VIU News & Experts: April 13, 2023

The Communications and External Relations department is pleased to introduce the VIU Experts List. This searchable list will help you find experts for your stories and it will help our instructors and faculty share their expertise with the world. Each expert profile includes searchable expertise, fields and department categories, as well as a photo and contact info. Looking for expertise that’s not on the list yet? We are adding to it constantly. Simply reach out to us with your requests.

Featured experts

Earth Day experts

Earth Day is on April 22 this year and the theme is #InvestInOurPlanet, focused on engaging the more than one billion people, governments, institutions and businesses who participate in Earth Day to recognize our collective responsibility and to help accelerate the transition to an equitable, prosperous green economy for all. The focus is on reframing the conversation, accelerating action and bringing everyone together to understand that this is within our reach if we work together.

• Geography Professor Dr. Jeff Lewis is a co-organizer of the Awareness of Climate Change Through Education and Research symposium, taking place on Earth Day. He’s ready to share more about the local and global impacts of climate change and some of the ways people can be part of the solution.
• Dr. Erik Krogh, Co-Director of VIU’s Applied Environmental Research Laboratories, is developing real-time measurements of emerging contaminantsusing mass spectrometers. Measuring the impact of pollutants on air, water and food is a focus of his work.

VIU in the news

Expert in democracy and public trust joins VIU

A new position at Vancouver Island University will focus on educating future politicians and civil servants. Dr. Michael K. MacKenzie is VIU’s inaugural Jarislowsky Chair in Trust and Political Leadership. “Political knowledge, deliberation, trust, effective leadership and robust democratic institutions are needed if we are going to make our shared futures together in intentional ways,” he said. The position is unique in that it is connected to research chairs in Trust and Political Leadership at four other institutions across Canada. Read the media release.

BioBlitz

Nature lovers are invited to head outdoors for science during the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region BioBlitz this April. The BioBlitz, which runs from April 14 to 16, relies on citizen scientists to collect information on flora and fauna species within the boundaries of the biosphere region. The event is open to everyone of all ages and knowledge levels and there is a daily prize for the person who submits the highest number of observations that day. Learn more.

Living the agrarian life

By day, Dr. Toni Smith is an English professor at Vancouver Island University. Also by day, she is living the agrarian life with her husband and her mother on a two-acre farm in the Cowichan Valley. Her commentary on the back-to-the-land lifestyle has been featured in such publications as Macleans and The Atlantic. Read more.

Campus events

Check out VIU's Garry oak restoration project

Garry oak ecosystems are one of Canada’s most biodiverse but also one of the most threatened ecosystems. These ecosystems are home to many species at risk. VIU’s Garry Oak Restoration project is hosting an open house Saturday, April 15 from 1 to 4 pm. The site is between Buildings 370 and 375 at the Nanaimo campus. The open house is free, but people interested in attending are asked to email Sustainability@viu.ca. Learn more.

The Fear of Missing Out

VIU’s Inclusive Theatre Collective presents The Fear of Missing Out by Canadian playwright Michaela di Cesare on April 12 and 13, 7:30 pm, at the Mike Taugher Studio, Building 330, Room 109, Nanaimo campus. The show is free to attend but people must reserve their tickets on Eventbrite.
 
The play tells the story of Olive, a high school student who wants to research and write about a string of assaults and disappearances at bus stops in her neighbourhood for the school paper. She spends most of her time working in her parents’ deli under their supervision. Her friend Vincent, an aspiring forensic scientist on the autism spectrum, helps Olive with her research. Learn more.