News

  • October 25: Young researchers take centre stage

    The research of 28 gifted high school students was the focus of the Mentorship Program Information Night held Wednesday, Oct. 25 in Sean O’Sullivan Lecture Hall. Students had the opportunity to each share two-minute PowerPoint presentations summarizing their research projects with Brock mentors, graduate students, fellow protégés, teachers and parents.

    The annual event marks the first of two presentations by mentorship students as part of Brock’s long-running Science Mentorship program. Introduced more than 20 years ago, the program is designed for students who demonstrate significant scientific curiosity and are capable of working independently. Twenty-two faculty members will lend their expertise to the students’ research projects which span eleven subject areas, including Physics, Biological Sciences, Psychology, Electronics, Chemistry, Child and Youth Studies, Earth Sciences, Health Sciences, Kinesiology and new this year, Geography and Business.

    From reconstructing historical fires, recording physics videos and creating guitar tuners to researching sleep quality and insect mills, the students spoke excitedly about their projects. In February, final research findings will be presented by the largest group of students to date during the Mentorship Symposium Event. Designed to mirror the format used at professional science conferences, protégés will complete 20-minute presentations followed by a 10-minute question and answer period.

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  • CCOVI connected to award-winning wine tourism book

    As the region prepares to celebrate another year of the popular Niagara Icewine Festival, Carman Cullen and Linda Bramble are reflecting on the event’s history.

    The origin story of the January festival was chronicled by Cullen, Chair of Brock’s Marketing, International Business and Strategy Department (MIBS), and Bramble, author and professional affiliate at Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI), in a chapter within the book Best Practices in Global Wine Tourism.

    That book has been amassing accolades since its publication last year, including Best Wine Tourism Book in the United States. It was more recently honoured with the Best Wine Tourism Book in the World award at the 2017 Yantai China International Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in May.

    Both Cullen and Bramble said it was gratifying to have played a part in bringing the book to fruition, and in sharing the fascinating stories of the local wine industry with the world.

    The Niagara Icewine Festival takes place Jan. 12 to 28 and includes a series of events and activities devoted to one of the country’s most unique products.

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  • November 3: Chemistry Seminar Series – Tim Newhouse

    Department of Chemistry – Seminar Series

    Tim Newhouse
    Assistant Professor of Chemistry
    Yale University Department of Chemistry

    DATE: Friday, November 3

    TIME: 12pm

    LOCATION: H313

    Chemistry Seminar Series – Nov. 3, 2017

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  • East meets west in Great Chardo Swap

    Niagara has been named as the host for the prestigious International Cool Climate Wine Symposium(ICCWS) in 2020, the event’s 10th anniversary. As part of the lead-up to the symposium, 12 Niagara winemakers are using grapes from two specific vineyards to produce an assortment of one-of-a-kind Chardonnays.

    The Great Chardo Swap will see six winemakers from east of the Welland Canal making wine from grapes grown on the west side of the canal, and six winemakers from the west side making wine from chardonnay grapes grown on the east side. Two of those winemakers, Emma Garner (BSc ’04) from Thirty Bench Wine Makers and Shiraz Mottiar (BSc ’00) from Malivoire Wine Company, are graduates of Brock’s Oenology and Viticulture program. All of the fruit to make the Chardonnays is being donated by Inniskillin Wines and Thirty Bench.

    Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) collaborated with stakeholder organizations across the country to bring the ICCWS to Canada, and it was CCOVI Senior Oenologist Belinda Kemp who came up with the idea for the Great Chardo Swap after hearing about a similar initiative that took place in New Zealand.

    Read the full story here

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  • A Brock alum, 40 years in the making

    When Donna Phelps left her hometown of Columbus, Ohio, in 1977 to start a four-year program in California, she never imagined it would be almost 40 years to the day before she graduated.

    The administrative assistant for Brock’s Department of Computer Science dreamed of becoming a photojournalist and set her sights on California after working for a year to finance her schooling. Not long after her freshman year, Phelps was forced to return to her hometown when her program was unexpectedly cut short and the school later closed. It was the first of many setbacks and challenges that Phelps would face while pursuing her degree.

    Fast forward to Friday, Oct. 13 when Phelps walked across the stage at Brock’s Fall Convocation, an experience she describes as “very emotional and overwhelming.”

    “When they said, ‘you’re all alumni now’ – that moment hit me the hardest,” Phelps said. “I arrived. A weight was lifted off my shoulders. It was quite a journey to get there and it was pretty special.”

    Phelps’ path to becoming a Brock alum has not been easy. Despite all odds, her achievement is the result of unwavering dedication and determination. Read the full story here

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  • CFI hosting #IAmInnovation contest for research students, post-docs

    The Canada Foundation for Innovation, one of Brock University’s major funders, wants to know how working in state-of-the-art facilities and with cutting-edge equipment has helped research and post-doctoral students.

    The organization has launched the #IAmInnovation Twitter contest in an effort to show how CFI-funded infrastructure has opened opportunities for Canada’s next generation of researchers.

    Participants are asked to tweet a photo or video of themselves working with CFI-funded equipment or in a CFI-funded research space. All entries should include both hashtags #IAmInnovation and #Contest to be eligible. Participants must also follow CFI’s Twitter account, @InnovationCA, to be eligible to win.

    The contest closes Dec. 1. Read the contest rules for more details.

    More information available here

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  • Nominations open for Brock’s excellence in teaching awards

     

    Brock faculty have until Wednesday, Nov. 8 to submit nominations for the 2017 Excellence in Teaching awards:

    Brock University Award for Excellence in Teaching for Early Career Faculty,

    Clarke Thomson Award for Excellence in Sessional Teaching

    Don Ursino Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Large Classes

    Nomination packages must be submitted to the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation (CPI) in hard copy or electronically to cpi@brocku.ca.

    Award recipients receive a framed certificate and a teaching and learning grant. The winners will be publicly recognized at CPI’s annual 2017 Tribute to Teaching reception to be held on Wednesday, Dec. 6.

     

     

     

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  • Nominations open for Brock distinguished staff awards

    In recognition of staff members who positively contribute to Brock’s working and learning environment, Human Resources annually awards two distinguished staff awards.

    Nominations are now open for the President’s Distinguished Staff Service Award for Outstanding Contributions and the Human Resources Distinguished Award for Leadership. Recipients will be recognized at the President’s annual Holiday Celebration on December 11.

    Nomination forms and more details on award criteria can be found on One Brock. Deadline for nominations is Tuesday, Oct. 31.

     

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  • Physics undergrad’s research aims to increase efficiency of radiation therapy

    Fourth-year Brock University physics student, Alicia Martin wants to help improve cancer treatment.

    She has been working closely with Dr. Ranjini Tolakanahalli, Manager of the NHS’s Department of Medical Physics at the Walker Family Cancer Centre conducting research to improve the effectiveness of external beam therapy, a common cancer treatment.

    Martin runs her simulations on the super-computing facilities of Compute Canada and the Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network, or SHARCNET, of which Brock is a member. She is working under the direction of Tolakanahalli, medical physicist Dr. Josef Dubicki and Brock University Associate Professor of Physics Thad Harroun.

    Read the full story here

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  • October 20: Master of Science thesis defence

    Dan Xu, a candidate in the Department of Physics, will present her Master of Science thesis defence on Friday, Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. in Cairns 207.

    Her thesis is titled Magnetic and Dielectric Properties of Cu3-xNixWO6 and Cu3W1-xMoxO6.

    Her examination committee members are Dr. Michael Bidochka, Chair; Dr. Martin Lemaire, External Examiner, (Brock University); Dr. Fereidoon Razavi, Supervisor; Dr. Maureen Reedyk and Dr. David Crandles, Committee Members.

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