Andrew Westoll

Convocation 2013: from refugee to U of T grad

sgupta — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:06:50 +0000

Convocation 2013: from refugee to U of T grad sgupta Mon, 06/10/2013 - 09:06

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I will always remember that others believed in me and helped me," says Yak Deng, who came to U of T from a refugee camp in Kenya on a WUSC scholarship (photo by Ken Jones)

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Having fought incredible odds to achieve an education, two remarkable young men will be graduating from the University of Toronto this spring.

Yak Deng (University of Toronto Scarborough) and Abdi Hassan Ahmed (University of Toronto Mississauga) both came to U of T on World University Service of Canada (WUSC) scholarships, which help refugee students achieve their dreams of higher education.

Deng, who will receive his Bachelor of Science in Applied Microbiology, was born in southern Sudan in 1989, six years after civil war broke out between government forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). For the first thirteen years of his life he and his family lived as nomads, staying in makeshift villages and trying to stay one step ahead of the Sudan army and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) of Uganda, led by Joseph Kony. The LRA rebels, with support from the Sudanese government, would regularly plunder civilian settlements, killing with abandon and abducting young boys like Deng to serve as child soldiers.

"I was just waiting to grow up and be a soldier," says Deng. "There were no opportunities. War was all around. Little kids like me just wanted to grow up fast and join the army."

Deng had another plan. He set out for a refugee camp in Kenya and arrived after an extraordinary journey by foot. At the camp, he was able to continue his schooling and become the second-best student among almost 100,000 refugees. Eventually, Deng came to UTSC on the WUSC scholarship.

When he wasn't in class or lab, Deng volunteered his time with a number of campus initiatives. He mentored high school students through the IMANI program and incoming students through the first year mentorship program. He was also a programming assistant with the International Student Centre and took pride in his work as a Student Refugee Program Coordinator for WUSC.

"I am so happy and thankful to the UTSC community, especially to the students who paid the levy to get me here,” says Deng. “Everybody I've met has made me feel like this is my community, my family. I will always remember that others believed in me and helped me do what I always wanted. Now it is my duty to do my part and not let them down."

UTM student Abdi Ahmed, who was born in Somalia and raised in Kenya, also came prepared to work hard.

“A university degree is important because it changes your life,” says Ahmed, who will be graduating this June with a Bachelors of Commerce degree (specializing in accounting). “To succeed, you have to be on top of your work.”

Ahmed admits that while the scholarship provided him with an opportunity, it was also challenging.

“I came from an extremely poor family who couldn’t provide me with the support I needed to get an education, and I was the first in my family to go to university,” Ahmed says. “It was difficult, but my family now supports me because they see the value in having an education.”

It helped Ahmed to become involved in UTM’s thriving student life. As well as establishing the Somali Student Association, Ahmed was a member of groups including the student union board of directors. He worked as a library assistant, a peer academic leader and a WUSC coordinator.

Ahmed plans to give back to his people and to Canada through the skills he’s learned, seeing it as a moral obligation.

“Money can be lost or stolen, but not your education,” says Ahmed. “The knowledge I gained from my years at university can never be taken from me.”

As for Deng, he’s looking forward to taking the last few steps of his astonishing journey, when he steps onstage at Convocation Hall in June. He can't wait to call his parents so he can deliver the latest installment of unbelievable news about their son.

Andrew Westoll is a writer with the University of Toronto Scarborough.

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Convocation 2013: meet UTSC's first PhD in environmental science

sgupta — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:06:26 +0000

Convocation 2013: meet UTSC's first PhD in environmental science sgupta Wed, 06/05/2013 - 05:06

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Cindy Bongard is the first PhD to graduate from UTSC's environmental science program (photo by Ken Jones)

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Cindy Bongard's successful defence of her PhD dissertation marked a milestone - not just in her own life but also in the life of the University of Toronto Scarborough.

Bongard is the first PhD to graduate from UTSC's groundbreaking doctoral program in environmental science.

"I was positively overwhelmed by the knowledge and passion of the faculty at UTSC," says Bongard, who also completed her Bachelor of Science degree at UTSC in 2006. "It was their energy and expertise that kick-started my decision to pursue graduate studies in the first place."

Professor Roberta Fulthorpe supervised Bongard's dissertation.

"I knew Roberta prior to beginning my graduate studies," says Bongard. "I already had a great deal of respect for her passionate involvement in conservation of pristine spaces, as well as her recognition of threats to sustainability arising from anthropogenic influences."

Bongard used molecular techniques to characterize fungal communities in native plants that persist in sites that have been invaded by more aggressive plants, such as dog-strangling vine. Her work might contribute to restoration strategies in areas where invasive species are a problem.

"Cindy Bongard masterfully defended her thesis and in doing so made history," says Professor William Gough, vice-dean of Graduate Education and Program Development at UTSC. "Her department and the university are exceptionally proud of her accomplishment."

Begun in the fall of 2010, UTSC's doctoral program in environmental science prepares the next generation of scientists to explore and grapple with the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. It is the first PhD at U of T to be solely administered on the UTSC campus.

Creating an urban farm, building social cohesion

sgupta — Mon, 27 May 2013 08:44:37 +0000

Creating an urban farm, building social cohesion sgupta Mon, 05/27/2013 - 04:44

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Urban farms provide students with opportunities for research and hands-on learning (photo by Wolfram Burner, courtesy Flickr)

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UTSC partners with local community

The University of Toronto Scarborough is partnering with a local community action group to create the Eastern GTA's newest urban farm – a move that will bring students "unique experiential learning opportunities" while helping the community.

A Memorandum of Understanding between UTSC and Malvern Action for Neighbourhood Change (Malvern ANC) acknowledges the university's role as the primary academic partner as Malvern ANC pursues a major urban agriculture project in Rouge Park.

Founded in 2009, Malvern ANC is a resident engagement and community development group funded by the United Way and delivered in partnership with Malvern Family Resource Centre. Malvern ANC already runs a number of community gardens in the Malvern area of Toronto, which is home to many new immigrant and low income families who struggle with the cultural and economic impacts of 'food insecurity.'

Food insecurity, according to Health Canada, refers to "the inability to acquire or consume adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so."

"This agreement will serve as a great model for university and community partnerships around urban agriculture," says Alex Dow, Manager of Malvern ANC. "Malvern is a transitional neighbourhood, where people are continually moving in and out, but we have very strong participation with this project. It represents our largest working group right now, which is a testament to its importance."

Through workshops and hands-on activities, the farm will educate and assist local people in provisioning fresh food for themselves, and to help Malvern residents develop a stronger sense of social cohesion in a predominantly transient part of the city.

"As Malvern ANC moves from neighbourhood gardens to a full urban farm it makes sense for them to find a partner on the academic side," says Professor Dan Bender, Canada Research Chair in Cultural History and Analysis and Chair of the Department of Historical and Cultural Studies at UTSC, who together with Professor of Human Geography Ken MacDonald has spearheaded UTSC's involvement.

"This isn't about studying the community," says Bender. "It's about studying with the community. There is an incredible wealth of knowledge out there that can tell us a great deal about the meaning of food in ethnic communities, the experience of diaspora and migration.

"It's not just about food itself, but how we understand diaspora through food, and vice versa."

The educational upsides for UTSC students will be vast.

"Our approach is to provide students with unique experiential learning opportunities on a working urban farm," says MacDonald. "Through hands-on activities and research projects they will learn more about the political economy of food provisioning in relation to class, income and city structure. They will gain insight into the dynamics of community formation. And they will be exposed first-hand to many of the issues that face many new immigrants and others with low incomes when it comes to food security."

The MOU will also provide Malvern ANC with the capacity to develop research projects that will help the farm develop and flourish.

"Students could help evaluate the suitability of different types of plants, monitor how well they're doing and help improve organic techniques that would impact crop yields," says Dow. "Faculty could help run our community workshops, so people can take new understanding and agricultural skills back to their own neighbourhoods."

Dow and his colleagues at Malvern ANC hope to review their proposal with officials from Parks Canada this fall. If all goes well, by the summer of 2014 their shovels could be in the ground.

Andrew Westoll is a writer with the University of Toronto Scarborough

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Working with Scarborough community to tell its stories

sgupta — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:31:43 +0000

Working with Scarborough community to tell its stories sgupta Mon, 04/15/2013 - 06:31

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Daniel Scott Tysdal conducts a storytelling workshop with community members (photo by Ken Jones)

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UTSC workshop series supports local residents

A good story can be incredibly powerful, capable of educating, enlightening and inspiring an audience. A well-told story can even change a life.

That’s why the University of Toronto Scarborough's English faculty partnered with the East Scarborough Storefront to conduct a community storytelling workshop series.

"There is such a great energy in the room," says Daniel Scott Tysdal, a poet and lecturer in creative writing at UTSC who spearheaded the new program. "I thought it might take a while for people to get comfortable, but right away they were into the exercises, listening to one another and sharing their stories.

"It's been a really fun and rewarding experience for us all."

The weekly six-part series, 'Telling Our Stories,' combines mini-lectures, writing exercises, class discussions and readings, introducing participants to the varied tools available to the storyteller. Students learn about the importance of sensory details, believable plots, character motivation and other aspects of narrative. They also discuss the all-important question, "What does it mean to tell your story?"

The goal is to inspire local residents to see their own stories as vital, and to give them the tools to begin expressing them.

Tysdal says the concept for the series was inspired by a quote from the writer James Baldwin:

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world," wrote Baldwin, "but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.”

As with any good story, inspiration for the neighbourhood workshops came from multiple places.

"It speaks to our belief that the so-called 'ivory tower' doesn't actually exist," says Tysdal. "When I look at my colleagues across the university, I see so many of us giving public lectures, organizing public events, participating in outreach and sustaining a practice of getting involved in our local community."

The workshop series is free and open to anyone who wants to learn about the practice of storytelling and try their hand at the art form. Tysdal is joined in teaching the series by colleagues from the English department: Claudia Hoffman, Neil Dolan, Sonja Nikkila and Anne Milne. More than 20 local residents ranging in age from 25 to over 70 are participating in this first series.

And while the benefits for the aspiring storyteller are clear, Tysdal and his colleagues also reap great rewards from the program.

"Whenever I'm teaching I'm also learning, and I've learned things from the participants in this class that I haven't learned anywhere else. I see story in a different way now thanks to my students."

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Diving deep into urban wetlands

sgupta — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:03:03 +0000

Diving deep into urban wetlands sgupta Wed, 04/10/2013 - 13:03

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PhD student Rachel Strickman studies how potentially hazardous mercury behaves in artificial urban wetlands (photo by Ken Jones)

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Searching in the Rouge Valley and beyond for substances that can cause neurological impairment

Rachel Strickman is fascinated by artificial wetlands. A PhD candidate in environmental science at the University of Toronto Scarborough, Strickman studies the biogeochemistry of manmade ponds and marshes that most city-dwellers just zoom right past.

If designed and managed properly, artificial wetlands can contribute to the overall health of regional ecosystems. But these small catchments do have a dark side, and this is where Strickman's research comes in. Her doctoral thesis examines the mechanisms by which inorganic mercury is converted to highly toxic methylmercury in wetland systems.

"Mercury methylation happens naturally in many kinds of wetlands, but we don’t know much about this process in constructed sites," says Strickman, whose thesis advisor is UTSC Environmental Science Professor Carl Mitchell. "So far we only have a small baseline sense of how prevalent a problem this is. I’m interested in learning more so we can better balance the risk/benefit equation."

Elemental mercury by itself is dangerous, but not easily absorbed by living organisms. But when consumed by certain aquatic bacteria—many of which are found in the root systems of wetland plants—mercury is converted to the highly toxic form methylmercury. Methylmercury accumulates through the food chain and can have terrible effects on humans, ranging from subtle cognitive and behavioural deficits to severe neurological impairment. According to a 2003 paper in Environmental Health Perspectives, up to 100,000 babies born in the USA each year suffer the impacts of methylmercury exposure.

"We know that mercury is methylated in these environments and in some sites very intensely," says Strickman, who focuses on the role of plant communities in the process. "By studying a wide variety of wetland areas in different geographic areas, I hope to improve our understanding of the factors that contribute to the phenomena."

Strickman has study sites in nearby Rouge Park, in Brampton and in Washington D.C. She plans to expand her geographic coverage to include a north-south gradient, which will enable her to explore the potential effects of climate change on mercury methylation. Strickman is not looking for mercury hotspots, however; she is studying ambient levels of naturally occurring mercury and doesn't expect to find examples of serious mercury contamination.

A plant biologist by training and a winner of a prestigious Ontario Trillium Scholarship in 2011, Strickman is originally from California. She has worked in New Zealand and received her bachelor’s degree for work on lichen ecology at the University of St. Andrew's in Scotland before moving to Finland to pursue a master’s in plant ecology. Strickman was attracted to UTSC for many reasons.

"UTSC has such proximity to fantastic wetland research sites such as Highland Creek, Lake Ontario and Rouge Park. I have access to top-notch analytical facilities and high-end technology that is very precise and well maintained," says Strickman. "The U of T library system is an excellent resource and Professor Mitchell is a really great guy to work with. He's open to new ideas, very supportive and a good advisor."

Strickman says she hopes her work will contribute to the development of better wetland management policy, since constructed wetlands already bring so many esthetic, recreational and ecological benefits to many communities.

"If we understand mercury methylation in artificial wetlands, we may be able to do something about it," she says. "I'm a practical person, and I want to know that what I'm working on has a practical impact on the world."

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