Most people associate a day at the beach with playing in the sand and frolicking in the surf.

UWindsor researchers are not most people.

Four graduate students and a post-doctoral fellow from the School of the Environment — members of the Coastal Research Group — are in Prince Edward Island this month, flying drones over the shoreline, and mapping beaches, dunes, and rip currents.

Graduate student Summer Locknick is integrating the physical and social sciences, asking beachgoers about their knowledge of rip currents. She is analyzing how people behave based on their knowledge of beach safety and the location of the dangerous rips.

Using machine-learning techniques, a subset of artificial intelligence, fellow grad student Jake Lehner is developing an automated approach to mapping coastal systems, and has already discovered a new landform.

Brianna Lunardi, another grad student, is studying the morphology of sand dunes and beaches with a view to discovering what controls the height of dunes and what that means in the context of climate change.

Elizabeth George, a new grad student joining UWindsor this fall, is beginning a two-year research project, collecting drone data to determine where beaches end and where dunes begin.

And post-doctoral fellow Phil Wernette is using ground-penetrating radar to analyze the sedimentary structure of coastal systems to determine how dunes evolve.

“The scale and resolution of the research being conducted by the Coastal Research Group at UWindsor has never been done before,” said Chris Houser, dean of science.

Dr. Houser has been studying beaches and rip currents since 2004. Where UWindsor students are taking that research is important for understanding how to protect homes and property from climate change.

“We may lose complete resiliency of our coast as sea levels rise and storm activity changes,” Houser said. “We don’t know how these systems will evolve and that’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

Locknick’s research has the potential to create safer beaches, said Houser.

Her early results show that most people walking onto a beach don’t even notice the green, yellow, or red flags posted by lifeguards denoting what the swimming conditions are on that particular day.

Locknick’s research is also testing what’s called confirmation bias where beachgoers wittingly or unwittingly undertake risky behaviour only because they’ve emerged unharmed from the same behaviour in the past.

It flows out of UWindsor research that shows most drownings in Florida have occurred when yellow flags are posted. Some beachgoers may look at yellow flags not as true warnings, but as over-cautiousness by lifeguards, Houser explained.

Houser’s own research in Pensacola, Fla., in 2008, showed the rip current signs on display there were faulty. Even if people noticed the catchy slogan on the signs — break the grip of the rip — the confusing graphics could lead beachgoers to swim directly into the dangerous currents.

“The outcome of our rip current research is the most satisfying, because at the end of the day, it’s the one that saves lives.”

The research projects on P.E.I. are being funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network. For past coastal research, Houser has secured funding from the National Science Foundation in the United States, the Texas Sea Grant, and the Florida Sea Grant.

Houser is called upon to give expert testimony at inquests into drowning deaths, and his research informs the U.S.’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the P.E.I Rip Current Advisory Committee of which he is a member.

In addition to P.E.I, Houser’s research has taken him and his students to Australia, Costa Rica, Texas, Florida, and around the Great Lakes.

“It’s a great opportunity for students,” he said.

─ Sarah Sacheli

Mental health is something that everyone has, says Alyssa Lauzon, and it is important to recognize its importance. That’s why the UWindsor student, just finished her second year of social work studies, created the Pinwheel Project scholarship.

The scholarship will support University students experiencing struggles with mental illness — either themselves or through someone close to them. Lauzon hopes the project will honour the memory of her grandfather, who died by suicide in 2016.

She recalls that he worked many years as an electrician for Windsor Regional Hospital, where he would hand pinwheels to children in the wards. Lauzon will donate a pinwheel to children in care at Windsor Regional Hospital for every $5 donated to the scholarship fund.

“I wanted to find a way to carry on his legacy,” she says. “I feel like hospitals are scary places, especially for kids. Having something to brighten their day can make a difference.”

In the same way, scholarship support can help lessen the load of students struggling with their mental health, says Lauzon.

“I know I stress a lot about how I’m going to pay for school, so I really rely on scholarships,” she says. “I noticed there is nothing directed at the ones who need the help the most.”

She says she intends to help reduce stress for others.

“Having something positive will better their mental health rather than worsen it,” Lauzon says.

Any gift over $10 toward the fund will qualify for a charitable tax receipt. Make a donation online or contact gift officer Melissa East Aspila at measpila@uwindsor.ca or 519-253-3000, ext. 2093.

The Humanities Research Group is offering DailyNews readers a chance to win two tickets to attend the gala opening of Watching Glory Die on Tuesday, July 23, in the Hatch Studio Theatre, Jackman Dramatic Art Centre.

Following the gala opening, Watching Glory Die will continue its local run through Saturday, July 27. Tickets for the regular performances are $20, available on eventbrite.com.

To enter the contest, just send your answer to the following three trivia questions. The winner will be randomly selected from all correct responses received by 2 p.m. Monday, July 22.

1. Where is the Windsor Feminist Theatre taking the production after this performance?
   a) Stratford Festival
   b) Edinburgh Fringe Festival
   c) London International Festival of Theatre
   d) Toronto Fringe Festival
    
2. Name the actor who portrays Glory’s mother Rosellen.
   a) Kelli Fox
   b) Abby Herman
   c) Julie Monroe
   d) Sarah Roberts
    
3. What is the name of the young woman who inspired Judith Thompson to write the play?
   a) Lauren Brown
   b) Camille Daniels
   c) Celine Davidson
   d) Ashley Smith

Contest is open to all readers of the DailyNews. Send an e-mail with your responses to uofwnews@uwindsor.ca.  One entry per contestant, please. Note: the decision of the judge in determining the most correct response is inviolable.

—Dana Roe

A Windsor Law professor is one of two principal researchers of a report addressing class action, released July 17 by the Law Commission of Ontario.

Jasminka Kalajdzic noted that in addition to their own research, she and fellow investigator Catherine Piché of the Université de Montréal conducted 135 interviews and studied 30 written submissions to produce the first evidence-based and comprehensive review of class actions in Ontario since the enactment of the Class Proceedings Act (CPA) in 1993.

“We were committed from the outset to make this project consultative and non-partisan,” she says. “Our recommendations aim to improve the class action system as a whole and to promote its primary goals of access to justice, deterrence, and judicial efficiency.”

Entitled Class Actions: Objectives, Experience, and Reforms, the report makes 47 recommendations on a broad cross-section of issues, including the process for initiating a class action, certification, settlement approval and distribution, counsel fees, costs, reporting on class actions, and appeals.

Windsor Law alumnus Andrew Pinto (LLB 1993), chair of the Law Commission of Ontario, notes that class action lawsuits can have a significant impact on public policy, corporate conduct, and government behaviour.

“Class actions have become one of the most high-profile and far-reaching legal procedures in the Canadian justice system,” Pinto says. “The report’s 47 recommendations represent a necessary and important update to this very significant piece of legislation.”

Read more on the Windsor Law website.

—Rachelle Prince

Recognizing she needed to be more proficient in English to pursue her dream of teaching, Lynne Lin came to the University of Windsor and enrolled in the English Language Improvement Program.

Now getting ready to begin studies toward a master’s degree in education, she says the program helped her adjust to life in Canada.

“When I first came to Canada (from her native China), I was afraid to talk to local people,” Lin says. “I have found Canadian people are very friendly. Now I can get information from conversations with store clerks or salespeople.”

She says she would recommend the program to others.

“I think the ELIP is very useful,” says Lin. “If you work hard, you will find it is very useful to your future career.”

The Centre for English Language Development will celebrate international language students and their contributions to campus and community on World Student Day, Friday, July 26.

UWindsor faculty, staff, and students are invited to join in free activities, entertainment, and a lunch in the David A. Wilson Commons from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The annual RBC EPIC Founders program helps first-time entrepreneurs build their business from the ground up in a 12-week program.

One of their entrepreneurs is Jesse Thompson, the founder of HaggleFree. Thompson’s first software product will be showcased Aug. 1 alongside the other eight entrepreneurial ventures.

“I first heard about the RBC EPIC Founders Program from the Small Business Centre across the street,” says Thomson. “I was at a workshop there and they mentioned that there were some mentorship opportunities and a bit of funding available for people like me who are just starting new companies.”

Thompson hopes the program will help build his business and provide validation for what he is working on.

“By the end of the program, I hope to really have some expertise in idea validation and being able to validate the business model and being able to pivot or justify moving forward with certain business models.” Thompson says.

This is the sixth in a series of articles introducing this summer’s participants leading up to a showcase of their prototypes Aug. 1 at the EPICentre. Learn more on the centre’s website.

—Dana Roe

Peter Street is closed to traffic under the Ambassador Bridge while the Canadian Transit Company conducts maintenance work on the structure.

The closure, from Huron Church Road to Indian Road, is slated to continue through Aug. 31.

Those trying to access the main campus from Sandwich are advised to pursue alternate routes along University Avenue or Donnelly Street.