As a new year emerges, YFile takes a look back on 2022 to share with readers a snapshot of the year’s highlights. “Year in Review” will run as a three-part series and will feature a selection of top news stories published in YFile. Here are the stories and highlights for January to April, as chosen by YFile editors.
January
91ɫ Region entrepreneurs were offered free access to the Schulich Executive Education Centre’s (SEEC) Certificate in Business Essentials course thanks to the leadership of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and the support of the provincial government, 91ɫ Region, Town of Aurora, and the 91ɫ Region Chambers of Commerce.
The UN Sustainable Development Goal Report is 91ɫ’s first annual progress report on the SDGs. Both the report and its accompanying website share stories of progress and facts about 91ɫ’s leadership, commitment and progress toward the 17 goals through inspirational stories, facts and figures, and forward-looking action.
In a study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Jonathan Memme, lead author, PhD student in Kinesiology and Health Science (KAHS), Ashley Oliveira, contributing author, PhD student in KAHS, and David A. Hood, senior author, professor and Tier I Canada Research Chair, and director of the Muscle Health Research Centre (MHRC), show that the importance of p53 is most evident under stress conditions where the maintenance of mitochondrial function is essential.
First-year Bachelor of Commerce in Information Technology student Emmanuella Owusu was awarded the Melissa Grelo Entrance Award for Black and Indigenous Excellence. The award is granted to a woman entering the first year at the School of Information Technology or the Department of Economics, in 91ɫ’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS).
February
The partnership with the Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) provides more experiential learning (EE) opportunities that give students hands-on experience and help develop skills that enable them to create impact and drive positive change.
A research project aimed to redress ideologies and systems of anti-Black racism in the University has culminated in a first-of-its-kind database for Black Canadian readings and films.
The 91ɫ Black Research Seed Fund provides $150,000 in funding and mentorship to support the research activities of Black academics. The fund aims to promote equitable and inclusive funding to set roots for research projects and support future growth.
Autonomous cars conjure images of beetle-like vehicles zipping around the streets, but what about the potential of autonomous rail transport? One researcher at the Lassonde School of Engineering is bringing this vision to life and it has the potential to significantly improve a nation's ability to transport both passengers and freight.
March
91ɫ’s made steady progress on the University Academic Plan priorities and fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The annual report comes one year after 91ɫ released the guiding documents Addressing Anti-Black Racism: A Framework on Black Inclusion and the accompanying Action Plan on Black Inclusion: A Living Document for Action (2021) to the University community for consultation and review.
Octopuses can solve complex puzzles and show a preference for different individuals, but whether they, and other animals and invertebrates, have emotions is being hotly debated and could shake up humans’ moral decision-making, says 91ɫ philosophy Professor Kristin Andrews, an expert in animal minds.
Faculty of Health Professor Rebecca Pillai Riddell will lead a revolutionary, multi-million dollar research training initiative that will support a more diverse, inclusive, accessible and transdisciplinary approach to mental health research and training.
April
A new Media Creation Lab in the Scott Library provides students and faculty with access to new teaching and hands-on learning opportunities that span across disciplines.
Funds laid out in the federal government’s spring budget guaranteed long-term support for research and other initiatives at 91ɫ that create pathways to education for Black youth and future Black scholars.
A new Coalition of Support launched by 91ɫ’s School of Global Health (YSGH) will take steps to ensure that principles and practices of equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization (EDID) are built into the core of the school’s vision and living culture.
Two 91ɫ researchers have received research awards from the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) special call for innovative approaches to research in the pandemic context.
Check back in the next edition of YFile for Year in Review 2022: Top headlines at 91ɫ, May to August.