Fall/Winter 2015 edition

VIU
magazine
FALL/WINTER
2015
VANCOUVER
ISLAND
UNIVERSITY
Living Better
Connecting culture, nature and economy
in the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region
This is your brain on learning 12
 Young entrepreneur builds on authentic leadership 17
A grey whale legacy 22
2 VIU Magazine
Editors’ Note
Welcome to the first
issue of VIU Magazine!
V
ANCOUVER ISLAND UNIVERSITY IS AN
developing teaching strategies to inspire deep learning
EXCITING PLACE TO BE THESE DAYS,
in their students (see story page 12)? You can also join
FOR STUDENTS, FACULTY, STAFF AND
us as we take a trip through one of the United Nations’
alumni. The University is coming into its own, having
model sites for sustainable development – the Mount
grown from its vocational and college roots into an
Arrowsmith Biosphere Region (see story page 24). Or
internationally respected university. To reflect this
learn about a new ceremony at VIU Convocation that
evolution, the editorial team that was behind VIU’s
will forever link our graduates to each other, to our
alumni magazine Journey has shifted gears to create a
faculty and to this University (see story page 20).
publication that reflects the stories that are shaping the
These are just a few of the stories you’ll find within
VIU of today, and also honouring the journey that has
the pages of our new magazine. We hope you like it
delivered us to this time and place in the University’s
and that you’ll share it widely with your contacts.
history.
The result is what you’re holding in your hands –
Please let us know what you think – send us your
thoughts and ideas at [email protected].
–VIU Magazine Editorial Team
the very first edition of the new VIU Magazine. Within
its pages you’ll still find inspiring stories about VIU
alumni (check out page 17). And now you’ll find
Managing Editors:
more articles that highlight what makes VIU great.
Janina Stajic, Manager
For example, did you know a team of VIU faculty
Communications & Public Engagement (right)
and student researchers are engaged in cutting
David Forrester, Manager
edge research that could revolutionize the way we
Advancement & Alumni Relations
understand environmental policy in Canada (see story
page 30)? Or that VIU’s faculty are leading the way in
Editor:
Shari Bishop Bowes, Communications Officer
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
3
A gift in your will can
support a student’s
dreams.
“
Sometimes economic hardship interferes with a student’s ability
to focus on their studies, but with the help of VIU’s generous
donors many of us are able to overcome these struggles.
I was extremely grateful to receive the Stan & May Radzik Bursary
of $2,000 in January of this year. The funds helped to take some
of the pressure off and I was able to significantly increase my GPA
”
over the spring and summer semesters.
— a grateful student
Alison Burfoot
Direct your gift to support a cause
you care about. We’re here to help
you explore how your legacy can
make a difference.
Call the VIU Advancement Office
at 250.740.6216
to discover the options.
Advancement & Alumni Relations
Vancouver Island University
900 Fifth Street, Nanaimo, BC, Canada V9R 5S5
Tel: 250.740.6216 • viu.ca/giving
The Stan & May Radzik bursaries were established by a gift in their will.
The fund will continue to support students like Alison in perpetuity.
24
inside
v i u m ag a z i n e
|
fa l l
2015
7
12
17
VIU Spotlight
10
This is your brain on learning
Mentors lead the way for VIU alumnus
and young entrepreneur
20
Graduates touched by new ceremony
at convocation
17
22
24
Grey whale exhibit leaves legacy
Living better – Connecting culture, nature
and economy
28
30
Knock Knock – a story in photos
On the move with real-time
environmental tracking
3
3
38
Alumni News
22
Q&A with VIU’s Chancellor
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
5
STAY CONNECTED!
Find VIU on social media – keep in touch, learn about events and activities,
and celebrate success with us!
/viuniversity
facebook
twitter
@viuniversity
instagram
youtube
@viuniversity
/viuchannel
ALUMNI SOCIAL MEDIA
facebook
twitter
VIU
magazine
/viuaa
@viu_alumni
FALL/WINTER
2015
VANCOUVER
ISLAND
UNIVERSITY
Volume 1 / Issue 1 / Fall/Winter 2015-2016
VIU Magazine is published in the spring and fall
by VIU’s University Relations department and is
distributed free of charge to alumni and friends.
All material is copyright ©2015, Vancouver Island
University, University Relations and may be
reprinted only with written permission. Opinions
expressed in the magazine do not necessarily
reflect the views of Vancouver Island University.
The VIU community acknowledges and thanks the
Tla’Amin, Qualicum, Snaw Naw As, Snuneymuxw,
Quw’utsun, Halalt, Penelakut, Lyackson, Chemainus
and Lake Cowichan First Nations on whose
6 VIU Magazine
traditional lands we teach, learn, research, live and
share knowledge.
PUBLISHER
GRAPHIC DESIGN
University Relations
Linda Hildebrand
Vancouver Island University
MANAGING EDITORS
Janina Stajic
Manager, Communications and Public Engagement
COVER DESIGN
Strategic Marketing
We welcome letters to the editor.
Editor, VIU Magazine
David Forrester
University Relations
Manager, Advancement & Alumni Relations
900 Fifth Street, Nanaimo, BC V9R 5S5
EDITOR & WRITER
Shari Bishop Bowes
CONTRIBUTORS
Marilyn Assaf, Communications Officer
Brian Kingzett, Manager, Deep Bay Marine Field
Station
Gloria Bell, Island Expressions Photography
[email protected]
Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40063601
VIU Spotlight
Totem poles rise above
Shq’apthut
Two ceremonial totems are standing
tall, looking out over the Salish
Sea from VIU’s Nanaimo Campus
in recognition of the strong
relationship that continues to evolve
between First Nations communities
and the University.
Located next to Shq’apthut, VIU’s
Aboriginal Gathering Place, the two
poles were unveiled in June at a
traditional ceremony and are part
of an initiative of the VIU Students’
Union (VIUSU).
The Totem Pole Project was
introduced by VIUSU in 2014 with
the goal to honour the importance
of traditional knowledge of First
Nations people, and provide
ongoing educational opportunities
for all who come to view them.
The Totem Pole Project will
recognize the major First Nations
language groups on Vancouver
Island; the first two were carved by
artists from the Snuneymuxw and
Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, with
a third totem pole representing the
Kwakwaka’wakw Territories to be
erected at a future stage.
The Western Red Cedar trees,
from which the totems were
created, were provided as gifts from
Island Timberlands, Western Forest
Products, TimberWest and First
Nations from Vancouver Island.
The public is welcome to visit the
new ceremonial totem poles. This
one was carved by Noel Brown of the
Snuneymuxw First Nation.
VIU Powell River
welcomes Dr. Greg
Cran as new Campus
Administrator
Dr. Greg Cran has joined VIU
Powell River as the new Campus
Administrator. A Lund resident,
Dr. Cran joined VIU in August
from North Island College where
he was Dean of University and
Applied Studies. He has worked as
an administrator at Royal Roads
University and taught at the
University of Victoria in dispute
resolution. Dr. Cran has past
experience working for the BC
government in treaty negotiations
and policy analysis, and also has
a broad range of international
experience in teaching and working
as a consultant to the World Bank
Institute.
“Greg is keen to start working
toward a reinvigorated model that
includes the advent of new program
ideas and business possibilities for
skills development, which fits right
in with his entrepreneurial spirit,”
said Dr. David Witty, VIU Provost and
Vice-President Academic.
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
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Students, alumni vie for $17K in prizes in VIU business plan competition
VIU students collaborate on ideas for the
VIU Business Plan Competition.
Fans of CBC’s popular Dragon’s Den
show enjoyed a business idea “pitchfest”
at VIU, where contenders for $17,000
in cash and prizes presented their best
ideas in hopes of taking the top spot in
VIU’s Business Plan Competition. Open
to VIU alumni and students, the second
annual competition recognized
the strong entrepreneurial
spirit in the region and offered
valuable skills and expert
coaching to entrants. Business
mentors from the community
volunteered their time to coach
participants in everything
from financial management to
professional presentations.
Finalists in the competition
came together Dec. 4 at a
Dragon’s Den-style pitchfest,
where a grand prize winner was
chosen from top entries in the student
and alumni categories. The top prize
included $2,500 in cash and a package
of donated business services valued at
$7,000.
VIU partnered with lead sponsor
the Pieter de Reuver Foundation as
well as StartUp Nanaimo, the Nanaimo
Economic Development Corporation,
Young Professionals of Nanaimo and
Coastal Community Credit Union.
Regional business partners donated
business services that include graphic
design and web design service, a
City of Nanaimo business license,
a banking package from Coastal
Community Credit Union, desk and
meeting space at SquareOne, business
consultations, and memberships in
Young Professionals of Nanaimo and
the Nanaimo and District Chamber of
Commerce, along with several other
business services.
Last year’s alumni category winners
were Jessica Reid and Patrick Whelan
with their business Rewild Homes,
which builds tiny, affordable homes
on wheels. In the student category,
Elisa Köhler took top spot for her
idea for a smartphone app that links
grocery shoppers with food allergies or
intolerances to the right food products
for them.
viu.ca/bp
New health clinic serves VIU students
VIU students now have access
to a medical health clinic on the
Nanaimo campus. Developed in
partnership with Island Health and
with support from the Nanaimo Division
of Family Practice, the new VIU Health &
Wellness Centre provides students with
a holistic range of health and medical
services in its mid-campus location in
the Student Services Building. Many
students who study at VIU, particularly
those who come from outside the city to
attend university or who are among the
University’s 1,600 international students,
do not have a family physician. The clinic
is staffed by Nurse Practitioner Diane
8 VIU Magazine
Middagh and Medical Office Assistant Heather Carr,
who together offer clinic services Mondays through
Fridays to students who drop in or make
appointments. As well as medical
services, registered students
can also access counselling,
advising, disability services
and financial aid.
Fulbright Canada and VIU to establish
new Visiting Research Chair in Aboriginal Studies
Fulbright Canada, one of the most
prestigious scholarship programs
in the world, has chosen VIU to be
the home of their newest research
Chair, the Visiting Research Chair in
Aboriginal Studies. Fulbright Canada
chose VIU because of the leadership
role the University has taken in building
relationships with First Nations, Métis
and Inuit communities and supporting
Aboriginal education.
The new Chair will focus on research
related to reconciliation and Aboriginal
education. Part of the Chair’s role will be
engaging VIU students in the research
process as well as continuing to build
relationships between the University,
First Nations, Métis, Inuit and the
broader community.
“The establishment of a Fulbright
Chair at VIU demonstrates that regional
universities are engaging in work that
has a profound impact in their own
regions, on the national policy agenda
and around the world,” says Dr. Ralph
Nilson, VIU President & Vice-Chancellor.
“For many years, VIU has recognized
the importance of working with First
Nations, Métis and Inuit in our region
to support Aboriginal education. We
respect different ways of knowing
and have established strong and
respectful relationships across many
communities. We thank Fulbright
Canada for recognizing VIU’s strengths
and providing the University with
support that will allow us to enhance
our work in this important area that is
so essential to our nation’s future.”
Earth Sciences 4th-year
student Cody Broda talks
about his research at the
2015 CREATE conference.
VIU CREATE Conference presents the best in student scholarship
Students studying in VIU’s
undergraduate programs get a chance
to present their best work from major
projects and research to the public in
the annual VIU CREATE Conference. The
three-day event held near the end of
March each year is a chance for students
to share posters, displays, presentations
and performances on their scholarship.
The public can wander through
displays, learn about the wide variety
of research activity at VIU, and sit in on
the “Scholarship Slam”, involving minipresentations by students and faculty.
VIU CREATE is capped by an awards
presentation each year. See viu.ca/
research/create for 2015 winners and
news on the spring 2016 event.
Students who participate in research
and major projects, and who present
their work at VIU CREATE, are building a
research portfolio that can assist them in
applications to graduate school and in
research scholarship applications.
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
9
VIU hosts Canada-Mexico Roundtable on Indigenous higher education
VIU hosted delegates to the CanadaMexico Roundtable on Indigenous/
Aboriginal Higher Education in June.
Discussion centred on natural resource
extraction in territories held by
Indigenous people; the role of postsecondary institutions in Indigenous
language training, education and
retention; and Canada-Mexico
collaborations in Indigenous Higher
Education.
First day speakers included Douglas
White, Bob Pasco, Matt Pasco, Rob
McPhee, Ovide Mercredi and Shawn
Atleo. It was moderated by Roshan
Danesh.
One of the highlights of the
roundtable was a student panel, which
examined the theme of “Language and
Culture Retention”. The panel discussion,
called “The land: its language, its
sounds and its stories”, was presented
by three VIU students: Katelyn Beale,
currently completing a BA with a major
in Criminology and a minor in English;
Emily Johnston, Graphic Design; and
MaryDawn MacWatt, working on a
Bachelor of Education with a BA major
in First Nations Studies and a minor in
English. VIU Elder Florence James also
took part in the panel discussion.
The conference was sponsored by
TECK.
New Speaker Series on Indigenous Peoples
VIU has joined The Laurier Institution
and CBC Radio One Ideas to host an
annual speakers series focused on
reconciliation and engagement with
Canada’s Indigenous peoples. The
series was announced as part of an
event marking the release of the draft
report of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission in June. It will be held
each year in Nanaimo on the traditional
territory of the Snuneymuxw people.
The lectures will be hosted by VIU’s
Centre for Pre-Confederation Treaties
and Reconciliation with involvement
from the Shqwi qwal for Indigenous
Dialogue. The Shqwi qwal (or “Speaker”
in the Hul’qumi’num language) is Chief
Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, past chancellor
of VIU and former national chief of the
Assembly of First Nations. The first in
the series took place Nov. 26, with Atleo
presenting on “Daring Greatly together:
Re-imagining Canada”.
Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo was the
speaker at VIU’s inaugural Indigenous
Speakers Series.
‘Mind Over Metal Summer
Camp’ sparks interest
in welding trade
Tansor Elementary Grade 7 student Rori Wratten gets hands-on with her project at the
“Mind Over Metal Summer Camp”.
10 VIU Magazine
Twenty young students got a chance to
try their hand at welding in August at
the “Mind Over Metal Summer Camp”
at the Cowichan Trades Centre. The cost
of the camp for students aged 12 to 15
was fully covered through a donation
by the Canadian Welding Association,
in partnership with VIU and School
District 79. The young people learned
about welding equipment and tools,
welding safety and symbols, along with
an overview of how welding impacts our
daily lives. The highlight, as expected,
was a chance to have some fun with
real arcs and sparks, crafting a few small
projects to take home. VIU will run two
camps in summer 2016.
public lectures & films
Take part in VIU’s public
lecture and film series
Stimulating discussion, fresh ideas, diverse
perspectives and opportunities to meet new
people and forge new interests. These are
just a few of the reasons why community
members are getting involved in VIU’s free
or low cost public lecture, film and learning
sessions.
The Arts & Humanities
Colloquium Series
One of the most popular lecture series at
VIU is the Arts and Humanities Colloquium
Series, now in its sixth year and running
three free presentations in each of the fall and
spring terms. Faculty (and sometimes student)
presenters share their expertise on a variety
of topics including contemporary culture,
design, art, music, literature and the impact of
technology.
For those with a scientific bent, join in
on one of our spring Science & Technology
Lecture Series presented by VIU professors
and visiting scholars. Past topics have included
“Marine natural products: medicines from
the sea”; “Bring back the bluebirds: Avian
restoration in the Georgia Depression” and
“The legacy of glaciation in Canada”.
Film buffs can enjoy two film series
– the Worldbridger Film Series, which
screens films on Thursday evenings at the
Nanaimo campus and the Alternative
Film Series, which presents films on Friday
evenings. Drop-ins (and their donations!) are
welcome at the Worldbridger series, while
the Alternative Film Series, moderated by
retired professor Ron Bonham, costs $30
for six evenings and is by pre-registration at
250.740.6400.
SATURDAY
SPEAKERS
VIU’s ElderCollege program offers a
Saturday Speakers series, with several
presentations each fall and spring. Recent
offerings included a talk on the Department
of Fisheries and Ocean’s large whale
disentanglement program, and another on
the life of ordinary Germans in WWII and
beyond. See viu.ca/eldercollege.
Beyond lecture and film series, there are
many other opportunities throughout the
year to take in presentations by VIU faculty
and students.
Check out the VIU Events Calendar at
viu.ca, join the Facebook.com/VIUniversity
page, or send us a note at
[email protected] for information on
any of the above opportunities to learn and
connect with us at VIU.
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
11
L
EARNING IS A TRICKY
BUSINESS. AND REMEMBERING
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED SO WE
can use it later in our careers and lives
can be trickier still.
As you read this, thousands of VIU
students are poring over textbooks,
reviewing lessons online, studying for
tests and pondering key points they
heard in inspiring lectures. You’ll find
them deep in conversation with their
professors and each other, making
sense of new concepts, complex
information and challenging ideas.
At VIU, the goal is to ensure learning
follows students out of the classroom
and into the rich learning journey that
is their post-secondary education and
right into their future careers and lives.
Instructors across disciplines are
doing this in a number of ways from
using tried and true teaching practices
to implementing technology in
different ways to support classroom
learning. Some are also delving
into the latest research on learning
and using it to inform the way they
approach teaching. At the foundation
of these methods is a concept
called “metacognition”. Simply put,
metacognition is the process of
thinking about how we think and
thinking about how we learn.
A growing number of faculty,
with support from VIU’s Centre for
Innovation and Excellence in Learning
12 VIU Magazine
(CIEL), are introducing students to new
learning approaches based on research
into metacognition.
You might think these au courant
teaching methods would be inspired by
Apple, the latest gaming technology,
or the highest tech online learning
platforms. While there’s no doubt
technology is an important learning
tool, it might come as a surprise that
most of the new teaching and learning
methods have more to do with people
than computers.
Professors inspire students to take
risks in their learning and delve into
questions that interest them so much
they’re burning to report their learning
back to the class. Words like “autonomy”,
“reflection”, “transparency”, and even
“discomfort” are common in discussions
on teaching methods that result in
deep learning.
As students benefit from different
approaches to learning – including
tactics that help them remember what
they’ve learned and apply what they’ve
learned in a new context – they’re set
up for success beyond the classroom.
What they’ve learned sticks with them,
following them into their new job and
along their chosen career path.
We checked in with some VIU
instructors to hear about the learning
strategies they’re using to inspire and
engage their students.
DR. KEN HAMMER,
Retired Professor, Faculty of
Management, Tourism and Recreation
Management and Master of Business
Administration
“Deep learning
isn’t necessarily
comfortable, but
it’s invigorating
and exciting,” says
Dr. Ken Hammer,
who’s retired after 33
years’ teaching at the postsecondary level, including 17 at VIU.
Dr. Hammer refuses to believe
there’s a great divide between the
academic world and the world of work
and service that lies ahead for students.
“Students, once they graduate, will
bring their character, their discipline
and their deep learning to work,” he
says. “The deep learner becomes a deep
worker in many ways.”
Reflection, lots of planning and
constant evaluation have been key to
Dr. Hammer’s approach to developing
and refining his deep learning teaching
strategies.
“The last few years I’ve been
experimenting a lot in one course,” he
says. “I wanted to make it more real.”
In their course on strategic
leadership and innovation, fourth-year
students in the Tourism and Recreation
Management program led a small team
This is your brain
on learning
by Shari Bishop Bowes
of first year students in an assignment
that involved organizing a recreation or
leisure activity.
While the assignment presented
challenges for the students, including
the need to coordinate schedules
amidst their busy class, work and
personal lives, the exercise presented
many opportunities for deeper learning.
“
Students, once they
graduate, will bring their
character, their discipline
and their deep learning
”
to work.
“There was mentoring that went
beyond the assignment,” Dr. Hammer
says. The fourth years were tasked with
supporting the first years through their
assignment, but also took the time to
share valuable information – like what
the first years were to expect in the
coming years of the program, and how
they might best take advantage of coop work experiences available to them.
After the experience of coaching and
delegating responsibilities amongst the
first-year students, the senior students
came away with a deeper appreciation
of leadership – and a taste of what they
might expect in the work world ahead.
Dr. Hammer was also motivated
to design courses and employ deep
learning instruction techniques by
another firm belief he holds: each
learner is unique and different.
“I try to design something that has
flexibility for the learner; we know each
learner comes with a different package.”
At one point in his career, Dr.
Hammer was giving some deep
thought of his own to the idea of
how class participation could best be
measured. He had long challenged the
idea that only students who spoke out
in class and asked questions were the
best participants.
“I arrived at the notion that it’s
not about participating, it’s about
contributing to the class and how you
can contribute in many ways.”
While an obvious measure of
participating is simply showing up,
students in Dr. Hammer’s classes were
also measured by other, less obvious
contributions. Students who listened
attentively and showed they were
receptive to others were recognized,
as were those who shared articles,
observations or “a-ha” moments in
class, on field experiences or in online
learning platforms.
Dr. Hammer wants students to
understand that their contributions in
class will one day soon be contributions in
their work or in service to greater society.
“We need a worker that’s adaptable,
can think, and is curious and innovative
and good with people, and humble,
with a professional will to succeed.”
PAIGE FISHER,
Professor, Faculty of Education
There’s a wave of change
in BC’s K-12 education
system, with
BC’s Ministry of
Education engaged
in a transformative
agenda that is
affecting every learner
and teacher in the province’s
classrooms.
Paige Fisher, a professor in VIU’s
Bachelor of Education (BEd) programs
for the past eight years, and an
experienced classroom teacher with 12
years in the K-12 system, remembers a
faculty retreat three years ago when she
and her colleagues decided they were
going to keep ahead of that wave.
After a day-long presentation by a
Deputy Minister of Education on the
education transformation to come,
Fisher and her colleagues set out to
develop strategies they hoped would
best prepare student teachers for the
teaching and learning environment
they would face upon graduation.
Soon after that retreat, Fisher began
an experiment that she hoped would
immerse her students in the classroom
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
13
environment before they began their
required teaching practicums.
“When I started at VIU I was
wondering ‘How am I going to teach
my student teachers how to teach
something without kids?’”
The solution she landed on involved
teaching her students right in a school,
rather than in a VIU classroom.
For example, Fisher might teach
a class on reading assessment to her
cohort in an elementary school.
“I teach them in the morning, then
they go directly into the classroom and
practice it, then they come back and
debrief.”
“
When students keep delving
into questions that interest
them, they sometimes don’t
learn what they expected
and usually uncover more
”
questions.
This term, five cohorts of VIU’s
Bachelor of Education and Post
Baccalaureate students are in four
elementary schools and one high
school in Nanaimo Ladysmith Public
Schools and one elementary school in
Parksville.
“Autonomy, authenticity and
community connections – those are
really big pieces of what we’re trying to
do,” says Fisher.
Fisher believes the success of
new initiatives in the BEd and Post
Baccalaureate programs can be
attributed to strong collaboration
among faculty and to creating a
“powerful learning mindset” in student
teachers.
There’s a cyclical nature to
autonomous learning, Fisher says. When
students keep delving into questions
14 VIU Magazine
that interest them, they sometimes
don’t learn what they expected and
usually uncover more questions.
“We’re trying really hard to help
our students understand that teacher
education isn’t the end of your learning,”
she says. “It’s just the beginning.”
CHARLENE STEWART,
Faculty, Adult Basic Education and
Academic and Career Preparation
On their first day of
class, students
attending
Charlene
Stewart’s math
literacy course
in VIU’s Faculty
of Academic and
Career Preparation can
be found sitting quietly alone, likely
wondering how they are going to
progress through a course that stands
between them and their future hopes
for a career.
“A lot of learners are older and have
been out of school for a while, or maybe
they didn’t do very well in school, or
even like school,” says Stewart. “So they
come with a lot of history.”
Math literacy students, then, might
be surprised to find the first day’s topic
in Stewart’s class is anything but math.
Rather it’s about what they expect from
learning, how they feel about learning
and, ultimately, about strategies that
will set them up for deep learning and
success in this course and the ones that
follow.
“In my top things for learning, one
would be a safe space for learning
and the second would be being part
of a community, whatever that looks
like – you learn with support,” says
Stewart, who has been teaching at the
secondary and post-secondary level for
14 years and expects to complete her
Masters in Educational Leadership at
VIU this year
Stewart immediately gets
classmates talking to each other. Before
long they are helping each other in a
course that covers the very basics of
math to the Grade 9 level.
The first day, classmates take part
in a “graffiti” activity, gathering around
poster paper on the walls where they’re
asked to write one reason they’ve
chosen to come to the class and a few
words to describe how they’re feeling.
“They write words like ‘nervous’,
’anxious’, ‘don’t like fractions,’ ” Stewart
says. “Students tell me later, ‘I thought I
was the only one who was that anxious
about math.’ ”
Stewart also teaches higher levels of
math, as well as Biology and Chemistry
11 and 12. These are courses full of
students eager to attain the best results
possible to get into Science or Nursing
programs.
In these courses, Stewart encounters
students expecting to continue
learning just the way they learned in
high school. “They’re using the same
techniques, but they’re not working.
They’ll say, ‘I stayed up all night and
studied, how come I didn’t do so well
on this?’ ”
At this early point in her class, she
introduces students to strategies for
learning how to learn.
“It’s about knowledge organization,”
says Stewart. “How we organize our
knowledge sets us up for how we’re
going to access it later.”
Strategies like concept mapping or
mind mapping are employed, where
the main ideas are collected together
to form a grouping that is relevant and
more easily recalled after the lesson.
“
How we organize our
knowledge sets us up for
how we’re going to access it
”
later.
In a biology lesson on how urine
is formed in the body, for example,
Stewart will draw a large image of a
nephron – the basic functioning unit of
the kidney – across the chalkboard and
have the students work together with
her to label the diagram. Using guiding
questions, she encourages students
to think about what they had learned
previously on the subject and connect
that knowledge to the new concept of
nephron function.
“They’re actively doing it, you
can see the flow through the system,
you can almost visualize movement,
you have words describing what’s
happening and you’ve got colour.”
Once a student has been introduced
to new learning, Stewart encourages
them to go revisit what they’ve learned
the next day, even briefly. “Because after
that, you forget it. If you revisit it, your
brain starts transferring it from shortterm to long-term memory. The more
times you revisit something, the more it
sticks in your long-term memory.”
One student’s learning story
Just about every student has a story to tell about an
overwhelming moment they’ve had while struggling to
learn something very difficult and completely new in
class, a time when all they wanted to do was give up
and go home.
Pascal Luthi was down the stairs and on his way
out of the building, ready to quit the physics course
he’d just begun in VIU’s Adult Basic Education (ABE)
Pascal Luthi
program, when instructor Linda Neilson caught up to him
and convinced him to come back and retake his seat in the
class.
“The first day was just absolutely horrible, I didn’t understand a thing
and I thought I was too stupid and couldn’t take it, couldn’t get it,” said
Luthi, who’s glad he took that instructor’s advice a few years ago and
returned to tackle the course.
With help and support in completing that physics course – as well as all
the other prerequisites for entrance into VIU’s Bachelor of Science degree
program – Luthi scored an A+ in not only that course, but in several others
he took.
It was a major confidence booster for Luthi, as a mature student
returning to complete his post-secondary education, and one he sorely
needed at the time.
As a mature learner, he credits the supportive learning environment
for helping him get past not only his trepidation at tackling some
notoriously difficult courses, like mathematics and physics – but also for
helping him regain the confidence he’d lost after a particularly difficult
time in his life.
After a car accident in 2007 left him depressed and unable to walk for a
year, Luthi decided to take several ABE courses.
“I went back primarily just to start retraining my brain, to come out of
isolation and start socializing again,” said Luthi, who didn’t know he’d be
lighting a fire within himself to pursue a degree in the sciences.
Charlene Stewart, another one of Luthi’s former ABE instructors in a
chemistry course, uses many different approaches to engage her students
in deep learning – but it all begins with helping them develop the
confidence they’ll need to tackle their studies.
“Pascal is a fantastic student because he understands the need for a
learning community and often takes the lead to help others with their
questions,” says Stewart.
The key to learning, for Luthi, was not so much a specific learning
strategy (though he says those have come in handy, too) as the learning
environment that rebuilt and inspired confidence in his own abilities.
Managing the stress that can go hand-in-hand with learning is key to
a student’s success, says Luthi, who’s recently taken on a paid position as a
Peer Support Learning Leader with ABE, while juggling his own studies.
“Now I’m excited about what I’m doing, life is awesome and I feel good
about myself; I’ve got more confidence now.”
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15
Strategies like these, in a supportive
community of learners, lead to the kind
of deep learning that is the antithesis
of surface learning and memorization,
she says.
“Our students are heading into an
economy where employers are looking
for workers who are critical thinkers and
can analyze and transfer knowledge
into new situations. These are all
characteristics of deep learning.”
MARILYN FUNK,
Professor, Resource Management
Officer Training
Marilyn Funk
can imagine
hundreds
of scenarios
where the
information she
provides to students
in her Resource Management Officer
Technology (RMOT) courses will be
critical when they’re out working in
their field.
Sometimes as the only person
working in enforcement within
hundreds of square kilometres, resource
management officers encounter
hunters hunting out of bounds or out of
season, campers defying campfire bans
or damaging sites, hikers interacting
inappropriately or dangerously with
wildlife, and visitors at historic sites
doing harm to resources that officers
are sworn to protect.
Problem is, in her first few years’
teaching RMOT courses at VIU after a
15-plus year career in the field, Funk
wasn’t seeing the retention, recall, and
genuine comfort with course material
she knew her students would need
on the job facing high-stress and
potentially conflict-ridden situations.
“I just knew they weren’t connecting
to a deeper understanding of the
course material,” says Funk, who several
16 VIU Magazine
years ago began to shift the way she
taught her degree and diploma courses,
in order to discover instructional
methods that would engage students
in deeper learning.
In recent years, you’ll find Funk and
her students out in the field a lot more,
applying learning in real-life scenarios, or,
as it’s known in academic circles, “placebased” or community-based learning.
A recent example of this approach
had Funk’s class gain some real-world
experience on Newcastle Island, a
Provincial Park on lands co-managed
by the Snuneymuxw First Nation and
BC Parks.
Tasked with an environmental
monitoring project, the students
worked collaboratively and were
given autonomy in their approach to
collecting data.
“
I try to create experiences for
students where they have
that kind of messiness that
”
goes with learning.
“I try to create experiences for
students where they have that kind
of messiness that goes with learning,
where they do that self-struggle, saying
‘I can’t figure this out, why is this so
complicated, what does this mean,
what does environmental impact look
like… nobody’s telling me what to do,’ ”
says Funk. “These are real world things
that they’re going to run into when
they’re employed, so they have to build
some confidence in themselves.”
What Funk noticed in her students
following these types of hands-on
experiences in the field was a marked
increase in complex thinking – the
ability to take what they learned in
class, apply it in a new, unfamiliar
context, and then continue the learning
by imagining further scenarios where
the learning might be applied.
“I noticed immediate feedback on
other possibilities – they had really
good questions,” she says, adding
that hands-on field experiences,
followed by encouragement to reflect
on learning, allows students to apply
their own framework to the problem
or question before them, rather than
simply listening to a one-way lecture
where the same information could be
delivered.
Back in the classroom, Funk
continues to tweak her instructional
methods and introduce new exercises
and approaches that encourage deep
learning. She’s introducing team-based
learning this fall, where students will be
assigned to groups based upon their
strengths.
Working collaboratively in small
groups through an entire semester has
a real-world application, she says, as
students will find themselves working
in teams to accomplish objectives
and solve problems once they’ve
established careers.
“The team is where the rich
discussion takes place,” says Funk. “It’s
taking the professor/lecturer out of
the space and redistributing the power
and autonomy to the students. I’m
there as the expert to help them solve
problems.” 
LEARN MORE!
Find out more about how students
at VIU are learning and faculty
are teaching differently on
VIU's Centre for Innovation and
Excellence in Learning
website
viu.ca/ciel.
Mentors are everything to
award-winning Nanaimo
entrepreneur
by Shari Bishop Bowes
T
REVOR STYAN (WELDING ’04) ISN’T THE KIND
OF BOSS WHO SHOWS UP ON HIS COMPANY’S
REMOTE, NORTHERN BC WORK SITE WEARING A
white hard hat and shiny steel-toed boots fresh out of the
box. He’s not there for a quick check-in, with handshakes
and a pep-talk for the work crew tasked with completing a
complex infrastructure build for the province’s energy sector.
It’s just not his style.
Instead, the 29-year-old Nanaimo entrepreneur and coowner of Nanaimo-based Northern Civil Energy (NCE) will
arrive on site for a full week of work with the crew, labouring
as one of the team to install culverts, build foundations, run
equipment, and do whatever the site foreman needs doing
to get the job done on time, on budget and to the highest
quality in the industry.
“You can really see how the job’s truly being run, and that
for me is something I’m a big believer in,” says Styan, who was
named one of BC Business magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 for
2015 and won the 2015 Emerging Entrepreneur award in the
EY (Ernst & Young) Entrepreneur of the Year program in the
Pacific region.
While he’s realistic that being hands-on and up close is
likely to get more difficult with his company’s growth and
diversification, Styan is quick to point out he’s learned the
business from people who have deep experience in growing
something from scratch and getting their hands dirty.
Motivation to pursue a trade and gain experience in
construction came early for Styan, who credits family and
friends who have encouraged him from the time he was a
mechanically inclined youngster to a 25-year-old embarking
on a joint venture that would lead to incorporating NCE in
January 2012.
When he wasn’t learning the business from his
uncle, owner of Nanaimo’s Graf Excavating, or gaining
entrepreneurial insight from his dad in Quesnel and his stepdad in Nanaimo, Styan was pursuing an educational path that
would ensure he had lots of options.
As a Grade 12 student at Wellington Secondary School, he
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
17
Northern Civil Energy co-owner Trevor
Styan is grateful for mentors and role
models who have helped him build a
thriving, Nanaimo-based business.
18 VIU Magazine
was one of the first to embark on VIU’s
“dual credit” program. He spent half his
days learning welding at VIU, and the
remainder in his high school classroom
completing the calculus and physics he
needed to graduate.
“I was fortunate having that
opportunity in high school,” he says. “I
think it gives a person a lot of strength
when it comes to other challenges.
My welding instructor, Sugi Tabata
(now retired), was the type of guy
you didn’t want to let down. It was
really important to him that I made it
through.”
After completing a diploma in
mechanical manufacturing from BCIT,
Styan went to work again with his
uncle at Graf Excavating, where they
entered into a joint venture in 2010
with Nanaimo brothers and business
partners, Frank (Business Management)
and Mike Crucil and their construction
company, FMI.
To some it may seem like
an ambitious move for a young
20-something to make. But there’s a
certain amount of stubbornness that
comes into play in the success of this
determined young entrepreneur.
“I think I have a lot of confidence,
but maybe it’s more a bullheaded
unwillingness to quit or lose,” he says.
The decision to build a full service
gaining new skills and taking on new
responsibilities to move the company
forward.
“With a good team in place, it
means I’m more of a mediator and an
information gatherer,” he says.
NCE operates with a small core staff
in Nanaimo, with between 80 and 150
people employed on projects located
from BC to Manitoba. While work levels
have varied seasonally and with the
economy, Styan says about 60 of his
crew are Nanaimo residents and travel
to job sites.
“
I’ve realized in the last
couple years that it’s okay
to be who you are. You
don’t need to necessarily
fit into the standard mold
of what a leader looks like.
It’s pretty important to be
”
authentic.
civil engineering and construction
business focused on the utility and
power generating sector has paid
off for the Crucil brothers and Styan,
with 40 projects completed to date
and approximately $40 million
in gross revenues. Working with
clients like BC Hydro, Yukon Energy
Corporation and ATCO Electric comes
with high expectations, mountains of
documentation and weeks of planning
before the dirt gets moved.
Key to NCE’s success, Styan says, has
been finding the right people for his
team, getting everyone pulling in the
same direction, and empowering them
to do the jobs they’re trained for while
With a rapidly growing company,
Styan finds himself thinking about the
role he’s assumed as a leader and the
responsibility the role carries as he
contemplates the next big project and
the years that lie ahead.
When problems and serious
challenges arise, he remembers some
words of wisdom from his business
partner Frank Crucil, who told Styan
that at times like these he should ask
himself, “Am I dying? Nope? So then
everything’s good.”
While he’s aware his actions and
words, and the work ethic he models
can influence at every level in his
company, at the same time he knows he
has to be true to himself.
“I’ve realized in the last couple years
that it’s okay to be who you are. You
don’t need to necessarily fit into the
standard mold of what a leader looks
like,” he says. “It’s pretty important to be
authentic.”
Just as his mentors expected a great
deal from him at a young age, Styan
looks to his team when there’s talk
about NCE and its potential for growth.
“It’s going to depend on what our
people want to do, and how much
they’re able to learn and step up,
because I’m only one man and I can
only do so much.”
With more business and hands-on
experience behind him than many
people twice his age, Styan is grateful
for the mentorship and support of
his family and friends – including
fellow VIU grad Alissa Crucil (BBA ’12),
the daughter of one of his business
partners and now his fiancé.
Every now and again as he works
with employees who are bringing great
ideas and innovation to the business,
Styan finds he’s now a mentor himself.
He recalls one new employee
who joined the firm with solid
training in project management, but
no background in the construction
industry. With patience, time and
experience, he says, the employee soon
became a valuable asset to his team
with her critical thinking and attention
to detail. Before long, she was pointing
out errors that had been missed in
plans and suggesting solutions to all
kinds of issues.
“That’s one reward when I built
Northern Civil that I didn’t expect
would be such a feeling of success –
seeing how some people have learned
so much in the environment we’ve
created,” he says. “It’s just the best
reward a guy could have.” 
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19
Graduates touched by
new ceremony
by Janina Stajic
O
NCE A UPON A TIME ANCIENT
TREES STOOD TALL AND PROUD
IN THE OLD GROWTH FORESTS
of Vancouver Island. They listened to the
whispers and felt the shifts in the world,
bore witness to the upheavals, the joys,
the tragedies. They soaked in the stories of
hundreds (perhaps thousands) of years until
– crash – they fell, tumbled by disease, old
age or perhaps a forester’s axe. There they
lay for decades, even centuries, until they
were discovered by an artist who, fueled by
his creative spirit, his legacy and his heritage,
gave them a new life, transforming them
into breathtaking works of art that are now
poised to inspire generations of people with
their beauty and their new story – the story
of how the power of education can have a
profound impact on people’s lives.
That is the history of the old growth
cedar that world-renowned artist Arthur
Vickers used to create VIU’s new Ceremonial
Convocation Suite. With generous support
from Coast Capital Savings, Vickers spent
thousands of hours dreaming his plans
and creating the suite using the grey ghost
cedar from the forest floor.
The suite is made up of three distinct
pieces:
• The Keeper of Wisdom & Knowledge,
the Chancellor’s Chair
•T
he Keeper of Knowledge, the
President & Vice-Chancellor’s Chair
• The Huupukwanum, the Ceremonial
Parchment Bentcorner Box
Each of the suite’s 22 original images
was inspired by time Vickers spent at
VIU, sitting in different classrooms, in
the gardens, in the library – all over the
campus – soaking in the atmosphere
and the energy around him. The images,
20 VIU Magazine
etched in 24 karat gold leaf, shimmer and
play against the natural cedar fibres of the
ancient wood, forever encapsulating the
University community of students and
faculty, the natural and spirit worlds, as well
as VIU’s architecture.
Today, the suite is an integral part of
VIU’s convocation ceremonies. As the
students proceed on to stage they pass by
the two chairs, pausing for a few moments
to view the artwork and images. When
the moment comes for them to receive
their degrees, they walk back across the
stage in front of the chairs and towards
the Huupukwanum. There they are granted
their degree parchments and asked to
touch the lid of the bentcorner box – a
symbolic gesture in that they have left
behind a piece of their DNA, connecting
their story with all those who have come
before and all those who will come after. It’s
a profound reminder that they are forever
part of the VIU family.
The Ceremonial Convocation Suite
was first unveiled in VIU’s June 2015
convocation ceremony. We spoke to two
students to find out what it meant to them
to have this work of art woven in to the
traditions of their graduation ceremony.
Gina Mowatt, Graduate of Bachelor of
Arts in First Nations Studies
Seeing the
Ceremonial
Suite made me
feel proud as
an Aboriginal
student – to have
us represented
in such a central
way during the
ceremony. I think it’s pretty meaningful
VIU Chancellor Louise Mandell (l) and
President and Vice-Chancellor Dr.
Ralph Nilson (top photo) are the first
to preside over graduation ceremonies
with the new Ceremonial Convocation
Suite. A student touches the corner of
the bentcorner box to become a new
graduate.
that VIU is indigenizing by having
these pieces as part of convocation.
The University is making an effort to
bring in sacred pieces like this art and
it’s so important. Indigenous art is more
than just a piece of carved wood. Our
artists bring our ancestors through
them to help them create their work
and so the pieces of art are alive. They
also represent relationships and they
are a part of commemorating events
that happen. Having the suite at the
ceremony made an impact on me – I
really felt that I became a part of that
relationship with our ancestors and
also with my fellow graduates when I
touched the wood of the bentcorner
box. It made the ceremony a lot more
comfortable for me and I was so much
happier to be there. Basically, it brought
in an Indigenous aspect to the whole
ceremony.
George Anderson, Graduate
of Bachelor of Arts, Major in
Criminology
I feel this suite tells the beautiful story
about our
continued
journey as
part of the VIU
community.
What do I
mean by
that? VIU is
an institution
that promotes the importance of
acknowledging the members of our
community and using its special status
as a university to repair harms and
attempt to bring about dialogue on
issues within our community. As well, at
VIU the professors and faculty know the
students; they know our names.
This creates the ability for students
to develop intellectual and academic
relationships, which challenge our
minds to look outside our own bias and
perceptions of how the world works –
something that might be more difficult
at larger institutions.
This new tradition within
convocation symbolizes the
commitment this institution has to
its students and the connection we
as students will forever have with
Vancouver Island University, the
community and the world around us.
It’s a wonderful representation of how
this University empowers its students
and will continue to do so even after
they have graduated.
For more information on the
Ceremonial Convocation Suite go to:
viu.ca/ceremonial-suite. 
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21
Underwater Harvesters
Association Grey Whale Exhibit
inspires generations
by Marilyn Assaf
22 VIU Magazine
S
HARON COOPER WAS OUT
FOR AN EVENING WALK
FIVE YEARS AGO WHEN SHE
first saw the body of a huge grey
whale washed up at East Sooke Park
near Victoria.
“I was so sad,” said Cooper, a
member of Scia’new First Nation.
“People carved their initials into the
whale’s body and huge chunks of
blubber were removed. I knew that
I had to save this whale and leave a
legacy for future generations.”
Cooper’s vision became a
reality on June 23 when she joined
more than 160 people – donors
and volunteers – who gathered at
VIU’s Deep Bay Marine Field Station
for the grand unveiling of the
Underwater Harvesters Association
Grey Whale Exhibit.
“It was meant to be,” said Cooper
on unveiling day, wiping tears from
her eyes. “When I saw the whale on
the beach, I went home and said to
my husband, ‘I want that whale’. It’s
something I was supposed to do.”
The path to the moment of the
unveiling involved an incredible
communal effort. Cooper rallied
support from her husband and a
friend, as well as the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans and VIU.
The next day, the whale’s body
was towed from the beach to
Scia’new First Nation land where it
was respectfully buried. In 2014, after
four years of decomposition, the
whale’s bones were exhumed and
transported to VIU’s Field Station.
Field Station Manager Brian
Kingzett and VIU’s Advancement &
Alumni Relations Office launched
a unique “Raise the Whale” online
fundraising campaign and sold more
than 160 bones to raise the $70,000
to cover the costs of creating a
permanent exhibit.
“
When I saw the whale on
the beach, I went home
and said to my husband,
‘I want that whale’. It’s
something I was supposed
”
to do.
Led by the Underwater
Harvesters Association and its
members, the whale articulation
project involved a team of 100-plus
volunteers, including VIU students
and community members. They
were involved in the detailed
process of cleaning and preparing
the bones for the final exhibit. More
than 2,000 volunteer hours went in
to preparing the whale bones and
working on the articulation process.
Lead volunteer Ken Magnus,
a retired radiologist who lives in
Qualicum Beach, contributed more
than 200 hours alone, researching
and identifying bones, bleaching
them and figuring out a way to put
some of them back together.
Thanks to the commitment of
community donors and volunteers,
as well as VIU’s employees,
Sharon Cooper’s vision is now a
spectacular reality. The 10-metre
long whale skeleton is an impressive
centrepiece on the main floor of
the Field Station, hanging above
the stairwell as though it breeched
straight out of the ocean. And
Cooper has accomplished what she
set out to do – creating a legacy for
future generations so they can come
and learn a little bit more about
the fascinating life of our ocean’s
creatures.
For more information visit
viu.ca/deepbay. 
Lead Donors:
• Underwater Harvesters Association
• Jamie’s Whaling Station and Adventure
Centres of Tofino/Ucluelet
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23
Living
by Janina Stajic
24 VIU Magazine
T
O ME THIS IS HEAVEN – THIS IS
THE PLACE TO BE.
These simple sentiments,
shared by a local farmer living in the
Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region
(MABR), represent the feelings of many
of the 45,000 people who call this
unique area home. Stretching across
1,186 square kilometres, the MABR,
just north of Nanaimo, is a spectacular
region encompassing the largest variety
of ecosystems on Vancouver Island.
From soaring mountains to deep sea
valleys, from winding rivers to white
sand beaches, the MABR is home to a
diverse variety of species – bird, animal,
plant, marine – and, of course, us.
Biosphere reserves are challenged
with finding ways to create a profound
and positive connection between
themselves and the natural environment,
supporting and sustaining all the
different ecosystems and species that
call this place home. The twist? This isn’t
just about conserving the environment.
It’s about finding ways to preserve the
balance so that every species – whether
human, bird, reptile or mammal – can
live in a healthy, sustainable way. That
could mean everything from taking
responsibility to protect local habitats
to working hard to create locally based
economic opportunities.
Enter the Mount Arrowsmith
environments; the thriving economy
– and recognize immediately “that is a
place where people live better’.
Fortunately, the MABR is unique even
among biosphere reserves because it’s
attached to a university, which means
there are already numerous faculty,
students and staff getting involved in
research projects to support MABBRI’s
aspirational goals.
Science on High
– Snow Pillow Weather
Monitoring Station
No, the snow pillow isn’t a part of
the décor in a new ice-hotel – it’s the
newest weather station that’s been
Better
The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) recognized there was
something special about the MABR,
and in 2000 designated it a UNESCO
biosphere reserve – a “unique and
significant environmental region where
residents sustainably engage with the
land”.
With this important designation
comes a great responsibility. UNESCO
biosphere reserves are expected to serve
their region and the world as sites of
excellence, demonstrating creative ways
to resolve human and environmental
conflicts through local community efforts
and sound science. In short, UNESCO
expects those who live in biosphere
regions to figure out ways to “live better.’
Biosphere Region Research Institute
(MABRRI), the newest research institute
at VIU (they celebrated their one year
anniversary in August). Their purpose
is to work collaboratively with VIU
students, staff, faculty, community
partners, First Nations, businesses,
non-profits, landowners and individual
citizens to explore the varied ways all
the different species in the MABR –
including humans – can live together in
a sustainable, mutually beneficial way.
The goal of those spearheading
MABRRI is simple but ambitious – that
one day people from around the
world will look at the MABR – the high
quality of life that residents enjoy; the
large variety of robust ecosystems;
the numerous species; the healthy
installed in the MABR with the purpose
of monitoring the snow pack on Mount
Arrowsmith – something that’s never
been done before. It’s been made
possible through MABRRI’s collaborative
approach which allowed researchers
to engage with all the participants
– government, business and local
landowners – that were needed to
make this project happen.
Nestled into the heart of the
mountain at 1,500 metres, the
snow pillow is part of the most
sophisticated weather station on
Vancouver Island. It uses an array of
sensors to expand on the data that is
collected by most weather stations,
which typically includes information
such as snow depth and precipitation.
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
25
This weather station will measure
that information but also provide
data on net radiation, wind speed
and direction, humidity, soil moisture
and soil temperature. That means the
information the weather station collects
will shine a new light on an element
that impacts every single ecosystem
and species in the MABR – water levels.
This data will be used by a variety of
people including flood and avalanche
forecasters, wildfire managers, water
managers and research scientists.
“The data from the snow pillow will
allow us to predict in a much more exact
way what is happening at that elevation,”
says Graham Sakaki, MABBRI’s Research
Coordinator and a Master of Community
Planning student at VIU. “And it can be
used in a variety of ways. For example,
it will help municipalities predict how
much drinking water there is going to be
and help them plan accordingly. It will
also allow us to predict more accurately
how much water is going to be coming
into the reservoir at the top of the dam
– and how much can be released in the
drier summer months to help support
life in the river.”
Educating the Community
– MABR 101
For those unclear about exactly
what a UNESCO biosphere reserve is,
the team at MABRRI has put together an
interactive workshop to help answer their
questions. MABR 101 was developed by
students, staff and faculty at VIU as an
interactive community course focused
on helping community members
understand what the MABR is all about
(and hopefully instilling in them the same
feeling as the local farmer – that it really
is a little piece of heaven on earth.)
“It’s been challenging for biosphere
reserves around the world to clearly
communicate our purpose and
potential,” says Monica Shore, MABR’s
Communications Coordinator. “We
worked hard on the curriculum for this
course to try to explain what the MABR
is in a way that’s accessible, fun and
engaging.”
“
If we wrote a list of all the
amazing activities people
are taking part in on any
given day in the MABR it
would include at least 25
to 30 different types of
”
activities.
The team wants to get people
from all backgrounds exploring and
talking about what it means to be a
part of a biosphere reserve. The course
curriculum can be tailored to suit all
ages and interest levels. There are
colouring books for children, in-depth
research papers for seasoned scientists
and everything in between.
The team’s ultimate goal is to
inspire community members to take
on the role of citizen scientists and get
engaged in exploring the question of
how they can work together to support
the UNESCO mandate.
Exploring Culture through
Digital Storytelling
What does it mean to be connected
to the land, to truly nurture a nature/
human connection – a key part of the
UNESCO mandate? An enthusiastic
To me this is heaven –
26 VIU Magazine
group of VIU students were engaged to
explore that very question as it relates to
those who live, work or play in the MABR.
The students embarked on a digital
storytelling project, recording the
stories of a diverse range of people
who live or work within the biosphere
region. They discovered something
interesting – that although each person
was deeply connected to the biosphere
and the land within it, everyone
connected to that land differently,
experiencing or interacting with it
through a variety of activities such as
farming, diving, mountain-biking, birdwatching or running a small business.
“If we wrote a list of all the amazing
activities people are taking part in on
any given day in the MABR it would
include at least 25 to 30 different types
of activities,” explains Doug Wortley,
one of the student researchers and the
project’s chief video editor.
It was also clear that participants felt
something else – a special responsibility
to balance out the need for human
development and a viable economy
with the need to protect and conserve
what all felt was their greatest asset –
the natural environment.
“These stories are critical to
promoting understanding between all
the different people who live within
the biosphere,” explains Jennifer Perry,
another student researcher. “The stories
demonstrate that it doesn’t matter what
your connection to the biosphere is;
what matters is that a diverse range of
people who use the land in different
ways all share this deep connection
and can come together to ensure
the reasons for that connection are
sustained well into the future.”
The stories also allow the students to
document the history of the MABR and
identify areas where research is needed.
This includes what types of projects
citizen scientists could engage in to lead
to a deeper understanding of what it
means to live better within the MABR. 
VIU alumna and MABRRI researcher
Sarah Lumley enjoys the view from the
Garry Oak Ecosystem at Notch Hill in the
Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region.
A collaborative effort
– the partners of the MABR
The MABR itself (outside
of the research institute) is
currently co-managed by a
regional roundtable including
VIU, the City of Parksville, the
Town of Qualicum Beach, First
Nations, regional and provincial
government representatives,
private industry and other major
landholders and stakeholder
groups.
this is the place to be.
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
27
credit: xkcd.com/435
knock knock...
Who’s there? Even if you don’t find VIU faculty and staff in their offices
across campus, you’ll see evidence of their humour, passions and
personalities on their doors and office walls. Here’s just a small selection
of what we found on a recent tour of the Nanaimo campus.
credit: Luis Carlos Cifuentes Martinez
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
29
9
6
0
21 89 3 8 6
1
0 2
9 75 4 0 5 6 3 3 7
1
5
5
Mobile
Contaminant
Tracker
Illustration by Gregory Vandergrift, VIU Math and Chemistry student
On the move with real-time
environmental monitoring
A
TRAIN CARRYING TOXIC
CHEMICALS DERAILS,
SPILLING ITS CARGO AND
potentially polluting the air and nearby
water bodies. Emergency response
crews are mobilized to mitigate a
potential environmental disaster. Before
cleanup can occur, they need to know
exactly what they are dealing with –
what type of chemicals have spilled,
what areas have been impacted, and
most importantly, how they can clean
up the mess and ensure the area is safe.
If this type of incident were to
happen today, the process to identify
and measure pollutants could take two
weeks, as air and water samples often
need to be collected in bottles and
transported to labs for analysis.
30 VIU Magazine
If a team of researchers in VIU’s
Applied Environmental Research Lab
(AERL) has its way, however, that two
weeks will one day be cut down to mere
minutes, possibly seconds.
Led by Chemistry professors
Dr. Chris Gill and Dr. Erik Krogh,
AERL researchers, including both
undergraduate and graduate students,
are developing innovative methods
to measure pollutants in air and water
on site instead of in a lab. They are
also developing ways to report on the
information they’ve collected in real
time – in other words, immediately.
The only project of its kind in
Canada, the team was recognized for
its forward-thinking research with
a $1 million grant from the Canada
Foundation for Innovation and the BC
Knowledge Development Fund.
At the centre of their research is a
device called a “mass spectrometer”.
“This is a device researchers use to
identify contaminants and determine
their concentration levels in the
environment,” says Dr. Gill. “It can also
provide clues that determine where
contaminants are coming from.”
Where VIU’s researchers are going
a step further is using the mass
spectrometer to take measurements
continuously rather than measuring
one sample at a time.
The cutting edge piece? AERL
researchers are making the modified
mass spectrometer portable and taking
it out of the lab and into the field. In order to take continuous
measurements, the AERL research team
created a specially designed membrane
to place in between the air or water
samples and the instrument. Without
the membrane they could only do one
sample at a time.
They are now focusing on making
the mobile lab a reality. The first
step is outfitting a research vehicle
with the complex instruments
they’ve developed in order to do the
continuous measurements “on the
fly”. Their plan is to have this up and
running by the end of 2016 so they can
begin reporting from the field.
Most of the faculty, graduates and
undergraduates working on the project
come from a chemistry background.
The scope of the project has meant that
Drs. Gill and Krogh needed to pull in
scientists from other disciplines. Darien
Yeung, a talented VIU Computing
Science student is now working with
the team supporting the complex
analytics process.
“Because we’re monitoring
contaminants in the environment
continuously we are generating huge
amounts of data which can’t be dealt
with manually,” explains Dr. Krogh. “As a
computer scientist, Yeung is able to do
the in-depth analytics that are required
so we can produce useful information
out of our massive data sets.”
“
This work has the potential
to revolutionize the way
in which we study the
fate and distribution of
environmental pollutants in
the environment.
”
Yeung is also researching ways
for the mobile lab to gather more
information and answer questions
about a contaminant once it’s been
detected.
He is using local weather
information such as wind
speed and direction and
incorporating it into the other
data that is being collected
by the mass spectrometer.
With this innovation, when
the mobile lab passes through
a plume of pollutants for
example, researchers can
not only measure what it
is and how much there is,
they can also measure more
accurately where it is, where
it’s coming from and, more
importantly, what impact
it may have. This type of
information will provide timely
information to make better
VIU Computing Science student Darien Yeung
decisions, minimize the environmental
consequences and mitigate human
exposure.
“The final goal will be to take
that data and layer it on to Google
Earth maps,” says Dr. Gill. “That way
anyone, anywhere in the world can
get immediate and comprehensive
information about the nature of the
environmental pollutants.”
Eventually, Dr. Krogh says, the
mobile research lab will be able to
provide early warnings of major
impacts associated with oil and gas
production, storage or transport, or be
used in the event of a chemical spill.
“This work has the potential to
revolutionize the way in which we
study the fate and distribution of
environmental pollutants in the
environment,” says Dr. Krogh.
And that revolution could be felt
across Canada (and potentially further
afield) as researchers will be able to use
the data that is collected and analyzed
to inform policies and practices that will
help protect the environment and the
health of all Canadians. 
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
31
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32 VIU Magazine
JAMIE BRODER (L)
AND KRISTINA VALJAS
Alumni News
1990s
Terence Fitzgerald (Diploma in Applied
Arts – Graphics ’91; Diploma in Fine Arts
– Visual Art ’92) is the newest member of
VIU’s Board of Governors. An active alum
who sits on the VIU Alumni Association
Board, Terence also acts as a mentor
in VIU’s Graphic Design program. He’s
worn many hats during his career and
is currently working on a children’s
book series entitled BeBe and Miko, in
between flying all over the world for
his consulting business. He lives in the
Cowichan Valley with his wife.
Sarah Frejd (Certificate in Cook
Training ’99) runs Curvalicious Boutique
in Victoria, which caters to plus-size
women. In her spare time, she works
as a full-time rep for Island West
Produce, which supplies restaurants in
Victoria, Sidney and Salt Spring Island.
curvaliciousboutique.com
Nav Parhar (University Program
Transfer ’99) was born and raised in
Nanaimo and currently runs Infinity Law
in Victoria. The firm recently opened a
downtown Nanaimo office.
infinity-law.com
’00) switched directions and is now
the owner and travel curator at
Nanaimo-based Vancouver Island
Expeditions which offers small
group tours on Vancouver Island.
vancouverislandexpeditions.com
Jamie Broder (Bachelor of Business
Administration) is a star Canadian beach
volleyball athlete. She started playing
beach volleyball when she was 15 years
old and recently won the first medal for
Canada in the history of the women’s
Federation Internationale de Volleyball.
Jamie and her partner Kristina Valjas
are currently ranked fifth in the world
and are working towards representing
Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympic
Games in Rio de Janeiro.
2000s
After 11 years in the world of public
accounting at MNP, Leif Bogwald
(Bachelor of Arts ’02 Major in Business
Accounting; Associate of Commerce
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
33
Erin Brook (Bachelor of Arts ’04)
recently opened her own law firm,
Brook Law in Nanaimo. It offers a
variety of legal services including family
law, general litigation, employment
law, wills/estates and independent
legal advice on agreements.
brooklawnanaimo.com
34 VIU Magazine
Kankan Liu (ABE ’12) is a manager at
TAO’s Museum of Handcraft Paper, a
new museum dedicated to the historic
Chinese art of papermaking. The
Museum is located close to Xinzhuang
village at the foot of Gaoligong
Mountain, in the province of Yunnan,
China. It provides exhibition space
for ancient paper craft and artefacts
produced locally. Pictured above,
Kankan (middle row, red gown) meets
with a group of students from the
nearby primary school.
Bobbie Buckle (Bachelor of Business
Administration ’07), owner of Elite
Gaming Entertainment, has also enjoyed
working as a Director of LOVEWINX, the
fastest growing romance company in
North America. Bobbie was awarded
the Top 10 in Sales for the year from
LOVEWINX in North America.
Samantha Letourneau (Bachelor
of Arts ’07 Major in Global Studies)
won the Marie Gillen Award in 2015.
The award was given by St. Francis
Xavier University where Samantha
graduated with a Master of Adult
Education in 2015. Her research
project for her master’s examined
the transformative possibilities that a
safe learning environment can create
for women impacted by abuse. Her
research addressed inequalities through
community dialogues and used the arts
as an innovative tool for engagement.
Jennifer Kennedy (Bachelor of Arts
’02 Major in Business; Associate of
Commerce ’99) recently accepted a
position as the new Financial Controller
for the United Way Central and
Northern Vancouver Island.
Daniel Martinez (Master of Business
Administration ’09) is the Development
Director of the Nanaimo Foundation,
Board Member of Innovation Island, a
Wealth Manager with Integral Wealth
Securities and the current President of
the Young Professionals of Nanaimo.
DANIEL MARTINEZ
ERIN BROOK
Would you donate stem cells to
help save a stranger? That is exactly
what Mike Hogman (Bachelor of
Tourism Management ’09 Major
in Recreation; Certificate in Event
Management ’07; Diploma in
Tourism Studies ’06) did in 2009.
He came across a Facebook link
to the Canadian Blood Service’s
(CBS) OneMatch stem cell network
and filled out an information form.
Shortly after he received a kit in the
mail to provide a swab sample of
his mouth and sent it away. To his
surprise he was contacted by CBS
and told he was a close match. After
a screening process, Mike travelled
to Vancouver to provide stem cells
from his blood that helped save the
life of a 44-year-old husband and
father of three who suffered from
leukemia.
KANKAN LUI
MIKE HOGMAN
LIFE SAVER
ANDREW FRASER, DANIELLE SWEENEY,
JESSE MCNEILL AND MIKE CLEMENT
Formed in 2013, Lovecoast is a west
coast inspired Indie R&B/soul pop
band. The four members all attended
VIU at the same time, but graduated
in different years. Danielle Sweeney
(Diploma in Jazz Studies ’12) is the
lead vocalist, Andrew Fraser (Diploma
in Jazz Studies ’11) plays bass, Jesse
McNeill (Bachelor of Music in Jazz
Studies ’15) is the drummer, and
Mike Clement (Bachelor of Music
in Jazz Studies ’14) is the guitarist.
lovecoastmusic.com
Ines Alvarado (Certificate in
Automotive Service Technician ’15;
Certificate in Business Management ’15;
and Essential Skills for the Workplace
– Auto ’15; Certificate in Management
Skills for Supervisors ‘14) was awarded
the Lt. Governor’s Silver Medal at VIU’s
June convocation ceremonies. Ines
has a vision of one day owning her
own automotive shop, where she can
employ the skills she’s developed in
VIU’s Automotive Service Technician
and Management programs.
Breanne Quist (Master of Education
in Educational Leadership ’14; Online
Learning & Teaching Graduate Diploma
’14; Diploma in Physical Education
’14; Bachelor of Education ’11) was
nominated for the Ernest C. Manning
Innovation Award for her work in
putting together a website called The
Private Company, which helps schools,
teachers and parents in BC navigate
privacy issues when using social media
and learning management systems. She
currently works at Anchor Academy as a
high school teacher and privacy officer.
Breanne lives in Nanaimo with her
husband and two daughters.
BREANNE QUIST
2010s
SHALEETA HARPER
LOVECOAST
Shaleeta Harper (Bachelor of Arts
’15 Major in Creative Writing) is the
founder of text magazine (textlitmag.
com) a free, bi-monthly in-print and
online literary magazine that focuses on
concise and eclectic poetry. The intent
when creating text was to share poetry
in all of its forms. This includes lyrics,
brief narratives, social media epigrams,
text, artwork and photographs. text
welcomes submissions year-round.
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
35
JORDANNA SOUTHALL
company, Rewild Homes. They provide
portable, affordable and sustainable
“tiny homes”. rewildhomes.com
Kaitlyn Matthews (Bachelor of
Education ’14) works in the small First
Nations community of Ahousaht on
Vancouver Island’s west coast, where
ERIN HEENEY
Jordanna Southall (Bachelor of Social
Work ’15) was among VIU’s first students
to benefit from the Youth in Care Tuition
Waiver program. She graduated in June
and has now joined BC’s Ministry of
Children and Family Development as
a Child Protection Officer in Campbell
River, BC.
Zainab Alzuri (Master of Business
Administration ’15) is the Nanaimo
Regional General Hospital’s Emergency
Room Hostess. If you are visiting
patients at NRGH, there is a good
chance you will meet Zainab. She
can be found greeting and talking
with patients, family members and
visitors while they are waiting in the
department. She also assists visitors in
navigating the hospital – helping them
to find where their loved ones are and
making enquiries on their behalf to
nurses and physicians regarding patient
conditions.
Jennifer Vroom (Bachelor of Science
in Nursing ’15; Certificate in Home
Support/Resident Care Attendant
’07) has been an outdoor adventure
enthusiast and guide for many years
and is the founder and owner of Van Isle
Paddleboard Company. Her company
offers tours and lessons in stand up
paddle boarding.
vanislepaddleboardco.com
Patrick Whelan (Resource Management
Officer Technology) and partner Jessica
Reid (Bachelor of Arts ’15 Major in
Graphic Design) started their own
36 VIU Magazine
she has completed her first year
teaching in a Grade 1 and 2 split class
at Maaqtusiis Elementary. This fall she
returned to teach Grade 4 in the remote
community.
Erin Heeney (Master of Arts in
Sustainable Leisure Management
’13) was the first graduate of VIU’s MA
in Sustainable Leisure Management
program and also became its first
published student. Her article,
“Connection and understanding: the
basis of a positive mutual gaze between
residents of a small island developing
state and a community of multinational
ocean cruisers,” has been published
online and in print in the World Leisure
Journal through Taylor & Francis. Erin
continues to find connections through
travelling, and has recently returned to
Nanaimo from adventures in Australia
and South East Asia.
Bikini Empire is owned and operated
by twin sisters Monica (Bachelor of Arts
’12 Major in Graphic Design; Diploma in
Tourism Studies ’08) and Kelsey Rush
(Bachelor of Arts ’12 Major in Global
Studies). Their love for the water and
surfing influenced their decision to start
their own company, a made-in-Canada
bikini line. bikiniempire.ca
Amy Pye (Bachelor of Arts ’10 Major in
Graphic Design; Diploma in Information
Technology and Systems '05; Diploma
in Applied Arts – Graphics '04) is a VIU
Alumni Ambassador and the owner of
Pye Design. She has received several
international awards for her work and
has a wide variety of clients, including
start-ups, mom-and-pop shops and
national franchises. Amy recently
opened a new office location in
Nanaimo. pyedesign.ca
Adam Baker (Bachelor of Arts ‘14)
is an interdisciplinary Master of Arts
student at Simon Fraser University in
Experimental Psychology and Political
Science. He’s currently working in
the Laboratory for Affective and
Developmental Neuroscience and
has devoted his master’s thesis
to studying new methods for
understanding why we stereotype
and discriminate. Using a variety
of approaches from neuroscience
to examine this question, Adam’s
research has explored gender
stereotypes and will investigate
political stereotyping. His goal is to
raise peoples’ consciousness of social
inequality and bias.
sfu.ca/people/akb20
AMY PYE
Three of VIU’s alumnae work for
Dreamlines, an online cruise and travel
portal in Europe. Nicole Martinetti
(Bachelor of Tourism Management
’14 Major in Recreation; Diploma in
Recreation and Sport Management
’13; Certificate in Event Management
’13) recently moved to Germany and
is working in Content Management
for the Australian department at
Dreamlines. During Nicole’s undergrad
at VIU, she was a student ambassador
and upon graduation was hired as
a Recruitment Officer in the Office
of Enrolment Management. She will
continue her connection with VIU as an
Alumni Ambassador. Hannah Schecter
(Bachelor of Tourism Management
’14 Major in Recreation; Certificate in
Event Management ’14; Diploma in
Tourism Studies ’10) studied abroad
at the Cologne Business School where
she found the opportunity to work
at Dreamlines for the Australia office.
She started as an intern in July 2014
and is now a Team Leader in Content
Management. Larissa Hulsmann is
originally from Germany and attended
the VIU High School on the Nanaimo
campus from 2009 to 2010. From
there she returned to Oldenburg,
Germany and apprenticed as a tourism
management assistant until 2014
when she interned at Robinson Club in
Hanover. She is now a Team Leader in
Content Management in Germany at
Dreamlines.
ADAM BAKER
HANNAH, NICOLE
AND LARISSA
A STUDY IN
STEREOTYPING
2 0 1 5 FA L L / W I N T E R
37
Q&A
with Louise Mandell
VIU’s Chancellor
Why did you want to take on the
role of Chancellor at VIU?
I knew that VIU was involved in making
solutions happen to problems that I had
been working to resolve all of my legal
life. I liked the possibility of working
with a big institution that places itself
against racism and uses its stature as a
place to teach and find solutions.
What’s been your favourite part of
the experience so far?
Meeting the students at convocation –
their energy and their family’s. Each of
the students has their own experiences,
passions, talents, dreams, perspectives. All
are uniquely qualified to offer the world
something.
38 VIU Magazine
What has been the most
challenging?
What is a trait you most value in
others?
Realizing the overall [financial]
constraints the University works
under and the effort made to meet
the University’s goals under these
constraints. Our regions are changing
from a resource-based to a knowledgebased economy and VIU must provide
the region with the skills – it’s the only
path of survival. And yet, under-funding
has us … reacting to the experience
of change with anxiety as opposed to
embracing it and putting our resources
behind where the future paths can
unfold in a good way for us.
Kindness. I don’t think there is such a
thing as a small act of kindness. Every
act creates a ripple with no logical
end. Kindness is the golden thread. We
humans are intricately connected, and
how we treat each other matters – it
means our survival and that of all other
species.
If you could go back in time to
meet someone, where would you
go and to whom would you speak?
Mother Teresa – not only for the
inspiration she provided and her
humility, but for some things she said
that struck a chord with me such as “you
can’t make change by being against,
you have to be for something”.
What’s your favourite memory of
being a student?
A day in law school where myself and
four other students decided to start the
women’s legal clinic. There were more
women who graduated in our class than
in the entire history from 1910 to 1976.
The idea of starting a women’s clinic for
women – we weren’t sure what would
emerge. I remember the day we all went
‘high five let’s do this.’ It was exciting and
I felt like we can do anything we want.
What would a perfect day look like?
I find myself with a great deal of
gratitude in my life. I’ve found a place
where I’m going a lot slower and find I
can achieve more by doing less. I’ve also
been meditating each day. It doesn’t
change your life – my life remains just
as fragile and as unpredictable as ever
but meditation changes my heart’s
capacity to just accept life as it is.
What would you like to be
remembered for?
The quality of love I can bring to the
world and the job I’ve been given. I
think of John Lennon when he said,
“We all shine on like the moon, stars
and sun.” I hope to inspire people to
be a part of the change in their own
beautiful important ways. More broadly
I’d like to add my voice to the energy of
reconciliation, peace and mindful living.
What legacy do you hope to leave
for VIU?
I’d like my breath to speak with VIU
and others to make change happen in
a good way: a legacy of healing and
inspiration and change. The 20th century
industrial culture – this narcissistic
wound that we’ve been building an
economy on – all of this has to change.
I’m just hoping that the legacy I can
make is to echo the collective in such a
way that individuals will be able to grow
and contribute to the collective growth.
What legacy do you think VIU will
leave with you?
There’s been a growth of humility on my
part. We are all such beautiful unique
little snowflakes in the world but we
are all such tiny little cogs. With VIU
I’ve been in a state of “wow” in terms of
what people can do in this educational
realm that’s not adversarial – working in
a collaborative way with each person’s
talents.
For more Q&A with Chancellor Louise
Mandell, see viu.ca/chancellor. 
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