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If you haven't ordered your Student I.D. or your textbooks yet, please visit www.lakeheadu.ca/students/orientation/curbside-pickup/.
The promise of research and innovation commercialization in the agriculture and food sectors is front and centre thanks to a new Memorandum of Understanding signed between Lakehead University and Bioenterprise Corporation, showcasing the value of Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine (The Engine) in northern Ontario.
Lakehead University is taking a very active role in the development of technologies, which will have specific benefit to the agricultural sector and has seen success in providing useful tools to primary producers and the procession sector.
Whether it is the evaluation of formulations of fertilizer on new crops, small plot research studies for industry, biotechnological analytical services, or the evaluation of technologies which have positive environmental implications, Lakehead University is making a statement that it is strongly focused on providing value and service back to the agricultural sector.
This is also a goal of Bioenterprise, where in northern Ontario they are trying to support entrepreneurs and have new innovations come to market locally and in other diverse jurisdictions. This commonality of purpose is reflected in the two organizations agreement to cooperate in the development of technologies including but not limited to the areas of cleantech, industrial applications for agriculture, food-tech, and commercial agriculture.
Bioenterprise wants to provide resources for ag- and food-tech businesses that are not necessarily available currently. Bioenterprise’s model is to work with partners in the region to collaboratively deliver its services to promote commercialization of innovative new products/services and technologies in the same areas and is building the capacity to bring human and investment capital to commercialization opportunities within the north.
It is expected that this agreement will ignite The Engine in northwestern Ontario and provide opportunities to companies and entrepreneurs to grow and scale their businesses by working with the network that exists within The Engine.
The short-term objective is to work with these companies on a one-on-one basis, providing access to services and support through the network to companies like IBM, MNP and Farm Credit Canada with the expressed purpose to expand their reach, enhance commercialization potential, and support job creation and expansion in the innovation agri-tech and food-tech sectors in northern Ontario.
Lakehead University recently launched its first business incubator, Ingenuity, to foster an entrepreneurial culture, create employment and self-employment opportunities, incubate start-ups and contribute to the region’s economic development by leveraging existing community resources to deliver a range of on-campus entrepreneurship activities. This makes Ingenuity the perfect place to house Bioenterprises’ northern Ontario representative in order to work together to better support ag- and food-tech businesses.
Lakehead is a New Entrant in the Agri-Tech and Food-Tech Entrepreneurial Space
“We are very interested in beginning to tackle agricultural innovation and development, particularly in the areas of agriculture, agri-business and food security. This is highlighted through our partnership with the Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Association, created creating the Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station (LUARS)” says Dr. Andrew Dean, Vice President (Research & Innovation) for LU.
“With our new association with Bioenterprise, this will open up all kinds of opportunities for northern entrepreneurship and innovation, supporting at the same time our desire to become a hub for agricultural innovation in north-western Ontario and increase the visibility of what we do to the entire agricultural ecosystem across Canada. This will support of diversity in agriculture, agribusiness, environmental studies, water management, soil science, food security, natural resources management, and other areas that have a significant regional priority."
“Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine will have a strong position in northern Ontario as a result of this co-operative agreement with Lakehead, and this will be to the benefit of all, including entrepreneurs, businesses and stakeholders from under-represented groups because we know they have a lot to offer for local economic presence as well as striking out to other markets,” says Dave Smardon, Chief Executive Officer at Bioenterprise.
“Northern Ontario is full of cultural diversity, and we look forward to working with women entrepreneurs, Indigenous businesses and other entrepreneurs who can use our services and who also may cooperate with Lakehead University. We recognize that Lakehead has only recently began its foray into the ag sector, but with leadership at the university very keen on seeing successful companies grow, our partnership will yield great results. We have worked in the north previously, but this agreement really cements our position with a terrific academic partner in the north. We are thrilled to be able to work with Lakehead, their programs, personnel and expertise to offer knowhow and resources as part of The Engine."
The Engine is made up of members and partners across Canada and around the world that are focused on agritech and food tech developments. Lakehead University will be able to tap into and provide expertise to many of the companies who focus on precision agricultural developments, including digital, robotics, data management, genomics, soil, plant and animal health, environmental technologies and many more. Because Lakehead now has a focus on agriculture, its graduates will be exposed to more opportunities through the association with Bioenterprise.
This will provide students opportunities to many facets of the agriculture and food supply chains, as well as promote diversity and self-sustainability for northern communities through economic development. Lakehead University, through its acquisition of the Lakehead Agricultural Research Station, will be able to provide a testing ground for new inventions that could have impact in northern Ontario, and indeed western Canada.
Bioenterprise clients want to grow and expand their businesses, enhance profitability and expand markets while at the same time elevating their local economic contributions. With Lakehead University, including Ingenuity as a partner in The Engine, they may be able to realize some of these objectives. Through this partnership, both organizations expect to see an increase in the level of innovation, the advancement of skilled workers, and enhanced growth in the agricultural economy in Northern Ontario.
August 17, 2020 – Thunder Bay, Ont.
Two Lakehead University researchers have published a paper in the Canadian Journal of Public Health encouraging the province to integrate registered mental health providers into the public health insurance system.
In the article released on August 7, Lakehead psychology professors Drs. Deborah Scharf and Kirsten Oinonen, who are both registered clinical psychologists, argued Ontario’s COVID-19 response highlights shortcomings of its physician-only public health-care system, which limits access to appropriate and sustainable mental health care.
“The fear, grief, social isolation, and financial and occupational losses from COVID-19 have created a mental-health crisis,” Dr. Scharf said.
The researchers said Ontario’s attempt to rapidly expand mental health-care access due to COVID-19 includes new Ontario Health Insurance Program billing codes that enable physicians to provide trauma counselling over the phone and patient self-serve online tools – while psychologists and other registered mental health provider services have been largely left out of the provincial response.
“Non-physician mental health providers operate outside of the provincial health-care infrastructure, including the OHIP provincial payer system that facilitated the provincial physician response,” Dr. Oinonen said.
“A physician-centric mental health-care system limits public access to quality, sustainable, evidence-based mental health services, because most physicians do not have the capacity, training, or desire to provide mental health services,” she added.
The researchers described several problems with Ontario’s physician-centric response to COVID-19, including that physicians do not typically provide psychotherapy; payment incentives in medicine have not typically increased public access to mental health-care; shortages of psychiatrist and other public mental health-care services mean that physicians have nowhere within the public system to refer their patients with severe or emergency mental health issues, among other concerns.
“A physician-centric approach to providing emergency mental health services puts patients at risk from inadequate or inappropriate care while increasing stress on primary care providers whose services are desperately needed elsewhere during COVID-19,” Dr. Scharf said.
The researchers believe the government should create trial-billing mechanisms through provincial public health insurance for registered mental health providers and introduce standardized provincial-required reporting of registered mental health providers including their capacities.
In May, the federal government introduced $240 million to support online mental health-care and medical services.
“We hope the federal and provincial governments leverage psychologists and other registered mental health practitioners in their response,” Dr. Oinonen said.
To read the article visit this page.
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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.
Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has 10 faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. In 2019, Maclean’s 2020 University Rankings, once again, included Lakehead University among Canada’s Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities, while Research Infosource named Lakehead 'Research University of the Year' in its category for the fifth consecutive year. Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.
Aurora Dusolt, left, and Hannah Suslyk were building lighthouses at last summer’s Girls Week, held before social distancing measures were introduced. This year’s camp will include precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
June 26, 2020 – Thunder Bay, Ont.
Superior Science is pleased to announce that it will hold summer camps at Lakehead University throughout July and August, starting July 6.
After COVID-19 caused the cancellation of all Superior Science programming from March through June, including Girls Club and Code Clubs as well as remote outreach endeavours, staff are excited to be having in-person camps this summer.
They have been working around the clock over the past two months to ensure that staff are prepared to run the summer camps.
Although the camps may be different this year, Superior Science still has many fun activities planned for all campers.
“We are all extremely excited and eager to start our summer camps,” said Michael Coccimiglio, Superior Science Director. “We have worked countless hours preparing for this summer and cannot wait to welcome everyone back.”
“Right from the beginning, we recognized the need for childcare and STEM activities for children,” said Isabella Sgambelluri, Superior Science Director.
“Students have been learning virtually for the past few months, and with parents starting to return to work, and children itching to get some hands-on activities, Superior Science is the perfect option for most young people,” she said.
Dr. Mary-Louise Hill, Faculty Advisor, said Superior Science has been bringing summer campers onto campus for more than 20 years to experience the excitement of hands-on science activities.
“The goal is for campers to have fun while building confidence and competence in science and technology skills,” Dr. Hill said.
“Many campers come back year after year. We hope some of them might return someday to study at Lakehead, and graduate to become our own homegrown scientists, engineers, doctors, foresters, etc.,” she said.
One of this year’s biggest changes is that they will not have groups of more than 10 individuals, which includes eight campers and two instructors. Superior Science will also not allow any staff or campers to mingle with other groups. Staff will ensure that campers maintain proper physical distancing within each group to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Staff have designed all of this summer’s activities to allow room for physical distancing, whether that means working outside or in the classroom. You can find more health and safety information at superiorscience.ca.
Superior Science would not be possible without the support of its major sponsors, Impala Canada and Ontario Power Generation, and supporting sponsors, Lakehead University, the Alumni Association of Lakehead University, the Lakehead University Student Union, Scotiabank, Staples, Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, Double Blue Promotions, Able Energy Management and Design, Resolute Forest Products, Dr. Bruce R. Pynn, PHA Engineering, Premier Gold Mines Ltd, and Iron Range.
You can find registration information at superiorscience.ca.
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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.
Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has 10 faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. In 2019, Maclean’s 2020 University Rankings, once again, included Lakehead University among Canada’s Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities, while Research Infosource named Lakehead 'Research University of the Year' in its category for the fifth consecutive year. Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.
June 17, 2020 – Thunder Bay, Ont.
Lakehead University professors are receiving more than $2.3 million from Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) for bold research exploring advancements in robotics, X-ray imaging technology, radio frequencies, and other important projects that will improve the lives of people around the world.
NSERC awarded Dr. Alla Reznik, a Lakehead Professor in Physics, Senior Scientist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute, and Canada Research Chair in Physics of Molecular Imaging, with $205,000 to examine a new approach to X-ray imaging over five years.
This new approach, using photoconductive material lead oxide, will improve the quality of health care through more effective and less invasive imaging connected with cardiac intervention and early breast cancer diagnosis.
“Minimally invasive cardiac intervention includes a whole spectrum of surgical procedures ranging from cardiac catheterization to aortic valve replacement,” Dr. Reznik said.
“Cardiac intervention procedures are long and are commonly carried out under X-ray guidance, which results in significant exposure of patients and medical personnel to X-rays. Hence, the need here is to develop a much more sensitive than currently available X-ray imaging detector that will navigate cardiac interventions under significantly lower doses.”
A common tool in breast cancer screening is 2D X-ray mammography, which takes an X-ray image of the breast while a medical professional compresses it between two plates. Although mammography reduces breast cancer mortality, its specificity for cancer detection is low.
“The need here is to develop a 3D visualization of the breast that will minimize the masking effect of overlapping fibroglandular tissue,” she said.
Over the period of the grant, the proposed program will train three post-doctoral fellows, two PhD students and three Master of Science students. In addition, five high performing undergraduate students (each for one year) will be hired to participate in an annual Summer School on Medical Imaging to gain research experience.
“Dr. Reznik is a key contributor to our health research program that is vital to advancing our academic mission and even more importantly, to improving the health of the population,” said Jean Bartkowiak, President and CEO of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and CEO of the Health Research Institute.
“Health research, like that of Dr. Reznik, provides patients with the opportunity to participate in research activity that helps design the care of the future and to access equipment at the frontier of health technology development. I would like to thank NSERC for recognizing the potential of Dr. Reznik's research,” he said.
NSERC awarded Dr. Thiago Eustaquio Alves de Oliveira, Assistant Professor, Computer Science at Lakehead Thunder Bay, with $132,500 over five years to work on perception methods to give robots touch sensing capabilities that could be helpful in health care and industry.
These methods will enable robots to handle a variety of objects that may be out of its field of view. Robots applying these methods will have improved tactile abilities, meaning they will have a better understanding of their surroundings using the sense of touch.
“The results of this research will provide solutions for practical problems in the health and industrial sectors and will help develop close research collaborations between academia and industry,” Dr. de Oliveira said.
Dr. de Oliveira will train six graduate and five undergraduate students with the support of this grant over the next five years. He will explain the findings in leading refereed journals and give presentations at international conferences.
“Bare metal robots lack the means to interact physically with objects and people in dynamic or unstructured environments,” he said.
“Our goal is to investigate novel interfaces that integrate tactile perception to state-of-the-art computer vision systems so that these robots can feel the features of objects they touch, for example the shape, texture, temperature, and softness.”
Although a computer vision system could extract most of a robot’s environmental features, Dr. de Oliveira said a robot could only extract some features by touching objects.
“For example, the roughness of a surface and the hardness of an object can only be estimated through touch,” de Oliveira said.
NSERC is providing Dr. Farhan Ghaffar, Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering at Lakehead-Georgian, with $152,500 to develop smart radio frequency components that companies can use in a variety of applications such as autonomous vehicles, the Internet of Things (IOT), cell phones, and more.
“The fundamental idea of this work is to contribute to the infrastructure development of 5G and IoT communications. Today’s wireless communication is very demanding and highly competitive; therefore, there is a never-ending need of innovation in the design of such components and systems,” Dr. Ghaffar said.
The central goal of this research is to design and develop reconfigurable components that can work at different frequency bands and provide solutions for several applications at a time.
“The heart of this research is a novel technology known as Frequency Programmable Microwave Substrate (FPMS) that (researchers have) not investigated deeply to find viable solutions in various wireless applications,” he said.
This grant will fund the training of up to three Master of Science students, one PhD student and perhaps as many as three undergraduate students.
“Lakehead University is extremely appreciative of the support form NSERC for these projects,” said Dr. Andrew Dean, Lakehead’s Vice-President, Research and Innovation.
“Discovery Grants allow researchers to develop programs of research based on fundamental research. Lakehead University continues to make great advances in the STEM areas and the successes here show the diversity and evolution of the research contributions to this field.”
In 2019/20, Lakehead University will receive nearly $2 million in assistance from the Research Support Fund to support the indirect costs of research, which includes costs for supporting the management of intellectual property, research and administration, ethics and regulatory compliance, research resources, and research facilities.
New NSERC Grants, 2019-2020
Total NSERC funding: $2,390,360
Collaborative Research & Development Grants: One to three-year grants
Dr. Amir Azimi, Department of Civil Engineering, Application of thermal mixing on sewer pipe inspection in high flows, $20,000 (City of Thunder Bay is also contributing $10,000).
Dr. Peter Hollings, Department of Geology, Petrology and geochemistry of intrusive rocks at the Lac des Iles palladium mine, NW Ontario; $88,700 (Impala Canada is also contributing $50,000).
Dr. Baoqiang Liao, Department of Chemical Engineering, Strategies to improve membrane performance of drinking water productions in cold regions, $150,000 (City of Thunder Bay is also contributing $75,000).
Dr. Abdulsalam Yassine, Department of Software Engineering, A Data Analytics System for Adaptive Demand Response in Smart Grids, $60,000 (Synergy North is also contributing $30,000).
Discovery Grants: Five-year grants
Dr. Zubair Md Fadlullah, Department of Computer Science and Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute, Optimizing beyond fifth generation (B5G) networks, $205,000.
Dr. Kurt Smith, School of Kinesiology, Sex, function and structure: machine learning the human cerebral vasculature, $132,500.
Dr. Yimin Yang, Department of Computer Science, Deep neural networks with non-iterative learning strategies for pattern recognition and data augmentation applicable to computer vision and healthcare, $152,500.
Dr. Thiago Eustaquio Alves de Oliveira, Department of Computer Science, Enhancing robotic agents through tactile perception and multi-modal interfaces, $132,500.
Dr. Farhan A. Ghaffar, Department of Computer Science (Barrie Campus), Reconfigurable microwave devices for modern wireless applications, $152,500.
Dr. Maryam Ebrahimi, Department of Chemistry, Rational design, synthesis and characterization of surface confined low-dimensional nanomaterials, $132,500.
Dr. Apparao Dekka, Department of Electrical Engineering, Advanced high-power converters and controls for medium voltage drives, $177,500.
Dr. Stephen Kinrade, Department of Chemistry, Aqueous chemistry and biochemistry of silicon, $145,000.
Dr. Abdelhamid Tayebi, Department of Electrical Engineering, Advanced autonomous navigation systems for UAVs, $275,000.
Dr. Salama, Ikki, Department of Electrical Engineering, Combined massive MIMO and interference alignment for future wireless networks involving machine type communications, $165,000.
Dr. Alla Reznik, Department of Physics, and Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute, Lead Oxide (PbO) x-ray-to charge transducer for direct conversion medical imaging detectors, $205,000.
Discovery Development Grants: Two-year grants
Dr. Azim Mallik, Department of Biology, Functional ecology of alternate states of black spruce-Kalmia communities: species traits, niche differentiation and plant-soil feedback, $30,000.
Dr. Ingeborg Zehbe, Department of Biology, Large data to revisit the relevance of human papillomavirus type 16 sub-lineages, $30,000.
Dr. Jinan Fiaidhi, Department of Computer Science, Insight Driven Learning based on Thick Data Analytics, $30,000.
Dr. Nasir Uddin, Department of Electrical Engineering, Control technologies to enhance the robustness, energy-efficiency and sustainability of wind energy conversion systems, $30,000.
Dr. Qinglai Dang, Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Permafrost, soil moisture, nutrition, photoperiod and the future of boreal forests: an ecophysiological approach, $30,000.
Engage Grants: One-year grants
Dr. Ehsan Behzadfar, Department of Chemical Engineering, Relationships between physiochemical properties and quality of films made of recycled polyethylene, (in partnership with EcoPoly Solutions Inc) $25,000.
Dr. Salimur Choudhury, Department of Computer Science, Deep learning
algorithms to improve the management of species at risk, (in partnership with the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc), $24,960.
Dr. Alla Reznik, Department of Physics, and Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute, Direct conversion medical imaging detector with Lead Oxide(PbO) x-ray-to charge transducer, (in partnership with Teledyne DALSA), $25,000.
Dr. Leila Pakzad, Department of Chemical Engineering, Investigation to optimize nitrogen purge for the sodium chlorate electrolysis process through numerical modeling, (in partnership with ERCO Worldwide), $25,000.
PromoScience Grant: One-year grant
Dr. Thamara Laredo, Sustainability Sciences (Orillia), I Learn You Learn – STEM Outreach for youth and teachers, $ 6,700.
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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Lakehead’s Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at (807) 343-8177 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca. To speak with Jean Bartkowiak at the Health Research Institute about Dr. Reznik’s research please contact Marcello Bernardo, Communications Officer, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, at (807) 684-6765 or bernarma@tbh.net.
Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has 10 faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. In 2019, Maclean’s 2020 University Rankings, once again, included Lakehead University among Canada’s Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities, while Research Infosource named Lakehead 'Research University of the Year' in its category for the fifth consecutive year. Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.
Healthy Together
Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute is the research arm of Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, a 375-bed acute care facility, is a national leader in Patient and Family Centred Care. As the tertiary care provider in Northwestern Ontario, we provide comprehensive services to a population of over 250,000 residents in a region the size of France. Effectively addressing the health care needs of patients and families has earned us both Innovation Awards and Leading Practice Designations. As an academic health sciences centre, we teach the next generation of health care providers and advance medical research. Patients benefit from interprofessional teams of dedicated health care providers and access to leading-edge medical equipment and clinical trials.
July 30, 2020 – Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ont.
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is granting Lakehead University researchers more than $354,000 in funding for seven important projects that will have wide-ranging impacts.
Dr. Amanda Maranzan, Associate Professor in Psychology, is receiving a $70,528 Insight grant that will allow her to examine disclosure attitudes and experiences among postsecondary students experiencing mental distress in the context of an anti-stigma reduction strategy.
Called Honest, Open, Proud – College (HOP-C), this three-session program led by two trained peer facilitators aims to reduce stigma and help students make informed choices about disclosure, which vary by setting.
“This program teaches relatively safe ways to disclose should the student decide to do so, and helps students craft stories that reflect their disclosure goals,” Dr. Maranzan said.
“Prior research on this anti-stigma reduction program found evidence of reduced self-stigma, increased perceived resources to cope with stigma-related distress, and greater self-efficacy regarding disclosure amongst postsecondary students,” she added.
Dr. Maranzan and her team will examine the impacts of this disclosure-based stigma reduction strategy on variables that are important to postsecondary students: self-esteem, self-efficacy, social support, and academic achievement.
This research will also assess the role played by disclosure decisions, behavior and affirming attitudes. Researchers will determine the feasibility of HOP-C to support scaling-up this anti-stigma approach if appropriate.
The project will take three years to complete and will allow Dr. Maranzan to hire one Psychology doctoral student to gain research experience and skills through high quality research training as well as four trained peer facilitators (students at any level of study).
Dr. Manal Alzghoul, Assistant Professor in Nursing, is receiving a $65,250 Insight Development grant to explore immigrant parents’ knowledge and cultural beliefs along with factors contributing to the risk of unintentional injury to children.
“My research will examine the acceptability of injury prevention programs to immigrant parents,” Dr. Alzghoul said, adding that she and her team will conduct the study with immigrant families living in northern and rural Ontario.
Unintentional injuries are a major cause of death and disability among children worldwide and in Canada. Injuries impact the social, physical, psychological, and economic wellbeing of children, their families, and communities. Most of these preventable injuries occur inside and around the house.
Immigrant families, who comprise 21.3% of the Canadian population, may have a different understanding of children’s risk of injury as well as knowledge of prevention strategies based on safety standards in their home countries, cultural norms, and housing environments. Compared to non-immigrants, immigrant children are 23 percent more likely to be injured if they are young (i.e., 14 years old or younger), male, reside in northern and rural areas, and have a higher socioeconomic status.
“The findings of this research may inform the design of injury prevention initiatives to improve the knowledge, perceptions, and engagement of immigrant parents,” Dr. Alzghoul added.
The project will take two years to complete. For each year, one master’s student and three undergraduate students will perform research with Dr. Alzghoul.
Lakehead Orillia campus associate professor Dr. Valerie Hébert, departments of history and interdisciplinary studies, is receiving a three-year $51,473 Insight Grant to write a monograph exploring the complex ethical dilemmas associated with viewing, exhibiting, and engaging with images of atrocity, specifically photographs taken during the Holocaust.
“Photographs are how I came to learn history,” said Dr. Hébert. “My grandfather had a book of Time Life photographs chronicling major events of the 20th century. They gave me a visual vocabulary for events I would later study, write, and teach about. So, in a sense, this project brings me full circle to where my interest in history began.
“In the age of social media, we are more and more a visual society. When it comes to images of suffering bodies, we ought to be conscious of the harrowing circumstances of their creation, and the responsibilities of the viewer in light of these circumstances.”
Dr. Hébert’s book will discuss the many functions photographs serve in understanding atrocity, and where we might look for guidance in engaging them sensitively.
“Congratulations to our researchers and thank you to SSHRC for recognizing the important work that is happening at Lakehead University,” said Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Lakehead’s Vice-President, Research and Innovation.
In 2019/20, Lakehead University will receive nearly $2 million in assistance from the Research Support Fund to support the indirect costs of research, which includes costs for supporting the management of intellectual property, research and administration, ethics and regulatory compliance, research resources, and research facilities.
Total: $354,666
Insight Development Grants (two years)
Hay, Travis – Postdoctoral Fellow, Indigenous Learning - The Colonial History of Medicine in Northwestern Ontario 1930-1990 - $20,166
Gokani, Ravi – Assistant Professor, Social Work - Proselytism and Service Provision in Conservative Evangelical Faith Based Organisations: Managing Competing Mandates - $59, 615
Scharf, Deborah – Assistant Professor, Psychology - Adolescent Exposure to Cannabis Marketing - $49,431
Co-applicants (all from Lakehead):
Alzghoul, Manal – Assistant Professor, Nursing - A Mixed Methods Study of Immigrant Parents' Perceptions of Risk Factors, Prevention Strategies, and Accessibility of Injury Prevention Programs to Prevent Unintentional Injuries in Children in Rural and Northern Ontario - $65,250
Co-applicants:
Filice, Sylvane – Assistant Professor, Nursing – Regard en arrière, regard vers l’avenir: une approche herméneutique pour examiner le vécu des infirmiers/ères francophones dans le Nord de l’Ontario - $38,203
Co-applicants: (all from Lakehead)
Insight Grants (three years)
Hebert, Valerie – Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies, Five Shots from Sdolbunow: Photographs of the Holocaust by Bullets, 1942 - $51,473
Maranzan, Amanda – Self-stigma and strategic disclosure amongst Canadian post-secondary students - $70,528
Collaborator: Patrick Corrigan – Illinois Institute of Technology
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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.
Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has 10 faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. In 2019, Maclean’s 2020 University Rankings, once again, included Lakehead University among Canada’s Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities, while Research Infosource named Lakehead 'Research University of the Year' in its category for the fifth consecutive year. Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.
Are you a Lakehead student, alum, faculty, or staff member? We’d like to know how you are overcoming challenges during the pandemic.
Please send us short video clips of yourself working, studying, helping your community, and spending time with family and friends, and we'll share them on our social media channels.
Videos can be sent to mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.
In this month's issue: Cafeteria Hours of Operations & Changes to Service; Meal Plans for Everyone: Students, Staff & Faculty; NEW! The Grocery Program & Meals2Go Program are Live on Catertrax!; and an update on Catering Services for special events.
