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LETTER: Lakehead showcasing exceptional research and innovation

From a NASA director to a discussion on mercury in our water will be topics of free public discussions during LU's R&I week.
Andrew P  Dean 2015

To the editor:

Come one, come all.

Lakehead University’s Research and Innovation Week, happening March 3 to March 9, will have something of interest for people of all ages.

Research and Innovation Week is held annually to showcase the exceptional research happening at Lakehead University. This year’s theme is Sustainability.

Faculty, staff and students will be in the Intercity Shopping Centre on Saturday, March 4 from 10 am until 6 pm, showing off interactive displays that will dazzle you with the cutting-edge research and innovation happening at Lakehead University. There will be lots to see and do as well as prizes.

On Sunday, March 5 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., join faculty from Lakehead University’s Department of English and local community members in a public discussion about the history and nature of censorship in the Fireside Reading Room at the Brodie Street Library.

Topics such as what gets censored, why, how, and who gets to decide, will be discussed and more. Participants will include Drs. Monica Flegel, Anna Guttman, and Rachel Warburton from the Department of English, Laura Prinselaar from the Thunder Bay Public Library, RenéeTerpstra from the Definitely Superior Art Gallery, and it will be moderated by Dr. Chris Parkes from the English department.

What Can We Do About Mercury in Our Water? is a sustainability round table discussion happening on Monday, March 6 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.

Participants will include Dr. Michael Rennie, Biology Professor and Canada Research Chair in Freshwater Ecology and Fisheries; Dr. Peter Lee, Biology Professor, Director of Lakehead's Environmental Laboratory and Director of Lakehead’s Aquatic Toxicity Research Centre; Judy DaSilva, an environmentalist and member of Grassy Narrows First Nation; and Dr. Brian Branfireun, a Canada Research Chair in Environment and Sustainability who holds posts in Biology and Earth Sciences at London’s Western University. That discussion will be moderated by Dr. Peggy Smith from Aboriginal Initiatives.

International Women’s Day will feature a panel of female researchers from Lakehead discussing their research challenges and successes. Moderated by Dr. Connie Russell from Education, this discussion will be on Wednesday, March 8 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in Lakehead’s Faculty Lounge (UC 1029G).

Researchers will include Dr. Pam Wakewich from Sociology, Women's Studies, and the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research; Dr. AllaReznik, Canada Research Chair in Physics of Molecular Imaging, from the Physics department and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute; Dr.Pauline Sameshima, Canada Research Chair in Arts Integrated Studies from the Faculty of Education; Dr. Karen Drake, Faculty of Law; and Dr. Michelle-Marie Spadoni, School of Nursing.

A panel discussion called Should Lakehead University establish an Indigenous Research Centre? will be staged from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8 in the University’s Faculty Lounge (UC 1029G).

Participants will include Drs. Michelle Johnson-Jennings, Derek Jennings, and Eldon Yellowhorn, and Dr. Peggy Smith from Aboriginal Initiatives will be the moderator.

Have you seen the film The Martian starring Matt Damon? NASA’s director of the Planetary Science Division, Dr. James Green, helped Ridley Scott make sure Mars looked accurate. Dr. Green’s talk will describe what Mars and Venus were like in the past, what they will be like in the future and the ingredients needed for life to exist there. The Search for Life Beyond Earth in Space and Time will be on Wednesday, March 8 at 7:30 pm in ATAC 1003.

We hope to see you at these free events. No registration is required. Please visit lakeheadu.ca/ri for more information.

Andrew Dean
Vice-President, Research and Innovation,
Lakehead University





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