Geography Faculty News - 2009
Our Health and Community Development Needs
Dr. Greg Halseth and Dr. Neil Hanlon are recognized for their research collaborations with the Northern Medical Program on critical health research.
On November 12, 2009 Lesbia Morales Sicán, a Member of the National Executive of the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) in Guatemala travelled to UNBC to give a Global Thursday presentation as part of a Western Canadian speaking tour. Lesbia's presentation was titled: A Cup of Social Justice: Fair Trade Coffee & Land Reform in Guatemala.
Professor of Geography Dr. Jamie Peck (SFU) and Canada Research Chair visited UNBC on October 30, 2009 to present his work as part of the Global Friday Colloquium Series. Dr. Peck's presentation was titled: Neoliberalism: Dead or Alive?.
Dr. Roger Wheate attended the 1st International Conference on 3D maps, in Dresden, Germany, August 24-28. His talk on the 3D representation of Canadian alpine glaciers included discussion of the UNBC High-Performance Computing Centre "Geowall‟.
Congratulations to Dr. Ellen Petticrew on her promotion to Full Professor starting July 1, 2009!
Affiliated Geographer Sonia Wesche (UNBC Postdoctoral Fellow) (ABD, Geography - Resource and Environmental Management, Wilfrid Laurier University) recently took home second prize for her poster presentation at the International Congress on Circumpolar Health held in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, 11-16 July 2009. Sonia's post-doctoral position is based with UNBC's Dr. Laurie Chan, BC Leadership Chair in Aboriginal Environmental Health.
On May 30, 2009, Adjunct Professor Kent Sedgwick, author of Giscome Chronicle, along with other local PG writers, were on hand at Prince George's Books & Company to celebrate the publication of their books. Congratulations!
On March 30th, Professor Dr. Kevin Hall leaves for his 14th Antarctic expedition, leaving by sea from Cape Town for a 5-7 day voyage through the Roaring Forties and the Filthy Fifties. Dr. Hall is leading a team of geologists on behalf of the South African Antarctic Program.
During the expedition, Dr. Hall will be reconsidering the glacial sedimentology of an area he first investigated 35 years ago — when there was still an ice cap on the island. With the loss of most of the ice cap so there is access to areas previously unavailable. He will also be studying the weathering of the oceanic basalts and, on behalf of Dr. Lito Arocena, collecting rock samples with lichens in a vertical transect from the newly exposed areas down to the coast — where one of the largest penguin colonies in the world is found.
Adjunct professor Fredy Peccerelli is featured in the 23 March 2009 issue of Scientific American and is interviewed on Al Jazeera (English) "In Video" segment posted on 3 June 2009.
Dr. Catherine Nolin and Research Associate Anisa Zehtab-Martin travelled to Calgary, AB for the 11th National Metropolis Conference, 19-22 March, to facilitate a panel discussion titled: “Foreign Brides and Family Integration from Fort St. John to Halifax” and present their work (co-authored with Greg Halseth & Neil Hanlon) on “Frontiers and foreign brides: Experiences of marriage and migration in northern BC.” This work is part of a collaboration with the CDI on the “Warmth of the Welcome” research project which is working to highlight the barriers to, and needs for, the strengthened participation of new immigrants in northern community life as well as to develop recommendations and concrete initiatives which foster more inclusive and welcoming communities for new immigrants in northern BC.
The Geography program is pleased to announce that Mr. Fredy Peccerelli, Executive Director and Founding Member of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG), has been appointed as an Adjunct Professor in our program. The FAFG is an autonomous, non-profit technical and scientific non-governmental organization. The FAFG's mandate is to strengthen the administration of justice and respect for human rights through the use of forensic anthropology techniques to investigate, document, and raise awareness about past and present human rights violations particularly from the 36-year armed conflict that began in 1960. At the 2004 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Mr. Peccerelli and his colleagues at the FAFG were honoured for their commitment to using science to promote human rights. Mr. Peccerelli's most recent accomplishment is the construction of one of the first functioning DNA Labs in Guatemala that focuses on genocide cases. Mr. Peccerelli is also the recipient of the New York Academy of Sciences 2008 Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights Award.
Congratulations to Dr. Catherine Nolin who received the J. Alistair McVey Award for Teaching Excellence from the Western Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers (WDCAG) at the March 2009 meeting hosted by Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, BC.
Affiliated Geographer Dr. Sarah de Leeuw (UNBC Northern Medical Program) was awarded 1st prize in the national CBC Literary Awards in the Creative Non-fiction category for her story about the fire at Prince George's Columbus Hotel. The winners were announced at 10:30 am Thursday (Feb 26th) on CBC Radio One's show Q. Congratulations, Sarah!
Prince George Citizen Coverage
Economic development is the goal of a National Network for Urban Aboriginal Economic Development recently established by the UNBC and the Prince George Aboriginal Business Development Centre. The network, coordinated by UNBC Geography professor Dr. Greg Halseth and Ray Gerow from the Prince George Aboriginal Business Development Centre, involves twelve academic institutions, 31 separate community and policy groups across the country, and interest is growing.