w i n t e r 2012
UNIVERSIT Y OF ALBERTA
ALUMNI MAGA ZINE
The Big Melt
Northern research heats up at the U of A
Lorne Cardinal
What’s so funny about aboriginal humour
warming up to winter
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Yeah, it’s cold. But the season we’d most like to skip is also what makes us special
Wh a W ! ✴ 3,000+ alumni ✴ 104 events ✴ 58 campus tours ✴ 100+ class reunions ✴ 2,680 cinnamon buns served ✴ 415 golf cart rides ✴ 984 photobooth photos Visit www.ualberta.ca/alumni/weekend to see more!
THANK YOU
to our amazing sponsors & volunteers for making ALUMNI WEEKEND 2012 a great success.
Ma uR f SEPTEMBER 25–29, 2013 Want to be at part of the action? Sign up as a class organizer, volunteer or sponsor! Call 780-492-0866 or e-mail colleen.elliott@ualberta.ca.
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On the cover: Ben Henderson, ’83 MFA, photographed on Alumni Walk in November 2012
features 11 The Lougheed Legacy Peter Lougheed’s connection to the U of A was personal. Two alumni remember how he touched their lives
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14 The Changing Face of the North They’re growing broccoli in Greenland. U of A researchers lead the race to understand climate change
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22 A Cold Case John Geiger again follows in the footsteps of Franklin and revisits the discovery that shocked the world
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26 Latitude Attitude Meet the alumni who say winter can be sexy — just remember to dress in layers
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33 Bringing Birth Back to the North For decades, women went south to give birth. Now midwives bring new life to northern communities
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Your Letters Our Readers Write
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Bear Country The U of A Community
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Whatsoever Things Are True Column by Todd Babiak
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Question Period Lorne Cardinal Talks Northern Humour
41 Trails Art from an Alumna 42 Events In Edmonton and Beyond 44
Class Notes Keeping Classmates Up to Date
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In Memoriam Bidding Farewell to Friends
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Photo Finish The Picture-Perfect Finale
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Executive Director Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA Supervising Editor Cynthia Strawson, ’05 BA Editors Lisa Cook, Wanda Vivequin Associate Editor Sarah Ligon Contributing Editor Meghan Sylvester, ’06 Art Directors Marcey Andrews, Ray Au, ’88 BFA Associate Art Director Lisa Hall, ’89 BA Advisory Board Anne Bailey, ’84 BA; Linda Banister, ’83 BCom, ’87 MPM; Jason Cobb, ’96 BA; Susan Colberg, ’83 BFA, ’91 MVA; Deb Hammacher; Tom Keating; Lawrence Kwok, ’04 BSc(Eng); John Mahon, ’76 BMus, ’83 MBA; Robert Moyles, ’86 BCom; Julie Naylor, ’95 BA, ’05 MA CONTACT US Email (Comments/Letters/Class Notes) alumni@ualberta.ca Address Updates 780-492-3471; toll free 1-866-492-7516 or alumrec@ualberta.ca Call 780-492-3224; toll free 1-800-661-2593 Mail
Office of Alumni Relations, University of Alberta, Main Floor, Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6
Facebook U of A Alumni Association Twitter @UofA_Alumni, @New_Trail TO ADVERTISE ashley.davis@ualberta.ca This University of Alberta Alumni Association magazine is published three times a year and mailed free to over 138,000 alumni. The views and opinions expressed in the magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the University or the Alumni Association. All material copyright ©. New Trail cannot be held responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. ISSN: 0824-8125 Copyright 2011 Publications Mail Agreement No. 40112326 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Office of Alumni Relations University of Alberta, Main Floor, Enterprise Square 10230 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, AB T5J 4P6
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OFFICE OF ALUMNI RELATIONS
Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA Associate Vice-President Cynthia Strawson, ’05 BA Director, Marketing, Communications & Affinity Relationships Tracy Salmon, ’91 BA, ’96 MSc Director, Alumni Programs Kyla Amrhein, ’09 BA Volunteer Co-ordinator Larissa Brese, ’09 BA Assistant, Alumni Branches Chloe Chalmers, ’00 BA Co-ordinator, Student Engagement Joanna Chan, ’09 BA Assistant, Edmonton Programs and Alumni Travel Lisa Cook Associate Director, Communications Lesley Dirkson Administrative Assistant/Receptionist Colleen Elliott, ’94 BEd Co-ordinator, Alumni Special Events Coleen Graham, ’88 BSc(HEc), ’93 MEd Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives Lisa Hall, ’89 BA Co-ordinator, Graphic Communications Jennifer Jenkins, ’95 BEd Co-ordinator, Branches Jodeen Litwin, ’90 BSc(HEc) Co-ordinator, Alumni Recognition Sarah Ligon Communications Co-ordinator Cristine Myhre Co-ordinator, Alumni Chapters John Perrino, ’93 BA(RecAdmin) Co-ordinator, Alumni Branches Vanessa Nemetcheck Co-ordinator, Alumni Relations, Calgary Andrea Porter, ’03 BCom Alumni Association Business Lead Lindsay Sylvester Marketing Lead Meghan Sylvester, ’06 BA Assistant, Marketing and Communications Angela Tom, ’03 BA Co-ordinator, Edmonton Programs Diane Tougas Executive Assistant Vi Warkentin Assistant, Alumni Chapters Katy Yachimec, ’04 BA Assistant, Edmonton Programs Debbie Yee, ’92 BA Co-ordinator, Electronic Communication
Alumni Council Executive President Jane Halford, ’94 BCom President-Elect Glenn Stowkowy, ’76 BSc(ElecEng) Vice-President: Reputation & Messaging Mary Pat Barry, ’04 MA Vice-President: Educational Engagement Lorne Parker, ’08 EdD Vice-President: Centenary Planning Janis Sasaki, ’83 BScN, ’87 LLB Vice-President: Student Alumni Council Kirstin Kotelko, ’06 BSc Vice-President: Histories & Traditions Cindie LeBlanc, ’01 BA
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Vice-President: Volunteerism Rob Parks, ’87 BEd, ’99 MBA Board of Governors Representatives: Jim Hole ’79 BSc(Ag) Don Fleming, ’76 BEd Senate Representatives Stephen Leppard, ’86 BEd, ’92 MEd, ’03 EdD Anne Lopushinsky, ’79 BSc Secretary Linda Banister, ’83 BCom, ’87 MPM Faculty Representatives Academic Representative Jason Acker, ’95 BSc, ’97 MSc, ’00 PhD, ’09 MBA Agricultural, Life & Environmental Science Kirstin Kotelko, ’06 BSc Arts Michael Janz, ’08 BA Augustana Jason Collins, ’97 BA Business Rob Parks, ’87 BEd, ’99 MBA Campus Saint-Jean Cindie LeBlanc, ’01 BA Dentistry Matthew Woynorowski, ’05 BSc, ’10 DDS Education Lorne Parker, ’08 EdD Engineering vacant Extension Mary Pat Barry, ’04 MA Graduate Studies Chris Grey, ’92 BA, ’95 MBA Law William Ostapek, ’79 BSc, ’83 LLB Medicine vacant Native Studies Darlene Bouvier, ’91 BA, ’09 BA(NS) Nursing Janis Sasaki, ’83 BScN, ’87 LLB Pharmacy Adam Gordon, ’08 BSc(Pharm) Physical Education & Recreation Wanda Wetterberg, ’74 BA(RecAdmin) Public Health Ximena Ramos Salas, ’87 MSc(Public Health) Rehabilitation Medicine Linda Miller, ’89 BSc(OT) Science Luca Vanzella, ’81 BSc, ’88 MSc Members at Large Linda Banister, ’83 BCom, ’87 MPM Jason Krips, ’93 BCom, ’96 LLB Ex Officio Honorary President Indira Samarasekera Vice-President (Advancement) O’Neil Outar Vice-President (University Relations) Debra Pozega Osburn Executive Director, Alumni Association Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA Dean of Students Frank Robinson Graduate Students’ Association Huimin Zhong Students’ Union Colten Yamagishi
upfront Eloura Mishra, ’09 BEd, is an open and enthusiastic woman. In casual conversation, she just radiates positivity. It comes through when she’s talking about her time as a U of A student, when she’s talking about her class of fourth graders at Earl Buxton School in Edmonton, but most of all when she explains why she loves volunteering. “I feel like when I volunteer, it helps me grow as an individual but I also contribute to the collective good,” says Mishra (pictured above, left). “And I love the experiences it gives me with people. I especially like to talk with some of the older alumni and hear their stories.” Mishra grew up on the northern Prairies: Edmonton and St. Paul, Alta., and spent a formative junior high year in Buffalo Narrows, Sask. She readily agrees when we talk about the Canadian spirit of co‑operation — something amplified in northern communities. In the North, we are dependent on our neighbours for so much more than pushing cars out of snowbanks. Up here, co-operation and community support are essential for survival, says Rod Macleod, ’62 BA, historian and U of A professor emeritus (page 30). But it’s more than that. Even with the advent of climate-controlled buildings and fresh produce delivered daily to our local supermarkets, Canadians still believe strongly in pitching in and lending a hand. From one generation to the next, the message is passed down: helping isn’t just a duty. It’s a privilege. In this Northern Issue, you’ll find plenty of examples of other members of the U of A family giving back: through their research, by putting their skills to work for the community or by donating their time. The most notable example is Peter Lougheed, ’51 BA, ’52 LLB, ’86 LLD (Honorary). On page 11, you’ll find the story of how his generosity of spirit and drive to lead the province in a new direction had a direct impact on the U of A and its students. Now we invite you to join these alumni and give back. In 2015, the Alumni Association will mark its 100th anniversary and our goal is to document 2,015 alumni volunteer experiences by the time we wrap up Alumni Weekend in September 2015. And if you don’t believe us about how great it is to volunteer, ask Mishra. “You get a deeper connection with people when you volunteer. That’s priceless.” Find a meaningful volunteer opportunity or share your personal story of giving back at www.alumni.ualberta.ca/alumni/volunteer.
Jane Halford, ’94 BCom, President, Alumni Association
Sean Price, ’95 BCom, MBA, Associate Vice-President, Alumni Relations; Executive Director, Alumni Association
We would like to hear your comments about the magazine. Send us your letters by post or email to the addresses on page 1. Letters may be edited for length or clarity. Get more of the story online. Visit newtrail.ualberta.ca for these web extras.
A Sartorial Guide to Your First Winter
Student Connections I just want to reiterate how much I like New Trail. The design is sleek and the writing is inspirational. Makes me very proud to be a University of Alberta student. Moreover, I read Nikita-Kiran’s interview, [“New Kid on Campus,” page 6, Autumn 2012] and immediately contacted her. I’ve helped start up The Wanderer Online (www. thewandereronline.com), a seven-days-per-week online publication and soon-to-be physical magazine led by about 30 U of A students, and would love to see Nikita-Kiran on the team!
More students show off their four-season fashion sense and talk about their first winters in Edmonton in this slide show.
Emerson Csorba, student
Lougheed Legacy
It Has Been Our Pleasure
How the Garden Grew
I would like to thank the staff of the New Trail magazine for the excellent service they provide with the magazine. It has been several years now that I’ve been kept up to date with the latest news of my beloved university.
I have just finished my Spring 2012 issue and must compliment you on your outstanding publication. As alumni, we feel very connected to the U of A through your articles and class notes, and mark the passage of time through the obituaries. For a future article, may I suggest the Devonian Botanic Garden. I worked summers there from 1961 to 1963, during its formative years, and, having just returned from a garden tour of London and Cornwall, I can see where the concepts of the many features that we were developing came from! Again, good on you and keep up the excellent work.
Stephan Neumair, ’04 BA, São Paulo, Brazil
Help celebrate our alumni Nominations are now open for the 2013 Alumni Recognition Awards, which honour alumni who have distinguished themselves — and their alma mater — through contributions to their profession and to the community at large. The awards will be handed out at a ceremony on Sept. 25, as part of Alumni Weekend. Nomination forms can be found in the centre of this issue or online at ualberta.ca/alumni/nominations. A list of past winners is also online. The deadline for nominations is Feb. 25.
James English, ’65 DDS, Nanoose Bay, B.C.
Marcela Mandeville @MsBrightIdea Just read New Trail and am so impressed by the great people featured. Well done @UAlberta! I’m proud to be an alum & student. Erin E. Fraser @erinefraser Another great article from @UofA_Alumni New Trail. This time on grads who blog … Now when are you going to do podcasters?
Watch Jim Edwards’ 2008 interview with Peter Lougheed, as the former premier reflects on his career and the U of A.
The Melting North Go behind the scenes to see how our creative team turned two blocks of ice into this spectacular portrait.
The Melting North Gavin Renwick designs a community centre that meets the geographic and cultural needs of a First Nations community.
Bringing Birth Back to the North Staff writer Sarah Ligon shares how her southern point of view shifted after visiting the community of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. new trail winter 2012 3
100 Golden Bears Hockey
celebrations planned for centenaries Plenty of alumni will have a shot at the birthday cake this year, as faculties and other U of A groups celebrate their centenaries. Of course if all of this whets your appetite for celebrations, clear your calendar for 2015, when the Alumni Association turns 100.
A Canadian university without a hockey team is like a stick without a puck, so, of course, Golden Bears Hockey sprang to life in tandem with the university. But though U of A Hockey celebrated the university’s centenary in 2008, 201213 marks the team’s 100th competitive season.
There were a few years in the 1920s when the U of A went without, and, during the Second World War, play stopped again when the arena was commandeered by the military for use as a drill hall. That makes this Season 100.
Alumni will celebrate in their own way Feb. 1 and 2 with a game of shinny and the Golden Bears Hockey Alumni Tournament. Contact Ryan Marsh at 780-242-9002.
So It’s Your First Northern Winter a sartorial guide
B
reaking out the down-filled parka every year is just habit for people who have lived in Edmonton for more than one winter. But for the international student just arriving at the University of Alberta, the winters are a very real source of concern — and of misinformation. “People would ask me ‘How will I survive? Will I make it through the winter?’ ” says Allison Sokil, who worked in the International Centre. Some students packing to come to Edmonton for the first time just couldn’t comprehend how anyone could possibly survive through -40 C. “I just reassure them it’s going to be OK. … I usually tell them that when it’s cold outside, it’s warm inside, so wear layers.” To further help international students dress properly for all four of Edmonton’s seasons, International Student Services puts on the Living Day to Day Fashion Show as part of the Transitions orientation program. A few of the models from the September show share their thoughts on layering, bug spray and other necessities at one of the world’s most northerly universities.
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Faculty of Law
Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin, ’65 BA, ’68 MA, ’68 LLB, was in attendance as the Faculty of Law kicked off its celebrations with the Centenary Gala in September.
But law alumni can still reconnect, as the faculty plans to bring in great legal minds all year for the Centenary Speakers Series. Past topics include “Labour Relations in the NHL” and “Minimum Sentences and the Potential for Arbitrariness.” The year of celebrations rounds out with the Centenary Convocation Ceremony on June 4, and a Centenary Conference Sept. 26 to 28.
Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Share a slice of cake with faculty, staff, dignitaries and University of Alberta President Indira Samarasekera as the faculty kicks off its celebration of 100 years of medicine on Jan. 17. The U of A medical school accepted its first students in September 1913.
Alumni can participate in the celebration by sharing a photo in the faculty’s “100 Years of Medicine” exhibit or taking part in a volunteer challenge day on April 5. There is also a centennial lecture series with dates tentatively set for Feb. 11, April 8 and Oct. 7.
med100uofa.ca http://lawschool.ualberta.ca/ centenary/firsts.aspx
Winter
Allison Sokil | Edmonton Winter doesn’t faze Sokil, who says dressing in layers is just normal for someone who has grown up in Edmonton. So she was somewhat surprised at the kinds of questions she found herself answering at the International Centre. When one grad student from China asked her how to prepare for winter, she couldn’t resist having a little fun. “I told him to start eating a lot of food now so you can survive the winter. Like squirrels,” she said. Of course, she told the student she was just joking. Eventually.
PAW Project Begins You’re looking at nearly 11,000 square metres of wellness Construction began in October on the Physical Activity and Wellness Centre, an addition on the south side of the Van Vliet Centre’s East Wing, at the corner of 87 Avenue and 114 Street. The new facility will include a fitness centre and a climbing centre, and is the future home of the Alberta Institute for Physical Activity and Health. The Steadward Centre space will be renovated and expanded. The PAW centre, which will be open to alumni, is set to be completed by winter 2014. The existing fitness centre will remain in operation during construction.
spring
summer
fall
Johanna Ibsen | Edmonton
Sukun Wang | Shanghai, China
Spring is perhaps the most welcome season in Edmonton, says Whitred, who came to the U of A in July 2009 to study nursing. “You want to come out of the cave and just go outside.” Though she hated winter before coming to Edmonton (Sendai, about 350 kilometres north of Tokyo, only reaches about -5 C at its coldest, she says), living in the North has changed her mind on the season. “I’ve started to like winter. It’s extremely beautiful.”
In the 2012 winter that wasn’t, Ibsen discovered something. She missed the cold. “I like lots of snow. I like to go horseback riding in the snow, go on sleigh rides, go cross-country skiing.” Summer has its own outdoor attractions in the City of Festivals, says the education student, but her seasonal ensemble included the one accessory that is essential to an Edmonton summer. Tucked in her bag was a can of bug spray.
Wang’s first winter at the U of A, in 2008, was better than expected, but only because his expectations were so low. “It’s heated in the home here. In Shanghai, there’s no heat in a home.” That said, there was still a lot to learn about living in such extreme cold — like the risks that come along with a bus pass. “The worst was waiting for the bus. It was so cold your jeans attached to your skin. The smallest movement tears your skin.” For Wang, fall is the city’s best season. “Before the snow falls, it is warm and it’s the best weather for sports.”
photos by richard siemens
Crystal Sakura Whitred | Sendai, Japan
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THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE U OF A FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2009-10: *The impact of graduates of professional development programs were not counted to avoid duplication. Source: “The Economic Impact of the University of Alberta: A Comparative Approach,” by Anthony Briggs and Jennifer Jennings.
$4,133.1M*
The Alumni Effect
ALUMNI EDUCATION PREMIUM
$292.8M STUDENTS
$5,654.3M IMPACT OF RESEARCH
$212.5M VISITORS
$2,020.8M INSTITUTIONAL
For anyone who ever wondered what their degree was really worth, comes the answer: $12.3 billion The ancestors of the Navajo and Apache people from the American Southwest Did You are closely related to Canada’s northern Know? Dene people. U of A researcher Jack Ives is working to trace their path. His team has unearthed evidence at dry caves on Great Salt Lake in Utah that these ancient people passed that way after leaving Canada. “There, the preservation is amazing and includes hundreds of moccasins made in styles typical of the Canadian North,” says Ives. They have also found rock art (pictured) similar to rock art found in Canmore, Alta.
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The University of Alberta’s economic impact on the province is 12.3 billion, according to a recent study out of the Alberta School of Business. And U of A alumni account for a third of that total. In case you’re struggling to wrap your mind around all those zeros, that’s about five per cent of Alberta’s gross domestic product or the equivalent of 135 Edmonton Oilers teams. “When a university educates a population, it’s the whole region that benefits,” said study co-author Anthony Briggs, an assistant professor in the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta. While most conversations about the role of a university within a region focus on the cost of the education and direct spending, that’s only part of the equation. In fact, the authors found that the education premium Alberta’s 135,000 U of A alumni brought to the province had an impact of $4.1 billion for the year studied (fiscal year 2009-10). That amount was second only to the impact of research and more than double the economic impact of the institution itself. (See chart, above).
Or, to return to the hockey comparison, the education premium of U of A alumni alone is equal to 46 Oilers teams (based on figures from the 2009-10 season). “The more important conversation is about understanding the value of universities and how differences in the qualities of universities alter their regional economic impact,” wrote Briggs and co‑author Jennifer Jennings in the report. The report, released in October, is the first of a series of studies Briggs and Jennings are conducting to gain a better understanding of the university’s impact on broader society. Later this year they will release their findings from the alumni survey that appeared in the Spring 2012 issue of New Trail. This will examine the university’s impact on personal well-being, innovation and entrepreneurship, the perpetuation of family enterprise, and social, cultural and environmental initiatives. Look for more on this “alumni effect” in the Spring 2013 issue of New Trail. The Impact Issue will bring you stories on the many ways U of A alumni influence our lives and our world.
photo by richard siemens
Cool Literature If you’ve ever wondered about the best way to skin a seal or how to survive a plunge into freezing water, the answers to these and just about any other questions you might have about the Far North can be found among the 339,000 resources that make up the Canadian Circumpolar Library. Housed primarily on the fourth floor of the U of A’s Cameron Library, the Circumpolar Library is a worldclass specialized collection focusing on Northern Canada and the circumpolar regions of Greenland, Siberia and Scandinavia, as well as Antarctica. Founded in 1960, when it was part of what was then known as the Boreal Institute, it is now one of the world’s largest repositories of northern-related books, research matter, digital resources and grey literature — that is, pamphlets, reports and other ephemera, which are chock full of useful historical information but often relegated to the dustbin of history. One such pamphlet, “A Pocket Guide to Cold Weather Survival,” outlines how best to survive submersion in freezing water: “remain as still as possible,” “try to keep your head and neck out of water” and, helpfully, “keep a positive attitude.” Others describe how to garden on permafrost or build your own snowshoes. And there’s a particularly informative set of guides published by the University of Alaska Cooperative Extension on “tanning at home,” recipes for reindeer and caribou meat, and a pattern for sewing a Qaspeq, an Inuit hoodie. “It really is all over the map, it’s such an interdisciplinary collection,” says circumpolar librarian Lindsay Johnston.
“Probably the most interesting thing I’ve come across in the collection is a reference to a pizzly — a cross between a polar bear and a grizzly bear,” says Johnston. “After I read about it, I asked some wildlife biologists if there really was such a thing, and they said, yes, there is.” If you are looking for additional winter reading, you might also try the Canadian Circumpolar Press. Housed in the basement of Pembina Hall, the CCI Press publishes new books about the North, with some 115 in its catalogue. Its most popular titles range from the academic, such as Understanding Earth’s Polar Systems (also available in a free digital edition), to the more general interest, like The Boreal Herbal: Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North. “It’s full of recipes for using local plants for making medicines,” says managing editor Elaine Maloney. “Such as using arnica, which is found in the boreal forests, to make a cream to treat sprains and bruises.” Try that next time you’re out of aspirin. Browse the CCL at http://guides. library.ualberta.ca/polar and the CCI-Press at cci.ualberta.ca.
The grave markers for the members of the Franklin expedition buried on Did You Beechey Island (as seen on page 23) Know? are fakes. According to U of A professor emeritus Owen Beattie, “The ones in the picture are fibreglass replicas. In 1986, when the photo was taken, the original wooden headboards were being stored in the collections of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife.”
Writer John Geiger, ’81 BA, recently, with the fibreglass replicas on Beechy Island.
The first confirmation of a polar bear and grizzly hybrid came in 2006 after a hunter shot one at Nelson Head, N.W.T. These hybrids have been called pizzlies, grolar bears or Nanulak (a combination of the Inuit words for polar bear, nanuk, and grizzly bear, aklak). Did You Know?
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The TD Insurance Meloche Monnex home and auto insurance program is underwritten by SECURITY NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY. The program is distributed by Meloche Monnex Insurance and Financial Services Inc. in Quebec and by Meloche Monnex Financial Services Inc. in the rest of Canada. Due to provincial legislation, our auto insurance program is not offered in British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan. *No purchase required. Contest organized jointly with Primmum Insurance Company and open to members, employees and other eligible persons belonging to employer, professional and alumni groups which have an agreement with and are entitled to group rates from the organizers. Contest ends on January 31, 2013. 1 prize to be won. The winner may choose the prize between a Lexus RX 450h with all basic standard features including freight and pre-delivery inspection for a total value of $60,000 or $60,000 in Canadian funds. The winner will be responsible to pay for the sale taxes applicable to the vehicle. Skill-testing question required. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. Complete contest rules available at www.melochemonnex.com/contest. ®/ The TD logo and other trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank or a wholly-owned subsidiary, in Canada and/or other countries.
A Winter’s Tale by Todd Babiak
photo by Greg Southam
M
y daughters, who are six and four, are story monsters. It’s bedtime or dinnertime, we’re in a canoe or in the car or walking through the river valley, and every conversation leads to “tell us a story.” It’s sweet and oppressive at once, because they have a limited appetite for repeats. A new story, at least once a day. Their story preference is always for something about when I was little. When they confront me, my immediate thought is of winter. I am skiing or building a fort or burying my brother in snow. Summer existed when I was a child, but I have to work a little harder to remember anything of consequence that happened when the sun was actually giving off heat. There was no drama in it. Canadians are winter creatures. If we’re honest about what makes us different, even interesting, it’s the North: a place of extremity and mystery. The great Canadian artists were moved most poignantly by the North — Glenn Gould and Margaret Atwood and the Group of Seven — and true Canadian explorers move in only one direction. When I lived in Europe and spoke to people about my country, they weren’t curious about my city or any city in Canada, which broke my heart a little. They wanted to talk about northern lights, the Yukon, quiet mountains covered in snow, polar bears and icebergs floating into a harbour. The idea of the North was, for them, the
Canadian idea. If we were sexy as a people, this was the only way. For the last year, I was involved in something called the Winter City Committee here in Edmonton. We live in the northernmost major city on the continent, a place that has been inhabited in all four seasons for thousands of years, yet we have built our infrastructure, our lives and our mythologies in opposition to cold weather. On behalf of that committee, a city councillor, Ben Henderson, ’84 MFA, travelled to northern Europe to find different ways to build cities and lives. He found sidewalk cafés open year-round and creative interplays between light and dark, fire and ice. In our conversations with Edmontonians and others — like experts from Quebec City, Canada’s most successful winter city — the theme we kept hearing was that we can return to that magical relationship we had with winter when we were children. We can play outside. Despite our reputation, Edmonton is only really cold — prohibitively cold — two or three days a year. As we met and schemed, people sent us hundreds of ideas for year-round outdoor swimming pools, free skate and ski rentals, coffee and wine shacks in the river valley. The New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik, who has family connections in Edmonton, delivered part of his 2011 Massey Lecture at the University of Alberta as we planned our winter city strategy. His theme was our theme: we have banished
winter with our cars and our indoor pedways and malls and furnaces. We have made it, its magic and its beauty, an unwelcome stranger. And we have suffered for all this progress. Thirty years ago, Edmonton began seeding its summer festivals. Today, July and August are non-stop art parties. We do have winter festivals, like the Birkebeiner and Silver Skate, based in sport. Our hope, in Edmonton, is that we begin to claim the mythology of winter as our own. It’s beginning: in the winter of 2012, our family participated in the Mill Creek Adventure Walk. The cool river valley was warmly lit, filled with lanterns and actors dressed like northern animals: beavers and Edmonton’s spirit bird, the clever, annoying and surprisingly gorgeous magpie. On the evening walk, the kids slid down the ravine and played with blocks of snow and bantered with crows and, at the end, they met Aurora, the soft-spoken princess of winter. The whole event swallowed the truth of winter, of the North, and played it back proudly and elegantly. No one apologized for our weather that night. We saw it as an asset, imaginatively and physically. When my grandchildren harass their parents for stories about when they were little, one of them will surely take place there. Todd Babiak, ’95 BA, is the co-founder of Story Engine and, in the dark, cosy mornings before anyone else is awake, a novelist. new trail winter 2012 9
Alumni volunteer...
Here
There
Everywhere
Centenary Volunteer Challenge 2015 marks the University of Alberta Alumni Association’s 100th birthday. To celebrate this very special occasion, we want to show the world how U of A grads give back. Help us capture 2,015 alumni volunteer experiences by 2015. Already volunteering? Tell us about it. Looking for a meaningful volunteer opportunity? We can help.
Go to www.ualberta.ca/alumni/volunteer or call 780-492-1059 or 1-800-661-2593.
the lougheed legacy
Photo by Richard Siemens
He left his mark on the u of A — as a student and as premier
P
eter Lougheed, ’51 BA, ’52 LLB, ’86 LLD (Honorary) was a statesman, a visionary and a philanthropist — but before all of that, he was a Golden Bear. As a student, Lougheed embraced campus life from the start, writing for the Gateway and playing football with the Golden Bears — even meeting his future wife, Jeanne, at the Tuck Shop. Classmates were witnesses to his burgeoning
leadership skills as Lougheed was elected president of the Students’ Union. After he became Alberta’s 10th premier, Lougheed continued to help shape the university with the formation of the Alberta Heritage Fund for Medical Research and policies that brought an unprecedented focus on the arts. But Lougheed’s impact has also been felt personally by many on campus. He was a faithful participant in university
events. The Peter Lougheed Scholarships are awarded to undergraduate students who embody those same qualities he held as a student: leadership in university life, community organizations and cultural activities. Two alumni who were personally touched by Lougheed share their memories of the man, how he shaped their alma mater and how he touched their lives. new trail winter 2012 11
by James S. Edwards, ’62 BA, ’06 LLD (Honorary)
‘a new and daring vision’ His decisions as premier helped cement the University of Alberta as a world leader
T
he death of Peter Lougheed, ’51 BA, ’52 LLB, ’86 LLD (Honorary), in September brought to a close a remarkable career. For those who had known him, it triggered a profound sense of loss and a flood of memories. I first met Peter in 1965 in the Glenora home of my neighbour and long-time friend Lou Hyndman, ’56 BA, ’59 LLB, ’00 LLD (Honorary). Peter had just won the leadership of the moribund and seatless Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta. (Lou, like Peter and their colleague Gerry Amerongen, ’43 BA, ’44 LLB, was a former U of A Students’ Union president.) Until close to 2 a.m., four or five of us talked in the kitchen of Lou and Mary Hyndman, ’62 BA. I was immediately struck by two Lougheed characteristics: his plan and his passion. He knew the path to power was long and full of obstacles, but he had mapped it out in critical-path detail. Furthermore, he knew why he sought power: he had a new and daring vision of Alberta’s destiny within a united Canada. I was then a junior executive with Sunwapta Broadcasting, and Peter enlisted me as his “Northern Alberta Communications Advisor.” My job was to introduce Peter to Edmonton media and to glean free coverage. I arranged Peter’s first telecast on CBC Edmonton: 7½ minutes live with one camera. No retakes! I told Peter that if he leaned into the camera, he would be entering the living room of his target voter. He ate up the camera, delivered his message without flaw and his “Communications Advisor” retired — my role now redundant. 12 newtrail.ualberta.ca
Peter’s path to government reflected his formation at the University of Alberta. He was a team player and a leader who never asked his followers to do what he would or could not do. He built a “big-tent” party organization. At a social gathering following a policy conference in Banff, he made a point of introducing Clarence Copithorne, a rancher and Independent MLA, to Reg Basken, a trade-union leader from Edmonton. Clarence was very reluctant, telling Peter that he “wouldn’t know what to say to one of those fellows.” Peter’s reply: “That’s all the more reason to meet him.” Clarence went on to join Peter’s team and serve as a minister. Reg never left the NDP, but he became a goodwill bridge to the Left. The U of A Tuck Shop played a fundamental role in how Peter Lougheed led Alberta. Peter was smitten with the talented Jeanne Rogers, ’51 BA, of Camrose, whose beauty was displayed on the cover of the U of A phone directory. A mutual friend, Dunc Stockwell, arranged a meeting at the Tuck Shop. Peter and Jeanne had many opportunities for romance with others, but once they met, “that was that.” They married a year later, and Jeanne was to put her mark on Alberta and Canada through the Lougheed government’s enthusiastic and generous support of the arts and culture. She later served on the Canada Council for the Arts. The Lougheed legacy will endure in Alberta long past Peter’s death in September. He foresaw that a modern, urban Alberta would require a diverse economy and a highly educated population in order to play a leadership role in Canada and the world. Thus, he
Lougheed (left) played football for the Golden Bears in 1947 and 1948.
conceived of the Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, which helped propel the U of A medical faculty to global standing. He initiated the concept of matching grants to encourage private and corporate philanthropy. He and Jeanne took a painstaking personal interest in the U of A scholarships they had endowed, coming to Edmonton each year to meet personally with the recipients. Countless tributes have poured in since Peter Lougheed’s death. In reviewing them, I believe the most lasting legacy has been and will be the changed role of Alberta within Canada and the world. Peter foresaw our destiny as an economic, constitutional and moral leader of the Canadian team. Many of us watched him, quietly but tirelessly at work making sure that the legacy was not squandered. He was totally without patience with those he saw as betraying his vision. He loved the University of Alberta and was proud of its coming of age. James S. Edwards, ’62 BA, ’06 LLD (Honorary), is a former broadcaster, member of Parliament, CEO of Economic Development Edmonton and chair of the U of A Board of Governors. He has received many honours, including the Alberta Centennial Medal, the Canada 125 Medal and a U of A Distinguished Alumni Award.
by Keltie Duggan, ’94 BA
Lougheed, shown here at the 2006 scholarship presentation ceremony, took a personal interest in the students who received the honour established in his name.
‘He had great stature’ For one alumna, the Lougheed legacy had a direct and very personal impact
right Photo by Richard Siemens
I
grew up in a home where Peter Lougheed was admired as a statesman and as a wonderful premier for the people of Alberta. So, of course, it was a great honour for me to receive the prestigious Peter Lougheed Scholarship in 1992. But as most recipients will tell you, the bigger honour was the chance to meet the man himself. I was invited to an annual gathering of past and current scholarship recipients where Peter Lougheed would be in attendance. I observed from afar that, though he was not an overly tall person, he had great stature. And that came from his presence. We were all in awe of him, but I was even more impressed by his warm and friendly manner. He took the time to meet with each of us as individuals, and
he was genuinely curious and interested in our pursuits and passions. He took a lot of time to find out what we were each doing, and he was very encouraging. I think he knew, too, that as much as we were inspired by him, we would also gain inspiration from being around each other. I was at a very important point in my education when I was fortunate enough to receive the scholarship. As a competitive swimmer, I was often asked how I juggled 11 swim workouts a week, travel to compete overseas, and a full academic and campus life. My family and coaches were always my main supports but the Peter Lougheed Scholarship made a critical difference at an important time. I was in my final preparation for
applying to medical school, and this scholarship allowed me to intensely focus on my academic, athletic and community service activities. I’m not sure that I would have achieved my dream of becoming a caring and competent physician were it not for the Peter Lougheed scholarship. There is a wonderful symmetry to this story. I am reminded of Peter Lougheed every day, as I am now privileged and proud to work at the hospital that bears his name, the Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary. His legacy lives on there and everywhere across this country. We can continue to be inspired by this legacy and to share in a renewed spirit of appreciation for all that he accomplished. Keltie Duggan, ’94 BA, was the 1992 recipient of the Peter Lougheed Scholarship and is now a doctor at Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary. Duggan competed on the Canadian Olympic Swim team in 1988. She was the U of A’s female Athlete of the Year in 1989-90 and paid tribute to Lougheed at the Alumni Recognition Awards this past September when she was elected to the University of Alberta’s Sports Wall of Fame. new trail winter 2012 13
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by Scott Rollans Photo opposite: Marianne Douglas and the Canadian Circumpolar Institute are examining the North through many different lenses.
The North is melting. But as the world’s northernmost research university, the U of A is at the forefront of understanding these changes — from polar bears to glaciers
PHOTO by john ulan
T
hese are interesting times,” observes Marianne Douglas, director of the Canadian Circumpolar Institute at the University of Alberta. She’s in her Pembina Hall office discussing this summer’s unprecedented indicators of warming in the Arctic. The stories in the media have been, if anything, quite a bit more than “interesting.” Sea ice levels dropped to a record low 3.41 million square kilometres in September, demolishing the previous record low of 4.17 million square kilometres in 2007. And on Greenland, satellite images at one point showed essentially the island’s entire surface thawing. “I mean, the melt used to stop at about 2,000 metres above sea
level. And now, the whole thing was above freezing this year,” Douglas says. “That’s … wow.” As one of the world’s most northern research universities, the U of A is uniquely positioned — geographically and scientifically — to take a leadership role in studying, measuring, predicting and responding to the widespread effects of climate change. The U of A’s advantage extends well beyond its northern latitude. For decades, the university has built a reputation as a hotbed of northern studies, says Douglas. “I went to school in Ontario, and the U of A was always this big fortress of strong science in the North. That’s something that’s recognized across Canada.” new trail winter 2012 15
“We need to take the science outcomes of the more narrow research that’s done in individual laboratories and make it available to that wider audience.” — David Hik
Through her work with the Canadian Circumpolar Institute, Douglas has become familiar with the breadth of expertise at the U of A. “Almost every faculty on campus has somebody
who works in the North, be it in economics, be it in anthropology, in engineering, and so forth,” she says. “Everybody has a stake in the North.” Douglas is careful to draw a distinction between the fields of northern studies and climate change — but there is no escaping the deep and growing connection between them. Renowned U of A Arctic and alpine ecologist David Hik, for example, spends an ever-increasing amount of his time thinking about — and talking about — climate issues. He sees the same trend reflected campus-wide. “Whether you’re explicitly interested in climate change, or whether you’re interested
in something else, if you’re working in the North, you’re invariably going to be drawn into the impacts of climate change and climate warming,” he explains. Hik is midway through a four-year term as president of the International Arctic Science Committee, a nongovernmental organization with representatives from 21 countries. In that role, he travelled to Iceland in September for the 10th Conference of Arctic Parliamentarians. It’s a heady position for a bio sci prof from Edmonton, but Hik says it reflects the U of A’s overall strength and depth in the field of climate change. “At the U of A, there’s a critical mass of people across different disciplines, sometimes working on their own and sometimes working in collaboration with each other, all of us with partnerships across the country, across the North and around the world that allow us to do a very good job at the research we’re doing.” While Hik takes obvious pride in the quality of that research, he says it
Northern ‘Migration’ An increase in temperature may alter the distribution patterns for many bird species, suggests Diana Stralberg, a PhD student in the U of A’s Department of Biological Sciences. As climate change will send many species farther north over the next century, Stralberg’s model projections show the potential for many boreal forest bird species to eventually push northward into the Southern Arctic region — provided the trees also make it. Here are just three of the species Stralberg projects will decrease within the boreal forest and expand into the Southern Arctic region. Source: Diana Stralberg
ARCTIC
GRAY JAY
CURRENT 2011-2040 2041-2070 2071-2100
WILSON’S WARBLER
LINCOLN’S SPARROW
PHOTO by Richard Siemens
BOREAL
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PHOTO © Alessandra Meniconzi / LifeOnThinIce.org
Some populations are capitalizing on the warmer climate — like farmers in Greenland who can now expand grazing and growing regions.
is equally important to communicate the resulting knowledge to the wider world — especially the people who shape public policy. “Whether it’s local governments and communities in the North, or whether it’s industry, or whether it’s national governments and international bodies that are trying to come to terms with sustainability of this little green planet that we live on, we need to take the science outcomes of the more narrow research that’s done in individual laboratories and make it available to that wider audience.” Hik points to his colleagues who are committed to communicating the impact of their studies across the faculties and beyond. “We can reach out to industry, we can reach out to government, we can reach out to northerners and indigenous northerners and talk about what the implications of some of these changes are,” says Hik. Those changes affect not only the physical environment, but the
social environment, as well. U of A Anthropologist Mark Nuttall is in the midst of a five-year research program on climate and society, in collaboration with the University of Greenland. He sees the social sciences playing a large and growing role in climate change research. “Until recently, climate change was seen as the prerogative of the natural sciences,” he says. “And yet, as an anthropologist, I’ve always been interested in the environment and how people relate to the environment.” Through international bodies like the Arctic Council, Nuttall hopes to do his part to build bridges between the social sciences and the natural sciences. “When it comes to scientific models for climate change, how society copes with and responds to climate change is poorly understood,” Nuttall says. “The natural sciences don’t really grapple with the complexities of social life.” Greenland’s island-wide thaw this past summer, for example, presented both challenges and opportunities for
Greenlanders, depending on where they live, says Nuttall. “In the Far North, hunters who rely on the sea ice may perhaps find it harder to reach particular places. But if we go to the south of Greenland, where there is sheep farming and agriculture, grazing land is expanding. The last year or two, the potato harvest in Greenland has been spectacular. People are growing lettuce and broccoli and carrots. So the productive capacity of the soil, or the expansion of grazing land, is seen as a positive thing, as an opportunity.” Nuttall, Hik and Douglas are just a small cross-section when it comes to respected and influential northern research at the U of A. And when you build a critical mass of outstanding faculty, outstanding students invariably head your way. Interested in polar bears? We have ecologist Andrew Derocher, ’87 MSc, ’93 PhD, plus a long list of experts in the field. Interested in glaciology? You may want to study with people like Martin Sharp or Andy Bush. new trail winter 2012 17
“Everybody has a stake in the North.” — Marianne Douglas
Gabrielle Gascon is a prime example of this influx of talent. She made the dean’s honour list at McGill when she completed her MSc, but chose the U of A as the place to pursue her PhD. “For my field, Arctic glaciology, it’s the strongest option in Canada,” she says. Gascon, currently in her fifth year, loves being part of a wider community of Arctic researchers. As president of the Circumpolar Students’ Association, 18 newtrail.ualberta.ca
she helps organize events such as the annual Northern Research Day in March, where students from across campus get the chance to present their research. She also enjoys the chance to socialize with peers from other faculties. “Right now on the executive there’s me, from glaciology. There are two people from health sciences, and a guy from anthropology. We have members from bio science, renewable
resources, civil engineering — so, it’s social sciences and physical sciences all together,” says Gascon. Along with attracting northern scholars to Edmonton, the U of A is also establishing a physical presence in the North. Northern environmental and conservation sciences professor Fiona Schmiegelow is directing a program in Whitehorse, in partnership with Yukon College. Graduates complete the program in the Yukon and receive a University of Alberta BSc — Canada’s first Bachelor of Science program north of the 60th parallel.
photo © Jenny E. Ross / LifeOnThinIce.org
Polar bears require stable sea ice to hunt their favourite prey, the ringed seal. Climate change is forcing these carnivores to shift their hunting range.
Gabrielle Gascon conducts a GPS survey on the Belcher Glacier, Devon Island, Nunavut.
The Melting North The melting rate of glaciers offers one measure of climate change and has a direct effect on sea level. Due to their smaller size, ice caps and glaciers in the Canadian High Arctic may respond more rapidly to climate change, says Martin Sharp, chair, University of Alberta Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. (The area of ice in the Canadian Arctic Islands is almost nine per cent that of Greenland and one per cent that of Antarctica.) From 2003-2010, the mass loss rate per unit area of ice in Arctic Canada was about 3.5 times as high as the rate in Greenland and 33 times as high as the rate in Antarctica. Source: Martin Sharp, chair, University of Alberta Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences THE CANADIAN ARCTIC
GREENLAND
33TIMESFASTER THAN ANTARCTICA
LOSES ICE MASS
The need for institutions like the U of A to make an investment in the North is clearly illustrated by the rapid changes taking place there. Some northern communities are seeing species so unprecedented in their area that there isn’t even a word for them in the local language, says Schmiegelow. Dragonflies, for example, are showing up for the first time in some northern communities. “Climate change in Northern Canada is really a conspicuous thing. It’s not abstract. People are seeing it in their everyday lives — seeing changes in weather patterns, seeing changes in the distribution of snow, the recession
LOSES ICE MASS
right PHOTO BY Brad Danielson
ANTARCTICA
AND3.5TIMESFASTER THAN GREENLAND
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Photo opposite: The mass lost from glaciers and ice sheets in Arctic North America was 113 cubic kilometres per year between 2003 and 2010. The world’s glaciers combined lost 149 cubic kilometres per year during that time, says researcher Martin Sharp.
EDMONTON G ulf of Al ask a L ab r ad o r Sea
H u ds o n Ba y
A NOrthern Perspective The Canadian Circumpolar Institute estimates that at any one time there are about 200 U of A researchers across 13 faculties conducting research in the North. Here’s a look at some of the work coming out of the CCI and where it's happening.
John England The Arctic Archipelago As NSERC Northern Research Chair, this professor emeritus with the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences studies environmental change in Arctic Canada from the ice age to present. His study of ancient glaciers has led to a rethinking of the Bering land bridge and an analogue for modern western Antarctica based on the catastrophic breakup of the ancient Laurentide Ice Sheet. Brenda Parlee Great Slave Lake, N.W.T., Fort McMurray, Alta. The current Canada Research Chair in Social Responses to Ecological Change, Parlee is co-appointed to the Faculty of Native Studies and the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences. She investigates how small, remote northern communities respond to the social, economic and cultural forces that come alongside natural resource development.
photo © Jenny E. Ross / LifeOnThinIce.org
Andrew Derocher Beaufort Sea, Hudson Bay The go-to guy for all things polar bear, Derocher is investigating the effects of the breakup of sea ice on polar bear habitats. The biological sciences professor is looking at where they are going now in search of their favourite prey—the ringed seal—and the implications of climate change on this and other Arctic species. Karen Goodman Aklavik, N.W.T. Goodman, a professor with the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry is working with health officials and community leaders in Aklavik and several other Arctic communities to investigate why indigenous people of the Circumpolar North have higher frequencies of Helicobacter pylori infection and stomach cancer. The bacteria inflames the stomach lining and increases the risk of peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. Catherine Bell Akitsiraq Law School, Iqaluit, Nunavut Bell specializes in aboriginal legal issues, including dispute resolution, property law, cultural heritage law and community-based legal research. The U of A law professor taught at and helped with the development of the Akitsiraq Law School for Inuit Students.
B aff i n B ay
B ea u f o r t S e a
Use of a northern-centric map like this one is becoming increasingly common for people who do research in the North, says Marianne Douglas. Flipping the continent on its head is another reminder of the North’s importance.
“Climate change in Northern Canada is really a conspicuous thing. It’s not abstract. People are seeing it in their everyday lives — seeing changes in weather patterns, seeing changes in the distribution of snow, the recession of icefields.” — Fiona Schmiegelow
of icefields. … There’s a real need to invest in building capacity among northerners and northern institutions to help them respond to these rapid changes,” she says. The program draws heavily on distributed learning, using streaming video to connect students in Whitehorse with students in remote communities and with students and faculty “down south” in Edmonton. The resulting connection benefits everyone, Schmiegelow says. “From the U of A’s perspective, it’s offering opportunities not just to students in the North, but also to students and faculty from the south to be exposed to the issues in the North, and to contribute to their resolution in some ways.”
David Hik points to Schmiegelow’s program as one more sign of the U of A’s momentum in northern studies and climate change. He would love to see the university go even further, cementing its place as a true global leader — possibly through some form of long-term initiative. “We’re now in a position to look at how we can sustain things in the long term,” says Hik, “whether it’s data management through our library resources, whether it’s research capacity or training of students, or capacity-building in the North by expanding on the success that Fiona’s had, or building the Circumpolar Institute into a larger organization. “The potential is there.” new trail winter 2012 21
A COLD CASE
The Royal Geographical Society Islands are pancakes of gravel in Canada’s central Arctic, unremarkable except for their proximity to the place where the final days of the Franklin expedition were played out. I stood on the islands a few months ago, and thought once again of the expedition’s brutal fate and what an easy place it would be to die, especially for those touched by insipid and unrecognized illness. It was an entirely new way of looking at the mystery surrounding the destruction of the 1845 British Arctic Expedition commanded by Sir John Franklin. Not one of Franklin’s 129 officers and crew survived. The remains of some were found strewn across the desolation of King William Island. By
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any standard, that constituted a mass disaster. So, instead of relying solely on the journals of searchers, the oral tradition of the Inuit and the detritus of the expedition, Owen Beattie, a physical anthropologist at the University of Alberta, applied forensic methods to that cold case. Beattie viewed the historic mystery as a modern scientific problem, and he was no “Franklin freak,” as they are sometimes called, that type who pursues “the fate of” with the same bent enthusiasm as a 9/11 conspiracy theorist. In fact, he had come upon the story innocently. The U of A has always been — and remains — at the forefront of northern research, and during the 1980s it was
photo by Owen Beattie
Twenty-five years ago, a U of A professor together with a newly minted alumnus, John Geiger, ’81 BA, published Frozen in Time, a shocking and influential account of the Franklin expedition’s disastrous final days. Lead poisoning. Cannibalism. Then there were those photos — of a young sailor thawing out after more than a century buried in the tundra. Now, Geiger — today the president of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society — writes about the renewed interest in the ill-fated expedition and the pieces of the story that still remain to be uncovered.
by John Geiger, ’81 BA
The Beechey Island gravesite. Grave markers, from left to right: John Torrington, John Hartnell, William Braine
new trail winter 2012 23
published his authoritative account, Sir John Franklin’s Last Expedition. Cyriax had devoted years to sifting through the minutia of the expedition, leaving no rock unturned — except for one. But it was a boulder: he never visited the scene of the disaster. It was accepted wisdom that there was no point. After all, everyone already knew what the causes of death were: scurvy and starvation after the ships had become trapped in multi-year ice. Such are the vagaries of Arctic exploration. I’d say the rest is history, except it’s not. It’s forensic anthropology. In 1981, Beattie and Savelle succeeded in locating a fragmentary skeleton from one of Franklin’s crew, and in 1982, with Walt Kowal, ’79 BA, ’86 MA, they had succeeded in locating fragmentary remains from at least six other Franklin crewmen. The bone was tested and revealed elevated levels of lead, levels so high it would have caused serious health problems. Cut marks found on the
The 1986 crew on Beechey Island. Left to right: Brian Spenceley; Eric Damkjar; Owen Beattie; Barbara Schweger, ’83 MSc; Walter Kowal, ’79 BA, ’86 MA; Arne Carlson, ’93 MA; Roger Amy; James Savelle, ’86 PhD; Derek Notman; Laurence Anderson; and Joelee Nungaq
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top photo by Toronto Star, bottom photo Supplied by Owen Beattie
John Geiger, ’81 BA, (left) with U of A professor emeritus Owen Beattie in 1988, just after the publication of Frozen in Time
a hotbed for Arctic archeology. Beattie found himself in a department with experienced northern scholars like Charles Schweger and Cliff Hickey, and bright young graduate students, among them Jim Savelle, ’86 PhD. It was Savelle who introduced Beattie to the Franklin problem and collaborated with him to survey King William Island in 1981. The U of A’s Canadian Circumpolar Institute (then known as the Boreal Institute for Northern Studies), provided the seed money for Beattie’s research precisely because he was not using cookie-cutter archeology. His proposal was revolutionary for the time: to attempt to locate human remains from the Franklin expedition and to assess cause of death and attempt identification through facial reconstruction. The verdict of what had happened to the Franklin expedition had not changed since the 1930s, when British historical researcher Richard Cyriax
photo by Elizabeth Evans
bone also proved Inuit accounts, hotly disputed at the time, that cannibalism had been practised among the dying Franklin crewmen. Beattie, however, needed to determine if the lead exposure had occurred prior to the expedition or on the expedition, so he received permission to exhume the three Franklin expedition graves on Beechey Island. Because of permafrost, Beattie felt there was a chance he would find preserved tissue. What he did not know was that in 1984 he would find himself staring at John Torrington, whose blue eyes stared languidly back at him through thick brown eyelashes. This, though Torrington had been dead for 138 years. He and the two other well-preserved crewmen buried on Beechey Island — the so-called “frozen Franklins” — caused an international sensation. Torrington, in fact, was on People magazine’s list of the 25 most intriguing people of 1984, ahead of Bill Murray and Michael Jackson. Johnny Carson mentioned the research on The Tonight Show. Beattie himself also achieved a measure of (unwanted) celebrity and was even immortalized in a well-known British poem, “Envying Owen Beattie.” I had studied history at the U of A, and given the enormous interest in Beattie’s research, we wrote a book about it, Frozen In Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition. Some Franklin experts were then, and likely remain, in a knot over the book and its contention that a source for the lead was the expedition’s tinned food supply. Think of it: a Royal Navy expedition obliterated in part by tin cans. How does that fit with the conventional analysis of heroic expiration amid the ice? Besides, Cyriax had made no mention of lead poisoning. The book did rather well, but the best part for me was the opportunity to collaborate with Owen, a brilliant and utterly egoless guy. In all, we travelled north together four times, had many adventures, braved polar bears and
John Geiger in the High Arctic on the shores of one of the Royal Geographical Society Islands this summer, holding the flag of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society
plagues of mosquitoes (all the usual terrors of the Arctic), and wrote a second book, Dead Silence, on another Arctic mystery, the fate of the 1719 James Knight expedition. What struck me during the field seasons spent in the Arctic, beyond the sense of isolation, is the tangibility of history. Whether Thule, Inuit, explorer, trader or whaler, the sites are often immediately visible. There are few places where you feel closer to the past. When it all ended, Beattie went off to do humanitarian forensic work in Cyprus, Somalia and Rwanda, and I went off to write three other books. But working with Owen left an indelible mark. I have returned to the Arctic many times, and my interest in the region continues with my current role as president of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Then, last summer’s Parks Canada search for the lost Franklin exploration ships Erebus and Terror sparked a brief burst of public and media interest again in the mass disaster. Suddenly, I found myself back on CTV’s Canada AM, nearly a quarter century after Owen and I first appeared there, talking again about the Franklin mystery, and rashly predicting the bureaucrats would locate at least one wreck.
In the end, the Parks Canada effort failed to find anything. Well, that’s not entirely true: a survey on land did produce a toothbrush, demonstrating that in their last days, as the crewmen shambled along King William Island in their grim retreat into oblivion, they maintained an interest in dental hygiene. Hopefully, someone will have another go at it. Sooner or later, Erebus or Terror will be found, and it will be very exciting to have a glimpse at these submerged artifacts that no doubt will eventually become the basis of a diorama on Victorian Arctic exploration. And who knows, they may also offer some valuable insight into the disaster, clues to some of the enduring Franklin questions. It will be interesting to see, however, whether they offer more information than Owen Beattie has already discovered by applying the tools of forensic science to that ultimate source of information: human remains.
John Geiger, '81 BA, is president of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and a board member of the Canadian Circumpolar Institute. He chairs the Globe and Mail’s editorial board and is a senior fellow at Massey College. His next book, The Angel Effect, will be published in 2013. new trail winter 2012 25
by Scott Rollans
Latitude Attitude Stop hiding and embrace winter, say the alumni working to transform the way we look at our coldest, darkest season Edmonton city councillor Ben Henderson, ’83 MFA, came to the city in 1981 to complete his master’s degree. After that, he had expected to brush the snow off his lapels and head back to Ontario. Instead, he ended up falling in love with Edmonton — and has stayed put ever since. “Career-wise, there were times it probably would have made sense to move, but I didn’t want to,” he says. “There isn’t anyplace else I want to live.” Fresh out of university, Henderson went to work making a mark on his adopted city. He quickly emerged as a force in local theatre, as founding artistic director of Nexus Theatre and artistic director of Theatre Network. Over the years he became increasingly active in the wider community and eventually he decided to run for city 26 newtrail.ualberta.ca
council, winning a seat in 2007. Henderson is in good company: most University of Alberta graduates remain in the city after graduation. In fact, nearly half of the roughly 250,000 U of A alumni live in the greater Edmonton area, and they have a significant impact on the city where they have chosen to build their careers, businesses and lives. Life in the North has its challenges, to be sure. And yet, here we stay. And rather than apologize for our northern identity, many U of A grads choose to shout its praises. We can’t alter geographic reality, after all, so let’s find ways to celebrate it. Henderson has spent a lot of time this year pondering Edmonton’s identity as a northern city — and, in particular, its attitude toward winter. He took part in Edmonton’s WinterCity Strategy, a civic initiative that examined
winter success stories from across Canada and around the world and solicited input from local experts and the general public. The resulting report, which includes a list of specific recommendations, went before city council in mid-October. (See sidebar on page 32.) The plan outlines a vision of a city where couples snuggle under blankets in heated patio cafés, new construction is guided by the need for solar access and sheltered rest areas, and the city lights up the long, dark winter nights with playful “lightscaping” on city buildings. But the take-home point is this: make Edmonton a city worldrenowned for embracing its northern locale and revelling in winter. But that brings us to the question: is Edmonton a northern city at all?
Almost half of U of A alumni choose to stay in Edmonton. Ben Henderson, ’83 MFA, is one of several working to help the city emerge as North America’s premier winter destination.
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“My goal, ultimately, is that someone arriving here in January is just as impressed with the city as they would be if they arrived in July.” — Ben Henderson
Geographical sticklers will point out that, strictly speaking, Edmonton isn’t even situated in northern Alberta, never mind Northern Canada. Swan Hills, which claims the title of geographic centre of Alberta, is still three hours north by car. And when Yellowknifers travel to Edmonton, they often don’t refer to their destination by name — they’re simply heading “Down South.” Yet, Edmonton is easily North America’s most northern city with a metropolitan population of more than a million. And, as the Yukon's and Northwest Territories’ principal conduit of imported goods and services, Edmonton — now more than ever — lives up to its “Gateway to the North” label. Our location, and the things that go with it — the relative isolation, the long, cold winters — dominate the way the world sees us and, to a great extent, the way we see ourselves as a community. The city claims a northern attitude, even if it falls short of a truly northern latitude. Seasonal denial disorder Henderson sees Edmonton’s northern identity as an opportunity to build upon the city’s successful summer festivals, carrying some of that energy over to the winter months. Until recently, after Labour Day Edmonton has folded its tents and hunkered down. “We’ve gone into a kind of denial about winter, which is another major part of who we are and what we’re about,” Henderson says. “We made some choices that, if you just built everything indoors, winter might magically go away. Actually, I think it’s exactly the opposite. I think 28 newtrail.ualberta.ca
people’s idea of winter as negative and unpleasant is because we’ve tried to disassociate ourselves from it rather than engage with it.” Government can help change that, Henderson believes. After all, those summer festivals didn’t emerge spontaneously. “We all think they sprung fully formed and have always been there, but both the province and the city put in significant money to get them going.” The summer festivals bring more than just character to the city. The Fringe Festival alone reportedly generates more than $1 million in direct revenue to its artists, according to the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation. Winter festivals can carry that benefit across the seasons. “Festivals are a significant part of Edmonton’s fabric, attracting visitors and residents alike,” says Brad Ferguson, ’92 BA, ’94 BCom, president and CEO of the EEDC, who also sees a place for winter festivals. “Our winters are filled with theatre, dance, music and sports — all part of our vibrant arts and culture scene.” Recapturing winter’s magic As Edmontonians start to renew their taste for winter, says Henderson, there’s no turning back. “We’ve gone from having nothing, to having not a bad series of events in that period from the first week of January through to March.” Henderson hopes the WinterCity Strategy will help decisively turn the tide, and already sees encouraging
steps in that direction. He points to the success of events such as Ice on Whyte, an ice-carving festival that celebrates its 10th year from Jan. 25 to Feb. 3; and the Silver Skate Festival, which calls itself Edmonton’s oldest winter festival and is set for Feb. 15 to 24. Still, Henderson would love to see more. “My goal, ultimately, is that someone arriving here in January is just as impressed with the city as they would be if they arrived in July,” he says. “I think we can get there.” That momentum seemed to falter a bit in September when Winter Light, an umbrella organization that supported winter events citywide, announced it was ceasing operations. However, Henderson refuses to see the loss as a major setback. “Winter Light was not a wasted effort, nor do I think it was a
PHOTOs BY epic photography
failure.” He praises organizers for getting the snowball rolling in terms of winter events and promises to do what he can to keep it growing. “There are a couple of programming pieces — like the Mill Creek walk — we will now have to find ways to step in, to make sure they can survive on their own.” The Mill Creek Adventure Walk is one of the city’s newest winter events, filling the darkest days of the season with light. Last year, more than 4,000 people came out to walk the lanternlit trails in the river valley and see entertainers and storytellers weaving a winter’s tale. “Why was that event so good?” asks John Mahon, ’76 BMus, ’83 MBA. “It wasn’t a big expense — some little lights here, some actors here — but there was something magical about it. You could
Who’s afraid of winter? Residents take advantage of opportunities to get outside and enjoy the season. Clockwise from left: Mill Creek Adventure Walk, Deep Freeze Festival and Christmas on the Square Holiday Light Up
see it on the kids’ faces. You’re dressed up, you’re with your parents, and you’re moving in this mass of people in the dark. And there are these little pinpoints of delight. There’s a light over there, or there’s a little gnome hiding over there, or you suddenly come across this bonfire.”
We used to be better at winter, says Mahon, executive director of the Edmonton Arts Council, who recalls looking at the season differently during his childhood in the 1960s. “We took pride in our clothing; we took pride in our ability to get around the city,” he new trail winter 2012 29
by Omar Mouallem
How the North made us co-operative and self-sufficient Or how we really are just like beavers, after all Not long after Confederation the first nationalist group emerged. They called themselves Canada First, and no further did they look for the national identity than the North. “We are Northmen of the New World,” declared member Robert Grant Haliburton, an Ottawa lawyer. Its founder, William Foster, was a social Darwinist who predicted the climate would naturally select a race that was hardy and vigorous, or as he put it, “more manly, more real, than the weak marrow-bones superstition of an effeminate South.” Nearly 150 years later, not only were they wrong about the northern race but about the entire mentality. We remain hardy folk, but instead of the “culture of courage,” the climate has cultivated co-operation. As Rod Macleod, ’62 BA, historian and University of Alberta professor emeritus, explains: “If you get into an argument with your wife and it’s 30 below outside, you can’t just storm out of your house and walk around the block to let off steam.” The weather, he says, forces us to get along with each other. Perhaps it’s no coincidence, then, that when Canadians were asked by the World Values Survey what values they try hardest to instil in their children, the top answer was tolerance. Canadians were also twice as likely as their American neighbours to “agree very strongly” with the statement, “It is important to help the person nearby.” 30 newtrail.ualberta.ca
“Co-operation and looking out for each other is much more essential for survival,” says Macleod, who points out that most other northern nations, such as Sweden, are more socialist-leaning than their southern neighbours. But can latitude really inform our social attitude? According to a study on climate and culture, while Canada and Finland see “team-oriented leadership” as more effective, there was another side of the die: wealth. Those who face harsh conditions but nevertheless have abundant tangible resources derive self esteem from sharing their surplus resources, writes Evert Van de Vliert in Climate, Affluence, and Culture, published by Cambridge University Press. No doubt, Canada is a nation built on wealth. When aboriginals crossed the Bering Strait they found abundant water and animals for hunting. Ten thousand years later, Europeans docked in Newfoundland and faced vast lands, fertile soil and, when they looked north, luxurious pelts. But even as bitter rivals for those furs, the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company still shared trading posts in order to thrive together. It’s the original Canadian co-op that we now see across the Prairies, from United Farmers of Alberta (now UFA Co-operative) to the Canadian Wheat Board, though the latter was deactivated earlier this year. But according to Macleod, there’s a third facet to our northern psyche: our isolation. “It’s hard to think of another
major city our size in the world that’s as far away from another city of comparable size,” he says. This has made us culturally selfsufficient. Canada’s first public broadcaster, CKUA, sprung out of the U of A because the next nearest quality radio station was out of range. It championed local musicians and hosted nationally renowned radio dramas by players plucked from the university’s new drama department, further cultivating a creative scene. “Because we’re not close to other cities, it’s difficult and expensive for us to import culture — especially earlier on.” Climate. Wealth. Isolation. Nowhere is that more true than in Edmonton, and it all adds up to a thriving but cautious people whose greatest gift is foresight. The true Northmen and Northwomen of the New World who founded the nation relied not on brawn or valour, but teamwork and strategy to conquer the environment. When the growing season is only a third of the year, pickling food and drying meats is more than cuisine; it’s survival. But a tactical lifestyle isn’t unique to northern humans. Beavers do it, too. Our national animal is well-known for taming an unsuitable habitat with dams and enduring it with the help of family dwellings that could run three generations. But they also use these dams to create a moat that protects the food cache to feed their extended families. Then, each winter, the mating season arrives and those
families extend a little further. The snow brings order to their lives and melts into rejuvenation. Adam Gopnik spoke about winter at the U of A as part of the 2011 Massey Lectures and is the author of Winter: Five Windows on the Season. He calls it “natural renewal” and says it’s something we can’t take for granted. Perhaps that’s the reason for what Macleod says Canadians fear most: anarchy. “Disorganization in our fierce climate is just too threatening.” He adds, “We are certainly the only democracy in the world that celebrates a police force as one of its national symbols.” Dave Alexander, BA ’03 — editor of Rue Morgue, the world’s premier horror culture magazine — thinks the fear of social disruption is rooted in our anxieties about living next door to a more powerful yet unbridled United States. “This could perhaps fuel fears of anarchy,” says Alexander. However, when the horror cinema expert looks at the Canadian silver screen, what he sees most is “the crisis of masculinity.” He explains, “We tend to present male characters who just can’t live up to that Hollywood ideal of the leading man.” Now, what would the Canada First founders think of that? They’d probably roll over in their canoes.
Photo by Aaron Pedersen/3Ten Photography
“Winter is sexy, winter is free … you just have to have an extra hat!” — John Mahon
recalls. “I remember the one year when it never went above zero Fahrenheit [-18 C] for 35 days, and everyone was proud of that. There was no resentment.” The arts community—led by U of A alumni like Mahon—is helping Edmonton get its winter mojo back. “We’re coming back to it. I think collectively we realize that winter itself is actually an extraordinarily beautiful time of year, with the sunlight and the snow.” While Mahon argues we should learn to embrace winter, that doesn’t mean toning down our enthusiasm for Edmonton’s brief but glorious summers. “If you take an expanded view, the Edmonton summer festivals are a really accurate and authentic celebration of summer in a northern climate,” Mahon says. “We want to get out of our houses. We want to gather in large groups. We want to do something meaningful, and meet and share stories with our friends. That’s a tradition probably as old as the aboriginal people in the Prairies, with their gatherings just to catch up.” Throughout the year, artists can play a key role in shaping Edmonton’s northern identity, says Mahon. “We have to let our artists tell the stories, or give us memories or images of this unique position we’re in [as a northern city]. We need to not deny it or feel ashamed. We have to let the artists lead us.” Embracing our geography To Kamren Farr, ’98 BSc, ’06 MBA, Edmonton’s northern identity is inextricably linked to its river valley.
Winding through the heart of the city and running past the heart of the U of A’s North Campus, the North Saskatchewan continues to connect us with nature, with our history and with our aboriginal past. “If you look at the first half of the last century, up to the 1950s, Edmonton embraced its northern identity,” says Farr. “We called ourselves the ‘Gateway to the North.’ Our football team was the Edmonton Eskimos. Then, in the second half of the century, we started to move away from that.” As an avid runner, Farr has gotten to know every trail in the city. In 2006, he put his experience to work by bringing Edmonton into the Five Peaks running series, a network of trail-running events across Canada. In preparing for Edmonton’s first race, Farr created a seven-kilometre course in the river valley. Later, he was gratified to discover that runners kept returning to run it on their own, long after the event. Edmonton’s series is now second in size only to Toronto’s. Farr would now love to expand that success into the winter months. new trail winter 2012 31
Snow forts and fire pits “Over the next 20 to 25 years, we need to make decisions as a community that will make Edmonton remarkable.” — Kamren Farr
The City of Edmonton released its WinterCity Strategy Oct. 16. Here are a few of its recommendations for making Edmonton “a great place to live and play, even in the darkest days of winter.” ❄ Give people more opportunities to play outside by using snow in public places to build snow forts, slides or climbing mounds. ❄ Build an ice climbing wall. ❄ Develop an end-to-end ski trail and skating trails through the river valley. ❄ Look into heated sidewalks in some business areas and public gathering places, and heated bus shelters. ❄ Develop a four-season patio culture. ❄ Provide gas hookups on public plazas for large, portable fire pits. ❄ Use colour in outdoor design to enliven the cityscape. ❄ Pilot creative lighting projects and “lightscaping” during the darkest days of the year, while also creating dark zones to allow for sky-watching.
“Last winter we started up the Storm snowshoe running series,” he says. With a bit of effort and investment, he believes, Edmonton could broaden its winter recreation. “That’s a real transition point for Edmonton, when we start to wrap our heads around that whole idea of being a northern city and the opportunities that are in front of us.” Once we make that leap, Farr argues, the impact will extend far beyond the people who already live here. It will help Edmonton achieve a bold, distinct identity — a northern identity. After all, our location is the one indisputable 32 newtrail.ualberta.ca
feature that sets us apart. “Across North America, there are more than 70 cities with over a million people,” Farr continues. “A lot of them start to blend together — strip malls and freeways and planned communities and power centres. Over the next 20 to 25 years, we need to make decisions as a community that will make Edmonton remarkable.” If these alumni succeed, they might just be able to help the city recapture its winter sparkle. Or, as Mahon puts it: “Winter is sexy, winter is free … you just have to have an extra hat!”
❄ Become a world leader in innovative winter-related business and industry, such as by supporting further development of Edmonton’s winter fashion industry. ❄ Make it easier to get around for those who don’t have a car, by making sure plowed snow doesn’t block walkways and bike routes. Read more at www.edmonton.ca; search: WinterCity.
by SARAH LIGON
Bringing Birth Back to the North When 25-year-old Jocelyn Merritt gave birth to her first child, Leo, in Rankin Inlet last November, she did what few women in Canada’s far northern communities have done in the past 50 years: she gave birth close to home
photos by sarah ligon
O
n a cold, clear night last November, as most of the 2,400 inhabitants of Rankin Inlet slept in their beds, Jocelyn Merritt was jolted awake by a contraction stronger than all the others. She began timing them on her iPad: 3:54, 3:57, 4:02, 4:13, and listening to her iPhone to help her meditate through the pain. But by 4:46 a.m. she knew “it was time,” and woke her partner, Gavin, to call the midwife. It took some time to warm up the truck, with the temperature hovering around -15 C, but by 5:30, Merritt, Gavin and Gavin’s mother were bundled up in its warm cabin. Before leaving, Merritt remembered to called her sister Jocelyn Merritt with her son, Leo, in Rankin Inlet in September
new trail winter 2012 33
to remind her to bring the homemade amauti, a traditional Inuit parka for carrying babies, that Merritt would need for carrying home her first-born. Then, they drove down the hill to have a baby. The story of Merritt’s experience is not the dramatic stuff of movies or reality television. Just like the old saying among the Inuit that giving birth is “as natural as breathing air,” Merritt gave birth to her eight-pound son, Leo, with no medical intervention after only two hours of labour. Yet, until recently, a birth story like Merritt’s was an anomaly in the North. Beginning in the 1960s, government health officials deemed birth too risky to occur in these remote communities, which have no doctors and no C-section capabilities and are several hours’ plane ride from the nearest operating room — and that’s if the weather permits.
“I fought to have my baby here,” says Merritt, who had to sign a waiver not to be evacuated to a hospital in Winnipeg. “I didn’t want to be in a hospital with doctors. I’m a bad flyer, so to think I’m about to have a baby and they’re going to fly me out by myself? I wasn’t going to have it. I really wanted to have my baby here, with the midwives, and have him in the hometown where I grew up.”
Educating a New Generation of Midwives When U of A professor Beverley O’Brien began working in the North as a nurse practitioner in the early 1980s, she rarely attended births. Although the communities in what is now known as Nunavut where she lived were small — Pagnirtung (current pop. 1,550), Igloolik (1,450) and Hall Beach (650) — they had some of the highest
“The survival of a community has a lot to do with the ability to give birth and to continue the community. If they can’t do that, it’s almost the death of the community, isn’t it?” — Beverley O’Brien
So for more than three generations, most pregnant women were sent to southern hospitals — in Winnipeg, Churchill and Edmonton — far from home, alone, and often a month or more before their due dates. But now, the tide is turning. Since 1992, Rankin Inlet has been home to a birth centre — the first in the region — allowing women with lowrisk pregnancies a say over where and how they give birth. And an innovative education program, supported in part by a U of A professor and an alumna, is working to train local Inuit women to serve there as community midwives. 34 newtrail.ualberta.ca
birthrates in all of Canada. But at the time, the policy of shipping all expectant mothers down south was at its height. “I was told by my supervisor that it would only be my mistake that resulted in a baby being born at a nursing station,” says O’Brien. O’Brien’s experiences in the North — and the birth of her own son years later — taught her that there had to be a better way to have babies. So, she trained as a midwife and embarked on an academic career that has focused on providing midwifery care to women in Africa, Asia, the North and here in Alberta. Then, in 2006, she was
approached by Nunavut Arctic College to develop a program that trains local women as midwives and maternal care workers — one that includes traditional Inuit knowledge about birth while meeting high Canadian midwifery standards. To that end, she has published a book, Birth on the Land, based on her interviews with Inuit elders and traditional midwives, to make sure that the knowledge of how women gave birth in these communities prior to colonization is not lost. Now, as the acting co-ordinator of the midwifery education program, she works with a team of administrators and southern midwives to select students in three communities across Nunavut — Rankin Inlet, Cambridge Bay and Iqaluit — and craft an educational program suitable to their unique needs and their location. “They almost all have small children and they are living in small communities where travel is difficult and costly,” says O’Brien. “So we have to support each individual as opposed to setting up a rigid criteria.” Students can graduate from the program with a certificate as a maternal care worker, a diploma in midwifery or a bachelor’s degree in health sciences (midwifery), which is granted through a bridging program with Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont. Susan James, ’89 MN, ’97 PhD, has been instrumental in developing that third degree option. Like O’Brien, she worked for years as a nurse, including stints up north, before finding a permanent home in midwifery. Now the director of the midwifery program at Laurentian, she consults with Nunavut Arctic College in designing its curriculum and helps those students wishing to earn a bachelor’s in midwifery meet the degree requirements. Since 2007, the program has graduated 10 maternity care workers and two midwives, and is close to awarding its first bachelor’s degree. The key to the success of the program — similar programs geared toward training First Nations midwives have stalled, in Manitoba for instance — has been its flexibility and
Cas Connelly (left) and Rachel Jones are the first graduates of a program that trains local women to work as midwives in small communities across Nunavut. “Even if it’s the middle of the night and a blizzard, you have to be there for that woman,” says Jones, who works in Rankin Inlet, a community of about 2,400 on Hudson Bay.
focus on the individual. “What is the thing that is most valued about having a midwife?” asks James. “They want a midwife who can speak their language if at all possible. They want someone who is going to be safe. But they don’t care if they have six credits in women’s studies and nine credits in the social sciences. The pieces that bring that safety are still there: hands-on practice, prenatal and postnatal care, and catching babies.”
Catching Babies Last spring, when the ice was still thick on Hudson Bay and snow covered Rankin Inlet, Rachel Jones, 36, got a phone call. She was home alone with her eight-year-old son, boiling pasta for dinner, she remembers. “It was the nurse at the health centre, and she’s saying someone has come in and she’s pushing.” So, as the midwife on call that night, she dumped the uncooked pasta in the sink, kissed her son goodbye and headed out into the night to catch a baby. It’s a scene that is often repeated in this small hamlet, where there are 50 to 60 local births a year. Jones has
seen it play out many times since becoming one of Rankin’s three fulltime midwives — two of them graduates of the Nunavut Arctic College program. It has not been easy for her family. She remembers attending her first births in 2004, when she was a maternity care worker and had an infant son at home. “Even if it’s the middle of the night and a blizzard, you have to be here for that woman,” says Jones, who was the first graduate of the midwifery education program in 2007. “My partner would be driving to the health centre by Ski-Doo in the middle of the night with my son in it so I could breastfeed him.” Cas Connelly, 25, the second of Rankin’s full-time midwives to graduate from the program, agrees that the life of a midwife can be tough. “I graduated from high school on Aug. 26, 2006,” she says. “And I started the program on Sept. 5. I’ve never had time off since. Going through high school and college with two little kids was tough.” But Connelly knows the value of having a local midwife provide care in the community, because she herself has
experienced it — as well as the alternative. When Connelly was pregnant with her first child at 16, she, like so many women in the region, was flown down to Winnipeg a month before her due date. Fortunately for Connelly, her mother could afford to pay her own way and accompany her daughter as she waited to give birth. With round-trip airfare starting at about $2,000, it’s an option most families cannot afford. But when Connelly was expecting her second child, she found herself under the care of visiting midwives at the Rankin Inlet Birthing Centre. “It was so much more comfortable having the baby with the midwives I knew. I really liked the connection I had with them.” An added benefit was that her husband could be present at their child’s birth. “He got to be at the birth. He got to see the second one being born, and you can see the bond right away with that one.” As members of the local Inuit community, Jones and Connelly are able to provide a level of care that visiting midwives from the South, often in town for three-month stints, are not. The new trail winter 2012 35
This was a trip of a lifetime for me — it was well organized and an enjoyable educational experience. —2011 Northwest Passage traveller
Explore the North with us!
Cruising Alaska’s Glaciers & the Inside Passage Canada’s Northwest Passage
June 27-July 4, 2013
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Find out about these and other trips we are offering in 2013. 1-800-661-2593 | alumnitravel@ualberta.ca | www.ualberta.ca/alumni/travel
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Festival of Ideas 2012 was a huge success due to the support of our valued sponsors. We couldn’t do it without these partnerships.
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36 newtrail.ualberta.ca
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
U of A medical students bring midwifery into their curriculum
Northern communities such as Rankin Inlet have some of the highest birthrates in Canada yet, for more than three generations, most babies were born hundreds of kilometres away in large southern hospitals.
closeness of the small community means that Jones and Connelly usually know, very well, the women they care for. “A lot of times when women come into care at our birthing centre, we know them on a personal level,” says Jones. They know who may be drinking or suffering from domestic abuse, or who may be planning on giving their baby up for adoption — a fact of life in many northern communities — and they can tailor their care accordingly. And more subtly, they instinctively provide care that is more culturally sensitive. For instance, when Gloria Uluqsi gave birth to her third child, Pearl, in 2010, she was able to speak Inuktitut with Jones, her midwife. Although most residents of Rankin Inlet are fluent in English, many of the women from smaller surrounding communities are more comfortable speaking their native tongue. “We find that when somebody is in pain, their mother tongue tends to come out,” says Jones. “I’ve heard a lot of women say it was so much easier to be in labour and to be able to speak Inuktitut.” Although the population is small, Jones and Connelly have seen their fair share of emergencies, and their training has prepared them well. They’ve attended preterm births and successfully handled a case of shoulder dystocia, an obstetric emergency in which the baby’s head is delivered but its shoulder becomes stuck. “You have about four minutes before the baby has major brain
damage or death,” says Jones. So it is essential that midwives can handle the situation quickly and on their own. Despite being a six-hour trip from the nearest hospital, the Rankin Inlet Birthing Centre has excellent outcomes. Since 1992, when the centre opened, midwives have delivered more than 500 babies without a maternal or newborn death, showing that community-based care for most women in the North can be a safe alternative to the policy that, for three generations, routinely removed childbirth from these communities.
A Community Reborn One of the things that is most surprising is how very modest the program’s goals are: placing a couple of local Inuit midwives like Jones and Connelly in birthing centres in Rankin Inlet, Cambridge Bay and at the hospital in Iqaluit. Perhaps this is because the challenges are so great: finding the right candidates, tailoring an educational program to suit their individual needs and changing 50 years of government policy and public expectations. Even with all of these pieces in place, there is still the problem of creating an environment in which women are able to access their services within the community. For instance, although the Rankin Inlet Birthing Centre is considered fully staffed, it had to turn away 20 women from surrounding communities last year. Because of the
This fall, three U of A medical students — Bailey Adams, ’09 BSc, Danielle Lewis and Katie Stringer — created an hour-long documentary about how physicians, midwives and doulas can work together. The film, Birthing Babies Together, has since been adopted as part of the standard second-year medical curriculum at the U of A. For more about their project and to watch the film’s trailer, check out New Trail online at newtrail.ualberta.ca.
chronic local housing shortage, there was simply nowhere for these women and their families to board within the community. Beyond helping the women of the North and their families, these northern midwives are doing something more intangible but equally important: they are giving life to the entire community. “The survival of a community has a lot to do with the ability to give birth and continue the people,” says the U of A’s O’Brien. “If they can’t do that, it’s almost the death of the community, isn’t it?” To sustain the communities of the Far North, community-based, familycentred care provided by registered local midwives is the gold standard, says a 2008 report from the Government of Nunavut on its maternal health and newborn strategy. “What’s really important is that it’s sustainable, and to be sustainable means that the majority of the maternity care workers and midwives need to be Inuit,” says O’Brien. “Otherwise, it’s going to be a revolving door. “When we have no job up there, then I think we’ll feel we’ve been extremely successful.” new trail winter 2012 37
Lorne Cardinal,
’93 BFA
The actor of Corner Gas fame talks with U of A student Norma Dunning, ’12 BA, about why northern humour is nothing to laugh at
38 newtrail.ualberta.ca
Even when I was a kid, I remember sitting around all of my aunties and uncles and hearing them speaking in Cree and just laughing, laughing, laughing. Then there’d be a real serious moment, and after that someone would say something funny to alleviate the tension.
When we were kids, if we were in a bad way, my mom would say, “There’s no sweat in the Arctic.” Then, whatever your problem was, it just diminished. Do you think our laughter remains generational?
Yes, it’s one of the things that’s being passed down. It’s the same with our people still living the traditional ways and doing the ceremonies and singing the songs that will keep us strong, that have worked for us for thousands of years.
At the university there are always elders available, and often students will go in a smudge [a traditional First Nations method of using smoke from burning herbs to purify a space]. It’s really beautiful to have that on campus. Did they
photo by dave hamilton
I’ve studied a lot of native history, and native history in our country is really nothing to be laughed at. But when I’m in a room with native students, we sure laugh a lot. What makes native people be filled up with so much laughter? It’s just our different outlook, our upbringing. We’re not so caught up in the materialistic, capitalistic, European world. We come from a different background altogether that used to and still does have a connection with everything all around it. That’s important.
by Norma Dunning, ’12 BA
have that on campus when you were here? It was available, and we did have a native centre, but there weren’t a lot of us. There were maybe 14 of us in the whole university. You would have stood out a little then, eh, Lorne? Yeah, I was the only native guy in the whole BFA program.
photo by Richard Siemens
How did you handle that when the eyes turned toward you? I know in class, if I say I’m a “beneficiary of Nunavut,” someone is going to say, “You’re the whitest Eskimo I’ve ever seen.” And I just laugh and think, “Well, you haven’t seen a lot of us.” When we were growing up, my brother [U of A PhD student Lewis Cardinal] and I, we went to all non-native schools. My dad made sure we went to all-white schools. So, I went through that a lot: when anything native came up I felt the whole class turn and look at me like I’m supposed to give a nod of approval or disapproval. But slowly things are changing. In the BFA program, it was very challenging. I learned the technique of European theatre, European and American playwrights, and none of them of any colour. It was very tough. But every summer I’d go treeplanting with my dad, living in a tent for three months and just enjoying being outside among the cedar trees. That gave me time to pause and reflect and absorb stuff. You said you studied mainly European acting techniques. Was it challenging, then, to reimagine a very European play like King Lear for an all-aboriginal production, the way you did at the National Arts Centre this summer? The biggest challenge with doing the Lear project was because we set Lear in early 17th-century Canada, in Algonquin Territory. I got to assistant direct, as well, and the thing I got to help with was working on our script: where to take words out like “knight” and “castle” and find other words that would reflect
where we were. The challenge was to get rid of those images that were so ingrained in my mind and think of canoes and wigwams and forests. The people who did the best work, who made it look so easy and flawless, were people who didn’t have any Shakespeare training. So they just picked up on the rhythm of the language and adapted it to themselves. It was like a dance hearing them fling out Shakespeare in Cree accents, hearing Tantoo Cardinal and Billy Merasty just tear up the dance floor with Shakespeare language. It was fantastic. We did a lot of laughing then, too.
When you started out, were you stereotyped? Yeah, I always saw myself as Richard III. That’s who I wanted to play. Once I graduated university, I was telling an actor friend of mine what I wanted to do and play all the main parts, and he just smiled and said, “Well, it’s not going to happen. You’re going to be pigeon-holed and stereotyped. You’re going to play a lot of leather and feathers.” And he was right. I’ve lost some roles because some producer or director didn’t think I looked native enough, so it just tells you that the producers and directors are still dictating what “native” is. But we’re getting more filmmakers and directors and writers out there telling our stories. Was there ever a time, when you were trying to get roles, that humour saved you? I did one show right after university, a big production down in Denver called Black Elk Speaks, and it was 26 native actors and musicians telling the American story of
Columbus all the way to Wounded Knee in 1890. It was 23 different nations telling their stories, and it all ended in massacre, massacre, massacre. We had one person of every nation represented in that cast, so at some point we’d look over and see a cast member sobbing, and we’d find out that the person had relatives at that massacre. Then we’d say our prayers and leave our grief and somebody would tell a joke at some point to get our energy up and get our focus back. We did a heck of a lot of laughing during those rehearsals.
What’s the biggest difference between northern and southern humour? Southern humour’s not so sexy. If you can’t make an innuendo out of something, then you’re not doing it right.
Career Highlights • Gas Davis Quinton in all six Appeared asCorner Sergeant of • seasons Arctic Air and North 60 Playedofrecurring characters in • WapostheBay Voiced character of Jacob for all 33 episodes • of Directed nineRenegade episodesPress and appeared in five • episodes of Corner Gas Bay Awards for and WaposGemini Received • Kingdirected Lear at an theallNational Performed in and assistant Arts Centreproduction of aboriginal • Where the national Blood Mixes Kevin Loring, Toured with several stagebyproductions, set to appear at Edmonton’s Theatre Network in including February • Worked alongside actors Al Pacino, Gary Sinese, Susan Sarandon, Graham Green and Hilary Swank, to name a few
Norma Dunning, ’12 BA (NS), has won numerous awards for her prose writing, including the 2011 James Patrick Folinsbee Prize and the 2012 Stephen Kapalka Memorial Prize. Her novella Annie Muktuk is due to be published in an upcoming issue of Room magazine, and her honours research project, A Disc-less Inuk, is being considered for publication with the journal Etude/Inuit Studies. Dunning is currently a master’s student in the Faculty of Native Studies’ inaugural graduate program. new trail winter 2012 39
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artist profile
Painting the seasonal rhythms A former Olympic biathlete turns to her paintbrush to find new connections with the outer world
T
he Canadian North provides dramatic displays of movement that coincide with extreme shifts of season, says Whitehorsebased artist Jane Isakson, ’89 BA, ’98 BFA. Within these seasonal rhythms, there is evidence of evolution and interconnections, says Isakson. Change: Break the Chain is a winter aerial view of caribou and the patterns their tracks make in the snow. In the lower panel those tracks seemingly form a series of chain links. For Isakson, the break in the chain is that moment in time when something changes — when there is a potential point of evolution or some shift that moves toward that process. In this painting, the two caribou separated from the herd and who cast red shadows are Isakson’s imagined point of a break in the chain. “Of particular interest to me are the migrations of many species such as caribou, salmon and swans. I am interested in these seasonal rhythms, ideas of movement, adaptation and evolution, of smaller cycles within larger ones and the interconnections between all things,” says Isakson. “The natural world offers up knowledge and wisdom in so many ways; the possibility of gaining insight from different perspectives seems endless.” Isakson has long had an interest in both creative and outdoor pursuits. During her 20s she focused on sports,
Change: Break the Chain is part of Jane Isakson’s migration series.
competing twice in the Olympic biathlon. Then, in her 30s, she focused with equal vigour on her creative side. After completing her fine arts degree at the University of Alberta, she moved to the Yukon and has been painting ever since.
Over time, a balance has evolved. Now, the outdoor activity she enjoys takes her into the environment she paints. janeisakson.com – Wanda Vivequin new trail winter 2012 41
alumni events
Get involved! Look for this symbol to find volunteer opportunities.
Have fun. Make a difference.
Regional activities Living outside of Edmonton? Stay involved with the U of A through one of the more than 50 active alumni branches around the world. Check online for information about events near you. Around Canada Calgary | January 17 Alumni Reception Toronto | March 7 Wizard of Oz Performance and Reception Calgary | April 13 Educated Wallet with Jim Yih, ’91 BCom Victoria | April 27 Annual Spring Brunch at Buchart Gardens, featuring U of A diamond expert Graham Pearson Vancouver | April 28 Spring Brunch, featuring U of A diamond expert Graham Pearson Grande Prairie | May 4 Reception featuring U of A paleontologist Philip Currie Lethbridge | May 11 Spring Reception featuring U of A paleontologist Philip Currie Around the World Hong Kong | December 6 Alumni Reception and Dinner New York | February TBD Alumni Pasta and Skating Party Phoenix | February 23 Annual Alumni Brunch
Great volunteers make for great events. Alumni volunteers make many of these programs possible. We match volunteers with the right opportunities, including student recruitment, mentorship and community service. Are you interested in getting involved in a meaningful way? Check out our website for more information and to see some upcoming opportunities: www.ualberta.ca/alumni/volunteer.
Educated Luncheon A new season of this popular series is here. Join us for a lunch and learn about some of the amazing work being done at the University of Alberta. Fact or Fiction: Seeking international justice prevents world peace | December 12 Joanna Harrington, Faculty of Law, associate dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies & Research
Try Some Dim Sum | January 31 Experience a truly unique form of dining and learn about Chinese culture. Gordon Houlden, director of the China Institute, will share his experiences as a diplomat in China and insights on the China of today. TBD | february Check online for this month’s opportunity to satisfy your palate while nourishing your mind. Wine With a Sense of Place | March 6 Sip and learn with Gurvinder Bhatia, ’87 BSc, owner of Vinomania and an international wine judge. This tasting will focus on small, independent producers who are making wines that are representative of their respective styles and regions.
Fact or Fiction: The periodical press gave birth to the feminist movement | January 9 Susan Hamilton, Faculty of Arts, chair, Department of English & Film Studies Fact or Fiction: Investing in young children has huge payoffs | February 13 Susan Lynch, Faculty of Extension, director, Early Child Development Mapping (ECMap) Project
family events
Fact or Fiction: Canada & the U.S.A. = friendly foes | March 13 Anne McLellan, academic director and Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Alberta Institute for American Studies
Cabane à Sucre | March 3 Strap on some snowshoes and celebrate a French-Canadian tradition at the Cabane à Sucre. Enjoy homemade maple toffee (la tire), entertainment and sleigh rides. Registration begins in February.
Fact or Fiction: Exercise can cure cancer | April 10 Kerry Courneya, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, Canada Research Chair – Physical Activity and Cancer
Easter Eggstravaganza | March 30 The annual Easter Eggstravaganza includes an Easter egg hunt for candylovers 12 and younger, face-painting, hot chocolate, entertainment and goodies. Registration begins in February.
Dates are subject to change; events are added daily. For more or to register, visit
42 newtrail.ualberta.ca
Educated palate
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1. Shannon Yong, ’07 BA, Sorab Gill, ’10 BCom, Sherrie Newell, ’04 BSc, and Cindy Kar, ’04 BCom, gather at Yellowhead Brewery as part of Alumni Weekend 2012. Photo by Selena Phillips-Boyle
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2. Denise and Dennis Kadatz, ’60 BPE, ’65 MA, enjoy the 17th Annual Reception and Dinner, in June at Spruce Meadows in Calgary.
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3. Abdullah Saleh, ’10 MD, left, and Stephen Lee, a fourthyear medical student, were honourees at this year’s Alumni Recognition Awards, which took place in September. Photo by Akemi Matsubuchi 4. Dental Hygiene Alumni Chapter president Alysha Ferguson, ’08 Dip(DentHyg), ’09 BSc(DentHyg), (left) and Sharon Compton, ’80 Dip(DentHyg), ’02 PhD, director of the dental hygiene program, present a 40-year reunion anniversary gift to Jan Ritchie, ’72 Dip(DentHyg) during Alumni Weekend. Photo by Vi Warkentin
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5. John (left) and Bari Pulles, ’07 BA, get into the Halloween spirit for the annual Fun Casino night in Vancouver, Oct. 26. 6. Tammy Zimmer, ’08 Dip(DentHyg), ’10 BSc(Dent), ’12 DDS, received the inaugural Dr. Glen Zenith (’79 BSc, ’81 DDS) Award at the 2012 DDS Graduation Awards Luncheon hosted by the Dental Alumni Association. Photo by Dan McKechnie 7. Raymond Anana, ’96 PhD(Pharm), and his wife, Francisca, take a turn on the dance floor at the Alumni Weekend Dinner & Dance. Photo by Selena Phillips-Boyle
new trail winter 2012 43
C LASS NOTES
1940s 1950s ’42 Glen Patterson, BCom, of Vancouver, just returned from a cruise through Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, and a second cruise to Alaska. He visited the graves of Franklin’s crew on Beechey Island then climbed into a Zodiac to get close to polar bears and muskox.
’48 Dick MacDonald, BSc, ’52 MD, of Chico, CA, joined the military after graduation, serving for seven years as a medical officer and reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. A general practitioner in Calgary and California until 2000, Dick has since served as a medical director for the Hemlock Society, senior medical advisor for Final Exit Network and board member for the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.
“I grew up at university,” remembers Mickey Hajash, ’47 BSc(Eng), pictured with Nena Jocic-Andrejevic, ’79 BA, of the Faculty of Engineering. Hajash returned to campus for September’s Alumni Weekend. “Before I came to university I was a farm boy, but I became a man during my time at the U of A.” Hajash recalls participating in as many athletic events as his workload from the Faculty of Engineering would allow, including playing on the Golden Bears football team for three years.
’52 Sheila Campbell, BEd, ’72 MEd, had a varied career that included teaching in the school system and an associate professorship at the University of Alberta. She set up the Early Childhood Development and Early Childhood Administration programs at MacEwan University and ran her own consulting business for 10 years. She then spent three years volunteering in Tanzania, where she established kindergarten programs. Sheila is retired and lives in Victoria. ’57 Muriel Dais, BSc(Ag), of Turner Valley, AB, worked as an editor for National Farm Radio Forum in Toronto after graduation, then spent two years as a research assistant in the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of
Manitoba. In 1960 she married Wilfred “Bill” Dais, ’60 BPE, ’64 BEd, and returned to the U of A to study education. She taught high school in Medicine Hat, AB, and was a high school guidance counsellor in Calgary. After retiring in 1990, Muriel began raising a herd of purebred Limousin cattle and running a commercial cow/calf operation. ’59 Patricia Brine, BEd, ’89 MEd, of Edmonton, retired after 35 years of teaching. Following her retirement, she began writing, penning six mystery novels and four nonfiction books. She also played double bass in the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra for eight years. Patricia currently plays viola in a number of amateur orchestras and sings with the Richard Eaton Singers.
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1960s
’60 John McNeill, BSc(Pharm), ’62 MSc, of Vancouver, UBC professor and dean emeritus of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, was the recipient of an honorary degree from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biologics at Université Montpellier 1. ’62 Harlan Hulleman, BEd, ’71 MA, of Red Deer, AB, was a French teacher and teacherlibrarian at Lacombe Composite High School for 25 years. He was founding editor of The Little Village That Grew, A History of North Red Deer. Harlan has won numerous awards for his volunteer work with local, regional and provincial organizations, including the Alberta Teachers’ Association, the U of A Senate and the Access Network Board. He has been a tireless advocate for brain injury survivors since his second-oldest son was severely injured in a traffic accident. Harlan and his wife, Walda, have four children.
’62 Alice Mitchell (Fraser), BSc, earned her master’s in both divinity, and theology and ethics of communication, before teaching at Alberta Bible College for seven years. She and her husband worked as missionaries in Peru from 1974-1988, where they had three daughters. They spent three years in Scotland helping design Bible World, a branch of the Scottish Bible Society bringing the Bible to life for children and young people across the country, before returning to South America, where Alice taught in the Alliance Academy and Seminario Bautista in Quito, Ecuador. Alice and her family have moved back to Canada.
’62 Ray Speaker, BEd, was a member of the Alberta legislature from 1963 to 1992, and a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1997. He then served as a member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee. Ray notes that many of his colleagues from Model Parliament — including Joe Clark, ’60 BA, ’73 MA, ’85 LLD (Honorary), Jim Coutts, ’60 BA, ’61 LLB, and Grant Notley, ’60 BA — continued to be his friends and fellow participants in public life. ’64 Hazel Schattschneider (Magnussen), Dip(Nu), ’72 BScN, completed her master’s degree in theological studies, with a focus on health care ethics, at St. Stephen’s College in 1988. Now retired and living in Parksville, BC, Hazel has published two books: A Doctor ’s Calling: A Matter of Conscience, about her brother Dr. Doug Snider Sr., BEd ’63, MD ’68, and Go North, Young Woman, Go North, a story about her years working as a nurse in the Far North in the 1960s. ’66 Owen Anderson, BA, ’72 PhD, has just received a Distinguished Service Award from the Vancouver Board of Trade and is a literary critic for the board’s publication Sounding Board. Owen also teaches at Simon Fraser University and is a consultant to organizations in the public and private sectors. ’67 Virginia Sauve (Black), BA, ’82 MEd, ’91 PhD, taught English as a Second Language for several years before becoming a professor at the University of Manitoba. Upon returning
’66 Gordon J. Hoffman, BA, ’74 LLB, won the City of Calgary Citizen of the Year Award for 2010, as well as the Queen Elizabeth II 60th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Medal. Gordon has received numerous awards and honours over the last few years and has been a chairman, co-chairman or director — and often the founder — of the best part of some 100 charitable and community organizations.
to Edmonton, Virginia opened a private school for immigrants that offered ESL and job training. Now a semi-retired grandmother of five, she awaits the release of her new book, Gateway to Canada, due this year from Oxford University Press.
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new trail winter 2012 45
C LASS NOTES ’69 Helen Day, Dip(RM), has recently published a self-help book, Beauty Without Injections, on the negative aspects of using Botox for facial revitalization. Her next book, When Good People Have To Lie, a story of her journey in and out of chronic pain, is set to be released in 2013.
’69 Ron Hannah, BSc, ’73 BMus, ’75 MMus, has written a new composition, “Missa Brevis,” for mixed voices and organ that had its world premiere in Austria in August as part of the Sieggraben Summer Music Workshops. The workshop was directed by another U of A grad: Andrea Mellis, ’74 BMus.
60s ’69 Bob de Frece, BSc, ’71 Dip(Ed), ’75 BEd, of Sherwood Park, AB, retired from his position as professor of music and music education at the University of Alberta in 2008. He continues his association with the U of A as conductor of the University of Alberta Mixed Chorus and the Faculty of Education Handbell Ringers. He also teaches certification courses in Orff Schulwerk as part of the Department of Elementary Education’s Summer Music Academy. He and his wife, Cathy de Frece, ’72 BEd, enjoy spending time with their two-year-old grandson, Alexander.
’69 Barry Leon, BA, partner and head of the International Arbitration Group at PerleyRobertson, Hill & McDougall, and chair of ICC Canada, has become a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He also works at Arbitration Place, a new, fully integrated state-of-the-art arbitration centre in Toronto. ’69 Martinus Reedyk, MD, was selected by the Alberta Rural Physician Action Plan as its 2012 Award of Distinction recipient. The award is presented annually to a rural family physician in Alberta who demonstrates a superior commitment and contribution to the community.
ALUMNI JOIN THE ORDER OF CANADA The following alumni were recently appointed to the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honours: Robert G. Bertram, ’71 MBA; Gordon Semenoff, ’76 BSc, ’81 PhD; Allan Gordon Bell, ’74 BA, ’80 MMus; Anthony “Tony” Fields, ’74 MD; Merril Knudtson, ’65 BSc; and William Laskin, ’83 BCom.
Dedicated to advancing health through teaching, research and patient care Join us to celebrate our medical school’s centennial in 2013 with these signature events open to the public: • •
100 Years of Medicine photo exhibit Centennial Lectures
Visit our website for dates and inforMation
46 newtrail.ualberta.ca
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1970s
’71 Robert Bertram, MBA, is a recipient of the 2012 Institute of Corporate Directors Fellowship Awards. Robert was also appointed an officer of the Order of Canada on June 30.
’75 Victor Carl Friesen, PhD, has written and illustrated a humorous book of verse for children. Birds, Bugs, and Beasts is Victor’s ninth book, published by Kingsley Publishing. ’75 Thomas Gee, BSc, a partner with Peterson Walker LLP Chartered Accountants in Edmonton, was named a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta. Thomas was also elected to the institute’s council. ’75 James Talbot, BSc, ’81 PhD, was recently appointed chief medical officer of health for Alberta. He is a Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons specialist in medical microbiology and previously served as senior provincial medical officer of health for Alberta. ’76 Kari Olson, BScN, ’90 PhD, was awarded the 2012 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Foundation Pharmacy Practice
HONOUR-ABLE MENTION Three new assistant chief judges were recently appointed to the Provincial Court of Alberta: Jerry N. LeGrandeur, ’74 LLB, to the southern region of provincial court; L. Diane Young, ’80 BA, ’84 LLB, to the provincial court’s civil division; and James Ogle, ’74 LLB, to the criminal division of the Calgary region of provincial court.
Model Initiative Demonstration Grant. Olson is a clinical pharmacy specialist in pharmacy practice-based research and cardiovascular risk reduction at Kaiser Permanente Colorado in Aurora, CO. ’77 Agathe Gaulin, BA, ’96 Dip(Ed), ’00 MEd, of Comox, BC, works as a consultant for her company, Activa Solutions. She is also a sailing instructor with Morgana Sailing. Agathe recently returned from Hawaii after 20 days of ocean sailing in the Victoria-Maui race. She was the navigator and in charge of provisioning on Big Ben, a Beneteau 50. ’77 Jim Prentice, BCom, executive vicepresident and vice-chair of CIBC, was recently appointed to the board of directors of Coril Holding Limited, based in Calgary. Jim was also featured earlier this year on CBC’s The Hour, with George Stroumboulopoulos.
’70 N. Antonio Peruch, BA, ’74 MA, released a CD in October, Logos Futura, which contains music written for him by three awardwinning Alberta composers. It was recorded partly in Cuba with conductor Zenaida Romeu.
’77 Edy Wong, BCom, ’79 MA, ’84 PhD, assistant dean, international, at the Alberta School of Business, recently received the 2012 PMAC Fellow Award, the highest honour the Purchasing Management Association of Canada can bestow on its members. Edy received the award in recognition of his significant contributions to PMAC ’s education programs and the relationships he has established between PMAC and the academic community. ’78 Dianne Greenough, BEd, co-owner of Perfect Storm Athletics, is retiring after 35 years as head coach of the cheer teams at the Victoria School for the Arts. With the help of Dianne’s coaching, the teams won 26 city championships and 26 provincial championships. ’79 Janice G. Rennie, BCom, received a 2012 Institute of Corporate Directors Fellowship Award on May 30. This award is the highest distinction for corporate directors in Canada and is presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to Canadian enterprises, not-for-profit organizations and Crown corporations. Janice is a director at Teck Resources Limited.
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new trail winter 2012 47
C LASS NOTES
1980s
’80 James Tayler, BEd, formerly a principal with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, moved to the Glashan Public School in Ottawa in September. James and his wife cheered for their son, Michael, at the London 2012 Olympics, where he was Canada’s only entry in men’s whitewater slalom and the youngest competitor in his class. ’83 Thomas J. Mullane, BSc(Eng), of Calgary was appointed executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Freehold Royalties Limited in July.
’87 John Fisher, BMedSc, ’89 MD, is serving with the U.S. Army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He is stationed in eastern Afghanistan as an anesthesiologist with the 94th Combat Support Hospital. ’87 Carol Senz, BSc(Ag), graduated university eager to start her own horse-training business. With all the physical work involved in her business, Carol increased her muscle strength and, in 2008, won a Canadian Women’s National Arm Wrestling Championship. ’87 Jerry Spencer, BA(RecAdmin), planned to retire from his position with the City of Chilliwack in November 2012.
48 newtrail.ualberta.ca
’82 Marijike Mercredi (Lubberts), BScN, has almost retired after 30 years of nursing. She has loved every nursing position she has had, from public health nurse to burn unit nurse. Marijike also spent 10 years as a caregiver to her aging father who lived with dementia, which she says was her most demanding, yet rewarding, role.
’89 Marc Prefontaine, BSc, of Vancouver, was recently appointed to the board of directors of Santacruz Silver Mining Limited. Most recently, he served as president and CEO of Grayd Resource Corporation.
’82 Therese Thompson, BSc(OT), ’07 MSc, lives in Lacombe, AB, with her husband, Ross Smillie, ’81 BSc. Therese works in Ponoka for Alberta Health Services as an occupational therapist in the area of seniors’ mental health. Ross works as a minister with the United Church of Canada and has published two books. They have two U of A-educated children, Sara Smillie, ’09 BEd, and Sean Smillie, ’12 BSc(MechEng). Therese spends her time gardening, baking, quilting, reading and walking, and Ross is an avid sailor. Therese is the second-place winner of the Alumni Association’s Class Update contest. Her name was chosen in a random draw for sharing her class note. The contest is over, but you can still see other class notes or submit your own at ualberta.ca/alumni/classupdate.
pro f i l e
Protecting the North, one adventure at a time At 14, Neil Hartling dreamed of paddling the Nahanni River. Now he is helping the rest of us fall in love with the North, too
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t was just about 7 o’clock on a frosty September morning when Neil Hartling, ’82 BPE, pulled into the drop spot along the Liard River in the Northwest Territories, just downriver from Nahanni Butte. A 24-year-old Hartling was preparing to embark on an expedition down the South Nahanni River, his dream from the time he was 14 and first read the book Nahanni by Dick Turner. He eased the van into the spot where he and his buddies planned to end their canoe trip, and then got out to wait for the ride back to the float plane. That’s when he heard the screams for help coming off the mist-covered river. Running to shore, he could just make out an aluminum boat drifting dangerously out of control down the river with a man, a woman, a little girl … and a fridge. Wait — a what? “They had a fridge draped across the bow of the boat,” says Hartling. “It was a mother, a father and a little girl — six or so.” The family, members of the local Dene community, had loaded all their household possessions on a boat and set off for Nahanni Butte. In a land where roads are a luxury, boat was the best mode of transport. Now they were out of gas and, without any paddles or life jackets, being carried steadily toward Beaver Dam Rapids. Hartling and another nearby camper grabbed a canoe, paddled out to the boat and towed it to shore with a rope. It took nearly three kilometres of paddling with the current to get everyone safely to the banks of the river. The family was saved, and Hartling thought he had come away from his trip with nothing more than a great story. But the Nahanni kept calling and Hartling applied for an outfitting licence that would allow him to include the river in his guiding company. Lots of luck, he was told: new licences needed permission from one of the First Nations bands living along the river. He tracked down the family he’d saved, and with their help he came away with a letter of permission from the Dene chief.
Hartling (centre) has introduced many Canadians to the beauty of the North, including former New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton, who died in 2011, and member of Parliament Olivia Chow.
Nearly 30 years later, Hartling remains owner and operator of Nahanni River Adventures and Canadian River Expeditions. His company offers canoeing or rafting vacations on 20 rivers in northern Canada and Alaska. He welcomes about 300 tourists each year, and views each of them as more than just an adventurer. They are all potential allies in his efforts to conserve key areas of northern wilderness. “People protect what they love, and they automatically fall in love with these places,” says Hartling. Once his clients see the Nahanni’s towering Virginia Falls — twice as tall as Niagara — or the dramatic landscape of the Tatshenshini and the wildlife of the Firth, it’s not a big stretch to convince them that this land is worth protecting. Not surprisingly, then, Hartling has been heavily involved in local conservation efforts. Nahanni National Park Reserve, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, was
expanded in 2009 thanks in part to efforts by Hartling and his fellow guides. They helped expand those protections again in August with the creation of Naats’ihch’oh National Park Reserve. Much was made this summer of the fact that the boundaries of this newest park did not include some of the most mineral-rich areas, leaving these open for future mining. Hartling takes this in stride as part of the ongoing process of education and conservation. “It takes a decade or more to protect each place.” He says his time at the University of Alberta gave him the tools to work effectively on wilderness conservation. “The influences and time at the U of A gave me the framework and background, and a lens to be able to view the issues and have a vision for what can be.” – Lisa Cook new trail winter 2012 49
C LASS NOTES
pro f ile
ALUMNI AMONG ALBERTA’S MOST INFLUENTIAL The following alumni were recently recognized in Alberta Venture magazine’s ranking of Alberta’s 50 Most Influential People: Stan Blade, ’81 BSc Michael Casey, ’69 BCom Greg Fenton, ’84 BSc(Forest), ’88 MSc(Ag) Jane Halford, ’94 BCom Casey Hudson, ’98 BSc(Eng) Simon O’Byrne, ’98 BA Karina Pillay-Kinnee, ’94 BSc Clif Purvis, ’86 BA, ’89 LLB Andy Ridge, ’98 BSc Kevin Swan, ’05 BSc(Eng) John Wright, ’81 BSc(Eng)
Gail Hall, ’85 BA, is a chef, cooking instructor, culinary tour guide and tireless advocate for local food. She wears her many professional hats (tall, white and puffy, no doubt) under the banner of Edmonton-based Seasoned Solutions. “The philosophy of my company is to introduce people to authentic food experiences — be it a cooking class, a culinary tour, or speaking at a conference or workshop,” she explains. As an avowed foodie, Hall must have her frustrations with Alberta’s northern climate, right? Wrong. She prefers to focus on our local strengths rather than our perceived shortcomings. “First of all, we obviously have unbelievable protein in this area,” Hall declares. “We’ve always been known for our beef and bison. We’re also known for Berkshire pork and incredible fish. When you get fish out of cold water, the meat is that much sweeter.” Hall is also thrilled by the explosion in Edmonton’s farmers market scene. A longtime resident of 104 Street, she has even built a cooking class around the downtown market, where students meet the vendors and buy ingredients. Still, she laments the fact that modern food habits are driven by low prices, not by quality or flavour. “So many people have grown up on hothouse tomatoes that were
picked green and ripened in transit,” she observes. “They might not even know that there’s a difference in flavour.” Hall credits the U of A for much of her current success — even though a BA in sociology and English might seem an unusual choice for a woman who had already decided on a career in food. “Ironically, for my business to grow, I had to rely more on my English and communication skills, for both the marketing and administration, than on my cooking skills,” she says. www.seasonedsolutions.ca
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– Scott Rollans
• Workplace Communication • Financial Management • Workplace Coaching • Conflict Resolution • Management Bootcamp
www.extension.ualberta.ca/management
photo by Michele King
Spicing up Edmonton’s food scene
1990s
’90 Kelvin Greschner, BEd, has left his most recent position as Saskatchewan’s assistant deputy minister of Northern Affairs to become the president and chief executive officer of Saskatchewan’s Northlands College. ’91 Leland Oberst, BCom, of Edmonton was appointed managing partner of Deloitte Edmonton.
receiving her BEd) to pursue a master’s degree in educational studies. Although Susanne and her family now make their home in Dubai, they return to Canada every summer.
alumni bring the WRITE sTUFF
’92 John Kaul, MSc, of Mississauga, ON, was recently appointed vice-president and general manager of Acklands-Grainger, Western Canada.
This year’s winners of the Alberta Literary Awards included two University of Alberta alumni: Tim Bowling, ’97 MA, and Jannie Edwards, ’89 MA.
’94 Sheetal Mehta-Walsh, BA, was nominated for the Microsoft Alumni Foundation 2012 Integral Fellows Award, which recognizes contributions to the global philanthropic community. Sheetal provides advisory services to socially conscious technology companies so they can access smart venture capital, corporate partnering, global expansion and public relations. She received the Alumni Association’s Award of Excellence in 2008. ’94 Geoff Lilge, BA, ’11 MDes, had his cutting boards, butcher blocks and knife holders distributed through Williams-Sonoma beginning in August. A former partner in a furniture design company as well as a teacher in the U of A’s design department until 2010, Geoff now oversees design and production at his company, On Our Table. ’92 Sheldon Dattenberger, BSc(CivEng), (pictured above) is the new senior project manager for the water division at Delcan, an international multidisciplinary engineering, planning, management and technology firm. ’92 Brad Ferguson, BA, ’95 BCom, founder and CEO of the executive consulting firm Strategy Summit, recently took on the role of president and CEO of the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation. ’92 Susanne Herrington (Schmidt), BEd, spent 15 years in Dubai with her husband before moving with her family to Saudi Arabia, where she was a support teacher. She also recently re-enrolled at the University of Alberta as a graduate student (on the 20th anniversary of
’95 Victor Cui, BA, CEO of One Fighting Championship, based in Singapore, plans to hold eight mixed martial arts events across Asia in 2012 and another 18 in 2013. ’97 John Nychka, BSc(MetEng), was awarded the Engineers Canada Medal for Distinction in Engineering Education, the highest national award for engineering education for which there is only one recipient each year. John is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta. ’99 Sandra Annis, BSc, is a registered psychologist with a private practice in Lethbridge, AB. In her spare time, she
’99 Patrice Jull (Kanngiesser), BScN, spent a few years overseas after graduation and then settled back in Calgary. In 2008, she obtained her Enterostomal Therapy Nurse Certification and has been working out of the Sheldon M. Chumir Wound Clinic since then. Patrice shifted her focus in 2010 to raising her family; she has a beautiful, fun-loving boy named Findley. Patrice is the first-place winner of the Alumni Association’s Class Update contest. Her name was chosen in a random draw because she shared her class note. The contest is over, but you can still see other class notes or submit your own at ualberta.ca/alumni/classupdate.
volunteers for mental health committees, provides supervision to counselling practicum students and facilitates domestic violence treatment groups. ’99 Dan Chiverton, BCom, has lived in Costa Rica for the past five years, working for an online poker company. He is currently in the game security department, where he guards against players who are trying to cheat. new trail winter 2012 51
C LASS NOTES
pro f ile
Sharing the Stories of the North
Cyclist Tara Whitten, ’07 BSc (pictured above), wrestler Ali Bernard, ’11 BA(RecAdmin), and air pistol competitor Dorothy Ludwig, ’00 BA, all competed in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Whitten won a bronze medal in the women’s team pursuit event.
Arluk with puppet Inuk Susie, one of the characters she has brought to life in her career as a storyteller
was wearing every piece of clothing she had.” The North is very important to Arluk, who was born in Fort Smith, N.W.T., of Inuvialuit, Gwich’in and Chipewyan-Cree descent. She travelled across the North with her grandparents from very young until school age. “I’m a northern girl, born and raised. It’s hard to be away for a long time.” Despite that, Arluk moved to Vancouver this past fall. “I want to see what a year in Vancouver will bring. After 10 years of theatre, I’m ready to add a little more to the mix.” – Lisa Cook
Inspired meetings. Inspirational setting. Toll Free: 1.877.760.4595 E-mail: conferences@banffcentre.ca www.banffconferences.ca/ualberta The Banff Centre provides exceptional meeting facilities and services in a location that cannot help but inspire.
52 newtrail.ualberta.ca
Banff, Canadian roCkies
Left photo by thomas alleman, right photo by Douglas R. Witt
Green And Gold Olympians
actor, writer, poet, theatre troupe owner, puppeteer … it’s hard at first glance to categorize Reneltta Arluk, ’05 BFA(Drama). But she doesn’t have that problem. “I’m a storyteller,” says Arluk. Most recently Arluk’s stories are told through a poet’s lens. She published her first book, Thoughts And Other Human Tendencies (BookLand Press), this summer. The compilation examines the joy and pain of a young aboriginal woman’s culture and relations. Arluk’s many other credits include the role of puppeteer and elder Inuk Susie during a StuckinaSnowbank Theatre puppet production in Yellowknife, and her first movie role, in the film Maïna, scheduled for release in spring 2013. She also penned a one-woman show, TUMIT, produced by Akpik Theatre, the Yellowknife-based company she formed in 2008 to showcase northern and indigenous scripts. When Arluk was looking for a director for TUMIT, she turned to her former professor, Kate Weiss, chair of the U of A’s Department of Drama. But she had one stipulation: Weiss had to come up to Yellowknife. “I told her, ‘I need you to see my environment. I need to you see what informs my work,’” says Arluk. Weiss’s travels brought her a better understanding of the play’s character … and of life up North. “I brought her up here in February. By the end of the time, she
2000s&2010s ’00 Elizabeth von Hauff, BSc, moved to Germany after graduation to continue working on organic photovoltaics. In July 2011, she got a position as associate professor at the University of Freiburg, in association with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. ’01 Gordon Binsted, PhD, was recently appointed dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Development at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus. Gordon is a researcher in the field of human kinetics and has served as acting dean since 2011.
’03 Emma Hooper, BA, composed and performed the soundtrack to a new game for Apple’s iPhone and iPad, titled SingSmash, which challenges people to sing in key at the right time in order to smash a wall to advance to the next level — surreptitiously engaging them with basic music theory at the same time.
’07 Genaro Gelves, PhD, joined 3M-Canada in Calgary in June 2012 as a senior research scientist. ’10 John Crook, MPH, was recently promoted to lieutenant-colonel and posted to Petawawa, ON, where he assumed command of 2 Field Ambulance unit.
’05 Justen Bennett, BA, an actor, director and playwright from Fort McMurray, AB, has written a new play, The Fantastical Adventures of (Not) Being With You, and is currently directing it at the Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell, London, England.
’02 Graham J. Murphy, PhD, recently accepted a full-time position as a professor at the School of English and Liberal Studies (Faculty of Business) at Seneca College in Toronto, where he is teaching diploma- and degree-level literature courses.
Photo by Vi Warkentin
’02 Rheanna Sand, BSc, ’12 PhD, took up a post-doctoral position at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in Manhattan, where she studies the function of general anesthetics. Rheanna is also a writer, producer and host of the video and blog series Science in Seconds, which she started in 2009 with fellow U of A alumnae Brittany Trogen, ’08 BSc, and Torah Kachur, ’01 BSc, ’08 PhD.
’07 Scott Gordon, BCom, and Gavin Fedorak, ’06 BCom, co-owners of Press’d The Sandwich Company, have signed their first franchisee. Their future plans include growing their national string of shops to 75 by 2017. Press’d are (from left) Gavin Fedorak, ’06 BCom, Grant Fedorak and Scott Gordon, ’07 BCom
Friends Leah Lyle, ’02 Dip(DentHyg), ’03 BSc, Sara Hegberg, ’02 Dip(DentHyg), ’03 BSc, Angie Letniak, ’02 Dip(DentHyg), and Jodi Bamford, ’02 Dip(Dent Hyg), show off their brilliant smiles and their U of A pride at the Dental Hygiene Reunion Reception at the faculty club during Alumni Weekend. These grads joked that their class was known on campus as “The Smurfs” because of the bright blue uniforms they were assigned to wear. If you missed seeing your fellow “Smurfs” at Alumni Weekend, you can still catch up with them at one of the Alumni Association’s many chapter events throughout the year. Visit alumni.ualberta.ca for more information.
new trail winter 2012 53
I N MEMOR I AM
The Alumni Association notes with sorrow the passing of the following graduates (passings occurred between September 2011 and June 2012 unless otherwise noted) ’34 Leslie Harold McManus, BSc(CivEng), of Edmonton, AB, in May
’48 René A. Diamond, BSc(MiningEng), of Calgary, AB, in August
’50 John Edward Young, DDS, of Edmonton, AB, in July
’55 Edward Gerald Brown, BSc(CivEng), of Victoria, BC, in June
’61 Bruce H. Wilkerson, BSc(CivEng), of Fonthill, ON, in June
’38 Maureen Eilish Martin (Dunne), BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in July
’48 Robert Hoare, BSc, ’50 MSc, of Winnipeg, MB, in June
’51 Larry Clare Darling, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in August
’55 William J. Erichson, BSc(ElecEng), of North Vancouver, BC, in August
’62 Joy Arlene Zeddell, BSc(HEcol), of Ann Arbor, MI, in May
’39 Jean Miller Campbell (Palethorpe), BSc(HEcol), of London, ON, in June
’48 Ernest Daniel Hodgson, BEd, ’49 MEd, ’64 PhD, of Edmonton, AB, in July
’51 Andrew James Farmer, BCom, ’67 BEd, of Calgary, AB, in September
’55 Cecile Jeanne Martindale (Laplante), Dip(Ed), of St. Albert, AB, in July
’63 Edward Clark, DDS, of West Vancouver, BC, in June
’41 Macleod Richard Elofson, BSc, of Leduc, AB, in August
’48 Margery Helen Hoskyn (Ramsay), BEd, of Calgary, AB, in June
’51 E. Peter Lougheed, BA, ’52 LLB, of Calgary, AB, in September
’56 Gwendolyn Phyllis Boyd (McCoy), Dip(Nu), of Edmonton, AB, in August
’63 John William Jensen, BSc(MechEng), of Calgary, AB, in September
’41 Nicholas John Kuzyk, BA, of Vegreville, AB, in August
’49 Sonia Allore (Woytkiw), BSc(HEcol), ’55 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in June
’51 Nello William Marano, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in August
’56 Keith Leonard Lea, BSc(PetEng), of Calgary, AB, in August
’63 David F. Weaver, MSc, of Mississauga, ON, in May
’41 Ruth Edith Stephens (Gilchrist), Dip(Nu), ’42 BSc(Nu), of Portland, OR, in February
’49 Tetsuo Aoki, BEd, ’63 MEd, of Vancouver, BC, in August
’51 Dennis Joseph O’Byrne, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’57 John Robert Anderson, MSc, of Kamloops, BC, in April
’64 Stewart Wayne Dodsworth, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in July
’41 William Bentley Tobey, BSc(MiningEng), of Denver, CO, in April
’49 Rae Marie Brooks, BSc(HEcol), in March
’51 Robert Burton Spevakow, BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’57 Eleanor Ethel Ferguson, BA, ’68 Dip(Ed), of Victoria, BC, in September
’65 Gary Maxwell Houston, DDS, of Maple Creek, SK, in May
’43 Floyd Francis Mathers, BSc(ElecEng), of Abbotsford, BC, in August
’49 John Timothy Costello, BSc, of Calgary, AB, in August
’52 Peter Michael Dranchuk, BSc(PetEng), ’59 MSc, of Edmonton, AB, in September
’57 Shirley Ann Mollerup (Harris), Dip(Nu), ’59 BScN, of White Rock, BC, in July
’65 Lorne Wayne Jackson, BSc, in August
’43 Alex Rosenthal, BSc, ’47 BEd, ’49 MSc, of Vancouver, BC, in April
’49 Eileen Kadis (Crookes), BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’52 Gwendolyn Margaret Hughes, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in July
’58 John Nicholas Kraychy, BSc(MineralEng), of Calgary, AB, in July
’65 Harvey Winston Walker, BA, ’69 BEd, ’87 Dip(Ed), of Qualicum Beach, BC, in May
’44 Felix Edward Otterson, BA, ’49 Dip(Ed), ’53 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in September
’49 Ethel Mae Davies, Dip(Ed), ’57 BEd, ’74 BA, of Calgary, AB, in September
’52 Douglas James Morrison, BSc(ChemEng), of Edmonton, AB, in August
’58 Bruce Eugene McDonald, BSc(Ag), ’60 MSc, of Winnipeg, MB, in April
’66 Denis Pelletier, MEd, of Winnipeg, MB, in May
’44 Victoria A. Wachowich, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in September
’49 Ronald Allen Goliss, BSc(MiningEng), of Canning Vale, Australia, in July
’53 Helen F. Seymour, Dip(PHNu), of Calgary, AB, in April
’58 Marjorie Irene McGrath, BEd, of Saskatoon, SK, in September
’67 Lowell Thomas Court, BSc(ElecEng), of Calgary, AB, in January
’46 Roland Milton Lazerte, BSc(ChemEng), of Calgary, AB, in June
’49 William Gladstone Jewitt, BSc(ChemEng), of Trail, BC, in July
’54 Lois Helen Anderson, Dip(Ed), ’75 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’58 Stanley Alfred Oracheski, Dip(Ed), ’59 BEd, ’63 BA, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’67 Hendrikje Dobyanski, BEd, ’83 MEd, of Westlock, AB, in August
’47 Sara Bercovich (Lutsky), BSc(Pharm), of Edmonton, AB, in June
’49 Donald David Phillips, BSc, of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA, in April
’54 John Androschuk, BSc(Pharm), ’57 BEd, ’68 Dip(Ed), ’69 MA, of Edmonton, AB, in September
’58 Millicent Ross Osterberg (Hawken), Dip(Ed), of Calgary, AB, in September
’67 Kenneth Delmer Dreger, BCom, of Calgary, AB, in August
’47 Donalda Isobel Coram (Breckon), BA, of Ottawa, ON, in August
’49 Andrew Skuba, Dip(Ed), ’52 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in February
’54 Albert E. Crooks, BSc(Pharm), of Calgary, AB, in April
’58 John Walter Twach, BSc(CivEng), of Devon, AB, in August
’67 Richard Ernest Hodgkinson, BEd, ’69 Dip(Ed), in July
’47 Samuel Sereth Lieberman, BA, ’48 LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in September
’50 Charles Herbert Harvie, BSc(Ag), of Calgary, AB, in April
’54 John William Goruk, Dip(Ed), ’57 Dip(Ed), ’60 BEd, of Smoky Lake, AB, in August
’59 Elfriede Grillmair (Steiner), BSc, of Calgary, AB, in August
’67 Aubrey Lee Hoxter, PhD, of Culver City, CA, in November
’47 Paul Goodwin McConnell, BSc(ElecEng), of Fredericton, NB, in April
’50 Ernest Leslie Harwood, BSc(ElecEng), of Edmonton, AB, in June
’54 Eva Mary McCarthy (Jack), BSc(HEcol), of Camrose, AB, in July
’60 Aili Dore, Dip(Nu), of Parksville, BC, in July
’67 Richard Everatt Wroot, BEd, ’70 MEd, of Victoria, BC, in November
’47 John Naylor Penzer, DDS, of Langley, BC, in April
’50 Amelia Juliette Nash (Werbisky), BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’54 George William Peacock, BSc, ’56 BSc(CivEng), of Penticton, BC, in July
’61 Marion Gordon Checknita, BSc(ChemEng), of Trail, BC, in July
’68 Kenneth Harold Banks, BSc(CivEng), of Thorsby, AB, in September
’48 Gordon Francis Davies, BEd, of St. Helena, CA, in January
’50 Arthur Francis Pedlar, BSc(Pharm), of Calgary, AB, in September
’54 Alexander James Proudfoot, Dip(Ed), ’56 BEd, of Calgary, AB, in July
’61 Ronald Leslie Whitehouse, MSc, ’65 PhD, of Edmonton, AB, in June
’68 Derek Edward Bennett, BCom, of Surrey, BC, in August
54 newtrail.ualberta.ca
’68 Gwendolyn Ellen Ewan, BA(Hons), ’75 MA, of Victoria, BC, in August
’72 Sharon Evangeline Bruneau, BScN, of Camrose, AB, in August
’75 Patricia Irene Hill, BSc, of Edmonton, AB, in September
’80 Claudio David Baretta, BEd, of Spruce Grove, AB, in September
’91 David Alexander van Driesum, BSc(PT), of Edmonton, AB, in July
’68 Bernard Claude Rondeau, BEd, ’72 BA, of Calgary, AB, in January
’72 Carolla Lee Christie, BSc, in August
’75 Kun Shih Huang, MSc, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’80 Marjorie Elizabeth Bowman, Dip(Ed), of Sarnia, ON, in July
’92 Michael David Manz, BSc(Forest), of Edmonton, AB, in July
’69 Olga Margaret Alexandruk, BScN, ’75 Dip(Ed), ’90 BEd, of Fort Saskatchewan, AB, in June
’72 Charles Alexander Mathews, BEd, of Bonnyville, AB, in August
’76 Robert Glen Cooper, BSc(Forest), of White Rock, BC, in July
’80 Susan W. Knight (Lucas), BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in November
’93 Robert Patrick Annett, BSc(HEcol), of Edmonton, AB, in September
’69 Bruce Baker, BSc(ElecEng), of Nanaimo, BC, in February
’72 Alfred Mundt, BSc, ’76 DDS, of Olds, AB, in July
’76 Dawn Marie Guenthner (Simkin), BEd, of Consort, AB, in February
’80 Norman Joel Pollock, LLB, of Edmonton, AB, in June
’94 Elizabeth Ann Sovis, MScSLP, of Edmonton, AB, in July
’69 Francis Richard Cheesman, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’73 Ethel Emily Bell, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in July
’76 Lyle Hier, BEd, of Leduc, AB, in August
’82 Janice Ann Bantle, BA, of Stratford, ON, in September
’95 Kevin John McConnell, BEd, of Camrose, AB, in August
’69 Daniel Robert Goin, BA, ’74 Dip(Ed), ’75 BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in June
’73 Rita Catherine Benoit, BEd, ’76 Dip(Ed), ’78 Dip(Ed), of High Priarie, AB, in July
’76 Alan Edward Thomas, BSc(ElecEng), of Edmonton, AB, in July
’82 Emilio Zaporitizo Ilago, Dip(Ed), of Winnipeg, MB, in January
’96 Mark Elliot Rosenberger, BSc(MechEng), of Calgary, AB, in September
’69 Richard Alfred Nesselbeck, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’73 Richard Sherwood Fowler, BA, ’76 LLB, of St. Albert, AB, in July
’76 Gerald Henry Woudstra, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in September
’82 Patrick Stephen Pfefferle, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in June
’06 Zaidee Cassandra Jensen, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’69 Lachlan Sinclair Phimester, BEd, ’70 MEd, of Peace River, AB, in August
’73 Leonard Joseph Genest, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’77 Walter Paul Boehm, BA, of Stony Plain, AB, in April
’83 Brian James Ennis, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in September
’07 Michelle Marie Ernst, BA, of Morinville, AB, in June
’70 Marlene Gloria Marianicz (Bryks), BEd, of Fort Saskatchewan, AB, in March
’73 Kathryn Keaschuk, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’77 Margaret Fay Fritsche, BSc(Pharm), of Edmonton, AB, in June
’83 Meleva Flemming, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’10 Jennifer Ellen Shepherd, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’70 Gerald Boyce Maybank, BSc(Pharm), of Olds, AB, in June
’73 John H. Weisgerber, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’77 Dallas Lloyd Hauge, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in July
’84 Johanne Cardinal, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in July
’70 Dorothy Marie Morris, BEd, ’79 Dip(Ed), of Edmonton, AB, in June
’73 Allen H. Wilson, BSc(Ag), of Gleichen, AB, in August
’77 Malcolm Frank Mawer, MSc, of Calgary, AB, in June
’85 Brian Douglas Mallett, BSc(AgEng), of Revelstoke, BC, in May
’70 Kenneth Gerald Reid, BA, of Fort Saskatchewan, AB, in July
’74 Roger Christopher McBean, BA, in June
’77 Jean Evelyn Popel (Knecht), BEd, of Lacombe, AB, in March
’86 Marie Catherine Pearson, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in September
’70 Robert Charles Schmidt, BA, ’76 BSc, ’85 MEd, of Edmonton, in June
’74 Jean Lurine Schmidt, BEd, of Victoria, BC, in August
’77 Wayne Anthony Wardin, BSc, of Drayton Valley, AB, in July
’86 Joan Mary Hagen (Roberts), BScN, of Spring Lake, AB, in July
’70 James M. Weseen, MEd, of Saskatoon, SK, in July
’74 Jeanne Mary Shaw (Shred), BLS, of Calgary, AB, in August
’77 Anna Alida Witmondt, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in August
’87 Larry Masato Watanabe, MSc, of Toronto, ON, in March
’71 Dennis James Daley, BDes, ’72 LLB, of Kelowna, BC, in June
’74 William Alex Taylor, BSc(ElecEng), of Vancouver, BC, in April
’78 Vidya Thakur, BEd, ’85 MEd, of Ocala, FL, in December
’87 Joseph Carl Wolgien, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in September
’71 Garry Hugh Ferr, BCom, of Winnipeg, MB, in July
’74 Jaylene Wetter, BEd, of Sherwood Park, AB, in July
’79 Keith Allen Ewasiuk, BEd, of Edmonton, AB, in July
’88 Timothy Arthur Salpeter, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in September
’71 Henry Mah, BSc(ElecEng), ’73 BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in May
’75 Nina Caponigro, BCom, of Edmonton, AB, in May
’79 Bradley Ross Greenwood, BA, of Edmonton, AB, in July
’90 Roger A. Kett, of Calgary, AB, in July
’71 Theodore Robert Walter, MEd, of Peachland, BC, in June
’75 Katherine Mary Hasselgren, BA, of Sidney, BC, in July
’80 Ronald John Babinec, BSc(Pharm), of Calgary, AB, in July
’90 Lynda Ann Ruud, BCom, of Calgary, AB, in September
Submit remembrances of U of A graduates by sending an email to alumni@ualberta.ca. Tributes are posted to the “In Memoriam” webpage at www. ualberta.ca/alumni.
new trail winter 2012 55
Y
ou probably already know J. Dewey Soper, ’60 LLD (Honorary). Walking through the bio science building, you’ve passed by his original field kit on display in a glass case — the life story of a pioneering naturalist laid out for those who stop to look. You’ll see a few traps, some needles and thread, and a collection of good, sharp knives. There is also an odd assortment of unlabelled jars that the curator has deemed it wise to leave sealed. Born in 1893, Soper became a naturalist who in the 1920s made three groundbreaking expeditions to the Arctic to collect zoological and botanical specimens. He was one of the first scientists to study Arctic wildlife and — journeying by dogsled in
56 newtrail.ualberta.ca
the winter and freighter canoe in summer — Soper became the first explorer to successfully cross Baffin Island and return. He writes of enduring temperatures of 70 degrees below freezing. Over his lifetime, Soper put his field kit to good use collecting more than 10,000 specimens; he donated 3,000 to the U of A. The breadth of his collection gives modern biologists the basis for comparative studies and, even 30 years after his 1982 death, researchers are finding new uses for the samples, including DNA testing. Based on “Joseph Dewey Soper,” Arctic, March 1983, by Roland Soper and Tom Beck; and an interview with Wayne Roberts on InnovationAlberta.com.
photo by richard siemens
Dewey Soper’s Northern Legacy
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