Golfers joined Brock President Jack Lightstone at Legends on the Niagara in Niagara Falls yesterday for the annual President’s Tournament in support of Brock Athletics.

This year’s event once again raised $75,000, which goes towards awards and financial supports for the University’s student athletes. Last year, Athletics handed out 47 President’s Golf Tournament awards, which range anywhere from $500 to $4,000.

Throughout its eleven-year history, the President’s Tournament has raised more than $875,000 to help fund almost 900 awards. Proceeds are raised through golf fees and critical support from sponsors.

“Without the financial support of the Presidents Golf Tournament, athletes like myself would be faced with the challenge of deciding whether or not they could afford to wear the Badger,” said women’s hockey player Brianne Veale.

To date, Brock Badgers athletes have captured 31 national and 67 Ontario championship titles.

“The proceeds raised today will make a big difference in helping some of Canada’s brightest young athletes fulfill their university studies and become key contributors to society,” said Lightstone at Thursday’s event.

This year’s sponsors of the President’s Golf Tournament included:

• Beatties Basics
• Bird Construction
• BMO Financial Group
• Brock Plaza Corporation
• Canadian Tire Financial Services
• Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
• Ernst & Young
• Henley Honda
• Lincoln Fabrics
• Mercer
• Partridge Wealth Management, RBC Dominion Securities
• Rankin Construction
• Scotiabank
• Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce
• Tim Hortons
• Towers Watson
• Whiting Equipment Canada Inc.

Joe Kushner

May 14: St. Catharines Standard (Regional section) “Fort Erie racetrack one item on tourist buffet”
Featuring comments about local tourism by Joe Kushner, professor, Economics.

May 16: St. Catharines Standard / Welland Tribune / Niagara Falls Review “Gala raises money for children’s nutrition”
Featuring comments by Mary-Louise Vanderlee, associate professor, Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in the Faculty of Education, who delivered the keynote address at this year’s Niagara Nutrition Partners breakfast gala, which raised $20,000 for their programs.

May 16: Niagara This Week “Hot Ticket series an ‘experience’”
Featuring comments by Debbie Slade, director, Centre for the Arts, about the launch of the Centre’s 2013-14 lineup.

May 18: St. Catharines Standard (print edition) “Former governor-general coming to Niagara black history summit”
Featuring comments by Tamari Kitossa, associate professor, Sociology, and Richard Ndayizigamiye from the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, about the Black Canadian Studies Association conference coming to Brock May 24-25.

May 18: Toronto Sun (print edition) “Serious case of the shakes”
Featuring comments by Francine McCarthy, chair and professor, Earth Sciences, who commented on the 5.2 (Shawville, Que) and 4.2 (Braeside, Ont.) earthquakes that struck southern Ontario and Quebec on May 17.
McCarthy’s comments also appeared in the Brantford Expositor, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, Kingston Whig-Standard, Lindsay Post, Midland Free Press, Napanee Guide, Sarnia Observer, Shoreline Beacon (Port Elgin) and Barry’s Bay This Week.

May 18: St. Catharines Standard / Welland Tribune / Niagara Falls Review “Did you feel it?; Niagara not a quake zone, despite jolt”
Featuring comments by Francine McCarthy, chair and professor, Earth Sciences, who commented on the frequency of earthquakes in Southern Ontario.

May 20: St. Catharines Standard / Welland Tribune / Niagara Falls Review (Community Voices) “Re-imaging Niagara’s economy” by Charles Conteh, associate professor, Political Science.

For more examples of Brock faculty news appearances, please check out the “Researchers in the news” section of Research Services website.

Graduate students Michelle Przedborski, Jennifer Brant and Kevin MacDonald are recipients of Graduate Student Awards for their research.

Research under way by graduate students is the product of a community of risk takers who understand the value of setting minds alight, said Murray Knuttila, Brock’s Provost and Vice-President Academic.

Knuttila applauded the collective courage of about 125 guests, including graduate students, donors, faculty and staff, during the Faculty of Graduate Studies 2013 Graduate Student Awards and Donor Recognition Reception. The annual event was held recently to celebrate the success of approximately 234 graduate students in winning a total of about $2.4 million in internal and external scholarships and awards.

“Setting minds alight is a risky business because when you encourage people to think freely, and give them the resources and opportunity, they tend to ask all kinds of questions - questions that probe every aspect of the universe and thus our physical, biological, social, cultural, political, and spiritual being,” Knuttila said.

Knuttila recognized the more than 1,600 students in 42 programs at Brock for “risking time, energy, material and emotional well-being as they strive to preserve and enhance the stock of knowledge that is our human heritage.”

“Risk takers take the risk of honing those very attributes and capacities that distinguish humans from other species - the critical spirit, the ability to think systematically, and the capacity to understand the world as a totality,” he said.

“I thank parents, family and friends who have encouraged these students and I thank the donors and supporters who have risked their resources on this enterprise.

“The ultimate return on that investment is manifest in new knowledge and understanding, a more intelligent citizenry, a more civil society and world, and a brighter future than had these students not taken a risk.”

Award-winning students Michelle Przedborski, Kevin MacDonald and Jennifer Brant spoke about their research and the importance of graduate awards and scholarships in supporting their success.

Przedborski is beginning her PhD studies in Physics and is pursuing research on the theoretical aspects of superconductivity.

MacDonald is in his first year of the master’s program in Psychology with research focused on the relationship between sleep and memory.

Jennifer Brant is a PhD student in Educational Studies. Her research focuses on enhancing aboriginal women’s educational experiences in university.

Read more about their research stories and see a list of winners at Celebrating Excellence.

Graduate students Michelle Przedborski, Jennifer Brant and Kevin MacDonald are Graduate Student Award recipients for their research.

This year’s reception marked the presentation of a new award, the Jeffery Hamelin Memorial Scholarship, to Courtney Bishop, recognizing excellence in the Applied Disability Studies program.

The award is named in honour of Jeffery Hamelin, the program’s first graduate, who is fondly remembered as a mentor, researcher, student and friend to many in the Centre for Applied Disability Studies. His parents, Yvonne and Brent Hamelin, shared a touching tribute to their late son, emphasizing his love of life and his love of learning.

“I urge the students here today to work hard to achieve dreams through the memory of those whose names these awards possess,” Brent said.

Mike Plyley, Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies, officially announced the naming of the Jack M. Miller Research in Excellence Awards to recognize Miller for his tireless work in building Brock’s reputation for graduate education and research excellence.

The naming marks the 10th anniversary of this award that was first established in 2003 by Miller when he served as Dean of Graduate Studies and Vice-President Research. The Faculty has expanded the number of awards from two to as many as 12 to be presented each year to the best and brightest graduate student researchers from Brock’s six academic faculties.

Recipients of the Jack M. Miller Excellence in Research Awards are:

Faculty of Applied Health Sciences: Tyler Weaver (MSc), Izabella Ludwa (PhD)
Faculty of Education: Christine Rougoor (MEd), Kate Cassidy (PhD)
Faculty of Humanities: Malisa Kurtz (Interdisciplinary Humanities - PhD)
Faculty of Mathematics and Science: Michelle Przedborski (Physics - MSc),? Dimitrios Alexandropoulos (Chemistry - PhD)
Faculty of Social Sciences: Sierra Holtzheuser (Child and Youth Studies - MA),? Cara MacInnis (Psychology - PhD)
Goodman School of Business: Asma Zafar (Management - MSc)

Deborah McPhee

The Associate Dean of the Goodman School of Business has been recognized as a leader in her field by an organization promotes occupational health and safety and safety management education.

Deborah McPhee received the Minerva Education Award of Honour in Toronto last week for her long-standing contributions to advancing health and safety education at Brock.

She was selected by the Minerva Canada board of directors, standing out for four case studies presented in competition and for incorporating health and safety in the curriculum at Goodman.

Minerva Canada is a not-for-profit organization “dedicated to improving business effectiveness and reducing injuries through safety management education” at colleges and universities with business or engineering programs.

Brock alumnus Jonathan Laakso (centre) was part of a group of filmmakers whose short film, Disconnect, screened at the Cannes Film Festival this week. Shown with Laakso are (from left) Danny Tresise, Aaron Hayes, Kevin Davidson, Sean Nasmith and Jordan Beacock.

A group of Toronto-based filmmakers - including a Brock graduate - saw their short film screened at the Cannes Film Festival this week.

Niagara Falls native Jonathan Laakso, (BA ‘06) was one of six filmmakers, part of a group called the Grand Sarachis, whose film Disconnect screened in the Best of the 48 Hour Film Project block of the Cannes Short Film Corner on Wednesday.

Disconnect was written, cast, filmed, edited and scored in one weekend last November as part of the 48 Hour Film Project. Participants in the project are given a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and genre and must put together a movie in two days.

Most of the Grand Sarachis had not met each other prior to the 48 Hour Film Project when they joined forces to produce Disconnect, a silent film that Laakso, 29, directed, edited and even acted in.

The film went on to win the audience award, best film and best score at the Toronto 48 Hour Film Project festival. It was then screened at Filmapalooza, the signature film festival of the 48 Hour Film Project in Hollywood.

Based on the reception the film received in Tinsel Town, it was shortlisted to be one of 15 48 Hour Films to screen at Cannes. It competed against more than 3,500 cinematic feats from around the world for a coveted spot at Cannes, which runs until May 26 and brings together the A-List celebrities of world cinema.

Laakso and crew, which includes Laakso’s high school friend Aaron Hayes and fellow Niagara Falls native Kevin Davidson, have chronicled their film-making odyssey and will release a feature-length documentary about it next year.

Academics and scholars from around the world will descend on Brock University’s Goodman School of Business - in the heart of Ontario’s wine country - for the international Academy of Wine Business Research (AWBR) conference June 12-15.

This is the first time the event has landed in Canada, having been held previously in Australia, California, France, Italy and New Zealand.

The AWBR is a global body focused on research into economic, social and management aspects of the wine industry. The conferences attract top wine business researchers and wine industry leaders engaging in critical discussions in a friendly and open atmosphere.

Besides visiting Niagara wineries, delegates will take part in group discussions and workshops examining a range of issues related to wine business. The sessions will be led by experts from around the world, including Brock/Goodman marketing professors Antonia Mantonakis and Carmen Cullen, and sensory scientist Isabelle Lesschaeve, research director-consumer insights and product innovation at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre.

Topics up for discussion include branding, tourism, consumer behaviour, sustainability, strategy, innovation and packaging/labelling. For instance, Mantonakis will team up with University of Miami researcher Keri Kettle to reveal their new findings that, in some circumstances, labels bearing a winemaker’s personal signature enhance the wine’s perceived quality and value.

Don Cyr, Dean of the Goodman School of Business, will open the conference with welcoming remarks, and delegates will also hear addresses from several industry leaders from Niagara, including Chateau des Charmes Winery president Paul Bosc Jr., Henry of Pelham Winery president Paul Speck; and wine writer Linda Bramble. Attendees will also hear from Bonnie Winchester, Assistant Deputy Minister at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

Chris Armstrong

Since graduating with a Bachelor of Sport Management (BSM) at Brock University in 2005, Chris Armstrong has embodied a level of excellence worthy of a number of prestigious achievements.

As senior vice-president at Wasserman Media Group, Armstrong has expanded Wasserman’s global sports and entertainment accounts, while rightfully raising his own profile in the sport industry.

This week, Armstrong added to his list of achievements when he was recognized as one of Canadian sport business’s “5 to Watch.” The awards are presented by George Brown College and The Globe and Mail.

Winners are selected by a panel of leading sports marketers and influencers tasked with identifying the next generation of sport industry leaders.

In 2009, Armstrong was the youngest person on the National Post’s list of Canada’s 25 most influential people in Canadian golf. The following year, he made The Globe and Mail’s Sports Power 50 list and received Brock University’s Faculty of Applied Health Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award. He was also recognized at the Brock University Alumni of Distinction awards in 2012.

Armstrong credits Brock’s sport management department with influencing him “in one way or another,” but particularly professors Hilary Findlay and Craig Hyatt.

“They both took a particular interest in my career pursuits,” he said. “And they’ve continued to be great supporters.”

View the list of “5 to watch” winners

Corey Lehman works with a student on the Rick Hansen Secondary School robotics team Theory6.

If you ask Corey Lehman, he may just tell you that he teaches the coolest subject offered at Rick Hansen Secondary School in Mississauga: Robots.

While the class is technically called Manufacturing Technology, Lehman, a recent Brock technological education graduate (TCTD ’12), has enjoyed teaching the complexities of a subject that goes beyond just “shop class.”

“At most schools (manufacturing technology) means machine shop,” he said. “However, at Rick Hansen Secondary School … it is a specialist high skills major program.”

Specialist high skills major programs let students focus on a career path that matches their skills and interests while meeting the requirements of the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD).

Teaching the course also gave Lehman the chance to be the lead mentor of the school’s robotics team - one that joined forces with a team in Texas to win the FIRST Robotics Championships in St. Louis last month.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in the U.S. in 1989 to inspire and mentor young people in science, engineering and technology.

Lehman, a former tool and die maker, and welder, began his involvement with the Rick Hansen robotics team, Theory6, during his second teaching practicum last year and hasn’t looked back.

“It was the middle of the robotic team’s build season and I offered to help mentor in the machine shop,” he said. “A couple of weeks later and I was hooked. I travelled all over North America with the team and had quite the positive experience.”

So when the opportunity to work at Rick Hansen arose, Lehman jumped at it.

“I never could have seen myself teaching robotics,” he said. “Now that I am, I know it is the right career path for me.”

Lehman not only has the knowledge to help his students achieve greatness, he also knows when to sit back and let them take the lead.

With 85 students on the RHSS robotics team, Lehman said he prefers to simply facilitate the process, allowing the students to plan, design, build and program the robot. Students are able to learn the most this way, he said.

Such programs offer experience and skills that continue to prepare the next generation of students for the proverbial real world.

“FIRST Robotics gives students a chance to work together in real world situations,” he said. “They learn time management, how to communicate effectively with others, budgeting, design process, networking, building (and) hands-on skills and confidence.”

And much like those who taught Lehman during his time in the technological education program, he feels the same pride seeing his students succeed.

“I am so very proud of my students and truly feel they deserve everything they achieved this year.”

Visit Theory6 online

Want to swap that hosta in your garden for a more colourful aster?

The DIG Brock Community Garden is hosting the University’s annual perennial exchange event on Tuesday, May 28. Everyone is welcome.

Here’s how it works:

8:15 to 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m - noon
Drop off up to five perennials (in pots, labelled with name of plants and sun/shade preference) to the front of the Schmon Tower. You will receive a ticket for each plant that you bring to be used at the plant exchange.

12 noon to 1:00 p.m.
Return to the front of the Schmon Tower and use each ticket to redeem a different perennial.

1 p.m. to 2p.m.
Leftover plants from the exchange will be available for purchase. Proceeds going to materials for the Brock Community Garden.

If you have seedlings or additional perennials that you would like donate to the community garden you can bring them at any time through the day.

For more information, please contact Garden@YourBrock.org or visit the DIG Brock Community Garden online.

The Ontario Council on Graduate Studies, an affiliate of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), consists of deans of graduate studies at each university in the province. Together they strive to ensure quality graduate education and research across Ontario.