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The tension in the operating room was palpable as the patient’s heart rate skyrocketed unexpectedly during surgery on her fractured ankle. Julie, the 19-year-old soccer player under local anaesthetic, worriedly asked what was wrong. The medical and nursing team reassured her as they quickly assessed and took action to stabilize her condition. Despite its location in the Royal Jubilee Hospital, this was not a typical operating room. Nor was Julie a typical patient; she’s actually a life-like mannequin. Both are part of the new $2.9-million Centre for Interprofessional Clinical Simulation Learning, a partnership between UVic’s School of Nursing, UBC’s Faculty of Medicine and Island Health.

In July, under a blistering hot sun, 15 students and environmental studies professor Dr. Eric Higgs waited to embark on a unique learning adventure at the Galiano Island Land Conservancy Learning Centre. During the following week, as part of the Ecological Restoration field school, the students share meals together and work intensely on group projects—off the grid, with no internet, and with the outdoor environment of the island’s District Lot 57 as their principal classroom. The lot, owned by the Galiano Island Conservancy Association, was once an active logging  and farming site. But now, it’s home to the Learning Centre, and Galiano Island residents want the land ecologically restored. That’s where the thinking, learning and labors of the students in the field school come in.

The university’s five-year capital plan was approved at the June 29th Board of Governors meeting. The plan, which is updated each year, outlines the major capital priorities (greater than $5 million) for the campus including projects to address space pressures as well as deferred building maintenance. The capital priorities for the university include the following:

Dr. Tom Gleeson (engineering) has won the Early Career Award from the Hydrologic Sciences section of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) which goes to an international hydrology researcher within six years of their PhD. Gleeson’s work focuses on mega-scale groundwater systems and groundwater sustainability.

UVic's new Murray and Lynda Farmer Walk of Excellence celebrating Vikes’ athletics legacy officially opened Aug. 26 in the Centre for Athletics, Recreation and Special Abilities (CARSA).

Orientation events have already begun for the fall. Keep an eye out for various events and activities on campus to welcome new and returning students, including Graduate Student Orientation (Sept. 4, beginning at the University Centre), Family Orientation (Sept. 6 outside Cadboro Commons), the President’s Welcome Barbecue (see below), UVSS Campus Kickoff (Sept. 9–12), Thunderfest (Sept. 11, noon–4 p.m. in front of the SUB) and more. A related story about Sexualized Violence Awareness Week also appears this week, and the new orientation app is linked from uvic.ca/orientation.

The Vikes Championship Breakfast is the largest fundraiser for the varsity programs, and this year, the annual event will be hosted in the CARSA performance gym, featuring four-time Olympic triathlete Simon Whitfield as the keynote speaker. The even…

Consent and intervention: preventing sexual assaults on campus Across the country and around the world, universities and colleges are increasingly focusing on the issue of sexualized violence on campuses. Here at UVic, this concern is being addressed head-on during the second annual Sexualized Violence Awareness Week (SVAW) taking place Sept. 14–18 on campus.

Dr. Stephanie Willerth (engineering/medical sciences), who holds the Canada Research Chair in biomedical engineering, was recently named one of the 2015 Young Innovators in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering. As part of the award, her group paper…

An award-winning author, a publishing visionary, a pioneer in on-campus computing and an early writing department chair—David Godfrey was all this and so much more. The Department of Writing is saddened to announce the passing of this former professor at the age of 77.

This election, what are you voting for? The 2015 federal election is in full swing, and few can miss the blitz of campaign signs, ads, tweets, posts, debates and sound bites. On campuses across the country, however, an election presents some distinct challenges—and opportunities.

Northern Europe is famous for sustainability—from cycling in Copenhagen, Iceland’s geothermal riches, and offshore wind farms in the North Sea to Germany’s investments in mass solar power. This spring, 28 UVic geography students headed to Europe to study those sustainability efforts and more. Their month-long field school took them to Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands brought them together with community leaders, planners, developers, scholars and others to examine Scandanavian efforts to address the daunting ecological and social challenges facing contemporary societies.

Protecting and learning from Middle Eastern antiquities When news broke in August that Syrian archaeologist Khaleed al-Asaad had been killed by ISIS for trying to protect his country’s cultural legacy from destruction and looting, it sent a chill through the heart of Art History and Visual Studies professor Marcus Milwright. An archaeologist and professor of Islamic art and architecture, Milwright has worked extensively in Syria—including the ancient city of Palmyra, the UNESCO World Heritage Site for which Khaleed al-Asaad was the head of antiquities.

The deep-green hues of UVic—from research leadership in ocean and climate studies, to sustainability studies in nearly every academic field—also colours our pride in our natural spaces  and sustainable on-campus operations. But we can’t pat ourselves on the back too quickly, either. Unless we’re prepared to turn off the lights and heat on campus, cycling and transit will continue to play key roles in reducing our carbon footprint, individually and as a concerned community. We’ve already made good strides: nearly 8,000 members of UVic’s campus community use public transit, pedal power and shoe leather in getting to and from campus every day. And despite significant enrolment growth on campus, there are fewer cars in our parking lots than there were 15 years ago. 

The lead-up to Thanksgiving is a perfect time to acknowledge what makes the UVic experience so great, as well as the many people behind that experience. From Oct. 3-9, UVic’s Student Ambassadors and Donor Relations teams are asking the campus community to celebrate the impact of donors and volunteers through #UVicGivesThanks—a philanthropy awareness week.

The 2015 UVic United Way Greater Victoria (UWGV) annual campaign officially kicked off on Oct. 1 in the University Centre lobby, with inspiring words from Patricia Jelinski, CEO of United Way Greater Victoria, President Cassels and United Way partner Carmel Chamberlain. This year, UWGV is focusing on the people who have the power to change lives with each contribution they make, with the goal of increasing the donor base by 2,000 individuals. In support of this target, UVic aims to increase the number of donors by 100 over the next two years.