Over the next five years, Dan Heath hopes to unite the wide variety of researchers across campus studying environmental issues.

“I really want to expand the role of environmental research at the University of Windsor,” said Dr. Heath, a biology professor who takes over as the new director of the University’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research in May.

“Right now GLIER is a very tight and very productive group of individuals and what I’d like to do is expand that to encompass other researchers who are doing environmental research but are sort of isolated in various departments,” he said. “I’d like to see them academically attached to GLIER so that they can take advantage” of everything the research institute has to offer.

GLIER is a multidisciplinary institute that includes nine faculty members who work with collaborators from such disciplines as biology, geology, chemistry, engineering, marine biology, molecular biology, genetics and ecology. Researchers there study a variety of complex environmental problems such as climate change, aquatic invasive species, pollution and other stressors on large lakes, their watersheds and marine environments. 

Heath – who will discuss his new role as GLIER director on CJAM 99.1 FM this afternoon – began his 27-year career researching conservation genetics as a graduate student at McGill University after completing an undergraduate degree in physics. He eventually earned a PhD in animal science at the University of British Columbia. Since then, he’s held academic positions at the University of South Carolina and the University of Northern British Columbia, before joining GLIER and the Department of Biological Sciences in 2000.

In his interview, Heath also talks about his own research program. Some current projects he and his team of students are working on include studying the DNA in the stomachs of predatory fish to detect for the presence of either endangered or invasive species in aquatic ecosystems; and exploring whether certain species of fish in the Detroit River may have genetically evolved to the point where they can no longer be considered reliable indicators of contaminant levels.

“It’s scary and it’s exciting” to see the prospect of those fish no longer being reliable biomarkers, Heath said. “As a conservationist and an environmental scientist, it’s very worrying, because it means that a lot of the data we’ve used to determine whether cleanup projects are working may be problematic. On the other hand, as an evolutionary biologist, this is evolution in action.”

Heath will discuss these and other issues on Research Matters, a weekly talk show that focuses on the work of University of Windsor researchers and airs every Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Read a Windsor Star story about Dan Heath.

Renovating Windsor’s downtown armouries provides an excellent opportunity to create a new “precinct for the arts” that would promote inspiration and serendipitous interdisciplinary collaboration, according to one of the architects overseeing the project.

Architect Paul Cravit.

It will be a place where “someone who’s up all night editing a film might bump into someone who’s working on a painting who might bump into someone else who’s writing a great new piece of music,” said Paul Cravit, a senior principal and design director at CS&P Architects.

Along with colleagues Craig Goodman and Susan Spencer Levin, Cravit spent last Saturday at an all-day workshop soliciting feedback from faculty, staff and students from the School of Visual Arts, the School of Music and the Department of Communication, Media and Film on their ideas for renovating the building. The workshop kicked off the Friday afternoon before, with the architects unveiling their three design options for the historical structure.

“We want to create a space where art work and creation don’t have boundaries,” Goodman said.

The university announced last year it will take over the armouries. In November, Senate approved a plan to merge the schools of music and visual arts into one academic unit to be housed in the historic armouries building, located on University Avenue East in the heart of the city’s downtown core.

Each of the three options for the armouries includes studio space, offices and classrooms, and will be designed in such a way to encourage collegial creative thinking. Highlights of the plans include a performance chamber as well as a large “making studio.”

The architects – who are also redesigning The Windsor Star’s building for the School of Social Work and the Centre for Executive and Professional Education – emphasized the need to maintain the building’s heritage features.

Veronika Mogyorody, assistant provost and academic architectural advisor, praised the team as one of the best-known firms in Canada whose forte is in working with academic institutions.

“They’ve been an absolute delight to work with,” she said.

Both provost Leo Groarke and Cecil Houston, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, encouraged those who attended the workshops to be bold and innovative with their feedback and ideas.

“It’s an investment in you and in future generations of students,” Dr. Houston said. “You have an opportunity to have your voice heard at this point in the development of the project. You’re serving as the harbinger for future generations of students.”

Mental Health Awareness Week, January 16 to 19, will offer UWindsor students, staff and faculty a chance to get informed and involved.

The week will feature a series of events, including a special presentation by former Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page; panel discussions, workshops and training sessions; plays dealing with mental health issues; free fitness classes all week; and a  Health Fair.

“We want to help the campus community understand that mental health impacts everyone here and that everyone has a role to play – to be aware, recognize symptoms and speak up when you see a need,” says organizer Beth Oakley, director of the Educational Development Centre.

Find a full schedule of activities on the event Web site.

In March 2010, Jack Windeler died by suicide during his first year of studies at Queen’s University. His story can teach important lessons about the challenges 15- to 20-year-olds face as they transition into adulthood — challenges compounded by widespread misperceptions about mental health. Watch a video that tells his story, produced by Kids Help Phone.

The School of Music is offering DailyNews readers a chance to win two free tickets to the Ianni Performance Scholarship Competition, Sunday, January 15, in Assumption University Chapel at 2:30 p.m.

The concert features student musicians competing for a $500 scholarships named in honour of the late University of Windsor president. Find more information, including musicians’ photos, bios and program selections on the Web site of the School of Music.

Admission is $10, with a student rate of $5. Order tickets by phone at 519-253-3000, ext. 4212, or purchase online at www.uwindsor.ca/music. Tickets are also available at the door.

To enter the contest, just send your answers to the following three trivia questions, inspired by three student musicians making their second straight appearance in the competition. The winner will be selected at random from all correct responses received by 4 p.m. Thursday, January 12.

1. Soprano Christina Bell will perform Richard Wagner’s Meine Ruh’ ist hin, generally translated into English as what?
   a) my peace is gone
   b) my regret is there
   c) the small river behind me
   d) with him I rest
    
2. Pianist Tasula Calfas will perform Joseph Haydn’s Sonata in E flat major. Its finale is titled “Presto,” which means to be played at what tempo?
   a) slow and solemn
   b) moderately slow
   c) moderately quick
   d) very fast
    
3. Mezzo-soprano Amelia Daigle will perform Chanson Boheme from Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen, set in which European country?
   a) Bohemia
   b) France
   c) Italy
   d) Spain

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.

UWindsor president Alan Wildeman will address the community on the theme of “Building on the Common Ground” today – Thursday, January 12 – at 10 a.m. in Vanier Hall’s Winclare A room.

Students, faculty, staff and members of the broader community are invited to attend this event. Refreshments are available at 10 a.m. and the presentation will begin at 10:15.

A free public reception Friday, January 13, will celebrate the opening of “Southwestern Gothic,” a solo exhibition by visual arts instructor Victor Romao at the Artcite gallery.

Romao, also a UWindsor grad (BFA 1991, BEd 1992, MFA 2010), is a multi-disciplinary artist focused on drawing, printmaking and sculpture. His current work explores the topics of fear and male violence.

Friday’s reception begins at 7:30 p.m. in the gallery, 109 University Avenue West.

Have you always thought you ought to be in pictures? You may get your chance this weekend, as a University of Windsor graduate is seeking volunteers to act as extras in her first feature-length film.

Sarah Manschot (BA Communication Studies 2004) is shooting a scene in Erie Hall in the afternoon of Saturday, January 14. She is looking for people to fill the background. It is set in a film festival, so adults of all ages are welcome, but no children.

“The film takes place in late summer and early fall, so extras should dress for that weather,” she says. “T-shirts, jeans or light long-sleeves shirts are fine, just nothing too wintry, like sweaters or boots.”

Manschot is the founder of I’m Just Sayin’ Productions. She describes her current project as a comedy-drama, similar in tone to Zach Braff’s 2004 Garden State: “It tells the story of two people falling in love.”

To find out how you can be an extra in the film, contact her at livingalie@hotmail.com.

The Women’s Studies Student Association is accepting submissions for its third annual Are We There Yet? a feminist publication composed of creative writing, poetry, art, photography, personal narratives and essays by students.

This year’s theme is “Resistance: Rethink, Relearn, Resist.” The deadline for submissions is February 1; e-mail wssa@uwindsor.ca. More information is available on the association’s Web site.