012

Edwin Kozicki , BSA '56,

Oct. 13, 2012 Michele (Mason) Larmon,

K.Dip. '62, Nov. 28, 2006 Siew (Yap) Maroccia, B.Sc. '89,

Sept. 17, 2012 Andy McConvey, BSA '49,

Jan.30,2012 Michael McDonald, M.Sc. '11,

Jan. 17, 2013 Katherine McPhee, B.A.Sc. '84,

Dec. 13, 2012

David Mitchell, BSA '56, Jan. 19, 2013

David Murray, B.Sc.(Agr.) '69,

Oct. 27, 2012

Paul Ord, BA '78, Oct. 4, 2012 David Pallett, B.Sc.(Agr.) '67,

Jan. 16,2013 Olive (Sutherland) Pirie, DHE '35,

Nov. 15, 2012

Donald Pooley, DVM '75,

Dec. 23, 2012

Robin Rabideau, DVM '00,

Dec. 22, 2012

Simon Radford, BSA '52,

Feb. 18,2013 Ralph Rhody, DVM '54,

Feb. 25 , 2013

Lorraine (Sewell) Rowan, DHE '56,

Jan . 28 , 2013

Walter Rutherford, BSA '53,

Feb.20,2013

Meryl Schooley, DVM '58. Aug. 21, 2012

Mary Sinclair, B.Sc.(Agr.) '86,

Oct. 24, 2011

Sherleen (Williams) Smithson, B.H.Sc. '71, Dec. 16, 2012

Lorna (Bennett) Snelgrove , DHE '59, Feb. 16, 2011

Peter South, DVM '43,Jan. 1, 2013

Gerald Stirk, DVM '43,Jan. 24, 2013 Peter Stovell, DVM '52, Nov. 11, 2012

Michelle (Meredith) Taylor, B.Sc.(Agr.) '82, May 22, 2012

Frederick Tonkin, BA '75, Dec. 31, 2012

Dale Toombs , B.Sc.(Agr.) '68,

Jan.25 , 2013 John Turnbull, DVM '41,June 28, 2012

Barbara (Rosser) Weatherall, B.H.Sc. '54, Feb. 12, 2013

Barbara (Inch) Weatherston, B.Sc.(PE.) '73, Sept. 7, 2004

Hon.John Wise, ADA '56,Jan. 9, 2013 Frank Yip, BA '79, Sept. 12, 2010

FACULTY Stanley Collins, Retired, School of

Engineering, Dec. 18, 2010

Onkar Dwivedi, Department of

Political Science,Jan. 29, 2013

To honour alumni i11ho have passed away,

the University of Guelph Alum11.i Associa­

tion makes an annual donation to the

A lumni Legacy Scholarship.

were released to welcome their guests, and

the couple strapped on wmgs to symbolize

the beginning - a hfenme of adventures

together. Th ·rtamed by dancing a rum-

_ - Prunoz. She invites friends to check

1r wedding clips on YouTube.

• Colin Richardson, B.Sc. '09 and M .Sc.

I I, began his career as a research assistant

\vi th Monsanto, then applied for the Alltech

Graduate Academy through the Recruit

Guelph website. He was among 21 applicants

chosen from a pool of 1,500 for the year­

long program, which began wi th sessions in

Ireland and Kentucky. He then worked in

Alltech's crop science division and is now

based in the company's Guelph office, where

he helps identify business opportunities across

Canada . He urges other Guelph graduates to

apply to Alltech "and take advantage of a life­

changing opportunity."

2010 • Becky Blake, MFA '11, won the CBC's

Canada Writes short-story contest held this

spring. Her sto ry "The T hree Times Rule"

is about how difficult it is for people to con­

nect and conununicate with each other. She

won $6,000 from the Canada Council for

the Arts and a two-week residency at The

Banff Centre. Blake lives in Toronto and has

worked as a j ournalist, an advice columnist,

an actor and a playwright.

• Ahren Brunow, B.Comm. '11 , recently

launched an online art print company based

in Toronto. He says the idea for Art From

Concentrate was born in Guelph "thanks to

the many great artists I met w hile conl.plet­

ing my degree." After graduation, he worked

in government and for a private company

before starting a business that helps inde­

pendent artists sell their work. "We're trying

to create a culture where art can flourish,"

he says. To learn more, visit www.artfrom­

concentrate.com.

• Brittany Dunbar, B.Sc. '12, is living in

Shanghai and teaching English to Chinese

students of public school age.

• Rita Singh, B.A.Sc. '11, is the busy moth­

er of two daughters aged 16 and 12 and vol­

umeers as an area co-ordinator for M o111.S in

Prayer Imemational . In her consumer stud­

ies program ar U of G, she specialized in

clothing and de ign. he and her husband

started D ecolyse Designs in 1996. Contact them at interiors@decoly edesigns.com.

Greetings fellow grads! Memories come rushing back - faces and places, hard work and fun. Each of us has special memories of our time spent at Guelph. Alumni Weekend is the perfect opportunity to reconnect with fellow alumni, rekindle friendships and visit the campus that means so much to us all.

Congratulations to all alumni celebrating reunions this year. Alumni Weekend 2013 promises to be an action-packed celebration of our alma mater and the many important connections we made at U of G. I look forward to seeing everyone in June.

Martha Bil/es, B.H.Sc. '63 Honorary Chair, Alumni Weekend 2013

Saturday Morning • Alumni welcome tent • OVC AA breakfast and annual general meeting

• CBS AA breakfast and annual general meeting • Human Anatomy open house

• CSAHS AA annual general meeting • Retirees coffee reception and archive visit

• Campus tours • Alumni Stadium, field house and high

performance centre • Macdonald Hall • Science Complex

Saturday Afternoon • President's Lunch celebrating the Class of 1963

• Drop into the Brass Taps • UGAA annual general meeting • Mars rover talk and exhibition

• Campus tours • Hill 's Primary Healthcare Centre

• Ice cream technology • Macdonald Institute • Macdonald Stewart Art Centre and

sculpture garden

• Johnston Hall

• Campus by bus

- Saturday Evening • Milestone dinner

• Alumni pub night at the Brass Taps

Summer 2013 37

You could WIN a Lexus ES 300h hybrid

or $60,000 cash!*

Join the growing number of graduates who enjoy greater savings from TD Insurance on home ar auto coverage. Most insurance companies offer discounts for combin ing home and auto pol icies,

or your good driving record. What you may not know is that we offer these savings too,

plus we offer preferred rates to University of Guelph Alumni. You' ll also receive our

highly personal ized service and great protection that suits your needs. Find out how

much you could save.

Request a quote today 1-888-589-5656 Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

melochemonnex.com/uoguelph

Insurance program recommended by

UN•VERSITYA lumn 1• 9"GUELPH

The TD Insurance Meloche Monnex home ond outo insurance program is underwritten by SECURITY NATI ONAL INSU RA NCE COMPANY. The program is distributed by Meloche Monnex Insurance and finonciol Services Inc. in Quebec ond by Meloche Monnex finoncial Services Inc. in the rest of Conodo. Due to provincial legislotion, our outo insurance program is not offered in British Columbio, Manitoba or Saskatchewan.

*No purchose required. Contest organized joinrly with Primmum Insurance Compony and open to members, employees ond other eligible persons belonging to employer, professional and olumni groups which hove on agreement with ond ore entirled to group rotes from the orgonizers. Contest ends on October 31, 2013. Drow on November 22, 2013. One (l) prize to be won. The winner moy choose between o Lexus ES 300h hybrid (opproximote MSRP of $58,902 which includes freight, prllilelivery inspection, fees ond opplicable toxes) or $60,000 in Conodion funds. Skilftesting question required. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. Complete contest rules ovoiloble ot melochemonnex. com/ contest.

"IThe TD logo ond other trode-mork.s ore the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bonk or o whollyilwned subsidiory, in Canoda ond/or other countries.