Media releases

• TD Scholarships for Community Leadership recipient from Nunavut to attend Brock University

  Tuesday, July 26, 2016 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00156 – 20 July 2016

  Growing up in a small Inuit village in Nunavut, the world seemed small to Shelby Angalik. Books changed that for her.

  The 18 year old will attend Brock University in the fall to study English literature with the help of a TD Scholarships for Community Leadership award of up to $70,000 from TD Bank Group.

  “I live in a really isolated place so there wasn’t much to do here. I started reading for fun,” she says. “Reading helped me see there’s more to life than our little town.”

  One of the reasons Angalik was chosen for the scholarship is her dedication to helping other youth in Arviat, Nunavut discover the world through the written word. She started a reading program for young people in both English and Inuktitut.

  She gets as much out of the program as the participants, she says. It has helped her realize what she wants to do with her life.

  “I want to become a librarian so I can come back and expand my reading program and help increase literacy,” she says, noting literacy rates in her community are low.

  In her winning scholarship essay, Angalik opens up about the social issues facing her Inuit community.

  “I’ve seen many things that push me away from Arviat. Many people abuse drugs and alcohol, teenage pregnancy is a big issue here, there are more students dropping out than there are students who graduate, there are limited employment opportunities, and we’re struck with poverty and mental illness,” she writes.

  But, she says there is also a lot to love about her hometown including its connection to Inuit culture and its connection to nature.

  “I want to get out into the world and get a good education,” she writes. "So I can come back with more to offer."

  As part of the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership, Angalik is receiving up to $70,000 over four years for tuition and living expenses for post-secondary education. Recipients also have the chance to make lifelong connections through summer employment with TD, as well as mentorship and networking opportunities.

  "Shelby is a great example of the emerging leaders the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership seeks to recognize and support. When Shelby saw challenges in her community, she stepped up to help create solutions — whether it was through leading a reading program to help improve literacy levels, volunteering in the library when the school lost its librarian, or taking an active role in the school drama productions that help community members deal with difficult issues,” says Jane Thompson, Executive Director, TD Scholarships for Community Leadership. “Shelby is the real deal, and we are delighted to support her studies at Brock and know she will be a huge asset wherever she goes after graduation."

  Angalik said she chose Brock because of its size and reputation.
  “It is a small enough school and close knit. Plus, there are lots of activities,” she says.

  Angalik is more excited than nervous to be leaving her community of 3,000 for a school of nearly 19,000.
  “This is going to be the first time I’ll be living outside of Nunavut and on my own,” she says. “I can’t wait to leave for university.”

  Angalik is one of 20 young Canadians from across the country to receive the 2016 TD Scholarships for Community Leadership, recognizing the meaningful and lasting difference they’ve made in their communities.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970
   

  – 30 –
   

  Categories: Media releases

• Brock University-led team discovers way to test Earth’s prehistoric air

  Tuesday, July 26, 2016 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00155 – 20 July 2016

  A Brock University-led international research team has discovered a new way of measuring past oxygen levels on Earth: by tapping into the actual air that existed almost a billion years ago.

  Up until now, scientists estimated that oxygen comprised no more than two per cent of the Earth’s atmosphere 800 million to one billion years ago. 

  But the team found that the average oxygen content of the Earth’s atmosphere was 10.9 per cent, more than five times greater than previously thought and about half of today’s oxygen level.

  “There was a lot of debate as to what the oxygen content was 800 million or more years ago,” says Professor of Earth Sciences Nigel Blamey. “We’ve come up with a direct method of analyzing the content of those trapped fossil gasses in the atmosphere and found that the oxygen level was approximately half of what it is today.”

  Blamey used a custom-built machine to crush samples of ‘halite,’ which is the natural form of table salt.

  Within the halite samples are tiny bubbles that contain atmospheric gasses that were trapped in the rocks at the time they formed. But until now, the bubbles were too small to measure. The equipment was able to read and analyze the trapped fossil gasses.

  This new approach, and the subsequent findings, have huge implications for theories on the development of life on Earth, say the researchers. Scientists’ understanding of Earth’s early life forms are based in part on the amount of oxygen believed to be in the atmosphere at that time.

  The team’s findings shed light on more than just the evolution of life forms.

  “Deciphering the oxygenation history of the atmosphere and oceans is critical to understanding weathering processes, sedimentary environments, climate change, mass extinctions, tectonic events, and the evolution of Earth’s biota,” says the team’s study.
   
  The measuring process and findings can also help determine the evolution of life on Mars and other planets, says Professor of Earth Sciences Uwe Brand.

  “This will give us a better understanding of how life evolved,” he says.

  The study, titled “Paradigm shift in determining Neoproterozoic atmospheric oxygen,” is scheduled to appear in the August edition of Geology, the monthly journal of the Geological Society of America. An advanced summary of the paper can be found here.

  For more a detailed explanation of the testing equipment and the research implications, see the story in The Brock News.

  Downloadable audio clips with Blamey and Brand talking about the research can be found on Soundcloud.

  Both Blamey and Brand are available for interviews with the media.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca,
  905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  – 30 –
   

  Categories: Media releases