VIU in the News: March 8, 2025

The Discourse’s International Women’s Day article featured several VIU community members who are making an impact in Nanaimo: the women's basketball team, Leah Vaisanen and Alyona Latsinnik.

Have you ever answered the phone, only to find an upset person on the other end? Managing these conversations can be challenging. In a Charity Village article, Dr. Evan Hoffman outlines some strategies to help you navigate difficult calls in a constructive way.

VIU Education Professor Dr. Wendy Simms is using children’s books to boost education on climate change. Read more about her research in My Campbell River Now.

Vancouver Island University hosted a competition where students from across the central Island got to show off their skills in a wide variety of trades. Read more about the regional skills competition in My Campbell River Now.

The U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement implementation act of 1988 had "massive" impacts on the North American economy, says Dr. Michael MacKenzie, VIU's Jarislowsky Chair in Trust and Political Leadership. Read the full story on CHEK News.

Nanaimo is moving ahead with a ban on video and audio recording in council chambers to limit disruptions by members of the public during meetings. VIU Management Professor Dr. Evan Hoffman said this could lead to more efficient meetings in the future. Read more in the Times Colonist.

Joanne Schroader, VIU Recreation and Tourism Professor and Chair of the World Leisure Organization, shared with Act3 audiences the importance of Social Prescribing. Watch the episode or listen to more about the project on CHLY FM 101.7.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the VIU Theatre department’s spring play, was featured in the Nanaimo Bulletin. The Vancouver Island Free Daily also picked up the story. Read the story.

Dr. Timothy Green, VIU’s Canada Research Chair in Shellfish Health and Genomics, was featured in Noéme. Green discusses marine heat waves that can trigger outbreaks of diseases in oysters and oyster die-offs. Read the article.