º£½ÇÉçÇø

º£½ÇÉçÇø's Climate Research Lab needs your help to boost one of its projects to the next round in an MIT-sponsored competition about communicating climate risks and coastal vulnerabilities. CLIVE, the coastal erosion visualization tool created by the Climate Research Lab and the Spatial Interface Lab at Simon Fraser University, has reached the semi-finals in MIT's CoLab Communication Coastal Risk and Resilience contest.

A description of CLIVE, from the team's submission to the contest:

'Using 3D game engine technology adapted to serious scientific communication, CLIVE enables citizens to interactively fly around and view the province of Prince Edward Island (PEI) at all scales, while manipulating historical data and projected models through time. By allowing citizens to view scientific data and explore climate change projections at any scale in their own neighbourhood, we help them understand these often abstract phenomena at local, human scales. We believe this is a way to connect all stakeholders to this mutual problem, enhancing awareness, education, dialogue, and collaborative problem-solving at all scales of society and government.'

To register and help vote CLIVE into the top spot, or to learn more about the competition, click

For information:
Dave Atkinson, Research Communications Officer, º£½ÇÉçÇø
(902) 620-5117, datkinson@upei.ca

º£½ÇÉçÇø welcomes all new students and their families to campus for the third annual Welcome Day on Saturday, August 30, 9:00 am-2:00 pm in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall. Welcome Day is a chance for new students to tour campus, pick up their º£½ÇÉçÇø student ID card, shop at the Bookstore, pay for tuition and other services, meet staff, faculty, Student Union executives, and new friends, and kick-off O-Week-all before classes start up in September!

This year's Welcome Day will also include parent sessions for parents of residence and non-residence students, a photo booth featuring Panther mascot, Pride, and a barbeque for all from 12:00-1:30 pm. Representatives from Residence Services, Accounting, the Registrar's Office, Student Affairs, and Webster Academic Services will be available to provide academic and administrative support throughout the day.

For information:
Rebecca Gass
Events and Protocol Officer, º£½ÇÉçÇø
(902) 566-0949, rjgass@upei.ca

º£½ÇÉçÇø Soccer is excited to announce the 2014 Mulligan Cup schedule, and introduce the inaugural Mulligan Cup Soccer Festival. º£½ÇÉçÇø Athletics and Recreation invites the PEI community to come out, have fun, and enjoy the beautiful game of soccer.

The º£½ÇÉçÇø men's and women's varsity soccer teams open training camps on Friday, August 22 in preparation for the Mulligan Cup held August 30-31. This is the third annual Mulligan Cup Invitational, providing an excellent opportunity for coaches to make final roster decisions. The league opener will take place on September 5 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia with the men's team taking on Acadia.

In honour of Vince Mulligan, ageless varsity º£½ÇÉçÇø soccer and hockey coach throughout the 80s and 90s, this tournament has proved to be a great way to kick off the season and showcase the teams to their supporters. 'I really look forward to this time of year when we get a chance to look at the new athletes in camp,' said Mulligan. 'You always go in to a new year with great expectations, and you can see it in the athletes' eyes and in their actions on the field. That's what makes this tournament so great to watch.'

New this year is the introduction of a soccer festival as part of the Mulligan Cup. The festival includes soccer stations and activities such as penalty kicks, soccer tennis, a ball machine, a juggling competition, music, a barbecue, and much more! There will also be age appropriate small-sided pickup games on MacAdam Field, so bring your friends, cleats, and cheer to support our men's and women's Panther soccer teams.

Teams competing in the tournament this year are the University of Moncton Blue Eagles, the Holland College Hurricanes, and the º£½ÇÉçÇø Panthers. The º£½ÇÉçÇø men's team will also host the PEIFC senior men's team to kick off the weekend. Admission for the games is $6/day.

2014 Mulligan Cup schedule:

Friday, August 29
7:00 pm (M)-PEIFC vs. º£½ÇÉçÇø

Saturday, August 30
10:00 am-12:30 pm-Soccer Festival (admission by donation, includes Panther games)
1:00 pm (W)-Holland College vs. º£½ÇÉçÇø
3:00 pm (M)-Holland College vs. º£½ÇÉçÇø

Sunday, August 31
12:00 pm (W)-UdeM vs. º£½ÇÉçÇø
2:00 pm (M)-UdeM vs. º£½ÇÉçÇø
4:00 pm (W)-Holland College vs. UdeM
6:00 pm (M)-Holland College vs. UdeM

Go Panthers Go!

For information:
Ron Annear
º£½ÇÉçÇø Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

Kent Stetson, distinguished native Islander, Governor General's Award laureate, member of the Order of Canada, and recent recipient of the º£½ÇÉçÇø Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award, will offer a two-tiered, sixteen-hour workshop at º£½ÇÉçÇø for writers of drama and prose fiction at various stages of their practice.

The workshop, entitled 'The Character Driven Story in Drama and Prose Fiction,' will take place August 22-24, in Don and Marion McDougall Hall, Room 242. The class structure will include 10-12 participating writers and up to 15 auditing writers. The workshop is co-sponsored by the º£½ÇÉçÇø Alumni Association, the Dean of Arts, the Department of English, and the PEI Writers' Guild.

Participating writers may be working on a specific text, starting a new project, or wishing to refresh their practice. They will benefit from pedagogic/craft sessions, exploration of the writers' artistic process, and evaluation of their individual techniques. Character perspective exercises and narrative outlines to be written during the workshop will be read aloud to the group. Respectful, guided critique with feedback from other participating writers and one-on-one critiques from the workshop leader will advance each writer's work.

Auditing writers will be those at a beginning stage of their practice, or those advanced writers who wish to observe and learn techniques for developing the major characters who drive the narrative, and the secondary characters who challenge or support them. Auditing writers will hear the work of participating writers and benefit from the pedagogy and discussions regarding character, plot, and story construction.

Visit (Workshops) for information on Mr. Stetson's work and workshop style.

For information:
Dr. Richard Lemm
º£½ÇÉçÇø English Department
rlemm@upei.ca

Charlottetown, PEI (August 19, 2014)-The Journal of Biomedical Optics recently published a paper by researchers at the º£½ÇÉçÇø which confirms exciting developments in our ability to detect and learn about certain types of cancer. In optoacoustic imaging, short pulses of light are sent into tissue. Because the pulses are so short, the light is converted into sound by the tissue, rather than heat. Dr. Michelle Patterson and Dr. William Whelan's research confirms that cancerous tissue emits sound at a different frequency than non-cancerous tissue.

'This research borrows from a 30-year-old technique, but the results are brand new and give us a whole new way to detect and learn about cancer,' said Dr. Michelle Patterson, whose work on this project was part of her PhD studies in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. 'Previous research studied the amplitude or ‘volume' of the created sound, but by measuring the frequency or ‘pitch', the amount of information we learn from the cancerous tissue is much greater.'

Dr. Patterson's work was supervised by Dr. William Whelan, a professor of Physics and Biomedical Sciences at º£½ÇÉçÇø.

'Measuring the amplitude of the sound has proven to be useful for locating cancerous tissue, but frequency may provide additional information about the cancer itself,' said Dr. Whelan. 'It may prove valuable for cancer staging and monitoring how cancers respond to treatment.'

The paper, 'Optoacoustic characterization of prostate cancer in an in vivo transgenic murine model', follows more than two years of experiments and analysis to confirm the research team's initial findings. It presents data that confirms the sound frequency emitted by cancerous tissue is statistically different than that of non-cancerous tissue-a relative breakthrough in the area of optoacoustic research.

A modified audio file (scaled to the human audible range) demonstrating the difference in pitch between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue can be found at or .

Media contact: Dave Atkinson, º£½ÇÉçÇø
(902) 620-5117, datkinson@upei.ca

A special dedication ceremony was held recently at the º£½ÇÉçÇø to recognize St. Dunstan's University (SDU) and its Board and alumni's commitment to the University. Main Building will now be officially known as 'SDU Main Building.'

'º£½ÇÉçÇø prides itself on the heritage passed down from St. Dunstan's University and Prince of Wales College, and welcomes opportunities like today to increase our understanding of that history,' said º£½ÇÉçÇø President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz during the ceremony. 'And part of that history is that º£½ÇÉçÇø has benefited so much from the generosity of SDU alumni and the SDU Board of Governors.'

In 1969, when º£½ÇÉçÇø opened its doors for the first time, it inherited the traditions of two long-established institutions, St. Dunstan's University and Prince of Wales College. SDU Main Building was constructed in 1854 and was the heart of the SDU campus, as it continues to be today for the º£½ÇÉçÇø community.

The dedication ceremony was held during º£½ÇÉçÇø's annual Summer Reunion Weekend, fitting as many alumni were celebrating milestone anniversaries on campus and were present while President Abd-El-Aziz and Chair of the SDU Board of Governors George MacDonald unveiled a sign and plaque bearing the building's new name.

MacDonald said, 'This indeed is a special occasion. As we look around campus, we see how much the University has grown. The building that still dominates is the one that in 1855 became St. Dunstan's College when a small body of determined spirits led by Bishop MacDonald fulfilled their dream. They started the college because they believed in education for youth.'

He added, 'This building is where these young people lived, worshipped, held their classes, studied, worried, celebrated, laughed and cried, dreamed and formed their values that made them leaders-leaders in the church and in the community.'

The SDU Board of Governors Chair went on to thank the º£½ÇÉçÇø Board of Governors and º£½ÇÉçÇø President for making the recognition happen. He said, 'In 1969, the SDU Board chose to support º£½ÇÉçÇø and continues to this day. In scholarships alone, the SDU Board has contributed over $3 million. Our board and alumni are committed to continuing this relationship and building upon it. I am so proud to see today's recognition through the naming of SDU Main Building.'

The º£½ÇÉçÇø's Board of Governors recently accepted the recommendations of the search committee for the Dean of Arts and the Dean of Education positions. Interim Deans Dr. Neb Kujundzic and Dr. Ron MacDonald were successfully appointed as the Dean of Arts and Dean of Education respectively.

'I look forward to working with Neb and Ron on a number of initiatives that will continue to enhance the overall student experience in both the Faculties of Arts and Education,' said Vice-President Academic Dr. Christian Lacroix. 'Our University community as a whole will benefit from their experience and strong leadership abilities.'

In 1995, Kujundzic received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Waterloo. Kujundzic came to º£½ÇÉçÇø in 1997 as an assistant professor of philosophy, before becoming an associate professor in 2003, and Interim Dean of Arts in 2013. He is a member of the º£½ÇÉçÇø Board of Governors and the º£½ÇÉçÇø Senate. He also held positions on the º£½ÇÉçÇø Presidential Hiring Committee, the University Review Committee, and the Research Advisory Committee. Kujundzic was also Chair of º£½ÇÉçÇø's Department of Philosophy from 1998-2004.

In 2006, MacDonald received his PhD from the University of South Australia. MacDonald joined º£½ÇÉçÇø's Faculty of Education in 2005 on a term appointment before becoming an assistant/associate professor in 2006, and Interim Dean of Education in 2013. MacDonald has a variety of publications including four book chapters, 39 papers in refereed conferences, and eight invited contributions/technical reports. MacDonald has also been heavily involved in external research funding projects, including his most recent role as a principal investigator on project-based learning (PBL).

Both Kujundzic and MacDonald will begin their new roles for six-year terms effective September 1, 2014-June 30, 2020. Congratulations, Dr. Kujundzic and Dr. MacDonald.

Last summer, º£½ÇÉçÇø Panther Swim team captain Suzanne Nicholson set a goal to swim the Northumberland Strait. Nicholson accomplished her goal and raised over $10,000 for the Panther swim team.

After graduating this spring from º£½ÇÉçÇø, Nicholson passed on the swim challenge to her teammates to 'Conquer the Strait' in support of their personal and team goals for the upcoming season. The º£½ÇÉçÇø swim team has accepted the challenge and their swim is scheduled for Saturday, August 30 from the New Brunswick side, finishing on Island soil in Borden, PEI. Eight members will either compete in a relay or tackle the entire swim solo.

'We are really excited to continue the ‎event that started last season with Suzanne. Our athletes continue to impress me with what they are capable of achieving,' said º£½ÇÉçÇø swim team Head Coach Bill Calhoun.

Event organizer and the swim club's Executive President Blythe Martin is also impressed with the º£½ÇÉçÇø student-athletes' initiative. 'The fact that these athletes are swimming across the Northumberland Strait, battling the cold, the waves, the weather, and the clock, is a truly amazing feat. It shows the power of motivation led by Suzanne Nicholson, and I hope that people will come out and support these athletes.'

To support the Panthers, visit:

All funds collected directly support costs associated with 2014-15 team's training and travel to competitions.

For more information, visit

For information:
Ron Annear
º£½ÇÉçÇø Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

The º£½ÇÉçÇø would like to congratulate former student athlete Tyler Shaw who was asked to write the official song for the U-20 FIFA Women's Soccer World Cup 2014 championships recently held in Moncton, New Brunswick. The video for the song, which appears on YouTube, features Shaw sporting a º£½ÇÉçÇø Panthers jersey.

'It was an honour and a privilege to have had the U-20 FIFA Women's World Cup official song for 2014. I've been a soccer player, and big fan, all my life, so if I can't play in a World Cup game, why not write a song for a World Cup,' said Shaw. 'Big shout out to the º£½ÇÉçÇø Panthers who are hosting Nationals this year. I may just be making an appearance to show my support.'

Shaw, originally from British Columbia attended º£½ÇÉçÇø and studied arts for one year, and was also a member of the º£½ÇÉçÇø Men's Soccer team. He then went on to begin a successful music career after his winning music video submission to Canada's Got Talent put him in the spotlight.

'Tyler was a great player to have on our squad in 2011. We had three great goalkeepers on the team who battled hard to play,' said º£½ÇÉçÇø Men's Soccer Head Coach Lewis Page. 'Tyler always brought a great work ethic to the field. His upbeat personality and positive attitude was a real asset to the team, and therefore I am not surprised by the success he has had in his music career. Tyler still follows our team and he has º£½ÇÉçÇø soccer in his heart, and we really appreciate that.'

Check out Shaw's music video

Way to go, Tyler!

The º£½ÇÉçÇø announced today that Mark English has accepted the position of head coach of the º£½ÇÉçÇø Women's Basketball program, effective immediately.

English, who holds Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees from Memorial University, has an extensive basketball background. He was most recently the assistant coach of the men's basketball team at Lakehead University and was their chief recruiting officer. While English was at Lakehead, the team had four consecutive appearances in the CIS nationals. He is also the director of Blaze Basketball, the local club program in Thunder Bay.

Previously, English was the coordinator and lead instructor of Memorial University's basketball camps and assistant coach with the men's basketball team. He has been both a head coach and an assistant coach with numerous Newfoundland provincial teams.

º£½ÇÉçÇø Vice-President Administration and Finance Jackie Podger said, 'On behalf of the University, I extend a warm welcome to Mr. English. Mark brings with him significant experience, a proven track record of success, and a wide range of connections that will help him recruit top-notch student athletes to the program. We know he will inspire and lead our women's basketball team to new heights.'

English said, 'I am extremely excited to have this opportunity to coach this talented group of young women and cannot wait to get started. It's obviously late in the process, but we will get organized and on the court as quickly as possible.'

Podger added, 'I also would like to sincerely thank all of those who applied for the position as well as the community members and alumni on the volunteer selection committee, George Morrison, SDU'68, Doug Newson, BBA'97, and Heather Howatt, BBA'91 along with chair Stephanie Knickle-Currie for their time and effort given to the hiring process.'

Over twenty people applied for the position with candidates shortlisted based on several criteria including coaching credentials, proficiency in fundraising and recruiting, and coaching experience at the university level.

English will be arriving on Prince Edward Island next week.