2015 04 24-25 Science Atlantic Council materials
Spring 2015 Council Sessions April 24-25, 2015 Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia Fountain Commons (Building 26 on map) Friday, April 24 4:30-6:30 pm Executive Meeting (Executive members only), Alumni Boardroom 7:00-9:00 pm Council Session I (All members and guests), Alumni Boardroom 9:00-10:00 pm Reception (All members and guests), Room 210 Saturday, April 25 7:30-9:15 am Chairs’ Breakfast (Committee Chairs/reps only), Room 210 9:30-12:00 pm Council Session II (All members and guests), Alumni Boardroom Our Mission The mission of Science Atlantic is to advance post-secondary science education and research in Atlantic Canada by: • • • Providing opportunities that foster and enrich students Supporting and inspiring researchers and educators Using our collective voice to address important regional science issues Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 2 Acadia University Campus Map Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 3 Table of Contents Acadia University Campus Map..................................................................................................................... 3 Spring Council Agenda................................................................................................................................... 5 Session Participants ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Guest Presenters ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Low Hanging Fruit: Research Opportunities in Nova Scotia Wine Country ........................................8 Developing the Leadership of Tomorrow for Science and Society .....................................................9 Minutes of November 21-22, 2014, Council Session .................................................................................. 10 Science Atlantic 2014-15 Priorities.............................................................................................................. 15 Science Atlantic 2015-16 Priorities (draft) .................................................................................................. 16 Executive Director’s Highlights .................................................................................................................... 18 Atlantic Facilities and Research Equipment Database (AFRED) Update ..................................................... 19 Comparative Income Statement (draft) ...................................................................................................... 20 Comparative Balance Sheet (draft) ............................................................................................................. 22 Holding Account Balances as of March 31, 2015 (draft) ............................................................................. 23 2015-16 Budget (draft) ................................................................................................................................ 24 Notice of Motions........................................................................................................................................ 26 Committee Reports ..................................................................................................................................... 27 Animal Care .......................................................................................................................................27 Aquaculture & Fisheries ....................................................................................................................27 Biology ...............................................................................................................................................27 Chemistry ..........................................................................................................................................29 Computer Science .............................................................................................................................30 Earth Science .....................................................................................................................................30 Environment ......................................................................................................................................31 Mathematics & Statistics...................................................................................................................33 Physics & Astronomy .........................................................................................................................34 Psychology .........................................................................................................................................34 Hall of Fame.......................................................................................................................................35 Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 4 Spring Council Agenda April 24-25, 2015 Fountain Commons, Alumni Boardroom Acadia University, Wolfville, NS Day 1: Friday, April 24, 2015, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm 1. Welcome and Call to Order (2 min) 2. Approval of the Agenda (2 min) 3. Approval of the Minutes of the November 21-22, 2014, Council Meeting (p. 10) (2 min) 5. Business Arising from the Minutes • Animal Care Committee Chair (5 min) 6. Executive Committee Report • Review of 2014-15 Priorities (p. 15) (5 min) 7. Hall of Fame Report • 2015 Nominees for Approval (p. 35) (5 min) 8. Research Working Group Report (5 min) 9. Executive Director’s Report (p. 18) (5 min) 10. AFRED Update (p. 19) 11. Financial Report • Draft Financial Reports for the Year Ending March 31, 2015 (p. 20) • Holding Account Balances (p. 23) • Summary of Investment Performance • 2015-16 Draft Budget (p. 24) • Approval of Financial Reviewer for 2015-16 (10 min) 12. Discussion and Approval of 2015-16 Priorities (p. 16) (10 min) 13. Announcements from the Membership (20 min) 14. Presentation: Low Hanging Fruit: Research Opportunities in Nova Scotia Wine Country, Gillian Mainguy, Acting Director for the Atlantic Wine Institute at Acadia University (40 min) Adjourn for evening 9:00 pm Reception and Wine Tasting (Fountain Commons, Room 210) Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 5 (5 min) (116 min) Day 2: Saturday, April 25, 2015, 9:30 am – 12:00 pm 15. Committee Business • • Report from the Committee Chairs Meeting Questions Arising from the Circulated Reports (p. 27) 16. Approval of Proposed Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws (p. 26) (10 min) 17. Election of Interim Board of Directors (10 min) Break (10 min) 18. Presentation: Developing the Leadership of Tomorrow for Science and Society, Lara Gibson, Anne Marie Ryan, and Allison Schmidt (Dalhousie University) (90 min) 19. Other Business (5 min) 20. Date and Location of Next Meeting (2 min) Adjournment Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 6 (20 min) (147 min) Session Participants Dave McCorquodale Chris Moore Rob Raeside Steve Smith Robert van den Hoogen Dave MaGee Peter Williams Claude Caldwell Robert Gallant Jeff Ollerhead Brook Taylor Gordon Deveau Del Brodie Jacqueline Blundell Alyre Chiasson (Sat) Allison Walker (Fri) Bobby Ellis Ken Kent Milton Graves Carolyn Peach Brown Gordon MacDonald Carl Adams Rick Mehta Chair of Council; Dean Vice Chair; Dean Past Chair of Council Member-at-Large; Dean Member-at-Large; Dean Member-at-Large; Dean Institutional Representative Representing the Dean Institutional Representative Institutional Representative Institutional Representative Institutional Representative Institutional Representative Animal Care Chair Biology Chair Biology Representative Chemistry Representative Computer Science Chair Earth Science Chair Environment Chair Math & Stats Representative Physics & Astronomy Representative Psychology Representative CBU Dalhousie Acadia Saint Mary's St. FX UNB-F Acadia Dalhousie Ag. Campus Memorial, Grenfell Campus MtA MSVU NSERC-Atlantic St. Thomas MUN U de Moncton Acadia Acadia UNB-F Dalhousie UPEI UPEI St. FX Acadia Guest Speaker Guest Speaker Guest Speaker Guest Speaker Executive Director Acadia Dalhousie Dalhousie Dalhousie Science Atlantic Staff/Guests Gillian Mainguy (Fri) Lara Gibson (Sat) Anne Marie Ryan (Sat) Allison Schmidt (Sat) Lois Whitehead Regrets Trevor Avery (Acadia), Seth Crowell (Crandall), Andy Foster (MUN), David Gray (Dal-Ag), David Hornidge (MtA), Francis LeBlanc (UdeM), Debbie MacLellan (UPEI), John McKenna (St. FX), James Rusthoven (Crandall), Ruth Shaw (UNB-SJ), Aimee Surprenant (MUN), Ray Syvitski (NRC) Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 7 Guest Presenters Low Hanging Fruit: Research Opportunities in Nova Scotia Wine Country Gillian Mainguy Acting Director for the Atlantic Wine Institute at Acadia University Currently the Acting Director for the Atlantic Wine Institute at Acadia University, Gillian has been working to help link academic researchers with industry partners, and has been involved in the wine industry since her move to the province from Ontario in 2011. Her other wine related undertaking is as Manager for the Winery Association of Nova Scotia. Gillian also works part-time for Research & Graduate Studies at Acadia University as Project Manager for a multi-year research project on Tidal Energy. She holds a Masters degree in Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 8 Developing the Leadership of Tomorrow for Science and Society Lara Gibson, Instructor, Department of Biology, Dalhousie University Anne Marie Ryan, Senior Instructor, Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University Allison Schmidt, Instructor, Department of Biology, Dalhousie University In an increasingly complex world, the scientists of the future need to be vital voices and contributors to a vast array of issues facing humanity. Our students need opportunities to explore and practice what it means to be a leader, develop effective communication skills, and consider the nature of science in a broader sense, as well as grapple with ethical and political issues facing science today. The new Certificate in Science Leadership and Communication at Dalhousie University aims to engage students in these facets of science and offer them new perspectives on what it means to be a scientist in the 21st Century while honing their leadership and communication skills. In this presentation, we will take you through the context for the development of the Certificate, some of the strategies we employ in teaching the leadership class and the rationale behind them, as well as share our vision in moving forward. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 9 Minutes of November 21-22, 2014, Council Session Hotel Newfoundland, Hosted by Memorial University M I N U T E S (draft) Participants Rob Raeside Chris Moore Debbie MacLellan Andy Foster Dave MaGee Robert van den Hoogen Robert Gallant Richard Isnor Raj Lada Dave McCorquodale Jeff Ollerhead James Rusthoven Adam Sarty Ruth Shaw Aimee Surprenant Brook Taylor Peter Williams Cyr Couturier (Fri) Kurt Gampurl (Sat) Alyre Chiasson Chris Flinn Ken Kent Milton Graves Carolyn Peach Brown Mikhail Kotchetov Kris Poduska Lois Whitehead Ian Fleming Mark Abrahams (Sat) John Kershaw (Sat) Brent Myron (Sat) Chair of Council Vice Chair, Dean Treasurer, Acting Dean Member-at-Large Member-at-Large, Dean Member-at-Large, Dean Head of Science Institutional Representative Representing the Dean Dean Dean Institutional Representative Representing the Dean Dean A/Associate Dean; Representing Psychology Dean Dean Representing Aquaculture & Fisheries Representing Aquaculture & Fisheries Biology Chair; Representing the Dean Representing Chemistry Computer Science Chair Earth Science Chair Environment Chair Representing Math & Stats Representing Physics & Astronomy Executive Director Guest Speaker (Friday) Dean A/Associate Dean of Graduate Studies AFRED Advisory Committee Acadia Dal UPEI MUN UNB-F StFX MUN Grenfell Campus NSERC-Atlantic Dal Ag Campus CBU MtA Crandall SMU UNB-SJ MUN MSVU Acadia MUN Marine Institute MUN UdeM MUN UNB-F Dal UPEI MUN MUN MUN Ocean Sciences Centre MUN UNB MUN Regrets Carl Adams (Physics & Astronomy Chair), Del Brodie (STU), Trevor Avery (Aquaculture & Fisheries Chair), David Gray (Dalhousie Ag Campus), Francis LeBlanc (UdeM), Gordon MacDonald (Math & Stats Chair), John McKenna (Psychology Chair), Steve Smith (SMU), Ray Syvitski (Chemistry Chair) Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 10 1. Welcome and Call to Order Rob Raeside called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. 2. Approval of the Agenda Moved (McCorquodale/Graves) that the agenda be approved as circulated. Carried. 3. Special Presentation: Cold ocean and deep sea research: challenges and opportunities Ian Fleming, Professor of Ocean Sciences, Ocean Sciences Centre, Memorial University of Newfoundland, presented his experiences in establishing the Cold-ocean Deep-sea Research Facility. 4. Approval of the Minutes of the April 25-26, 2014, Council Meeting Moved (Ollerhead/McCorquodale) that the minutes of the April 25-26, 2014, Council meeting be approved as circulated. Carried. 5. Business Arising from the Minutes Rob reviewed business arising: i. Broadening Involvement in Student Conferences: The Biology conference has expanded to include biomed at Dalhousie. As well, APES+ (Atlantic Provinces Exercise Scientists) will be using CIAB this year. On the other hand, there is a decline in participation due to increased expenses and competing student priorities. Action: Committee Chairs will discuss at breakfast on Saturday ii. Animal Care Committee: A Chair has not yet been identified for the committee. Action: The Council Chair and Executive Director will call a meeting of the committee to elect a new Chair 6. Executive Committee Report i. Review of 2014-15 Priorities: Rob gave a brief update on the priorities for the year. ii. Executive Nominations: Chris Moore reported that Rob’s second term as Chair would end at the close of the meeting. One nominee for the position has been identified. Chris welcomed other nominations before Saturday’s vote. Action: Election of a new Council Chair will be held on Saturday iii. Hall of Fame: Lois Whitehead reminded Council that nominations were due January 31, 2015. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 11 7. Financial Report All financial reports are available in the Fall 2014 Council Session meeting package. i. Financial Review for the Year Ending March 31, 2014: Debbie MacLellan presented Grant Thornton’s final review. ii. Draft Six-Month Income Statement (September 30, 2014): Debbie presented the draft income statement for the first six months of the current fiscal year. iii. Holding Account Balances as of October 31, 2014: Debbie presented the draft Holding Account balances as of October 31, 2014. 8. Executive Director’s Report Lois reported that due to success in obtaining external funding, six students had completed full-time placements over the summer and fall, working on Conference-in-a-Box, Open Conference Systems, the Annual Report and website, and AFRED. A complete report is available in the Council package. 9. Governance Subcommittee Report Rob reviewed the progress made since the April 2014 discussion including the draft bylaws. Council members felt that adequate discussion and review had occurred. Action: A lawyer specializing in non-profit law will review the bylaws, which will be circulated for vote in Spring 2015 10. Research Working Group Report i. Update: Chris reported that the goal of the Research Working Group is to extend Science Atlantic’s activities beyond undergraduate activities by addressing research interests in ways that we can add value. Two projects have been completed since the last meeting: a compilation of Strategic Research Plans (http://scienceatlantic.ca/scienceinac/memorgs/srps/) and another of Institutional Repositories (http://scienceatlantic.ca/scienceinac/institutional-repositories/). ii. College of Reviewers: Chris asked for feedback on setting up a system for research grant writers to engage volunteer reviewers from other schools. Some felt this would be useful but were concerned about reciprocity. Could it increase potential for collaboration? Action: The RWG will further investigate the interest in this potential project 11. Presentation: Atlantic Facilities and Research Equipment Database (AFRED) Lois provided a background and summary of activities to date as the basis for Saturday’s discussion. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 12 The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. and reconvened Saturday morning at 9:15 a.m. Mark Abrahams, Kurt Gampurl, John Kershaw, and Brent Myron were welcomed to the meeting Saturday morning. 12. Committee Business i. Report from the Committee Chairs’ Meeting In addition to a round table regarding conferences and other committee business, four main items were discussed at the breakfast meeting: a. b. c. d. ii. iii. Faculty engagement in conference planning: Chairs and Deans should ensure that local faculty are involved in conference organizing and/or oversee student planning. As well, there should be high faculty participation from the host department. Increasing student attendance at conferences: This is challenging due to declining funding support and increased competition of other opportunities, part time jobs, etc. Feedback on governance structure: Chairs emphasized that their Saturday meeting was valuable and should be continued and supported under the new structure MSCS new conference name: In recognition of AARMS sponsorship, the conference now has the tagline “with major contributing sponsor, AARMS.” Questions Arising from the Circulated Reports: None Biology proposals: Alyre Chiasson summarized two projects the Biology Committee is interested in pursuing and asked for feedback and support from the Deans. a. b. Survey of students regarding their perception of the value of labs in their program Coordination of an “International Lab Day”, a multi-location lab activity involving social media and students from France, England, and Atlantic Canada Informal discussion indicated that labs could likely be used on Saturday for this project. Action: Alyre will speak to Richard Isnor about International Lab Day’s eligibility for PromoScience 13. Update from NSERC-Atlantic Richard Isnor gave an update on NSERC business and activities, including appointment of the new president, a summary of funding disbursed in Atlantic Canada, and the upcoming NSERC 2020 consultation. 14. Executive Member Election Chris Moore presented David McCorquodale as a nominee for the Council Chair position and called for other nominations from the floor. There being none, Dave was elected by acclamation. Thanks were extended to Rob for his years of service and leadership. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 13 15. Discussion: AFRED’s Potential Contribution to Science Atlantic’s Mission Lois, Debbie and Rob facilitated a discussion of AFRED’s alignment with Science Atlantic mission, its potential impact on Atlantic Canada, the feasibility of carrying out the project, and next steps. Moved (Moore/__________) that Science Atlantic further support, in principle, the development of AFRED. Carried. Action: Lois will prepare an NSERC-Atlantic Regional Opportunities Fund application to advance the project 16. Other Business Rob thanked Memorial for hosting the meetings. 17. Date and Location of Next Meetings The April 2015 Council meeting will be hosted by Acadia University. The November 2015 Council meetings will be held at Cape Breton University, in conjunction with the meeting of the Deans of Arts & Social Sciences and Research. There being no other business, moved (Lada) that the meeting be adjourned. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 14 Science Atlantic 2014-15 Priorities (Approved April 2014) ** Success in achieving these goals is dependent on member commitment and/or outside resources (e.g., IT development, summer student, online service) Area 1: Improve Involvement with and Support of Organization • Develop new governance model and bylaws (Subcommittee/Council members) • Continue Hall of Fame program Communication-specific: • Create and distribute Annual Report and Yearbook (student/Lois) • Continue use of Virtual Commons (Deans/Committee Chairs) • Continue newsletter/Twitter (Lois) • Improve committee member orientation/communications (Chairs/Lois/student) Area 2: Develop Programs and Services • Implement Animal Care Peer Reviewer Database • Promote and Launch AFRED (RWG/Lois/student) • Improve conference delivery o Assess student involvement and conference capacity (Committee Chairs) o Aim for sustainability budgeting o Increase awareness and use of Conference-in-a-Box (Deans/Chairs) o Increase Committee Chair oversight of conference planning (Chairs) o Refine conference CIAB planning resources and conference template (Lois/student/with input from organizers) Area 3: Stabilize Resources • Continue to modify financial model o Break-even model for conference funding (sponsors, cost-based registration fees) o Member fee structure o Awards funding o Fundraising • Assess staff needs (ongoing) • Permanent office space Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 15 Science Atlantic 2015-16 Priorities (draft) (Draft for discussion by Council, April 24-25, 2015) Success is dependent on member commitment and outside resources (e.g., IT development, summer student, ACOA funding, online service) as well as staff implementation. Area 1: Improve Involvement With and Support of Organization 1. Implement new governance model and bylaws 2. Improve member orientation and communications, including updating Virtual Commons 3. Continue to recognize member contributions 4. Proactively support organization to Member institution senior administrators and to nonmembers Actions: Membership, Board, Committee Chairs, Faculty i) Support new Board of Directors ii) Develop and implement support policy for Committee Chairs iii) Nominate members to Hall of Fame iv) Become familiar with new Virtual Commons (once established) v) Host/participate in annual campus reps meetings (Deans) Actions: Staff i) Launch new website ii) Determine and implement new software for Virtual Commons iii) Create and distribute Annual Report, Yearbook, newsletter iv) Develop direct student communications (Twitter, Facebook, special notices) Area 2: Develop Programs and Services 1. Conferences o Improve conference delivery o Assess student involvement and conference capacity Actions: Committee Chairs, Deans, Conference Organizers, Faculty i) Committee Chairs/faculty advisors provide advice and support regularly to conference organizers ii) Provide recommendations to staff to improve Conference-in-a-Box iii) Support and encourage students to attend conferences Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 16 Actions: Staff i) Continue to revise and improve CIAB and OCS based on user feedback ii) Continue to assess and improve use of PayPal for conference fee payment iii) Promote conferences via poster, website, newsletter; circulate conference information to student societies as possible iv) Coordinate communication with award winners and sponsors; develop Awards Yearbook 2. AFRED Actions: Membership, Board, Committee Chairs i) Encourage colleagues to make use of the database ii) Provide connections to staff Actions: Staff i) Fulfill project deliverables 3. Animal Care Peer Reviewer Database Area 3: Use Resources Effectively 1. Assess value provided by organization 2. Demonstrate transparency and efficiency Actions: Membership, Committee Chairs, Conference Organizers i) Review/monitor member fee structure ii) Identify fundraising opportunities iii) Follow sustainability model for conference funding (cost-based registration fees; solicitation of sponsors; surplus for Holding Account and student travel subsidies) Actions: Staff i) Implement budget as approved by Membership ii) Research funding models for AFRED sustainability iii) Identify fundraising and grant options Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 17 Executive Director’s Highlights Winter 2015 1. Fundraising for 2014-15 Our income was substantially increased in 2014-15 through fundraising and grants. In addition to personal contributions, we obtained six federal and provincial student grants and assistance from Springboard Atlantic and NSERC-Atlantic for AFRED, for a total of over $41,000. Personal Donations Student Grants AFRED Support $ 2,514.82 $22,562.50 $15,944.00 TOTAL $41,021.32 2. Conference Support i) Conference-in-a-Box (CIAB) and Open Conference System Software (OCS): Based on conference organizer feedback and questions, we continue to work on improving the information provided through CIAB as well as customizing OCS, our conference website and registration software. ii) PayPal: In 2014-15, we provided support for three conferences to collect registration fees online. PayPal is a cost-efficient service but somewhat limited in how it can be integrated with OCS. We will continue to refine our set-up to improve this service for 2015-16 conference organizers. 3. Staffing We employed six students on work terms during the first two terms of 2014-15. During the winter, three students continued on a very part-time basis to support conferences through website support, PayPal, and award winner recognition webpages. With partial funding from Nova Scotia’s new “Graduate to Opportunity” grant program, we will be hiring a new graduate in a full-time position in early June. Jasmine Golf, a Dalhousie Commerce student, has completed two co-op terms at Science Atlantic and will join us after she graduates as our new Communications and Creative Content Coordinator. Jasmine will be responsible for online and print communications including the website, Student Awards Yearbook, and Annual Report, as well as social media and communications directly with students. Secondly, pending the results of the ACOA funding application submitted in late March, I anticipate hiring an 18-month, full-time project manager for AFRED. Prasad Rajandran, the Acadia computer science student who has been developing the AFRED database over two co-op placements, will also be hired to complete the technical development and testing of AFRED 2.0. Finally, Emily Cross, a Dalhousie computer science student, will be returning full-time for the summer to continue developing CIAB, OCS, and our integration with PayPal. Respectfully submitted, Lois Whitehead, Executive Director Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 18 Atlantic Facilities and Research Equipment Database (AFRED) Update The purpose of AFRED is to increase the use of specialized research equipment in our region by connecting potential users with the facilities that host the equipment. As a spinoff, this project will also increase interaction between industry and academia through supporting infrastructure needs in the private sector. The first version of AFRED was developed in 2013. In 2014, the project was expanded based on user feedback and interest from other groups regarding its value as a tool for industry as well as academia. Phase 2: The goals of Phase 2 are: i) a redesigned online database with a more robust and complete framework to allow for additional data capture and a more advanced graphical user interface that will provide an improved user experience, and ii) development and implementation of a sustainable engagement strategy to connect with industry, small business, post-secondary institutions, medical facilities, industry associations and support agencies across Atlantic Canada. Application to ACOA: An application to ACOA for $160,000 over three years was submitted in March 2015, with results expected in May. Support from NSERC-Atlantic and others will offset the cost difference until AFRED becomes self-sustaining in 2018. Funding will support a full-time project manager for 18 months, including significant travel, promotion and marketing, and further development of the database. Ongoing interaction with Springboard Atlantic, BioNB, and others has been instrumental in the proposal’s development, and 18 letters of support were provided to ACOA with the funding request. Anticipated Outcomes: At the conclusion of Phase 2 (Fall 2018), it is anticipated that AFRED will be recognized as the go-to source for information on research infrastructure in Atlantic Canada. Through the comprehensive engagement efforts of the project manager, industry, SMEs, researchers, and others involved in R&D in the region will be aware of the tool, both as a way to publicize their own infrastructure and as a resource to seek access to equipment they do not own. Sustainability: Ongoing upkeep of AFRED should be modest, requiring periodic contact with facility managers to ensure accuracy of the data, awareness of R&D activity in the region to identify new items for inclusion, and outreach and promotional activity. An annual subscription fee for institutions to list equipment is the currently proposed method of sustainability; this and other funding models will be researched and assessed by the project manager. Next Steps: Upon confirmation of ACOA’s support, we will advertise for and hire a project manager, and our programmer, Prasad Rajandran, will begin work on the project full time for six months. Respectfully submitted, Lois Whitehead, Executive Director Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 19 Comparative Income Statement (draft) 2014-15 2013-14 Actual Budget Actual Budget (Draft) (Approved) (Final) (Approved) REVENUE Income Membership Fees 107,625 Donations & Fundraising Employment Grants Award Sponsorships AFRED income Miscellaneous Income Total Income 98,520 98,520 2,515 2,000 2,700 2,000 22,563 10,470 7,255 4,165 7,075 1,750 6,800 3,450 13,344 - - - 400 $ 107,000 153,522 1,200 $ 122,420 4,261 $ 119,536 1,200 $ 109,335 Investment Income Bank Interest & Credits Investment Income* Gain on Sale of Investments 67 100 42 100 2,000 2,000 5,344 1,000 0 0 746 0 Total Investment Income $ 2,067 $ 2,100 $ 6,132 $ 1,100 TOTAL REVENUE $ 155,589 $ 124,520 $ 125,668 $ 110,435 EXPENSE Committee Expense Animal Care 0 0 0 0 Aquaculture & Fisheres 1,100 1,100 1,100 1,100 Biology 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,100 Chemistry 1,144 800 1,002 600 Computer Science 1,600 1,600 1,600 1,600 Earth Science 412 800 800 800 Environment 400 1,100 1,100 1,100 Math & Stats 1,600 1,600 1,600 1,600 800 1,600 0 1,600 Physics & Astronomy Psychology 2,000 Subtotal Committee Expenses Student Travel for NL Conferences Total Committee Expense 1,600 11,056 1,000 $ 12,056 1,200 12,200 1,000 $ 13,200 1,500 10,402 0 $ 10,402 * Investment income is calculated during the formal financial review; amount for 2014-15 will exceed budget Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 20 12,000 1,000 $ 13,000 Comparative Income Statement (draft) (continued) 2014-15 2013-14 Actual Budget Actual Budget (Draft) (Approved) (final) (Approved) Awards Expense Research Award 4,225 3,600 3,875 3,600 Science Communication Award 1,300 1,800 1,825 1,800 Other Awards Total Awards Expense 5,650 $ 11,175 550 $ 5,950 4,900 $ 10,600 1,650 $ 7,050 General & Administrative Expense Employee Salaries & Benefits 59,863 60,000 58,983 67,000 Casual/Student Salaries 59,244 30,000 28,944 8,000 402 400 35 400 Professional Development Travel & Meetings (Staff/Chair) 1,996 3,500 3,415 3,300 Accounting & Legal 3,401 3,500 3,867 3,500 Banking Fees 0 0 0 0 52 100 81 100 Dues & Fees 130 130 130 100 Insurance 756 756 781 781 Courier & Postage 405 200 225 100 Phone, Fax & Photocopying 1,106 1,400 1,353 1,300 Supplies & Stationery 1,061 500 289 300 Website & Online Communications -377 1,500 1,316 2,500 Technology ( Equip, Software, etc.) 1,440 200 88 200 Translation 225 750 386 750 Promotions & Marketing 450 1,000 1,034 1,000 Volunteer Recognition 207 200 81 200 Strategic Planning (2014-15: Governance review) 0 1,000 0 600 50th Anniversary 0 0 -11 0 Miscellanous 0 200 361 200 AFRED Miscellanous 0 - - Fundraising Expense - Total General & Admin. Expense $ 130,361 $ 105,336 $ 101,359 $ 90,331 TOTAL EXPENSE $ 153,592 $ 124,486 $ 122,362 $ 110,381 NET INCOME $ 1,997 $ 34 $ 3,306 $ 54 Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 21 Comparative Balance Sheet (draft) ASSETS Current Assets Investment Group 00379 Investors Group 0087 PayPal Account Short Term Investments Long Term Investments Accounts Receivable HST Input Tax Credit Total Receivable Prepaid Expense Total Current Assets As at 31/03/2015 As at 31/03/2014 As at 31/03/2013 As at 31/03/2012 (Draft) (Final) (Final) (Final) 38,874 0 75 11,714 99,373 51,437 3,789 $ TOTAL ASSETS 9,947 0 59,714 105,464 3,889 3,155 55,226 16,307 221,569 $ 0 0 137,587 2,877 1,991 7,044 14,624 196,793 $ 28,359 576 0 111,835 3,094 726 4,868 14,095 156,550 $ 3,820 13,547 158,138 $ 221,569 $ 196,793 $ 156,550 $ 158,138 0 67,189 4,566 4,378 2,947 3,825 396 161 4,298 396 5,109 5,082 1,394 1,550 1,570 25,441 10,850 1,592 1,537 3,825 946 111 3,701 946 5,609 5,632 2,594 0 0 22,385 16,050 -1,582 404 17,988 946 2,111 3,984 946 3,673 4,268 3,794 0 $ 0 0 101,291 $ 0 0 64,353 $ 0 2,210 77,176 $ 101,291 $ 64,353 $ 77,176 LIABILITY Current Liabilities Bank indebtedness Accounts Payable Accrued Liabilites Holding Acct - Aquaculture & Fisheries Holding Acct - Biology Holding Acct - Chemistry Holding Acct - Computer Science Holding Acct - Earth Science Holding Acct - Enviroment Holding Acct - Math & Stats Holding Acct - Physics & Astronomy Holding Acct - Psychology Holding Acct - Conference Processes Holding Acct - Student Awards Holding Acct - conference fees from PayPal 50th Anniversary Fund Deferred Revenue Total Current Liabilities $ 0 100,685 2,050 4,480 3,522 2,325 1,873 161 2,332 1,873 5,109 5,082 1,394 0 11,215 0 2,600 144,699 TOTAL LIABILITY $ 144,699 EQUITY Members' Surplus Retained Earnings - Previous Year WJ Blundon Lecture Fund Comprenhensive 1* Total Restricted Assets Current Income Total retained Surplus ( Loss ) 76,870 1,151 3,151 70,899 3,151 -2,077 $ 78,021 $ 95,502 $ 92,196 $ TOTAL EQUITY $ 78,021 $ 95,502 $ 92,196 $ 80,961 LIABILITIES AND EQUITY $ 221,569 Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 1,151 89,045 3,151 1,074 8,988 80,961 * calculated during financial review Page 22 92,351 3,151 $ 196,793 3,151 $ 156,550 $ 158,137 Holding Account Balances as of March 31, 2015 (draft) Aquaculture & Fisheries Biology Chemistry Computer Science Earth Science Environment Math & Stats Physics & Astronomy Psychology WJ Blundon Lecture Fund Total Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 23 2014-15 (Draft) 4,480 3,522 2,325 1,873 161 2,332 1,873 5,109 5,082 1,151 $27,907 2013-14 (Final) 4,378 2,947 3,825 396 161 4,298 396 5,109 5,082 3,151 $29,743 2015-16 Budget (draft) (for review and approval by Council, April 2015) 2015-16 2014-15 Budget Actual Budget (Draft) (Draft) (Approved) REVENUE Income Membership Fees 118,000 Donations & Fundraising 107,625 107,000 2,000 2,515 2,000 Employment Grants 10,415 22,563 10,470 Award Sponsorships 1,750 7,075 1,750 ACOA 85,826 - - AFRED income 15,000 13,344 - 3,900 400 1,200 Miscellaneous Income Total Income 236,891 $ 153,522 $ 122,420 Investment Income Bank Interest & Credits $ Investment Income* Gain on Sale of Investments 100 67 100 4,000 2,000 2,000 0 Total Investment Income TOTAL REVENUE 0 0 4,100 $ 2,067 $ 2,100 240,991 $ 155,589 $ 124,520 EXPENSE Committee Expense Animal Care 0 0 0 Aquaculture & Fisheres 1,100 1,100 1,100 Biology 2,000 2,000 2,000 800 1,144 800 1,600 1,600 1,600 Chemistry Computer Science Earth Science 800 412 800 Environment 1,100 400 1,100 Math & Stats 1,600 1,600 1,600 Physics & Astronomy 1,600 800 1,600 Psychology 1,600 2,000 Subtotal Committee Expenses 12,200 Student Travel for NL Conferences Total Committee Expense 1,000 $ 13,200 1,600 11,056 12,200 1,000 $ 12,056 1,000 $ * Investment income is calculated during the formal financial review; amount for 2014-15 will exceed budget Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 24 13,200 2015-16 Budget (draft) (continued) 2015-16 2014-15 2014-15 Budget Actual Budget (Draft) (Draft) (Approved) Awards Expense Research Award 3,600 4,225 3,600 Science Communication Award 1,400 1,300 1,800 350 5,650 Other Awards Total Awards Expense $ 5,350 $ 11,175 550 $ 5,950 General & Administrative Expense Employee Salaries & Benefits 88,500 59,863 60,000 Casual/Student Salaries 16,995 59,244 30,000 AFRED Staffing 74,950 - - 600 402 400 Professional Development Travel & Meetings (Staff/Chair) Accounting & Legal Banking Fees 1,996 3,500 6,500 3,401 3,500 0 0 0 Fundraising Expense 100 52 100 Dues & Fees 130 130 130 Insurance 756 756 756 Courier & Postage 400 405 200 Phone, Fax & Photocopying 2,000 1,106 1,400 Supplies & Stationery 1,000 1,061 500 Website & Online Communications 800 -377 1,500 Technology ( Equip, Software, etc.) 2,200 1,440 200 Translation 3,750 225 750 Promotions & Marketing 5,000 450 1,000 200 207 200 Strategic Planning (2014-15: Governance review) 0 0 1,000 50th Anniversary 0 0 0 200 0 200 8,985 0 - Volunteer Recognition Miscellanous AFRED Miscellanous Total General & Admin. Expense 225,566 $ 130,361 $ 105,336 TOTAL EXPENSE $ 244,116 $ 153,592 $ 124,486 NET INCOME $ -3,125 $ 1,997 $ 34 Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 25 12,500 Science Atlantic Notice of Motions (April 7, 2015) This Notice indicates the intention to put forward a series of motions at the Spring Science Atlantic Council meeting to be held April 24-25, 2015, at Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. These motions come as a result of a review of Science Atlantic’s governance structure and a decision to incorporate under the federal Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (2009). The (Proposed) Articles of Incorporation can be found at http://sciatl.org/Apr2015Notice. Motion 1: To adopt the proposed Articles of Incorporation (pages 2-3 of above link) Moved that the Articles of Incorporation be approved as circulated. Motion 2: To adopt the proposed bylaws (pages 4-15 of above link) Moved that the bylaws drafted in accordance with the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (2009) be approved and filed with Corporations Canada. [Note: These bylaws do not negate previously approved policies: http://scienceatlantic.ca/about/constitutionandpolicies/] Motion 3: To rescind the current Constitution (http://scienceatlantic.ca/about/constitutionandpolicies/constitution/) Moved that the Constitution of Science Atlantic, approved April 24-25, 1981, and most recently amended April 29, 2011, be rescinded, and that the bylaws approved in Motion 2 be the governing charter for the organization. Motion 4: To empower an interim board of directors Moved that an interim board of directors be elected and empowered to manage the business of the organization until election of the Board of Directors at the November 2015 Members’ meeting. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 26 Committee Reports Animal Care On Feb 10th, 2015, the Animal Care Committee had a meeting (via teleconference) whereby we voted for a new chair. I had mentioned my interest in the post and was voted in during the meeting. In attendance were: • • • • • Myself (Jacqueline Blundell, MUN) Etienne Dako, U de Moncton (joined part way through) Ken Oakes, Cape Breton University David Bruce, Mount Allison Dawn Miner, Dal Ag. Campus It is my pleasure to be the chair of the Animal Care Committee for Science Atlantic. Since then, we have had several emails covering topics such as the procedures involved in keeping track of animals used, the possibility of having an annual committee meeting (in person), and the Scientific Merit Reviewer Database. It is my goal to have regular teleconferences with members of the committee regarding these issues, as well as any other topics that come up. Respectfully submitted, Jacqueline Blundell, Chair Aquaculture & Fisheries No update. Biology Committee Meeting The Biology Committee of Science Atlantic met on March 6, 2015 for their regular business meeting that takes place on the evening marking the commencement of the joint Biology and Aquaculture and Fisheries Conferences, held this year at the Université de Moncton. The meeting was well attended with only one representative unable to participate. The committee was appreciative of the support from Council regarding the international laboratory day. Richard Isnor, via email correspondence, felt that this project would qualify under NSERC’s PromoScience grant program. Once final session exams are completed, Alyre Chiasson and Kevin Shaughnessy will work on the first draft of a PromoScience proposal to be circulated to committee members, with the final version going to the executive of Science Atlantic for approval before submission. We will also be contacting the NSERC grant officer to ensure that our application meets both the objectives and conditions of the program. There has been no change in committee membership since the fall meeting. Cory Bishop from StFX is still temporarily replacing Russell Wyeth who is on sabbatical. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 27 Conference The Joint Biology (Bio) and Aquaculture and Fisheries Conferences (A&F) were held at the Université de Moncton from March 6th to 8th, 2015. There were 137 faculty and students in attendance, as follows: Faculty; 24 (Bio), 11 (A&F) and Students; 67 (Bio), 33 (A&F). There were 21 oral and 28 poster presentations in Biology and 28 oral and four posters (poster presenters registered in A&F but presented in Bio) in A&F. This represents the highest numbers of posters at least in recent years. In addition there were two guest speakers, Dr. Sean Miles, Canada Research Chair in Agricultural Genetic Diversity, Dalhousie University, and Dr. Tiago Hori, Genomics Department, The Center for Aquaculture Technologies Canada, PEI. Total revenues were $13,400 with expenditures of $10,270.02 for a positive balance of $3,129.98. A full breakout of revenues and expenses will be available in the final conference report. Savings were made in several areas. Organisers did not offer an onsite breakfast this year but opted for hotels that had continental breakfast included. No money was spent on promotional materials. We purchased materials to make mounting stands for the posters rather than renting which would have been at approximately three times the cost. Complete printed copies of the program were only provided upon request, with an electronic copy being the default. Wireless was available to all participants as part of the registration package. However, everyone had a printed copy of the program schedule. Notepads and pens were only provided to the judges. Foods services changed over the summer and offered better pricing for meals. We encouraged people to go green, and bring their own coffee mug or water bottle for the health breaks. A water fountain was provided instead of bottled water. A number of difficulties occurred in the preparation of the conference using Conference-in-a-Box. The organisers offer the following areas for improvement. Students should not be able to submit an abstract without registering. Students that indicate that they are presenting should be required to submit their abstract as part of the registrations process. We had registered participants that did not submit their abstracts and abstracts submitted by individuals that were not registered. We recommend that the registration report and the papers report (list of abstracts), be combined as a single report or at minimum the following fields should be added to the papers report to indicate if the abstract is for a poster or an oral presentations and in which stream as some A&F registrants gave posters in the biology section. It is recommended that in the case of group payments, the persons making the payment provide the list of names within the website software and not as a separate email. The latter was frequently forgotten. These may be the result of administrators making the payment rather than the SA representative and perhaps were not aware of this requirement. In the case of individual payments there should be the request for the name of the person for whom the payment is being made. We had payments made for individuals attending the conference by persons not attending the conference. We suggest that the “other” column be removed, as it was misused in particular to list names of students in an attempt to make a single group registration using a single name. This produces a host of major problems due to missing information and lack of adherence to the format of all the remaining entries. There were also problems with truncated abstracts, which appear to be caused by occurrence of scientific names in italics when enclosed in parenthesis. The committee organisers are more than willing to assist Science Atlantic in correcting these problems. This would go a long way to reducing the numerous emails required to obtaining missing information and clarification on provided information. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 28 Award Winners Science Atlantic Undergraduate Research Award Oral, first place: Laryssa Halat (St. Francis Xavier University) Oral, second place: Kathleen Hipwell (Saint Mary's University) Oral, third place: Gregory Haller (Mount Saint Vincent University) Poster, first place: Zhengcheng He (University of Prince Edward Island) Poster, second place: Zoe O'Malley (University of New Brunswick, Fredericton) Poster, third place: Sasha Power (Saint Mary's University) Poster, honourable mention: Brianna Burns (Mount Saint Vincent University) Poster, honourable mention: Samantha Crowley (Dalhousie University) Science Atlantic Communication Award, sponsored by Canadian Science Publishing Laryssa Halat (St. Francis Xavier University) Botany Award, sponsored by the Canadian Botanical Association Oral: Michael Buckland-Nicks (Saint Mary's University) Poster: Hardy Strom (University of Prince Edward Island) Respectfully submitted, Alyre Chiasson, Chair Chemistry Next Conference Information 40th ChemCon (Catalyzing Community) May 21-23rd (Thurs-Sat), 2015, will be held at UNB Fredericton, Adam Dyker will be the faculty representative. • • • preliminary budget has been submitted mail out to all chemistry departments and biochemistry web site registration operational Speaker Tour The Speaker Tour Coordinator for 2014-15 was Sara Eisler UNB Fredericton (CIC/SciAtlantic). Two speakers were scheduled: • • Glen's Briand: o April 9 UdeM o March 26, CBU o March 25, StFX o March 19, Acadia visit was cancelled due to weather and is being rescheduled Christopher Rowley: o October 24, UNBF o October 23, MTA o October 22, UPEI Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 29 Holding Account The Committee approved a request of $1,000 from the 2015 College Chemistry Canada Conference organizers and will be recognized as the sponsor of the keynote speaker. The conference will be held in Halifax June 4-6, the first time it has ever been held in Nova Scotia. Respectfully submitted, Ray Syvitski, Chair Computer Science No update. Earth Science Conference and Award Winners The 64th AUGC was held at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton on October 23-25, 2014. Unlike the previous conference, the organizing committee this year used the online registration procedures and worked closely with Science Atlantic throughout the year. Please encourage your committees to do so also. The conference included four field trips: Dave Lentz (UNB) and Kay Thorne (NBDEM), led a trip to Mount Pleasant Sn-Zn-Cu-In and W-Mo-Bi deposits in southwest New Brunswick; David Keighley (UNB) led a trip exploring the geology of the McCully Gas Field near Sussex, New Brunswick; Adrian Park (UNB) led a trip to the Saint John area and the Partridge Island Block; and Douglas Hall (UNB), John Spray (UNB), Lucy Thompson (UNB), Suporn Boonsue (UNB), and Cliff Shaw (UNB) offered students a tour of the various analytical facilities in Earth Sciences at UNB. Thanks to all those offering trips. A total of 12 papers and nine posters were presented. The AUGC Paper Award for best overall presentation was award to Jillian Kendrick (Dal). The CSPG Award for best oral presentation was awarded to Dillon White (SMU). The Imperial Oil Award for best poster was awarded to Haley Leblanc (SMU). The Frank Shea Memorial Award for the best presentation in Economic Geology was awarded to Nikolett Kovacs (MUN). The CSEG Award for best geophysical presentation was awarded to Andrew Blagdon (MUN). We await the final financial results of AUGC but the proposed budget was almost $18,000, up slightly from the previous year and preliminary results indicate breaking even within error. Sponsors included Imperial Oil, Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, ExxonMobil, Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists, University of New Brunswick’s Department of Geology and Students Union, Trevalli Mining Corporation, Wolfden Rersources Corporation, Engineers/Geoscientist New Brunswick, Science Atlantic, and Atlantic Geoscience Society. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 30 Next Conference The next AUGC will be held at St. Mary’s University in Halifax at yet to be announced dates in late October 2015, hosted by the D Hope-Simpson Geological Club. Speaker Tour The 2014-15 Speakers Tour, co-sponsored by the Atlantic Geoscience Society, happened in the winter with two speakers. Chris McFarlane (UNB-F) presented two talks (Talk 1: Hydrothermal alteration: the role and record of coupled dissolution-reprecipitation; Talk 2: From grain scale to mountain scale: timing and timescales of evolving orogenic processes) on March 9 at St FX, March 23 at MUN, and March 27 at Dal. Deanne van Rooyen (CBU) presented Uncluttering and reactivating and the western Laurentian basement on February 9 at UNB, February 10 at SMU, and March 10 at Acadia. Committee Membership No meeting of the committee was held at AUGC as no members confirmed their attendance. This is the third year that insufficient committee members have attended AUGC, a condemnation of both faculty attendance at AUGC from non-host universities and that the membership of the committee is not the same as those most regular attenders of AUGC. The committee last met on January 31, 2015 in conjunction with the Atlantic Geoscience Society Annual Colloquium in Sackville, NB where committee business was thoroughly discussed and continuing officers were confirmed after a call for a volunteer to replace the soon-to-retire chair was made without success. The next annual meeting of the committee will be held in Wolfville, NS in conjunction with the AGS meeting on February 6, 2016. With luck an interim meeting can be held in conjunction with AUGC at SMU in October. Milton Graves (Dalhousie) remains as chair but is actively recruiting a replacement to be in place before his June retirement. Jacob Hanley (SMU) continues as Speakers Tour Coordinator. Respectfully submitted, Milton Graves, Chair Environment Conference and Award Winners The March 13-15, 2015, Environment student conference was held at Saint Mary’s University, organized by an excellent team of students under the supervision of Dr. Tony Charles. There were 62 people registered for the conference, with representation from eight universities from all four Atlantic Provinces. This included ten faculty members, some of who were from SMU but normally do not attend Science Atlantic Environment conferences. There were 15 oral presentations and 12 poster presentations made by undergraduate and graduate students. All the presentations were very high quality and seven awards were given. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 31 • • • • • • • Oral Research Award (undergraduate): Nicole Shanahan, Grenfell Campus, Memorial University Oral Research Award (graduate): Sarah MacLeod, Dalhousie University Poster Research Award (undergraduate): Marley Geddes, Dalhousie University Poster Research Award (graduate): Marie-France Jones, UNB-Fredericton Communication Award (oral): Emily Peters, Saint Mary's University Communication Award (poster): Michael Buckland-Nicks, Saint Mary's University KC Irving Environmental Science Centre Award: Monique Goguen, UNB-Fredericton Two excellent keynote addresses were presented by Elder Albert Marshall, Eskasoni First Nation, Cape Breton, NS, and Marty Janowitz, Vice President, Sustainable Development, Stantec, Dartmouth, NS. The conference was partially funded by SMU’s School of the Environment in conjunction with their Sustainability Week activities. The conference was able to generate a surplus and some funds helped to pay the registration fees for Memorial University students. The Environment Committee also agreed that some funds from the Environment Committee Holding Account could be used to cover some of the travel expenses for students from Memorial University. Université de Moncton will host the next Science Atlantic Environment Conference, which will be held on the second weekend of March 2016. Committee Meeting The committee met virtually on November 17, 2014 with seven members present and again on March 13, 2015 at the conference at SMU, with five committee members present. Lois Whitehead, Executive Director, attended both meetings. While at both meetings the need for a Vice-Chair was discussed, there has still not been any volunteer for the position. While the Committee Holding Account had been built up over the last few years from conference surpluses, this decreased substantially last year with the necessity of covering the deficit from the March 2014 conference at St FX. Use of the holding funds to help Memorial University students attend the March 2015 conference further drew down the funds. While the Holding Account is still slightly over $2,000, the Committee discussed the necessity of seeking external funding for conferences either from the host university or other sources. The Committee discussed that in the future the cost for Memorial students to attend the conference could be built into the conference registration fees. Discussion at both meetings also concerned the advantages and disadvantages of joining with the Biology and Fisheries & Aquaculture conference. Some felt that it was better to have a separate Environment conference as it was not then overwhelmed by the dominant themes of the larger conferences. Another felt that it made it simpler to organize logistically. Others felt that there was an advantage to joining with a larger conference as it was more of a special event for students. While the Committee decided to continue separately for next year, discussion concerned strategies to encourage students to attend the Environment conference. Some university departments overlap with both Biology and Fisheries & Aquaculture conferences and it is difficult for a department to send students to more than one conference. Besides obtaining enough funding to have free student registration, another suggestion was for professors to make it mandatory for their Honours students to present at the conference. It was also suggested that students who have done a fourth year major project or Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 32 Directed Studies courses could be encouraged to present their work. It is also important to make francophone students aware that they are able to attend and present their research in French. With the help of a summer student, Lois said that the conference web site template will be updated in the summer. It will then be bilingual. Conference abstracts can be submitted in either French or English. Other web site updates will also be made at that time. At the March 2015 meeting, Lois explained the proposed changes for the Science Atlantic Governing Council which were discussed at the last meeting in November and will be voted on at the Council meeting in April. The Committee is supportive of the changes. Lois explained that some other committees are currently or discussing creating an electronic journal of abstracts of the presentations at the annual conference. The Committee discussed the merits of doing this and felt that the current practice of putting the conference booklet on the Environment Committee web site was sufficient at this time. Committee Membership Nelson O'Driscoll Daniel Rainham Martin Mkandawire Norm Catto Ben Phillips Raj Lada Heather Major Acadia University DAL-HRM CBU MUN MTA DAL-TRURO UNB-SJ Linda Campbell Harunur Rashid Hugo Beltrami Alain Patoine Van Lantz Carolyn Peach Brown (Chair) SMU MUN-SWGC St.FX UdeM UNB-F UPEI Respectfully submitted, Carolyn Peach Brown, Chair Mathematics & Statistics Conference Our last conference was held in October 2014 at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John. Information on that meeting was made in our last report to Council. Next Conference Information The next conference will be held in October 2015 at Acadia University. Committee Business Our conference in October 2014 ran a surplus and so the Mathematics and Statistics Committee has agreed to fund an Undergraduate Student Research Session at the Summer Meeting of the Canadian Mathematical Society. That meeting is being held at UPEI in June 2015. The session will be advertised as sponsored by the Science Atlantic Mathematics and Statistics committee. Respectfully submitted, Gordon MacDonald, Chair Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 33 Physics & Astronomy This past February, David Hornidge was elected Chair of the Physics and Astronomy Committee. Conference This year the Atlantic Universities Physics and Astronomy Conference (AUPAC) was held at Mount Allison. There were 104 student delegates, 11 professors, and nine graduate fair representatives. Overall budget was close to $12,000 with a surplus of $500. The temperature averaged 253 KELVIN! But the hospitality was much warmer. Dr Jaymie Matthews from UBC gave an excellent keynote presentation on Saturday night, and the number of pictures taken with students is the same order of magnitude as the number of asteroids in the solar system. We held our first “Women in Physics” discussion panel. Simon Maynell from Dalhousie is a repeat first place winner for best presentation. Other prize winners were Kyle Marshall (Acadia), Kelly Foran (Mt. A), Hong Yi Shi Yang (Dal), Daniel Abarbanel (Dal), and Andrew Cameron (UPEI). Next Conference Next year’s conference will be held at Memorial University in February 2016. We are looking into chartering a plane and will use some of our reserves to support student travel. The top prize for the next conference will be named in honour of David Tindall and Michael Steinitz, two long time contributors to Science Atlantic (formerly APICS). Speaker Tour This spring, Canadian Association of Physicists lectures were given at UNB, Mt. Allison, UdeM, UPEI, StFX, Dal, SMU and MUN. Invited speakers were Kris Poduska (MUN), Carlos Silva (Université de Montreal), and Pablo Bianucci (Concordia). The theme was “The Year of Light”. Our committee supported the tour with an $800 contribution. Respectfully submitted, Carl Adams, Past Chair Psychology No update. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 34 Hall of Fame Please accept the following as the 2015 report of the Hall of Fame Committee. Nominations to 2015 Science Atlantic Hall of Fame The Hall of Fame Committee met and discussed nominees for the Outstanding Contributing Member and Outstanding Alumna/Alumnus categories. No nominations had been received for the Outstanding Member or Volunteer Service Award designations. The Committee unanimously recommended the following: • that Dr. Allen J. Britten be awarded “Outstanding Contributing Member” designation; • that Dr. David H. S. Richardson be awarded "Outstanding Contributing Member” designation; and • that Ms. Holly Baker be awarded “Outstanding Alumna” designation. Dr. Allen J. Britten, of Cape Breton University, is a leading figure in Analytical Chemistry who has fostered science education in high schools and universities throughout Nova Scotia. In his capacity as the Chairperson of the Department of Physical and Applied Sciences as well as the Dean of the School of Science and Technology, Dr. Britten has also spread science awareness to the community. Dr. Britten served as the Cape Breton University representative to the then Atlantic Provinces Council on the Sciences (APICS) from 2004 to 2011 and hosted the Annual Atlantic Deans of Arts and Science Meeting as well as the APICS Fall Council Session in November 2005. In addition, Dr. Britten also served as an Executive Member-at-Large from 2005 to 2009. Aside for his own participation, Dr. Britten has encouraged and supported student and faculty participation in various Science Atlantic conferences, events, and activities. Dr. Britten is an outstanding academic with many teaching, research, and service successes throughout his career. The Hall of Fame Committee believes Dr. Allen J. Britten deserves to be recognized as an “Outstanding Contributing Member” to Science Atlantic. Dr. David H. S. Richardson, of Saint Mary’s University, has an extensive teaching career in Canada and abroad. Dr. Richardson’s research specialization is on lichens and has published two books on the subject as well as numerous articles and reports. During his academic career, Dr. Richardson has also been involved with various committees and journals. Dr. Richardson was the Dean of Science from September 1993 to July 2006. For the duration of this time period, he served as a Council Member for the then Atlantic Provinces Council on the Sciences (APICS). From November 1997 to November 1999, Dr. Richardson also served as an Executive Memberat-Large. In addition, Dr. Richardson served as the Vice-Chair of Council from November 1999 until his retirement as the Dean of Science. Dr. Richardson is an outstanding academic with many successes in teaching, research, and service. The Hall of Fame Committee believes Dr. David H. S. Richardson deserves to be recognized as an “Outstanding Contributing Member” to Science Atlantic. Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 35 Ms. Holly Baker completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Physics with Minors in Mathematics and French in May 2009 at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Following this, she completed a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication at Laurentian University and Science North in May 2010. Since April 2012, Ms. Baker has been employed as the Assistant National Outreach Coordinator for Let’s Talk Science. Before this, Ms. Baker had been employed as the Program Administrator for Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) for Newfoundland and Labrador. Beginning in high school and continuing to the present, Ms. Baker has sought to advance interest in science in others. While attending Memorial University, Ms. Baker served as a Student Volunteer who helped to organize the 2006 Atlantic Undergraduate Physics and Astronomy Conference held in St. John’s, Newfoundland. During her academic studies, Ms. Baker also presented her research at the 2007 Atlantic Undergraduate Physics and Astronomy Conference (held in Sackville, New Brunswick) and the 2008 Atlantic Undergraduate Physics and Astronomy Conference (held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island). As a result of these presentations, she received a national-level, poster award at the 2008 Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference held at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario. Ms. Baker is an outstanding mentor and role model. The Hall of Fame Committee believes Ms. Holly Baker deserves to be recognized as an “Outstanding Alumna” to Science Atlantic. Respectfully submitted, Steven M. Smith Chair, Hall of Fame Committee Spring Council Session Meeting Package, April 24-25, 2015 Page 36
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