Nanaimo Sheet Metal donates custom designed smoker
June 22, 2012
Vancouver Island University Food Services cook Tyler Campbell has high hopes for the upcoming Thrifty Foods Nanaimo Barbecue Festival July 12 to 14. Campbell plans to enter the annual barbecue cook off using a new secret weapon – a custom designed smoker built by his friends at Nanaimo Sheet Metal (NSM). NSM employee Len Ronkainen heard from his wife Delia, who works in Food Services at VIU,... Read more
Family members play an important role in Trades students' success at VIU
June 21, 2012
The importance of family ties is strongly evident among the more than 320 Trades and Applied Technology students who are receiving certificates at Vancouver Island University today. (June 22) Tyler Davis is graduating from the Heavy Duty and Commercial Transport Mechanics program. His father Randy Davis graduated from the same program in 1987. His grandfather, Howie Davis, graduated from the... Read more
Chemistry student wins best research poster award at national conference
June 21, 2012
Vancouver Island University chemistry student Dane Letourneau received top honours at the 2012 Canadian Society for Chemistry conference in Calgary this month. His poster, entitled Photodechlorination Kinetics of Trace Contaminants in Natural Waters Using Membrane Introduction Mass Spectrometry as an In-Situ Reaction Monitor, won best undergraduate student poster award in the environmental... Read more
GrandKids University returns to VIU July 4 and 5
June 21, 2012
Grandparents and children aged 7 to 12 can experience hands-on learning at GrandKids University. The popular program at Vancouver Island University will be held July 4 and 5. This year’s line-up of courses includes four ‘majors’ where kids and their grandparents can study art, fisheries and aquaculture, chemistry and sports science. “Over the course of two fun-filled days, grandkids and their... Read more
National Aboriginal Day: Time to focus on the potential of Aboriginal youth
June 21, 2012
OTTAWA (Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada) – As the rich and diverse cultures of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples are celebrated today, National Aboriginal Day is also an appropriate time to reflect on the potential of young Aboriginal Canadians, and the role higher education can play in helping them achieve that potential. “With a significant demographic shift already under way, we... Read more
Visitors from Ghana strengthen ties with Vancouver Island
June 19, 2012
Update: Kwadwo Thomas Djang-Fordjour, Rector of Sunyani Polytechnic in Ghana, and VIU President Ralph Nilson signed a five-year agreement of co-operation between the two educational institutions on June 25. The agreement outlines: “The objective of promoting and expanding international understanding by stimulating and supporting educational, professional and intercultural activities and projects... Read more
Student tracks endangered turtles at Buttertubs Marsh
June 19, 2012
VIU Biology student Stephanie Thorpe is working toward her Bachelor of Science degree as she packs a spotting scope, binoculars and notebook on the 2.2-kilometre loop trail around Buttertubs Marsh. From shoreline vantage points she focuses on basking logs and clearings where Western Painted Turtles share space with more common Red-eared Slider Turtles and Wood Ducks. On a recent outing, she... Read more
Valedictorian delivers inspiring speech about arriving in Canada
June 12, 2012
Sometimes what you think is the biggest mistake of your life turns out to be the best thing in your life. That’s the message Vancouver Island University Bachelor of Hospitality Management graduate Hamza Slaoui delivered during an inspiring valedictorian speech at VIU’s recent spring convocation ceremony. Slauoi, who arrived in Nanaimo five years ago from Casablanca, Morocco, shared his personal... Read more
VIU students win Premier's Scholarships for study abroad
June 12, 2012
Three Vancouver Island University students are among 22 post-secondary students in BC to receive Premier’s Scholarships for study abroad. Katie Durvin, a Bachelor of Arts, Global Studies and Economics student, received $6,000 to study in Malawi, Africa. Hospitality Management student Bobbi-Anne Piercy and Bachelor of Arts, Global Studies and Anthropology student Celia White received $6,000 each... Read more
Astronaut urges young girls to reach for the stars
June 12, 2012
It’s a day Emily Nelson will never forget. The Hammond Bay Elementary school French immersion student met her heroine, Canadian astronaut Julie Payette in Nanaimo recently. “She was really nice and friendly,” said Emily. Emily, her mom Jodi and sister Alex waited outside the Port Theatre in Nanaimo on Monday, June 4 after they heard Payette was coming to town to receive an Honorary Doctorate... Read more