SFU Graduate Studies

Andre Isakov completed both his bachelor’s degree in political science and his master’s degree in urban studies at Simon Fraser University.

He’s currently  the Community and Economic Development Officer at the Municipality of Harrison Hot Springs, a position which involves developing an economic development plan, community branding strategy, community needs assessment, corporate greenhouse gas emission reduction strategy, solid waste services, parks and trails master plan, among many other interesting policy areas and initiatives.

He’s currently working on community branding for Harrison Hot Springs. It’s a project with a direct link to his capstone master’s project, where he examined business improvement areas and local economic development in BC.

He says, “it is truly rewarding being part of the community and knowing that you help to build a better community.”

He’s also co-authoring a book on local economic development and revitalisation, to be published in early 2012 by Rotman-UTP Publishing.

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SFU PhD student Stephanie Green appeared on the Dan Rather Reports show this week to discuss the invasion of lionfish into Western Atlantic and Caribbean waters.

Lionfish are native to the Indo-Pacific, and were likely introduced to the waters off the Florida coast by pet-owners who released them into the ocean. The estimated millions of lionfish can be traced back to fewer than ten original female fish.

Green says,  ”You wouldn’t believe the appetites on these fish. We’ve documented almost 60 different species of Caribbean fish in lionfish stomachs,” she said in a news release promoting the show. “So, the impacts of lionfish could be very severe.”

• Stephanie Green’s research page
• Earth2Ocean Research Group, SFU
• Daybreak show interview, Cayman Islands
• Appearance on CBS News with Katey Couric
• Cape Eleuthera Foundation blog post on Dan Rather visit
• HDNet press release on Dan Rather show

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SFU Applied Sciences grad Clint Landrock has been making the news with an innovation that was developed in the course of his MASc research. His research has been profiled in many places, from a local news story in the Surrey Now to appearances on the Discovery Channel and CTV’s Canada AM show.

His research was into creating anti-counterfeiting features for banknotes and will have many more practical applications such as authenticating legal documents, retail merchandise, concert tickets, stock certificates, visas, passports, and pharmaceuticals.

SFU’s Venture Connections office helped him connect with Nanotech Security Corp. to bring this research to the market.

• Canada AM
• Vancouver Sun: SFU-linked company takes aim at counterfeiters with ‘nanoholes’
• Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet segment
• SFU Media Release: Butterfly wings behind anti-counterfeiting technology
• Surrey Now: Surrey Company developing high-tech security feature inspired by butterfly
• Nanotech Security Corp.
• SFU Venture Connections
• Clint Landrock profile page, Faculty of Applied Sciences, SFU
• Clint Landrock on Twitter

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SFU’s Teaching and Learning Centre offers professional development workshops for graduate students every semester. All are free, and all are excellent learning opportunities for graduate students who are working towards careers in higher education.

Coming up:

• Private Voice Sessions / free / Burnaby, Vancouver, Surrey / book a 30-minute session
• A Conversation on Large Classes / free / Burnaby / February 1, 9:30-11:50 am
• A Conversation on Large Classes / free / Surrey / February 2, 1-3:20 pm
• Connecting Learning Across Courses with Curriculum Mapping / free webinar / Vancouver / February 4, 10:30 am-12:30 pm
• Introduction to WebCT / free / Burnaby / February 7, 1:30-2:20 pm
• Teaching large classes: Developing a model that works for you! / free / Burnaby / March 2, 1:30-3:30 pm
• Instructional Skills Workshop / free but admission is by application before March 11 / April 27-29 or May 2-4, 8:30 am-5 pm daily. Participants who successfully complete this 3-day program will receive a Certificate of Completion that may be applied as credit to the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program.
• Fall 2011 TA/TM Day workshop proposals / Application deadline is April 15

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Action Canada, a program co-founded by SFU President Emeritus Jack Blaney, is seeking nominees for its 2011/2012 Action Canada Fellows.

Candidates must submit a statement outlining what they believe to be the major Canadian policy issues at the core of this year’s theme: Advancing Canada’s national interests in economic and business policy.

Candidates must be nominated, and that will take additional time. If you’re interested in this opportunity, we recommend that you speak with your supervisor as soon as possible.

Candidate selection criteria:

1. Record of leadership and/or extraordinary achievement apart from academic studies.
2. Superior character, open-mindedness, demonstrated teamwork ability and interest in working with others, energy and courage
3. A passion for Canada; the potential to become a Canadian leader and the commitment to make a positive contribution to Canada.
4. Record of excellent post-secondary academic achievement, or other demonstration of outstanding intellectual ability.

Work done by Action Canada Fellows has gone on to become government policy. Fellowships are supported by Canadian Heritage and include travel to and accommodation for the six conferences held across Canada.

Completed application packages must be received by February 15, 2011.

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You’re invited to the First Tuesday speaker series, hosted by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

The next lecture will be How to get Published in a Social Science Journal, with Dr. Stacy Pigg (right).

Tuesday, February 1, 2:30 pm
AQ 5067, Ellen Gee Common Room

This is an excellent professional development opportunity for graduate students who need to build their publication record.

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SFU physics professor Mike Thewalt and his lab are in the news this week for their contribution to the field of quantum computing, as published in Nature.

CBC News reports on why this is significant:

Quantum computers have the potential for exponentially greater computing power than conventional computers. They are based on laws of physics that apply to very small particles like electrons and are very different from the classical laws of physics that we are familiar with in daily life.

Current PhD students Michael Steger and Kamyar Saeedi, and Dr. Albion Yang, who obtained his PhD in Fall 2010, were all involved in Dr. Thewalt’s studies of isotopically enriched silicon at SFU.

• Entanglement in a solid-state spin ensemble (Nature article)
• Thewalt Lab
• SFU Physics Department

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The National Metropolis Conference will be taking place in Vancouver from March 23-26, 2011.

The conference will focus on the role of immigration in connecting Canada with the rest of the world. The conference will include six plenary panels with distinguished speakers and over one hundred workshop and roundtable sessions on a wide variety of topics related to immigration and cultural diversity. Over 1000 participants are expected.

This would be an excellent networking opportunity for graduate students working in fields related to immigration and diversity.

If you’d like to attend, the the conference organizers are looking for graduate students to volunteer at the conference. Volunteers are expected to commit 4-8 hours over the 4 days of the conference. In return for your volunteer time, the conference organizers will waive your conference registration fee.

To apply, or if you have questions, please contact Vicky Baker: vbaker@geog.ubc.ca. Please include your degree (eg. MA, PhD) along with your department and institution.

The application deadline is February 1, 2011.

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The Pacific Northwest Shell Club invites applications from graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who are studying Pacific Northwest molluscan life – marine, freshwater and terrestrial.

Value of the award is up to $1,500. Application deadline is April 1, 2011.

• Scholarship description
• Scholarship application
• Scholarship FAQ

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Education graduate student Nadia Chaney (right) and International Studies graduate student Shaheen Nanji are serving on the advisory group for the Engaging Diaspora in Development project, which will host its first dialogue at SFU’s Wosk Centre for Dialogue on January 19, 2011.

The event is sold out but there will be a live stream viewable on your computer.

If you’d like to participate, the CIDA-funded Engaging Diasporas project is looking for stories from members of diaspora communities in Vancouver, and will be holding four more dialogues in 2011.

Both students are representative of Vancouver’s wide-ranging cultural mosaic: Canadian-born poet and artist Nadia Chaney has a Muslim father and Catholic mother from India and Shaheen Nanji, who’s the Co-Director of the Diasporas Project and Director of International Development and Faculty Engagement in SFU International, was born in Nairobi and moved to Vancouver in 1989.

• Engaging Diaspora in Development project
• Vancouver Observer: Starting the Conversation
• Nadia’s blog: Partnerships for Youth Empowerment (PYE)  in Bangalore, India
• Shaheen’s website: International Development and Faculty Engagement, SFU

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