Award-winning photographer Edward Burtynsky collects images from an oilfield. His October 22 presentation, Landscape of Human Systems, is part of UBC Okanagan’s Distinguished Speaker Series.
(Photo credit: Noah Weinzweig)

Award-winning artist is UBC Okanagan’s next distinguished speaker

World-renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky is returning to UBC Okanagan.

Burtynsky, who was presented with an honorary doctoral degree from UBC Okanagan in June 2013, is the first guest of this year’s Distinguished Speaker Series. In his Landscape of Human Systems presentation, Burtynsky presents a collection of his work, including large-scale colour photographs and recent film footage. While his large photographs will be displayed behind him, he will discuss the technique behind his image-making as he explores society’s troubling relationship with nature.

Born in St. Catharine’s, Ontario, a town dependent on auto assembly plants, he grew up in a heavily industrial yet picturesque part of the country. He started taking pictures at age 11, shortly after his father purchased a used camera and some darkroom equipment. He earned his degree in photography from Ryerson University, and studied graphic art at Niagara College.

Burtynsky’s imagery explores the link between industry and nature, and the damage society has done to the planet through mining, quarrying, manufacturing, shipping, and oil production. His remarkable large-format photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes are included in the collections of more than 50 major museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

In 2006, Burtynsky became an Officer of the Order of Canada. His other distinctions include the TED Prize, the Outreach award at the Rencontres d’Arles, the Roloff Beny Book award, the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award, and the Award in Contemporary Art from Toronto’s Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art.

Burtynsky’s The Landscape of Human Systems takes place at the Kelowna Community Theatre, 1375 Water St, on Wednesday, October 22, at 7 p.m. His visit is presented by the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, in collaboration with the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, as part of UBC's Distinguished Speaker Series.

This event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. To register, visit: speakers.ok.ubc.ca/2014/burtynsky

Edward Burtynsky has spent decades photographing modern society's troubling relationship with nature. His Landscape of Human Systems presentation on October 22 is a combination of new photographs and film production that document his findings.

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Conservation, ecology, biodiversity issues to be explored

What: The Okanagan Water and Biodiversity Forum
Who: Local, regional, national, and international researchers
When: Tuesday, September 16, and Wednesday, September 17
Where: Rotary Centre for the Arts (421 Cawston Avenue), downtown Kelowna, and Laurel Packinghouse (1304 Ellis Street), downtown Kelowna.

On Tuesday, September 16, and Wednesday, September 17, the public is invited to The Okanagan Water and Biodiversity Forum to explore issues related to the ecology, conservation, management or governance of biodiversity and water resources.

The forum brings together local, regional, national, and international researchers to share global research, build partnerships, and create solutions for Okanagan water issues.

“Through partnering, UBC’s Okanagan campus is having an impact on environmental sustainability locally and globally,” says Lael Parrott, director of the Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services (BRAES). “Working together we can address problems, solve issues and gain solutions to environmental challenges facing our community and the world.”

BRAES is a consortium of UBC Okanagan faculty members, students, collaborators and partner organizations working together to advance research and teaching in conservation and ecology. The goal of BRAES is to increase scientific understanding of ecological systems from the genetic to landscape scales and to inform management and planning decisions that promote environmental sustainability.

The Okanagan Water and Biodiversity Forum includes two days of presentations and panel discussions, followed by a keynote speaker both evenings. Participants will engage in presentations from more than 40 leading-edge experts from UBC’s Okanagan and Vancouver campuses, international and national organizations, and three levels of government.

On September 16, the keynote speaker is Robert Sandford, EPCOR chair of the Canadian Partnership Initiative in support of the United Nations Water for Life Decades and director of the Western Watersheds Research Collaboration. His free public talk, Canada’s energized water cycle: climate change and its consequences takes place 7 p.m. at the Rotary Centre for the Arts.

Prof. Daniel Pauly will wind up the two-day forum with his free and public keynote presentation, The Impact of Fisheries and Global Warming on Marine Ecosystems, with Some Emphasis on British Columbia. Pauly is a faculty member of Fisheries and Zoology, at UBC Vancouver and the principal investigator of the Sea Around Us Project. This event takes place at 7 p.m. at the Laurel Packinghouse.

Notable speakers include Peter Millard, general manager of science at New Zealand’s Land Care Research, who speaks on the opportunities, risks and role of research institutes in a session between 8:30 and 10:50 a.m. on September 16.

The $10/day registration fees include access to all of the daytime activities, plus snacks and lunch. The two keynote speaker evening events are free. To register go to http://braes.ok.ubc.ca/forum/registration/

Lael Parrott, director of Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience and Ecosystem Services (BRAES)

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Alexa Geddes, winner of the 2014 Pushor Mitchell LLP Gold Medal Leadership Prize.

2014 winner Alexa Geddes involved in local and global social activism projects

Alexa Geddes, graduating with a bachelor of science honours with a major in biology and a minor in psychology from UBC’s Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, is the winner of this year’s $10,000 Pushor Mitchell LLP Gold Medal Leadership Prize.

Now in its fifth year, the prize honours a top graduating student in the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences.

Geddes, from Kelowna, has a long list of civic engagement, leadership, and volunteerism activities. This March, UBC’s Okanagan campus launched the Peer Support Network, a project spearheaded by Geddes. The network serves as a resource centre for students, increasing awareness of mental health and wellness both on and off campus.

“Alexa’s passion and dedication to identifying needs within the UBC and broader community and then leading strategies to fill those gaps really set her apart from other applicants,” says Barbara Rutherford, Acting Dean of the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences. “Her ideas, initiatives, and countless volunteer hours really make a difference to students on our campus and others in the community who benefit from her passion and efforts.”

Geddes founded the UBCO War Child Club, is a board member for the Canadian Mental Health Association, and received a United Way Youth Initiative Grant to found the Elle Effect, a project designed to address the social pressures, self-esteem and body image stresses that girls face. She also served as a UBC Okanagan student senator, participated in a Go Global Exchange to Uppsala Universitat in Sweden, and has fundraised for sport and health organizations at home and abroad.

In 2013, Geddes received the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Award to study the healthcare experiences of Aboriginal peoples suffering from chronic pain. In 2012, she travelled to Zambia as a coordinator for Go Zambia, a project created to develop school soccer clubs for at-risk youth.

“Travelling to Zambia and being involved in Go Zambia profoundly influenced my future path and ignited my passion for collaborating with communities, understanding vulnerable populations, and developing healthy environments where everyone can thrive,” says Geddes.

“As an active member of the Kelowna business community, our law firm wanted to create a way to give back to the community and reward and encourage emerging leaders,” says Mark Baron, managing partner at Pushor Mitchell LLP.

“Over the past number of years we have come to appreciate what an integral position UBC has fulfilled not only as a training ground for our future leaders but also as an important economic engine for our region. Alexa has demonstrated incredible leadership and dedication to her community in her four years with UBC, and Pushor Mitchell LLP is honoured to recognize her.”

Geddes has been accepted into UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, and will begin studies at the Vancouver campus this fall. She plans to pursue a career in medicine and global health and apply her academic learning and service experience to help underserved populations, develop the capacity of others and be a health advocate for those in need both in Canada and overseas.

“My time at UBC has provided me with opportunities to grow and discover and I am so inspired by all of the amazing faculty and students here who supported me and pushed me every day,” says Geddes. “I now wish to use these experiences to make a difference in communities around the world. I am so grateful to UBC for all of the opportunities I have had here, and to Pushor Mitchell for recognizing and supporting me through this award which will help me finance my dream of becoming a physician.”

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Col. Chris Hadfield plays the song, Is Somebody Singing, with students at École KLO Middle School.

Canada’s most famous astronaut recounts times in space and on earth

How do you tune your guitar in space? Or sleep? Even breathe?

Col. Chris Hadfield makes a point during his talk to students at École KLO Middle School.

The questions came fast and furious for Chris Hadfield, “Canada’s spaceman,” during two appearances in the Okanagan Monday as part of UBC’s Distinguished Speaker Series. He was greeted like a rock star, first at École KLO Middle School, where more than 600 students thundered their approval. The adulation continued again later, when Hadfield delivered his story of life in space, electrifying 800 people packed into the Kelowna Community Theatre and sparking a standing ovation.

Hadfield, who commanded the International Space Station (ISS) for five months earlier this year, became a global sensation for his videos, tweets and music from space. Audiences estimated in the millions worldwide followed Hadfield’s exploits as he displayed breathtaking photos of Earth and demonstrated vignettes of life in space, such as what happens when you wring out a washcloth in a weightless environment.

Hadfield is a master story teller. From describing some of the 200-plus experiments performed aboard the ISS during his command, to tales about his personal life – ambitions to be an astronaut from age nine – Hadfield engaged his audience with a spell-binding narrative and video presentation.

Asked about his music from space, where Hadfield co-wrote and recorded the song Is Somebody Singing with Ed Robertson of the Bare Naked Ladies, the retired astronaut said he found music relaxing and therapeutic. It also added a dimension to space exploration that Hadfield treasured.

“To bring the arts into space was really something special,” Hadfield said. “We need to remind ourselves of our own humanity, whether it’s on earth or in space.”

His most fascinating time in space? Going on spacewalks Hadfield said, is an incomparable experience.

The astronaut told a heart-felt story about his wife Helene and three children and the struggle to make ends meet early in his space career, starting in the 1980s when he joined the Canadian space program. Hadfield, an engineer and accomplished test pilot, decided he would abandon his pursuit of space for the relative comfort and lucrative pay as a commercial airline pilot.

Helene told him to forgo any such notion. Not pursuing his lifelong dream, the regrets would make him miserable – and in turn make his family miserable, the astronaut’s wife said. So pursue the dream and we will find a way to get by, she advised him. Without his family’s support, Hadfield said he would never have accomplished everything he did.

Hadfield’s appearance in the Okanagan in the Distinguished Speaker Series was sponsored by an endowment from the late Irving K. Barber, after whom UBC’s Okanagan campus School of Arts and Sciences is named.

Col. Chris Hadfield describes the Australian outback as seen from outer space – and captured in his photo from the International Space Station, during his Distinguished Speaker Series talk.

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In response to overwhelming demand for the UBC Distinguished Speaker Series talk with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield this Monday, the university has opened a lecture theatre to simulcast the live event.

Approximately 150 seats remain open for the simulcast event. Ticket registration is free online at: http://dss-hadfieldsimulcast.eventbrite.ca

The simulcast takes place at 7 p.m. Monday October 7 in the Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research, 3247 University Way, UBC’s Okanagan campus, Kelowna. Check-in for the event starts at 6 p.m.

Paid parking is available for $3 in campus parking lots E, F and G. Ticket dispensers accept coins, Visa and MasterCard.

A campus map can be viewed at: http://universityrelations.ok.ubc.ca/hadfieldparking.pdf

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