Sustainability Across The Disciplines Series Part 2

Indigenous Environmental Justice on the World Stage: Stories From the Forgotten Public Hearings That Made Sustainable Development

Wednesday, Jan. 27
12 to 1 pm

Internationalism appears to be faltering at the same time that its importance for sustainability seems ever more urgent. This talk discusses how sustainability emerged from a liberal-democratic approach to internationalism that aimed to engage a plurality of voices—and why it struggled to address calls for environmental justice by Indigenous people. Dr. Cheryl Lousley, Lakehead University Research Chair in Environmental Humanities, shares her archival research on the public hearings and back-room meetings of the World Commission on Environment and Development, whose 1987 report Our Common Future launched sustainable development. Its recommendations were a precursor to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Please register at: https://bit.ly/3mEH5tR.

MSc Thesis Defence By Jessie McFadden

Title: "Characterization of an Arsenite-Oxidizing Caballeronia sp. Soil Bacterium and its Mutualistic Relationship with Trifolium pratense for Arsenic Remediation"

Supervisory committee:

• Dr. Kam Leung (Supervisor)
• Dr. Peter Lee
• Dr. Heidi Schraft
• Dr. Baoqiang Liao (external examiner)

Live via Zoom. Please contact Heather Suslyk (biology@lakeheadu.ca) for meeting ID and password. All are welcome to attend.

During this event, you will receive important information on the following topics:

• The compulsory Math Content Exam for all Bachelor of Education (BEd) students
• The planning, preparation and expectations associated with your teaching placements
• Information on your class schedule and the registration process in the two-year BEd program

Additional information, including registration details and Zoom link, to follow.

We look forward to having you join us!

During this event, you will receive important information on the following topics:

• The compulsory Math Content Exam for all Bachelor of Education (BEd) students
• The planning, preparation and expectations associated with your teaching placements
• Information on your class schedule and the registration process in the two-year BEd program

Additional information, including registration details and Zoom link, to follow.

We look forward to having you join us!

Please join the Computer Science Department for the upcoming thesis defense:

Presenter: Ajinkya Kunjir
Thesis title: Developing Machine Learning Coding Similarity Indicators for C & C++ Corpora

Time: Wednesday, December 16, 2020, 9 AM

Committee Members:
Dr. Jinan Fiaidhi (supervisor, committee chair), Dr. Sabah Mohammed, Dr. Al-Khanjari (Sultan Qaboos University)

Please contact grad.compsci@lakeheadu.ca for the Zoom link. Everyone is welcome.

Please join us in Samantha Chong's PHD Final Dissertation Defense.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lakeheadu.zoom.us/j/97948346852?pwd=K3NmNVpMT2RMQTRYUVZ5TWZydXJ5...

Meeting ID: 979 4834 6852
Passcode: Please email Admin.psych@lakeheadu.ca for the password to join.

Please join the Computer Science Department for the upcoming thesis defense:

Presenter: Andrew Fisher
Thesis title: Development of Simulation and Machine Learning Solutions for Social and Health Issues
Time: Thursday, December 10, 2020, 10 AM

Committee Members:
Dr. Vijay Mago (supervisor, committee chair), Dr. Zubair Fadlullah, Dr. Thangarajah Akilan (Software Engineering)

Please contact grad.compsci@lakeheadu.ca for the Zoom link. Everyone is welcome.

Dr. Gurjit Randhawa
Candidate for Limited Term/Tenure Track Appointment positions, Thunder Bay Campus
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Zoom Meeting
https://lakeheadu.zoom.us/j/96437589058?pwd=NW9JZ2xtZXVZMFdEYS9DVEJ5ODVr...
Meeting ID: 964 3758 9058
Passcode: 093237
Research Presentation - Open to the University Community
Research Title: Machine learning for rapid and accurate genome analysis

Abstract:
In the field of bioinformatics, sequence classification is the scientific practice of identification,
naming, and grouping of organisms based on their similarities and differences. The problem of
sequence classification is of immense importance considering that nearly 86% of existing species
on Earth and 91% of marine species remain uncatalogued. Due to the magnitude of the datasets,
the need exists for a scalable approach that can process large datasets to perform rapid
comparative analysis. I propose ML-DSP and MLDSP-GUI, stand-alone alignment-free software
tools that use Machine Learning and Digital Signal Processing to classify genomic sequences.

MLDSP classified 7, 396 full mitochondrial genomes at various taxonomic levels, from kingdom to
genus, with an average classification accuracy of > 97%. The use of proposed methods was
extended to successfully address a variety of problems such as virus sub-type classification,
bacterial genome analysis, cancer type classification, mitochondrial disease classification, virushost co-evolution, the evolution of extinct and extant hominids, human haplogroup classification, etc.

My recent publication provides proof of principle that the proposed pipeline can classify
newly discovered organisms by correctly classifying the novel COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2). The
proposed approach being alignment-free does not require gene or genome annotations and can
be useful in delivering highly-accurate real-time and fine precision in taxonomic predictions for
future viral and pathogen outbreaks. The technique is being evaluated to assess spontaneous
mutational mechanisms, compromised DNA repair, and environmental mutagen impacts.

Teaching Presentation: Open to the University Community
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
10:40 am - 11:10 am
Zoom Meeting
https://lakeheadu.zoom.us/j/95853710324?pwd=ZXVLenJUVm9YR0JSYXhpcWxXSHNV...
Meeting ID: 958 5371 0324
Passcode: 244546
Teaching Presentation Title: Feature detection and description in Computer Vision

Lakehead University Visual Arts Graduates 2019 & 2020
Double Gala Art Opening:
December 5th, 4-7pm & 8-11pm At Definitely Superior Art Gallery

A Thought provoking and exciting multidisciplinary art convergence on Saturday, December 5th for a double Gala Opening reception. Featuring: The Lakehead University Retro Graduate X2 Exhibition, comprised of artworks the Visual Arts Graduates of 2019 and 2020 have created and selected over a four year period of their program, including new works.

• 2019 Graduates: Mary McPherson, Vanessa Ervin, Amanda Toope, Shayla Hickerson, Lucille Atlookan, Violet Cross
• 2020 Graduates: Evalina Sacchetti, Katy Poirier, Caroline Robillard, Jessica Stacy, Gillian McGregor.

Important Notice: Pre-registration required for each individual to attend, via Eventbrite through DefSup website. This is an indoor, socially-distanced event, following Local/Ontario maximum attendance Covid-19 restrictions for indoor public gatherings. Reminder to socially distance & wear a mask at the event. If you are not pre-registered you will not be allowed to enter to the gallery.

*Reminder, please do not attend if you have any Covid symptoms, have travelled outside of Canada or through any of the hot spots within Canada, or have come into contact with an individual who has tested positive.

Exhibition also open during regular gallery hours, Tues-Sat/12-6pm. Contact the gallery: Definitely Superior Art Gallery | 115 Cumberland Street North, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada | P7A 4M3 | 807-344-3814

For more information about the Exhibition check Definitely Superior Art Gallery’s website and Lakehead University Visual Arts Department’s Facebook page.

Dr. Rabe Abdelkareem
Candidate for Limited Term/Tenure Track appointment Positions, Thunder Bay Campus
Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020
2:45 pm – 3:15 pm
Zoom Meeting
https://lakeheadu.zoom.us/j/91260076150?pwd=amVCVm1hLzg1a2xmdWI3SXJmaEE3...
Meeting ID: 912 6007 6150
Passcode: 256871
Research Presentation - Open to the University Community
Research Title: Supporting Developers in the Era of Software Ecosystems

Abstract:
The development of software systems has changed dramatically over time. Nowadays, software developers create entire systems by reusing existing source code, which is glued together with additional custom code to suit their specific needs. These platforms that contain a massive number of reusable source code components are referred to as software ecosystems. A good example of software ecosystems is the node package manager platform that contains over a million reusable packages. Researchers have found that code reuse provides developers with fast and easy-to-use code that results in reduced development time and cost, along with increased productivity. However, reusing code from software ecosystems brings with it many challenges such as quality issues, scalability and performance issues, maintenance issues, and even legal issues.

My research work focuses on studying how developers use and adopt software ecosystems and helping software developers who use them to build high-quality software. In this talk, I will highlight how developers rely on software ecosystems to reuse code and the main challenges of such reuse. Then, I will first present part of my research that is related to the study of the phenomenon of trivial packages. Second, I will present some of the solutions and actionable techniques that I built to help developers cope with the problems they face when using software ecosystems. Finally, I will give an overview of my future research agenda on “the evolution of software ecosystems”.

Bio:
Rabe Abdalkareem is a postdoctoral fellow in the Software Analysis and Intelligence Lab (SAIL) at Queens University, Canada. He received his Ph.D. in Software Engineering from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. His research interest and expertise are in Software Engineering, with a special interest in Software Ecosystems, Crowdsourcing in Software Engineering, and Mining Software Repositories. Abdalkareem has published his work in top-ranked Software Engineering venues, such as the Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE), the International Conference on Software Maintenance and Evolution (ICSME), the IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (TSE), IEEE Software, and the Journal of Empirical Software Engineering (EMSE). For more info, visit his website at https://rabeabdalkareem.github.io/

Teaching Presentation: Open to the University Community

Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020
2:10 pm – 2:40 pm
Zoom Meeting
https://lakeheadu.zoom.us/j/99087999964?pwd=MnJQZVBUQlB0ajZqRHM4Rk5Dek9G...
Meeting ID: 990 8799 9964
Passcode: 100847
Teaching Presentation Title: The concept of software design pattern