Media releases

• Brock, Niagara Folk Arts partner to help newcomers

  Tuesday, August 13, 2019 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 13 August 2019 – R00128

  Niagara Folk Arts Executive Director Emily Kovacs’ story of immigrating to Canada in the 1980s is a familiar one to Brock University President Gervan Fearon.

  Kovacs arrived from Romania in 1988, struggled in Niagara in her first two years, and then discovered the services offered by what was then known as the Folk Arts Council of St. Catharines. With the organization’s support, she enrolled at Brock University, graduating with a degree in Psychology in 1998.

  Fast forward two decades and Kovacs joined Fearon, who himself immigrated to Canada as a young man, in signing a formal agreement Tuesday, Aug. 13 that will see the two organizations working together to improve the well-being of newcomers to Canada in the Niagara region.

  The Memorandum of Understanding signed at the Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre’s Robertson Hall in St. Catharines strengthens a partnership based on a mutual goal of helping those new to Canada through research, outreach and support services.

  Fearon said supporting newcomers helps them achieve their own dreams of becoming engaged members of society and helps build strong and inclusive communities that benefit all Canadians.

  “Brock has a role to play in helping to develop the knowledge and skill sets that will enable individuals to become contributors to and champions of their new home,” he said. “We are pleased to partner with Niagara Folk Arts to help the community embrace new members and welcome new friends and neighbours.”

  First launched in 1970, Niagara Folk Arts is a charitable not-for-profit organization with a mandate to support and assist the ethno-cultural and newcomer community in Niagara through a broad range of programs and services.

  “As a newcomer on my journey settling in Canada, receiving service at Niagara Folk Arts and then connecting with Brock were both amazing experiences,” she said. “Tying these two amazing organizations together through this formalized partnership will continue to open doors to newcomers like me and many others to achieve our best selves. That is what both our organizations represent.”

  Folk Arts has collaborated with Brock on many projects over the years, from research participation to having Brock students complete experiential education placements at the Centre. Brock also hosts a Newcomer and Community Basketball Game each March that provides mentorship and friendship through the annual friendly matchup at the University.

  Helping out with Niagara Folk Arts’ Mentorship Program has and will continue to be a meaningful aspect of the partnership. Among the faculty and staff who have volunteered to work with new community members is Fearon, who started helping out in the program shortly after he arrived at Brock.

  “I know how important it is for newcomers to be helped and supported,” said Fearon, who was born in the United Kingdom to Jamaican parents and moved to Canada at a young age. “Canada offered the opportunity to pursue our family’s educational aspirations and the possibility of making a contribution to the betterment of all members of Canadian society. We were fortunate to have been supported and welcomed years ago and more recently when we moved to the Niagara region.”

  Some of the collaborative projects being planned for the future include enhancing Brock student engagement within Niagara Folk Arts through new volunteer opportunities and awareness building, as well as the two organizations working together to provide support to newcomers looking to upgrade or begin their post-secondary studies.

  “It is a great strategic opportunity to partner with Brock University,” Kovacs said. “At Folk Arts, we are an inclusive centre for excellence that encompasses both theory and practice supporting newcomers in their journey to settle in Canada.”

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Funding helps researchers land state-of-the-art equipment

  Monday, August 12, 2019 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 12 August 2019 – R00127

  Beneath the waters off the southeast coast of Sicily lies a shipwreck that tells scintillating tales of ancient Mediterranean commerce, culture and connectiveness.

  The so-called ‘Church Wreck’ that dates back to the sixth-century AD transported marble components of a late antique church as its primary cargo.

  During their seven years of study at Marzamemi, Italy, Brock University Associate Professor of Classics Elizabeth Greene and collaborators from Stanford University, Suor Orsola Benincasa University, and the Soprintendenza del Mare in Sicily have also found ceramic containers that were likely filled with wine or olive oil, the sailors’ own dining wares, and nails from a surprisingly lightly built vessel.

  “These indicate the interdependence of high-end official shipments and everyday private commerce,” says Greene.

  Greene and her colleagues are eager to share their research findings with a broad audience in a vivid, interactive and engaging way, linking the church wreck to other maritime activities such as naval warfare, fishing and migration.

  They will now be able to do so thanks to funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF).

  Greene is among three Brock researchers being awarded more than $455,000 from the fund, which helps “exceptional researchers at universities across the country conduct leading-edge research by giving them the tools and equipment they need to become leaders in their field.”

  Brock University Professor of Chemistry Georgii Nikonov and Professor of Physics Fereidoon Razavi also received funding.

  Associate Vice-President, Research Michelle McGinn lauds the JELF, saying that such support is foundational for Brock and other universities “to pursue work that makes a difference in society.

  “This work cannot happen without substantial investment in infrastructure,” she says. “I’m excited that this funding places state-of-the-art equipment into the hands of our researchers and scholars as they contribute greater knowledge and insights into their fields.”

  The new equipment also means enhanced experiential learning opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, says McGinn.

  Among the equipment and software Greene will be purchasing is a 3D laser scanner for recording, reconstructing and displaying ancient and historic watercraft. This and other equipment will shed light on “contemporary issues of human connectivity,” says Greene.

  “Guided by new advances in technology for 3D documentation, our innovative approach to heritage situates archaeological exploration of the past as a means of gaining perspective into present and future experiences of the people who cross the Mediterranean and the seas that divide and bridge our global society,” says Greene.

  With his funding, Nikonov will be replacing a key part of Brock’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer.

  “NMR spectroscopy is the main physico-chemical technique for characterizing a wide spectrum of organic, biological and inorganic objects,” says Nikonov, noting that the current console, which is to be replaced, is outdated and obsolete.

  “The new, replacement console and its accompanying software will support Brock’s current and future research endeavours in chemistry, physics, biochemistry, biotechnology and biology,” he says.

  With his funding, Razavi will be purchasing a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), “a fundamental piece of infrastructure that every research-intensive university should own because it is of such widespread use in all areas of science,” he says.

  The SEM is an “essential tool” that examines the micro-structure of materials and the elemental composition of compounds. Razavi says the microscope is used in physics, health and life sciences research.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases