Advanced search

“Without art, I would never have discovered I was a teacher.”

From Nov. 10 to Jan. 22, folks in and around UVic may be surprised to sight some UFOs (unusual floating objects) in the skies above campus. No cause for alarm: it's just Environment Canada launching dozens of instrumented weather balloons from their…

The only ethnohistory field school in Canada to offer a firsthand learning opportunity involving traditional knowledges of oral history and research of historical documents has been immersing graduate students every second spring since 1998 deep within the Stó:lō community in BC.

During his Campus Update on Oct. 6, UVic President Jamie Cassels celebrated UVic’s achievements this past year and addressed university priorities for the upcoming year.

The UVic Faculty of Education is celebrating 100 years of preparing educators in Victoria with a range of events that began with a forum and celebratory dinner on Oct. 3. 

After six years as executive director of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS), which is hosted and led by the University of Victoria, climate scientist Tom Pedersen is moving on to other opportunities. “It’s been challenging at times but it’s always been fun,” says Pedersen. “I took this job because I wanted to build something, to make a difference in an area I feel passionate about. I think we’ve made some progress.”

Update (Oct. 28, 2015): The first Kit for Cultural History was unveiled this month at Rutgers University in New Jersey. The kits will also be presented Nov. 20 at 12:30 p.m. in UVic's David Strong Building (room C116), with physical copies being sent to universities across North America.

Groundwater: it’s one of the planet’s most exploited, most precious natural resources. It ranges in age from months to millions of years old. Around the world, there’s increasing demand to know how much we have and how long before it’s tapped out.

A team of UVic researchers shared in one of the world’s most lucrative science awards this November. The $3 million 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was awarded to five international experiments, including more than 1,300 individual scientists, “for the fundamental discovery of neutrino oscillations, revealing a new frontier beyond, and possibly far beyond, the standard model of particle physics.” Eight current and former Victoria Subatomic Physics and Accelerator Research Centre (VISPA) members are among the laureates.     

The force is definitely with UVic PhD candidate David Christopher (art history & cultural studies). One might even say it is his destiny. And when Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens hits theatres next month, you can count on Christopher to be in line for the new movie.

On Nov. 5, UVic grad Rona Ambrose was named as the interim leader of the federal Conservative party. An Alberta Member of Parliament since 2004, she held several cabinet positions within the Conservative government, including Environment, Intergover…

Canada’s academic stars to converge on Victoria Hey Victoria, get ready to host almost 400 distinguished academic guests—the Royal Society of Canada is coming to town! The Royal Society (RSC) is Canada’s national academy dedicated to promoting learning and research in three main streams: the arts and humanities; the social sciences; and the sciences. Every year, the RSC holds its annual general meeting in a different Canadian city. This year, RSC fellows and college members from across the country will converge on the Victoria Conference Centre/Fairmont Empress Hotel on Nov. 26–28. The University of Victoria is the sponsor institution.

The university’s heart is its students—and Shauna Underwood finds both meaning and joy contributing to their success as an Indigenous student advisor in the Faculty of Human and Social Development (HSD). Underwood sees herself as a traditional person; valuing her Coast Salish culture, she is from the Tsawout Band in W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich), is a member of the Samish Tribe in Washington, and has traced her roots to the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho.  At HSD’s Indigenous Student Support Centre (ISSC), Underwood works within the only faculty-based centre of its kind on campus with a large Indigenous student cohort, faculty and relevant programs. A day in her life is a mix of the routine and the unexpected. “I never know what’s going to come up,” she says—and that’s okay with her.

Facilities Management, in collaboration with the Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability, is pleased to announce the implementation of a sorting-at-source recycling and waste station system in all office areas on campus, starting in January 2016. 

Tuition waivers for up to 15 students each year for those from government care Lilia Zaharieva whispers her question with genuine awe. “They gave how much?” she asks, hearing about the $2-million donation from the Sisters of St. Ann earmarked for the University of Victoria’s Youth in Care award. As a recipient herself, she knows firsthand the life-altering significance of such generosity.  “What an amazing gift to give,” she says. “What fantastic help.”

New research on the future of BC’s most important resource from the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance With the replacement of its over a century-old Water Act with the new Water Sustainability Act in 2014, British Columbia has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to modernize its freshwater legislation and usher in a new era of water stewardship. The Water Sustainability Act has many promising features that can better protect the province’s freshwater resources. Yet full implementation of the new act hinges on passing critical supporting regulations that will provide the necessary details to make the act fully functional.