By Mark Kerr, Senior Communications Officer

Four promising Queen’s researchers recently won national awards.

Doctoral candidates Mike Best, Oluwatobiloba “Tobi” Moody and Midori Ogasawara each received Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships worth $50,000 per year over the next three years. The federal government established the program in 2008 to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and to make Canada world-renowned for excellence in research and higher learning.

The same day the Vanier Scholars were announced, Tyler Cluff learned he was the recipient of a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, a bursary program that provides funding to the top postdoctoral applicants, both nationally and internationally, who will positively contribute to the country's economic, social and research based growth.

Dr. Cluff will receive $70,000 per year over the next two years, which will allow him to test promising new ideas in movement neuroscience, including how humans use sensory information about their bodies and the world around them to make skilled movements.

“This research will not only help us understand basic aspects of motor control and learning, but may lead to advancements in neurological assessment tools and treatment options for movement impaired individuals,” says Dr. Cluff, who is a member of Dr. Stephen Scott’s Laboratory of Integrative Motor Behaviour (LIMB) in Queen’s Centre for Neuroscience Studies.

As a Vanier Scholar, Mr. Best (Psychology) plans to build on his master’s thesis that found members of the general population have an early neurobiological bias towards the speech of people with schizophrenia that results in reduced attention and processing of what someone with schizophrenia is saying. This bias could be a major factor in understanding why people with schizophrenia are excluded, he says.

“Receiving the Vanier CGS provides me with the freedom and financial support to focus more thoroughly on conducting and disseminating my research,” says Mr. Best, who won this year’s Queen’s 3 Minute Thesis Competition. “Social exclusion can be devastating for people with psychosis. With the support of this award I can continue to expand my work to reduce social exclusion and improve the lives of millions of people living with psychosis.”

Mr. Moody (Law) is analyzing the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol, the legal framework that is intended to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.

Mr. Moody is examining biopiracy debates as well as ongoing related efforts to protect traditional knowledge in international forums. He argues that a coherent global intellectual property system is critical for the Nagoya Protocol’s effective implementation and, ultimately, for the effective protection of traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources.

“The Vanier Scholarship represents to me a humbling affirmation of the significance and importance of my current research within the context of ongoing international efforts to address the effective protection of the traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources of indigenous peoples and local communities,” says Mr. Moody, a Nigerian by birth who started his PhD in the Faculty of Law in September 2012. “I am elated as the Scholarship will equip me with resources to enable me participate in relevant conferences and will afford me the opportunity to devote maximum time and concentration to the development of quality research in this area.”

Ms. Ogasawara (Sociology) is examining the development of national identification systems in Japan from the colonial times to today. The focus of her PhD will be the origins developed in Manchu-kuo, an area of northeast China occupied by the Japan from the 1920s to 1945, as well as the roles of the national ID systems in relation to the colonization then and neoliberal economy nowadays.

“I am very excited to receive a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship because it enables my research to expand to a geographically wider scope and pursue the historical understanding,” says Ms. Ogasawara. “As an international student who has a domestic responsibility for a young child, there would be no other scholarships that could support me in the same way as the Vanier scholarship does.”

Bob Lovelace and Richard Day, professors in the Department of Global Development Studies, run Re-indigenizing People and Environments, an experiential learning course. (University Communications)

By Andrew Stokes, Communications Officer

For a week this August a group of students will live in the woods north of Kingston.

Re-indigenizing People and Environments, an experiential learning course in the Department of Global Development Studies, has a small group of students engage with Indigenous theory and practice while learning to forage for food, build shelter and understand their environment.

The course, now entering its second year, is taught by Bob Lovelace and Richard Day, professors in the Department of Global Development Studies. While students sleep every night in a structure they’ll build themselves, Mr. Lovelace’s house is nearby in the event of an emergency. Of course, they get some lessons in wilderness safety too.

“Our re-indigenization course encourages students to foster a knowledge of their surroundings, which is something that is often lost in modern society,” says Mr. Lovelace. “With this course we hope to foster greater reliance on oneself, one’s community and the land.”

Besides building shelter, students will learn the basics of hunting, trapping and sustainable approaches to agriculture. The lessons learnt by last year’s student cohort inspired them to bring the course back to Kingston. They created the Sydenham Street United Church Community Garden out of their desire to apply what they’d learnt about eco-friendly farming.

“We’re not preaching to the students that they should adopt a particular lifestyle,” says Mr. Lovelace, “but to explore the basics of an alternative way of living and to examine their personal values.”

Richard Day says the course is especially effective at imparting practical lessons alongside the theoretical.

“Critical thinking is essential to this course, not just in terms of the decisions the students have to make about food and shelter, but in the discussions we encourage about what it means to be a settler,” he says. “We hope it serves as a transformative learning experience and it’s great to see those who participated last year taking what they learnt and turning it into community involvement.”

Re-indigenization has a more traditional academic component as well. Prior to trekking out into the woods students read books and articles, watch documentaries and participate in online discussion with one another about the content through Moodle. With guidance from the instructors, they write a research paper about a course-related topic once they’re back in Kingston.

“There’s a feeling and a way of being that can be accessed in nature that’s been found to make healthier, happier people,” says Dr. Day. “I think more people are going hiking and camping to try to get in touch with this feeling. This course isn’t summer camp or a walk in the woods, but an engagement with the practical challenges and politics of living in a way that would be more in keeping with traditional Indigenous practices.”

Promoting a deeper understanding and broader engagement with Indigenous culture, the course is a welcome addition to university’s offerings.

“Queen’s has a deep commitment to Indigenous learning and this re-indigenization course is a perfect example of the possibilities that come from embracing this corpus of knowledge,” says Gordon Smith, Vice Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science. “As demonstrated with the Indigenous Studies minor degree plan, the Faculty of Arts and Science is dedicated to building this as an interdisciplinary field of study.”