News

  • 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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  • Brock spirit alive in FMS student leader

    Sarah Bax has exemplified what it means to be a student leader — both inside and outside of the classroom. Together with Michelle Balge, she was honoured for her efforts during the Fall Convocation ceremony — Balge in the morning and Bax in the afternoon — and recognized with Brock’s Board of Trustees Spirit of Brock Medal.

    The award is presented to one undergraduate and one graduate student who best exemplify the spirit of the school’s namesake, Maj.-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock and show traits such as courage, innovation, leadership, inspiration and community involvement.

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    It wasn’t until her second year of University that Sarah Bax, who received her master’s degree in mathematics, realized the importance of getting involved, both on campus and in the community. The 24-year-old Paris, Ontario native honed her leadership skills as a teaching assistant and became a favourite among Brock’s Math Camp instructors. Read her full story here

     

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  • Lab tech uncorks new career in wine industry

    Heather Bouwhuis has spent the past four years juggling her studies, raising a family and working a full-time job — all while commuting more than two hours each way from her home in Pickering for every lecture, lab and test at Brock University.

    Every moment spent braving traffic and hitting the books was worth it for the 57-year-old wife and mother-of-two, who came to Brock to pursue a second career after decades working as a medical laboratory technologist at a Toronto hospital.

    It was in the fall of 2013, after deciding a career change was needed, that Bouwhuis enrolled in Brock’s Certificate in Grape and Wine Technology program, offered through the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI).

    All her hard work will pay off Friday, Oct. 13, when Bouwhuis walks across the stage at Brock’s Fall Convocation ready to retire from her lab position to pursue her second career in the wine industry. Read the full story here

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  • CCOVI receives $960,000 for one-of-a-kind wine consumer research lab

    Imagine being able to shop at a winery or the LCBO while listening to classical music and savouring the aromas of chardonnay and pinot grigio, all without leaving your seat.

    A nearly $1-million funding grant will help Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute establish the world’s first mediated-reality wine laboratory that will combine sights, smells and sounds to help researchers study the science of consumer choice in the wine industry.

    Brock’s oenology and viticulture researchers are on the forefront of this leading-edge technology thanks to a $960,000 grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) announced Thursday, Oct. 12.

    The Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Sensory Reality Consumer Laboratory, to be known as R3CL, will be able to create a variety of environments in which people purchase and consume wines.

    Read the full story here

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