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In celebration of the 2020 International Year of the Midwife, please join this virtual symposium, Nurturing the Nursing Spirit, featuring a keynote address from Elaine Alec, author of Calling My Spirit Back.

Elaine is from the Syilx (Okanagan) Nation and Secwépemc (Shuswap) Nation and is a member of the Penticton Indian Band. She was raised by her grandmother who spoke only the nsyilxcen language. It is this foundation that shaped her world view and the importance of connection and relationships.

For the past 20 years, Elaine has worked for Provincial and Federal governments as both employee and contractor. She has worked as a political advisor to British Columbia leadership, Chief of Staff to the BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chiefs’ and is the Union of BC Indian Chief’s Women’s Representative. She is an advocate for women and girls, facilitator and mediator for highly sensitive issues and has spent over 20 years in over 100 communities across Canada creating space for individuals to come together and plan from a place of self-determination.

Elaine is an entrepreneur of 23 years and partner of Indigenous owned and operated planning company called Alderhill Planning Inc., along with Chris Derickson and Jessie Hemphill who are all leading experts in Indigenous community planning.

More information

Tina Lanceleve, Research Coordinator
CIHR Indigenous Health Program

TRU is getting several high-performance tools useful for faculty and students to conduct ground-breaking research, thanks to a $350,000 investment from the Government of Canada through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

The funding, part of the CFI’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund, helps universities like TRU attract and retain top research talent from around the world by providing researchers with the highly specialized infrastructure needed to be leaders in their field.

Equipment a “game-changer”

A team of interdisciplinary researchers, including Dr. Lauchlan Fraser, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Ecosystem Reclamation, Dr. Nancy Van Wagoner (geology), Dr. Ann Cheeptham (biology), and Dr. Kingsley Donkor (chemistry) have been awarded $235,000 for the purchase of two major pieces of equipment. The first, an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), allows researchers to rapidly measure elements at trace levels in  water, soil and plant samples. The second, a desktop scanning electron microscope with integrated energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, will allow researchers to study specimens at magnifications of up to 200,000 times to better understand how elements are distributed within samples. These machines, and others, are being used to establish the multidisciplinary Micro-Imaging and Chemical Analysis Laboratory (MICA).

“We have been talking about trying to get the ICP-MS into TRU for years. This instrument allows us to assess elements at really fine levels,” said Fraser. 

Previously, he and other researchers have had to send samples off to government labs for testing, which is costly and time consuming.

“This is a game-changer. We won’t be restricted in terms of the numbers of samples we can run, and it will be much more economical. This infrastructure will also help our students. They will be able to learn to use this equipment and gain valuable insights,” Fraser said.

“This new equipment and the creation of the MICA lab for TRU will transform in-house ability to engage in integrated studies of the complex interactions between the geosphere, biosphere and atmosphere, and encourage interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers and students,” Van Wagoner said.

Psychology lab goes high-tech

Dr. Claudia Gonzalez, assistant professor of psychology, was also awarded a CFI grant worth $115,000 for the purchase of a wireless functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy system (fNIRS), a high-resolution eye tracker and a portable eye tracker, as well as a transcranial magnetic stimulation tool. This equipment will be used within the Mobile Brain Imaging Laboratory (MoBIL), which include collaborators Drs. Jenni Karl and Catherine Ortner (psychology), and will assist the trio in linking brain function and behaviour in healthy development and aging, as well as disease.

The fNIRS system is a wireless, non-invasive way to measure brain activity while someone is engaged in real-world behaviour, for example, when a child is reaching for an object or throwing a ball, or when an older adult is trying to remember the location of something. The system includes a cap with light emitting sensors that identify active brain areas which can be linked with the behaviour in a specific task. The eye-tracking glasses enhance the research currently taking place and add portability, as research participants can move around while the researchers measure their eye movements. 

“Eye movements are a reliable and sensitive way of measuring thinking processes that influence behaviour, like attention or memory. From my work with older adults, I have found that they tend to have difficulty maintaining their focus on a single object when there are more exciting or distracting stimuli around compared to younger adults,” Gonzalez said. 

The third tool, transcranial magnetic stimulation, provides a non-invasive way of manipulating brain function to determine whether certain parts of the brain are important for performing a task.

“This technology allows us to determine cause and effect by directly disrupting brain activity in healthy individuals. We can then assess if that area is involved if we observe changes in behaviour. This is exciting for us, as it will allow us to move forward and make comparisons about normal and abnormal brain behaviour, increasing our knowledge about disease and disability,” she said. 

Three TRU researchers are sharing nearly $350,000 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grants program. 

Discovery Grants fund innovations in chemistry, physics, life sciences, mathematics, geosciences and the many branches of engineering. 

Improving connections in rural Canada

Dr. Waleed Ejaz has been awarded $177,500 over five years to make inroads in reducing Canada’s digital divide. His research focuses on managing digital resources for unlimited connectivity to a growing number of devices by integrating surface and aerial networks. 

“We are a G8 country, and yet we have some areas in which connectivity still lags behind,” he said. In rural Canada, Ejaz said, only 40.8 percent of residents have access to what would be considered high-speed connectivity. This lack of access is a barrier to meaningful participation in the economy and in many other aspects of society.

“We are supporting the UN sustainability goals for 2030 by providing connectivity to everyone, and that does not just mean access to the internet. It means access to education, health, jobs. Everyone should have equal opportunity to work remotely, and we see this more now than ever,” Ejaz said. 

Climate change and marine invertebrates

Dr. Louis Gosselin, meanwhile, has been awarded $140,000 over five years to continue his longstanding research program that explores the factors influencing the abundance of marine invertebrates, particularly juveniles of these species, as they can have extremely high mortality rates — up to 100 percent in their first few weeks of life.

Invertebrates such as mussels, crabs, oysters and barnacles, are the most abundant marine animals on the BC coast. They support much of the marine food web however, their populations rise and fall dramatically year to year. The causes of these population fluctuations are not clear.

“Understanding these fluctuations is crucial for anyone who wants to have a career harvesting these animals, and for anyone interested in the health of our ecosystems,” Gosselin said. 

Ocean temperatures are rising and Gosselin has been investigating the impact that rising water and intertidal temperatures on the BC coast will have on these vulnerable populations. 

“Our recent research shows that adults of these species are really quite tolerant to warm temperatures, but we don’t yet know if this is true for the babies. And if the babies are wiped out, these species could still disappear.”

Snake migration may inform conservation

Biologist Dr. Karl Larsen also received a two-year Discovery Development Grant for his research into the threatened Western rattlesnake and how movement patterns develop in a population. 

“Rattlesnakes show an amazing array of complex migration and movement behaviours. We have done a lot of work on the migration of male snakes, and we are just about finished a study looking at pregnant female snakes and the movements they make. But we don’t know how these behaviours develop or what female snakes do when they are not having babies. We plan to start looking at how different migratory behaviours develop in young snakes, and how these may reflect an adaptation to their own unique environments,” he said. 

By digging deeper and understanding more about how individual populations of snakes adopt different migratory strategies, scientists will be better able to inform conservation strategies. 

The Research Support Fund provides a portion of the costs associated with managing the research funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, such as salaries for staff who provide administration support, training costs for workplace health and safety and maintenance of libraries.

What can veterinary medicine, analytical chemistry and microbiology teach us about COVID-19? A trio of Thompson Rivers University researchers expect that answer to be: plenty.

Supported by a $50,000 NSERC Alliance Grant, Drs. John Church, Joanna Urban and Kingsley Donkor are working toward the development of an antiviral nasal spray and mouthwash using high-cannabidiol (CBD) extracts, terpenes, and nitric oxide with the goal of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

As part of the research, the scientists have partnered with SaNOtize Research and Development, a life-science biotech firm based in Vancouver, and Avicanna Inc., a Canadian biopharmaceutical company that develops medical cannabis-based products. The research at TRU will be conducted using state-of-the-art 3D tissue models to simulate human testing. 

“The coronavirus is not going away. I wish it was. And it might be a long time before we get a vaccine, so coming up with a novel treatment is something the world desperately needs,” said Church.

What we know about how the virus works

In the seven months that the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus has gripped the world, scientists have made significant strides in understanding how the virus works by isolating its receptor cells, said Church. The idea behind this research is to block the entry of the virus into the body, and several CBD extracts have already shown promise. Scientists have also found that patients infected with COVID-19 benefit from the use of inhaled nitric oxide (NO). Since 2004, Church has been successfully using NO as an antiviral therapy for the prevention of bovine respiratory disease in feedlot cattle, and it has also proven effective against bovine coronavirus.

“We’ve always had silos where we look at diseases in isolation, but we need to take a multidisciplinary approach and start to combine veterinary medicine and human medicine,” said Church, who is the BC Regional Innovation Chair in Cattle Industry Sustainability. “Many of these new viruses start in animals first and transfer to humans.”

A multidisciplinary team

While Church brings his knowledge of veterinary medicine to the team, Donkor, a professor of chemistry, uses ultra-high performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis to conduct the chemical analysis of the CBD extracts and terpenes, while Urban conducts molecular and microbiological tissue testing to measure effectiveness. 

Without a vaccine, it is hoped the knowledge gathered through this research can inform some of the treatment and prevention options, as so far, there is no effective treatment and traditional antiviral drug therapies have been ineffective.

“We could use this product in nursing homes, as it also has anti-inflammatory properties. This could be huge, and not just for the one year of the project, but for many more years to come as we investigate and see how cannabinoids can help us prevent virus spread,” said Urban. 

Treatment may be in a nasal spray or mouthwash

Church sees this project as an extension of the research he began with Donkor several years ago to prevent shipping fever in cattle. 

“I envision a device — a nasal spray or a mouthwash — that you can put in every purse or pocket. If you have been in close contact with someone who has the virus you could use this pre-treatment to potentially block the infection,” he said.

“We are trying to provide knowledge,” said Donkor.

“We are going to investigate this mechanism and get information about how this mechanism blocks virus receptors, and we will share this information with the scientific community,” he said, adding that he hopes other researchers will use this knowledge and move this research through various stages of testing.

“These products we are using are generally regarded as safe. They have all had approvals from Health Canada, and can actually get into the hands of people quite quickly,” he said.

What does research look like? 

As an open-access research university, Thompson Rivers University students and faculty have long been engaged in research. Whether that research involves rattlesnakes, cattle, or community groups, data is collected, analyzed, and the results are used to make research -informed decisions.

But we don’t often get to watch research as it is happening, which is why we launched Worth 1000 Words | Research in Pictures. The contest prompted faculty and student researchers to submit images that showed the research process.

People’s Choice

The idea was to visually represent faculty and student contributions to research across campus in a way that was open equally to various fields of study, and to bring this work into a publicly available forum, which was intended as a traditional exhibition of artwork, said Donald Lawrence, Professor of Visual Arts, who led the adjudication process.

While the traditional exhibition had to be postponed, the online exhibition of photographs provided an opportunity not only to share this impressive work, but for viewers to vote for People’s Choice. 

More than 200 people cast a ballot during the online exhibition, with Marcus Adkins taking the prize for A Squirrelly Meal.

Captions & images show time, presence

Lawrence was impressed by the images submitted, and by how well these images not only brought attention to research, but also to the researchers.

“Because there is such a nice interplay between the image and the caption it really puts the photographer present, and allows us to understand what is really going on. The photographer has to be there right in the action, and in many cases, there is only one moment in which that photo could have been taken,” Lawrence said. Many of the images also underscore the waiting that occurs in the research process, and Lawrence points to Justin Mufford’s photo, Study heat stress in cattle without getting heat stressed, as an example.

“He is not only showing the landscape of his research, but there’s a nice sense of time and presence in it as well, as if he’s waiting for something to happen,” he said.

The adjudication panel also included Dr. Nancy Van Wagoner, Professor of Geology, and Emily Hope, Education and Public Programs Director for the Kamloops Art Gallery. 

Worth 1000 Words winning images

• Art in Action: Man and Rock Illuminated by Ryan Collins
• Community Engagement: Service Learning in Oaxaca Mexico, by Monica Sanchez-Flores
• From the Field: A Squirrely Meal by Marcus Atkins
• Microscopic Mysteries: Grey and White Matters, by Claudia Gonzalez
• Best Caption: A Dangerous Dance by Marcus Atkins
• People’s Choice: A Squirrely Meal by Marcus Atkins 

Dr. Lisa Bourque Bearskin has long been a leader in nursing research, and now her leadership has been nationally recognized, having been awarded one of six Indigenous Research Chairs in Nursing by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). She is the only researcher in British Columbia to receive such an honour.

As an Indigenous Research Chair, Bourque Bearskin’s research program will be supported by an investment of more than $1.52 million over the next five years. Along with the CIHR, the First Nations Health Authority and the Canadian Nursing Foundation are also key partners. Bourque Bearskin’s research program focuses on advancing Indigenous health through enacting and supporting policies and standards that are informed by the experiences of Indigenous peoples, and she works to empower nurses to advocate for access to traditional wellness practices. 

“The fact that CIHR devoted six chairs across the country to this program is significant. It recognizes the talents and the leadership that Indigenous nurses have, and how they can contribute to making authentic changes in health care,” she said.

Advancing Indigenous wellness

“At TRU, we are tremendously proud of the work Dr. Bourque Bearskin has done. Because of research like hers we have a better understanding of how traditional knowledge and cultural safety are foundational for community healing,” said Dr. Brett Fairbairn, TRU president and vice-chancellor.

A member of Beaver Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 6 Territory, Bourque Bearskin said her research is grounded in own nehiway teachings of mâmawoh kamâtowin, which means coming together to help each other.

“This way I get to practice in my own way of knowing while working with knowledge holders and nurses within Secwépemc’ulucw, the traditional territory of the Secwépemc people as a way of recognizing and honoring Indigenous nurses from this region,” she said.

Research that empowers all nurses

The most important aspect of this work, she added, will be maintaining relational accountability and mutual reciprocity.

“Even though nurses are at the heart of health care, we are still developing our own knowledge base. Now we have a formalized platform to empower not just Indigenous nurses, but all nurses, to carefully rethink our role within health care,” she said. “This opportunity to co-create ways that acknowledge Indigenous rights and sovereignty, including health security, is central to nurses’ work. We have a social mandate and responsibility to enact and support policies and standards that are informed by the experiences of Indigenous peoples.”

This investment in Indigenous health nursing provides an opportunity for all nurses to make research part of their everyday practice, and shows a positive step toward enacting authentic reconciliation, Bourque Bearskin said. Indigenous nurses hold positions that contribute significantly to reconciling nursing practices and alternate pathways in nursing and health-care service delivery. 

About Dr. Bourque Bearskin

Bourque Bearskin has spent 30 years as a registered nurse advocating for improved health-care service delivery to Indigenous populations. She is affiliated with the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, the International Public Health Association, and the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association, of which she was past-president. She has been recognized for her commitment to nursing by the Canadian Nurses Association, and the Association of Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC.

More information

Dr. Lisa Bourque Bearskin, Associate Professor, TRU School of Nursing
Indigenous Nursing Research Chair
lbourquebearskin@tru.ca

Typically, the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition is held every March, but this year university campuses closed before the event could take place.

However, the show must go on, as they say, and last week it did, when seven TRU graduate students presented their research virtually before a panel of non-expert judges. The judges, which included Acacia Pangilinan, executive director of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce, Christopher Foulds, editor of Kamloops This Week, and Katie Neustaeter, interim executive director of the United Way Thompson Nicola Cariboo, deliberated and returned with their winners. 

• Watch TRU’s 2020 virtual 3MT

And the winner is…

Ted Morton, Master of Science in Environmental Science, was awarded first place, along with a $1,000 prize, and will advance to the Western Canadian regional competition, hosted virtually on Wednesday, Sept. 23, by the University of Alberta.

• Reserve your free tickets to the Western Canadian 3MT

Morton’s presentation, “The narcissist of land-use management,” poses some critical questions about the multi-million-dollar mountain biking industry and the challenges that arise, generally, from commodifying the outdoors.

As the owner of the Canadian Enduro Series, which stages mountain biking events across Canada, Morton has a unique insider’s view into the sport, and said he began graduate school as a way of devoting time to answer questions that kept surfacing.

“I had a feeling that mountain biking wasn’t as good as I originally thought it was for communities, and whenever I brought up my concerns, nobody seemed to have the answers I was looking for,” he said. 

The goal of his research is to ensure that the sport he has devoted so much of his life to thrives, but not at the expense of other land users, the environment and communities.

Morton opted to tackle the three-minute communication competition to increase his comfort with public speaking. 

“I’m pretty comfortable in the mountain biking world, and in talking to other mountain bikers, but on the academic side, I don’t have as much experience expressing my thoughts and speaking in front of that crowd. I wanted to take a subject that was really close to me and display it in a manner that is really relevant,” he said.

And the runners up are…

Taking second place and a $500 cash prize was Kyley Drach for her presentation, “Hidden chemicals impacting the menstrual cycle,” and in third place, receiving a $250 prize, was Aramide Taiwo, for “How harmful are poultry farms close to lakes?”

Despite not having an opportunity to judge the event in person, the judging panel was nevertheless impressed by what they saw.

Judges suitably impressed

“This was my first time judging the competition and I would do it again in a heartbeat — hopefully in person when this pandemic finally departs,” said Foulds. “I like it, and I think the community at large would too, because it gives laypeople like myself a good summary of more complex issues that are part of the participants’ research. They are only three minutes long, but you can learn a heck of a lot in that time frame,” he said.

“The judging experience was fantastic, and an impressive group of candidates made for challenging deliberations,” said Pangilinan. “A job well done to each of the participants, and congratulations!”

“The opportunity to learn from the work of these engaged students was an honour. Their commitment to research and their effort to make a positive impact on the world through their field of interest was inspiring and encouraging,” said Neustaeter.

Morton is now be one of 17 graduate students competing in the Western Regional 3MT. The winner of that competition moves forward to the National 3MT, hosted by the Canadian Association for Graduate Students later this fall.

The 3MT is an international academic competition that assists graduate students with fostering effective communication skills. Students have just three minutes and a single static slide to explain the breadth and significance of their research to a non-specialist audience.

An impressive team of TRU researchers is working together with Kamloops teachers on a federally funded project that aims to improve learning opportunities for students during a pandemic. 

Carol Rees, associate professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, has been awarded a $25,000 Partnership Engage Grant through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) COVID-19 Special Initiative program. She leads a team that includes TRU researchers Michelle Harrison, Naowarat Cheeptham and Christine Miller, as well as Grady Sjokvist, Elizabeth DeVries and Morgan Whitehouse from the Kamloops Thompson School District.

• Join Dr. Carol Rees on Oct. 21 at 7 pm for ‘Teaching science in a pandemic’, a Tap into Research presentation

The project, announced last week by the Hon. Navdeep Bans, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, is an extension of research undertaken this spring in the midst of school closures due to the pandemic. Rees had been working with Sjokvist in his Grade 11 physics class, creating inquiry-based experiences for his NorKam Secondary students.

The Partnership Engaged Grants COVID-19 Special Initiative provides researchers and their partners a unique opportunity to foster knowledge exchange on COVID-19 crisis-related issues, challenges and impacts. More than $3 million was awarded nationally through this initiative, supporting 139 projects.

Grant enables partnerships

This grant has enabled greater collaboration between TRU and the Kamloops-Thompson School District, and a greater depth to the research team with the additional collaborators.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced school closures in March, Rees and Sjokvist quickly developed projects students could complete at home. Students were provided with project kits to develop solar-powered cars and were also tasked with creating their own Rube Goldberg machines, which are highly elaborate systems set up to perform simple tasks. 

“When the student presented their final projects, we were just blown away,” said Rees. 

Inquiry-based learning explained

Sjokvist said he always tries to incorporate his students’ own interests into lessons, but working with them virtually created an opportunity to do so to an even greater extent.

“If the students are practicing their basketball shots, or if they’re playing with their dog, we can turn those moments into experiments that they can run at home,” he said.

So much of what students accomplished in the spring was made possible using technology available on their cellphones.

“With a bit of flexibility, and by using something that the students already have in their pockets, we can leverage those tools to develop quality experiments,” said Sjokvist.

Ensuring open access to knowledge

The goal of this new project is to ensure that all teachers and students benefit from the research. “Whatever we produce will be openly available to everyone. At the end we will create an open education resource to share with teachers immediately and for free,” said Rees.

Now schools are reopened and students and teachers are back in classrooms, but it is important to be ready and capable of adapting quickly in an emergency, she added.

“If another emergency hits, we are ready, and we can put this model into place. And even if you think of remote learning for students in small communities, this would work really well. 

“What we are doing is building curiosity into learning and giving students a choice in what they want to study. You make sure you are covering the curriculum but doing so in a way that is in alignment with their interests.”

Contact:
Dr. Carol Rees, Associate Professor
crees@tru.ca

Join us for this exciting Tap into Research | Gift of Learning presentation featuring three TRU Master of Science in Environmental Science students. Aramide Taiwo, Ted Morton and Kyley Drach recently competed in TRU’s first ever virtual Three Minute Thesis competition, and all placed in the Top 3. What they will be discussing:

First up, Aramide Taiwo explores whether poultry farms are a source of environmental arsenic. To conduct her research, Taiwo employs capillary electrophoresis to determine the amount of organoarsenicals in poultry farm waters.

Next, Ted Morton discusses how mountain biking is challenging sustainable development in British Columbia’s rural and Indigenous communities.

Finally, there are a variety of harmful chemicals in women’s disposable sanitary products that lead to adverse health effects. Kyley Drach discusses her research, which explores whether switching to reusable products may reverse these effects.

This event takes place on YouTube premier, and the three students will be available to answer questions. Join us!

Dr. Christine Bovis-Cnossen, Provost & Vice-President Academic and Research, and Dr. Will Garrett-Petts, Associate Vice-President Research and Graduate Studies, cordially invite all new faculty researchers to this orientation and virtual breakfast. 

This informal meeting will provide new and recently hired faculty members (those hired within the last three years) the opportunity to meet the university’s research leadership team to hear about research initiatives and opportunities, to share your research interests, and to network with newly hired colleagues from across disciplines via Microsoft Teams. 

Who should attend: All those faculty engaged or interested in research, creative inquiry, the scholarship of teaching, and supporting enhanced research experiences for students. 

RSVP by Friday, October 23rd to Alana McMaster (amcmaster@tru.ca).
A link to the event (and morning coffee!) will be provided via email. 

Join us for this exciting Tap into Research | Gift of Learning presentation featuring Dr. Carol Rees, associate professor, education.

Topic:

Curiosity ignites students’ interest and inquiry-based science education supports them to pursue answers to their questions, supported by their teachers, and using science processes such as designing and conducting experiments and arguing from evidence. In this presentation Dr. Carol Rees from the School of Education will share some stories of ways some teachers are using curiosity-driven inquiry-based science to bridge face-to-face and online learning spaces to support students’ science learning during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

This event takes place on YouTube premier, and Dr. Rees will be available to answer questions during her presentation. Join us!

When it comes to building a bridge between the campus and the community, Thompson Rivers University’s students are its greatest assets.

Which is why two exceptional undergraduate researchers, Will Primrose and Youssef Ekladuce, have been awarded Community-Engaged Student Research Fellowships that will see them spend the summer creating a framework for students to work in community. Both Primrose and Ekladuce received a $6,000 award, allowing them to devote considerable time this summer designing methods for connecting students with community groups to solve real-world problems.

The fellowship program is driven by TRU’s Research Office and overseen by Sukh Heer Matonovich, associate director, Student  Research and Public Engagement, and is in alignment with TRU’s commitment to community-engaged research.

A rich history of community-engaged research

During its 50-year history, TRU has always valued the impact that its faculty and students make in the community, and these fellowships represent a new form of facilitated collaboration. The goal is to have students work closely with faculty and community groups to investigate important social, economic and environmental challenges facing Kamloops and its surrounding communities.

“The fellows will be working with us as partners helping to develop a framework for students to be able to work within the community to solve real, pressing problems, and they will also work with us to provide resources for those students, which includes online learning modules for student researchers,” said Heer Matonovich.

Ekladuce, a psychology major, is working on this project remotely while living with his family in Vancouver. Along with this fellowship, he is also completing an Undergraduate Research Experience Award Project, supervised by Dr. Jenni Karl.

More opportunities for student to conduct research

“Community-based research creates so many opportunities for students,” said Ekladuce. “Honestly, going into university I didn’t even know I had an option for doing research. Being able to do research has taught me so much more than I would have learned by just going to class,” he said, adding that he hopes these efforts help to make research opportunities more accessible. 

“I like the idea of talking to people and building the tools so that more students can get involved working with the community.”

Will Primrose, Community-Engaged Student Research Fellow

Primrose will also work on this project remotely before moving to Vancouver to begin graduate school at UBC. The Bachelor of Science graduate has always been interested in making complicated subjects more accessible, and spent several years leading the Eureka! Science Camp at TRU. He sees this fellowship as just one more way of sharing knowledge. 

“The reason I enjoy research is because it allows me to answer questions, but also talk to people about those questions. I think this role is going to be a lot of fun. I like the idea of talking to people and building the tools so that more students can get involved working with the community. TRU is at a great place to do that, and I am excited to be involved in the process.” 

In this talk, we will take a short trip through the history of the cameo role as Joceline Andersen discusses how audiences use their recognition of actors playing themselves as an opportunity to participate in the making of celebrity culture and mass entertainment.

This event will be streamed live via YouTube premiere, and Joceline will be on hand to answer any questions during the presentation. The link will be made available shortly!

Joceline Andersen is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Thompson Rivers University (TRU). She has published several articles on topics including cinematic representations of technology, LGBT film festivals, and community building through online video sharing.

This is a Tap into Research-Gift of Learning event.

Mitacs is providing free, online workshops for graduate students in BC. For each workshop there are 24 seats available, and sessions are full-day.

For a description of each workshop, please visit Mitacs.

To register, students must create an account or log in to their accounts on EDGE.

For any questions regarding the workshops or EDGE, send an email to training@mitacs.ca.

Project Management

Description:

This is a two-day, hands-on course for graduate students. Reach project deadlines with less stress. Gain techniques and tools to help you create realistic project timelines and manage your time and energy.

Using a customized project planning tool, you’ll be reaching your project deadlines with energy and time to spare.

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course, you will:

• Understand how to define tasks, task duration, milestones, and deadlines
• Know how to use planning techniques to implement and adapt project timelines
• Learn processes and techniques to communicate your project status to your research team

Mitacs is providing free, online workshops for graduate students in BC. For each workshop there are 24 seats available, and sessions are full-day.

For a description of each workshop, please visit Mitacs.

To register, students must create an account or log in to their accounts on EDGE.

For any questions regarding the workshops or EDGE, send an email to training@mitacs.ca.

Project Management

Description:

This is a two-day, hands-on course for graduate students. Reach project deadlines with less stress. Gain techniques and tools to help you create realistic project timelines and manage your time and energy.

Using a customized project planning tool, you’ll be reaching your project deadlines with energy and time to spare.

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course, you will:

• Understand how to define tasks, task duration, milestones, and deadlines
• Know how to use planning techniques to implement and adapt project timelines
• Learn processes and techniques to communicate your project status to your research team

Mitacs is providing free, online workshops for graduate students in BC. For each workshop there are 24 seats available, and sessions are full-day.

For a description of each workshop, please visit Mitacs.

To register, students must create an account or log in to their accounts on EDGE.

For any questions regarding the workshops or EDGE, send an email to training@mitacs.ca.

Project Management

Description:

This is a two-day, hands-on course for graduate students. Reach project deadlines with less stress. Gain techniques and tools to help you create realistic project timelines and manage your time and energy.

Using a customized project planning tool, you’ll be reaching your project deadlines with energy and time to spare.

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course, you will:

• Understand how to define tasks, task duration, milestones, and deadlines
• Know how to use planning techniques to implement and adapt project timelines
• Learn processes and techniques to communicate your project status to your research team

Mitacs is providing free, online workshops for graduate students in BC. For each workshop there are 24 seats available, and sessions are full-day.

For a description of each workshop, please visit Mitacs.

To register, students must create an account or log in to their accounts on EDGE.

For any questions regarding the workshops or EDGE, send an email to training@mitacs.ca.

Practice your Presentation Skills I

Description:

In this one-day course, theory is introduced in short bursts and participants spend the majority of time practicing their presentation skills while receiving onsite feedback.

The focus on extensive practice and feedback is what makes the program meaningful, and is what makes the learning stick.

Course Objective:

To create opportunities for participants to build and practice their presentation skills by applying course concepts through a series of short presentation practices while receiving in-person peer and expert feedback.

Learning Outcomes:

Through completing this course, participants will:

• Broaden their understanding of presentation logistics
• Gain a greater ability to persuade and motivate others
• Understand how to plan and structure presentations
• Understand how (and how not to) use visual aids
• Learn to engage others through genuine and authentic presentation
• Learn tools to overcome and manage fears of public speaking
• Gain onsite practice and receive expert and peer feedback
• Be perceived as an expert in their topic area

Key Topic Areas:

Presentation Structure

• Types Of Presentations
• Mind maps as a design tool
• Constructing your Argument
• Opening & closing
• Synthesis
• Body
• Length & Breaks
• Closing
• Q & A

Managing Fear

• Why people fear presenting
• Overcoming Fear

Engaging Your Audience

• Authenticity
• Developing rapport
• Body language & Voice
• Questioning the audience
• Story-telling
• Metaphors
• Humour

Presentation Logistics

• Room Layout
• Getting there early
• Whiteboards & Flipcharts
• Visual Aids
• Presentation Practice

Mitacs is providing free, online workshops for graduate students in BC. For each workshop there are 24 seats available, and sessions are full-day.

For a description of each workshop, please visit Mitacs.

To register, students must create an account or log in to their accounts on EDGE.

For any questions regarding the workshops or EDGE, send an email to training@mitacs.ca.

Register now

Networking Skills

Description:

You’ve all heard the saying “you are only as good as your network,” but have you ever wondered how to get one?

This full day course is designed to provide insight and interaction along with the know how to build and stabilize business relationships through effective networking.

We will cover who-what-where-when and why to network and participants will have the opportunity to practice what they learn. Details on the actual networking exercises will be determined by the location of each event. Activities will be customized to reflect the interests of the participants.

Learning Outcomes:

Through participating and completing this course, participants will:

• Broaden their understanding of the importance of networking
• Learn the importance of sharing contacts
• Receive insights on how to refresh, build and make the most of the networks they already have, both virtually and in-person
• Acquire the tools required to make an impact on contacts that may open doors
• Learn tools and techniques to plan and better prepare for networking opportunities

Key Topic Areas:

The Importance of Networking

• The value of a network
• Strength of weak ties
• Introducing others
• Social Media Profiles and Networking

Assessing and Building a Network

• Mapping and identifying existing networks
• Identifying networking opportunities in life and work
• Business cards: why everyone should have them and how to use them
• Networking planning and preparation
• Transactional vs. engaged networking
• Mingling and making impactful connections: The art of conversation
• Answering the questions “So what do you do?”
• Follow through and follow up

Mitacs is providing free, online workshops for graduate students in BC. For each workshop there are 24 seats available, and sessions are full-day.

For a description of each workshop, please visit Mitacs.

To register, students must create an account or log in to their accounts on EDGE.

For any questions regarding the workshops or EDGE, send an email to training@mitacs.ca.

Register now

Description:

Make an impact with your scientific and technical writing skills! This two day, hands-on course is aimed at those with scientific and technical backgrounds. From structure and grammar to impact – get on-site expert feedback, a chance to work on a current, future, or past piece of your writing, and get exposure to many samples of writing, from atrocious to outstanding.

Course Objective:

To increase participant awareness and application of tools and exercises available to them to better present their research and knowledge in written form.

Learning Outcomes:

Through participating and completing this course, participants will:

• Broaden their perspective on the importance of the writing process
• Learn to analyze their audience and plan the writing process accordingly
• Be able to identify all aspects of technical reports
• Learn effective editing techniques
• Understand how to use graphics to make an impact and support an argument

Key Topic Areas:

Overall writing process

• common pitfalls, dealing with procrastination, staying motivated
• the importance of the writing process (inventing, drafting, editing, and revising)
• audience analysis, understanding purpose, tone, and genres
• effectively organizing documents and using standard forms (i.e., theses, journal papers, poster presentation, other reports)
• persuasive and informative writing
• aspects of technical reports (i.e., abstracts, introductions, results, and conclusions)

Editing and visuals

• principles of punctuation
• revising sentences for order (sentence structure, ordering ideas)
• revising sentences for clarity (avoiding general language, vague this subjects, noun strings, and prepositional phrases)
• revising sentences for conciseness (importance of descriptive verbs, avoiding empty sentence openers)
• revising for connection (structuring paragraphs, transitions between sentences)
• effective use of graphics (appropriate types of graphs, proper use of colour and layout, incorporating graphics into text)

Presented by Louis Gosselin, Professor of Biology, and Courtney Mason, Canada Research Chair, Rural Livelihoods and Sustainable Communities, this session is essential for TRU graduate students interested in applying for federal scholarships.

The event will take place via BigBlueButton.

Emphasis will be placed on the application process for the Canada Graduate Scholarship-Masters (CGS-M), which is valued at $17,500, and only available to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. This opportunity is designed for students enrolled in a program with a significant research component, such as a major research project, or a thesis.

TRU offers four CGS-M awards, and the deadline to apply is Dec. 1.

It is recommended that those who wish to apply begin the process early, contact referees ASAP, order transcripts well in advance, and attend this workshop!

Join us