The Jean Augustine story: Claiming a seat at the table

Jean Augustine
Jean Augustine

Dr. Jean Augustine. (Photograph by Kwaku Kufuor)
Jean Augustine. (Photograph by Kwaku Kufuor)

When former MP Jean Augustine (LLD ’11) was elected to the Parliament of Canada in 1993, she brought with her the hopes of her community, the voices of those she advocated for and the aspirations of her ancestors. As the first Black woman elected as a Member of Parliament, she was automatically catapulted to the status of role model for the millions who would come after her.

Now in her 80s, Augustine continues to advocate for the causes that are important to her, including the initiative to fully endow the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora at York University.

That’s why, when Augustine contacted Sheldon Pitt – better known as Solitair, a recognized music producer and community activist – in June 2020, to ask him to revive the campaign to fully endow the Chair, he knew to take her request seriously. Having grown up referring to her as his “Auntie Jean,” Solitair had seen her advocacy and determination firsthand and had heard her stories about the challenges and successes she had experienced as he grew up.

“My parents grew up with ‘Auntie Jean’ in Grenada, so I had spent many holidays as a child listening to them reminisce and share stories over meals,” said Solitair. “One thing that always resonated for me was the idea that having a voice on the important issues really matters. So when my ‘Auntie Jean’ explained the significance of the chair, I knew it was an opportunity for me to help ensure that the voice she, and as so many others, had given to issues like diversity and education could continue indefinitely.”

To assemble his team, Solitair wanted people who he knew would be just as passionate about continuing Augustine’s legacy as he was, so he recruited long-time friends, Jennifer Seif and Willona Fraser, both York alumni, to form the Jean Augustine Chair Endowment Fund (JACEF) Committee. In October 2020, the team of volunteers launched a social media campaign called “Bridge for Change” to help build awareness, educate the public and start a discussion about the work of the Chair.

Augustine envisions a Chair that is “for the people, by the people”, so the JACEF Committee launched the campaign into high gear with the “25K in 25 Days” initiative, which aims to highlight the 25th anniversary of Black History Month in Canada by raising $25,000 towards the endowment fund in 25 days from community sources during the month of February. To strengthen that goal, corporate sponsor Accenture will match all community donations to the fund throughout the month.

One of only two endowed university Chairs in Canada dedicated to research and knowledge mobilization endeavours on Black and African-descended communities, the Jean Augustine chair seeks to:

  • Foster an understanding of the diverse cultural and educational needs of students;
  • Facilitate leadership on matters of access, equity, inclusivity and social justice;
  • Strengthen university-community partnerships and engagement; and,
  • Build educational and social capacity among students, junior scholars and community members.

Recent world events have brought to the forefront the need for leaders, communities, businesses and individuals to take action to combat systemic racism and advocate for social justice issues globally. Canada is not immune to the reality of racism and how it can marginalize and disenfranchise those most vulnerable. Education is one of the keys to driving long-lasting, fundamental change in Black and other racialized communities across Canada.

“Continuing Jean’s legacy is much bigger than the committee or York University,” said  Solitair. “It falls to all those she has motivated to claim their seat at the table with her boldness, her strength and her ability to think beyond the bounds of what is expected to what is possible.”

Learn more about the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora and how you can contribute here. To read more about Jean Augustine’s life and work, visit her website.

Distinguished Research Professor Stephen Gill earns prestigious Killam Prize

Osgoode teams take first and second at Canadian National Negotiation Competition

Stephen Gill, a Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science, Communications and Culture at York University, is among the recipients of the 2021 Killam Prizes.

Stephen Gill
Stephen Gill

Announced Feb. 3 by the Canada Council for the Arts, this distinguished program recognizes the work of active researchers who have devoted their careers to pushing the boundaries of knowledge and finding solutions to the issues we face every day.

“The challenges of the last year have reminded us how crucial advanced research is to our lives. Today, we salute the innovative work of researchers whose outstanding contributions are changing our present and our future,” said Simon Brault, director and CEO, Canada Council for the Arts.

The Killam Prizes honour eminent Canadian researchers in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences and engineering. The work of these researchers has an outstanding impact on the lives of Canadians and people around the world. They each receive a $100,000 prize.

Gill earned the prize in the Social Science category. In addition to his role at York, he is senior associate member at St. Antony’s College, Oxford. His teaching is in the fields of international relations, global political economy, and social and political theory.

His scholarship points out the growing conflict between the unrestrained pursuit of profit and life-sustaining processes, emphasizing the dire need for radical changes in public policy to mitigate the root causes of many major health problems around the world.

Gill is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and earned the Hallsworth Visiting Research Chair in Global Studies at the University of Manchester, U.K. in 2016. In 2009, he was named as one of the top 50 all-time thinkers in international relations in Fifty Key Thinkers in International Relations (New York Routledge 2009).

Gill was elected vice-president of the 7,500-member International Studies Association (ISA) in 2003, and subsequently elected as the ISA’s youngest-ever Distinguished Senior Scholar in International Political Economy in 2006 for his career contributions and research leadership.

Gill has been the recipient of many fellowships (including two Fulbright awards) and several visiting Chairs. In 2009-10 he was the inaugural Jane and Aatos Erkko Visiting Research Professor for the Study of Contemporary Society and Social Justice at the Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki where he hosted the inaugural Helsinki Symposium and also made a series of podcasts and videocasts on contemporary intellectual and political matters.

Gill is also an award-winning teacher, mentor and supervisor of several generations of York graduate and undergraduate students. Three of his doctoral students have won the prestigious York Faculty of Graduate Studies award for the best dissertation defended in their graduating year; three of his PhD students (all of whom came to York expressly to work with him) are earned prestigious SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier doctoral fellowships.

The 2021 Killam winners also include:

  • Michel Bouvier – Health Sciences
    Bouvier is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and the CEO of the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at the Université de Montréal.
  • Gilbert Laporte – Engineering
    Laporte is an honorary professor at HEC Montréal, professor at the University of Bath (U.K.), adjunct professor at Molde University College (Norway), and a world authority in the development of mathematical tools.
  • Arthur Ripstein – Humanities
    Ripstein is a professor of law and philosophy and University Professor at the University of Toronto, and a leading philosopher whose work has been at the forefront of renewed scholarly interest in the legal and political philosophy of philosopher Immanuel Kant.
  • Douglas Stephan – Natural Sciences
    Stephan is a University Professor in Chemistry and Canada Research Chair in Inorganic Materials and Catalysis at the University of Toronto, and a world leader in organometallic and inorganic chemistry.

Award winners are selected by a peer assessment committee. For more on the 2021 Killam Award recipients, visit canadacouncil.ca/press/2021/02/the-canada-council-for-the-arts-announces-the-2021-killam-prize-winners.

Welcome to the February 2021 issue of ‘Brainstorm’

Brainstorm graphic

‘Brainstorm,’ a special edition of YFile publishing on the first Friday of every month, showcases research and innovation at York University. It offers compelling and accessible feature-length stories about the world-leading and policy-relevant work of York’s academics and researchers across all disciplines and Faculties and encompasses both pure and applied research.

In the February 2021 issue

Planetary scientist/space engineer leads paper that may guide future NASA endeavors – bonus video
Professor John Moores, York Research Chair in Space Exploration, heads an international team investigating methane on the planet Mars, and produces a white paper that could help to steer the next decade’s activities of major space agencies like NASA. Changemaker, indeed.

Research on COVID-19-based job loss and inequity could inform future public policy
A York U economist collaborated with an American academic to study the first months of COVID-19 and consider how the pandemic affected Americans’ earning potential. The findings, as harrowing as they are, will help public policymakers on both sides of the border.

Key to tackling antimicrobial resistance: Remove big pharma and powerful elites
A grad student analyses antimicrobial resistance and finds some countries handle it better than others. Success is based on disassociating from profit-minded pharmaceutical companies and political agendas – a noteworthy finding for public and global health policymakers.

Researchers peg success of high-profile healthcare facility on people and vision
A sessional instructor and business professor study the reinvigoration of a Toronto hospital and discover the secret(s) of its success from a public management perspective. They determine what this facility, which now specializes in rehabilitation and complex care cases, was doing right from the very start.

Book suggests reinventing past cultural practices could repair damaged world
A Glendon scholar’s new and profoundly intradisciplinary book suggests that experimenting with traditional practices from the past could help us grapple with today’s challenging times. He profiles three such practices and investigates the restorative powers therein.

Launched in January 2017, ‘Brainstorm’ is produced out of the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation in partnership with Communications & Public Affairs; overseen by Megan Mueller, senior manager, research communications; and edited by Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor and Ashley Goodfellow Craig, YFile deputy editor.

Research on COVID-19-based job loss and inequity could inform future public policy

The researchers gained information about workers through a national survey and focused on those who were employed prior to the pandemic

At the dawn of the pandemic, York University’s Professor Guido Matias Cortes swung into action to use his skills as a labour economist and tackle this unparalleled socioeconomic challenge. He sought to determine how COVID-19 would affect working people. He focused on the world’s largest economy (America) and partnered with Professor Eliza Forsythe (University of Illinois) to undertake this timely research.

Guido Matias Cortes
Guido Matias Cortes

“We wanted to know the impact of the pandemic and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act – a $2-trillion economic relief package passed by the U.S. Congress in March 2020 – on earnings and inequality,” Cortes explains. This was a first – the first paper to study this using nationally representative longitudinal data covering the pandemic period.

The findings were grave. “We showed that COVID-19 led to a loss of labour earnings of more than $250 billion between March and July 2020, and low-income workers were particularly vulnerable,” Cortes says.

The news may be bad, but it’s evidence-based and, in this way, ideally situated to inform public policymakers who can help to dig Canada and the U.S. out of the world’s worst economic downslide since the Great Depression. “The losses since then have surely grown, but this initial estimate will help us to shape our approaches to solve the tremendous economic hit,” Cortes underscores.

This research, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, formed the basis of a discussion paper published by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics in 2020. IZA is an independent economic research institute that conducts work in labour economics and offers evidence-based policy advice on labour market issues. It aims to provide answers to the largest global labour market challenges of our time, and to build bridges between academic research, policymakers and society.

The researchers gained information about workers through a national survey and focused on those who were employed prior to the pandemic
The researchers gained information about workers through a national survey and focused on those who were employed prior to the pandemic

Research followed path of workers who were employed before COVID-19

To gain information about American workers, the researchers used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey (CPS) and focused on a nationally representative sample of workers, 16 years of age and older, who were employed before the onset of the pandemic.

Remarkably, they were able to track individual-level earnings changes and identify individuals who had lost their jobs during the pandemic. (It’s important to note that the dataset the researchers used does not record individual names. It also omits geographical information about the survey respondents, in order to ensure anonymity.)

Research finds low-earning individuals disproportionately likely to lose their jobs

As noted, one key finding from this comprehensive research was that COVID-19 led to a loss of labour earnings of more than $250 billion between March and July 2020. This reflected the loss of employment.

But the researchers dug deeper to determine that low-earning individuals were disproportionately likely to lose their jobs during the pandemic. “The probability of transitioning out of employment was more than twice as high for individuals who were in the lowest quintile of the earnings distribution before the onset of the pandemic,” Cortes says.

This led the researchers to look more closely into the public policy response to the pandemic, the CARES Act.

Did the CARES Act fail?

Some provisions of the CARES Act were able to offset the impacts of COVID-19: “The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) eligibility expansion primarily benefited low-income workers, while the $600 Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUC) payments led to a larger percentage increase in income for individuals in the bottom third of the wage distribution,” Cortes explains.

In fact, if the PUC benefits had not been available in July, workers would have experienced decreases in weekly earnings growth rates of three percentage points, compared with the increases of 11 percentage points they actually received. This would amount to a total loss of $15 billion, with workers in the bottom third of the earnings distribution absorbing nearly half of this loss.

This is not to say that the CARES Act was problem-free. Many desperate citizens never received the much-needed support as the relief program, over time, revealed shortcomings that are beyond the scope of Cortes’ research.

Making matters worse, on Aug. 1, 2020, the $600 PUC benefits expired. “This loss of benefits would have been personally disastrous for many individuals. These workers, who earned less than $500 a week before the pandemic, are less likely to have savings and other income sources to weather a sustained loss in income,” Cortes emphasizes.

If nothing else, this original research underscores the gravity of the economic situation which could, in and of itself, provide a much-needed impetus for public policy change.

To read the discussion paper, visit the website. To learn more about Cortes, visit his Faculty profile page.

Noteworthy: Cortes and Forsythe also produced another 2020 paper that looks at the impact of the pandemic across demographic groups. Here, they found that Hispanics, younger workers and those with less education, were more likely to lose their jobs, even when compared to other workers in their same occupation and industry. They also discovered that differences between Black and white workers have widened throughout the course of the pandemic recession.

To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.

By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca

Planetary scientist/space engineer leads paper that may guide future NASA endeavors

An image of Mars

York is a trusted partner on NASA missions. In fact, one of the University’s Organized Research Units, the Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science (CRESS), is at the forefront of planetary exploration and space technology.

With funding from the Canadian Space Agency, Professor John Moores (Lassonde School of Engineering, CRESS member and York Research Chair in Space Exploration) recently advanced the goal of understanding and measuring methane on the famous red planet, Mars.

The resulting white paper, “High-frequency near-surface gas measurement: an opportunity to solve puzzles in planetary atmospheric processes in Martian methane and beyond,” was the first of two papers submitted into the Planetary Decadal Survey (2020). The white papers will be published in the Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. Ultimately, this research could help to shape NASA’s future ventures over the next 10 years.

John Edward Moores
John Edward Moores

A member of the Royal Society of Canada, Moores is an internationally recognized planetary scientist and space engineer. The white paper’s co-authors included Moores’ Research Associate Haley Sapers, as well as researchers from McGill University, the Planetary Science Institute and Aeolis Research. Co-signatories included scholars from Princeton University and the Universities of Winnipeg, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona and Florida.

Moores sits down with Brainstorm to discuss the paper’s significance and York University as a leader in this realm.

Q: How influential is the Planetary Decadal Survey?

A: It brings together scientists from around the world who study planets and participate in robotic space exploration to put their best ideas into a single plan for what missions we hope to launch over the next decade.

A panel of senior scientists will read all the white papers and deliberate about how we should proceed. Major space agencies, notably NASA, look to the final document to guide their activities.

There was a robust response this year: 574 papers were submitted. There were others from York. Professor Isaac Smith, Canada Research Chair in Planetary Science, contributed as well.

Q: Why was the discovery of methane on Mars a surprise and a significant discovery?

A: It’s an unexpected gas, a gas that shouldn’t last in the Martian atmosphere. Our current understanding of this atmosphere suggests that methane should disappear within about 300 years. This may sound like a long time, but over the history of the planet, it’s short.

This tells us that methane is being produced fairly recently.

What gets people really excited about methane is that the processes that create it tend to involve things like microbes [microscopic living organisms, such as bacteria, protozoa, fungi, algae and amoebas] in the subsurface or reactions with hot water. It’s a window into very interesting processes about how Mars might be working today.

Mars’ atmosphere heats up in spring, producing more methane
Mars’ atmosphere heats up in spring, producing more methane

Q: You found that methane amounts change with the seasons. Please elaborate.

A: It isn’t the case that Mars’ atmosphere heats up in the spring that’s significant, since that can’t change how much methane there is. The fact that the ground gets warmer starting in the spring might have something to do with these processes locally at Gale crater. But it’s the constant and consistent change, year to year, that tells us that something interesting is happening. You also get periodic spikes in the methane concentration that seem to go away much more rapidly than 300 years, which is also very surprising.

What it’s telling us is that there’s some process on the planet that’s emitting methane every single year, and at the same times of the year and, in turn, there’s some process that destroys it every year at the same time.

There’s a sort of breathing of the soil. It’s of interest to those people who think about water and life on Mars.

Q: What kind of temperature changes are we talking about?

A: The average temperature on Mars is -60C. You might get to +30C on the hottest day of the year. At night, it can get extremely cold. It typically cools off by 80 to 100C because the atmosphere’s so thin. You can easily get down below -100C at night.

Q: From where, exactly, does the methane come?

A: The surface of Mars measures higher amounts of methane – more specifically, Curiosity measures higher amounts of methane near the surface of the planet. Now, there are spacecraft, the Trace Gas Orbiter to be precise, that look at the upper atmosphere from orbit and they don’t see any methane. So, the only way that these two realities make sense is if the methane accumulates at night near the surface. (For convenience, the spacecraft, Curiosity Rover, makes all its measurements in the middle of the night. That’s why it was able to see the variance.)

Then, in the day when weather sets in – clouds, etc. – the gas is diluted into the atmosphere. It’s the mixing that takes place when the sun rises and starts to heat the surface that dilutes the methane. While we do sometimes see this as clouds, particularly late afternoon thunderstorms, most people would have experience with this effect as turbulence with warm air rising and cool air descending.

By being able to see how methane rises and falls over the course of the day and over the course of the year, we could tell how much is being generated.

Q: What else can the fluctuations of methane on Mars tell us?

A: In order to see the methane at some times but not at other times, there needs to be some process that we’re missing, something that we don’t understand about how Mars works.

I expect it’s something to do with the surface. We know that there are strong oxidants in the Martian soil. You could have those reacting with the small amount of methane in the atmosphere, and perhaps getting rid of the methane fairly quickly.

Others have suggested there are electrical reactions that happen in the Martian atmosphere that destroy the methane. But no one has any solid evidence. This is a missing piece of the puzzle. More measurements, and more measurements throughout the day, would really help us.

Q: How could this hint at life on Mars?

A: Knowing more about this would provide good data that could help us to create a model of these things. If we were really lucky, we might even be able to look at the different versions of methane – some are associated with biological processes, some are associated with geological processes. It would help to determine if the methane on Mars comes from life or from some other process.

There’s something about Mars that we don’t understand; there’s discovery to be made.

The Curiosity Rover. Photo Credit: NASA
The Curiosity Rover. Photo Credit: NASA

Q: You share the use of the Curiosity Rover to study methane on Mars. What are the challenges in doing this?

A: Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012 and it has been in continuous use since. There are 460 scientists on the team, all undertaking different investigations.

Measuring methane takes a great deal of time and effort for the spacecraft. We generally get a couple of observations every year. There’s a team deciding what the robot does every day. My grad students decide on the atmospheric investigations that take place. They really enjoy this.

In my group, we make movies of the clouds on Mars, every couple of weeks, and from these, we can say something about the weather. It’s like six minutes of looking through the equivalent of a toilet paper roll into the sky.

Wispy clouds streaking across Mars' sky, as imaged by the Curiosity rover. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/York University)
Wispy clouds streaking across Mars’ sky, as imaged by the Curiosity rover. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/York University)

Q: What are the biggest challenges in studying the Martian atmosphere?

A: There haven’t been very many measurements. They’re hard to make and there are very few of them – just little snapshots. Over the past eight years, we’ve looked for methane 14 times. When you put all these glimpses together, you start to see the cycle.

Q: How does York University fare in space exploration?

A: This University is a leader. CRESS has been around since 1965 and York has led several space instruments for NASA missions. Most recently, we had a great success with the OSIRIS-Rex Laser Altimeter. This is Professor Mike Daly’s work. The OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft just landed on the asteroid Bennu to collect material from the surface that could tell us about the origins of Earth.

I don’t think you have this level of history, this level of experience, anywhere else in Canada.

To read the white paper, link here. The second paper, led by Sapers, is available here. It describes the sort of mission that could investigate the science in the first white paper. For more on NASA and the Curiosity Rover, visit the website.

To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at @YUResearch; watch our new animated video, which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.

By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, York University, muellerm@yorku.ca

An important update on the University Town Hall scheduled for Monday, Feb. 8

Vari Hall in the winter
Vari Hall in the winter

The following is an important message to the University community from President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton:

La version française suit la version anglaise.

As a result of interest expressed by our community members, the senior leadership team will now be hosting a consultation on the 2021-22 University Budget at the virtual town hall taking place on Monday, Feb. 8.

We look forward to presenting an overview of the University’s current financial framework and hearing your thoughts on urgent budget priorities, as well as the opportunities and challenges we face as we plan for the next academic year.

We encourage you to submit questions in advance of the event using this form.

For those who submitted questions related to University priorities and planning more broadly through a previous Town Hall invite, you will receive a response to your question directly.

Date: Monday, Feb. 8
Time: 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.
Zoom Webinar: https://yorku.zoom.us/j/98704749185?pwd=UHBqYk1ncVNrS0pQZXVXRFpVTXRWQT09
Webinar ID: 987 0474 9185
Telephone Dial-In: 647-374-4685
Password: 195097
Livestream: https://conversations.info.yorku.ca/

Note: The Zoom link for this event has been updated from the version sent out in the previous Town Hall invite. Please use the link included above to access the Town Hall.

To help answer your questions, I will be joined by:

  • Lisa Philipps, vice-president academic and provost
  • Carol McAulay, vice-president finance and administration
  • Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation
  • Jeff O’Hagan, vice-president advancement
  • Lucy Fromowitz, vice-provost students

If you have any accessibility needs, notes or comments, please let us know.

We will be hosting this town hall via the video conferencing platform Zoom Webinar. You can learn about downloading and using Zoom here. The Webinar will also be livestreamed on the Town Hall website.

If you have attended a past town hall, we would like your feedback through this short survey. If you were unable to attend previous town halls, you can access all of them here.

The latest community updates, resources and answers to frequently asked questions can always be found on our YU Better Together website.

I look forward to your questions.

Sincerely, 

Rhonda L. Lenton 
President & Vice-Chancellor


Mise à jour importante au sujet de la conversation communautaire prévue le lundi 8 février

En raison de l’intérêt exprimé par les membres de notre communauté, l’équipe de la haute direction tiendra désormais une consultation sur le budget universitaire 2021-2022 lors de la conversation communautaire virtuelle qui aura lieu le lundi 8 février.

Nous avons hâte de vous présenter un aperçu du cadre financier actuel de l’Université et de connaître votre opinion au sujet des priorités budgétaires urgentes et des possibilités et défis auxquels nous sommes confrontés alors que nous planifions la prochaine année universitaire.

Nous vous encourageons à soumettre vos questions à l’avance à l’aide de ce formulaire.

Si vous aviez déjà soumis des questions relatives aux priorités de l’Université et à la planification plus générale qui devaient faire l’objet de cette conversation communautaire, vous recevrez directement une réponse à votre question.

Date : Lundi 8 février 2021
Heure : 9 h 30 à 10 h 45
Webinaire Zoom : https://yorku.zoom.us/j/98704749185?pwd=UHBqYk1ncVNrS0pQZXVXRFpVTXRWQT0
Code du webinaire : 987 0474 9185
Numéro de téléphone : (647) 374-4685
Mot de passe : 195097

Lien pour la diffusion en direct : https://conversations.info.yorku.ca/

Remarque : Le lien Zoom a été mis à jour et est différent de celui envoyé dans l’invitation précédente. Veuillez utiliser le lien ci-dessus pour accéder à la conversation communautaire. 

Pour m’aider à répondre à vos questions, je serai accompagnée de :

  • Lisa Philipps, rectrice et vice-présidente aux affaires académiques
  • Carol McAulay, vice-présidente aux finances et à l’administration
  • Amir Asif, vice-président de la recherche et de l’innovation
  • Jeff O’Hagan, vice-président à la promotion
  • Lucy Fromowitz, vice-rectrice aux affaires étudiantes.

Si vous avez des besoins, des remarques ou des commentaires en matière d’accessibilité, veuillez nous le faire savoir.

Cette conversation communautaire aura lieu grâce à la plateforme de visioconférence Zoom Webinar. Vous pouvez télécharger Zoom et apprendre à l’utiliser ici. Le webinaire sera également diffusé en direct sur le site Web des conversations communautaires.

Si vous avez déjà assisté à une conversation communautaire, nous aimerions connaître votre opinion avec ce bref sondage. Si vous n’avez pas pu assister aux conversations précédentes, elles sont ici.

Vous trouverez les dernières mises à jour, ressources et réponses aux questions fréquemment posées sur notre site Web YU Better Together.

J’attends vos questions avec impatience.

Veuillez agréer mes sincères salutations, 

Rhonda L. Lenton
Présidente et vice-chancelière

New Faculty of Science advisory board strengthens industry and community collaborations

A student conducts research in one of the science labs
A student conducts research in one of the science labs

The Faculty of Science launched its inaugural Dean’s Special Advisory Board on Wednesday, Feb. 3, strengthening its collaboration with industry and community, and accelerating the success of its students and faculty.

A virtual public event was hosted to introduce board members, including the Dean’s Special Advisory Board Chair Reza Moridi, former Ontario Minister of Research, Innovation and Science and Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, to faculty, staff, students and alumni.

A screen shot of the launch meeting of the Faculty of Science Dean's Advisory Board
A screen shot of the launch meeting of the Faculty of Science Dean’s Special Advisory Board. Faculty of Science Dean Rui Wang is pictured centre front. Board Chair Reza Moridi is pictured top left. The meeting took place on Zoom.

“York University has a longstanding history of facilitating partnerships with leaders from industry, governments and not-for-profits to collaborate on complex global problems that are essential for addressing issues such as climate change, inequality and the pandemic,” said York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton. “The Science Advisory Board will help us establish and strengthen relationships with partners in the life sciences, biotech and health communities to advance our education, research and innovation ecosystems, driving positive change across the University and around the world.”

Comprised of a diverse group of industry and community leaders, the Dean’s Special Advisory Board brings a vast array of expertise and commitment to the advancement of Canada’s science, technology, academic and non-profit sectors.

Moridi has long been an advocate for innovation in higher education and advancing Ontario’s scientific and research ecosystem. “The board will provide insight and advice from its diverse expertise to help accelerate the Faculty of Science’s success and its connections with industry and our science and innovation sectors in Ontario,” said Moridi. “The importance of collaboration between higher education and these sectors cannot be underestimated. When educational institutions, industry and community work together, we all stand to benefit. I hope this collaborative model will become standard sector-wide.”

The board will provide guidance on pressing issues, including: the societal need for science programs; best practices surrounding Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in science education; challenges and opportunities for science innovation and entrepreneurship; and the successful community integration of the Faculty.

Faculty of Science Dean Rui Wang said the board will undertake an important consultative role in the creation of the Faculty’s 2021-2026 Strategic Plan, which will form the cornerstone of the Faculty’s mission and objectives over the next five years.

“The board will play a pivotal role in the future of our Faculty as we strive to reach new heights, build crucial connections with industry and our community, and better prepare our students for the careers of tomorrow,” said Wang. “On behalf of the Faculty of Science, I would like to thank these dedicated individuals for their commitment of their time, talents and invaluable expertise to the betterment of our Faculty.” 

Members of the inaugural Faculty of Science Dean’s Special Advisory Board:

  • Reza Moridi (Chair), former minister of research, innovation and science, and minister of training, colleges and universities of Ontario
  • Samer Bishay, president and CEO of Iristel and Ice Wireless and York Faculty of Science alumnus
  • Carrie Bourassa, scientific director of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health – Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and professor, Community Health & Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan
  • Allan Carswell, York physics professor emeritus, founder of Optech Inc., and generous supporter of York University and York science
  • Charles Hantho, executive and leader in Canada’s chemical industry
  • Mark Lievonen, former president of Sanofi Pasteur Limited, Co-Chair of the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force
  • Elaine O’Hara, head of North America commercial operations for Sanofi Pasteur
  • Justin Poy, award-winning advertising executive, head of Justin Poy Agency and CEO of medtech marketing firm InnovaThree
  • Peter Pekos, CEO of Dalton Pharma Services, angel investor, and founding Chair of ventureLAB
  • Cheryl Reicin, Chair of Torys Life Science Group and leading life sciences lawyer
  • John Wallace, medical scientist and founder and chief scientific officer of Antibe Therapeutics Inc.
  • Dr. Catherine Zahn MD, president and CEO of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

Full biographies of board members are available at: https://www.yorku.ca/science/about/strategic-plan/deans-special-advisory-board/.

Professor John K. Tsotsos awarded the CS-Can/Info-Can Lifetime Achievement Award

John Tsotsos
John Tsotsos

Distinguished Research Professor of Vision Science from the Lassonde School of Engineering, John K. Tsotsos, has been awarded the CS-Can/Info-Can Lifetime Achievement Award in Computer Science for his sustained and outstanding contribution to Canadian computing. This accolade is awarded for important and sustained contributions  by one individual in at least two different domains.

John K. Tsotsos
John Tsotsos

Tsotsos has been a trailblazer in computer vision research in Canada and his contributions to the field have been comprehensive, including foundational computer science research and practical applications. Over his long and distinguished career, he is best known for his work in visual attention and in active robot perception. His highly acclaimed monograph that details this work was published by the MIT Press in 2011.

Today, Tsotsos’ research program remains more innovative than ever with increasing impact on science and applied research. In 2019, he and his students disproved a long-standing, 60-year-old theory on how the human brain processes images. Last year his lab developed new methods to predict pedestrian motions for use in autonomous driving. And the research program continues as Tsotsos holds a Canada Research Chair until fall 2024.

Tsotsos joined York University in 2000, after working at the University of Toronto since 1980. He is a Distinguished Research Professor of Vision Science, while maintaining adjunct professorships at the University of Toronto in the Departments of Computer Science and in Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences. He directed York’s renowned Centre for Vision Research from 2000 to 2006 and is the founding director of York’s Centre for Innovation in Computing at Lassonde.

Tsotsos’ research has always focused on how images are processed, understood and used. He is a co-inventor on four patents, was co-recipient of the 1997 CITO Innovation Award for Leadership in Product Development and has co-founded five companies. He was an IBM Center for Advanced Studies Visiting Scientist for several years. He has served on the editorial boards of several top journals of various mandates, spanning AI, computer vision, human vision, cognition, and applications in medicine and has been on the organizing committees of over 100 workshops and conferences.

In addition, Tsotsos is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) and received the Sir John William Dawson Medal from the RSC in 2015 for his contributions to knowledge in human and computational vision. The latter was the first and only time the medal has ever been awarded to a computer scientist. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Fellow Emeritus of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Computational Vision.

Tsotsos trains the future of Canadian computer vision and robotics researchers. Alumni from his research program are spread across the world, with strong research careers of their own or having founded successful startups, with many in advanced leadership positions in academia and industry. The influence and expertise of his program is such that computer vision programs in central Canada, at the undergraduate and graduate level, are almost exclusively led by either Tsotsos or one of his alumni.

Associate Professor Chris Ardern to serve as associate dean, research in Faculty of Health

Chris Ardern
Chris Ardern

The following is a message prepared by Dean Paul McDonald, Faculty of Health:

Professor Maz Fallah announced in December 2020 that he had accepted a wonderful opportunity to serve as the new dean of the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Guelph. Following his announcement, I began consultations with senior faculty members and staff to identify a new associate dean, research. I want to thank the many people who took time to speak with me, provide their thoughts on the desirable attributes of our next associate dean, research, and nominate potential colleagues for consideration. The consultation revealed that we have several outstanding colleagues who would make excellent associate deans.

Chris Ardern
Chris Ardern will serve as associate dean, research in the Faculty of Health beginning July 1

After careful consideration, I am pleased to announce that Associate Professor Chris Ardern from the School of Kinesiology and Health Science has graciously accepted my invitation to serve as our next associate dean, research. For Chris to complete his current obligation as the GPD in his School, he will begin his new role as associate dean on July 1, 2021. Professor Ardern is well known across the University and highly respected. He began his appointment at York immediately after completing his PhD from Queen’s University in 2006 and was promoted to associate professor in 2011.

During his time at York, Professor Ardern has been a member of YU-CARE (an ORU concerned with Healthy Aging), and an associate coordinator with the Statistical Consulting Service. He has served as interim GPD on two occasions, on the University Senate, the Faculty of Health’s Executive and Planning Committee, the Graduate Executive Committee in Kinesiology and Health Science, multiple hiring committees, T and P file preparation committees, and more than a dozen other committees. His research on the epidemiology of physical activity and obesity has resulted in projects funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Ontario Brain Institute, MITACS, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Chris has published more than 90 peer-reviewed papers in top journals, as well as dozens of chapters, reports, conference presentations and invited lectures. He is the associate editor for two international journals. Professor Ardern is a highly experienced graduate and post-doctoral supervisor and thesis committee member. In short, Professor Ardern is an accomplished research leader with a strong understanding of research excellence, our Faculty and the University.

Michael Rotondi
Michael Rotondi

I am also pleased to announce that Associate Professor Michael Rotondi from the School of Kinesiology and Health Science has accepted my invitation to serve as the interim associate dean, research from Feb. 1 to June 30. Michael joined York in 2011 shortly after completing his PhD in biostatistics from the University of Western Ontario. He was promoted to associate professor in 2015. Michael is one of only a very few people to receive the Faculty of Health’s Dean’s awards for both Research and Teaching. He has won both doctoral and post-doctoral awards from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). He has won multiple CIHR grants as principal investigator and served as a co-investigator or collaborator on several others. He has published several dozen peer-reviewed journal papers, developed three software innovations, and supervised seven graduate students. Michael’s service includes award and research committees at both the Faculty and institutional level. He has been a member of Kinesiology’s Academic Executive Committee and chaired an Ethics Review Committee.

I want to express my thanks to Professors Ardern and Rotondi for agreeing to serve the University and Faculty in the role of associate dean, research. This collegial leadership role is important as our Faculty seeks to move to the next level of research and graduate student success and impact. I know I can count on our entire community to support and work with Chris and Michael. I also wish to thank the Faculty’s research staff who have done a wonderful job supporting me over the last month.

Paul McDonald
Dean, Faculty of Health

Youth Climate Report, documentary film project led by York faculty member Mark Terry, recognized with UN SDG Action Award

Mark Terry presenting the Youth Climate Report

The Youth Climate Report, a documentary film project led by Mark Terry – explorer, award-winning filmmaker and contract faculty member and course director at York University’s Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change – has earned an Honourable Mention from the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2020 Action Awards. The project is the only Canadian program to be recognized this year out of a field of more than 1,000 nominated projects.

Mark Terry presenting the Youth Climate Report
Mark Terry presenting the Youth Climate Report at COP 23, held in Bonn, Germany in November 2017

The SDG Action Awards are presented each year by the UN to acknowledge sustainability initiatives demonstrating significant impact, creativity, innovation and replicability. The UN announced the 13 winners and honourable mentions on Jan. 22, and will hold an awards ceremony at the annual SDG Global Festival of Action on March 25 and 26, taking place virtually this year.

The Youth Climate Report showcases more than 525 videos from youth filmmakers geo-located on an interactive map, providing policymakers with a wealth of visible evidence of climate research, impacts and solutions from around the world in one easily accessible digital space.

The groundbreaking film project not only gives young people a voice at UN climate summits, but offers the rare opportunity for them to directly contribute to policy creation on the global stage. Through their short documentaries, or “Mini-Docs,” youth bring attention to urgent environmental issues facing their respective communities and ecosystems, share climate research and solutions, and highlight youth-led climate action initiatives. For policymakers, the database provides important visual context that helps them gain a fuller understanding of climate issues during the two-week UN climate summits each year.

“Since the youth of the world are going to be the next generation to deal with the global issue of climate change and planetary health, it is crucial they get involved now so they will be better prepared to understand and deal with the problem going forward,” says Terry, chief engineer of the Youth Climate Report. “The youth of today are the policymakers of tomorrow and by uniting them now with the global community of science and the United Nations, we all stand a better chance of solving the climate crisis in the years to come.”

Screenshot of the Youth Climate Report
The Youth Climate Report showcases more than 525 videos from youth filmmakers on all seven continents

The Youth Climate Report represents a new form of documentary pioneered by Terry called a “Geo-Doc,” – a multilinear, interactive, database documentary film project presented on a platform of a Geographic Information System (GIS) map of the world.

The project was born after the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requested that Terry develop a film program for the global community of youth to have their voices heard at the annual climate change conferences (COP conferences).

His PhD research at York focused on developing the Geo-Doc technology, building on his master’s studies that explored the evolution of the documentary film as an instrument of social change. The current iteration of his Youth Climate Report project was presented at the Paris climate summit in 2015 and adopted the following year by the UN as a data delivery system for the COP conferences under its Article 6 mandate for education and outreach.

The “Mini-Docs” that populate the Youth Climate Report are crowdsourced through initiatives spearheaded by the UN and York University.

Each year, the UNFCCC holds the Global Youth Video Competition, where participants between 18 and 30 years old from around the world submit a maximum three-minute video corresponding to the year’s three selected themes. The top 20 films in each of the themes are added to the Youth Climate Report map, and the winners are invited to the UN’s annual climate summit where their films are presented to a global audience including delegates and world leaders.

Mark Terry sitting with Inuit filmmakers at climate conference
Mark Terry (far right) leads a press conference with young Inuit filmmakers from Tuktoyuktuk, NWT at the COP 25 climate conference in Madrid, Spain in December 2019. The young Indigenous filmmakers presented their film Happening to Us to conference delegates

York University contributes to the Youth Climate Report through an intensive filmmaking workshop called the Planetary Health Film Lab, offered by the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research (DIGHR). Led by Terry, who is also a Research Fellow at DIGHR, the week-long workshop trains young people from Canada and around the world to make Youth Climate Report videos exploring the impacts of climate change on human health and well-being in their communities. Introduced in winter 2020, the program’s first cohort included environmental activists and emerging filmmakers from Canada, Australia, Ecuador, Colombia, India and Italy.

“The Planetary Health Film Lab is the only workshop of its kind in the world where students learn not only how to make a film for the UN, but to do so in a manner that contributes directly to policy creation as a resource in the Youth Climate Report,” says Terry.

Mark Terry with York students
Mark Terry leading York University students during a weekly Fridays for Freedom March through downtown Toronto in April 2019

The next Planetary Health Film Lab will take place remotely in June 2021. This year, the team plans to train Indigenous youth throughout the Circumpolar Arctic as part of its endeavour to provide training and resources to under-represented communities.

Along with running the Planetary Health Film Lab, Terry also teaches the Geo-Doc technology to York undergraduate students in the course “EU/ENVS 1010: Introduction to Environmental Documentaries,” which uses his book, The Geo-Doc: Geomedia, Documentary Film, and Social Change (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), as the principal text. The course teaches students how to create their own Geo-Doc projects based on the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and some students also learn how to make the “Mini-Docs” that populate the Youth Climate Report project.

In addition to the SDG Action Award, Terry’s pioneering work on the Youth Climate Report has also been recognized with a President’s Sustainability Leadership Award from York University in 2016, as well as the York University Award for Outstanding Global Engagement and the York University Mobility Award, both in 2017. Last year, he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada for this innovative work in activist documentary filmmaking.

By Ariel Visconti, YFile communications officer