Wider Horizons Fall 2021

{ A PUBLICATION OF LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE }

Learning by the banks of the river RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCE

COME TOGETHER FOR LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES STUDENTS

A PATTERN IN HIS PATH GONE FISHIN’

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WALKING WITH DINOSAURS FA LL 2 021

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Editor’s message

I thought I was holding it all together { VOL. 15 | ISSUE 1 | FALL 2021 }

Wider Horizons is Lethbridge College’s community magazine, celebrating the successes and stories of students, employees, alumni, partners and friends. The magazine aims to educate, engage and delight its readers through compelling stories and images about Lethbridge College people, places and experiences.

In addition to free distribution to our regional community, Wider Horizons is also mailed to all alumni and available on campus. Alumni looking to connect with the college or update their contact information can email alumni@lethbridgecollege.ca or go to lethbridgecollege.ca/alumni.

Readers who would like to receive an e-version of the magazine, send a letter, comment on a story, change their address or remove their name from our mailing list should email the editor at WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca.

Wider Horizons c/o The Advancement Office 3000 College Drive South Lethbridge, AB T1K 1L6 WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca Publisher: Dr. Paula Burns Editor-in-chief: Sandra Dufresne Editor: Lisa Kozleski Art director/designer: Dana Woodward Cover photo: Rob Olson Photographers: Jamin Heller, Rob Olson Illustrators: Eric Dyck, Gillian Goerz Writers: Sylvia Adam (practicum student), Jeremy Franchuk, Paul Kingsmith, Jessica Smith (practicum student), Dawn Sugimoto Proofreader: Jennifer Yanish College staff contributors: Kristy Clark, Leeanne Conrad, James Harrison, Greg Kruyssen, Lawrence Krysak, Kristina Madarasz, Ron Ostepchuk, Stephanie Savage, Kasha Thurston, Sydney Wakaruk

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Located on the traditional lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy, Lethbridge College is committed to honouring the land from a place of knowing. We honour the Siksikaitsitapi as both the traditional and current Land Keepers of this area, and we welcome all First Nations, Métis, Inuit and non-Indigenous peoples who call Blackfoot territory their home.

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pretty well until I left my dining room desk in June and came to campus for a Communications team meeting – the first we had held in person since last summer.

I was two weeks past my second vaccine, and happy to be heading down the hall to grab a bite to eat in the Food Court before the meeting.

As I strolled, I had the great fortune to run into Shanda Webber, the college’s manager of Indigenous Services. We waved wildly at each other, the crinkles in the corners of our eyes indicating the smiles underneath our masks. She asked if I was heading to lunch and when I nodded, she said “Come have some Indian tacos! We have extras!”

Earlier that day, I had seen Shanda, the college’s grandparents and other community members at the college’s online Indigenous Peoples Day event. And as Shanda led me outside to lunch, I ran into three very familiar, but much-missed, faces: grandparents Peter Weasel Moccasin and Betty Ann Little Wolf and knowledge keeper William Singer III. “Oh, I’ve missed you all so much!” I said to all three as they sat smiling in the shade. “I just want to give everyone hugs!” And Peter stood up and invited me to do just that. “I’ve had my vaccines!” I said as I felt his arms surround me. And then the tears started pouring from my eyes – tears I couldn’t stop even though I tried.

“I feel like we’ve all, well, been through a lot,” I tried to explain when the hug broke off. “I am just so happy to see all of you here!” My heart broke a little when those words came out, as the college’s Métis grandmother, Louise Saloff, had passed away in April at the age of 72, and I (like the entire college community) feel her absence profoundly, even in the midst of my joy of seeing Peter, Betty Ann and William again.

The three of them and Shanda all made me feel comfortable with my emotions, and in a few minutes, I said goodbye and went on to find and enjoy my delicious taco. Later in the day, in an energetic meeting with my colleagues, we all seemed to be soaking up the pleasure of being in the same large room together rather than connecting over screens, and we started planning for the year ahead with enthusiasm. And when I ran into William on my way out of the college, he passed along some berry tea and a prayer, and I stopped to just let the moment and the day’s worth of moments sink in.

This one day represented so much of what we are all facing right now, it seems. We have all held it together as well as we’ve been able to these last 18 months, but it won’t be surprising if tears spill out of us from time to time in the weeks to come. We’re not through it all yet, but we’ve definitely been through a lot. When we can, we should savour those hugs and not be afraid of the big emotions that might accompany our reunions – both joy and pain. I keep going back to this moment and this hug and then I wonder... how will it feel when students are back on campus this fall? I can’t wait.

Lisa Kozleski Editor

P.S. As always, hoping you enjoy this issue of Wider Horizons, and we always love hearing from you. Drop us a note at WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca.

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SEEN ON CAMPUS Heavy Equipment Technician apprentice Danny Peeters earned the title of best in Canada in his age group at the Skills Canada national competition in June. The 21-year-old from Brooks, Alta., is believed to be just the second Skills Canada gold medallist from the college, and the first in the Heavy Vehicle Technology category. Congrats, Danny!

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President in action News and notes

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From our kitchens Where are they now?

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Makers, doers and thinkers The last word

A sweet tooth Chef Jordi Neudorf says a career in the kitchen felt like destiny. Check out her recipe for chocolate hazelnut cheesecake.

Ready to give back Two alumni share their inspiration and incentives for creating student awards.

The last word Take a look inside the Hubbard Collection, one of the largest collections of wildlife taxidermy in the country.

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President in action

Lethbridge College President and CEO Dr. Paula Burns joined staff, alumni and the Alberta Conservation Association under blue prairie skies in May to plant 250 shrubs, the first of more than 2,500 to be planted just outside Vauxhall as part of an innovative partnership that restores a former farmer’s field into a habitat that both wildlife and people can enjoy.

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The re-wilding project undertaken by the college and MBNA Canada celebrates the 50th anniversary of the college’s Conservation Enforcement and Renewable Resource Management programs. ACA biologist Tyler Johns (Renewable Resource Management 1999) says the chosen site was a former hayfield the ACA purchased from a local farmer who wanted it restored to a natural state.

Photo by Rob Olson

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News and notes

News and notes

TRUE RECIPROCITY IN

honouring Sinclair 4

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THE HON. MURRAY SINCLAIR RECEIVED A BACHELOR OF APPLIED ARTS IN JUSTICE STUDIES AS PART OF THE COLLEGE’S SPRING 2021 CONVOCATION CEREMONIES IN MAY.

Want to keep up on all of your Lethbridge College news between issues of Wider Horizons? Check out our news and events webpage (lethbridgecollege.ca/news) for the latest stories and all of the college news you need. And don’t forget, you can read past issues of Wider Horizons at widerhorizons.ca.

SINCLAIR, WHO IS ANISHINAABE AND A MEMBER OF THE PEGUIS FIRST NATION IN MANITOBA, WAS HIS PROVINCE’S FIRST AND CANADA’S SECOND INDIGENOUS JUDGE, AND HE SERVED IN THE SENATE FROM 2016 UNTIL EARLY 2021. IN HIS MORE THAN 40 YEARS OF WORK AS A LEGAL PROFESSIONAL AND SENATOR, SINCLAIR HAS BEEN A POWERFUL VOICE FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND TIRELESS ADVOCATE FOR RECONCILIATION, INCLUDING IN HIS ROLE AS CHAIR OF THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION (TRC).

Wider Horizons asked Marcia Black Water, a 2004 graduate of the college’s General Studies program who is now an instructor in that same program, to reflect on her interactions with Sinclair and what the choice of Sinclair as the 20th honorary degree recipient meant to her, as a member of the Blackfoot community. To view Sinclair’s address to this year’s graduates, go to learn.lc/sinclair.

In May 2017, I attended the annual Colleges and Institutes Canada conference in Ottawa, where Lethbridge College was recognized with the Bronze Indigenous Education Excellence award. While in Ottawa, I visited Parliament Hill, and as I sat having lunch, the Hon. Murray Sinclair walked out of the building. I went over to introduce myself. Sinclair introduced himself with his Anishinaabe name, Mizhana Gheezhik (The One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky), and I shared my Blackfoot name, Iito’tawaohkaakii (Walking Beside). Sinclair held my hand the whole time he spoke to me, saying “Thanks for coming to say hello; I forget I am important.”

Humour is always present among Indigenous people.

I was proud when the college announced Sinclair would receive an honorary degree from Lethbridge College. I feel the intent is with true reciprocity, honouring Sinclair for the guidance provided to our Indigenous education efforts. I am reminded of how far the learning has come from a memory shared with President Paula Burns. In September 2015, the Blood Tribe hosted a two-day Truth and Reconciliation event, Moving Forward Together as a People. During that gathering, we placed an offering at the Aako’kaatsin, or Big Encampment, grounds; Elders prayed for residential school survivors and their families who continue walking with perseverance.

Leaders like Sinclair speak the hard truths. They provide us the tools to decolonize. As the road to reach the true circle of reconciliation is still at a distance, we need to continue to listen and learn. Maybe when systemic racism and intergenerational impact ceases for Indigenous people, we will know we have gotten somewhere. I encourage a further awareness beyond the 94 Calls to Action. I urge everyone to also read the TRC reports, as within are our Grandparents’ voices and their experiences. They are a reminder of how much our grandparents sacrificed moving from trauma disguised as education to the choices in the education we experience today.

Story by Marcia Black Water | Photos by Rob Olson

Laplante family builds legacy for civil engineering technology In more than 15 years as chair and instructor with Lethbridge College’s Civil Engineering Technology program, Al Laplante helped build the careers and futures of hundreds of students. Now, thanks to the generosity of “Big Al” and his family, future generations of students will receive support to help them succeed through the Al Laplante Scholarship for Civil Engineering Technology.

Before Laplante passed away in October 2020 at the age of 82, he committed to a planned gift to Lethbridge College to add to the scholarship fund he established on his retirement in 2000. That gift is being supplemented by an additional commitment from the Laplante family to bring the total endowment to $120,000. To date, 19 students have been awarded scholarships, which recognize academic excellence in a student’s first year of the program, and many more will be helped by the additional gift.

“He was intensely proud of the college and of the fact that he was the founding chair [of the Civil Engineering Technology program],” says Dan Laplante, Al’s son. “He went to every scholarship banquet that he could and met a lot of scholarship winners. He wanted to make sure more students would have the opportunity to succeed in the program. As a family, we wanted to make sure we stepped up to support that as well.”

“Al was the cornerstone of the Civil Engineering Technology program,” says Warren Salberg (Civil Engineering Technology 1985, 1992 Distinguished Alumni), who was a student in the first year of the program and later worked alongside Laplante as an instructor until the latter’s retirement. “As an instructor, he was 100 per cent dedicated to his students. As a colleague, it was amazing to have him as a mentor.”

The Civil Engineering Technology program Laplante helped to begin is still going strong nearly 40 years later, graduating skilled technologists who are contributing to build the world around us.

To make a donation to the Al Laplante Scholarship for Civil Engineering Technology or to learn more about planned giving, please visit lethbridgecollege.ca/give or call 403-320-3457.

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News and notes

New partnership supports trades students

Be ready to toast the 30th Clayton Allan Wine Auction Talk about something to celebrate: after being postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic, Lethbridge College is happy to announce the 30th Clayton Allan Wine Auction will take place on Nov. 5. The gala will raise funds for the Ready to Rise Bursary supporting students in financial need. Over the last 10 years, this event has raised close to $2.5 million for projects including library renovations, the new Trades, Technologies and Innovation Facility, and student support.

A new partnership with Southland International Trucks will provide trades students with exclusive training opportunities, software and equipment to support their training and career development. The five-year partnership with Southland – a Lethbridge service, sales, rental and leasing highway truck and trailer dealer – will give students and faculty in the Crooks School of Transportation access to Navistar International Corporation and its International dealer network’s TECH EmPOWERment initiative. This initiative supplies accredited institutions with valuable training equipment, advice and insights into the opportunities available to aspiring technicians.

Lethbridge College is one of the first Canadian post-secondary institutions to become a TECH EmPOWERment partner. Southland will also be supplying Global Positioning System (GPS) access to enhance the college’s heavy duty training. The TECH EmPOWERment program enables students to access valuable information on career opportunities available to service technicians and to other

Spent our evenings down at the drive-in About 250 vehicles loaded up with snacks and smiles cruised to campus in June to be part of the one-of-a-kind, one-night-only, drive-in theatre experience featuring the 1985 classic The Goonies. Presented by the Lethbridge College Alumni Engagement team, Movie on the Coulees brought the community together for one perfect summer night of fun.

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dealer/school partnerships. The Southland partnership also includes the creation of a new annual Southland Heavy Equipment Apprentice Award.

Luck of the draw!

Congratulations go out to Marcia Black Water (General Studies 2004), instructor with the

Centre for Business, Arts and Sciences, who was the big winner of June’s Ready to Rise 50/50 College Lottery. “The enthusiasm

with the Ready to Rise campaign has been amazing so far,” says Black Water. “In such an unpredictable time, studying through a pandemic, there was a want to help;

somehow it provided a connection in a time of disconnect. I have witnessed students

who needed some assistance. The Ready to

Rise campaign has been part of making that possible. I am very proud of our Lethbridge

College community for the effort put forth to support students’ endeavours.”

To contribute to the Ready to Rise campaign, go to lethbridgecollege.ca/give.

CAMPUS NEWS While the pandemic has put some of the usual campus

SPOTLIGHT ON OUR STUDENTS Congratulations go out to these three Lethbridge College students and new grads for exceptional work in their programs:

events on pause, the news didn’t stop this spring and summer. For more, check out lethbridgecollege.ca/news. In the meantime, these headlines hint at some of the innovations, adaptations and successes the campus experienced these past four months.

NURSING GRADUATES WITH CUSTOM PARCHMENT

In the true spirit of collaboration, the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College have approved a new parchment for graduates of the Nursing Education in Southwestern Alberta program that features the names of both institutions.

CENTRE FOR BUSINESS, ARTS AND SCIENCES HIGHLIGHTS PATHWAYS

The college is celebrating the newly renamed Centre for Business, Arts and Sciences. The centre, previously known as the Centre for Applied Arts and Sciences, excels at providing multiple pathways for students to pursue career opportunities or further education.

SPHERE LAB PRAISED FOR STUDENT EXPERIENCE

The quality training available to students in Lethbridge College’s Simulated Patient Health Environment for Research and Education (SPHERE) lab has been singled out for its exceptional results by an independent evaluation.

Harrison Hadford (Civil Engineering Technology 2021, Wind Turbine Technician 2016) received this year’s Governor General’s Collegiate Bronze Medal at Convocation. The medal is awarded to the Lethbridge College student who, upon graduation, demonstrates the most outstanding academic achievement across the entire institution. Hadford, who earned a 4.0 GPA each term, told his instructors he was not much of a scholar until he started in the engineering program, as he finally figured out how much he wanted to excel once he determined his career path. He plans to move to Victoria to take a bridging program for the fall term and then continue his studies and pursue a bachelor’s degree at the University of British Columbia – Okanagan in Kelowna.

Danny Peeters (third year Heavy Equipment Technician Apprentice) earned the title of best in Canada in his age group when it comes to Heavy Vehicle Technology, winning the gold medal at the Skills Canada national competition this year. Peeters, a 21-year-old from Brooks, Alta., is believed to be just the second Skills Canada gold medallist from Lethbridge College and the first in this category. With this year’s event held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Peeters took part in a gruelling 7.5-hour test of knowledge and skills on May 27 and 28 at Lethbridge College that earned him the national championship. “This is an amazing accomplishment,” says Sheldon Anderson, Dean of the Centre for Trades. “It is great to see a competitor from one of the smaller institutions take top national honours competing against institutions with much larger budgets. We are so proud of Danny.”

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman (Digital Communications and Media 2021) was named this year’s recipient of the Troy Reeb Internship.

Previous winners of the internship had the opportunity to spend 10 days in television and radio settings in Toronto and Ottawa, but with travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new solution was reached that allowed her to start a three-month paid internship with Global Lethbridge in July. “Alejandra has proven herself to be smart, worldly and passionate about storytelling,” says Reeb (Communication Arts – Broadcast Journalism 1988), the executive vice president, Broadcast Networks for Corus Entertainment. “We’re thrilled to have her join the Global Lethbridge team for this well-deserved opportunity to showcase her hard work and talent to the community.”

PUBLICATIONS HONOURED FOR EXCELLENCE IN 2021

Wider Horizons magazine has once again earned numerous industry accolades. The writing, design, illustration and photography produced by the Communications and Marketing team earned multiple awards from two different organizations in 2021.

HEALTH CARE AIDE CURRICULUM UPDATED

The college has revamped its Health Care Aide program with a new curriculum. Launched at the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic

year, students have successfully completed the first year of the new curriculum, which gives them a wider range of knowledge and hands-on skills.

DUAL CREDIT COURSES FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS OFFERED

Southern Alberta high school students can get a head start on their post-secondary journey by enrolling in Lethbridge College’s new dual credit courses.

WOMEN BUILDING FUTURES OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOUTHERN ALBERTANS

Women Building Futures, a non-profit

organization that creates opportunities for

women to experience trades and construction training, teamed up with Lethbridge College

for a 12-week Journeywoman Start program this summer.

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News and notes

INNOVATION IN ACTION The teams in our Centre for Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and in our Integrated Agriculture Technology Centre have been able to continue moving their research programs along even with the challenges posed by the pandemic. To read detailed descriptions of their work these last four months, check out lethbridgecollege.ca/news; but for a glimpse of some of their creative and collaborative projects, here are some headlines.

IRRIGATION RESEARCH TO CREATE MAPS OF PLANT-AVAILABLE WATER IN FIELDS RECEIVES FUNDING

Irrigation researchers have long been working on optimizing the amount of water needed to grow crops in a variety of fields, but new funding will allow the team to get a more accurate view of how much moisture is present below the surface.

NEW RESEARCH PROJECT TO DEVELOP IMPROVED GRAIN DRYING STRATEGIES

A new research project from Lethbridge College is aiming to help Alberta grain farmers cut their losses through improved storage technology and methods.

LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE, OLDS COLLEGE SIGN AGRICULTURE RESEARCH MOU

Two of Alberta’s premier agriculture applied research institutions are coming together to ensure the province’s agriculture industry has access to world-class researchers, resources and data. Lethbridge College and Olds College have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) focused on applied agriculture research.

COLLEGE’S AQUAPONICS RESEARCH ON DISPLAY FOR ALL AT GRANARY ROAD

One of the newest exhibits to open at Granary Road, located south of Calgary, showcases the cutting-edge work happening in the college’s Aquaculture Centre of Excellence (ACE) to an inquisitive and curious audience – school children and their families.

SUGAR BEET RESEARCH RECEIVES ALBERTA INNOVATES FUNDS

A sweet new Lethbridge College research project exploring how automation and wireless technology can improve sugar beet storage is getting a boost after securing new funding from Alberta Innovates.

Research team presents antibiotics work The Lethbridge College Antibiotics Alberta Plant Project team has been gaining exposure not only for their work but for several student research assistants. Since May, microbiology senior research scientist Dr. Sophie Kernéis and the team have presented at local and national events about their work to identify native southern Alberta plants with antibiotic properties.

Whether she’s talking with a local Rotary Club or a national gathering of researchers, the message is the same. The world needs new antibiotics to address the global surge in antibiotic-resistant pathogens and the team’s work with 190 extracts from plants native to Alberta have found some with the potential for inhibiting or delaying growth of some bacteria. To keep the work moving, Kernéis hopes to connect with an industry partner, so the team is seizing opportunities to talk about their findings. “Since the pandemic started, many conferences are online,” Kernéis says. “You don’t have to travel. It’s less expensive so we can send students, which is great.”

Some of the team members who have been presenting their work include: Nadia Hand, who recently completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Lethbridge and who has been working in Kernéis’ lab for about 18 months; University of British Columbia students Apsara Srinivas and Audrey Golsteyn (Kernéis’ daughter), who have been volunteering with the plant project and analyzing plant extracts; and Kernéis, who presented her research to the Canadian Poultry Research conference on phytobiotics, which are plant-based alternatives to antibiotics, to serve the poultry industry. “It’s great exposure for our research,” Kernéis says. “The conference sessions were recorded and they’re posted on YouTube. You never know when a potential partner may be watching.”

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Building the road to success Lethbridge College’s Civil Engineering Technology alumni say the program measures up.

Check out these stats from two

A place of pride and inclusion In a show of support for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, the college raised the Pride Flag on campus in June as part of Lethbridge Pride celebrations. This is the sixth year the college has flown the Pride Flag, and the first time the Progressive Pride Flag has been raised.

This new flag aims to bring a greater focus to inclusion and progress within but not limited to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

recent surveys:

100%

OF GRADS SEEKING FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT WERE EMPLOYED FULL TIME WITHIN SIX MONTHS OF GRADUATION IN A JOB RELATED TO THEIR STUDIES

100%

OF THOSE GRADS AGREED OR STRONGLY AGREED THAT THEIR OVERALL EDUCATION IS RELEVANT TO THEIR CURRENT JOB – AND THAT IT WAS WORTH THE FINANCIAL COST

100%

OF GRADS WOULD RECOMMEND THE CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM TO OTHERS

91%

OF GRADS FELT THAT THEIR CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS WERE DEVELOPED TO A GOOD OR GREAT EXTENT DURING THEIR PROGRAM

71%

OF LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE GOVERNOR GENERAL AWARD WINNERS HAVE BEEN GRADS OF THIS PROGRAM

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News and notes

Students shed light on effect of litter in the community A group of Lethbridge College students and their instructor are attempting to engage the public on the effects of litter by telling the story of what that litter means to the environment.

The project began when Dr. Tali Neta, an instructor in the School of Environmental Sciences, was struck by the abundance of litter she saw while walking her dogs in a field on Lethbridge’s west side. “I thought I should contact the city and see if we can work together to educate people and bring awareness to the issue,” says Neta.

The City of Lethbridge and the Helen Schuler Nature Centre provided Neta with data collected between 2015 and 2019 from the annual Coulee Cleanup event. Neta then had students in her Geomorphology class use the data to create Story Maps that tell a narrative about the litter and the effect it has on the local ecosystem as their end-of-term project.

Students presented their Story Maps to a representative from the Helen Schuler Nature Centre, the embedded librarian of this course, Constance Sheriff, the technician who arranged the geographic information system setup “behind the scenes”, Tyler Waldron, and other faculty members, as part of their term project assignment in the winter semester.

Going beyond just a class project, the Story Maps are now available online and will be used by the Helen Schuler Nature Centre in its educational programming to help highlight the importance of people cleaning up after themselves and not leaving garbage behind or dumping it inappropriately.

New Bachelor of Agriculture Science program launched Lethbridge College is showing how it is ready to meet the changing needs of the agriculture industry by launching its Bachelor of Agriculture Science program.

The degree, which is unique to Lethbridge

Unlock the secret to wellbeing Come and experience an outstanding massage treatment in Lethbridge College’s on-campus clinic. Our Massage Therapy students are highly skilled at helping you relax and feel rejuvenated.

Call today to book your exclusive therapeutic session. Appointments are available in both the fall and winter terms between 5 and 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Book today by phoning 403-329-7274.

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College, begins in September 2021 and offers opportunities for career development, a path to further education and hands-on research opportunities, while focusing on the science of agriculture.

Lethbridge College’s Bachelor of Agriculture Science is a flexible program that ladders out of the current Agriculture Sciences diploma program. The program is the only one of its kind in southern Alberta and is comparable to Bachelor of Science degree programs offered at the University of Alberta and University of Saskatchewan. The new Bachelor of Agriculture Science program is recognized by the Alberta Institute of Agrologists, meaning students will earn a Professional Agrologist designation following graduation. The program also prepares students to pursue further MSc and PhD training.

“Industry is asking for a new graduate,” says Byrne Cook, chair of the School of Agriculture.

“There is a demand for fundamentals in plant and soil science combined with a strong understanding of data-driven agriculture.

Every year there is new smart agriculture technology and opportunity.”

Lethbridge College has offered agriculture education since 1965. Previous graduates of the college’s Agriculture Sciences programs are eligible to enrol in the Bachelor of Agriculture Science program for Fall 2021. To learn more, visit lethbridgecollege.ca/AgScienceDegree.

MCMurray named new women’s bball coach A new era of Lethbridge College Kodiaks women’s basketball begins this fall, as Ken

McMurray has been promoted to full-time head coach. McMurray spent the past year as co-coach of the Kodiaks, along with reigning Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) south division Coach of the Year Deanna Simpson, who has announced she is leaving the program to focus on her family and career.

McMurray first joined the Kodiaks women’s basketball program as an assistant coach in 2019-20. He has more than 30 years of high school coaching experience with the Cardston Cougars boys’ and girls’ programs. An all-Canadian as a player for the University of Lethbridge in the 1980s, McMurray has helped to develop and graduate dozens of Cougars players onto college and university programs around the country, and he is currently the principal at Cardston High School.

WE ARE ALL KODIAKS Come cheer on our studentathletes at these home and championship games this fall!

For details, go to gokodiaks.ca.

CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING

Oct. 30

ACAC Cross-Country Championships

SOCCER HOME GAMES

Sept. 19 Sept. 24 Oct. 10 Oct. 10 Oct. 29-31

LC vs. Olds, 2 and 4 p.m.

LC vs. Medicine Hat, 3 and 5 p.m.

LC men vs. Ambrose, 2 p.m.

LC women vs. Augustana, 4 p.m.

ACAC Soccer Championships

LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE LEGACIES

Instructor’s legacy continues to make a difference to LC students in need

Instructors know sometimes you don’t see the fruits of the labour

of teaching for years, even decades. So it seems fitting political science instructor Ronald MacDonald, who died in 2003 at the age of 49, is still making a difference in the lives of students at Lethbridge College. His legacy continues thanks to the commitment of the Lethbridge College Faculty Association (LCFA) and the Ronald MacDonald Emergency Fund his colleagues created in memory of the feisty Nova Scotian.

Unlike a scholarship tied to academic performance or a particular program, the emergency fund is truly a last hope for students in such dire financial need that they’re at risk of quitting school.

Administered by Linda Sprinkle, manager of Student Awards and Financial Aid, the fund has provided more than $90,000 to students since 2004. Sprinkle says the fund is unique in that it’s entirely flexible to meet needs when other sources of money are exhausted.

LCFA President and Chair of the Crooks School of Transportation Kevin Wiber knew MacDonald as a fellow car enthusiast. In the early years of the fund, fundraising events were popular because so many people had a personal connection to MacDonald. Even as those connections dwindled, the LCFA’s commitment didn’t waiver. Today, the emergency fund is a line item in the annual budget, meaning all 350 or so members of the LCFA contribute. “It’s a commitment we make and it’s a way we can support our students who need help for reasons outside of their control,” Wiber says.

MacDonald was diagnosed with tongue cancer which took away his ability to speak – a cruel twist for a man known for clever and thought-provoking words. “His gift was his speech,” says Keith Dudley, an instructor who retired in 2019. “You could hear Ron lecture from down the hallway. He was so animated and on fire in class. He was dynamic and outspoken, but he never

had a mean edge about him. There wasn’t a nicer man around in terms of genuine kindness.”

Fred Neale, who retired in 2019 and now lives in Ottawa, shared an office with MacDonald for a decade. “He was one of the most dedicated instructors,” Neale says. “He put everything into his teaching. It was very clear how much he loved it, and how much he gave to students.” His lasting image of MacDonald is of him shuffling down the hall, with “50 pounds of books in one arm” and a gaggle of students following him, asking questions or just wanting to chat.

There are still college faculty who remember MacDonald well.

Marda Schindeler, associate dean of the Centre for Business, Arts and Science, was a student of MacDonald’s before they became colleagues. “He was always interested in sharing and debating ideas, whether a current event or a teaching strategy,” she recalls.

Jeff Hamilton, chair of the Exercise Science program, also knew MacDonald before he started working at LC, and he appreciates that the fund carries on. “I’d like to continue to honour people from years past,” Hamilton says. “I didn’t ever know Paterson or Andrews. I faintly knew of Cousins, but I knew Ron MacDonald and Sharon Hendrickson (who also has a scholarship in her name).

I like remembering them this way.”

The emergency fund is just one support for students in crisis.

The college also offers bursaries through its Ready to Rise fund, and its goal of raising $1 million to support students’ urgent needs. Learn more about this fund and other ways to support Lethbridge College students at lethbridgecollege.ca/give.

Story by Dawn Sugimoto

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GENERAL STUDIES GRAD’S UNEXPECTED JOURNEY TO A PHD AND BEYOND SHOWS THE VALUE OF AIMING HIGH AND CONNECTING TO COMMUNITY Story by Lisa Kozleski | Photos by Rob Olson

D

epending on how you tell it, the story of Shayne Dahl (General Studies 2004) is one of near misses and failures.

He was an uninspired student in high school. He was uncertain about whether to even apply to college, and he didn’t have the marks to go straight into a program. Eighteen years later, when applying for a job, he was ranked 50th out 56 applicants. A few years after that, despite getting great reviews of the work he was doing on a contract basis, he was turned down when he applied for a permanent position. He applied for more positions across the country, was named a finalist at four of them, but he didn’t get those jobs either. When the pandemic started, his housing situation fell apart, and he had to move from the East Coast with his wife and two children into his parents’ basement in Swift Current, Sask. – not exactly where you want to find yourself at the age of 37.

If you tell the story another way – the way Dahl sees it – he is exactly on the right path. It’s led him to extraordinary adventures, personal joy and professional successes with prestigious recognition and a career and home in Lethbridge where his life in academia began.

It all started in 2002, when Dahl completed some academic skill developing courses at Lethbridge College

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and then enrolled in the General Studies program. There, he encountered instructors like Marko Hilgersom (now the college’s Registrar), Douglas Wells, and Don Shade, whose teaching ignited a ferocious passion for learning about subjects ranging from anthropology to religious studies to Indigenous history and traditions.

After graduation, Dahl was ready to keep learning, and so he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Lethbridge, a master’s degree and the Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal from Trent University, and a PhD from the University of Toronto. That poor job ranking was from the first time he applied for a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) post-doctoral fellowship at McMaster University, but when he applied two years later after having some more teaching and research experience under his belt, his application was ranked first out of 74 applicants, the best in Canada. And although he didn’t get any of the permanent academic jobs he applied for during the pandemic, he persevered and applied for even more prestigious opportunities – and his tenacity paid off.

This spring, Dahl was named a post-doctoral fellow at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University,

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a position he will hold remotely because of the pandemic. He also received a two-year Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, one of Canada’s most prestigious post-graduate awards. He will be able to complete the work for both fellowships over the next three years back in the place where his academic journey all started – in Lethbridge, with his family, just a few kilometres away from the college.

“This success,” explains Dahl, “is so great and humbling for me. I’m grateful that my family is taken care of now. It’s also validating after so much rejection. Because when you get rejected so many times in a row, you start to think, ‘I guess it’s me.’

“But sometimes, once you aim higher, then suddenly you break through,” he adds. “It was so, so mind-bending to lose the job I was doing at a small university on a contract basis with great reviews, and then within a year, get the highest honours with the Banting and Harvard postdocs. That makes you dizzy! I didn’t know how to make sense of that at first.

“I guess it just means that you should never give up on yourself,” he concludes. “Maybe the reason you’re not

Shayne Dahl (General Studies 2004) says Lethbridge College instructors ignited a ferocious passion for learning about subjects ranging from anthropology to religious studies to Indigenous history and traditions.

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succeeding is because you’re not aiming in the right direction or you’re not aiming high enough for yourself. But then, when you really aim high, sometimes that’s where, by fate or good fortune, that’s where you belong.”

“I GUESS IT JUST MEANS THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER GIVE UP ON YOURSELF... BUT THEN, WHEN YOU REALLY AIM HIGH, SOMETIMES THAT’S WHERE,

BY FATE OR GOOD FORTUNE, THAT’S WHERE YOU BELONG.” { SHAYNE DAHL }

H

igh school wasn’t easy for Dahl. He was bullied and didn’t really fit into any clique, and he felt like an outsider wherever he went.

“I had no idea what I wanted to do after high school either,” he remembers. “My parents pushed me to go to college even though they never went. I didn’t even know what college was about. But my older cousin, Douglas LaChapelle (Criminal Justice 2000), came to Lethbridge College and is now a corporal for the RCMP in Maple Creek, Sask. I looked up to him, so I applied and was going to follow him here to do that.”

At the end of his Grade 12 year, though, Dahl went on a ridealong with a local police officer and, when the officer pulled over his favourite high school teacher for having a taillight out, he realized policing wasn’t the career he wanted. “I have all respect for that officer and police in general,” Dahl says, “but I saw it wasn’t for me. The experience reminded me of how much I appreciated that teacher and all I learned from him.”

Dahl switched programs to General Studies but needed to do a few academic skills courses first. From his first days on campus, he felt like he was on the right path. One of the close friends he made during his time at the college was Marcia Black Water (General Studies 2004), who now works as an instructor in the college’s General Arts and Science program.

“We had a class together, and on the first day Dahl turned around to me and said ‘hello’ before the class started and introduced himself,” recalls Black Water. “I was coming back as a mature student, and I am quiet when I’m getting the feel for a new setting. Shayne just started the conversation. He became my first new friend at the college.”

They took several classes together that year, including one that was then called Native Studies with instructor Don Shade.

“I learned about residential schools from Marcia from a presentation she did in that class,” says Dahl. “And I was like, ‘What?!’ I couldn’t believe it – I had the same shock that everybody had way later, or even just this summer. She said ‘Yeah, this is real.’ And I couldn’t understand it. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. But I learned about that from Marcia.”

His class presentation was on a sweat lodge experience he had with members of the Blackfoot community, which ignited an interest that would drive much of his later research, including his undergraduate thesis titled “Sacrifice and Healing in Blackfoot Metaphysics,” his master’s thesis titled “Knowing Means Connecting with the Source of Life: Knowledge and Ethics among the Blackfoot,” and the research he plans to undertake as part of the Banting Fellowship, “Global Shugendō: Japanese Mountain Asceticism in Global Discourses of Indigeneity.”

Dahl’s passion is driven by a desire to learn more, as he’s quick to acknowledge how much learning remains for him and other settlers living on Indigenous territory. “We’re on the front line of societal ignorance,” he says. “But you can start learning any time. I started from zero – and ended up doing a

master’s thesis on the ethics of dream knowledge in Blackfoot society. I think that’s a pattern in my path too. When I didn’t know something, I put the time and effort and energy into getting a very full understanding.”

The quest for understanding was nourished in a variety of classes at Lethbridge College, including an ethics class with Douglas Wells in his first semester. Dahl remembers one assignment where the students were given a moral dilemma, and then they had to choose which philosophical approach they would take to solve the problem. Dahl’s question was, in a family where the parents are members of different religious faiths, what religion should the child be raised in?

“And I looked through the philosophical paradigms that we had already explored, but I chose existentialism even though we hadn’t even covered that in class yet,” he recalls with a laugh. “I argued that every person, every individual should have the freedom to choose what their destiny and fate would be. He gave me 100 per cent on the assignment! I think that’s maybe the first time I ever did really well on an assignment in my life.”

The next class Dahl remembers having a significant influence on him was Religious Studies with Hilgersom – the area he would go on to major in for his undergraduate degree at university.

“I remember I was sort of cruising like, earning 60s and 70s when we were learning about Western religions,” he explains.

“I was just plugging along. But when we hit Buddhism and Hinduism, it all changed. I think I aced the first exam. And even more importantly, I had never felt that curious before. And I’d never followed through on my curiosity with that intense level of focus.”

“I HAD NEVER FELT THAT CURIOUS

BEFORE. AND I’D NEVER FOLLOWED THROUGH ON MY CURIOSITY WITH THAT INTENSE LEVEL OF FOCUS.” { SHAYNE DAHL }

Hilgersom recalls the enthusiasm and engagement of Dahl, Black Water and others in their cohort in the early 2000s, as he and other instructors were working to develop and expand the college’s university transfer program.

“There was a real need for this program,” says Hilgersom.

“A lot of students, like Shayne, didn’t have a good high school experience, and it’s not because they weren’t bright or didn’t get it. For some, high school was not a good culture – depending on who their teachers were, depending on who their social group was, they could get turned off of things so quickly.”

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Helping to build a program that now builds a foundation in liberal education for hundreds of students each year and prepares to send them to transfer into the third and fourth year of university has been rewarding, Hilgersom adds.

“I really enjoyed it when students realized that school could be fun, that it could be interesting, that they were learning things they wanted to learn, and asking me questions, and then getting freaked out because there are more questions than answers,” says Hilgersom with a laugh. “But then that’s good, right? That’s kind of what you want.”

Dahl says he has integrated some of Hilgersom’s innovative teaching methods and that of other Lethbridge College instructors into his own teaching – especially teaching through story, dialoguing with students and creating memorable class experiences. And he expects to continue drawing on the lessons he learned nearly two decades ago at the college as he begins the first of his two prestigious postdoctoral fellowships this fall.

During the 2021-22 academic year, Dahl will be a member of the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University. With Lethbridge as his family’s home base, Dahl expects to travel to Boston for several extended visits to meet with colleagues, access libraries and research materials, and work to turn his dissertation, titled “Mountains of Time: Historical Consciousness and Sacred Mountains in Japan,” into a manuscript.

“This appointment will serve as a great launching pad for a book project I am working on that explores recent innovations in Japanese mountain asceticism – called Shugendō in Japanese,” said Dahl in an interview with the University of Lethbridge, where he worked as a sessional instructor earlier this year. “There are fascinating developments in this religion

“TO ME, THAT IS AN EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TESTAMENT – PEOPLE WANT TO BE AROUND HIM AND KEEP UP WITH WHAT HE’S DOING.” { MARKO HILGERSOM }

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that have yet to be documented. I am uniquely positioned to do the research owing to my networks in Japan and am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves at Harvard.”

Between July 2022 and June 2024, Dahl will continue to be based in Lethbridge and connected to the University of Lethbridge as a Banting Fellow, which is considered the most prestigious postdoctoral award in Canada, as he works to “positively contribute to Canada’s economic, social and research-based growth.”

His research program during that period will focus on the transnational expansion of Japanese mountain asceticism and its place in global discourse about indigeneity. He will work with Drs. Hillary Rodrigues and John Harding, both of whom he describes as formative and inspiring professors during his years at the university. This is the first time an applicant for a Banting postdoc at the University of Lethbridge has succeeded in securing this prestigious award.

“The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship will mark my longawaited return to Lethbridge,” says Dahl. “From student to scholar, I feel I have come full circle.”

Black Water and Hilgersom both say they are glad to have Dahl back in Lethbridge and contributing to the community. “Shayne is such a smart guy, but with him, it’s not just the grades and all of that,” says Black Water. “It’s also the relationships he built and continues to maintain in the community. He really is just so interested in people and their stories.”

Hilgersom agrees. “Shayne has done a lot and worked hard,” he says. “He has intelligence and academic gifts. But even more, he’s a good person, someone people actually want to support. To me, that is an even more important testament – people want to be around him and keep up with what he’s doing. Community is still important to him.”

Dr. Kevin Smith, Dean of the Centre for Business, Arts and Sciences, says: “We are extremely proud of Shayne’s success and the fact that it all started at Lethbridge College.

His experience shows that a career path doesn’t necessarily progress rapidly or indeed linearly, and that it is no impediment to start your academic journey with upgrading or academic skills courses.”

Blackwater, Hilgersom, Smith and Dahl all say that the college is an ideal place for students from all backgrounds – even those who weren’t especially successful in high school – to start on the path to a lifetime of learning. Students who have had near misses or failures, they say, and students who aren’t sure what path to take are all welcome here.

“You can have someone come in who doesn’t think they’re a scholar,” says Hilgersom. “But college is a process of self discovery and if you allow yourself the freedom to experiment, you’ll find out who you are. You can take the first step here – and like Shayne, you can go anywhere.”

“THE BANTING POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP WILL MARK MY LONG-AWAITED RETURN TO LETHBRIDGE. FROM STUDENT TO SCHOLAR, I FEEL I HAVE COME FULL CIRCLE.” { SHAYNE DAHL }

Dahl expects to continue drawing on the lessons he learned at Lethbridge College as he begins the first of his two prestigious post-doctoral fellowships this fall.

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Dahl says that the college is an ideal place for students from all backgrounds – even those like him who weren’t especially successful in high school – to start on the path to a lifetime of learning.

LIBERAL ARTS AT LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE Students who start their university degree at Lethbridge College can benefit from small class sizes, instructors who know their names, and a supportive and personalized environment. In addition, about 95 per cent of General Arts and Sciences courses transfer to colleges and universities across Canada and around the world. And with flexible course selections, flexible delivery methods and personal timetables, it’s easy to create an education that works at the time, place and pace that is best for students.

Marda Schindeler, Associate Dean of the Centre for Business, Arts and Sciences, notes that for many students, a general studies diploma – now called a General Arts and Sciences diploma – can serve as a stepping stone to further post-secondary education.

“By offering a broad and diverse curriculum of courses,” she explains, “students get the opportunity to explore their interests while developing their foundational skills and core competencies, preparing them to be ready for whatever happens next.”

Some General Arts and Sciences courses offered in the year ahead include Blackfoot Language, Canadian History, Archaeology of Ancient Civilizations, Microbiology, Human Physiology, and more.

To learn more, go to lethbridgecollege.ca/gs; email generalstudies@lethbridgecollege.ca; or call 403-394-7338.

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DID YOU KNOW? Shayne Dahl isn’t the only Lethbridge College grad who started on the path to an advanced degree at Lethbridge College.

•

Nadine Dalheim (Correctional Studies 2012) is the Fort McKay First Nations Manager of Addictions and Mental Health.

She earned a PhD in child and adolescent development psychology.

•

Kelly Damphousse (Law Enforcement 1982, Distinguished Alumni 1992) has been the Chancellor of Arkansas State University since 2017. He earned a PhD in sociology.

•

Sandra Davidson (Nursing diploma 1994, Career Virtuoso 2019) has been the University of Calgary’s Dean of the Faculty of Nursing since August 2018. She earned a PhD in Leadership Studies.

•

Stephen Graham (Computer Information Systems 1992) is an instructor in the college’s Computer Information Technology program. He earned a PhD in artificial intelligence.

•

Karla Guyn (Environmental Sciences 1986, Distinguished Alumni 2006) is the CEO for Ducks Unlimited Canada. She earned a PhD in biology.

•

Kristen Haase (Bachelor of Nursing 2005) is an assistant professor in Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan. She earned a PhD in nursing.

•

Deborah Hadley (Multimedia Production 1998) is chair of Media and Information Technology at the college. She earned a PhD in higher education.

•

Betty Lew (Community Services and Therapeutic Recreation 1997) is an acupuncturist and Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor. She earned a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine degree.

•

Jan Semmelroggen (Agricultural Technology 2002) is the owner and managing director of Plato Enterprises Ltd. He earned a PhD in geography.

•

Laura Vogelsang (NESA 2011) had served in a leadership role in the Nursing program at the college before taking on a tenure track teaching position at the University of Lethbridge this summer. She earned her PhD in nursing education.

Wider Horizons would love to hear about other alumni who have earned advanced degrees (and of course, we love to hear from all alumni about the interesting and important work they are doing in every field). Drop us a note at WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca to share your story.

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RESEARCH in ACTION

Gone Fishin’ Story by Jeremy Franchuk | Photos by Rob Olson | Illustrations by Gillian Goerz

T

he early morning sun dances on the green-brown water of the Oldman River as a light breeze stirs ripples across the surface. On the shore just downstream from the Whoop-Up Drive overpass, a small group of anglers bait hooks and cast lines into the water in hopes of reeling in lake sturgeon. It’s an idyllic scene on an early summer day, but for the group, including Lethbridge College researcher Kristine Wilson and four summer students from the college’s School of Environmental Sciences, this is work.

Wilson and her team are part of a research project from Lethbridge College’s Aquaculture Centre of Excellence (ACE) assessing the risk and prevalence of herpes viruses in wild populations of lake sturgeon in the South Saskatchewan River basin.

With their torpedo-shaped, armour-plated bodies and pointed snouts, sturgeon resemble something from prehistoric times and for good reason; the fossil record shows they lived alongside dinosaurs as far back as 85 million years ago and they haven’t changed much since then.

Not only are they an ancient species, but individual sturgeon can also live as long as 150 years, with young fish reaching full maturity after 15 to 30 years.

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Today, sturgeon populations in the South Saskatchewan River are designated as endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. They are currently being considered for listing under the Species at Risk Act and are listed as Threatened under the Alberta Wildlife Act. Sturgeon management and recovery plans have identified herpes viruses as a threat to conservation efforts, but the risk is difficult to assess given the lack of information on the types of viruses and their presence in wild populations. The team from ACE is hoping to fill that gap this summer by catching sturgeon, collecting tissue samples from their fins and sending them to Fisheries and Oceans Canada for testing.

That sounds simple, but when you’re dealing with the largest freshwater fish in the Northern Hemisphere, sturgeon fishing can be easier said than done.

“I caught one on the other side of that bridge last week that was more than a metre long,” says Wilson, pointing upstream from her fishing spot. “It took me 15 minutes just to get it to shore and then I tried to guide it into the cradle. It was not ready to come in and snapped the hook right off. I was left there with my arms and body aching, a bruise on my stomach from holding the rod and no fish.”

RESEARCH AND STUDENT EXPERIENCE COME TOGETHER ON THE BANKS OF THE OLDMAN RIVER

Top: Lethbridge College researcher Kristine Wilson, co-lead on the Aquaculture Centre of Excellence’s (ACE) sturgeon research project.

Bottom: Environmental Sciences students Kira Sawatzky (foreground) and Abigail Doerksen (background) and volunteers cast their lines for sturgeon in the Old Man River.

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RESEARCH in ACTION

W

hile the research project will hopefully lead to a greater understanding of the viruses affecting sturgeon in southern Alberta, John Derksen, chair of the ACE and co-lead on the sturgeon sampling project, says the ultimate goal is to pave the way for using sturgeon in commercial aquaponics, in which fish, plants and beneficial microorganisms are grown together in an integrated system.

“In commercial aquaponics, 80 per cent of your revenue is going to come from the produce you grow, and the fish are secondary,” explains Derksen. “Because sturgeon are slow growing and don’t mature for 15 to 20 years, they are a good long-term investment, because you don’t have to separate the sizes when they get too big and you don’t have to worry about finding a market for the fish.”

Derksen said the ACE team is interested in bringing in farmed sturgeon from British Columbia, but the research project needs to determine that the farmed fish won’t carry any diseases that wild domestic fish don’t already have. He adds that the ACE team has already received inquiries from interested commercial aquaponics operators including Granary Road Learning Park and Farmer’s Market outside of Calgary. Granary Road and Lethbridge College have already partnered on a demonstration project showcasing an aquaponics system, and they have also worked together to produce plant food using byproducts from the aquaponics process. Derksen says their vision is to increase public awareness of this endangered species, enhance the

competitiveness of the sturgeon aquaculture industry in Canada and showcase aquaponics as an environmentally sustainable, economically feasible approach for rearing sturgeon for caviar.

B

ack on the river, the fish aren’t biting (though Wilson does collect a six-inch long crayfish), but the team—including summer students Abigail Doerksen, Dongjin Kim, Kira Sawatzky and Joel Smith—are in high spirits.

“I went to school for three years before this, and I did a lot of classes, but the experiences I have had through this program are much more exciting than sitting and typing on a computer,” laughs Doerksen.

Sawatzky, a fourth year Bachelor of Ecosystem Management student, joined the team because of her interest in aquatic ecosystems, but she had rarely picked up a fishing pole before this summer.

“Honestly I didn’t even know about the ACE until this year when John brought a bunch of us in for an experiential week there,” she recalls. “And I didn’t actually know what I was going to be doing with this project because I was mostly interested in insects and other invertebrates, but when I learned more, I was really intrigued. This project has really honed in my fishing skills and understanding of sturgeon migratory paths.”

Left: Aquaculture Centre of Excellence chair and researcher John Derksen with a small sturgeon.

Right: Fourth year Ecosystem Management student Abigail Doerksen with a monster catch.

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For Doerksen, who is entering her fourth year in the Ecosystem Management program, the project was a chance to get further exposure to fish research.

“I was taking fisheries management with John and talking to him about how I wanted to get into the fisheries field. I asked if he had any research opportunities that he needed student help with that I could use for my senior project, and he emailed me a couple of weeks later about this opportunity at ACE,” she explains. “I got really into fishing last year and decided that I wanted to do it for a career, and getting this experience has been absolutely incredible.

It’s cool to be part of an actual research team. I’ve learned a lot, like how to test if a sturgeon is spawning or not, and how to take tissue samples, and of course it’s fun just being able to fish for work.”

It turns out that while landing the bottom-feeding behemoths is one challenge for Wilson and her team, simply finding them is another. Sturgeon can be elusive, especially when the river water levels are low, and they congregate in deeper pools further from shore. The team has ranged all over the Old Man River from multiple spots in Lethbridge to the Grassy Lake Forks fishing area to Medicine Hat, and members have even tapped into the expertise of southern Alberta’s sport fishing community for tips about where the fish are biting. As of late July, the team had only managed to catch and sample 54 sturgeon, less than half of the 180 they are looking for. But as the morning turns to the afternoon and air grows warmer, there is definitely the feeling that no one would mind if this job lasted all summer long.

“I’VE LEARNED A LOT, LIKE HOW TO TEST IF A STURGEON IS SPAWNING OR NOT, AND HOW TO TAKE TISSUE SAMPLES, AND OF COURSE IT’S FUN JUST BEING ABLE TO FISH FOR WORK.” { ABIGAIL DOERKSEN }

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RESEARCH in ACTION

Walking with Story by Jeremy Franchuk | Photos by Rob Olson | Illustrations by Gillian Goerz

A

new Lethbridge College Virtual Reality (VR) experience will enable visitors to the Grande Cache Tourism and Interpretive Centre in the Municipal District of Greenview to follow in the footsteps of dinosaurs.

The Grande Cache Dinosaur Track site, located on the edge of the Rocky Mountains northwest of Edmonton, is the only largescale exposure of dinosaur tracks known in Canada. An estimated 10,000 individual prints belonging to several different dinosaur species have been found at about 25 different sites in the area.

Most of the prints at the site came from two species who called the region home during the Cretaceous Period – the hulking, armoured, plant-eating Sauropeltas and the small- and mediumsized two-legged meat-eating Acrocanthosaurus. These lizards traversed the lush shores of a giant inland sea that covered much of what is now the Prairie provinces, leaving traces of their passing in the form of footprints in the mud. The tracks, which were preserved under layers of rock, remained undiscovered for more than 90 million years until open-pit mining operations in the area stripped away rock layers to reveal them in the 1980s.

Due to geological upheavals over the past several millennia, the tracks are located on steeply angled cliff faces that are almost totally inaccessible to the public, which is where Mike McCready, the college’s President’s Applied Research

Chair in Virtual and Augmented Reality, and his team come in.

The Grande Cache area “has this site with amazing tourism opportunities, but they can’t bring people to it because of logistical and safety concerns,” explains McCready.

So instead of bringing people to the tracks, McCready and his team, which includes college instructor and researcher Allyson Cikor and VR/AR program graduate Benjamin Blackwell, are bringing the tracks to the people. By using photogrammetry and laser scanning to capture close-up and detailed imagery of the dinosaur tracks, the team has created an immersive VR experience combining 360-degree imagery, spatialized audio and guided narration that enables visitors to experience the tracks and hone their paleontology skills with virtual activities – all without leaving the Grande Cache Tourism and Interpretive Centre.

The project, which is funded in part through a $18,000 grant from the Community and Regional Economic Support, also includes an Augmented Reality (AR) piece developed by VR/AR student Alex Mayer. The AR part of the project enables visitors to see how the tracks were made by overlaying digital content over the real-world site using Snapchat filters.

In June, McCready and Cikor presented the project to the VR/ AR Global Summit 2021 – North America, garnering international attention for their work. “We had a number of people reach out to us after our presentation to ask us about using technology to digitally recreate other heritage sites,” says Cikor.

Jenny Daubert, Tourism Supervisor for the MD of Greenview, says the plan is to publicly launch the VR experience in early September (right as Wider Horizons goes to press). “We’re super happy with what we’ve seen so far,” she says. “The Walking with Dinosaurs VR project is a very exciting opportunity to share this historical site with the public in a fun immersive learning experience. The team from Lethbridge College is extremely talented, and they have exceeded my expectations in their ability to recreate the Dinosaur Track site.”

To get more information about the Grande Cache Dinosaur Track site, go to experiencedinosaurtrails.com. To learn more about the college’s Spatial Technologies Applied Research & Training (START) program, go to lethbridgecollege.ca/start; email virtualreality@lethbridgecollege.ca; or call 403-320-3468.

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dinosaurs LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE VR TEAM BRINGS AN ALBERTA HERITAGE SITE TO LIFE

Left: VR instructor and researcher Allyson Cikor demonstrates the Grande Cache Dinosaur Track virtual reality experience.

Right: The angled cliff face at the Grand Cache Dinosaur Track site.

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From our kitchens

{ Chef Jordi Neudorf }

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CHEESECAKE Story by Jeremy Franchuk | Photos by Rob Olson

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For some, a career in the kitchen is a choice. For Jordi Neudorf (Baker Apprenticeship 2021), it felt like destiny.

“I’ve been baking with my mom my whole life,” says Neudorf. “Then, when I was in high school, one of my teachers pushed me to try the Skills Canada [career competition], which I did in grades 11 and 12. That experience was really cool and made me realize that baking was a valid career option, and that was it for me.”

In 2018, Neudorf was one of the first students in the college’s inaugural class of the Baker Apprenticeship program, where she split her time between the college and working in professional kitchens. Her first stop was with a local cakeshop followed by a job with Homestead Bakeshop in Fort Macleod, which has given her two different but complementary experiences.

In the Baker Apprenticeship program, “you learn the process and understand how to troubleshoot when things go wrong, so you can fix them next time,” she explains.

“It’s also a full immersion into baking. You have to do bread, pastry and cakes, and then you also get to try sugar work or chocolate work that most people will never do in the real world, but it’s still really cool to make. Working here [at Homestead] has put me out of my comfort zone because they do go the extra mile here to make everything from scratch and they focus on making bread, which I don’t love making as much as other things, but now I can make a really good loaf.”

Neudorf passed her Red Seal exams in the spring and hopes to one day travel to get more experience before eventually opening her own bake shop. “The thing with baking is you never really have an unhappy customer, and I love that,” she says. “It’s fun, it’s creative, it makes people happy and it tastes good. And I’ve got a sweet tooth.”

Ingredients

Method For the crust 1.

2.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Toast the hazelnuts in oven for about 20 to 30 minutes. While still warm, roll the hazelnuts in a towel to flake off the skin. Save a few of the prettiest ones to garnish with. Grind the rest in a food processor until fine.

Line the sides of a nine-inch springform pan with parchment.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, chopped hazelnuts and melted butter together. Then press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake at 325F for 15 minutes.

For the cheesecake For the crust 1 1/2 c. ............................... hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped 1 c. ...................................................................graham cracker crumbs 1/4 c. ...................................................................................melted butter

For the cheesecake 4 ...................................................................8oz bricks cream cheese 1 2/3 c. ............................................................................................... sugar 4 tbsp. .....................................................................................cornstarch 3/4 c. ..............................................................................whipping cream 1 tbsp. ................................................................................................vanilla 2 ................................................................................................. large eggs 1 1/2 c. ...................... Nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spread

For the ganache 3/4 c. ................................................................................. milk chocolate 1/4 c. ........................ Nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spread 1/3 c. ...............................................................................whipping cream

1.

2.

3.

Cream together the sugar, cornstarch and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly pour in the whipping cream, vanilla, and eggs, and mix until combined. Then add in the Nutella.

Pour the cheesecake filling into the pan with the crust.

Wrap the pan in two layers of tin foil and bake in a water bath (a second pan filled halfway up with water.)

Bake at 325F for about 1 1/2 to two hours or until done. It should look mostly set and have an internal temperature of 170F. Allow to cool completely at room temperature. Pour ganache over the top, and then refrigerate overnight.

For the ganache 1.

2.

Combine the chocolate and Nutella in a heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream on the stovetop until just simmering, and pour over the chocolate. Let it sit for two minutes, and then stir until smooth.

Pour enough over the cheesecake to completely cover the top.

Refrigerate the whole cheesecake overnight and garnish the next day with a chocolate drizzle and toasted hazelnuts. Enjoy!

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Two alumni share their inspiration and incentives for creating student awards SUPPORTING STUDENTS AT LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE CAN TAKE MANY FORMS. Some people are able to give their time, serving on advisory boards or welcoming practicum students into their workplaces. Some businesses are able to give equipment so that tomorrow’s employees have experience working with the tools of their trade today. Sometimes businesses and individuals are in a position to make major financial gifts that can help shape new programs or provide access to education for scores of students. And sometimes a gift is given by one person to make a difference in the life of one other person. All of these gifts are needed and appreciated. Here’s a glimpse of what motivated two alumni to create a student award.

These stories were written by Sylvia Adam and Jessica Smith, two soon-to-be grads from Lethbridge College’s Digital Communications and Media program. Adam and Smith spent five weeks in late April and May working as practicum students with the college’s Communications team. We are proud to share these stories, as well as several of the features in the “Where Are They Now” section with readers of Wider Horizons.

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Suzie Turcotte Smith (NESA 2010) says the best way she could think of to give back to the college was to support current nursing students.

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IN THE COVER STORY ABOUT THE TURCOTTE FAMILY THAT APPEARED IN THE SPRING 2011 ISSUE OF WIDER HORIZONS, READERS LEARNED ABOUT THEIR PERSEVERANCE IN THE FACE OF CYSTIC FIBROSIS. Two brothers had inherited the disease, which causes severe damage to the lungs and other organs, and one of them needed a lung transplant to have a shot at living past his 19 years.

A decade later, much has changed for the family of five. “I think our lives are the most stable they’ve ever been,” says daughter Suzie Turcotte Smith (NESA 2010), the eldest sibling who moved to Claresholm in 2016 and is a nurse working in home care. She has been married to Terry for 11 years, and they have two daughters, 10-year-old Claire and six-year-old Elizabeth.

Parents Veronica (Office Administration 2008) and John Turcotte are now retired, with John doing odd jobs for people every now and then.

Maurice, the middle child and eldest son, married three years ago, and he and his wife are expecting their first baby around Christmas this year. Youngest son Eugene, who received the lung transplant, is married and recently celebrated his 30th birthday – an event the family hadn’t been expecting due to the severity of his cystic fibrosis.

“They’re both still alive, both married, and one is about to have a child,” says Suzie Turcotte Smith about her brothers.

“I’m an auntie on my husband’s side, but I never thought I’d be an auntie on my side. It’s really great.”

Though Turcotte Smith does not have cystic fibrosis, she carries the gene for it and her elder daughter, Claire, inherited

the disease. She says that her family’s experience with cystic fibrosis exposed her to the medical side of things early in life and cites it as part of the reason she wanted to become a nurse. Turcotte Smith says that when she was first looking into post-secondary education, she was torn between nursing and joining the RCMP. She prayed for a sign, which came in the form of a visit with her grandmother.

“We were talking and suddenly she said to me, ‘you know what, Suzie? I think you would be a really good nurse,’ and I took that as my sign and ran with it. I enrolled fresh out of high school,” says Turcotte Smith.

Once she had graduated from the Nursing Education in Southwestern Alberta program in 2010, Turcotte Smith began making contributions to Lethbridge College in the form of two financial awards. These are the Turcotte Smith – Men in Nursing Award and Turcotte Smith – Women in Nursing Award. Turcotte Smith says that she has always felt the need to give back to the college, and the best way she could think of was to support current nursing students.

“I know how hard it is to be a student and not necessarily know if you’re going to have Eugene, c entre, wit h, clockw frotuition,” all the money to make Turcotte m top le says ise father Jo ft, mother Veroni h n, of Smith. “Even providing a little bit relief brother Min thatca, brother-i aurice, n-law Ter ry, sister area of someone’s life can make a huge difference.”

Suzie.

Turcotte Smith says that she chose to make her awards available to second-year students because it seemed there were more scholarships and bursaries available to first-year students.

She hopes that those who receive her awards will become good nurses, help people, and that maybe one day they’ll turn around and choose to support someone else down the road.

One moment that Turcotte Smith says made all her donations worthwhile was when she received a heartfelt card from someone who had received her award. She says it validated why she was giving in the first place. “Every now and then it pops up on my Facebook and just makes me smile,” she says.

Story by Jessica Smith | Photos by Rob Olson

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WHEN ALEXANDRA CARNIO (BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 2012) WAS A LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE STUDENT, A STUDENT AWARD HAD A REAL IMPACT ON HER EXPERIENCE. “I was able to focus on school and not necessarily have to take a job, which makes a huge difference,” she explains of what it meant to receive the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award. “So I’ve been very grateful to have scholarships to help fund my postsecondary education.”

Being awarded this scholarship prompted Carnio to give back to the college, and so she worked with the Development team to create a student award called the Simplified Social Scholarship. “I wanted to create the Simplified Social Scholarship so that other students who are involved in extracurriculars and community could have an opportunity to have a scholarship,” she says.

Carnio’s main motivation for donating to Lethbridge College is to make a difference in the lives of students.

She has been donating to Lethbridge College for the last two years. “I think education is so important and I know that sometimes students are in hard positions where school can be expensive, and you also have other expenses to manage,” she says.

Carnio, who was the Lethbridge College Students’ Association president in 2011-12, graduated in 2012 and went on to earn a Bachelor of Commerce in Entrepreneurial Management degree at Royal Roads University. After graduation, she worked at a bank as well as at the college 32

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in Alumni Relations before starting her own business. She has worked in roles including program facilitator, digital marketing manager, content strategist, and business advisor.

In 2015, Carnio started her first business, Simplified Social, and in 2021 she led the merger of that company with Bluetrain, one of Simplified Social’s strategic partners.

The company now offers a fully integrated approach to digital marketing, providing both strategy and social media management services. Not only does this new team bring with them a suite of social media services and experience, they also expanded the business’s presence into Alberta and British Columbia.

Currently, Carnio works at Bluetrain Inc. as a director in social media and content marketing. She is in charge of a team of six and they’re responsible for creating content for social media, paid advertising and digital marketing for small businesses. She is also starting another business called ProducKIDvity, a daycare and co-working facility in Kelowna, B.C. Carnio has spoken at events for countless organizations including: Alberta Women Entrepreneurs, Women’s Enterprise Centre B.C., Community Futures, ATB Financial and numerous chamber of commerce groups. She speaks on a variety of topics including social media for business, digital marketing strategy, entrepreneurship and more. She is also active as a coach and mentor for those looking to launch their businesses and expand their social media presence.

Despite being a young entrepreneur, Carnio still makes it a priority to donate to Lethbridge College because she believes that a “business is only as successful as its communities,” she says.

“I think having a meaningful giveback strategy for a business is important. If we can connect to community and give back to it, that only makes our businesses stronger.”

Story by Sylvia Adam | Photo courtesy Alexandra Carnio

Alexandra Carnio (Business Administration 2012) says she created a student award because she wanted to make a difference in the lives of students.

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Where are they now?

Where are they now?

Makers, Doers and Thinkers Celebrating the Lethbridge College alumni who are building community and making their mark in memorable ways.

FEATURING:

Angela Suntjens (Pre-Employment Welding – 2005 General Studies – 2012)

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SHARING THE SUCCESSES OF OUR ALUMNI IN THEIR CAREERS AND THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES. Makers, Doers and Thinkers Featuring Angela Suntjens was a farm kid, and when the idea of post-secondary education came up, thinking of the sheer size of university overwhelmed

ALUMNI UPDATES We love hearing from Lethbridge College alumni! You can find additional updates online at widerhorizons.ca.

her. Years later, she is happy with her

To submit your news to share with

choice to attend Lethbridge College

your classmates and the college

and with the close-knit connections

community, drop us a note at

she formed along the way.

WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca.

Angela fondly remembers Walter Hann, one of her welding instructors. “It

didn’t mean anything that I was a girl. He treated me the same and gave me every opportunity,” she says. “He still recognizes me around town and asks what I’m up to.”

After graduating, Angela spent four years in the field doing heavy-duty structural welding on oilfield trailers and grain bins, but the onset of a chronic illness (dysautonomia, a condition that affects the nervous system that controls involuntary body functions) cut her commercial welding career short.

“Because of the nature of my disease, it took a long time to diagnose and I was bedridden for a great deal of time,” she explains. ”I decided I wanted to pursue an academic education and I applied again to Lethbridge College for a general studies diploma in psychology and sociology and then transferred over to the University of Lethbridge.”

At the University of Lethbridge, Angela earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and Bachelor of Science degree in psychology/neuroscience and began a master’s program, but she became ill again and was not able to continue her studies. With time on her hands, Angela picked up her welding rig once more. While undergoing cardiac rehabilitation and seeing specialists, she managed to sit up for a few hours to weld simple horseshoe pumpkins.

Those welding projects re-ignited her creative spark and, in 2017, Angela opened her own metal shop, Dryland Custom Fabrications, specializing in one-of-a-kind metal art, custom metal fabrication and small repairs. Angela says one of the reasons she loves Dryland is that it accommodates her newly acquired disability and gives her autonomy and a creative outlet.

“Metal is always dominated by men, and even more so when it’s artistic, and so I’m very proud of what I’ve built,” Angela says. She started working out of her garage, and now her shop is 576-square-feet, and her husband has quit his job to work for her. Apart from her creations and the growth of her business, Angela also takes pride in Dryland’s principled commitment to community.

For example, for International Women’s Day, Dryland took a percentage of the money made from sales and donated it to UNICEF so that three girls could get their birth certificates, which allows them access to jobs and education. Angela says she’s committed to building on the success of the company she has built to support and empower other women, too.

Story by Jessica Smith | Photos by Rob Olson

2021

Cassie-Lee Hatzitolios-Mireau Criminal Justice – Policing 2019 Justice Studies – Bachelor of Applied Arts 2021 Cassie is currently working as an outreach worker for high-risk youth and has also been accepted to six law schools around the world.

Celia Torres Moreno

Architectural Animation Technology Celia is working part time for a real estate agent editing videos for social media while getting her own business in architectural visualization and drafting off the ground.

2020

Natalie Corscadden Correctional Studies Natalie is studying law at the University of Lethbridge.

Toby Drozdz

Digital Communications and Media Toby started a new job doing marketing for Redcliff Bakery in her hometown of Medicine Hat.

Travis Illerbrun

Renewable Resource Management Travis spent the summer working at the Trans-Canada Visitor Reception Centre in the Cypress Hills.

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Where are they now?

ALUMNI AT WORK – FWBA Architects

FWBA Architects, founded in 1928, is the oldest continuing

architectural practice in Western Canada. Its skilled and creative architects, technologists and administrators have helped to create some of the region’s best-known and most beautiful buildings, including Lethbridge’s public library, police service headquarters, fire hall and city hall, as well as the college’s newest residence, Kodiak House. Today, 11 of its 25 employees are Lethbridge College grads, and nine of them were able to gather in June for a team photo.

Pictured above are (back row, left to right): Rebecca Poff (Interior Design and Merchandising 2002), Lina Wiebe (Interior Design Technology 2019), Theresa Yauck (Interior Design and Merchandising 2001), Sierra McTavish (Interior Design Technology 2021) and Cheryl Dick (Communication Arts 1987, Distinguished Alumni 1992); (front row, left to right): Randy Holmberg (Engineering Design and Drafting 2018), Garwin Poff (Engineering Design and Drafting 2001), David Cocks (Engineering Design and Drafting 2001) and Dwayne Miller (Engineering Design and Drafting 2010).

Alumni missing from the photo are Bryce Stickel (Engineering Design and Drafting 1999), who works out of the company’s Medicine Hat office, and Leah Schreiber (Interior Design and Merchandising 2005), who works out of the Calgary office.

We are proud to celebrate these Alumni at Work!

Wider Horizons and the Alumni Engagement team are excited to launch a new feature this issue, celebrating businesses that employ a large number of Lethbridge College grads. If you’d like your business showcased in a future issue, email WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca.

Photo by Rob Olson

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Megan Golueke Justice Studies – Bachelor of Applied Arts Megan shared this update with the Alumni office: “After graduating in December 2020, I was offered a position through the Aboriginal Pool of Candidates for Correctional Service Canada. I began working at the beginning of April 2021. I started my training for parole by taking my parole induction training and learning handson from other parole officers. I was offered to do more training to become a correctional programs officer to facilitate programming for the federal inmates at Drumheller Institution. I was also offered to train for an additional week to become an Indigenous programs officer. Everything happened so fast – and now I am moving my family from Calgary to Drumheller!

My dreams have truly come true after obtaining and achieving my degree from Lethbridge College.”

Kristyn Nelson

General Studies Kristyn shared this update with the Alumni office: “After graduating from the general studies program, I transferred to the University of Calgary Bachelor of Social Work program (Lethbridge campus). I will be going into my fourth year this September and start my junior practicum within Child and Family Services.

I have gained a lot of valuable information from my program so far and have enjoyed being challenged within my own views and perceptions.

I am constantly learning about new theories that I will use within my social work practice such as antiracist theory, anti-oppressive theory, strengths approach, and person-inenvironment perspective. In my last semester I worked on a group project for my practice and evaluation with Communities course. We decided to focus our efforts on child poverty

within Lethbridge and the further damaging effects that COVID-19 has on children living in poverty. We planned to provide art kits to children ages five to 11 to enhance their mental health, confidence, and overall well-being. We teamed up with the Interfaith Food Bank who handed out our Kids Can Create art kits to families using the Emergency Food Assistance program, which is a hamper given out once a month to those facing financial barriers and food insecurity. Our group found donors within the Lethbridge community who provided us with enough funds to create 80 Kids Can Create art kits. We made sure to provide brain-building art activities that can help refine children’s fine motor skills, allow for creativity and selfexploration, and help with cognitive development and self-esteem. If you would like to check out our Facebook page, it is Kids Can Create.”

“I CANNOT WAIT TO

SEE WHAT MY FUTURE HOLDS, AND WHERE I

2019

2017

Criminal Justice – Policing Colten was accepted into a dual degree program at Swansea University in Wales, which consists of an expedited honours degree in sociology and a Bachelor of Laws.

Digital Communications and Media Todd works with the Blood Tribe as a communications officer. Todd helped produce a series of videos as part of the Blood Tribe’s COVID-19 safety campaign that can be viewed at Learn.lc/BloodTribeCovidSafety.

Colten Canturk

Roseanna Jansen

Massage Therapy After graduation, Roseanna worked in a sports and physio clinic in Edmonton until moving up to Whitehorse. Today she’s a registered massage therapist in Dawson City.

Taylor Nielsen

Business Administration – Marketing Taylor has been the office manager for a co-working space called GrupDesk and a content creator and marketer with Xciting Media in Red Deer for the past two years.

Lane Sterr

Business Administration – Accounting Lane is the new manager at Lethbridge coffee shop Bread Milk and Honey.

2018

WILL END UP WITHIN MY CAREER.” Kelsey O’Donnell Digital Communications and Media After graduating, Kelsey transferred to Royal Roads University to complete a degree in Professional Communications and is now working as a marketing coordinator with a health therapy centre in Victoria.

Codey Soanes

Criminal Justice – Policing Codey is the president of the Wetaskiwin and District Amateur Football Association. Last year he received a Football Alberta Award of Merit in recognition of his efforts to provide football opportunities to local players in a unique and trying year.

Sarah Brunsdon Health Care Aide 2018 Sarah is working as a health care aide for the Green Acres Foundation and is planning on returning to Lethbridge College to further her career in nursing.

Bryan Pachal

Massage Therapy After graduation, Bryan started Effect Therapy, a multidisciplinary health practice that employs 13 staff, including eight massage therapists and five frontend staff in two locations in Lethbridge.

Todd Eagle Child

Byron Schmidt

Wind Turbine Technician After graduating, Byron worked as an electrician, operated heavy equipment building oil well sites and worked as a wind turbine maintenance technician and then as an environmental health and safety technician with General Electric in British Columbia. He’s now a wind operations controller in Enbridge’s remote operations centre.

Katelyn Scott

Therapeutic Recreation – Gerontology Katelyn went on to complete a Bachelor of Therapeutic Recreation degree at University of Lethbridge, graduating in 2019. She then returned to teach at both the college and the university as an instructor in their therapeutic recreation programs. She also works as a recreation therapist for Alberta Health Services in continuing, acute and community care.

2016

Aurora Eggert Agriculture Sciences – Plant and Soil Sciences In January of 2021, Aurora launched a podcast called The Borealis Experience focused on men’s mental health. The first two seasons focus on the basics of mental health and resilience, while in seasons three and four she interviews men from all walks of life to share their stories of mental health struggles and overcoming pain and suffering to live a fulfilled life. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

37

Where are they now?

Dayn Opel Justice Studies – Bachelor of Applied Arts Dayn shared this update with the Alumni office: “After graduation, I hired on with CP Rail and became a conductor. I have been with CP for four years and will be in the next training class for locomotive engineer. I have a three-year-old named Rhett and I am playing my third season with the Lethbridge Lightning Senior AA hockey team. I loved it so much in Lethbridge that I decided to stay and bought a house in Black Wolf. I miss my Kodiaks and since leaving the cross-country team, I continue to run in my spare time and enjoy watching the latest athletes and their accomplishments.”

Mark Reners Business Administration – Accounting Mark works for ATB Financial as a relationship manager.

2014

Bradley Jones Communication Arts – Broadcast Journalism Bradley left his job with 107.5 2day FM and Vista Radio in Cranbrook, B.C., after seven years as an anchor and news director to take a new role as a policy and legislative analyst at the City of Cranbrook.

Rachel Riendeau

AND SINCE LEAVING

Business Administration Rachel is a hearing care coordinator at a hearing clinic and a freelance graphic designer.

THE CROSS-COUNTRY

Nicole Mahieux

“I MISS MY KODIAKS

2013

WATCHING THE LATEST

Business Administration – Management Nicole is the human resources and safety manager at a frozen food manufacturing facility.

ATHLETES AND THEIR

Caitlin Bye

TEAM, I CONTINUE TO RUN IN MY SPARE TIME AND ENJOY

ACCOMPLISHMENTS.” Halen Kooper Digital Communications and Media Halen is finishing a Bachelor of Communications in Journalism with a minor in Political Philosophy at Mount Royal University in Calgary.

This past summer he joined Town and Country News in Beaverlodge as a summer intern.

Emmerson Reyes

Computer Information Technology Emmerson recently left his role in Lethbridge College’s ITS department for a management position as Human Resources systems and analytics administrator.

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2015

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2012

Massage Therapy Caitlin runs her own business, Massage and Esthetics by Caitlin, in Lethbridge.

Stacey Demedeiros

Early Childhood Education After graduation, Stacey started working at La Garderie CREFL Childcare Centre where she currently works as director.

Stephanie Gilchrist

Communication Arts – Print Journalism After graduating, Stephanie worked for a small newspaper for five years before switching careers to become a health care aide. She’s now working at Canadian Blood Services as a plasma associate (phlebotomist) with on-site phlebotomy training.

Katherine Isberg Wind Turbine Technician Katherine shared this update with the Alumni office: “After graduating, I got right into my profession as a wind turbine technician. After just over a year in the field, I moved back home to open a business with my husband and his family. Then a new wind farm was built just 40 minutes away from my home, so I applied and back into the industry I went and have been on that site since 2017. I am currently enrolled at the University of Calgary to obtain my Occupational Health and Safety diploma!”

Joey Sugai

Communication Arts – Broadcast Journalism Joey is a writer with the Blood Tribe Communications department.

2011

Alex Mckay Office Administration Alex has been employed with the Lethbridge Country Club since graduation.

Christy Turner

Business Administration Christy is the Promotions Director for Lethbridge radio stations KiSS 107.7 and 106.7 Rock.

Jessica Melsted (Renewable Resource Management 2013}

Rianna Wilson Business Administration – Management Rianna Wilson’s life after graduating from Lethbridge College has taken her around the world, travelling to Australia to continue her studies and returning to Lethbridge, where she now manages several businesses.

“The newest one we just opened is called Seamless Cares, and what we’re trying to do is provide a stepping-stone between when you’re living at home and retired to when you have to go live in a facility,” she says. “We’re providing a tier program so that you can go anywhere from having 20 hours a month to fulltime care.”

Rianna also owns and operates Adaptive Technologies, an orthotic clinic.

For most of the businesses that she runs, Rianna does the books, does HR, speaks with people and helps them open their own businesses. She has been a part of Big Brothers/Big Sisters for seven years, with the same “little,” who is now 13 years old. She says her favourite part about Lethbridge College was the small classes and having a close relationship with her instructors.

2010

Amanda Fraser Criminal Justice – Policing Amanda is a dispatcher with Calgary Transit Public safety.

Immediately after graduation, I got a position with Cows and Fish based

“

in Lethbridge where I conducted field work across the province assessing the health of riparian areas. [Environmental Sciences instructor] Steve MacRae was very supportive in helping me get that position, and funnily enough, I worked (and am good friends) with current Lethbridge College instructor Kirby England in that role. It was a valuable experience, but I was yearning for a bit more, so I went to the University of Alberta where I got my Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Conservation Sciences in 2019. Thanks to a waterfowl biology class I took at the college with Shane Roersma, I was able to work on a duck nesting study with the Delta Waterfowl Foundation for a summer and breeding waterfowl surveys and duck banding for the Canadian Wildlife Service for two years. Since then, I’ve done breeding bird surveys for a consulting company and collected samples for Alberta’s chronic wasting disease program. Currently, I am working for the Canadian Wildlife Service as a protected areas technician where I help oversee the management and field planning for national wildlife areas. I am still grateful for my experiences at Lethbridge College where I gained valuable skills and enjoyed fantastic hands-on classes (and field trips) that I still remember fondly. Faculty like Steve MacRae and Shane Roersma were extremely influential on me in my career path and passions, and I am eternally grateful for their mentorship and teachings during my time there.”

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Where are they now?

Renae Peterson (General Studies Diploma – 2002, Nursing – 2006/07)

2009

Janae Suzanne Hale (Clarke) Interior Design Janae went to hairstyling school after graduating from Lethbridge College.

In 2020, she and a friend launched a housedress business called Loon and Bloom with the goal of bringing beautiful, comfortable, quality made house dresses to Canadian women in every stage of life. In their first month of business, they were in the top seven per cent of revenue of all Shopify merchants that launched in the same month.

Janae is running this growing business while also raising two daughters.

You can check out her products at loonandbloom.com.

2008

Trent Cey

After earning her General Studies diploma, Renae went on to earn a

Bachelor of Nursing degree offered through the college and University of Lethbridge’s Nursing Education in Southwestern Alberta program. One of the things Renae loved most about her time at Lethbridge College was the genuine dedication demonstrated by her instructors. “Their ability to care and nurture my gifts, and to be there as an instructor but also as a human being, is still so dear to my heart,” she says.

Even while Renae was still in school, she already knew she wanted to start a business that would help teen girls be the best versions of themselves. Six months after completing her studies, she did just that, and the Beautiful Inside Academy was born. The academy offers private and group coaching, in person and virtually, for girls between the ages of 11 and 18. She is incredibly proud of the work she has done and the ways it has helped the girls she coaches.

“I go to bed thinking about it, I wake up thinking about it,” she says. “It’s just in my heart to serve and shine a light on this need for our teens to understand what it really means to be empowered.” To learn more about the academy, check out beautifulinsideacademy.com. Renae says that COVID-19 has created challenges, but it has also expanded the reach of the academy since everything has moved online. “No matter what,” she says, “the mission goes on.”

Story by Jessica Smith | Photo by Tanya Plonka

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Communication Arts – Print Journalism After graduation, Trent became a sports reporter at the Battlefords News-Optimist before moving into marketing and communications with the Battlefords North Stars Junior A hockey team. For the past five years, he’s worked as the Saskatchewan Hockey Association’s manager of officiating development.

Trevor Gilbert

Child and Youth Care Trevor joined Taber Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) as a counsellor in May. Trevor had previously worked at FCSS as a practicum student while attending the college before going on to earn an Addictions Counselling degree through the University of Lethbridge and a Master’s of Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University.

Danna Harker

Massage Therapy Danna retrained as a health care aide and is currently in her second year of a licensed practical nursing degree.

Jennifer Sandau-Loveless Communication Arts – Advertising and Public Relations Jennifer is a graphic designer with a direct mailing company in Edmonton.

2005

Matt Kennedy Criminal Justice – Correctional Studies Matt is a parole officer at Bowden Institution.

2003

Corlee Torok Communications Arts – Broadcast Journalism This year, Corlee left Lethbridge radio for a new role with local marketing, branding and advertising firm London Road Marketing.

2002

Evan Gordon Criminal Justice – Policing Evan was recently named the new detachment commander to the Swift Current RCMP. Originally from Churchbridge, Sask., Evan has 17 years of service with the RCMP and has been previously posted in Fort Nelson and Prince George in B.C. as well as Kamsack and Morse in Saskatchewan.

2001

Diane Morin Therapeutic Recreation – Gerontology Diane tells the Alumni office that she was hired at the Edith Cavell Care Centre while still in college and she is still doing what she loves at the same place 20 years later.

1997

Kathleen Vink Child and Youth Care Kathleen is the placement advisor for Human Services at Lethbridge College.

1994

Bradley Anderson Law Enforcement Bradley shared this update with the Alumni office: “After finishing at Lethbridge College in 1994, I was hired by the Correctional Service of Canada. I completed 12 weeks of training and became an officer at Drumheller Institution. After a few years and two ranks higher, I was a master trainer for the Prairie Region. I went into Citizenship and Immigration Canada and worked in Saskatoon and Calgary before being transferred to the new Canada Border Service Agency as a supervisor. After a few years I was asked by the Correctional Service of Canada to return as a national trainer. I worked in Abbotsford, B.C., and in Saskatoon. I was soon promoted to a correctional manager and worked at Mission Institution where I supervised the detector dog teams and the emergency response team. I was promoted to the assistant warden of operations for the Edmonton maximum security institution and spent five years there before retiring on July 1, 2021 with 27 years of experience.”

1989

Jennifer Eliason Communication Arts – Broadcast Journalism After a 30-year career in broadcasting, Jennifer has returned to school for a bachelor’s degree in Professional Studies - Human Resource Management major with minors in Marriage and Family Studies and Business Leadership.

1986

1983

Lawrence Schinkel Agriculture Technology Lawrence worked for Alberta Agriculture and Forestry for 31 years before retiring in 2020 and starting his own consulting firm, Schinkel Hydrometrics.

Kenn Gillis

Business Administration After 33 years at Canada Safeway, Kenn joined Coca-Cola Bottling Canada Ltd. as a sales development manager.

1981

Vesta Filipchuk Environmental Sciences Vesta has been named Vice President Sustainability for copper-gold explorer and developer NorthWest Copper.

Vesta has more than 30 years of experience and a strong track record in developing relationships and implementing landmark initiatives and programs using collaborative planning and decision methods to achieve sustainable benefits for First Nations, communities, industry, and government.

Prior to joining NorthWest Copper, Vesta worked with Teck Resources Limited’s Exploration team and was the director of social, environmental, and regulatory affairs for the Galore Creek Copper Project. She has also worked with government on energy and environmental matters. She has a master’s degree in Resource Management as well as bachelor’s degrees in Natural Resources Management and Political Science from the University of Victoria.

Paula Gorman Law Enforcement and Retail Industrial Security Paula is the manager of business development, alumni relations and advertising sales with the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Athletics department.

41

Where are they now?

Alumni honoured for athletic achievements

Lethbridge College alumni are among the winners of the 11th annual Lethbridge Sport Council Achievement Awards, which recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of local athletes, coaches, volunteers, organizations, administrators and businesses both on and off the field.

KIP KANGOGO (General Studies student 2002) was

co-recipient of the Master’s Athlete award. The Kodiaks runner is a former Canadian National Champion in the 5,000 metre, 10,000 metre, and half marathon distances who now competes as a Master’s athlete (40 years of age and older) and continues to post fantastic results.

DANETTE ANDERSON (Business Administration

1993) received the Volunteer in Sport award for her service to the Lethbridge division of Ace volleyball club.

Danette is in charge of all tryouts, collecting paperwork and other administrative duties for the growing club.

She also spends her Saturdays as a scorekeeper.

MIKE ROBINSON (Engineering Design and Drafting

1985) was the winner of the Officiating Excellence Award presented by Lethbridge College Kodiaks Athletics. Mike has been part of the officiating team with the Alberta Softball Umpires Association, Lethbridge Softball Umpires Association, Alberta Softball Association and Softball Canada for more than 30 years.

1972

Terry Vogt Radio Arts Terry Vogt, CTV Lethbridge news director and senior reporter, is signing off on a nearly 50-year career in the broadcast industry this fall. After graduating from the college, he started his career as a DJ at a small station in Crowsnest Pass before moving into news reporting. He joined CTV Lethbridge when the station launched in 1984 and has been there ever since. In 2020, he received the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Lifetime Achievement Award, having previously won the RTDNA Ron Laidlaw Award in 1989 for continuing coverage of cults and teen suicide in Lethbridge. In 2012, he was part of the team that won the RTDNA’s Bert Cannings Award for best newscast in a small market for both Prairie and National categories. Terry was named Lethbridge College’s Distinguished Alumni in 2011 for his devotion to southern Alberta and its people.

Stories by Jeremy Franchuk

THE POWER OF THE LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE ALUMNI NETWORK IN THE PALM OF YOUR HANDS STAY CONNECTED WITH THE FREE LC ALUMNI PERKS APP. THIS NEW MOBILE APP WILL GIVE YOU:

• Alumni-exclusive discounts and perks • Listings of LC events and gatherings • Alerts for surprise contests and giveaways DON’T MISS OUT – DOWNLOAD THE FREE APP TODAY! Questions? Contact alumni@lethbridgecollege.ca or 403.329.7220

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FAMILIES IN FOCUS

The SAVAGE Family They’re Lethbridge College’s own sister act: the Savage sisters,

Amanda, Stephanie, Samantha and Jamie all attended the college, and all came away with very different experiences.

“My parents got married when they were 20, and had Amanda less than a year later, so post-secondary education was not their top priority,” says Stephanie. “My dad eventually completed his journeyman Automotive ticket and my mom worked as a dental assistant, but neither had the opportunity to get a diploma or degree. The fact that all four of us had the opportunity to attend post-secondary – and share an alma mater – is pretty incredible.”

After a knee injury ended her collegiate wrestling career at the University of Alberta, eldest sister Amanda returned to southern Alberta to complete one year of the General Studies program, before acquiring her dental assisting designation.

After working in the dental field for nearly 10 years, she married Aaron Bonertz (Automotive Apprenticeship 2004) and now helps out at his shop, Black and White Mechanix, while raising their three children.

Stephanie came to the Digital Communications and Media program as a mature student after working in the restaurant industry and pursuing a career in music. “I spent years travelling, singing and trying to chase my dreams before coming to the college – but nothing ever felt like it was the right fit,” says Stephanie. “When I started my program here, it felt like everything clicked into place.” After graduating in 2018, she came back to work at the college as a student recruiter before moving to work in Alumni Engagement, where she was recently named manager.

The third sister, Sam, came to the college for the Nursing Education of Southwestern Alberta (NESA ) program. Partway through her program, Sam suffered a stroke that nearly derailed her education, but she recovered and is now an operating room nurse at the Vermillion hospital. “My favourite thing about my job is how fast-paced it is,” she explains. “I like having to think on my feet and take each moment as it comes at me.”

The youngest sister, Jamie, came to the Child and Youth Care program after one of her sisters encouraged her to apply while Jamie was studying at university. One vivid memory Jamie has of her time at the college was a camping trip she went on with her classmates. “We did team building and group activities,” Jamie recalls. “We wrote letters to ourselves that we got on our final

L-R: Jamie, Samantha, Mom, Stephanie and Amanda

seminar day, the day before graduation. We also got letters from other CYC graduates. It was amazing to read those and know that we had a support system that extended well beyond just our class.” She graduated in 2019 and now works at the Taber Child Care Centre Society as a preschool teacher.

“Whether it was one, two or four years we spent at the college, we are proud Kodiaks,” says Stephanie. “No matter where life takes us from here, we all know our time at LC helped us become the people we are today, and if you ask our mom, we’re all pretty cool.”

“NO MATTER WHERE LIFE TAKES US FROM HERE, WE ALL KNOW OUR TIME AT LC HELPED US BECOME THE PEOPLE WE ARE TODAY, AND IF YOU ASK OUR MOM, WE’RE ALL PRETTY COOL.” Story by Sylvia Adam | Photo courtesy the Savage family

Are you a multi-generational Lethbridge College family? If at least three members across one or more generations attended Lethbridge College, let us know by emailing WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca. We’d love to profile you.

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The last word

THE LAST WORD

Illustrated

by Eric Dyck

Take a look inside Lethbridge College’s Hubbard Collection, one of the largest collections of wildlife taxidermy in the country, and you can get up close with grizzly bears, cougars, bison, bobcats, pronghorns, mountain goats, deer, wolves, birds of prey and more.

Here’s what a student, a recent grad and an instructor have to say about what’s so memorable about going where the wild things are.

This lab is so important for our development as professionals in the field. You really learn so much more when you can see an animal just inches from your face. The collection is always a big stop for any Environmental Sciences student when showing friends and family around the school –it really is a showstopper!

The light switch to the collection is along the back wall of the room so you have to go through the dark to enter and exit, and it always seems to be a bit of a race to get out of there before the shiver of those all those eyes on you goes up your spine!

Ashlyn Herron

Renewable Resource Management 2020, Ecosystem Management student

Many of our labs for wildlife use the specimens in the Hubbard Collections. In classes such as Zoology, Mammalogy, and Ornithology, these specimens really helped me enhance my identification skills – especially with different colour morphs and winter plumage. I use my identification skills of species and their associated habitats nearly every day when I’m out in the field for work. It provided me with the baseline knowledge which I used to fuel my passion and made me eager to want to learn even more on my own.

Eric Pollard

Renewable Resource Management 2018, Ecosystem Management 2020

With more than 200 specimens, the Hubbard Collection provides an excellent learning opportunity for our students to hone their identification skills using real life examples of nearly every Western Canadian game bird, waterfowl, raptor, ungulate, carnivore and furbearer. It’s also a great informational tool for helping the public understand the work of our School of Environmental Sciences students.

Brad Taylor

Renewable Resource Management 2001, Chair of the School of Environmental Sciences

Story by Sylvia Adam

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NEXT ISSUE:

The last word is yours...

Lumbering along Lethbridge College’s carpentry shop in the Trades and Technologies Building is where Carpenter Apprenticeship students nail down the skills they need for their future careers. Send us your memorable moments or favourite projects (200 words max) and we’ll share them in our Winter 2022 issue. Just email WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca or share your stories socially by tagging @LethCollege and #LastWordLC. We can’t wait to read your submissions!

READY TO BE BACK TOGETHER AT LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE, WE ARE READY TO WELCOME OUR STUDENTS THIS FALL. We can’t wait to: • see smiling faces in our classes and labs • cheer on our Kodiaks • and hear the sound of our Indigenous Honour Song Thank you for keeping yourself and our community safe by staying apart when needed, getting vaccinated and staying home when sick.

By working together, we can be ready for whatever happens next.