His presentation, The drowning and draining of Manitoba: from Lake Agassiz to today, is part of the Geological Association of Canada – Mineralogical Association of Canada Annual Meeting (GAC-MAC). This conference, which takes place in a different Canadian centre each year, brings together many of the top Earth Scientists from across the country.

Teller’s geological research over the years has allowed us to better understand glacial Lake Agassiz, which was at one time the largest lake in the world, covering a large part of North America for 5,000 years near the end of the last Ice Age.

Agassiz is largely responsible for the Red River Valley’s rich soil and agriculture, but it is also a cause of the valley’s ongoing flood issues, which are again obvious this spring. In his presentation, Teller explain the impacts of Lake Agassiz’s legacy.

What: Free public lecture on how Manitoba’s geological history impacts current flood risks
When: Wednesday, May 22, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Presentation Theatre in the Winnipeg Convention Centre

For more information contact Graham Young, GAC-MAC, 204-988-0648 (gyoung@cc.umanitoba.ca).

Jan Lederman, Chair of the Board of Governors of the University of Manitoba, is pleased to announce the re-election of Harvey Secter as Chancellor of the University for a second term beginning June 1, 2013. Mr. Secter, a highly respected business, community and academic leader with a long history with the University, has served as the 13th Chancellor of the University of Manitoba since January, 2010.

The re-election of Chancellor Secter took place earlier today at a meeting of the Committee of Election. This committee was established in The University of Manitoba Act for the sole purpose of electing a chancellor. Its membership consists of all members of the Board of Governors and of Senate, and is chaired by the Chair of the Board of Governors.

The Chancellor, as titular head of the University, confers all degrees and diplomas, and plays a leading role in advancing the University.

“The University of Manitoba is fortunate to have Harvey Secter re-elected as our Chancellor”, said Jan Lederman, Chair of the Board of Governors. “Chancellor Secter will continue to bring his wealth of wisdom and leadership experience to the role”.

Mr. Secter received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Manitoba in 1967. Following graduation, he directed the growth of Ricki’s Canada Limited, a family retail business, from a ten-store chain to a multi-divisional national operation of 150 stores.  He pursued his business career until 1988 when he returned to the University of Manitoba as a student.

Graduating from the Faculty of Law with the Gold Medal in Law in 1992, Mr. Secter went on to pursue a Master of Laws at Harvard Law School. He then became a visiting researcher and instructor at Harvard’s Program on Negotiation, where he assisted in teaching courses and workshops in negotiation and mediation. Mr. Secter also acted as an instructor at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law from 1995 to 1999.

In 1999, Mr. Secter was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba – just seven years after he graduated from that same faculty. He served in this position with distinction until 2008. Following his time as Dean, he was named Dean Emeritus of the Faculty of Law.

Following his decade of service to the Faculty of Law, Mr. Secter retired in 2008. He continues his practice in mediation and arbitration. He serves on corporate boards as Director of FPCN General Partnership Inc., a Trustee of the FP Newspapers Income Fund and as a Director of James Richardson & Sons, Limited.

Mr. Secter is also an active community philanthropist and volunteer. He is Past President of the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba and is a current member of the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council, the United Way Advisory Committee, and the Assiniboine Park Conservancy.

“I am pleased that Mr. Secter has been re-elected as chancellor,” says Dr. David Barnard, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manitoba. “His dedication to service to the community at large generally, and to the University specifically, serve as a wonderful example to our students.  I look forward to continuing to work with him in the years to come.”

Among Mr. Secter’s many honours, awards and appointments are an honorary doctorate from the University of Winnipeg, the Sol Kanee Distinguished Community Service Award from the University of Manitoba, and, with his wife, Sandra, the Negev Award for Community Service.

For more information, contact John Danakas, director, marketing and communications office, at: 204-474-8551.

Researchers at the University of Manitoba will receive new funding for grants and scholarships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) over the next five years.

The money will support research in a variety of areas, including magnetism at the nanoscale, learning and memory, and geothermal energy.

The awards total $9,500,100 and were included in a national announcement made in Ottawa today by the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) and NSERC acting president Janet Walden.

“Discovery Grants is the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s flagship program and one of Canada’s largest sources of funding for basic research,” said Minister Goodyear.  “It provides researchers with the means and freedom to pursue their most promising ideas. Our government is proud to support 10,000 researchers who are creating the advances that will drive tomorrow’s innovations.”

A total of 95 professors will share $8,212,500 in funding from the NSERC Discovery Grants program in the categories of individual, group, subatomic physics, and research tools and instruments. Twenty-nine additional researchers at the graduate, doctoral, and post-doctoral level will receive a combined $1,287,600 in scholarships.

“This funding will fuel our scientific innovators in their quest for answers to the problems facing society today,” said Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba. “I am proud of each of this year’s recipients and look forward to hearing about their discoveries as they unfold.”

“Today’s recipients are on their paths to successful careers in science and innovation,” said John (Jay) Doering, vice-provost (graduate education) dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of Manitoba. “Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows are the engines that drive the field of research.”

In total, more than 3,808 scientists, engineers and students at universities across the country will share upwards of $413 million in grants and scholarships over terms ranging from one to five years.

NSERC is a federal agency that helps make Canada a country of discoverers and innovators for all Canadians. The agency supports almost 30,000 post-secondary students and postdoctoral fellows in their advanced studies. NSERC promotes discovery by funding approximately 12,000 professors every year and fosters innovation by encouraging over 2,400 Canadian companies to participate and invest in post-secondary research projects.

For the lists of recipients and descriptions of projects, see www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca.

For more information, please contact Janine Harasymchuk, marketing communications office, University of Manitoba, 204-474-7300.

 The visual similarity between auks and Antarctic penguins can be seen in this photo. Auks, such as the thick-billed murre shown here, has the highest wing-loading of any bird and consequently flight costs are exceptionally high, explaining why Antarctic penguins have evolved flightlessness. Photo credit: Kyle Elliott

Recently, University of Manitoba biologists studying auks – a close relative of penguins except auks can fly– learned that these birds pay an extraordinarily high cost (almost Faustian, really) for their lifestyle.

In an upcoming edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, graduate student Kyle Elliott and his supervisor Gail Davoren, an associate professor of biological sciences, report on their work at Coats Island, Nunavut. They were studying auks alongside cormorants, a largish seabird. During the breeding season, auks and cormorants spend most of their day on land, but they must also dive to substantial depths and spend hours flying.

Most objects need to change their form in order to function efficiently in separate media.

In their paper “High flight costs, but low dive costs, in auks support the biomechanical hypothesis for flightlessness in penguins,” they describe how they measured oxygen consumed by auks and cormorants in the different activities in the wild.  They found that the flight costs were the highest sustained metabolic rates ever measured for any animal. Indeed, the costs were 33% higher than the biologists expected after doing biomechanical modeling of the bird.

Likewise, the auk’s swim costs were higher than penguins that specialize in swimming but – crucially – lower than those of foot-propelled cormorants.

Such high flight costs accompanied by progressive reductions in dive costs may have led aquatic birds to develop wing-propelled diving and finally flightlessness in response to foraging opportunities at increasing depths, Elliott and Davoren suggest. Loss of flight among seabirds such as penguins may thus have been due to the tradeoffs between maximizing wing function in water versus air. In short, good flippers don’t fly well.

“Clearly, form constrains function in wild animals and movement in one medium creates tradeoffs with movement in a second medium,” Elliott says. “It is unlikely that we will ever see a real Gadgetmobile”–referring to the cartoon vehicle of Inspector Gadget–“that functions smoothly in air, land and water.”

Robert E. Rickfels, a biologist from the University of Missouri, Scott A. Hatch, a biologist from the US Geological Survey, and Tony Gaston, a biologist at Environment Canada, were co-authors on the paper. Funding was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Garfield-Weston Foundation.

For more information contact Sean Moore, Marketing Communications Office, University of Manitoba, 204-474-7963 (sean_moore@umanitoba.ca).

Colin Dawes, a salivary researcher in the Faculty of Dentistry, received the Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Dental Association.

The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the dental profession, the dental community, and to the oral health of Canadians. Dawes was presented with the award at the CDA Annual General Meeting in Ottawa in April.

“It’s extremely rare that this type of award is given for research,” said Dawes, who has spent almost his entire career at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Dentistry. “So this is quite an honour, indeed.”

For nearly 50 years, Dawes has been a leading research scientist within the Department of Oral Biology. He has conducted much-heralded research that has earned the attention and admiration of the profession throughout the world, and he has given invited lectures in 27 different countries. In particular, his work in the realm of salivary research has brought the University of Manitoba international renown and earned him several awards.

“Dr. Dawes is a shining example of consistent excellence at the Faculty, a role model for all students, scientists and academics to follow,” said Anthony Iacopino, Dean of Dentistry.

In addition to authoring over 220 research publications, Dawes is also an editor of and contributor to Saliva and Oral Health, a text book that is now into its fourth edition.

His influential body of work culminated in 2005 when the Salivary Research Group of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) presented Dawes with the Salivary Researcher of the Year Award.  That same year he was named Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba.

Dawes earned degrees in physiology and dentistry from Manchester University before earning his PhD at the University of Durham. He joined the U of M Faculty in 1964 following a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

For more information please contact Grant Warren at 204-789-3267 (gwarren@ad.umanitoba.ca).

The following members of the University of Manitoba community are available to contact for comments regarding the passing of Elijah Harper:

Deborah Young, executive lead, Indigenous Achievement, 204-474-8753, or email: deborah.young@ad.umanitoba.ca

Niigaan Sinclair, Native Studies, 204-474-9686, or email: sinclanj@cc.umanitoba.ca

Peter Kulchyski, Native Studies, 204-474-6333, or email: peter.kulchyski@ad.umanitoba.ca

Elijah Harper, one of the strongest voices of Indigenous peoples, died suddenly this morning, May 17, 2013, as a result of heart failure, a complication due to diabetes. He was only 64 years old.

“On behalf of the entire University of Manitoba community, I express deep sadness at the passing of a great leader and Indigenous activist,” said David Barnard, University of Manitoba president and vice-chancellor. “He was one of our most honoured and respected former students, a great Canadian leader who used his remarkable gifts and talents to give back to his Nation.”

Deborah Young, executive lead, Indigenous Achievement at the University of Manitoba, said: “I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Harper on numerous occasions and I was always struck by his humility, integrity and honesty. He was a tremendous First Nation leader and role model for everyone. His sudden passing is loss not only for Indigenous communities but for Canada.”

Harper was born on March 3, 1949 at Red Sucker Lake First Nation in northeastern Manitoba. As a child, he was one of many taken to a residential school, and shared his painful memories of his childhood later in life. Harper was elected Chief of Red Sucker Lake Band (now Red Sucker Lake First Nation) when he was only 29, years old, a sign of his vision and leadership.

In 1981, Harper was elected Member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly for Rupertsland, the first First Nations MLA ever elected. In 1996, he became Minister without portfolio for Native Affairs and Minister of Northern Affairs in 1997. In 1993, Harper was elected as Member of Parliament for Churchill and in January 1998 served on the Indian Claims Commission.

Harper is best known for his courageous blocking of the Meech Lake Accord in the Manitoba Legislature in 1990, raising an eagle feather to indicate his position of disagreement. This action blocked the constitutional amendment package negotiated by the Canadian government to gain Quebec’s acceptance of the Constitution Act of 1982, on the grounds that the accord was negotiated without the consent of Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples.