living our lives online with increasingly more connected smart devices may make shopping, streaming, and driving easier, but it's also exposed us to threats including identity theft, data loss, phishing scams, and other cyberattacks.

 when our personal information is held hostage, we can feel helpless and violated. individuals, businesses, and even countries around the world can become victims when resourceful and sophisticated digital criminals are determined to invoke cyber harm.

david bruno (hba‘98) has devoted his professional life over the past 20 years to providing security protection to everyone who needs it. splitting his time between thunder bay, montréal, and lucerne, switzerland, david specializes in anti-fraud and anticorporate espionage systems for banks and financial institutions worldwide. he’s also worked tirelessly with businesses and government to change the way we detect and deter cybercriminals.

a mother’s love

david’s work ethic developed while helping out in the family business: donato’s bakery on court street, first started by his mother's family, was founded upon the 100-year-old bread-making traditions of her grandmother, who lived and baked in simbario, a southern mountain town in calabria, italy. david often accompanied his late father on trips to italy for rare ingredients like black anise seeds, which they hand picked.

“you don’t realize it when you’re in high school, but one of the things i was taught from the get-go is if someone’s hungry, don’t wait for payment. just feed them,” recalls david.

all of this translates later to humanity: if you can help your fellow man, don’t think; just do it.

 today, david’s two brothers donny and james operate the bakery while he lends his internet and sales expertise. through the years, david picked up valuable life skills about business and community-building.

model citizen

david’s interest in politics and policy was piqued while studying for his bachelor’s degree.

"lakehead shaped my life; it was the best education ever," he says. "everything about the university was so nurturing, and i always felt supported. if you had a problem, they helped you."

david and his friend amelie gaze over the rooftops of madrid where david worked for the spanish company quality telecom.

along with a full course load and work at the bakery, david served part-time in the canadian military as a second lieutenant in logistics. his academic and extra-curricular success – including leading a student club that attended the model united nations conference in new york – put him on the radar for many accolades, including 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ’s president’s award, the princess beatrice award for leadership and the margaret s. sideen award for excellence. david was also awarded the rotary club’s international ambassadorial scholarship to study for a master’s degree abroad.

“i asked myself: where is the biggest and best adventure? and i chose the university of madrid, which was the best decision,” he recalls.

taking a global view

fluent in english, french, spanish, and italian, david worked as an interpreter at the canadian embassy in madrid from 1998-2001 after completing his master’s degree, before being tapped to run quality telecom’s new international office. as the company’s business development manager, david split his time between barcelona and montréal, and his fascination with cybersecurity began.

“my boss, jose chillerón, was providing an sms warning system to banks and financial institutions that was absolutely brilliant, and still in use today – every time you use a credit card, you get an alert by sms,” recalls david.

as david’s career advocating for fraud prevention systems advanced, he continued studying data security threats and topics like identity theft, anti-money laundering, and distributed network attacks – also known as distributed denial of service (ddos). after 13 years at quality telecom, david founded ecarteblanche, a prepaid payment and payroll company. he also became increasingly aware of the use of surveillance, data mining, and online harassment around the world, whether it affected lgbtq people in authoritarian countries, vulnerable young women being tracked and sold into slavery, or refugees seeking safety for their families.

convinced that individuals and companies needed better privacy protection, he realized that private security providers, niche data-protective platforms, and cybersecurity software developers needed to step up. so he did just that. in 2015, david launched secure swiss data, a global cybersecurity firm and one of the first companies to provide an all-in-one end-to-end encrypted email, calendar, file storage, and file-sharing facility directly to consumers.

escaping the email trap

david believes we all need to understand the potential dangers lurking in cyberspace, including destructive bots and foreign interference in democratic elections worldwide.

“when people first began putting everything online, we didn’t know the implications,” he says, adding that the advent of google, yahoo, and facebook was a game changer.

the number one spy tool? our emails.

“email goes through many systems, acting like a postcard: every time you send it, it’s being read by as many servers as it’s touching,” explains david, adding that the way to protect our emails is by encrypting them, which he likens to an envelope.

david believes in prioritizing cybersecurity for both citizens and governments, and offering better protection through the encrypted data services his company provides. unfortunately, most people don’t have any kind of email encryption software, or even know what it is, he says.

“our main focus is end-to-end encrypted emails, where only the sender and the receiver are able to read the email; everything in between is scrambled, and it comes across in every server as static,” explains david.

“a lot of governments are saying, ‘if you’ve got nothing to hide, give it to us’, but our motto is: ‘you may not have something to hide, but we all have something to lose.’”

teaming up  with lawmakers

david’s white papers on cybersecurity have assisted some canadian ministers in designing national guidelines, and he played a pivotal role in developing canada's digital charter, a comprehensive guide to fighting cybercrime that was released in may 2019 by navdeep bains, the federal minister of innovation, science and economic development.“before, we had a patchwork of laws – copyright, personal protections, the privacy act – being applied to the digital age, but the problem was if you got into trouble, you just didn’t know which one to litigate with,” he explains. “so when the government called out to citizens and experts to help fix this problem, i saw an opportunity to galvanize everything into one digital charter that would really change the way we treat criminals in a digital situation.”

david’s contribution to prioritizing cybersecurity for citizens and governments involved making social media platforms responsible.

“if they’re circulating hate crimes, for example, don’t let them hide behind the fact that they're a platform registered in a country that makes them immune to hateful or hurtful things. i helped create a document to help clarify how to act online and how to prosecute if you’re wronged and that helped lead to the 10-point digital charter, and i’m very proud of that.”

privacy, politics, and the pandemic

david’s company recently signed a technology agreement with qnext, the toronto-based developer of the fileflex zero-trust-architecture remote access, file sharing suite.

“david has many great qualities when it comes to malware analysis, risk analysis and mitigation, and cloud security, and he’s positive and bubbly all the time,” says qnext president and ceo anthony decristofaro.

“he believes that making more secure systems for everyone makes cybersecurity easier for the largest stakeholders in the technological arena. david is a great team player and an innovative thinker with strong communication skills and he has business acumen combined with a strong cybersecurity skill set, which is hard to beat.”

david’s talents are being put to good use as many employees continue to work from home.

“the problem is we have not allowed our security to catch up with the need for these types of changes,” he notes.

in his recent white paper about cybercrime during the coronavirus pandemic, david reported that the most common threats emerging with a remote workforce include phishing, malware, and ransomware attacks.

“for many employees, connecting to the corporate server through a virtual private network (vpn) isn’t something they’re familiar with. considering how rapidly the covid-19 pandemic spread, it seems likely that corporations may have rushed their instructions and guides for employees to connect,” he wrote in his report.

with cybercriminals finding vulnerabilities in home network infrastructure and private internet connections to launch their attacks, businesses and governments could end up with billions of dollars in additional costs.

that’s why today more than ever, david’s commitment to free public education is so crucial. as a member and contributor of the electronic frontier foundation, and the northern policy institute, he’s been determined to share his knowledge so people – especially vulnerable populations – understand their digital civil liberties and how to protect themselves.

in february 2020, david’s company merged with safeswiss, a global leader in encryption, which will extend the reach of his ongoing efforts to mitigate cyberattacks and data breaches, which are on the rise.

“we have premium services to help pay for the whole system, but if you don’t give something for free, people just won’t take it on,” he says. “one of our philosophies is that privacy is a human right, and if we didn't provide at least part of it for free, then we go against our own ethos.”

bringing it all home

for all his global career success, david is equally proud of the difference he’s made in his own backyard, says his spouse, brock adams.

“david’s family is deeply involved with the local community,” says brock. “i’ve helped them deliver food to food banks and elsewhere, and upon marrying david, i found myself carrying a change purse – something i had never done before – with the intention of having money to give to the poor when you passed them. david does this without fail. he cares deeply about people, and his passion here is genuine and selfless. there’s just an infectious goodness to david.”

david notes that he is motivated to constantly do more, thanks to his mother, caterina (cathy).

“she’s been awarded the sovereign’s medal for volunteers by queen elizabeth ii, through the governor general, and she’s my inspiration,” he says.

together, david’s family has sponsored syrian refugees, employing several in their bakery.

“my mother has shown to me that if it takes five minutes or an hour to help someone else, just do it as much as you can, and don’t stop,” he says.

two cybersecurity strategies to protect your privacy

most people don’t reveal personal secrets to strangers, but all bets are off in the digital world, where we tend to share everything online. here are david’s tips to safeguard your data and identity:

use an end-to-end encrypted server for your email

“at safeswiss or our compatriots at protonmail, there’s an easy option: sign up for free and start using it,” says david.

be alert about common cyber threats.

“don’t open phishing attacks,” advises david. “malware is constantly attacking one’s computer, especially when people are working from home without a vpn.”

it may have been a while since you’ve had your id checked, but we thought this would be a great time to remind ourselves of our lakehead student days.

over the decades, our hair may have gotten longer or shorter and our clothing choices may have changed just a little, but we are all proud lakehead alumni.

thank you to the grads who shared their old student cards, and photos of a more recent vintage, with us.

mike walton (hbor'83)

mike walton graduated in 1983 with an honours bachelor of outdoor recreation. he’s stayed true to his roots. he’s worked in parks for over 30 years, including 23 with parks canada. in 2017, mike earned his phd from the university of victoria studying protected area governance. he currently runs his own company, michael walton consulting - parks and protected areas governance, strategic planning and development. he’s also served as the executive director of the yukon conservation society and is a lakehead alumni association board member.

lynne brown (hbed'87)

lynne (née brown) johnson played on the women’s basketball team and she also enjoyed hiking and skiing when she was a student between 1982 and 1986. she received her honours bachelor of physical education in 1987 and later worked for the insurance corporation of british columbia. she now lives in kelowna, british columbia.

karyn pelkie (ba/bed'07)

karyn pelkie earned her bachelor of education and bachelor of arts in geography in 2007. she is currently a teacher with the peel district school board in brampton, ontario.

victor phyllis (hbk'84)

victor phyllis earned an honours bachelor of physical education (now known as kinesiology) in 1984. his love of sports and athletics has stayed strong over the decades. after coaching track and field at york university, vic became a physical education teacher with the peel district school board. he is now an account manager in the gta and southern ontario region for impact promotions.

douglas brown (ba'65)

when douglas brown started his bachelor of arts in psychology, lakehead was still known as the lakehead college of arts, science & technology. after graduating in 1965, he completed a master’s degree at the university of western. he had a distinguished career that included working with the alcoholism and drug addiction research foundation, the lakeshore psychiatric hospital in toronto, the kitchener and district public school board, and 34 years with the waterloo county board of education. douglas retired in 2002 and today makes his home in collingwood, ontario.

danielle james (badmin'09)

danielle james has put her bachelor of administration in business to good use since graduating in 2009. she’s been an analyst with the cayman islands monetary authority and for the past six years, she’s worked with the chubb insurance company of europe, based in manchester, england. she started as an underwriting service associate with chubb before becoming a construction and engineering underwriter in 2016.

karen boz (badmin'92)

karen boz, who was born and raised in thunder bay, completed a bachelor of administration with a major in personnel and industrial relations. she moved to toronto after graduating from lakehead in 1992 and joined the royal bank of canada where she’s now the rbc internal audit senior director of operations, personal & commercial banking. karen has maintained her lakehead ties – she is the past president of the lakehead alumni gta chapter and continues to be an active chapter and alumni association board member.

vince riccio (ba'06)

vince riccio earned a bachelor of arts in history and a bachelor of education from lakehead in 2006. he also has a master of public administration in leadership from norwich university and a certificate in automotive law and ethics from georgian college. vince is the service manager of lakehead motors in thunder bay. he has also worked with summit learning centres in the niagara region and taught with the thunder bay catholic district school board.

have you ever heard of a lapland longspur, an olive-sided flycatcher, or black-bellied plover?

if you’re a birdwatcher, you’ll know that these are all species that can be found in canada. if you’re not a birdwatcher, biologist and alumnus al harris (msc’90) would like to encourage you to become one.

he’s a member of the thunder bay field naturalists club and the cofounder of northern bioscience – an ecological consulting company in thunder bay.

“i love birding because it encompasses everything from looking at the birdfeeder outside your kitchen window to more adventurous trips into forests and wetlands,” he says.

there are a vast number of species across the country, but they can be divided into four broad categories – shorebirds, songbirds, water birds, and raptors (also known as birds of prey).

get out your binoculars

al has a few tips that will have you finding birds from the tiny red-breasted nuthatch to the majestic great blue heron. this is especially true now that birds are preparing to fly south for the winter. “they migrate from late august until mid- october,” al says. “peak diversity is in early september.”

dress properly for the outdoors. wear a hat to protect yourself from the sun and cover up to keep the bugs out. if you’re planning to venture into rougher terrain, hiking boots are recommended.

get an early morning start, that’s when most birds are active.

pay attention to the weather. birds prefer clear skies and avoid rainy weather. north winds in the fall and south winds in the spring offer some of the best birdwatching conditions.

bring a pair of binoculars to get a close-up look at the birds you are tracking. if you really want to get serious, invest in a good spotting scope.

don’t forget your field guide. birders can choose a print guide, such as the peterson guide and the sibley guide, or download birding apps for smartphones. al’s top pick is the sibley birding app but there are many others to choose from, including ebird and the audubon bird guide.

document and share your sightings with a camera or smartphone. this is a good way to keep a record of the birds you encounter.

be respectful. try not to disturb the birds or their environment and approach them slowly.

join a naturalists group. you’ll meet people with an enthusiasm for birding and have the opportunity to go on interesting field trips.

visit the thunder bay field naturalists website for the times and locations of field trips and talks in northwestern ontario.

barn swallow

barn swallows have streamlined bodies and tapered feathers that allow them to reach speeds of up to 74 km per hour and build cup-shaped nests in barns and other manmade structures. they can be spotted in fields and meadows as well as near small bodies of water.

photo courtesy of cathy paroschy harris.

bald eagles

bald eagles are massive raptors with wingspans ranging between 1.8 and 2.3 m that like to hunt around lakes, rivers, and wetlands, but they can survive for several weeks without food. eagles build nests of sticks in old-growth forests that can weigh well over a tonne.

photo courtesy of cathy paroschy harris.

loons

one of al’s favourite places for birdwatching is hurkett cove located about 90 km north of thunder bay. “in the spring and fall, it’s very good for loons, ducks, geese, swans, and grebes. a little closer to thunder bay, i recommend chippewa park and mission island.”

photo courtesy of cathy paroschy harris.

great blue heron

the great blue heron is a wading bird that’s most active in the mornings and evenings. it has a patch of feathers on its chest called “powder down” that it crumbles into a powder to remove fish slime from its feathers and prevent oils from clinging to its underside.

become a citizen scientist

there are many citizen science projects that allow birders to contribute to a better understanding of different bird species, their behaviour, and their habitats.

the ontario bird breeding atlas is a great place to start. it’s updated every 20 years and it relies heavily on data submitted by recreational birders. data collection for the next atlas begins on january 1, 2021. visit birdsontario.org/atlas for more details.

there are also organized surveys and monitoring programs for birds such as owls and loons that you can get more information about by visiting the birds canada website at birdscanada.org. smartphone apps like ebird and inaturalist also allow birdwatchers to submit their sightings to a common database.

in northwestern ontario, birders can assist at the thunder cape bird observatory, a migration monitoring station on the sibley peninsula. before visiting the observatory, check their website to see if there are any covid-19 restrictions in place.

in the 1970s, a dazzling inventor, researcher, and physicist who helped give birth to the modern computer age could be found striding through lakehead’s hallways wearing a tie and a harris tweed jacket.

dr. andrew booth served as 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ’s second president from 1972-78, but beginning in world war ii, he used his genius to transform the field of computer science. dr. booth grew up in surrey, england, with parents who encouraged his curiosity.

“in pre-kindergarten days i remember helping my father with the assembly of a mains charger for radio batteries which he had invented,” he recalls.¹

at a time in the 1940s and 50s when computers were ponderous metal towers that filled rooms, dr. booth built three small computers, including the all purpose electronic computer. his partner in these endeavours was fellow computer engineer dr. kathleen britten who he would later marry.

as lakehead’s president, dr. booth focused his energy on helping the university stay afloat in the face of provincial funding cuts and rebound from declining student enrolment.

“my first recollection of my time as president of 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 is one of surprise,” dr. booth said. “at the time of my appointment i was told that the institution was in a healthy financial position – this illusion was rapidly dispelled when grant thompson, then the comptroller, came into my office on my first day to ask me what i proposed to do about the deficit!”²

dr. andrew booth (right) and his wife and former lakehead mathematics professor dr. kathleen booth (centre) chat with the office of the president secretary linda phillips (left) in 1989 during lakehead’s silver jubilee year in 1989.

dr. bob rosehart, who served under dr. booth as the dean of university schools before becoming lakehead’s president in 1984, has vivid memories of dr. booth. “he was a short wiry man who was constantly moving,” says dr. rosehart. “andrew was quirky and controversial,” he adds.

during his time in thunder bay, dr. booth stayed true to his roots. “he imprinted the importance of research on lakehead at an early stage of its development,” dr. rosehart says.

former registrar pentti paularinne agrees. “i think andrew booth coined the saying, ‘lakehead is the harvard of the north.’” under dr. booth’s leadership, lakehead’s first graduate programs were established.

andrew booth remains a revered figure in the scientific world. not only did he build early computers, he also invented a magnetic storage device to hold computer data and developed booth’s multiplication algorithm.

according to computer scientist dr. roger johnson, this algorithm speeds up some of the calculations that a computer’s central processing unit carries out. “there are hundreds of them in a smartphone. in any chip that has a multiplier, the overwhelming majority will be a booth multiplier.”³

1. lee, j.a.n. computer pioneers andrew donald booth. ieee computer society. accessed 30 july 2020.
2. booth, andrew. lu recollections 1972 – 1978, unpublished paper.
3. ward, mark. from punch cards to smartphones. bbc news, 2 april 2016. accessed 30 july 2020.

abbie kent (hbsc’18/msc’20) and her sister milli schop – a member of barrie rock band the straits – are harnessing their shared love of music to lift spirits and help vulnerable people during the covid-19 pandemic.

the sisters grew up in simcoe county where abbie completed one year of her honours bachelor of science at lakehead's orillia campus before moving to the thunder bay campus to complete her degree and enroll in the master of health science program.

 when the pandemic became a serious medical health crisis in march, abbie was finishing her master's degree and had to make a quick decision about where she wanted to spend lockdown.

“my roommate and i jumped in the car and drove two days to get back home,” she says. “now i’m living in barrie with my mom, milli, my brother-in-law dan, and my nephew jack at milli’s home.”

sheltering together has turned the household into a place where music is front and centre.

milli schop gives it her all during a performance with the straits.

that’s not surprising since abbie and milli have been singing their whole lives – around campfires, in orillia’s st. paul’s children’s choir, and in musicals like anne of green gables. as adults, they’ve continued to sing choral music and, for several years, milli has sung with the straits. she was invited to join the popular group by her brother-in-law and bandmate jason mcneil.

i went and i’ve never left since.” as well as performing with the straits, milli is the director of customer experience at napoleon fireplaces in barrie and has been working remotely since march.

the straits are a mainstay of barrie’s music scene. they consider themselves to be a saturday night sing-a-long band and, before the pandemic, they played in clubs and at private events like backyard parties and weddings.

"one night," millie says, "jason called me and said, 'we're on stage, you better get up here and sing with us.' i went and i've never left since." as well as performing with the straits, milli is the director of customer experience at napoleon fireplaces in barrie and has been working remotely since march.

more recently, though, they’ve been focused on giving back to their community by raising thousands of dollars for charity through the band’s facebook page, barrie’s live music show.

“we have over 9,000 followers on the site now,” abbie says. barrie’s live music show features performances by the straits, other barrie bands, and performers from across canada.

“we have over 600 videos of different artists – both live and recorded events – on our facebook page,” milli says.

this initiative was born in the spring of 2020 when the band was trying to figure out how they could keep gigging.

“we’d seen the halifax kitchen party online music group,” milli says. “it’s huge and tens of thousands of people follow them. they were the inspiration for our facebook site. once our facebook page was up and running, things picked up really quickly, so we decided to use it as a platform to raise money for local charities.”

abbie, who considers herself an honorary member of the straits, was also involved at an early stage. “when i’m not in thunder bay, i’m down here supporting the straits behind the scenes in any way i can,” she says. “my role is to promote and advertise the barrie live music show and to occasionally perform by myself or with members of the straits.”

“we give to a different charity every week,” abbie explains, “and so far, we’ve raised over $35,000 for local charities including the barrie food bank, the women’s and children’s centre, and the royal victoria hospital in barrie.”

the money for the hospital was used to purchase ventilators and ipads for patients unable to connect with their loved ones because of social distancing requirements.

abbie's work supporting community members in times of crisis dovetails perfectly with her academic and vocational path.

during her master’s degree at lakehead thunder bay, she specialized in indigenous and northern health. “for my thesis, i worked with a fabulous team of lakehead researchers and community partners to develop an online app to improve maternal mental health in northwestern ontario.”

“we created the app because women in rural and remote communities don’t always have adequate access to support and care. it’s designed to allow them to receive therapy and telephone-based coaching services.”

in addition, the app – which she hopes will launch in 2021 – is able to conduct risk assessments of each individual’s mental health. if the assessment determines that someone needs more support than the app can provide, it automatically directs them to in-person services in their community.

this autumn, a new chapter is unfolding in abbie’s life as she begins studying at the northern ontario school of medicine in thunder bay to become a physician. she sees a connection between the power of music and her aspiration to become a doctor.

“music is healing. in times like these we really only get through it as a community. we lean on each other.”

milli agrees with her little sister.

“this is a good time to sit down with a guitar or your grandmother’s piano and play a few songs and share them on barrie’s live music show. we are a 100% judgement-free zone – we’re looking for people who want to help people feel better.”

protecting firefighters

firefighters are often the first to arrive in emergency situations ranging from car crashes to medical distress calls to house fires. as a result, their chance of being exposed to covid-19 and other transferable diseases is higher than the general public. the nature of their job also has a negative impact on their mental health. according to kinesiology professor dr. kathryn sinden, “covid-19 has created a unique and challenging context where their risk for experiencing mental health conditions has increased.” this prompted her to apply for a $49,968 knowledge synthesis covid-19 rapid response grant from the canadian institutes of health research. since receiving the grant, dr. sinden has been conducting research with a team of firefighters who are appraising information specific to firefighter mental health in peer-reviewed academic journals, online information platforms, and existing guidelines provided by firefighter associations. their results will be used to develop strategies to help the firefighter community better manage their mental health and prevent illness.

tech revolution

“today’s wireless communication is very demanding and highly competitive,” said dr. farhan ghaffar in a major funding announcement about his research. “there is a never-ending need for innovation in the design of components and systems.” dr. ghaffar is an electrical engineering professor at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 -georgian college who is using his $152,500 grant from the natural sciences and engineering research council to develop smart radio frequency components. these components can be used in applications including autonomous vehicles, the internet of things (iot), and cell phones. “the fundamental idea of this work is to contribute to the infrastructure development of 5g and iot communications.” dr. ghaffar’s research is using a novel technology called frequency programmable microwave substrate (fpms) to find viable solutions in various wireless applications.

become a mentor

would you like to share your knowledge with a student? lakehead connect is a networking and mentoring platform that matches 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 with alumni, faculty, and staff to spark inspiring career conversations. the platform, powered by ten thousand coffees and sponsored by rbc future launch, is a fantastic way to support young people trying to navigate a challenging time in their lives. each month, 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and mentors are introduced to one another based on their goals and interests. once an alum has been matched, their student will be able to ask them questions, practice soft skills, and begin preparing for their career. it’s easy to get involved, just visit lakeheadu.ca/alumni for more information or sign up directly.

jacob kearey-moreland grew up on a farm in simcoe county and now co-owns bass lake farms in the township of oro-medonte near orillia.

outstanding citizens

kearey-moreland has been a driving force behind local community gardening initiatives for over a decade – in toronto as an undergraduate student, in orillia as a community advocate, and now as a master of education student at lakehead. his efforts have earned him lakehead’s 2020 lloyd dennis award for outstanding citizenship. “community gardening is as much about growing a community as it is about producing food,” jacob said. “it’s like a communal outlet people can plug into, where social and ecological action can happen together.” on the orillia campus, he has helped bring to life the butterfly garden, the traditional three sisters garden, the four directions teaching garden, and the community and allotment vegetable gardens. he also dedicates countless hours to fundraising, event planning, public speaking, advocacy, and outreach.

on the thunder bay campus, laura deschamps, a 2020 honours bachelor of kinesiology grad, is the recipient of this year’s robert poulin award for outstanding citizenship. she proposed the creation of a kinesiology peer-mentoring program after volunteering as a teacher’s assistant during her fourth year at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 . “i realized there was a need to help lower-year 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 navigate the program after i received several questions about course selection, the thesis process, graduate school applications, among others,” she said. laura has also been very involved in the community as a volunteer with the special olympics and the organizing committee of the walk to end als. in addition to her kinesiology degree, laura is now studying to be a doctor at the northern ontario school of medicine.

lakehead for life

a dedicated group of 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , under the guidance and leadership of external relations associate jacquie kent, has become an integral part of the lakehead orillia campus community. the 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 student alumni association (lusaa) is often called upon to support and participate in university-wide events, in addition to their many student outreach activities. lusaa’s hard work was recognized this year by canadian council for the advancement of education (ccae) with a bronze prix d’excellence award in the best student/young alumni category. the ccae judging panel noted that “lusaa is a student-led chapter of the 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 alumni association, whose primary purpose is to increase awareness of the alumni association and engage with the current student body at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ’s orillia campus, setting the stage for a lifelong relationship between graduates and the university.”

mineral exploration

geology professor dr. pete hollings is receiving $300,000 from the natural sciences and engineering research council of canada and $150,000 from clean air metals inc. to investigate the thunder bay north igneous complex, part of the 1.1 billion-year-old midcontinent rift. “my team and i will characterize how and when the rocks formed and investigate how the key metals made their way into the various intrusive units found within the property,” dr. hollings said. this research will help clean air metals’ exploration efforts at the escape lake and thunder bay north deposits and, hopefully, assist with mineral production.

getting rocky

two lakehead alumni have recently had their honours thesis research published in international peerreviewed journals. sadie fischer, who earned her honours bachelor of environmental science in 2016, co-wrote a paper with her supervisor dr. phil fralick that appeared in the august 2020 edition of the canadian journal of earth sciences. it is the first description of mats of bacteria that lived on the shallow, sandy seafloor in the thunder bay area 1,878 million years ago. the rocks preserve evidence of this ancient life. this “pond scum” bound sand grains together and created odd structures in the rock layers, even though the bacterial mats themselves have degraded into thin streaks of carbon.

ben kuzmich’s research, in a paper co-written with shiwei wang, pete hollings, taofa zhou, and fangyue wang, has been published in the precambrian research journal. ben’s study of the dog lake chain granites north of thunder bay, which was done in conjunction with dr. hollings, used petrography and geochemistry to develop a new model of the granites’ formation. ben graduated in 2012 with an honours bachelor of science in geology before completing a master of science at lakehead in 2015.

understanding atrocities

photos and visual imagery saturate contemporary society. but what are our responsibilities when photos document the dark side of human life?

“photographs are how i came to learn history,” said dr. valerie hébert, a history and interdisciplinary studies professor at lakehead orillia. “my grandfather had a book of time life photographs chronicling major events of the 20th century. they gave me a visual vocabulary for events i would later study, write, and teach about." dr. hébert has received a three year $51,473 insight grant from the social sciences and humanities research council of canada to write a book about the complex ethical dilemmas that arise from viewing, exhibiting, and engaging with images of atrocity, specifically photographs taken during the holocaust. “in a sense, this project brings me full circle to where my interest in history began.” dr. hébert’s book will discuss the role that photographs can play in understanding atrocity and provide guidance for engaging with these kinds of images in a respectful and sensitive way.

“lakehead has been my home in so many different ways,” says natural resources management professor emerita, dr. nancy luckai. “it introduced me to the idea of graduate school and gave me the opportunity to teach, conduct research, and train another generation of forest professionals. i met my husband frank here and both my children are lakehead grads.”

in the words of mark tilbury, the university’s annual fund and alumni engagement director, “nancy is the embodiment of lakehead for life.”

“i was attracted to lakehead because it was as far away as possible from my hometown of london without leaving the province,” nancy says, “and forestry seemed like an intriguing subject.”

“there were very few programs in the 70s with an emphasis on the outdoors so it was pretty competitive. i can’t claim to have been an ideal student, especially during my first two years when i was more interested in socializing than studying.” by her third and fourth years, though, she’d found topics that resonated with her and her undergraduate thesis advisor, dr. stan navratil, encouraged her to pursue a master’s degree at lakehead.

“it was the school of forestry at the time and one of the largest student bodies in the university. like many of the professional schools, the profs had spent most of their careers in industry, consulting, or government before taking up teaching. their work experiences made for some very interesting and entertaining lecture material" nancy says.

when dr. navratil left for an extended sabbatical, the school asked nancy to teach his courses. “it was my first teaching experience and the start of a long career at lakehead.”

this position was followed by work as dr. navratil’s research assistant and then, in an unexpected move, a job with the registrar’s office doing academic advising, admissions, and liaising with prospective 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 .

“i was in my late 20s, so i was a bit older than the usual recruiter,” nancy says, “but i was so passionate about the opportunities that lakehead offered. this job provided insight into the amazing range of opportunities available to lakehead 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and introduced me to the staggering number of policies, regulations, and procedures that govern all student-related programs and activities – knowledge that came in very handy in later years as a program chair.”

after 18 months, nancy made another switch – this time to the school of forestry greenhouse manager.

“growing plants and seedlings for teaching and research purposes, i was able to apply what i had learned as a student. as a bonus, i got to know the great people in physical plant. i relied on them a lot because there were so many operating systems in those buildings – electrical, plumbing, heating, mechanical – and so many things that could go wrong.”

when the school of forestry was looking for a new forest ecology professor, nancy lobbied for the job. offered the position on the condition that she get her phd, nancy remembers a meeting with dr. bob rosehart, then president of lakehead, to discuss the appointment. “bob cautioned me about the challenge i was taking on. he was right.”

“i did my degree part-time through the university of guelph, starting in 1994, while maintaining my faculty commitments. it was a long haul, especially for my family, but absolutely worth it.”

the camaraderie among forestry 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and the chance to be outdoors are a couple of the things that reinforced nancy’s love of her field. she has fond memories of a first-year forest inventory course. “we had a lab every week on the opposite side of oliver road in george burke park.”

nancy would lead the accreditation of the forest lab as a member of lu’s centre for analytical services (lucas). as an accredited facility, the lab supported research programs at lakehead and elsewhere and created successful partnerships with government, industry, local farmers, and gardeners. “the mentorship provided by al mackenzie, himself an lu grad and then director of lucas, and the contributions of intelligent and dedicated graduate 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and student employees were absolutely key to the lab’s success," nancy says. 

although officially retired as of july 2020, she is still actively involved in teaching, research, and professional forestry education.

her research interests fall into two main areas – measuring forest biodiversity to assist with management planning decisions and investigating carbon and nitrogen cycling in forest environments. her work has been widely recognized, including winning a 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 innovation award, a northern ontario business influential women award, and a tree of life award from the canadian institute of forestry.

“i really appreciate where we live,” she says, “the boreal forest is full of complexity and mystery. i love sharing that with 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 .”

throughout her time at lakehead, nancy has pushed herself to take on new challenges. she’s been the chair of the environmental management program, head marshal of lakehead’s annual convocation ceremonies for almost 40 years, and in 2014, she became deputy provost in the office of the provost and vice-president (academic). “the learning curve was very steep but being able to work with so many talented and knowledgeable colleagues made it all much easier.”

she’s also volunteered her time to lakehead by serving as a board member of the alumni association of 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 .

in the spring of 2018, nancy’s former classmate and her fellow natural resources management faculty member, dr. reino pulkki, worked closely with the organizing committee of the 40th reunion of the 1978 graduating class. nancy was eager to get involved.

“i organized a scavenger hunt that sent alumni to our old haunts where they took selfies as evidence of completing each task,” nancy says. “it was a fun way to share memories – like nights at the crest hotel, a favourite watering hole, which used to have a 'ladies and escorts' entrance and beer at $0.25 a glass. when 'last call' came, we would pool our money and often filled up a whole table with glasses of draft. i think the staff were happy to see us – but also happy when we left!”

having made the journey from naïve undergrad to seasoned professor, nancy has been reflecting on how lakehead shaped the course of her life.

“i was always encouraged to try new things and i could always find people to help me,” she explains, “and i think that’s why i succeeded.”

1960s

lorne g. everett (bsc’66/ hbsc’68) was chosen by the american society of civil engineers (asce) as one of its 2020 class of distinguished members – the highest honour the asce can bestow. lorne is one of only a small group of individuals who could be considered an expert in groundwater monitoring, characterization, and remediation technologies. he has served as an expert witness in contaminant hydrology and hydrogeology. as the ceo and chief scientist of l. everett & associates llc, his technologies have enhanced the understanding of hydrogeology.

1980s

patricia ellen towell (ba‘89/ bed’90) has been honoured for her work serving meals to vulnerable members of her community through st. paul’s anglican church and for visiting with isolated seniors for more than two decades. on july 1, 2020, governor general julie payette announced that patricia was one of 123 canadians to receive a sovereign’s medal for volunteers. the medal recognizes the exceptional volunteer achievements of canadians across the country in a wide range of fields and pays tribute to the dedication and commitment of volunteers.

1990s

todd miller (bed’93) runs the lakehead public schools culinary arts program for grade 7 and grade 8 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 in thunder bay. the program operates out of the kingsway park public school’s teaching kitchen and allows 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 to earn a safe food handling certification. when schools switched to virtual learning because of the covid-19 pandemic, todd decided to make cooking videos so that his 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 could continue their learning too. you can find his videos on the lakehead public schools website or by searching for “cooking with mr. miller” on youtube.

marc trudeau (ifrm'97) has been the executive director of the rocky mountain trench natural resources society since 2018. the trench society is a founding member of the rocky mountain trench ecosystem restoration program that has been working to restore grassland and open forest on crown land in the east kootenay/upper columbia valley region of southeastern british columbia. marc is a registered forest technician who moved to the kootenays in 2000 where he worked in forestry consulting before joining the bc wildfire service as an initial attack crew leader.

2000s

dr. christopher mushquash (hbsc’02/ma’04) received a 2020 champions of mental health award in the innovation – researcher or clinician category from the canadian alliance of mental illness and mental health. christopher is a canada research chair in indigenous mental health and addiction, a 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 psychology professor, and a northern ontario school of medicine professor. he champions culturally and contextually appropriate mental health and addiction services for first nations peoples and individuals in rural and northern communities.

2010s

steven delorenzi (hba’19) was hired as a provincial constable with the ontario provincial police detachment in sioux lookout, ontario, in june 2020. steven grew up in thunder bay and studied political science and psychology at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 . he also worked for the city of thunder bay parks department and for several youth programs in the city. in his spare time, steven enjoys being outdoors and playing sports.

gerilyn fisher (bscn’19) is putting her passion for helping others into practice as a nurse at the lake of the woods district hospital in kenora, ontario. with the arrival of the covid-19 pandemic, she has had to adapt to new working conditions and care for patients while wearing personal protective equipment. gerilyn grew up 120 km north of kenora on the whitedog first nation where she attended the mizhakiiwetung memorial school.

svetlana zeran (hbscf’15) is the general manager of the bancroft minden forest company in ontario. after graduating in 2015 with an honours bachelor of science in forestry, she interned with both the canadian institute of forestry based out of mattawa, ontario, and with the agroforestry and woodlot extension society based in edmonton. she later received her registered professional forester designation and has worked with non-profits, government, and private industry. svetlana is currently the youngest female general manager of a crown forest in ontario.

in memoriam

bruce e. brymer (ba’70, economics) passed away on july 27, 2019. bruce was a canadian sailing olympian, an extraordinary team player, and an enthusiast of squash, tennis, golf, skiing, fishing, dining, and the art of excessively long conversations. a proud lakehead supporter and the president of the student athletic society from 1967-69, bruce was a pioneer in developing an honour system for supplying cheap beer for thirsty university residence 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , dispensed from old art deco coolers. after graduation, he turned down multiple job offers to return to toronto where he successfully ran his family business for 50 years.

dolores wawia (bed’85/med’83) passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in thunder bay on may 30, 2020, at the age of 76. dolores, a member of the gull bay first nation (kiashke zaaging anishinaabek), was born in beardmore, ontario, and became a professor in lakehead’s faculty of education. she was the first indigenous woman to earn her bachelor of arts and master of education in northwestern ontario, and devoted her career to improving educational opportunities for first nations 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 . dolores joined the 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 elders council in 2017. during that time, she advised many staff and faculty on a wide variety of plans. dolores was also an elder with lakehead’s native nurses entry program for several years until 2019.

dr. stewart kennedy is the incident manager of covid-19 at the thunder bay regional health sciences centre.

before becoming a doctor, stewart earned his first degree – a bachelor of science in nursing – at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 .

he explains how challenging it has been leading the thunder bay regional health sciences centre’s response to covid-19, with new information about the virus coming out daily.

“the team and i have had to continually adapt our policies and processes to make sure we keep patients safe and keep staff at the hospital safe, as well as staff in northwestern ontario,” he says.

it’s been a humbling experience to deal with the explosion of knowledge in such a short period of time.

stewart, who is an assistant professor at the northern ontario school of medicine and past president of the ontario medical association, helped put the right protocols in place to keep everyone as safe as possible. as of early september, there have been just over 100 covid-19 cases in the region, and none of them are active.

stewart credits his university education with enabling him to see the big picture as an interconnected system.

not only did he attend lakehead, stewart also earned a master in hospital administration from the university of ottawa, and a medical degree from mcmaster university. he did his medical residency at the university of calgary, but his love of thunder bay brought him back.

during the month of march and the first part of april, there were many unknowns about how aggressively covid-19 would spread and how much exposure they might experience at the hospital.

“we had to ask all staff to take additional risks to continue to work in a hospital that could have gotten overwhelmed by covid-19,” he says.

staff have stepped up to work longer hours away from their families.

“the way they understood their mission and understood the need to take care of the sick was quite impressive,” stewart says.

lakehead’s nursing program not only taught him how to treat patients, but also how to communicate effectively with them, their family members, and with his team.

“the main thing i took away from the program, besides scientific knowledge, is the ability to communicate effectively,” he says.

stewart says one lakehead course, exercise physiology, taught by the late dr. norm lavoie, piqued his interest in studying medicine. 

“norm’s teaching style – with enthusiasm and passion – was very contagious and demonstrated excitement in all of us who attended his course, which provided a foundation to wanting to learn more about the human body,” stewart says.

on behalf of the alumni association of 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 , we are thrilled to host alumni, family and friends during alumni homecoming weekend. we look forward to the new and exciting opportunity a virtual event will provide, to ensure the safety and protection of our 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and alumni. full schedule coming soon.

date: thursday, october 1 - saturday, october 3, 2020 • lakeheadu.ca/homecoming

join us and celebrate your 2020 alumni award winners!

distinguished alumni award

this award is presented annually in recognition of a seasoned 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 alumni well-established in their chosen career or fi eld. the award recognizes signifi cant lifetime contributions by an individual, whether through professional accomplishment, community involvement, or philanthropic dedication.

claude haw (beng'79)

exceptional alumni award

this award is presented by the alumni association to an alumnus/a who has demonstrated distinction or outstanding achievement in a particular field, community service work, personal accomplishment, or significant local, national, or international recognition for a personal endeavor.

• jennifer adese (ba’03, hba’05)
• kevin wallen (ba’96)

trailblazer award

this award is presented annually in recognition of a 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 graduate, of the last ten years, who has flourished since graduation. the recipient will have shown exceptional and unconventional accomplishment in their professional career, community involvement, and/or philanthropic work in canada or around the world.

• sabah rahmath-ansari (mph’16)
• dana clark (hbasc’16)
• jocelyne poirier (hbcom'13)
• matt sellick hbmus'13)

ambassador award

this award is presented annually in recognition of a champion of 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 . this award is presented to an individual whose dedication and continuing support of 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 has made a significant impact on 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , alumni, faculty and staff. presented to an internal or external champion, the award recognizes the exceptional and unconventional community of 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 .

andrew petras (hbcom'13)

honorary membership

this award is the highest honour the alumni association can bestow on a non-graduate, and recognizes a person’s exceptional service to, affi nity for, or support of 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 and the alumni association.

• ron watson
• susan waite