at lakehead, giving tuesday has grown into a remarkable tradition, empowering our community to come together in support of our 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and their successes. since the launch of our first giving tuesday campaign several years ago, the annual event has sparked incredible generosity, making a lasting difference on campus and beyond.

a legacy of giving

this year, on tuesday, december 3, 2024, we will celebrate yet another milestone of this global day of giving. 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 first joined the movement in 2016, and in the time since, it has become one of our most anticipated community-driven events. over the years, we’ve seen a tremendous outpouring of support from alumni, faculty, staff, 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , and friends of the university. in total, the lakehead community has raised over $1.17m in support of various initiatives that directly enhance the student experience.

where your donations go

every dollar raised through giving tuesday goes directly to supporting key areas at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 . some of the primary focuses include:

• student scholarships and bursaries: helping 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 overcome financial barriers to higher education, ensuring they can focus on their studies and achieve their full potential.
• student wellness and support services: ensuring 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 have access to essential mental health resources, wellness programs, and support networks, helping them thrive in both their personal and academic lives.
• campus infrastructure and learning resources: improving the facilities and tools that enable 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 to succeed, from state-of-the-art labs to updated libraries and study spaces.

these donations don’t just fund initiatives—they change lives. whether it’s a scholarship that allows a student to pursue their dream career or giving 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 the program supports they need, every contribution has a meaningful impact.

looking ahead: december 3, 2024

as we look forward to giving tuesday 2024, we’re excited to build on the success of past years. mark your calendars for tuesday, december 3, 2024, and stay tuned for more details on how you can get involved. whether you’re making a donation, spreading the word, or simply sharing your lakehead story, there are many ways to show your support.

together, we can ensure that the tradition of giving tuesday at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 continues to grow, creating opportunities and transforming the lives of 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 for years to come.

keep an eye on our website—alumni.lakeheadu.ca—and social media for upcoming announcements and ways that you can make a difference. let’s make this the most successful giving tuesday yet!

dara mcleod’s passport is full of stamps. but she’s not cycling through tuscany or visiting wineries in chile—her passport stamps are from trips to the democratic republic of congo, iraq, afghanistan, libya, somalia, south sudan, el salvador, nigeria and a half-dozen other countries.

in her years working in humanitarian aid organizations—and currently as executive director of war child canada—dara says she sees both the best and worst of humanity. “i traveled to those places, when for the most part, they were in fairly acute phases of conflict. so you see the extremes of human nature, both the extreme brutality and the extraordinary resilience.”

war child canada rehabilitated a war-damaged school for these 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 in yemen
photo credit: war child canada

her experiences include scenes that very few north americans will ever witness in person—reading graffiti scrawled in one of saddam hussein’s palaces by american soldiers, for instance, or walking through the medieval bird market in kabul, afghanistan. for dara, however, it’s people who generate her most powerful memories. “it’s very hard to meet and talk to individuals who are, without question, going through the worst thing they will ever endure in their entire life. and that is really humbling: that they share their stories. it also offers a perspective on the scale of the challenges some people face, challenges that we in canada are lucky enough not to have to, because of an accident of birth and geography and nothing more than that.”

a family of community activists

dara’s own geography began in thunder bay, as one of four daughters of lyn mcleod (former ontario liberal party leader, long-serving mpp, and former chancellor of 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ) and neil mcleod (former family physician, past member of lakehead’s board of governors, and a founding member of the northern ontario school of medicine). “i grew up in a household with parents who were extremely active in the community,” she says. “both mom and dad showed us by their example that each of us needed to give back and make sure that we left our community better than we found it.”

dara and her mother lyn mcleod enjoy a sunny afternoon at thunder bay’s marina park.

with aspirations of becoming an actor, dara headed to the university of alberta to study theatre and history. after graduation she returned to thunder bay to get her education degree at lakehead. “i recognized that i needed some stability,” she says. “i didn’t want to be the actor-slash-waiter. i thought that doing a one-year teaching degree would give me something more substantial to fall back on.” she recalls the education program as having a great balance of vocational training along with practicums. “i had good experiences as a student teacher in thunder bay elementary schools and was very well supported by the professors.” dara adds that the psychology of teaching was especially interesting and was something she drew on when she started teaching full time.

after several years teaching (and auditioning) in toronto, dara realized that neither education nor acting were the right path for her. storytelling had drawn her to theatre in the first place, and it was this creative outlet she missed the most. “i thought that journalism would be a good opportunity for me to tell stories of deeper meaning that were more closely aligned with my interests around social justice and politics.”

from canada to sub-saharan africa

dara went on to earn a master’s degree in international journalism and broadcast journalism at city, university of london in england, and then worked at the associated press and the bbc world service with a focus on sub-saharan africa. her journalism career also included a six-year stint as a producer for cbc’s as it happens from 2005 to 2011, again covering sub-saharan africa, as well as afghanistan and pakistan. “as a producer, it was my responsibility to come up with three or four stories each morning that we would try to get on air later that day. it’s a very quick turnaround on a show like that, which requires great nimbleness and creativity in searching out storytellers, but that’s what really developed my understanding of these parts of the world.”

one story that was especially memorable for dara was her cbc coverage of the lra (lord's resistance army), operating out of northern uganda. “they were a very, very brutal rebel group that was notorious for abducting children to use as child soldiers. i managed to get the first ever north american interview with the lra’s leader, lieutenant vincent otti—i had to track him down in the middle of the jungle. those stories are the ones that stood out the most because i felt like i was shining a light on areas of the world that perhaps don’t get as much mainstream media coverage as they should,” she says.

世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 taking part in a war child canada catch-up learning program in uganda.
photo credit: war child canada

dara’s next career step was to make the move to humanitarian organizations, becoming the media relations manager and then director of communications with the us-based refugees international.  “i wanted to be more active in helping the people whose stories i was telling,” she says of that pivot. it was in that role that her passport started to fill up with visa stamps.

five years ago, dara accepted the executive director position at war child canada. founded by dr. samantha nutt, war child canada is a charitable organization that strives to foster the capacity of people in war-torn countries to find long-term solutions to the many problems caused by violent conflict.

young 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 in a war child canada-run classroom in the democratic republic of congo
photo credit: war child canada

establishing war child was a response to “an over-colonization of aid, and this practice of having a bunch of western expats coming into these countries and trying to impose what they saw as best for the country, but not necessarily engaging with the local communities,” dara says. “we are focused on creating capacity, while recognizing existing capacity already there in local communities. as a result, 99.99% of war child staff are from the communities in the countries that they serve.”

war child disrupts the cycle of violence

the three main areas that war child focuses on are education, in particular education for kids who have been out of school for months, or years, because of conflict in their home region; meaningful employment and sustainable income for their parents or guardians; and what dara calls “access to justice”—working with communities to help protect women and children from abuse, gender-based violence, and intimate partner violence. war child initiatives vary according to the needs of communities and countries. in afghanistan they help run female-focused health centres with female staff, for example, while in uganda they introduced secondary school education programs that are compressed into two years for young people who have fled violence in neighbouring south sudan and are often raising their brothers and sisters after the loss of their parents.

dara says that it’s her time in the field that inspires her the most. she points to a young man she met named isaac, who wants to become a chemist. “he said to me, ‘you know, now that i’ve come to uganda, i see that i have a future for myself. i call my friends who are still in south sudan and still in the bush (a euphemism for engagement with rebel fighters or active involvement in the conflict) and i tell them to put down the gun and to come to uganda, because in uganda you have hope.’  you hear a story like that, and it can’t help but inspire you and motivate you to continue to find solutions, to continue to find opportunities, so that young people and their families do have futures.”

alfred okech, war child’s country director for uganda, says that dara’s direct experience in countries in conflict, combined with her empathy, is invaluable. “she understands the struggles and the dilemmas. she takes the time to let you understand why certain decisions should be made and where we can focus on the greater good. and she’s a very down-to-earth person. with her, you’re not afraid to voice your opinions.”

dr. samantha nutt, founder and president of war child canada and war child usa, echoes those observations. “dara is deeply empathetic, while always remaining strategic around what’s possible, what’s feasible, and what are the best pathways to get the job done. she’s also great at dealing with people, whether it is our local field team, partners, funders, funding agencies, un agencies, heads of other organizations—she is adept at the forward-facing stuff and handling negotiations. she is a very skilled thinker and communicator with profound knowledge of this sphere. and that is a winning combination when it comes to the kind of work that we do—work that is very hard. at times, it can be scary, utterly exhausting, frustrating, and even soul destroying because there are so many things that you want to be able to do, but you have finite resources. dara navigates all of that with humanity and humility, in a way that i will say is exceptionally rare. to me that’s what makes her utterly extraordinary.”

a south-sudanese woman takes part in one of war child canada’s job training programs
photo credit: war child canada

one of the hallmarks of an extraordinary person, of course, is that they rarely perceive themselves as being extraordinary. instead, dara is clear-eyed about her job and especially her time in the field. “you’re meeting with people who don’t have the luxury and the certainty of being able to go home at the end of the week or the end of the visit. that is something i didn’t fully appreciate until i started working in these conflict areas and that’s when i realized just how incredibly meaningful it is to know that you have a home to return to.”

one of her more recent trips, though, didn’t involve a passport at all: travelling from her home in toronto to northwestern ontario for her annual summer visit to her family’s camp at shebandowan lake. she also spent a lot of time in thunder bay. “we always go to the mckellar confectionery or the coney island restaurant for burgers and dogs. we visit the waterfront, the sleeping giant, and the amethyst mines—all the classics! i’ve got eight nieces and nephews and it’s really fun being able to share those places that made the lakehead area so special growing up.”

faraz khorsandi has only been at lakehead since 2022, but during this short time he’s become a vital member of our community known for his willingness to lend a hand to anyone in need.

looking out for others comes naturally to faraz. long before arriving in thunder bay, he was a committed volunteer in his hometown of isfahan—a historic city that was once the capital of iran. “it has lots of monuments, bridges, museums, parks, and a river running through it, even though it’s in the middle of the desert,” faraz says.

while completing his bachelor of engineering degree at the university of isfahan, faraz fundraised for the red crescent society to help the omid (hope) children’s cancer hospital purchase equipment and technology to treat their young patients. he also joined fanoos (a non-profit organization whose name means lantern of hope) to offer emotional support to children with cancer.

“as a social care worker, i spent time at the hospital playing games with the kids and talking to them. i was blessed by the experience, and their bravery amazed me, but it took a toll on me—you’d make friends with children, and two weeks later they’d be gone.”

after graduating from isfahan, faraz made the decision to study overseas in lakehead’s master of science in civil engineering program. moving across the world, however, required some adjustment.

“i was used to my hometown of five or six million people and to warmer weather,” he says. fortunately, getting to know the spaces and services on campus soon made faraz feel comfortable. “i started hanging out at the study and the outpost and playing intramurals. and i was truly amazed by the amount of support we were offered, whether it was getting my cv done at the student success centre or just chilling out in the lakehead international lounge playing video games. lakehead quickly became a second family away from home.”

faraz also found ways to help other 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 by joining the 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 student union (lusu) and by volunteering, and later working, as a student assistant with lakehead international. in this role, he noticed that more international 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 were requesting assistance with finding housing, prompting faraz to run for lusu president to address this issue.

“i pushed to expand homestay options for international 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 ,” he says. “a lot of older people in thunder bay have spaces available in their homes for 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , and homestay options were already available for high school 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and people taking short-term courses like english as a second language.”

faraz is just as passionate about food security and has volunteered with lusu’s food resource centre and thunder bay’s good food box program, which provides subsidized food for low-income people.

he is now finishing his second term as lusu president and is looking for engineering jobs after receiving his master’s degree in may 2024. “i’d like to pursue the project management side of civil engineering and i’m considering politics, too, because i’m really drawn to community work.”

as faraz said in his convocation speech: “it’s upon us to be the agents of change for good and advocate for the betterment of humanity. by supporting each other and staying committed to our principles, we can overcome challenges and achieve remarkable things.”

faraz (second from right) and his girlfriend, master of education graduate parinaz gharooni beigi, celebrate receiving their degrees with two of their friends. “i want to thank the alumni association of 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 for their support of lusu,” faraz says. “mark tilbury and yolanda wanakamik with the alumni association always back us up and want the best for 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 .” 

1980s

susan reid (fordp '86) partnered with the city of cambridge, ontario, in the summer of 2024 to provide a series of therapeutic free guided forest walks on the walter bean trail. susan is a forest therapy guide certified by the association of nature and forest therapy guides and trainers (anft) who runs a business called deep roots walk. forest therapy is a practice that enables individuals to explore their relationship to nature by immersing themselves in the woods and that supports their well-being. as a teenager, susan was a junior forest ranger in northern ontario and did tree planting and trail clearing in quetico park, ontario, before enrolling in lakehead's forestry technician program where she learned about more than 100 species of trees and how to manage a forest sustainably. after graduating, she worked in environmental education focused on water before returning to the field of forestry to help develop a forest festival education program for youth in southern ontario. this experience prompted susan to earn her certification from the anft so that she could help people take time for themselves in a positive natural environment.

1990s

dr. linda rodenburg (ba/hba/bed '99), who was appointed the principal of 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 's orillia campus in august 2024, was given the 2024 nelle carter woman of the year award by the orillia business women's association (obwa) for her progressive approach to community building and community partnerships, including strengthening connections with rama mnjikaning first nation, the city of orillia, the county of simcoe, the orillia soldiers memorial hospital, and georgian college. in support of dr. rodenburg's nomination, lakehead orillia principal emeritus dr. kim fedderson said, "not only is her heart in the right place, she has, in the 18 years she has lived here, demonstrated her commitment as an ever-present volunteer, educator, activist, and visionary." dr. rodenburg was lakehead orillia's interim principal before being named principal in august 2024.

2000s

christopher (chris) dube (bed '05/med '09) received a 2024 regional certificate of achievement from the prime minister's award for teaching excellence initiative for his outstanding contributions to education, particularly in the areas of experiential learning and community engagement. chris teaches science, chemistry, biology, outdoor environmental science, and learning strategies at the lake superior high school in terrace bay, ontario. chris's initiatives, such as integrating gps and gis technology into the curriculum in collaboration with 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 , exemplify his commitment to preparing 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 for a digital and innovation-based economy. one of his recent notable achievements was the community building and powwow revitalization project, which enabled 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 to camp on the pays plat first nation powwow grounds and deeply engage in cultural teachings with indigenous elders and knowledge keepers. together, they raised nearly $30,000 to purchase and install new bleachers for the powwow grounds.

filippo lettieri (ba '07, geography/bed '07) has been named the huron-superior catholic district school board's new director of education. in 2022, he became a superintendent of education and was responsible for leadership development. filippo's other accomplishments include helping oversee the amalgamation of st. ann, st. bernadette, st. pius x, and st. theresa in 2017. in addition, he served as vice-principal, and then principal, of st. basil school after it opened at the former site of st. mary's college and st basil secondary, and was the principal of our lady of lourdes french immersion in his hometown of elliot lake, ontario, the school he attended as a youngster.

2010s

elizabeth garofalo (hba '18, english/jd '21/ ma '24, encs) was named 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 's new ombudsperson in may 2024. as ombudsperson, she provides impartial and confidential support independent of the university's administrative structure to ensure that all 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , faculty, and staff are treated fairly and equitably. in her new role, she informally helps with academic concerns such as grading, appeals, and plagiarism, and non-academic concerns such as interpersonal conflicts, employment, and misconduct. prior to being appointed ombudsperson, elizabeth was a staff lawyer with kinna-aweya legal clinic where she represented low-income clients in hearings before the landlord and tenant board and the social benefits tribunal.

dr. gabrielle gaultier (hbsc '14, apbi/phd '20, biot) became the first canadian to be awarded the moderna fellowship in september 2023. she is currently studying immune responses to covid in canadian children and her findings will be used for the optimization of covid-19 vaccination schedules for children. dr. gaultier was awarded a three-year fellowship for her project, which aims to quantify humoral immune responses to covid-19 infection and vaccination in canadian children through quantification of anti-spike protein igg concentration and function as well as b-cell responses. her phd projects investigated b-cell and antibody responses to the 13-valent pneumococcal protein-polysaccharide conjugate vaccine in adults with severe chronic kidney disease (ckd), natural immunity against haemophilus influenzae type a, and b-cell subpopulations in adults with ckd, as well as antibodies specific for streptococcus pneumoniae in indigenous and non-indigenous adults. dr. gaultier is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the university of british columbia and a member dr. manish sadarangani's lab group at the bc children's hospital research institute where her research focuses on the immunological analysis of infectious diseases for the purpose of vaccine development and evaluation, with a particular emphasis on sars-cov-2.

andrew john (a.j.) keene (bed '94) has been promoted to the role of superintendent of education with the ottawa-carleton district school board. he graduated from the university of windsor in 1993 before receiving a bachelor of education from lakehead. in 2006, he earned a master of education in curriculum studies from the university of toronto. a.j. was an administrator with the lakehead district school board for 15 years including a central role as the early years and program principal. he also worked for the ministry of education developing math resources for the guides to effective instruction in mathematics. he was a superintendent of education with the lakehead district school board for four years, most recently as the board math lead.

benjamin kuzmich (hbsc '12, geology/msc '15, geology) is the exploration vice president of libra lithium corp libra, a mining and exploration company that is developing a portfolio of grassroots lithium exploration projects in canada, and which has recently joined the athena gold corporation. benjamin is a professional geologist with a proven track record of exploration success in canada throughout ontario, manitoba, and the yukon. his accomplishments include the delineation of the e-zone at barrick's hemlo gold mine, where he managed a $20m-drill program, and where his reinterpretation of geologic models resulted in a 23% improvement in underground head grade for 2019. outside of hemlo, he led the discovery of the little wing gold occurrence at alamos's lynn lake project as well as numerous ree/lct pegmatite, precious, and base metal occurrences throughout the superior province. his msc thesis at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 focused on the highly endowed, critical mineral-rich ring of fire in northern ontario.

claudette mcgowan (ba '17) was given an honorary doctorate by the university of waterloo at their 2024 spring convocation ceremony. these doctorates are presented to inspiring individuals who provide exceptional service or leadership and those who have made outstanding contributions to their discipline. claudette is a global it leader who excels in digital transformations, service enhancements, and cybersecurity. she has been in leadership roles at deloitte, the metropolitan police, bmo, and td bank where she was the global executive officer for cyber security. she is now ceo of protexxa and co-founder of the firehood network for women in tech. in addition to her ba from lakehead, claudette has an mba from athabasca university. she has been named one of the top 50 most influential torontonians by toronto life magazine and was featured in the women's executive network's top 100 most powerful women in canada.

2020s

maydena (may) remenda (hbsw '22/msw '24) received the municipal retirees organization of ontario (mroo) 2024 targeted scholarship for her master's research at lakehead focused on enhancing dementia care for indigenous residential school survivors, who are often relocated to long-term care facilities far from their communities and support systems. by advocating for culturally safer care practices that respect and integrate the survivors' unique heritage and histories, may aimed to ensure that elders are treated with dignity and kindness. at the graduation ceremony for her master of social work degree (specializing in gerontology) in the spring 2024, may received the dean braun scholar award, which is presented to the student with the highest academic standing in their program. may is now working as a knowledge broker with 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 's centre for education and research on aging and health (cerah). click here to listen to may talk about her research in this ctv interview.

monika steger (jd '22) has joined lenczner slaght, one of canada's leading litigation firms, as junior counsel. monika is using her health law expertise to assist regulated health professionals in areas such as medical negligence, privacy issues, the college of physicians and surgeons of ontario proceedings, and other administrative and regulatory health issues. as a lakehead student, monika volunteered with the lakehead chapter of pro bono 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 canada and was a caseworker with the 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 community legal services clinic. she graduated with first class standing and received numerous course prizes, including top standing in property law, evidence law, and family law. prior to joining lenczner slaght, monika summered at the canadian centre for elder law and then articled and practiced at a leading litigation boutique firm in toronto where she gained experience in health law and insurance defence.

in memoriam

kevin kozar (engdp '03/beng '05) tragically passed away of natural causes at the age of 49 after a quiet evening at one of his favourite places on earth, his camp at west loon lake near thunder bay. kevin tried several academic paths before finally finding his true passion. in 1999, he graduated from the southern alberta institute of technology (sait) with a diploma in wood processing technology. in 2005 he completed his degree in mechanical engineering at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 . he loved to tell people that when his graduated, he was 30 years old and a brand-new father to a 3-week-old baby—reinforcing that it was never a bad time to pursue your dreams. kevin began his engineering career at wardrop engineering in thunder bay, and, in 2012, he achieved his dream of creating kozar engineering. he quickly grew his office from a single-man operation to a successful mid-sized firm. after 12 successful years, kozar engineering recently joined cima+, and kevin was very excited about the new opportunities this would bring for his team. kevin leaves behind a close-knit and loving family—his wife amy, and his three sons charlie, harry, and miles. he is also survived by his mother elaine, sister allison, and extended members of the kerr and johnson families. kevin was predeceased by his father david whom he remembered often with love and admiration.

the children’s educational foundation of canada (cefc) recently made a postsecondary institution payment over $350,000 to 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ’s achievement program—putting children in northwestern ontario on the path to becoming university graduates.

“there were many canadian postsecondary institutions we could have released this payment to, but lakehead ticked all the boxes,” says allison haid caughey, chief compliance officer and corporate and legal affairs vice president for children’s education funds inc. the cefc is a not-for-profit corporation and registered education savings plans (resp) promoter that administers the children’s education trust of canada education savings plans.

“we could have contributed to a big school like mcmaster, but lakehead really stood out to us,” says children’s education funds inc.’s chief compliance officer and corporate and legal affairs vice president allison haid caughey.

resps help canadian families pay for the costs of their children’s postsecondary education. “tuition, textbooks, accommodation, and meals can all be paid for with resps,” allison says. “and a resp doesn’t have to be huge, families can tuck away just $20 a month and the end result, which usually includes the canada education savings grant, can be much more than you’d expect.”

“lakehead is a smaller institution in northern ontario, so we knew that the impact of the postsecondary institution payment would be felt,” allison continues, “and we are just blown away by the achievement program. it’s absolutely wonderful to see the payment help improve access to higher education.”

the achievement program partners with local and regional school boards to help children overcome socioeconomic barriers to higher education, which made it a natural choice for the cefc.

世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 in the achievement program take part in educational, recreational, and cultural activities from grades four to twelve. participating in these activities allows them to earn financial credits that can later be used to fund their first year of tuition at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 , or to pay for other education-related expenses. the programming and mentoring the children receive encourages them to see university as a place where they belong, now and in the future.

the cefc, and other resp promoters, periodically make payments to postsecondary institutions when their plans have surplus investment income that can’t be paid to children registered in resps.

“seeing children’s self-confidence and pride in themselves grow as they progress through the achievement program renews my commitment to the work we are doing,” says achievement program coordinator amanda stefanile.

“i’m incredibly grateful that the children’s educational foundation of canada chose lakehead,” achievement program coordinator amanda stefanile says. “this means that more children who might otherwise have shied away from a postsecondary education can feel more confident in following their dreams. their support also shows our achievement program families that we are committed to breaking down barriers and continuing to make lakehead a university that is accessible to all.”

in their work, they witness the transformative power of education every day, and it motivates them to continue doing what they do. “education is the key to prosperity and a better society, but kids need to have the financial means and believe that they deserve a seat at the table,” allison says.

her advice to achievement program graduates ready to embark on the next stage of their journey is simple.

“soak up every second in this rich educational environment because it will give you strong critical thinking skills and the ability to take on tomorrow’s challenges.”

at lakehead orillia’s 2024 graduation ceremonies, 83-year-old virginia majury walked across the stage to accept her honours bachelor of arts in anthropology degree, to the great pride of her family and friends.

among them were virginia’s three daughters, five grandchildren, a niece, and a lifelong friend she’s known since 1949. some had travelled from as far away as alberta and texas to celebrate her achievement.

“i didn’t think that anyone would want to come, so i was surprised,” virginia says.
going to university didn’t seem possible to virgina when she was in high school studying subjects like shorthand, commercial machines, and bookkeeping. instead, after completing her diploma early, she found a good job at clarke motors, a car dealership in orillia. “there weren’t a lot of high-paying positions for girls in the late 1950s,” virginia explains.

she stayed at clarke motors for over a decade until the first of her three daughters was born.

the succeeding years were spent raising her children, doing part-time bookkeeping, and running a boarding kennel for dogs. virginia also became a brownie leader when her eldest daughter turned six. later, she would become a girl guide captain and start girl guide, pathfinder, and ranger units at the marchmont public school in severn, ontario.

“i’ve been involved with girl guides for 48 years now,” she says.

in her seventies, though, virginia wanted to try something new and began taking history courses at laurentian university.

“i was very nervous about going to university,” she says. “i didn’t know how to write essays and i was also very worried when i took my first test. i thought, ‘oh my goodness!’ but i did well.”

in 2016, three years after ending her studies at laurentian, virginia enrolled at lakehead’s orillia campus at the urging of a fellow church member who happened to be a lakehead student.

“plus, i really missed university,” virginia says.

she started out as a history major but switched to anthropology after taking an archaeology class with dr. tim kaiser.

“i just fell in love with it. i’m intrigued by how things happened and how things worked in the past—like the way the egyptians transported stones up the nile to build the pyramids.”

an anthropology course with dr. scott hamilton was also a turning point for virginia. “we learned about huge burial mounds created by indigenous people in what’s now the southern united states and about how they domesticated crops like corn, which i found fascinating.”

“all of my lakehead professors were great!” virginia adds.
among these professors she also includes dr. frederico oliveira, who supervised her thesis and with whom she took several indigenous and cultural anthropology courses, and dr. tamara varney.

“one august, tamara spent many extra hours voluntarily tutoring me and my study partner holly gray so that we could pass a difficult genetics course we needed to earn our degrees. we’d already dropped it twice because neither of us had taken biology previously, but tamara was so patient with us.”
although virginia is humble about her accomplishments, she’s become a role model. “some of my former boarding kennel customers have told me that i inspired them to go to university.”

virginia intends to keep studying, too, and plans to take courses in forensic archaeology and plant and insect biology.

“i’m even considering doing a master’s degree at lakehead!”

for virginia’s fourth-year honours thesis, she researched the culture of the algonquin- and iroquoian-speaking peoples in north simcoe county, georgian bay, and its lowlands.

growing up in washago, ontario, lily edmunds loved camping, the outdoors, animals, and plants. as she got older and started learning about the impact of climate change on the environment, lily started thinking about how she could make a difference.

after high school, she chose to study at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 orillia because it was close to home and it allowed her to concurrently pursue an environmental technician diploma from georgian college and an honour bachelor of arts and science in environmental sustainability (specializing in ecosystem management) at lakehead.

“the program covered so much about environmental sustainability. all my hopes came true,” lily says.

attending a smaller university also meant that she would have more one-on-one time with professors.

“when i started my degree, i met professors like dr. florin pendea. after he gave a lecture about climate change on my first day, i went to his office to see how i could work with him.”

dr. pendea teaches in both the sustainability sciences department and the geography and the environment department at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 .

during her undergraduate research with dr. pendea, lily and her fellow researchers collected and studied soil cores from the lake simcoe watershed—some were found to be over 11,500 years old.

“over the first period we investigated, it looked like there hadn’t been much change,” lily says. “the biggest shock was when we noticed a mountain peak of impact with lots of fungal spores likely resulting from charcoal and fire, meaning it was caused by humans.”

when the europeans arrived in the area, the spike was even bigger. “that peak made it clear that humans have an impact on the soil, and it made me realize that i wanted to continue in my research.”

in april 2024, lily successfully presented her fourth-year thesis, “land use change and human influence on the environment during the late holocene in the orillia area,” supervised by dr. pendea.

lily’s passion for making a difference is not limited to research. she also gives back by volunteering with the alzheimer society and a cat shelter as well as by assisting with grant writing for environmental and indigenous initiatives.

in addition, she directs her own non-profit, fur-ever friendz, a charity she started when she was eight. inspired by her great-grandmother, the charity offers stuffed animals as therapy companions for people with dementia.

now a master of science in forestry student, lily is planning to continue classifying the lake simcoe watershed.

and she is excited about the potential translations for this research. “lots of the proxies we’re collecting are new,” she says, referring to how scientists can use samples of biological materials, such as pollen, to help reconstruct the earth’s climactic and weather conditions in the period before official records were kept. “fungal, animal, plant, and fire proxies show us the impacts of thousands of years of climate change—it’s like a history book.”

“the soil cores preserve so well,” she adds.

“they tell you so much about the effect of humans on the soil and how the arrival of europeans had an impact on the land, as well as the probable impact of humans in the future. it’s the earth’s way of giving back."

lily, who received her hbasc in environmental sustainability in 2024, gets ready to do fieldwork in the george langman sanctuary wetland.

in 2022, a near tragedy took christopher silver’s life in an unexpected direction.

“after getting out of bed one night, my grandmother fell and hit her head on the corner of a coffee table and had to be flown from fort frances, ontario, to thunder bay for emergency surgery,” christopher says. “she lay there for 12 hours before she was discovered and needed almost four months of rehabilitation. although my grandmother owned a fall-detection pendant, she’d forgotten to put it on. i can’t imagine how afraid she felt being alone on the ground for hours and hours.”

at the time of his grandmother’s accident, christopher was a fourth-year lakehead software engineering student working on his capstone project—a mandatory assignment that challenges each graduating student to come up with a product or tool that solves a real-world problem. christopher and a fellow student decided to develop a fever detector that could be used in public spaces, such as retail stores, to stop the spread of illnesses. “this was during the back half of the covid lockdowns,” he explains. although it was a good concept, they abandoned the project after learning that other companies were working on the same idea.

this setback ultimately led christopher to pursue a new capstone project sparked by his grandmother’s medical emergency—his soon-to-be released vantage protection software—and to found the company silver vantage software.

vantage protection is a hands-free fall detection device for homes that can be installed on the ceiling of any room, much like a smoke detector. the software will automatically call a customer when a fall occurs, and if they don’t respond, it will call emergency services or notify caregivers through its mobile app.

“vantage protection is designed to create peace of mind for families while allowing seniors to maintain their independence,” christopher says.

on the ascent

christopher’s capstone supervisor— software engineering professor dr. thangarajah akilan—was so impressed with christopher’s idea that he encouraged him to apply for lakehead’s ascend accelerator program. “dr. akilan always gives me good advice and he’s been so supportive,” christopher says.

ascend is a 10-week summer program that provides mentorship, resources, and expert advice for lakehead 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and alumni interested in transforming an idea into a business, or in growing a start-up company in the early stages of its development.

christopher attended both the 2022 and 2023 ascend programs. in the first session, he fleshed out vantage protection’s premise and system requirements and, in the following session, he built a better prototype and created the app that will send alerts to caregivers.

“the weekly workshops ascend arranged for us were very helpful in expanding my business knowledge and entrepreneurial skills,” he says. “ascend had lawyers, accountants, marketers, and other professionals come in and talk to us.”

christopher is particularly grateful for the assistance he received from alyson mackay, who runs the ascend program and is the manager of ingenuity—阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ’s business incubator.

“i was accepted to both the university of waterloo and 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ’s software engineering programs,” says christopher (dipl eng tech’20/beng’22/msc’24). “i chose lakehead because it was the unconventional path that felt right in my gut. i thought that i’d have richer experiences at lakehead and that i wouldn’t blend in with the crowd.” christopher (left) displays his 2023 young innovator of the year innovation award.

“alyson put a lot of effort into figuring out what we needed most, and she introduced me to dr. michael dohan, a lakehead business administration professor, who guided me through my business plan and connected me with business partners. i wouldn’t be where i am if it weren’t for alyson and the whole crew at ingenuity.”
this intensive mentoring has enabled christopher to build an ingenious device that uses a thermal camera and a sensor to provide rapid emergency assistance to seniors in distress.
“the thermal camera detects infrared energy and records heat maps of the room it’s installed in,” christopher says.

“if you look at the camera’s feed, you won’t see video footage or photos, instead, you’ll see different colours representing different temperatures. if the room is empty, everything will be blue. if someone walks through that room, there will be a red shape as the camera picks up their heat signature. if a person has fallen, the red patch will be elongated because they are lying prone. their heat signature will also be a lighter red because their body temperature will begin dropping.”

as soon as someone falls, the thermal camera will send a message to a sensor, which will prompt a call to the customer from an emergency call centre. “vantage protection has a microphone so that the call centre can ask the customer if they need assistance, and, if so, dispatch emergency services. if the customer doesn’t respond, we will assume that the person is unconscious and send help—this will cut down on false alarms and costs.”

testing, testing, testing

christopher (far left) and his fellow 2023 ascend program graduates celebrate their achievements. christopher's vantage protection product preserves the privacy of its customers because it uses heat mapping instead of video surveillance to scan for falls.

after finishing his undergraduate degree, christopher enrolled in lakehead’s master of science in engineering program and, for his master’s thesis, he conducted further testing on his software to improve its accuracy in detecting falls.

“we conducted experiments in which we filmed people falling on safety mats,” christopher says. “and we made an effort to recruit older adults as well as younger adults, because older adults don’t move in the same way, and they fall more slowly than younger adults.”
a physiotherapist reviewed these simulated falls to provide feedback and a machine-learning program analyzed the footage to more effectively pinpoint whether a particular movement was a fall or a normal movement such as walking.

moreover, christopher’s silver vantage software company is developing new products in addition to his vantage protection product. he’s in discussions with a foundation that advocates for people with dementia because vantage protection has the capacity to send alerts to caregivers when someone with dementia becomes confused and wanders from their home.

similarly, people with heart problems and other health conditions could benefit from the device.

“one of my best friends wants one installed because she has epileptic seizures that can cause her to lose consciousness. it could also send alerts if a stove is left on or be used for security purposes by warning homeowners if someone breaks into their house.”

christopher is now in the final stages of product development and hopes to release vantage protection in the coming months. alpha tests in 10 homes are planned for early 2025, and a beta test in approximately 250 homes will begin after the company receives grants from funding partners.

“i’d encourage anyone who has an idea to follow it, especially if it has the potential to help other people,” christopher says. “i could have just as easily forgotten about mine, but i’m glad i didn’t. it’s changed my life.”

visit the silver vantage website at silvervantagesoftware.com

welcome to fall lakehead u alumni! autumn is one of our favourite seasons because it means that varsity sports are here again.

we have missed seeing your faces and hearing your cheers supporting our athletes from the stands. they have missed you, too! last year we engaged with almost 1,000 of you which were the largest crowds since the pandemic. thank you for visiting with us and telling us your stories.

we thought we would take this time to share with you what we have in store for the 2024-2025 varsity schedule as we have a very short travelling season this year.

mark your calendars and pre-register early! the alumni association will host the following varsity engagement events:

• saturday, january 11 - thunderwolves hockey at laurier in waterloo
• saturday, january 25 - thunderwolves basketball at york in toronto
• saturday, february 15 - thunderwolves hockey at western in london
• saturday, february 15 - thunderwolves basketball at laurentian in sudbury

in the meantime, we invite you to take part in our varsity engagement survey  as well as grab some thunderwolves merch at the 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 bookstore so you can be ready in our school colours when we come and visit you with some alumni swag and prizes. 

we can't wait to host you, but if you are unable to see us in person this season, no worries. you can watch all of our varsity athletes through oua tv. links to our upcoming hockey and basketball games will be posted on our social media pages.

go wolves go!

antigua is a beautiful tropical island in the west indies, but it is this country’s fraught history that’s been bringing lakehead anthropologist dr. tamara varney back there for over 25 years.

“it’s a former british colony, so everywhere you look there’s the remains of old windmills and sugar cane plantations that were run using slave labour,” dr. varney says. “in the west indies, the british found it more economical to work slaves to death and then replace them with new slaves.” the use of enslaved labourers was not confined to plantations—it played a key role in the military as well.

in the late 1700s and early 1800s, antigua was also the home of a british royal navy dockyard located by “a deep natural harbour that allowed the british to keep most of their fleet in the caribbean throughout the hurricane season,” dr. varney says. “during the napoleonic wars, this meant the british could guard islands under their control and raid islands controlled by france and other european powers throughout the year.”

next to the royal navy dockyard was a naval hospital and cemetery, and it is the cemetery that’s been dr. varney’s focus since 1998 when she was a phd student at the university of calgary.

“reg murphy, a friend and archaeology phd student from antigua, was looking for a biological anthropologist to excavate the cemetery,” she says. it was necessary to begin the royal navy cemetery dig as quickly as possible because housing developments were creeping onto the abandoned burial grounds.
“i was brought in to do a basic forensic analysis of the bones and determine age of death, height, habitual-activity markers, evidence of disease, sex, and ancestry,” dr. varney says.

who was buried in the cemetery and what did they die of?

when the dig began, dr. varney assumed she’d be unearthing the graves of british sailors, and, in fact, some low-ranking sailors were buried in the cemetery. many of the skeletons, however, were likely those of enslaved black dockyard workers.

“in colonies like canada, dockyards were staffed by white people, but in the caribbean, they were run by white officers overseeing african and african-descended slaves owned by the british crown who were called the king’s negroes.”

these slaves began working in the dockyard as boys where they were trained to become shipwrights, sailmakers, masons, and other highly skilled tradesmen. they had a very different life from the enslaved men and women working on plantations. naval-owned slaves were provided with the same hospital care and food and rum rations as other naval personnel.

at first, the archaeological team believed that the cemetery was the burial place of victims of an infectious disease epidemic that had swept through the dockyard. as they excavated, though, instead of uncovering a mass grave that would have been evidence of an epidemic, they discovered individual graves—meaning that the deaths had occurred over a longer period of time, and not during an epidemic.

nonetheless, dr. varney and her team were able to confirm through parish records that yellow fever and other infectious diseases were responsible for many deaths. the skeletons themselves appear to be in relatively healthy condition. “infectious diseases kill so quickly that they don’t have time to damage a person’s bones,” dr. varney explains.

dr. varney's fascination with archaeology began when she was a 13-year-old junior high student living in sudbury and she, her father, and her mother took a course certifying them to do underwater shipwreck surveying. "i decided that i wanted to keep doing archaeology, just not underwater," she says.

dr. varney’s investigations have also determined that the black dockyard workers frequently lived to around 50 to 60 years of age—longer than most of the british sailors.

“the enslaved workers grew up on the islands, which acclimated them to the heat and gave them greater immunity to disease, resulting in longer life expectancies. in addition, the dockyard workers’ diets were better than that of a typical plantation slave.”

despite the slightly better diet, it was an extremely hard life and “if a slave was caught engaging in any activity construed as rebellious, they would be burned alive, or their bodies would be broken and crushed to death on the wheel (a large wooden wheel with metal spikes).”

european sailors tended to die around the age of 30, not only due to their susceptibility to disease, but because they were often in bad shape when they arrived in antigua.
“sailors were regularly press ganged into the navy. naval personnel would go to local pubs and gather up young men and boys, march them onto a ship and say, ‘guess what, you’re in the navy.’ then they’d spend weeks crossing the atlantic subsisting on food that was often spoiled.”

yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum?

the large size of the cemetery and the different lines of questioning being pursued by the excavation team has made this a long-running dig. in 2016, the dockyard and its related archaeological sites were designated a unesco world heritage site, which has given the team more resources for their work.

dr. varney suspected that lead poisoning was another significant cause of illness and death. “lead was used everywhere in the 1700s and 1800s, which made lead poisoning common,” she says.

since 2009, dr. varney has been working with co-investigators from king’s university, the university of saskatchewan, canadian light source inc., macewan university, and memorial university to study traces of lead found in the naval cemetery skeletons.

“the secret of my success,” she says, “has been collaborating with an interdisciplinary team. we couldn’t achieve what we have by working alone.”
to analyze lead levels, dr. varney and her team use a synchrotron—a football stadium-sized machine that produces brilliant light that can be used for x-ray fluorescence imaging—to determine when during their lifetimes the individuals absorbed lead into their skeletons and if the lead was absorbed before or after death.

“i previously thought that rum was the source of lead contamination in the royal navy cemetery skeletons,” dr. varney says. at that time, the navy gave every sailor a daily tot of rum with lime juice added to it to stave off scurvy (and to make the rum go sour so that sailors couldn’t save it up and go on binges). unfortunately, the alcohol was made with lead equipment, causing the toxin to leach into the rum.

dr. varney is now convinced, however, that the lead poisoning was related to the type of work a particular dockyard worker or sailor was doing, since lead levels vary widely among the skeletons. “a young person could have high lead levels, and an older person could have low lead levels.”
other potential sources of lead contamination include water cisterns and roofs lined with lead, medicinal compounds, sweeteners, and ceramic plates and cookware with lead glazes.

dr. varney is now excited to be collaborating with ancient dna experts from germany’s renowned max planck society who are examining the bones for ancestry markers and pathogens.

“in archaeology we sometimes discover material about ordinary people that’s not in the historical record, since the historical record tends to focus on higher-status people,” dr. varney says. “that’s why i love the work i’m doing in antigua. it gives meaning and dignity to the lives of those who were overlooked.”