Portico Magazine, Spring 2016

SPRING 2016

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

Horse power Jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson takes the reins as one of Canada’s top athletes. p.14 Small classes, big ideas

Unique first-year seminars expand learning. p.22

Food faceoff

Sports nutritionist Jennifer Sygo weighs in on popular food myths. p.16

It’s no joke

How improv can boost your business skills. p.15

Build

dreams

ALUMNI

INSURANCE PLANS

We are all bound by familiar milestones in life — and the financial responsibilities that come with them. Whether you’re raising a family or a roof over your head, make sure you’ve got the right insurance plan in place for your family.

Find out how Alumni Insurance Plans can help.

Term Life Insurance • Health & Dental Insurance • Major Accident Protection • Income Protection Disability Insurance • Critical Illness Insurance

To learn more visit manulife.com/alumnimilestones or call toll-free 1-888-913-6333 This program is recommended by:

Underwritten by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company.

Manulife and the Block Design are trademarks of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and are used by it, and by its affiliates under license. © 2015 The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (Manulife). All rights reserved. Manulife, PO Box 4213, Stn A, Toronto, ON M5W 5M3.

Contents

15 22 8

FEATURES COVER STORY

14 On the job Horse business with jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson.

15 Q&A

COVER PHOTO: DAVE LANDRY PHOTOS, THIS PAGE: AMANDA SCOTT, JENNIFER ROBERTS, CAI SEPULIS

16

How improv can boost your business skills.

16 Food faceoff

VOICES

SECTIONS

4 Editor’s note 4 Loose cannon 5 President’s message 34 Class notes

6 Around the ring

IN EVERY ISSUE

6 Coursework 11 Ask the expert 26 Alumni spotlights 29 This I know 36 Passages 37 Time capsule

@porticomag

News and views from around campus.

10 Discovery U of G research, innovations and ideas.

31 Alumni matters Events, updates and class connections.

Sports nutritionist Jennifer Sygo weighs in on why a balanced meal plan always scores higher than the latest diet fad.

22 How a small first-year class can inspire big ideas From Star Wars to the science of sleep, first-year seminars offer a unique learning experience for students and instructors.

38 Last look Inside professor Massimo Marcone’s “cabinet of curiosities.”

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 3

Editor’s note Spring 2016, Vol. 48, Issue 1 LOOSE CANNON @CCrowleyArklie Love the fresh feel of newly designed @porticomag!

Everything I love about #UofG. @ooviloo All kinds of wonderful. @NIC_first Great story on NIC adventure guiding instructor Dave Pinel.

Thank you!

A big thank you to everyone who sent us a note about Portico magazine’s new look. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and we hope you enjoy this issue as much as the last.

Below are just a few of the letters and feedback we received. We

PUBLISHERS

hope to continue the discussion — what do you enjoy reading most in the magazine? Share your thoughts by email, tweet us (@porticomag), send a letter or comment on a story directly by visiting our website at porticomagazine.ca.

Stacey Morrison Editor

@eddotman @porticomag I’m reading the new issue on my morning commute. New design looks great … loved the focus on research and alum highlights! @joshdehaas New @porticomag looks great.

Shows off cool @uofg research like air-cleaning sound barriers in a much more enjoyable format.

Stacey Morrison ART DIRECTOR

Janice Van Eck WRITERS

Susan Bubak, Kevin Gonsalves, Lori Bona Hunt, Wendy Jespersen, Teresa Pitman, Andrew Vowles PHOTOGRAPHERS

ILLUSTRATOR

sparkling new look for a muchadmired publication over the years. Congratulations.

Particularly engaging article on Michael Cranfield’s work with the African mountain gorillas. I remember him from his student days at OVC back in the late ’70s.

—Stan Litch, Elora, ON just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed the recent Portico magazine. I read emails from U of G, but the magazine is read cover to cover. Love the format and topics. Keep on doing what you’re doing.

—Janice Edwards, MAC ’69 congratulations on Portico magazine’s new look — great job!

I’m a U of G grad (geography) turned graphic designer and definitely feel it was time for a new, contemporary design that better reflects the university and its worldwide, state-of-the art reputation. The printed magazine, along with the updated website, offers alumni both old and new

two great options when connecting back to the school. I have been involved in the design and production of a number of alumni publications for post-secondary institutions in the Calgary area, and I’ve experienced first-hand when schools and businesses forgo an actual printed piece, replacing it with an online, digital option only. No doubt some money is saved but sometimes at the cost of disconnected, alienated alumni. Kudos to your team in not only creating a fresh new look, but realizing the importance of a high-quality printed piece.

—John Pollock, BA ’76, Calgary, AB i love the new look of Portico, read it cover to cover! Keep up the great work, and look forward to the next one.

—Anonymous

porticomagazine@uoguelph.ca

4 | PORTICO Spring 2016

Cai Sepulis

Portico is published three times a year by Communications and Public Affairs at the University of Guelph.

Opinions expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the University.

FEEDBACK

Send letters and story ideas to porticomagazine@uoguelph.ca or by mail to Communications and Public Affairs, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ont., N1G 2W1. We reserve the right to edit all submissions.

ADVERTISING

Send advertising inquiries to Stacey Morrison at s.morrison@uoguelph.ca or 519-824-4120, Ext. 58706.

ADDRESS CHANGES

Send address changes to: alumnirecords@uoguelph.ca or 519-824-4120, Ext. 56550, or by mail to Records c/o Alumni Affairs & Development, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ont., N1G 2W1.

ISSN 1714-8731

Printed in Canada.

Publication Agreement #40064673.

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Portico Magazine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ont., N1G 2W1.

Connect with Portico @porticomag

EDITOR

Dean Palmer, Jennifer Roberts, Amanda Scott

INBOX @ExperienceNL Too cute for words. The unexpected #adventures of a #vet in Newfoundland via @porticomag.

Daniel Atlin, vice-president (external) Chuck Cunningham, assistant vice-president, Communications and Public Affairs

porticomagazine.ca

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Fostering connections leads to innovation

T

wo works of art hang side by side on my office wall.

One is Requiem for a Planet by David Bierk, a play on an image by Italian Baroque painter Pietro da Cortona. The other, Life Adrift in the Ocean by U of G fine art professor Jean Maddison, depicts a DNA strand and a human infant floating in the void.

Each artwork is eye-catching on its own. Viewing them together makes me think of collaborations between disciplines at U of G. Art and science talk to each other on my wall and across this campus.

Guelph is home to experts who devote their lives to profound study of disciplines in the humanities, sciences and social sciences. At the same time, our researchers often connect with each other in surprising ways.

For example, our School of Environmental Sciences invites artists for a residency program intended to challenge our imagination, and to offer new viewpoints on science and culture.

Veterinary researchers, biologists and ecologists meet up under U of G’s “onehealth” approach to tackle health problems where people, animals and the environment intersect — notably in our Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses.

In our Bioproducts

@porticomag

Discovery and Development Centre, Guelph engineers work with plant scientists to find uses for crops as renewable materials for car parts.

Each of these disciplines matters on its own. Perhaps more exciting is what happens when they come together in shared projects.

This campus is a community of minds that meet and collaborate and innovate together. In our fast-changing world with its big and often messy challenges, fostering those connections is more important than ever for innovation.

Beyond our own planet, we are looking outward to new worlds, and to a host of new challenges that we can meet only by joining minds across physics, planetary studies, humanities, environmental sciences and social sciences.

As technology continues to evolve, we need to bring minds to bear on new ways of innovating. “Innovation 2.0” will fundamentally change how we think and how we understand our evolving world.

Supporting Canada’s university communities — with their sometimes chaotic chatter in the classroom, the laboratory and the library — is vital for fostering Innovation 2.0 for a better future.

This campus is a community of minds that meet and collaborate and innovate together.

Franco Vaccarino President and Vice-Chancellor Spring 2016 PORTICO | 5

Around the ring CAMPUS NEWS AND VIEWS STUDENT LIFE

Student wins national painting prize

Corruption, scandal and political ethics Political scandals have been around for as long as politics have been around. That might explain the popularity of “Corruption, Scandal and Political Ethics,” a distance education course for credit toward certificates in leadership and in public policy and administration. It’s the second most SCANDALS popular online course offered at U TEND TO of G. So, what’s the first? A course ARISE WHEN on serial murders.

“THERE’S TOO “How can I possibly top serial MUCH MONEY murders?” asks Prof. Geoff Stevens, FLOATING who has taught “Corruption, AROUND AND TOO LITTLE Scandal and Political Ethics” for the CONTROL past 10 years. The course draws OVER IT.” about 200 students per term.

Topics include sex scandals and political privacy, the politics of lying, and patronage and conflict of interest, among others.

Stevens says the course looks at “the dark side of politics” but it also sheds light on how governments deal with scandals. “There’s lots of lessons to learn about ethical standards and the way governments try to keep politics and politicians honest, and the extent to which they succeed or fail,” he says.

He says the vast majority of politicians follow the rules, but scandals tend to arise when “there’s too 6 | PORTICO Spring 2016

much money floating around and too little control over it.”

Canadian examples he covers in the course include the Pacific Scandal under John A. Macdonald and the sponsorship scandal under Jean Chrétien, both of which brought down their respective governments. Despite these and other examples, Canada ranks among the top 12 countries in the world for political honesty, he adds.

Politicians who behave badly lose the public’s trust, but Stevens wants students to remember that not all of them are corrupt. “Most people are very well-intentioned and do their jobs honourably and honestly and are good stewards of the public trust and public tax funds,” he says. “There are always exceptions to this, and the exceptions are quite often instructive.” —SUSAN BUBAK

MFA student Patrick Cruz won the 2015 RBC Canadian Painting Competition.

ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM: PHOTO: DANA BELLAMY/THE ONTARION

COURSEWORK

Patrick Cruz, a master of fine art (MFA) student, won the 2015 RBC Canadian Painting Competition. The $25,000 prize celebrates promising new Canadian visual artists. It’s the second year in a row that the winner has had a U of G connection.

Cruz’s painting, Time allergy, was selected from more than 600 Canadian entries by a judging panel.

The jury, made up of some of Canada’s top artists, art directors, curators and art critics, commended Cruz on his “brave approach, maximalist esthetic and wild graphic sensibility.”

Cruz immigrated to Canada 10 years ago from the Philippines, and has said that the process inspired him to examine notions of diaspora, displacement and cultural identity.

His painting will become part of RBC’s corporate art collection, which also includes a painting by U of G graduate Tiziana La Melia, the 2014 RBC winner.

NUMBER CRUNCH

NOTEWORTHY

NOTEWORTHY

A few fascinating facts about the McLaughlin Library, which opened in 1968 and is named after Robert Samuel McLaughlin (1871–1972), a Canadian car manufacturer and philanthropist.

Physics professor breaks Guinness World Record No. 22

13,000 Number of daily visitors

630,758 Number of books in electronic form

1.57 MILLION Number of paper volumes

17,000 PHOTO: SYX LANGEMANN PHOTOGRAPHY

Number of cookbooks in the archives’ culinary collection

3,088 Number of seats

850 Number of public electrical outlets

@porticomag

By day, Jason Thomas, B.Sc. ’00, M.Sc. ’02, is a full-time U of G physics professor. Off campus, his alter ego, Burnaby Q. Orbax, is one half of the Monsters of Schlock, a vaudevillian stunt show that also includes his twin brother, Sweet Pepper Klopek (a registered name).

In the fall, the duo broke their latest world record when Thomas lay on a bed of nails while 50 motorcyclists took turns jumping over his body. Seventy jumps were recorded in two minutes, shattering the previous record of 31 jumps.

The 2014 edition of Guinness World Records featured the duo six times, including the most baking trays buckled over the head (55) by a team of two. Other record-breakers include towing a 4,082-kilogram truck with two shark hooks in his back, and hammering the most four-inchlong nails in and out of his nasal cavity (13) in 30 seconds.

“They’ve all worked out well,

Jason Thomas, right, as alter ego Burnaby Q. Orbax.

no major problems,” says Thomas. “It all seems really dangerous to people, but it’s a level of danger we’re trained to do.”

For a physics instructor, there’s even something instructive about all the mayhem.

In a recent episode of the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet, Thomas discusses how the linear drive shaft works in a giant tattoo machine, which he uses to inscribe a design on his brother’s thigh in 30 minutes.

You find physics principles everywhere, he says, whether it’s Orbax inserting hooks into his forearms to lift a 45-kilogram weight, or Thomas explaining to a first-year class how a figure skater uses conservation of angular momentum to speed up or slow down during a spin.

“For a subject people consider boring, it explains so much about the world around them,” says Thomas. —ANDREW VOWLES

New scholarships for grad students A new initiative to attract the best and brightest researchers to U of G includes substantial entrance scholarships for top graduate students.

The $1.5-million annual scholarship program will provide 25 doctoral awards worth $30,000 each and 50 master’s scholarships worth $15,000 each per year.

The one-year entrance awards will be shared among the seven colleges based on fulltime enrolment numbers.

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 7

Around the ring STUDENT LIFE

Syrian student arrives Sara Kuwatly doesn’t need her University of Guelph map anymore.

Next to her new winter clothing, that campus guide was a must-have for Kuwatly in early January. Newly arrived at U of G from Lebanon, the Syrian student needed to find her way around a snow-covered campus completely unlike anything she’d left behind in the Middle East.

“People are nice here,” she says with a slight Arabic accent. “People treat you differently than in Lebanon.”

By mid-February she had her bearings, but she was still missing her parents and siblings scattered between Lebanon and Europe.

Kuwatly arrived at U of G as a specially sponsored student under the Student Refugee Program run by the local chapter of the World University Service of Canada, an international development organization based in Ottawa. A second student is expected to start at Guelph in the fall semester.

Since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, and especially since the militant Islamic State took over parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, millions of Syrian refugees have arrived in camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

Kuwatly never endured the camps. Along with her mother and brother, she travelled in spring 2013 from her home in Damascus, Syria, to Beirut, Lebanon, where they found an apartment.

She had never heard of “Gelf,” as she pronounced the name while Googling U of G. And she knew practically nothing of Canada, except that “it was so cold here and far away.” Her online investigation turned up something even more important: Guelph is a safe place.

Her joy at being accepted was tempered by the notion of leaving her family. The worst moment was bidding farewell to her mother, a recollection that sparks tears.

She flew overnight on a chartered plane full of Syrian refugees travelling from Beirut to Canada. After staying overnight in Toronto, she was picked up by a University of Guelph team.

Kuwatly is taking a full course load this semester in a general science degree program. She’s thinking about medical studies and plans to return to Syria one day.

Referring to her generation’s responsibilities to that divided nation, Kuwatly says, “We have a country to build.”

She says she’s still lonely in Canada, but she’s grateful for a chance to live and study in a safe place where basic rights such as education are respected. “It’s a huge transition for me, everything is different, the people, the weather, the time difference. I sometimes feel like I’m not totally settled in here. There’s still a lot to know and do.

“I thought I couldn’t stay without my mom and here I am.” —ANDREW VOWLES 8 | PORTICO Spring 2016

CAMPUS NEWS

New sustainable bike shelter doubles as pavilion A sustainable bicycle shelter built in the heart of campus will double as a pavilion for small events and gatherings. Located on the edge of Branion Plaza, the shelter is environmentally friendly in more ways than one, from its promotion of human-powered transit to its curved green roof.

Lighting in the shelter is powered by solar panels installed last fall atop the adjoining Raithby House.

The wood and steel shelter holds 90 bikes in two tiers of new removable racks. Emptied of its racks, it can be used as an opensided pavilion for small groups. The

structure, which is as big as a fourcar garage and just over a storey high, was completed in December.

Its green roof will be planted this spring with drought-tolerant, lowmaintenance plants.

The project was funded entirely by students through the Green Gryphon Initiative, which uses student fees and matching University contributions to support sustainable and energyefficient projects around campus.

Other recent projects include installation of the Raithby solar panels, retrofits to campus lighting and installation of a chilled water reservoir. —ANDREW VOWLES

CAMPUS NEWS

Strategic renewal project nears completion U of G will begin the third phase of its strategic renewal project in April. The project will help shape the University’s future over the next five to 10 years.

Phase 1 included formal and informal discussions and face-to-face meetings with more than 1,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni and other stakeholders. The University Senate and Board of Governors helped guide the process.

In Phase 2, the strategic renewal project management team and advisory committee reviewed the information gathered in Phase 1 and distilled it into a number of

common themes. These themes were further explored and, through community consultations, were used to create a set of draft recommendations.

In the third phase, the draft strategic plan will be presented to the Senate and Board of Governors in June. After its approval, the University will move forward with an implementation plan to bring it to life.

For more information about the project and to find out how you can get involved, visit uoguelph.ca/ strategicrenewal.

NOTEWORTHY

PEOPLE

OVC Pet Trust celebrates 30th anniversary

Dr. Dorothy Bakker, a physician at U of G’s Student Wellness Services and U of G alumna, was named Regional Family Physician of the Year by the Ontario College of Physicians in recognition of her work with U of G students since 2001.

The Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) Pet Trust, the first charitable fund dedicated to the health and well-being of companion animals, celebrates three decades in 2016.

In that time, more than $35 million has been raised to support learning, health care and research at OVC. Every year, OVC treats more than 2,000 dogs, cats and other pets referred by veterinarians for advanced diagnostic and surgical procedures.

A new $9-million fundraising campaign was launched last fall to establish new surgery and anesthesia facilities at OVC to benefit companion animals. The proposed facilities will contain surgical and diagnostic video and imaging devices, including operating microscopes, orthopedic and neurological equipment, and a sophisticated anesthesia and pain management unit.

A $1-million gift to the campaign from Lindy Barrow will be used to create the Lindy Barrow Minimally Invasive Procedures Suite, the first unit of its kind for a veterinary teaching hospital in Canada.

A previous campaign raised more than $13.5 million for OVC’s Mona Campbell Centre for Animal Cancer.

“These facilities will have farreaching impacts on both pets and pet owners,” says Jeff Wichtel, OVC dean. “They will help ensure our continued ability to improve the health and well-being of pets, whether we are providing advanced diagnosis or life-saving procedures, raising the standard of care, or making meaningful contributions to clinical research and innovation.”

The OVC Pet Trust is fundraising to establish new surgery and anesthesia facilities at OVC to benefit companion animals.

Learn more at pettrust.ca.

Andrea Buchholz, professor in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, has been awarded a 2016 3M National Teaching Fellowship, considered Canada’s top teaching honour. She is U of G’s 15th award recipient.

Robert Hunter, a biomedical engineering student, won the prestigious 2016 Sunnybrook Research Prize worth $10,000 for his research on using biosensors for diagnosis, management and tracking of diabetes.

Scott McRoberts has been named director of athletics. McRoberts was previously athletics director at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), where he led the development of the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre and UTSC Tennis Centre, and also developed an award-winning mental health and physical activity program.

Kevin MacNeill has been named interim head coach of the Gryphons football team, succeeding Stu Lang, who stepped down after leading the team to its first Yates Cup win since 1996. MacNeill was defensive coordinator for the past six seasons.

PHOTO: (TOP) SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Trent Tucker, professor in the School of Food, Hospitality and Tourism Management, received a teaching award from the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations.

STUDENT LIFE Each year, more than 100 U of G alumni volunteers attend college career nights, sharing their expertise and guidance with current U of G students. Kevin Poirer, B.Eng. ’15 (left), and Mike Thomson, B.Sc. (Eng.) ’06 (second from right), share career advice with engineering students at the School of Engineering’s career night earlier this year. @porticomag

Paola Vasquez, a PhD student in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development who is pushing Colombian industry toward cleaner and greener production, received a United Nations Climate Solutions Award.

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 9

Discovery RESEARCH, INNOVATION, IDEAS

FINDINGS

For landlords, it’s easier being green Landlords thinking about renovating their office buildings may want to consider adding environmentally friendly technologies. According to a study by real estate and housing professor Avis Devine, “green” buildings have higher rents and occupancy rates, as well as more satisfied tenants.

The study, conducted with Nils Kok of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, examined 10 years of data from 148 buildings in Canada and 143 in the United States. Highlights of the findings show that: • Rents on average were 3.7 per cent higher.

• Occupancy rates were 18.7 per cent higher in 10 | PORTICO Spring 2016

Canada and 9.5 per cent higher in the U.S. • Tenant renewal rates were 5.6 per cent higher in Canada.

• Tenant satisfaction scores were seven per cent higher in Canada.

• Energy consumption per square foot was 14 per cent lower in the U.S. “Building owners and investors are affected by the choices they make on investments in energy and sustainability issues,” says Devine. “This study is an important step toward mapping the business case for more sustainable building.”

Graduates with disabilities face employment struggles Canadian university graduates with disabilities struggle to enter the permanent workforce and face a wage gap even after landing a full-time job, according to a new study co-authored by U of G researchers.

In the Canadian Review of Sociology study, Prof. David Walters, Sociology and Anthropology, and PhD candidate Brad Seward, along with David Zarifa, a professor at Nipissing University, found that liberal arts, business and engineering graduates with self-disclosed disabilities faced more difficulties finding full-time work than graduates in sciences and health care.

“There’s a gap of approximately $4,000 between graduates with and without disabilities, and that’s just two years after graduation; we would expect that gap to grow with time,” says Walters.

The even bigger challenge, he says, is in finding full-time employment.

The unemployment rate for graduates with a disability is twice as high as for those without one.

“Our study found that higher education is generally beneficial in terms of helping graduates find employment,” says Walters, adding that graduates with self-disclosed disabilities typically do better if they graduate from university than from college or trades programs.

“But the important thing we found is that it mostly depends on what program you choose.”

ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

FINDINGS

ASK THE EXPERT

Is it safe to eat foods past the ‘best before’ date?

Hagfish slime FINDINGS

Hagfish offer insight into cardiovascular health It’s often considered one of the weirdest sea creatures and almost certainly the slimiest. But learning how hagfish survive without oxygen could offer valuable insights for cardiovascular research, according to a new study co-led by Prof. Todd Gillis, Integrative Biology.

The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, is the first of its kind to examine how the isolated hagfish heart functions for extended time periods with little or no oxygen.

Hagfish are ocean bottom-feeders that produce protective slime and live in low-oxygen environments, including buried in the mud on the ocean floor

or inside the guts of dead animals.

Studies have found that hagfish can fully recover from 36 hours without oxygen. The human heart becomes damaged if deprived of oxygen for five minutes.

“We are a long ways from finding answers to what this means for people. However, learning how the hagfish heart survives without oxygen in a state of anoxia can give us insight into human cardiovascular health, and specifically into strategies to protect tissue integrity after cardiac events,” says Gillis, who worked with researchers from the University of British Columbia on the study.

FINDINGS

PHOTO: CREATIVE COMMONS/DIRTSAILOR2003

When men kill women: victim-killer relationship affects punishment Men who kill their wives, girlfriends or other female family members receive shorter prison terms than strangers who commit such crimes, according to new research by sociology professor Myrna Dawson, a recognized expert on homicide and domestic violence.

In the first systematic review of its kind, Dawson MEN WHO examined court responses to femicide (the killing of KILLED THEIR women by men) in Ontario over four decades. Data INTIMATE sources included coroner’s records, police reports and PARTNERS OR court files. Dawson analyzed factors such as gender, FEMALE FAMILY relationships between victim and accused, criminal MEMBERS charges, guilty pleas and prison sentences.

WERE TREATED Men who killed women they did not know were treated MORE the most severely, particularly at sentencing. Men who LENIENTLY killed their intimate partners or female family members were treated more leniently at several stages of the criminal justice process, including fewer charges of first-degree murder and less severe subsequent punishment overall, the study found.

This continues to occur despite legislation passed in the mid-1990s that stipulates an intimate relationship between a victim and accused can be considered an aggravating factor at sentencing.

“We have made progress, but there is still work to be done addressing what may be, in part, the continuing impact of entrenched stereotypes about intimacy and violence,” says Dawson. @porticomag

It’s a common food dilemma: the “best before” date on your packaged salad is tomorrow. Does that mean you have to eat it today? Will it become dangerous tomorrow at midnight?

Not likely, says food science professor Keith Warriner. The best before date refers to the shelf life of an unopened product — once the package is open, the date is no longer valid. “The manufacturer can guarantee acceptable quality up to the date on the package, and they are usually very conservative and base it on the worst-case scenario,” he says. Warriner adds that anxious consumers who toss food when the best before date arrives may be wasting it. In fact, since up to 40 per cent of food is currently thrown out, he says best before dates may actually do more harm than good.

Most best before dates are estimates, but there are a few exceptions. For deli meats, best before dates are based on the length of time it takes Listeria to grow on the meat. The best before dates on egg cartons are based on how long it takes for Salmonella to work through the shell and into the egg itself, but that only applies if the egg is taken out of the carton. “Keep eggs in the carton and you have another week or two after the best before date,” says Warriner.

Err on the side of safety, he adds. If food looks mouldy or smells bad, don’t eat it. He’s heard of people eating mouldy yogurt, thinking it was safe because the best before date was still good. —TERESA PITMAN

WHEN TO TOSS IT Cow’s milk: opened, about five days after the best before date; closed, about 10 days after the best before date.

Almond milk: three to five days after opening or when it thickens.

Canned foods: five years or possibly longer.

Cereal: six to 12 months after opening, but it will start to taste stale.

Salad dressing: two to three months after opening if stored properly.

Mayonnaise: store-bought, one to two months after opening if kept in the fridge; homemade, up to one month.

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 11

Discovery

RESEARCH BRIEF

Recognizing mental illness in veterinarians and farmers

12 | PORTICO Spring 2016

RESEARCH BRIEF

Do human patients impact therapy horses?

Many studies show the benefits of equine-assisted therapies for human patients, but Prof. Katrina Merkies, Animal Biosciences, aims to learn if the relationship impacts the therapy horses.

“Past studies on equine therapy have shown benefits for people, but what does this therapy mean for horses? The use of horses in therapy is growing, so for their well-being, it’s important to figure out what this will involve,” she says.

Merkies hopes to learn if horses react differently to humans with clinical issues than they do to humans without them. Therapy horses are used to help people with a range of psychological issues — the study will focus on patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Working with horses at Sunrise Therapeutic Riding and Learning Centre in Puslinch, Ont., Merkies and her research team will outfit the horses with heart rate monitors, and will also take saliva samples from horses to calculate cortisol concentrations and measure stress.

Four volunteers with PTSD will spend time in an enclosure with a horse. Then four actors will enter the enclosure, each imitating one of the PTSD patients.

Merkies will video record the sessions.

“We’re looking at the behavioural responses, heart rate and cortisol of the horses,” she says. “Does the horse respond differently to the individuals? Our hypothesis is that horses are able to distinguish between humans with emotional needs and respond differently to them.”

PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Population medicine professor Andria Jones-Bitton recently worked with the Ontario Livestock and Poultry Council to modify Mental Health First Aid Canada’s program to offer mental health first aid training to veterinarians and those in agricultural support organizations.

Researchers have discovered that mental health problems are more prevalent in certain professions, with veterinarians and farmers or agricultural producers having higher-than-average rates of depression and anxiety.

“Most people working in the field know producers dealing with significant stresses and many know someone who died by suicide,” says Jones-Bitton. She says farmers work long hours seven days a week, and many of the issues that influence their income are out of their control, including weather, disease outbreaks and changes in government regulations.

The mental health first aid training teaches participants to recognize the signs of common mental illnesses and how to start a conversation. The training also covers identifying and responding to other mental health challenges.

A survey of Ontario veterinarians shows “alarming” preliminary results, with one-third saying they have anxiety problems and 10 per cent saying they are depressed.

Protecting against the harmful effects of stress needs to begin in veterinary school, says Bitton-Jones.

Her team is working on a study to examine stress, resiliency and personality type among veterinary students. –TERESA PITMAN

FINDINGS

LEADING EDGE

How past experiences affect memory

The rhythm of your heart Biomedical sciences professor Tami Martino is examining how circadian rhythms affect immune response after a heart attack to find new treatment strategies for heart disease.

New research on the brain and memory could help in developing therapies for people with schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.

The study by psychology professor Boyer Winters sheds new light on the internal workings of the brain, specifically regions involved in recognizing and remembering objects. The findings were published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

“Our study suggests that past experience with an object alters the brain circuitry responsible for object recognition,” says Winters. “It has significant implications for our understanding of multisensory information processing.”

Multisensory integration is an important part of memory. For example, if you hold something while blindfolded, chances are you can recognize it by touch if you have seen it before.

Winters and his team from U of G’s Collaborative Neuroscience Program used rats to discover how this happens. They let some rats briefly see and touch an object. The next day, the researchers showed the object to the same animals and compared their responses to those of rats seeing the object for the first time.

Rats exploring a new object appeared to use multiple specialized brain regions to recognize it, while rats with previous exposure tapped into a separate part of their brains to perform the same memory task.

“Our study suggests there is an assigned region of the

Prof. Boyer Winters’ work sheds light on the internal workings of the brain. brain for memory based on previous experience with objects,” says Winters.

The more exposure to an object, the more information about it is stored in dedicated parts of the brain, leading to more efficient behavioural responses, he says.

The research may help in developing therapies for people with brain disorders who cannot recognize highly familiar objects or people.

PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

IN THE NEWS

‘Game-changing’ research

Chinese water challenges

Food prices on the rise

Two of Ontario’s top “game changing” discoveries in the past 100 years are from the University of Guelph. DNA barcoding, a technique for rapid species identification, and the popular Yukon Gold potato were voted among the top five Ontario innovations in a public survey by the Council of Ontario Universities.

A national water research network based at U of G has been awarded $4.6 million over five years to study water and environmental issues in China, including surface and groundwater contamination, infrastructure failure, flood and drought control, and solid waste management. Led by U of G engineering professor Ed McBean, researchers will work with a new research centre to be established near Beijing.

According to the 2016 Food Price Report, Canadian grocery bills are expected to increase by $345 in 2016. The report, produced by the Food Institute of the University of Guelph, says the struggling Canadian dollar, climate factors and consumer trends will lead to higher prices for vegetables, fruits, nuts and meat. It also predicts that sales at fast-food eateries will exceed those at fullservice restaurants for the first time.

@porticomag

Diagnosing epilepsy in dogs Veterinary neurologist Fiona James, Clinical Studies, has developed mobile technology to help diagnose epilepsy in dogs while they are active and awake.

Improving athletic performance Prof. Jamie Burr, Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, is testing whether performance and recovery in athletes can be improved through a new technique called external blood flow manipulation, which reduces blood flow to a muscle by applying a constrictive device similar to a blood pressure cuff or tourniquet.

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 13

On the job

WHO

Emma-Jayne Wilson, Dipl. (Equ.) ’01 SUCCESS FOR jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson depends on making splitsecond decisions while guiding a 540-kg horse as it races at speeds reaching 70 kilometres per hour.

“It’s not like a car where you have steering and brakes,” says Wilson, who in 2007 became the first woman to win Canada’s oldest and most prestigious race, the $1-million Queen’s Plate. “You have to persuade a large powerful animal that has a mind of its own to do what you want.”

Riding lessons at age nine have led to an accomplished decade-long career — although she may not be a household name, Wilson is one of the country’s most successful female athletes. She is Canada’s most winning female jockey with more than 1,200 career victories, and she has earned well over $60 million in purses for her mounts.

A lifelong love of horses led Wilson to study equine management at U of G’s Kemptville campus. After graduating, she took a job working behind the scenes for a trainer.

She got her start racing horses when agent Mike Luider spotted

14 | PORTICO Spring 2016

her exercising racehorses at Woodbine Racetrack. Wilson made her professional debut in 2004 and won two of her first three races. By the end of the year, the Jockey Club of Canada named her Outstanding Apprentice Jockey, and in 2005 she was top apprentice in North America.

Wilson, 34, still works out of Woodbine, and on race days she’s at the track by 6 a.m. to exercise horses under instruction from their trainers.

She then heads to the jockey room to handicap the afternoon races.

At the height of the season, Wilson can compete in as many as 10 races a day, four days a week. Many of the horses are familiar to her, but some she will mount for the first time.

“Being able to read a horse, to know its personality and build a rapport quickly is the most important skill for any jockey,” she says. “Some horses are quieter and need coaxing, and others are more aggressive and need to be told what to do.”

Even with the best preparation, Wilson says being ready to adapt is crucial: you never know what will happen until the race is under way.

She once suffered a badly lacerated liver after falling off her mount and landing under a horse running at full speed. “I would be lying if I said there was zero fear, but if I let it affect me negatively, I would hang up my tack.”

Jockeys work on one-race contracts — if you want to keep riding, you have to keep winning. And the more you win, the better horses you get to ride. Where some might feel pressure, Wilson feels motivation.

“It’s definitely not a ‘normal’ job,” laughs Wilson. “But I’ve earned the right to be here. It makes me want to continue to get better and achieve.

It’s all about perspective.”

After 9,000 races, what Wilson still loves most is working with a horse to achieve a common goal.

“I wish I could bring people on board to experience it: the moment when I’m on a horse who’s just as determined and eager to win as I am, and we’re fighting down the lane, tooth and nail — there’s no better synergy. It’s indescribable. I think it’s the best job in the world.”

—TERESA PITMAN

PHOTO: DAVE LANDRY

JOB Professional jockey

Q& A Jay Reid and Hayley Kellett explain why using improv to boost your business skills is no joke

PHOTO: AMANDA SCOTT

If the thought of giving a presentation or leading a meeting at work keeps you up at night, Jay Reid says taking an improv class might help.

Reid, along with Second City alum Hayley Kellett, leads corporate improv workshops through The Making-Box, a comedy hub he established in downtown Guelph.

The workshops are designed to foster teamwork, boost morale, and develop skills such as customer service and leadership.

Reid, BAS ’15, says people do more improvising at work than one might think, and learning to harness the power of improvisation on the job can help business professionals overcome anxiety and improve their communication skills.

P: How can improv make businesses better?

Jay Reid: We use improv skills as a training tool for professional development by harnessing all the skills of improv theatre that we use on stage and applying them off stage. We like to think of improv as a framework that encourages trust, flexibility and productive collaboration. Research shows that a one-per-cent increase in corporate climate — that’s a company in a good mood — leads to a twoper-cent increase in revenue.

P: How does improv help build corporate climate?

Hayley Kellett: It creates happy people. We thrive on creating a positive atmosphere. If we can help increase positivity in the workplace, then those happy people are more likely to work harder because they’re enjoying themselves. @porticomag

P: You say improv can help people with anxiety. Isn’t putting anxious people on stage counterintuitive?

HK: Improv creates a non-judgmental area where you can try things and everybody’s there for the same reason. We stress accepting other people’s ideas and supporting each other and working as a team, so there’s no pressure.

We actually celebrate failure.

When people make a mistake in improv, the worst-case scenario is that everyone ends up laughing.

P: Do you need to be funny to be good at improv?

JR: Improv doesn’t operate on funny, even though we see improv through a comedic lens most of the time. It operates on a framework of listening, connecting and responding. That first word, listening, is

FIRST LETTER, LAST LETTER For this improv exercise, start your sentence with a word that begins with the last letter of the last word your partner said.

kind of strange to people when they think of improv because they think the silliest extroverted people are the best improvisers.

We can take a group of relative strangers and within two hours have them smiling and laughing together, and building communities through the skills of improvisation. It has an incredible payoff.

P: What kind of feedback have you received?

JR: Quite often students say the experience helps alleviate their anxieties. It’s almost like exposure therapy. You have to step into the realm of the unexpected, and every time you step on the stage it’s the realm of the unexpected.

Because life is improvised, the skills of improv can be applied anywhere. – SUSAN BUBAK Spring 2016 PORTICO | 15

FOOD FACEOFF SPORTS NUTRITIONIST JENNIFER SYGO WEIGHS IN ON WHY A BALANCED MEAL PLAN ALWAYS SCORES HIGHER THAN THE LATEST DIET FAD

Story by Susan Bubak Photography by Jennifer Roberts

16 | PORTICO Spring 2016

@porticomag

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 17

Y

ou are what you eat — that’s especially true of professional athletes whose success depends on what they consume before, during and after each game. As the sports nutritionist for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jennifer Sygo is part of the team behind the team that keeps the players in top shape.

“A lot of people have been waiting a very long time for this team to win, and I’m so excited to have a tiny role in helping these players be the best they can be,” says Sygo, who began working for the Leafs last summer.

The team is already very health-conscious, so it doesn’t take much convincing for the players to adopt a healthy diet and lifestyle. Most of the players have been athletes since childhood and grew up in families that instilled healthy eating habits. You won’t find any junk food in their locker rooms because Sygo ensures that healthy alternatives are always within reach.

Sygo also works with national and Olympic athletes in various sports, and provides nutrition services to the Toronto Raptors. She says the biggest difference between working with professional athletes and the public is the access players have to experts who help them eat well, including personal chefs, dietitians and nutritionists. Even when they’re on the road, sports teams have healthy meals delivered to them so they don’t need to rely on fast food. “There’s no shortage of getting good food in their hands,” says Sygo, whereas the average person may not have the time or money to spend on a specialized diet.

But athletes are also human, and “french fries taste good to all of them,” says Sygo. As a registered dietitian, she makes recommendations on how to make healthy choices, but ultimately it’s up to her clients — athletes or not — to decide what they put in their bodies. Each player is different and so are their dietary needs — some need to lose weight while others need to gain it.

Sygo works with each athlete to develop a diet plan specific to their needs and lifestyle.

“Nutrition can make a big difference in performance,” she says, recalling her earlier work with a junior hockey player. He was eating a protein-heavy diet with minimal carbs because he wanted to avoid gaining weight. “We worked on a more balanced meal plan, 18 | PORTICO Spring 2016

and he noticed an almost immediate improvement in speed and endurance on the ice, not to mention mental focus off the ice,” says Sygo. not surprisingly, her own recipe for success includes a healthy diet and an active lifestyle. A sports fan since childhood, Sygo grew up “playing a little bit of everything.” Her favourite sport was basketball, but she also played volleyball and enjoyed track and field, ultimate Frisbee and swimming. Now she prefers running.

“These days it’s more about being healthy and active with my kids.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, Sygo decided to apply her passions for science, sports and working with people in a career that combined all three: sports nutrition.

She enrolled in what was then the human biology and nutritional sciences program at U of G, and completed a master’s degree in 2002. She took additional courses and internships to achieve the professional designation of registered dietitian (RD). “It took almost nine years from the start of my undergrad to the time I got my RD, but it was totally worth it.”

Sygo brings her message to the masses with a regular column in the National Post, and on television and radio programs. Her 2014 book, Unmasking Superfoods (HarperCollins Canada), was a national bestseller.

What are some of her most popular columns?

“Whenever I write about the paleo diet, I get a lot of attention,” she says. Paleo involves eating a caveman’s diet of unprocessed foods such as fruits, vegetables and meat, while excluding grains and dairy. “It’s nonsense,” she says of the paleo diet. “You’re cutting out large portions of what would be considered to be a healthful diet: grains, dairy and even legumes.”

“ The idea that eating a certain berry will help you lose weight or eating a particular vegetable will prevent cancer is unrealistic.”

Another column addressed “dietary dogma” or the strong — and often inaccurate — opinions that people have about diet and nutrition. “It seems that if you yell the loudest you get the most attention, so we have a lot of people who are making claims about certain diets or certain foods or certain ways of eating as being the right way in almost a religious kind of way,” says Sygo.

She’s not the only one concerned about people taking non-expert nutrition advice — dietitians around the world have supported her in addressing the topic because their clients often receive conflicting advice from celebrities and the media.

One of the most common food myths she hears from clients is that eating one type of food is going to change their lives, help them lose weight or prevent disease.

“The idea that eating a certain berry will help you lose weight or eating a particular vegetable will prevent cancer is unrealistic,” she says. “You really have to look at the totality of someone’s diet to see how their weight and their health are going to be affected.”

The way we eat is just as important as what we eat, she says, because making sustainable choices allows us to eat foods that are healthy and produced with minimal environmental impact. “Do berries from the Amazon jungle need to be on our table if we can find @porticomag

Jennifer Sygo preps food in her Toronto kitchen.

something that’s equally healthy and local, and that requires far less energy and resources to produce and get to consumers?”

Although it’s her job to help people follow a healthy diet, even Sygo has a food weakness: cereal. “I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but obviously that’s not a terribly balanced diet.” She admits that she wasn’t the healthiest eater when she was a kid, citing Kraft Dinner as one of her favourite meals, but that has made her more sensitive to her own clients’ food vices.

Now she eats a salad every day and enjoys preparing healthy meals for her family, including her signature beef barley soup.

Sygo keeps her family’s fridge stocked with healthy options such as milk, yogurt, eggs and fruit. Her family tries to eat meals together whenever possible, and she encourages her kids to eat at least one bite of whatever is on their plate.

“We try to enjoy a wide variety of foods, and over time, kids will develop a palate for things you might have thought were impossible for them to like at first,” she says. “For example, my kids love chickpeas, kale chips and mangoes, and they usually eat their veggies.

But if you offer them candy or fries, they’ll be more than happy to eat those, too!”

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 19

I HAVE TO DRINK EIGHT GLASSES OF WATER PER DAY. That’s a massive myth and it’s one that unfortunately still shows up in well-regarded places.

You’ll see nutrition professionals and doctors recommending it in magazines, and it’s not based on any real data. It’s based on the idea that people generally need about two to 2.5 litres of fluids from all sources per day. That includes fruit, vegetables and foods that contain water like soups and yogurt as a totality.

An individual’s water use is really variable, depending on your size, how active you are and your sweat rate.

SPORTS DRINKS ARE THE BEST POST-EXERCISE BEVERAGES.

FOOD FACT OR FICTION? JENNIFER SYGO SHEDS LIGHT ON SOME POPULAR FOOD MYTHS

20 | PORTICO Spring 2016

It depends on the sport, athlete and various other factors, even the weather. In some cases, sports drinks can be a real benefit to athletes, especially when it’s hot or humid, or if the athlete is already dehydrated, which can happen in a tournament setting, a long run or ride for 90 minutes or more, or if an athlete has already trained once that day and is feeling tired.

But for most athletes and weekend warriors, water is best.

A GLUTEN-FREE DIET IS HEALTHIER. I do believe that glutenfree diets have their place — obviously if someone has celiac disease, there’s no question. There’s also thought to be a condition called non-celiac gluten sensitivity that could affect five to 10 per cent of the population.

For those individuals, following a gluten-free diet makes good sense and it may be medically necessary. For the rest of us, there really isn’t any convincing evidence that you need to be gluten-free.

WHOLE GRAINS ARE BETTER FOR ME. Yes, their nutrient content tends to be higher than what you get from a refined grain.

For example, quinoa is particularly high in magnesium, which is a nutrient that North Americans generally don’t get enough of. It plays a very important role in our cardiovascular health, in particular blood pressure control and possibly strokes.

Whole grains have a higher amount of those key nutrients such as magnesium, fibre, B vitamins and iron, so you have the nutritional benefits. They also tend to be eaten in intact form, which is also a benefit. You’re eating the quinoa as actual quinoa versus a ground-up form, turning it into a flour.

When you eat any food that’s been pre-ground or taken from its original form and made highly digestible, you tend to absorb more of the calories from that food.

Save the date!

ALUMNI WEEKEND JUNE 10-11, 2016

WELCOME HOME Visit your favourite places on campus, get together with friends, attend a class reunion — and make some new U of G memories.

Friday, June 10 Alumni Awards of Excellence Gala Celebration Saturday, June 11 Reunions, President’s Milestone Lunch, Tours, Pub Night, Great Gryphon Race, and more!

Visit alumni.uoguelph.ca | alumni@uoguelph.ca | 519-824-4120, x.56934

HOW A SMALL FIRST-YEAR CLASS CAN INSPIRE BIG IDEAS FROM STAR WARS TO THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP, FIRST-YEAR SEMINARS OFFER A UNIQUE LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTORS

Story by Andrew Vowles Illustration by Cai Sepulis

W

hen Kailey Morin looked into Guelph’s first-year seminar program as an undergrad, she wasn’t looking to change her life or career goals.

She was initially attracted to the descriptions in the course calendar, including her ultimate class choice, “Rags Seldom Turn to Riches,” a seminar course on poverty and income inequality.

“I wanted to get in because they’re such cool classes,” says Morin, who graduated in 2012. “They’re small with appealing topics.”

For Morin, that small class had big consequences. On a class trip, she visited Regent Park, a low-income Toronto neighbourhood with a high proportion of recent immigrants and refugees. Years later, 22 | PORTICO Spring 2016

that visit came up when Morin interviewed for a job with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture in Toronto.

“They asked what I knew about newcomer services and I told them I had an introductory insight into the challenges of Regent Park,” says Morin, who got the job as a community engagement coordinator. “I ended up working on a lot of projects in community development. I went full circle.” morin is among numerous students and graduates who regard U of G’s first-year seminar (FYS) program as a pivotal learning experience.

From small class sizes to offbeat topics and academic skills, the seminars offer various benefits to students. They are also a boon to instructors looking to broaden

their teaching portfolio, and pursue interests and passions beyond their specialization.

The FYS program was launched in 2004 and attracted widespread interest for five years. After a twoyear hiatus due to inadequate funding, a $2-million boost from the University of Guelph Alumni Association and business executive Tye Burt, BA ’80, restored the program in 2011. Today, some 40 seminars are offered each year, taught by faculty, senior administrators and professional staff. Each course takes up to 18 incoming students, allowing for close engagement with the instructor.

“When you come into university, you expect a 700-person lecture hall,” says Morin. “It’s nice when you’re new to make friends in a small space like that.”

Elizabeth Jackson, community engagement officer with Guelph’s International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation, teaches “Reading Stories, Reading the World,” a seminar that links literacy and citizen engagement. She says small seminar classes enable the students and instructor to share their stories with each other, making learning personal. Valesca de Groot, a student in the class last fall, agrees.

“The small class stimulated more communication,” she says.

“We talked about current issues in a way that’s not possible with 500 people. You can connect more with the teacher.”

Program director Jacqueline Murray says the seminar topics are intended to connect students with societal issues. Samuel Mosonyi, BA ’14, majored in both political science, and criminal justice and public policy. He learned about community service and engagement through a first-year seminar taught by Murray called “The Politics, Science and Culture of Hunger.” Mosonyi and his classmates wrote a proposal to address food insecurity in Vancouver’s low-income Eastside neighbourhood that was evaluated by the director of the national Meal Exchange program.

“In first year, we were able to work on projects that contributed to the betterment of society,” says Mosonyi, who is now in law school.

“It wasn’t until university that I really started to engage with the community and take on a lot of leadership roles.”

Jolene Labbe, BAS ’14, completed the same class. Now a researcher at McGill University, she works in climate change adaptation with the Government of Nunavut. She handles a mix of environmental and cultural issues, including the impact of sea ice reduction and permafrost 24 | PORTICO Spring 2016

SEMINAR TOPICS ARE WIDE-RANGING AND OFTEN INTENTIONALLY PROVOCATIVE. AND ANY FIRST-YEAR STUDENT CAN TAKE ANY SEMINAR, REGARDLESS OF DISCIPLINE OR DEGREE PROGRAM.

thaw on hunting and fishing, as well as roads and buildings.

“The only way we’re going to tackle climate change is by bringing together science, social sciences, humanities,” says Labbe. Recalling the range of topics and perspectives brought to that first-year seminar, she says, “We have to look at these things in tandem. My everyday job is understanding science, but also going beyond understanding science and what can we do to decrease these impacts.”

Murray says seminar topics are wide-ranging and often intentionally provocative. And any first-year student can take any seminar, regardless of discipline or degree program. That aspect makes Guelph’s program stand out from first-year offerings at other universities.

According to studies led by Murray, FYS students report greater skill development and carry-over to other courses, especially in critical thinking and collaborative learning. Some also report spending up to five times as much time and effort on their FYS courses than on all others combined in a semester.

Another study shows FYS students expand their research into a wider range of resources than students not enrolled in a seminar.

Instructors also benefit, says Murray. Many view an FYS course as a chance to explore course topics beyond their usual curriculum assignments. It’s also a place for experimenting with less conventional teaching methods and assignments.

For example, instructors have assigned students to produce a radio

documentary, devise a project with a community group and explain science to street youth. Teaching a first-year seminar can be a morale-booster for instructors, who report returning to their regular assignments with a sense of rejuvenation.

“It’s way too much fun,” says former chief librarian and chief information officer Mike Ridley of teaching in the program. Ridley has instructed several seminars, including “Twitter: #Profound or #Pretentious,” which required students to write essays composed strictly of tweets. “You can’t be in the back of the room and not be involved.”

Murray says teaching in the FYS program has impacted her own life.

The history graduate says the FYS topics she’s covered, including sex and gender, have made her more science-savvy.

“All educated citizens need to understand science to be good citizens, to know what decisions to make about in vitro fertilization, climate change or sending people to Mars,” she says. “I’ve found my inner science person, which I never knew existed. I can learn about science and understand, and be part of the discussion.”

With the opportunity for students to experiment with subject matter they might not cover in their chosen discipline, and for faculty to creatively offer introductory courses, FYS classes quickly fill up each semester. Murray would like to offer the program to more of Guelph’s incoming students — she’s sold on the learning benefits.

“I see students take one course and blossom,” she says. “They develop intellectually in a smaller group. You see them grow right before your eyes as people, learn who they are, change majors and find direction. That’s just an amazing thing to be part of.” @porticomag

A CLOSER LOOK AT A FEW FYS COURSES

Ú

The #StationaryCrew

Ú

The Science of Wars

Ú

Stupidity and Critical Thinking in the 21st Century

Ú

I Fought the Law

Students gain insight into culture and community by examining eight public artworks in Guelph, including campus icons the Begging Bear, Old Jeremiah (the painted cannon in Branion Plaza) and the Gryphon statue.

This seminar explores the impact the Star Wars films have on propelling current scientific research, pop culture, language and diction, artistic expression and morality.

Students critique the concept of stupidity and explore its relationship with popular culture through diverse media such as YouTube, Twitter, movies and literature.

Working collaboratively, students explore scenarios based on current legal dilemmas, and examine the histories, current tensions and possible resolutions of conflicts in such areas as child welfare, drug use, political activism, racial profiling and prisoners’ rights.

Ú

Sleep: 1/3 of Your Life Spent with Your Eyes Closed

Focusing on the art and science of sleep, topics include contributors to insomnia, circadian rhythms and biological clocks, dreams and nightmares, cultural determinants of sleep patterns, sleep disorders and sleep aids.

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 25

Spotlight

FAVOURITE FONT Nimrod, “a pretty classic newspaper font” MOST OVERRATED DESIGN TREND Big, coloured numbers FAVOURITE DESIGN BLOG Cover Junkie (coverjunkie.com)

26 | PORTICO Spring 2016

Matt French tells stories not with words but with design. An award-winning page designer and assistant art director for The Globe and Mail newspaper, he aims to create eye-catching page layouts that give readers a clear idea what the story is about before they read a sentence.

“The designer is there to make the message as clear and effective as they can,” says French, adding that a skillful design draws attention to the article rather than to the design elements, including graphics, photos and typography.

Take the Globe’s front-page coverage of last fall’s final report of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The story was illustrated by oversize numerals that punched out the key points: numbers of victims, witnesses and deaths associated with the country’s former residential schools.

“The story was the numbers, and the numbers are the impact,” says French, B.Comm. ’07. “It’s not about any highfalutin’ image or fancy colour.”

Most days, French, 30, helps design the newspaper’s front page, working with a “cast of many,” including editors, headline writers and the paper’s creative director. Over the past year, he’s designed more than 300 front pages and thousands more inside.

French’s design skills are self-taught, but his career path started at U of G. Always driven to do creative work, he pursued a commerce degree thinking he could “make a living doing something creative in business.”

During a summer job in a marketing department, French took a stab at creating promotional material for trade publications. Back on campus during third

and fourth year, he then worked at Guelph’s student newspaper, The Ontarion, as photo and graphics editor, and layout editor. Recalling those days, he says, “You were able to cut your teeth doing what you wanted. Learning from your mistakes gave you the freedom to make mistakes.”

Following graduation, he worked at the Woolwich Observer, and then moved on to 24 Hours, a Toronto commuter newspaper, and the Vancouver Sun. French got called up to the “big leagues” in 2011.

Up to 400,000 people read The Globe and Mail’s weekend edition.

Among his notable Globe projects, he points to an “Unremembered” series of articles last year about the suicides of Canadian soldiers and veterans who fought in Afghanistan, as well as the 11th-hour package of reports covering the 2015 federal election.

Another favourite was the 2012 Remembrance Day cover, with the word “Remember” stamped over a soldier’s image. “It did what it was intended to do: cause the reader to pause and reflect.”

A fan of the Washington Post and the Guardian, French brings what he calls a simple and subtle but graphic approach to his work, as well as a refined sense of visual literacy — all without getting in the way of the story.

Sitting down to assemble a page, he knows that reporters and editors might have put months of work and passion into the article. “I’m the person responsible for taking it over the finish line, making it sing so that people connect with it.”

—ANDREW VOWLES

PHOTO: LINDSAY LAPCHUK

The art of newspaper design

Breathing new life into opera u Page turners

PHOTO: AMANDA LYNNE BALLARD

A few of Matt French’s memorable covers for The Globe and Mail; left, an interior spread about the plight of the honeybee.

@porticomag

How do you create an opera for singers who can’t safely be in the same room with each other? That was one of the challenges faced by playwright, poet and librettist David James Brock, MFA ’06, as he worked on Breath Cycle, an opera for singers with cystic fibrosis (CF).

Having more than one person with CF in a room risks transferring resistant germs between them. To allow participants to interact safely, Brock and his collaborators conceived the opera as a multimedia performance, using online applications like Skype to record duets and other ensembles, and to allow participants to meet and interact.

As an undergraduate student, Brock met Eva Markvoort, a young woman with CF who became the subject of the award-winning documentary 65_RedRoses. “I found her unbelievably inspiring,” he says of Markvoort, who died in 2010.

Markvoort’s story stayed with him, and when he and composer Gareth Williams were in Glasgow, Scotland, working on a project together, they saw an opportunity to create something that could also help those with CF. Brock and Williams wrote music for participants to sing, while specialists at Gartnavel General Hospital studied the impact of singing on the health of participants. Because CF makes breathing difficult, “ SOME OF THE MOST project researchers are exploring whether POWERFUL SINGING classical singing I’VE HEARD IN MY techniques, including LIFE HAS COME OUT breath control and voice OF THE MOUTHS lessons, can improve the OF BREATH CYCLE physical and mental wellSINGERS. I LOVE being of cystic fibrosis THOSE SURPRISES.” patients.

Brock and Williams interviewed the CF patients and learned about the limitations of their voices and the music they wanted to sing. “We wanted them to sing for pleasure, to enjoy the experience,” says Brock. The research is ongoing and the opera will be relaunched this year in Glasgow, Edinburgh and New York, with some reworking of songs to suit a more standardized performance. “It’s like any opera with high drama and high emotions,” says Brock.

Being a playwright and librettist provides a good mix of solo work and collaboration, he adds. “The composer and I inspire each other, but there’s always that anxious part when I send my words over to see if they will work.”

Growing up, Brock lived in several different cities across Canada. He earned a degree in zoology from the University of Manitoba, and then worked in the nutritional supplements industry in Vancouver for a time.

“I wasn’t always thrilled to go to work, so I joined a community theatre group,” he says. “My partner at the time said, ‘You should find out a way to do theatre for a living — it’s what makes you happy.’”

Brock took that advice to heart. He studied creative writing at the University of Victoria before enrolling in

the first cohort of the master of fine arts in creative writing program at the University of Guelph-Humber.

He won the 2011 Herman Voaden Canadian National Playwriting Award and has produced several plays. In 2014 he published his first book of poetry, Everyone is CO2 (Wolsak & Wynn).

“So much of my writing deals with fragility — how we recognize fragility in ourselves and in others,” says Brock. “And though that idea is always present in our Breath Cycle project, I’ve also learned so much about human strength. Some of the most powerful singing I’ve heard in my life has come out of the mouths of the Breath Cycle singers. I love those surprises.”

—TERESA PITMAN

To learn more about Breath Cycle, visit breathcycle.com.

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 27

Spotlight

Paving the way for women and minorities

Guelph grad Ingrid Berkeley-Brown is superintendent of Peel Regional Police in Ontario.

Ingrid Berkeley-Brown, MA ’14, doesn’t consider herself a role model, even though she’s the highest-ranking black female police officer in Canada. As superintendent of Peel Regional Police, she prefers to be a mentor who helps others reach their goals, whether that’s to work in law enforcement or another field.

Even before she became a police officer, she knew she wanted to help people. As the daughter of a police officer in Guyana, she came to Canada at the age of 14. “My goal was to work with youth,” she says, so she volunteered as a probation and parole officer. That’s when she met Sid Young, a retired black police officer in Toronto, who encouraged her to join the ranks.

She was one of only two black female recruits in a class of about 300 at the Ontario Police College, but she never viewed policing in terms of

gender. “I am a strong and confident person, so I knew I could do the job. It was a matter of gaining the trust and respect of the other officers.”

Thirty years after joining the police service, she says policing hasn’t changed much; the day-today community interaction remains a big part of a police officer’s job.

Technology has had the most impact on policing, giving officers more tools to fight crime.

One of the biggest rewards of being a police officer is “knowing you’re making a difference in keeping the community safe,” says Berkeley-Brown. Catching criminals is just one part of her job; community engagement is just as important. Working in crime prevention and race relations has helped her make inroads in the community, especially the black community.—SUSAN BUBAK

Spread your wings

Visit alumni.uoguelph.ca/travel or call 519-824-4120, x 56934 or 1-888-266-3108.

28 | PORTICO Spring 2016

PHOTO: PEEL REGIONAL POLICE

University of Guelph Alumni Travel Program Educational Travel for Alumni and Friends

This I know FIRST PERSON

How a tattoo can heal For 40 years, I took a lot for granted — my reflection in the mirror, how my clothes fit and my sense of self. On Sept.

14, 2013, all of that changed in an instant.

Less than an hour after being diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, I knew I would not follow the traditional path to reconstruction or implants. Treatment called for a single mastectomy, but I opted to remove both breasts for symmetry and

to keep up my active lifestyle. That was my first choice. My next choice, and the second phone call I made that day, was to contact a tattoo artist.

I chose a mastectomy tattoo — it’s my ultimate act of defiance to my unwelcome internal intruder. At my first I chose a sitting, while my mastectomy tattoo’s outline was tattoo — it’s my being drawn, the ultimate act mental relief began. of defiance Twelve appointto my ments and 32 unwelcome hours later, the internal journey to treat intruder. my cancer was truly over.

Cancer stole much from me.

Although I did not have a lot of choices for treatment, I could decide how to personally face the disease and the accompanying “monsters under the bed.”

Reconstruction would offer visual safety but would do little to fix my own experience in the mirror.

To others, my ink is a physical cover — not even my oncologist can find the scars. It camouflages two eight-inch concave scars that were my breasts; three surgical drain scars; the port-a-cath incision near my collar-

bone; and the medical tattoos and skin discolouration from radiation. Left naked, these physical manifestations were a constant reminder of a dark time.

I chose an intricate tattoo of a Virginia pine tree because the texture of its ridged and furrowed bark makes it easier to camouflage the scars. Its inspiration came from a rock-climbing trip with friends to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky just before I started chemo. The roots sit on my left hip; the trunk runs up my ribcage and the branches twist their way across my chest. People ask if it hurt — absolutely!

Like anything else in life, to be appreciated it has to be earned.

For me, this tattoo is necessary for my continued mental health, offering mental asylum when I catch my reflection in a shiny surface. Living through critical illness also means confronting the daily “How are you?

No, really, how are you?” conversation.

When people stare, my tattoo shows I’m confident and comfortable in my own skin. For my husband, it means I’m not pretending to be someone I’m not.

In 2014 I met with my local MPP to start a dialogue about how the Ontario Health Insurance Plan views medical tattoos — post-mastectomy breast reconstruction is covered; mastectomy tattoos are not, despite being less invasive, less costly and less disruptive to those with active lifestyles. I can personally attest to their therapeutic value.

I know my choice is unorthodox and may not be accepted by some. The price for my tattoo was high: eighteen months of medical procedures, two breasts and a serious shake to my mental health. But I know if I’m going to live in this body, it’s got to be on my terms.

PHOTO: DEAN PALMER

Tanya Olsen, BLA ’98, is the owner of Royal City Nursery in Guelph, Ont., and a horticulture professor at Humber College.

She’s an avid rock climber and underwater diver. Tattoo artist Mac Young of Nighthawk Tattoo in Guelph created her body art. Read more about her story at tanyaolsenblog. wordpress.com. @porticomag

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 29

A legacy gift supports students for years to come.

Start planning yours today.

To learn more about bequests and planned giving, contact Ross Butler at 519-824-4120, ext. 56196, or bequests@uoguelph.ca

Alumni: recruit from Guelph!

Hire a co-op student or new grad • Post co-op, full-time, part-time and summer jobs year round. • Co-op: No waiting for a match!

Just post, interview and hire.

Post your jobs now 30 | PORTICO Spring 2016

www.recruitguelph.ca

(519) 824-4120 x52323

Alumni matters COMING EVENTS April 15–16, 2016 OVC Alumni Hockey Tournament Alumni, staff, faculty and students are invited to the 26th annual tournament at the U of G Twin Pad Arenas.

ALUMNI NEWS

What makes U of G excellent?

PHOTO: CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, VERVERIDIS VASILIS / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

T

he University of Guelph has a reputation for excellence — research, teaching, food service, volunteerism and community engagement. These are just a few areas where U of G excels. But how does the world know about U of G? Through the work and achievements of our alumni.

Alumni are the University’s greatest product. We aren’t comparing U of G to a factory but to an institution that focuses on growth, innovation and transformation. As students evolve into alumni, they take our story out into the world. The pages of this magazine, a Google search or provincial, national or global media provide unlimited examples of alumni who have taken their U of G experience and charted a path to excellence.

Perhaps you know a grad who makes a difference in his or her profession or community — someone who reaches higher or makes a significant contribution to his or her craft. Or maybe you are one of those grads.

The University of Guelph Alumni Association

brings recognition to your accomplishments through the Alumni Awards of Excellence program, which celebrates the incredible achievements of our alumni.

Our inaugural gala celebration was held last June and it was an evening to remember — one that people are still talking about!

Each of our winners has a unique story to tell. While accepting their awards, each one was honoured, humbled, well-spoken and, most of all, inspiring. Watching their videos (youtube.com/uogalumni) and hearing them speak about their paths conjures up a lot of Gryphon pride. The evening left a strong impression about the value of celebrating excellence.

By the time this issue of Portico is published, our 2016 winners will be chosen and the gala celebration plans well under way.

We invite you to join us June 10 for an evening of excellence and celebrating alumni accomplishments.

Brandon Gorman, B.Comm. ’06 President UGAA

Jason Moreton, BA ’00 Associate Vice-President Alumni Advancement

April 23, 2016 Alumni at the Toronto Blue Jays Game Join alumni, family and friends to cheer on the Blue Jays as they take on the Oakland Athletics. Tickets are $48 per person.

June 6, 2016 Alumni Social in Saskatoon Meet up and reconnect with U of G and McMaster alumni for this joint social.

June 10–11, 2016 Alumni Weekend 2016 The marquee alumni event of the year, featuring tours, reunions and much more.

Everyone is welcome!

Aug. 9, 2016 Alumni at the Toronto Blue Jays Game Join alumni, family and friends to cheer on the Blue Jays as they take on the Tampa Bay Rays. Tickets are $40 per person.

Sept. 19, 2016 HAFA/HFTM Alumni Association Golf Tournament Save the date for this annual alumni event.

For details and a full list of events, visit www.alumni. uoguelph.ca/events.

GRAD PERKS

Alumni Card

A U of G alumni card gives you access to special services and benefits. You can request an alumni card with or without Library privileges. www.alumni.uoguelph. ca/alumnicard @porticomag

Montana’s BBQ & Bar

If you live in Guelph (or if you’re in town for a visit), show your alumni card at Montana’s at 201 Stone Rd. W. and receive 20 per cent off dine-in food purchases. www.alumni.uoguelph.ca/promotions

Cirque du Soleil

Save up to 20 per cent on Cirque du Soleil tickets through The Group Tix Company. Also save on performances at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts and more. www.alumni.uoguelph.ca/promotions Spring 2016 PORTICO | 31

Alumni matters

FEATURED EVENT

President’s Open House More than 300 alumni and donors attended the President’s Open House at the Art Gallery of Guelph in the fall. This appreciation event recognizes supporters who have given $1,000 or more annually to the University of Guelph.

President and vice-chancellor Franco Vaccarino thanked 32 | PORTICO Spring 2016

generous and loyal donors, and introduced new members of the University’s senior leadership team: Charlotte Yates, provost and vice-president (academic); Malcolm Campbell, vice-president (research); and Daniel Atlin, vice-president (external).

He also spoke about U of G’s strategic renewal project,

including its primary goals of defining the University’s strategic vision, and renewing a sense of institutional pride and confidence among the campus community and partners.

To learn more about the project, visit uoguelph.ca/strategicrenewal.

(l-r): Student Eric Boucher talks with president Franco Vaccarino, Cosmina Vaccarino, Dave Scott-Thomas, Brenda ScottThomas, Dale Boucher and Beatrice Boucher.

ALUMNI WEEKEND 2016 Mark your calendars for June 10–11, 2016, and head back to campus for Alumni Weekend. Special events include the UGAA Awards of Excellence Gala, President’s Milestone Lunch, the Great Gryphon Race, Let’s Get Crafty Beer Tasting, Alumni Pub Night, tours and much more.

Alumni reconnect at last year’s event, above. School spirit swag, below.

(top, l-r) Pianist Alex Chen with Tui Menning-Torrie, MA ’88, and Bruce Torrie. Attendees took part in the strategic renewal project by sharing their thoughts about U of G (bottom).

For a full alumni weekend schedule, visit www.alumni.uoguelph.ca.

DID YOU KNOW?

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Almost 93 per cent of U of G alumni live in Canada, but the next top spot for grads is the United States. Recently, alumni gathered for a reception in Chicago, hosted by Daniel Atlin, U of G’s vice-president (external).

Gifts to the University of Guelph are fully tax-deductible for U.S. residents who are alumni or parents of students/ alumni. A registered U.S. not-for-profit called Friends of the University of Guelph, Inc. helps non-alumni and corporations make tax-deductible gifts to the University.

Learn more about giving at www.alumni.uoguelph.ca/giving. @porticomag

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 33

Alumni matters CLASS NOTES

1960s

Jerrold Beech, Dipl. ’67, joined a writer’s group after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease eight years ago. He recently completed his third book with all proceeds going to Parkinson’s research.

Kathy Cowbrough, B.H.Sc. ’67, hosted a reunion for MAC ’67 classmates in Retford, England.

Adeline Misener, B.H.Sc. ’68, established the Rotary Club of Hanwell in Nova Scotia with 21 members. Misener is the club’s first president and was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International for her achievements.

Douglas Procter, B.Sc. (Agr.) ’68, received a 2015 Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award, which recognizes community volunteers. Procter is retired from teaching high school science and lives in Grand Bend, Ont., with his wife, Debbie.

1980s

Valerie Jenner, BA ’81, recently moved to British Columbia.

p Mats Selen, B.Sc. ’82, M.Sc. ’83, received the 2016 U.S. Professor of the Year award from the Carnegie Foundation, and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. He is a physics professor and associate head for undergraduate programs at the University of Illinois.

James Ball, B.Sc. ’85, M.Sc. ’87, received the Irwin Talesnick Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Science Teachers’ Association of Ontario. He is a physics teacher at John F. Ross CVI in Guelph.

1990s Ed Barre, PhD ’92, was promoted to full professor of human nutrition at Cape Breton University. His research involves type 2 diabetes and its potential molecular triggers, as well as pre- and post-onset management.

He lives in Sydney, N.S., with his wife, Kazimiera, and their son, Alexander. Their daughter, Emily, teaches secondary school in Barre’s hometown of Barrie, Ont. Krista Kleinwort, BA ’92, is a registered social worker and positive parenting coach.

Tracey Coutts, BA ’93, published a children’s picture book called How it Happened in Hotterly Hollow (Inkwater Press) in October 2015.

34 | PORTICO Spring 2016

PHOTO: L. BRIAN STAUFFER, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Desmond Layne, B.Sc. (Agr.) ’86, is director of two undergraduate programs at Washington State University. He is also a professor of pomology in the Department of Horticulture.

Jennifer Spreckley (nee Kinsman), B.Comm. ’94, is founder and director of Kingsway Pilates, a boutique home-based studio in Toronto. She is also hoping to educate schools on the importance of integrating more movement into the classroom.

Jane Lewis, BA ’95, is a Guelph-based singer-songwriter. She recently released a video of her cover of the Beatles’ Come Together, which can be viewed at janelewis.ca.

Sandra Muir-Leach, BA ’95, recently opened a new bed and breakfast in Guelph.

Deborah Lynn Rumble-Dani, BA ’95, is taking cooking classes with Greenwich College and hopes to volunteer with the Greenwich Community Hospice and the Stables Care Centre in Charlton, England.

2000s Cynthia Gordon, BA ’00, received her master’s degree in integrated studies from Athabasca University.

Terence Humphreys, PhD ’01, was elected president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality.

Grazyna Adamska-Jarecka, BA ’02, was commissioned to paint portraits of Wayne Martin, DVM ’67, M.Sc. ’70, professor emeritus at U of G’s Ontario Veterinary College, and Ian Dohoo, DVM ’76, professor emeritus at the University of Prince Edward Island, to celebrate their achievements in veterinary medicine.

Andrew Kaszowksi, BAA ’06, started a new role as communications lead at the South West Community Care Access Centre, where he is responsible for communicating the rollout of integrated electronic health records in the region.

Kyla Baron, B.Sc. ’07, defended her PhD thesis in December 2015 and will graduate from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa in June.

research on tropical canopies in Costa Rica published in Discover magazine.

Kristina Rocci (nee Feher), BA ’09, works as a web content coordinator for a Communitech start-up company in Kitchener, Ont. Her role includes digital marketing and creative.

Christina Boone, B.Sc. ’13, bought her first house in 2015.

Pat Bowley, PhD ’13, wrote a new book about the University of Guelph’s ice cream technology course called Celebrating 100 Years at the College of Ice Cream. The book looks at the origins of the course at U of G, as well as the ice cream industry in Ontario.

Bowley wrote an earlier book about the history of soybean farming in Ontario.

Cole Crawford, B.Comm. ’15, cycled from Vancouver, B.C., to Miami, Fla., to raise money for school supplies and bicycles for teachers in Cambodia. To read about his adventure, visit sols24x7ride.com.

Nichole Reynolds, B.Comm. ’15, got married, moved from Ontario to Saskatchewan, and “landed an awesome job that’s the start of a career.”

Stay connected #ForeverAGryphon

Bruce Sargent, B.Comm. ’13, won two Canadian Agri Marketing Association awards for projects completed by his company, Farm Boy Productions.

Follow @uofgalumni Like uofgalumni View uofgalumni Connect linkedin.com/groups/ 114431/profile

Read www.porticomagazine.ca

Melissa Zigler, B.Sc. ’14, is in her second year of veterinary school at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Update your contact information, learn about events and get involved: www.alumni.uoguelph.ca

EST. 1951

Are you looking to stay updated?

Want to receive the latest news on our top stories?

Good news! Subscribe to The Ontarion's newsletter for our top stories every week!

Megan Dell, BA ’07, was married in December 2014, and will welcome her first child with her husband in May. She lives in Western Canada and works as a sales manager in the hotel industry.

Sign-up for FREE at www.theontarion.com/newsletter

Jennifer Althouse, BA ’08, and Stuart Clark, BA ’08, will be married in Toronto in August.

For more information, please contact ontarion@uoguelph.ca

Carrie Woods, M.Sc. ’08, had collaborative @porticomag

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 35

Alumni matters Passages ALUMNI 1930s Frances Sarjeant, DHE ’35, Oct. 27, 2015.

1940s George Reynolds, BSA ’41, Dec. 10, 2015.

Florence Wilson, DHE ’41, Nov. 2, 2015.

Augustus Caldwell, BSA ’46, Nov. 23, 2015.

Richard Elmhurst, Dipl. ’48, Aug. 12, 2015.

Bertha Scott, DHE ’48, Dec. 17, 2015.

John Gardiner, BSA ’49, Jan. 7, 2015.

1950s Wilbur Garvie, BSA ’50, Oct. 9, 2015.

Norman Rosch, BSA ’50, Nov. 28, 2015.

Lloyd Weber, DVM ’50, Oct. 20, 2015.

John Drage, Dipl. ’51, Dec. 7, 2015.

Kenneth Hunter, BSA ’51, Dec. 25, 2015.

Archie Morris, Dipl. ’51, July 14, 2015.

John Turnbull, BSA ’51, Oct. 29, 2015.

George Wilson, Dipl. ’51, June 19, 2015.

Arthur Maude, DVM ’52, Sept. 1, 2015.

Charles Moreland, MSA ’52, June 18, 2015.

Peter Van Schaik, BSA ’52, Jan. 15, 2015.

Jack Woodstock, DVM ’52, Nov. 7, 2015.

Ruth Anne Tolton, BSA ’53, Oct. 7, 2015.

Lois Munro, B.H.Sc. ’54, Oct. 13, 2015.

Carolyn Kelman, B.H.Sc. ’55, Nov. 16, 2015.

Hugh MacKenzie, BSA ’55, Dec. 8, 2015.

Harlan Nash, Dipl. ’55, Nov. 9, 2015.

John Schenck, Dipl. ’55, Aug. 13, 2015.

Thomas Murphy, DVM ’56, Jan. 1, 2016.

John Calverley, DVM ’58, March 3, 2015.

Shirley Harris, B.H.Sc. ’58, Sept. 12, 2015.

James Miller, BSA ’58, Oct. 28, 2015.

Donald Brown, Dipl. ’59, Oct. 5, 2015.

Samuel Gibson, Dipl. ’59, Nov. 19, 2015.

1960s Lynn Dunn, DHE ’61, Jan. 10, 2015.

James Eberle, BSA ’61, Sept. 6, 2015.

Victor Skidra, BSA ’61, Aug. 27, 2015.

Lavern Hambly, DVM ’62, Oct. 29, 2015.

Douglas Howe, BSA ’62, Nov. 23, 2015.

Ann Millard, B.H.Sc. ’62, Oct. 10, 2015.

Arlene Flis, B.Sc. (Agr.) ’65, Aug. 5, 2015.

Clarence Basaraba, DVM ’67, Nov. 1, 2015.

Colin Crews, Dipl. ’67, Feb. 5, 2015.

Margaret Pallett, B.H.Sc. ’67, Jan. 31, 2015.

John Skakel, Dipl. ’68, Oct. 29, 2015.

Robert Thompson, B.Sc. (Eng.) ’68, July 9, 2015.

Murray Ellis, B.Sc. (Agr.) ’69, Jan. 4, 2016.

Murray Smith, B.Sc. ’69, Oct. 8, 2015.

1970s Frances Zadro, BA ’71, Aug. 31, 2015.

Sandra Dawson, BA ’73, Nov. 19, 2015.

Karen Whistlecraft, B.A.Sc. ’74, Oct. 3, 2015.

Leny deMan, B.Sc. ’77, May 13, 2015.

David Campbell, B.Sc. ’78, May 15, 2015.

Joseph Daunt, B.Sc. (Agr.) ’79, July 11, 2015.

36 | PORTICO Spring 2016

Bernice Connell, B.Sc. ’79, Oct. 11, 2015.

Irvin Penner, Dipl. ’79, Oct. 7, 2014.

1980s Elizabeth-Anne Stammers, BA ’80, Dec. 20, 2015.

Sharon Cuddy, B.Sc. ’83, July 12, 2015.

Jane Esseltine, BA ’83, Nov. 9, 2015.

Candace Burchart-Etienne, B.A.Sc. ’84, July 3, 2015.

Raye Clark, BA ’84, Nov. 17, 2015.

Lindela Ndlovu, PhD ’85, Nov. 18, 2015.

Murray Smith, DVM ’85, Jan. 25, 2015.

1990s Michael Lindsay, BA ’90, Aug. 3, 2015.

Jodie Noyes, B.Sc. ’95, Oct. 11, 2015.

Tracey Firth, B.Sc. (Agr.) ’96, Nov. 8, 2015.

Diane Protz, B.Sc. ’98, May 2, 2015.

Daniel Murray, PhD ’91, June 13, 2015.

2000s Leanne Russwurm-Brusso, Dipl. ’01, Oct. 23, 2015.

Grace Glofcheskie, M.Sc. ’15, Dec. 13, 2015.

Jessica Hamather, B.Sc. ’15, Dec. 1, 2015.

FACULTY, STAFF AND FRIENDS Helen Coates, staff, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Feb. 6, 2016.

Johanne Dupont, staff, Department of Graduate Studies, Jan. 23, 2016.

Thomas Fox, staff, central utilities plant, Nov. 2, 2015.

Karen Gough, professor, Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies, Jan. 25, 2016.

Kerry Preibisch, professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and International Studies, Jan. 28, 2016.

George Werchola, staff, Department of Chemistry, Dec. 27, 2015.

To honour those who have passed away, the University of Guelph Alumni Association makes an annual donation to the Alumni Legacy Scholarship.

Time capsule

THE YEAR

2005 Inside the dining area of Creelman Hall before a $4.4-million facelift in 2013 to renovate the building’s dining and kitchen facilities, as well as exterior improvements such as new windows.

Built in 1914, Creelman Hall’s marché-style dining concept was the first of its kind at a North American university.

Do you have a memory to share from your time at U of G? Email a high-resolution photo to porticomagazine@uoguelph.ca and it could appear in Time Capsule.

@porticomag

ON CAMPUS

OFF CAMPUS

+ The women’s basketball team captured its first provincial title in 25 years by defeating the defending champions, the Ottawa Gee-Gees.

+ Condoleezza Rice is sworn in as U.S. Secretary of State, becoming the first African American woman to hold the post.

+ Phase 2 construction of the Summerlee Science Complex is under way.

+ Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane around the world solo without any stops or refueling.

+ Students set a national record by donating $22,000 from their meal plans to buy food for local charities through the Meal Exchange program. + The Macdonald Stewart Art Centre (now the Art Gallery of Guelph) celebrates its 25th anniversary.

+ Canada introduces the Civil Marriage Act, making Canada the fourth country to sanction same-sex marriage. + Hurricane Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast causing more than $100 billion in damage.

Spring 2016 PORTICO | 37

Last look

1:30 P.M. ROOM 102, FOOD SCIENCE BUILDING

$3,600 HIGHEST PRICE MARCONE HAS PAID FOR A SINGLE ANTIQUE LIGHT BULB — IT’S THE BULB USED AS AN EXHIBIT IN A COURT CASE WON BY THOMAS EDISON OVER PATENT INFRINGEMENT.

Renaissance collectors accumulated their treasures in rooms called cabinets of curiosities. Today, Prof. Massimo Marcone’s office in U of G’s Food Science Building is a wunderkammer whose collections reflect his world travels in search of exotic edibles — and light bulbs.

Arrayed on glass shelves, dozens of bell jars display unusual delicacies and associated paraphernalia collected by the U of G researcher from five continents over the past two decades.

On his office shelves are Kopi Luwak coffee beans harvested from an Indonesian civet cat’s feces to make the world’s most expensive java, selling for $600 a pound. Here are argan nuts excreted by tree-climbing goats

38 | PORTICO Spring 2016

in Morocco and pressed to yield salad dressing oil. Elsewhere are ant eggs, putrefied shark meat, Italian cheese made using maggots and morel mushrooms hunted in North American forests.

Marcone, a three-time Guelph grad, has used his biochemistry background to probe these foods’ contents, including how coffee beans change inside the civet’s digestive tract. He wrote about the allure and science of world delicacies in his books In Bad Taste? (2007) and Acquired Tastes (2010).

Also in Marcone’s cabinet of curiosities are hundreds of antique light bulbs, including a collection of carbon-filament lamps made between 1885 and 1910. One private

collector says Marcone’s bulb collection might be worth up to $50,000.

Flicking a switch, he turns a wall cabinet of bulbs aglow. “I’m working in light that goes back 130 years,” says Marcone, who started his collection about 20 years ago.

The collection is partly a nod to the perseverance of Thomas Edison, inventor of the first long-lasting light bulb in 1879. “Without his invention, I would be working in the office with a candle or lantern. It’s pushed us forward by light years.”

—ANDREW VOWLES

For more on this story visit porticomagazine.ca

PHOTO: PETER CHEN

Feb. 2, 2016

2,452 donors have given annually

Total number of U of G

for at least the past five years

alumni:

$25,193,433

122,000

donated privately to

424 student initiatives were

the U of G

supported (scholarships)

University of Guelph alumni and donors make a difference.

14,649 donors Your gifts, involvement, and volunteerism have a great impact. Learn more about our alumni family, generous donors and the proud University of Guelph community in our Impact + Engagement Report.

Impact + Engagement 2014/15 To learn more, please visit alumni.uoguelph.ca/impact

uofgalumni @uofgalumni @uofgalumni

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