The mission, led by听the Governor General of Canada听David Johnston, is the largest of its kind in Canadian history, with more than two dozen Canadian university presidents making stops in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Campinas and Brasilia. It is organized by the Association of Canadian Colleges & Universities (AUCC).

Canadian university presidents will be visiting Rio de Janeiro as part of their tour of Brazil

In the next five years, Brazil is expected to become the fifth-largest economy in the world; the delegates听will work听to establish partnerships that will address the research interests of both countries and foster long-term prosperity.

As part of the mission, 91亚色 will announce two undergraduate entrance scholarships for Brazilian students, along with a pair of scholarships to study English through the 91亚色 English Language Institute (YUELI).

Shoukri will also be a signatory on a Memorandum of Understanding between 91亚色, Simon Fraser University, Ryerson University, Concordia University and the State of S茫o Paulo research foundation, (FAPESP). The memorandum encourages collaboration between researchers at SFU, Concordia, 91亚色 and Ryerson and those working in public or private research or teaching institutions in the State of S茫o Paulo, Brazil.

鈥淚t is important that 91亚色 participate in this mission,鈥� Shoukri says. 鈥淥ur aim is that our students become 鈥榗itizens of the world鈥�, by increasing their knowledge and skills through globally connected, internationalized programs, research and campuses. This new era of partnership with Brazil is an extension of 91亚色鈥檚 leadership in international education, international research and collaboration with international institutions.鈥�

The Funda莽茫o Dom Cabral - Campus

91亚色鈥檚 Schulich School of Business will also sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Brazil鈥檚 Funda莽茫o Dom Cabral, a centre for executive development, for collaboration in research and teaching. The institutions will share knowledge around sustainability and responsible business, and jointly provide executive education training and development programs with Brazilian companies. Schulich will also establish the Brookfield Brazil Internship Program, an opportunity for up to four of the school鈥檚 MBA/IMBA students to participate in a structured work term in the Brazilian operations of a globally oriented Canadian-based firm.

In keeping with strengthening ties between Schulich and Brazilian institutions, Schulich Dean Dezs枚听Horv谩th will give a special address to the Federation of the Industries of Sao Paulo (FIESP), with introductory remarks provided by Shoukri.

Stephen Toope, chair of AUCC and president of The University of British Columbia, says the delegation aims to strengthen existing partnerships with Brazil and create new opportunities.

鈥淭his is the largest international mission of university presidents in Canadian history, which speaks to the importance of building connections with this emerging economic powerhouse,鈥� says Toope. 鈥淥ur focus is on establishing and strengthening partnerships in research and innovation. We will also enhance opportunities for student mobility between our countries, providing experiences that will better prepare students in both countries for the new knowledge-driven economy.鈥�

Canada鈥檚 universities, including 91亚色, will welcome an estimated 12,000 Brazilian students between 2012 and 2016, through the Canadian component of Brazil鈥檚 ambitious Science Without Borders scholarship program. Through these scholarships, more than 100,000 Brazilians will study, undertake internships and conduct research in selected countries around the world over a four-year period.

The Brazil mission is being led by听the Governor General of Canada听David Johnston. AUCC is the national voice of Canada鈥檚 universities, representing 95 Canadian public and private not-for-profit universities. For more information, click .

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The recent federal budget reinforced the importance the government is placing on putting its fiscal house in order with some programs receiving cuts in excess of 10 per cent.

Within that overall context of restraint is a听welcome affirmation of the government鈥檚 strong commitment to research and innovation, with funding programs largely preserved and substantial new commitments听made.听 At the same time, the new investments focus predominantly on Canada鈥檚 innovation agenda, while the importance of supporting fundamental research is acknowledged in less tangible ways. It is explicitly stated on page 271 of the budget document that "programming in support of basic research, student scholarships and industry-related research initiatives and collaborations are preserved."

The budget has reaffirmed the importance of Tri-Council funding by returning mandated budget cuts in the form of $37 million in new investment, albeit with a focus on industry-academic partnerships.听This leaves Tri-Council with stable overall budget envelopes in the present fiscal year and the hope that next year鈥檚 mandated budget cut of $31.3 million may be similarly rescued through the infusion of additional new monies.

The long-term investment in the Canada Foundation for Innovation ($500 million over five years, beginning in 2014) and the doubling of support for graduate students to gain workplace experience through the Industrial Research听& Development Internship Program, are further positive signals of the importance the government places on high-quality university research, and in attracting and retaining top students and researchers.

Other notable investments in research and higher education include:

• $40 million over two years to support Canada鈥檚 Advanced Research & Innovation Network鈥檚 (CANARIE) operation of Canada鈥檚 ultra-high-speed research network;
• $60 million for Genome Canada to launch a new applied research competition in the area of human health, and to sustain the Science and Technology Centres until 2014-2015;
• $10 million over two years to the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research to link Canadians to global research networks;
• $5.2 million in 2012鈥�2013 to establish and integrate a network of mental health-related researchers in听the Canadian Depression Research听& Intervention Network;
• $67 million to assist the National Research Council (NRC) refocus on business-led, industry-relevant research, as well as doubling the contribution budget of the NRC鈥檚 highly successful cross-Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) in aid of small and medium enterprises.

These investments can only be seen as encouraging and a reflection of continuing strong support for university sector research. They provide important building blocks to developing knowledge, creativity and innovation within universities, now and into the future.听 This is a reality the government recognizes. We are fortunate to have experienced a significant upswing in university research investments over the last decade, with investments having nearly quadrupled since the mid-1990s and continuing to rise despite economic setbacks.听Budget 2012 presents a stable agenda for research funding听鈥� delivering a longer term message on research and innovation that reinforces the government鈥檚 goal, 鈥渢o position Canada for increased success in the global economy that depends more and more on knowledge and innovation as a key driver of long-term competitiveness.鈥�

Canada鈥檚 societal well-being and future economic health depend greatly on our capacity to innovate and build a highly competitive advantage.听 This is a vision that 91亚色 shares and will continue to foster in benefiting our researchers.听With the sustained support towards higher education and excellence in research and technology, we will continue to work with the government to ensure the continuation of these vital investments 鈥� and to reinforce the need to invest equally in the ongoing development of fundamental research.

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The gift is the single largest corporate endowment supporting Environmental Studies Awards in Canada. More than 15 bachelor of environmental studies students will receive full tuition awards each year .

91亚色 President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri and Barbara Rahder, dean of 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES), announced the donation from HSBC Bank Canada at a special听event held at 91亚色's Keele campus.

鈥淭his is a great day for 91亚色, students, research and the environment,鈥� said Shoukri. 鈥淲ith this single largest corporate gift to undergraduate environmental studies students in Canada, HSBC Bank Canada鈥檚 commitment creates a new, one-of-a-kind full tuition environmental scholarship, truly transforming environmental studies here at 91亚色 and in Canada.鈥�

听

Above: Event participants celebrate听the听$1-million endowed donation from HSBC Bank Canada establishing the HSBC Bank Canada Environmental Studies Awards at the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES).听Pictured (from left): Erica Ali, FES student; FES Dean Barbara Rahder; Linda Seymour, executive vice-president, commercial banking, and regional president, central and eastern Canada, HSBC Bank Canada; 91亚色 President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri; FES student Mike Zhang.

The $1-million听donation from HSBC Bank Canada, to be paid over five years, will create the permanently endowed HSBC Bank Canada Environmental Studies Awards. The donation also triggers a $1-million听matching investment from the Ontario Trust for Student Support Program, creating a $2-million permanent endowment for undergraduate environmental studies students at 91亚色.

鈥�HSBC believes that education is a fundamental building block for communities, which is why we fund scholarships and bursaries at postsecondary institutions across Canada 鈥� including right here at 91亚色,鈥� said Linda Seymour, executive vice-president, commercial banking, and regional president, central and eastern Canada, HSBC Bank Canada. 鈥淲e are very pleased that the HSBC Bank Canada Environmental Studies Awards will support more than 15 environmental studies students each year, allowing them to focus on their research, studies and contribution to the environment.鈥� 听

The awards, equivalent to one year鈥檚 tuition, will be given to third- and fourth-year bachelor of environmental studies students who demonstrate academic achievement, community service and are in financial need.

鈥淭his is a transformational investment to 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Environmental Studies,鈥� said Rahder. 鈥淭hese scholarships enable students to focus on their research, studies and contribution to the environment, lifting the stress of cost of going to university.鈥�

Several dozen students, faculty and staff attended yesterday's announcement at 91亚色鈥檚 Keele campus. In addition to highlighting key projects and research currently taking place within the Faculty of Environmental Studies, students also shared their thoughts on the potential impact of these awards.

鈥淎s a student, tuition and other costs associated with a university education are always top of mind,鈥� said Mike Zhang, a fourth-year student majoring in urban sustainability. 鈥淭he new HSBC award will help relieve students like me from this financial worry so we can focus on our studies, take advantage of valuable internships and even come up with the next big idea to address environmental challenges."听

With听this announcement, HSBC Bank Canada has donated close to $2 million听to 91亚色 over the past two decades. Previous donations have created six endowed scholarship funds at 91亚色, which have provided awards to 41 students to date.

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Research grants cover most of these expenses, but听the geography graduate student听welcomes the $15,000 she won as this year鈥檚 master鈥檚-level recipient of the Garfield Weston Award for Northern Research. The money听will听help cover her tuition fees, books and living expenses. "It was definitely nice to get it."

The award is one of many scholarships presented by the Canadian Northern Studies Trust on behalf of the .

Right: Liz Miller on a dig

Miller is the second 91亚色 geography graduate student to win it in two years. Last year, Anna Abnizova (BSc Spec. Hons. '05, MSc '07) was the doctoral-level recipient.

Both students are researching northern wetlands under the supervision of Arctic hydrologist Kathy Young, a geography professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

Last week, Miller returned to Toronto after three months studying the water flow of two hill streams that drain into the Polar Bear Pass wetland. It was her third trip to the North, her first to conduct her own research.

In the summer of 2009, Abnizova听chose her as a field assistant to measure water levels, surface area and carbon fluxes听in wetland ponds fed by snowmelt in this protected wildlife sanctuary.

Left: Liz Miller out 'fishing'

Their research adds to a growing understanding of the effect of climate change on the North. Polar Bear Pass is an oasis of vegetation in the middle of a polar desert. Its plant life nourishes insects, migratory birds and mammals, from lemming and fox to muskox and caribou, not to mention the polar bears that migrate through this protected wildlife area. That plant life depends on the sustainability of the wetland ponds, on the snowmelt and water flow.

Miller鈥檚 love of nature began as a child growing up in rural New Brunswick. She helped her father garden and went on camping and hiking trips across Canada with her parents. Unsure what to study after high school in Toronto, she enrolled at 91亚色 because the Environmental Science Program offered such variety. She could take biology, geography, ecology and conservation and learn about everything from soils and hydrology to plants and animals. Her first taste of the Arctic came after third year when she helped Professor Rick Bello measure carbon release from peatlands in Churchill, Manitoba.

But, until Abnizova invited her to be a field assistant last year, Miller never imagined returning to the Arctic. For three years after earning a bachelor of science in 2006, she had hopped from one government contract to another. She still hasn鈥檛 narrowed her interest to a single field, but can boast a wealth of experience in conservation听鈥� assessing wetlands, mapping endangered-plant sites, doing surveys of red-shouldered hawks and forest inventories, evaluating the health of streams, restoring wetlands and planting trees.

Right: Rifle-totaing Liz Miller takes no chances in Polar Bear Pass

This week, Miller climbed aboard yet another plane to see Europe for the first time. In three weeks, she鈥檒l return to finish her master鈥檚 degree and then decide whether to do a doctorate.

After witnessing the wildlife听鈥� caribou in particular 鈥� in Polar Bear Pass, she may branch into a broader investigation of the relationship between听physical geography (land and water)听and the biological community. 鈥淚 like figuring out why plants grow where they grow and animals are where they are.鈥�

By Martha Tancock, YFile contributing writer

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Vanessa Lamb (right), a second-year doctoral candidate in geography, is the 2010 Vivienne Poy Asian Research Award recipient. Her research interests include the politics of the environment and development, feminist political ecology and critical science studies.

Lamb received her master's degree from the University of Wisconsin, where she researched and studied the interdisciplinary understandings of conservation. Prior to attending 91亚色, she worked for the Bangkok-based organization TERRA, a regional non-governmental organization (NGO) that works on environmental issues within the Mekong Region. As a doctoral student she has worked as part of the Challenges of Agrarian Transition in Southeast Asia project team.

The award funds will assist Lamb in her dissertation fieldwork during the 2010-2011 academic year. Her research looks at knowledge-making and claim-making practices around resources of the Nu-Salween River, which supports an estimated six million people in China, Burma and Thailand as a source of livelihood and food. She will conduct interviews with local residents, activists, engineers and others connected to a large hydroelectric development project along the river at the Thai-Burma border. Specifically, her research will consider how different knowledges produced about the river interact and influence decision-making processes around development.

The award is named for Canadian Senator Vivienne Poy. It assists a graduate student in fulfilling the fieldwork requirement for the Graduate Diploma in Asian Studies.

Ei Phyu Han (left) and Rae Mitchell are the 2010 YCAR Language Award recipients. Han, a doctoral candidate in geography, will study Thai, while Mitchell, a master's candidate in social听& political thought, will use the funding to study Hindi in anticipation of her 2010 fieldwork in India.

Han is examining gender identity formation of Karen refugees from Burma along the Thai-Burma border to learn how it is influenced by different actors and power groups at multiple sites of displacement.听Her research aims to demonstrate how identity is influenced by place and therefore shifts during the process of being displaced because it is continually being renegotiated. This research has the potential to help improve resettlement programs, and she hopes it can play a role in future Canadian refugee policy changes.

"Although I am now a Canadian citizen, I migrated to Canada at the age of six from Burma with my family in the aftermath of the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrations in 1988," says Han. "I believe that this project is important not only for the ways that it can influence policy and resettlement program changes, and its engagement and contribution to academic knowledge, but also because it is integral to learning more about the growing humanitarian crisis in Burma."

She completed her coursework and set the foundations for her fieldwork in the summer of 2009 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, by making contacts with NGOs and by taking Thai language courses. The YCAR Language Award will assist in the continuation of these studies. She will begin her fieldwork this month working with the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, Women's Education for Advancement & Employment and the Karen Youth Organization.

Right: Rae Mitchell

Mitchell's research interests include resistance, social movement theory, engaged Buddhism and social anarchism. Her current research focuses on Gandhian perspectives of the body, including the methods utilized by Gandhi to transform his body (and self) from British subject into revolutionary satyagrahi. She's also interested in the ways that Gandhian approaches to social and political transformation are being adapted and utilized by female members of the Mahila Shanti Sena (Women's Peace Force) in Northern India.

She will complete a four-week intensive Hindi language-training course at the Jaipur School of Hindi in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The school is run in affiliation with Shashvat Sansthan, a local NGO working for the welfare of Rajasthan鈥檚 tribal-indigenous communities. Mitchell will also be travelling with University of Toronto Professor Reva Joshee and Jill Carr-Harris, a development worker in India, throughout central India for three weeks in October to explore possible research collaboration on Ekta Parishad's struggle for land and forest rights for marginalized and indigenous peoples in India.

Mitchell holds a combined听bachelor of arts (BA)听in peace studies and anthropology with a minor in religious studies from McMaster University.

The YCAR Language Award was created to support graduate students in fulfilling the language requirement for the Graduate Diploma in Asian Studies and to facilitate awardees master's or doctoral-level research.

Ferdinand Dionisio Caballero (left), a master's candidate in social anthropology, is this year's recipient of the David Wurfel Award. The award will aid him in his fall archival fieldwork in the Philippines where he will focus on the entangled relations between the Catholic Church and the Filipino people.

The David Wurfel Award provides financial support to an honours undergraduate or master's graduate student who intends to conduct thesis research on the topic of Filipino history, culture or society.

Caballero's major research paper will be an anthropological inquiry on religion, colonial subjects, post-colonialism and history. More specifically, he is interested in exploring and understanding the dynamics of power relations between religious institutions and the people.

He holds a BA in anthropology with a specialization in ethnographic studies from Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.

The award was established in 2006 by Senior YCAR Research Associate David Wurfel. He wanted to contribute to the emergence of a new generation of Filipino leadership that is grounded in the country鈥檚 history, culture and public affairs. Wurfel is a Philippine specialist who received his PhD from Cornell University's Southeast Asia Program.

Heather Barnick (right) is the 2010 recipient of the Albert C.W. Chan Foundation Fellowship. A doctoral candidate in the Department of Social Anthropology at 91亚色, her current research interests are related to the anthropology of media, digital anthropology, and techno-science with a specific focus on the visual and material cultures of video games and massive multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs).

Last month, Barnick began ethnographic fieldwork in Shanghai, China, following the ways in which online role-playing games have become significant sites for the formations of new national and cultural imaginaries in mainland China. Her fieldwork is supported by the Albert C.W. Chan Fellowship and a Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada doctoral scholarship.

This research follows on the heels of a project initiated by China鈥檚 General Administration of Press & Publication (GAPP) to encourage the production of 100 domestically produced MMORPGs. The narratives and imagery integrated into games developed under GAPP鈥檚 initiative frequently make use of famous fictional stories, such as the Journey to the West, and historical battles, such as Genghis Khan鈥檚 exploits and the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Focusing on the perspectives of youth from Shanghai, Barnick鈥檚 research will examine how these adapted histories come to have new meanings for life in the present. The primary goal is to understand how notions of national and cultural belongings and identities are continuously formed, expressed and re-imagined by Shanghai youth through their participation in MMORPGs produced in China.

Barnick earned a BA in sociology and anthropology from the University of Prince Edward Island and a MA in social and cultural anthropology from Concordia University.

The Albert C.W. Chan Foundation Fellowship was established by the Albert C.W. Chan Foundation to encourage and assist 91亚色 graduate students to conduct field research in East and/or Southeast Asia and was made possible through the听support of the Albert C. W. Chan family.

Adnan Amin (left) was selected from a strong group of graduate and undergraduate applicants to represent 91亚色 at the Global Initiatives Symposium in Taipei next month. This opportunity is provided by the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Amin's winning essay, 鈥淲hen East Meets West: A Personal Essay on Intersections of North American and East Asian Education鈥�, reflected on his experiences as an English as a second language (ESL) teacher in Taiwan.

Last year, Amin graduated from 91亚色 with an honours double major degree in English and history, completed his concurrent bachelor of education degree, and held a position as student senator for the Faculty of Education Students' Association. Amin has also held an international internship in the English Department of the Hong Kong Institute of Education and taught ESL in Taiwan. He is currently pursing his master of education degree at 91亚色.

Amin's research interests are in teaching and learning strategies, immigrant experiences, English language learning and digital media technology. He currently works as a school settlement worker in Toronto high schools where he helps newcomer students and families with settlement needs.

The Global Initiatives Symposium will be held at the National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan, from July 12 to 16.听It will bring together emergent leaders from around the world to discuss critical global issues. The topic for 2010 is The Emergence of New Giants: Evolution or Revolution. Participants will also take part in several days of cultural tours in Taiwan following the symposium.

Amin鈥檚 opportunity to represent 91亚色 at the symposium was made possible by the Taipei Economic听& Cultural Office and the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

For more information on any of the awards, visit the YCAR Web site.

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This is only the second year the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships have been awarded.

鈥淲e are delighted with the results of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships competition and the opportunity that this represents for four of 91亚色's outstanding doctoral candidates,鈥� says Douglas Peers (left), dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. "In addition to exhibiting remarkable potential as young scholars, the success of these students is a testament to 91亚色's interdisciplinary strengths in areas such as environmental studies and women's studies. The Vanier Scholarships' emphasis on bringing the most promising international students to Canada to study has allowed 91亚色 to attract three students with great potential."

The winners from 91亚色 are: Tania Hernandez Cervantes of Mexico, who is studying agricultural economics; Yasin Kaya of Turkey, who is studying听political economy; women鈥檚 studies student Healy Thompson of the United States; and history student James D.J. Trepanier of Canada. Each will receive $50,000 per year for up to three years to pursue research that will lead to the growth of the global knowledge base.

Hernandez Cervantes will research alternatives against the global takeover of organic agriculture in Mexico and Canada looking at agro-ecological innovation, rural livelihoods and alternative production, distribution and consumption. Yasin is interested in researching globalization in jeans in a multi-sited ethnography of global economic processes. Thompson will research the protection of vulnerable women looking at northern paternalism and women's sexual and reproductive rights. Trepanier will study scouting and the two solitudes, investigating youth, religion and nationalism in French and English Canada from 1908 to 1970.

This year, 174 scholarships were awarded to doctoral students from Canada and around the world recognized as leaders in their fields of research and in their communities. The Vanier scholars were selected for their exceptional leadership skills and their high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, and health.

The scholarships are administered by Canada's three federal granting agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada听and the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada. The goal is to build world-class research capacity by recruiting top-tier doctoral students, both nationally and internationally, who will positively contribute to our economic, social and research-based growth for a prosperous future.

For more information, visit the Web site.

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