The Torch

The UVic Torch Alumni Magazine is published biannually by the University of Victoria and the UVic Alumni Association and distributed free of charge to approximately 56,000 UVic graduates and supporters.

The magazine builds active interest in UVic by striving to reflect its high level of academic, research, cultural and athletic achievement; the accomplishments of outstanding alumni; the current intellectual, cultural, and social life on campus; and the university’s heritage.

View the latest issue and archives.

UVic grad leads user-friendly no-waste store

UVic alumna Paula McPhee co-owns Zero Waste Emporium with her husband, Nairn. The couple has received recognition for their green enterprise, including Ecostar and Surfrider Foundation awards.

Building bridges: Far from home

Students at a new field school learn by visiting the sites where Japanese Canadians were held in internment camps during the Second World War.

Law for all

The Law Centre offers a critical service to a vulnerable segment of society, and at its heart is a robust student clinical program. The team of dedicated staff and capable law students forms one of the best legal clinics in the country.

Help with kelp

Fieldwork to monitor the health of BC’s vital kelp forests carried on this summer despite the global pandemic, thanks to a partnership between scientists and First Nations communities.

Building bridges: Why Rob runs

Rob Fleming kick-started his political career at UVic before becoming a city councilor at age 28. Then, as BC’s education minister, he navigated school during a pandemic.

Giving back: Funding future engineers

Michelle Mahovlich started the 30 by 30 Women in Engineering Award at UVic as a way to honour the promising futures and bright minds lost in the Montreal Massacre.

Vox alumni: Work in progress

A reflection by UVic education grad Jonathan Carr, on the necessity of constantly learning in his role as teacher, and the value of listening more than speaking.

Flash of inspiration

Alumni Bryce Jones (BSc ’16) and Angelique Ahlstrom (BA ’15, MA ’17) are part of a team growing a drone reforestation company to help in the battle against climate change.

The change-up: Powerful medicine

BCom alum Stuart Hartsook switched career lanes, leaving the banking business behind to become a doctor. He is now in his first year of residency.

Warning labels on alcohol

Researchers with UVic's Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research say warning labels are the best way of communicating alcohol’s health risks.

Health through a legal lens

A Q&A with Dr. Irehobhude (Ireh) Iyioha, a new faculty member at UVic Law whose research interests include health law.

Art for everyone

Theatre grad Tiffany Tjosvold’s Embrace Arts Foundation ushers in a new stage of dance training for mixed- ability artists.

Safer water

Clean water, essential to global health, is the focus of two Civil Engineering research groups.

State of mindfulness

For three years, Faculty of Humanities Dean Chris Goto-Jones has been teaching a free, online course through Leiden University called Demystifying Mindfulness. More than 112,000 people have so far enrolled in the massive open online course (MOOC). Here, Goto-Jones explains the origins, contemporary interest and the continuing evolution of mindfulness in the health sector.

Better medicine

UVic is working with multi-disciplinary health-science teams across Canada to create safer, more effective drugs.

Double jeopardy: cannabis, alcohol and the brain

A new UVic study is looking at the potential effects of combining substances such as alcohol and cannabis during early pregnancy. The work is on the heels of the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis in Canada.