U of G News

Owl Prowl (In-Person)
2024-02-02 09:00 - 11:00, 2024-02-03 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-02-09 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-02-10 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Toronto) | Arboretum Centre, 250 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Canada
Discover how to use your eyes and ears to identify Ontario’s Owls. Through a wide variety of hands-on activities participants will learn about owl plumage, calls and behaviour, habitat requirements, migration patterns, and owl folklore. We’ll end the evening with an outdoor owl prowl on The Arboretum grounds.
The Adults only program is for adults and teens aged 14+. The Families program is open to everyone, however children must be accompanied by an adult. *Maximum 25 people.
Fee: $14 (plus HST) per person, per session (evening).
Register to attend.

The Caring North: Fostering Care and Wellbeing in Northern Communities
2024-02-02 12:00 - 13:30 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
What does a caring community look like?
What are the unique care and wellbeing preferences and needs of northern, Inuit, and First Nations women and girls?
And what are northern, Inuit, and First Nations people and organizations doing to create caring communities in the north?
Join us for an important Community Cares discussion about factors that interrupt and build community care and wellbeing. This panel will be of interest to community members, local organizations, community-based researchers, and anyone working on building and restoring caring communities.
Date: Friday, Feb. 2, 2024
Time: 1:00 – 2:30 pm AT | 12 pm ET | 9 am PT
Location: Virtual (via Zoom; link will be sent the day before the event)
Registration
Panelists:

Dr. Sylvia Moore, Associate Professor, School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies, Memorial University
Aja Mason, Executive Director, Yukon Status of Women Council
Alyson Colón, Research Manager, Nunavummi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society (NDMS)
ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ ᑎᒥᒥᒍᑦ ᐊᔪᕈᑎᓕᖕᓄᑦ ᒪᑭᓐᓇᓱᐊᖅᑎ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ
Deirdre Connolly, Regional Manager, Labrador Office, End Sexual Violence NL
Nicole Dicker, Executive Director, Nain SafeHouse
Host: Petrina Beals, Executive Director, Violence Prevention Labrador

Winter Birdwatching at The Arboretum
2024-02-04 09:00 - 11:00 | Arboretum Centre, 250 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Canada
It may seem cold and dark, but winter can be an incredible time for birdwatching!
Join us for a winter stroll through The Arboretum in search of our toughest birds, and learn about how they persevere through our most challenging season. We’ll also be on the lookout for visitors from the north, as several birds from our northern forests sometimes visit The Arboretum on their winter travels. This walk is a great introduction to birding for new birders or an opportunity to hone your skills if you have some experience, and we will have binoculars available to borrow.
Please dress warmly, as birding requires lots of standing still and it may be chilly!
Fee: $12 (plus HST) per person.
Register to attend.

U of G on Tour: Get to know your Athletics and Recreation Facilities!
2024-02-05 12:00 - 13:00 | Athletics Centre, 150 Reynolds Walk, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Looking to start a new fitness or wellness journey? Did you know that all staff/faculty on campus have access to a subsidized rate to use the on-campus facilities? Join us on a tour of what programming/services and equipment are available to our staff/faculty members and why the Athletic facilities might just be the best fit for you!
Attendees of this tour will receive a free day pass for recreation in the Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre, including access to the Fitness Centre and / or a fitness class, to use at their convenience!

Virtual Gardening Fundamentals
2024-02-05 19:00 - 20:00 | Arboretum Centre, 250 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Canada
Garden Fundamentals will focus on ornamental gardens including trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs and grasses. You will gain a good understanding of how these plants grow and their relationship with the soil. Robert Pavlis will cover lots of practical topics such as planting, maintenance, plant selection, sun/shade requirements, and give you some of his top picks. This course is suitable for the beginner and intermediate gardener.
Week 1: Understanding soil
Week 2: Selecting the right soil for gardens, raised beds and containers
Week 3: Perennials
Week 4: Trees and shrubs
Week 5: Spring and summer bulbs
Week 6: Ornamental grasses and garden myths
Week 7: Weeds, pests and diseases
Robert is a Master Gardener and garden writer who publishes two popular gardening blogs and has published several gardening books. He owns and operates a private botanical garden where he grows over 3,000 different varieties of plants.
Fee: $10 (plus HST) per person, per session or sign up for all 7 and get one free ($60 instead of $70) Please note: You must sign up for all 7 at once in a single transaction to receive the discount.
Register to attend.

WSET Level 3 Award in Wines Certification
2024-02-05 19:00 - 21:30 | Macdonald Stewart Hall, 42 Macdonald St, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
This advanced level certification is designed to give a more comprehensive coverage of the wines of the world. Students will benefit from in-depth high-quality tastings and detailed understanding of grape growing and wine making. You will be able to assess wines accurately and use your understanding to confidently explain wine style and quality.
This qualification is suitable for employees in the trade, supervisory, management or those required to respond professionally to consumer queries. This course is also ideal for the wine enthusiast wanting to build on knowledge gained in Level 2.
Level 3 is highly regarded by employers. Upon successful completion, you will receive a WSET certificate and lapel pin, and will be able to use the associated WSET certified logo.
This 14-week world-renowned course will be held on Monday evenings starting February 5th, 2024 in PJ’s Restaurant – Macdonald Stewart Hall.
Please register by December 4th, 2023.
Open to the public! Discount for U of G students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Learn more! https://www.uoguelph.ca/hftm/wine-spirits-beer

Drop-In Blood Pressure Clinic
2024-02-06 09:30 - 11:30 | Alexander Hall
High blood pressure can increase your risk for serious health problems including stroke, heart disease, and heart attacks. As faculty and staff, you can take an easy step to improve your heart health and drop-in at Occupational Health and Wellness to get your blood pressure tested.
Drop-In Blood Pressure Clinics:
Registration is not required. Put a hold in your calendar for the time you wish to attend to make sure you remember to attend!

February 6, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
February 15, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
February 21, 10:00 a.m. to noon
February 28, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Virtual (Zoom) Wildlife Garden Design Course
2024-02-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Arboretum Centre, 250 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Canada
Learn how to design a diverse garden space that attracts native wildlife species through key design elements, plant choices and maintenance needs. This course will draw from concepts found in The Arboretum’s Gosling Wildlife Gardens while also offering insight on design features and plant species that have proven to be successful in our local Ontario setting. From attracting endangered pollinators to gardening with native plants, participants discover the relationships between plants and wildlife and how these ideas can be applied to a backyard!
Fee: $15 (plus HST) per person.

Skills for Research Impact Series: Community Engagement
2024-02-06 13:00 - 14:30 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
Actively engaging your audiences in your research process is one of the most effective ways to increase the uptake and impact of your research. But how does that work?
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

Identify a range of key stakeholders and potential goals for engagement
Consider different levels and types of stakeholder engagement before, during and following the research process
Incorporate practical tips and important considerations in their own engagement efforts

Register to attend.

Social Reproduction and One Health on the Farm: Feeding the World as if People Mattered
2024-02-06 13:30 - 15:00 | University Centre, 150 Research Ln, Guelph, Ontario, N1G2W1, Canada
Hear from anthropologist, instructor and award winning science writer Dr. Andrew Flach.
Dr, Flach is a renowned professor at Purdue University and will join the One Health Institute, Guelph Institute of Development Studies and the Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement in an engaging talk that asks big questions around the challenges and complexities of feeding the world.
Although farms are living spaces that anchor diverse economies, the challenge of feeding the world is dominated by narrow questions of yield, efficiency, and cost-benefit analysis.
Combining streams from world ecology, critical agrarian studies, and diverse economies thinkers, Flach will discuss anthropological case studies from India, Bosnia, and the U.S. Midwest to ask how small-scale agriculture supports living communities in place: feeding the world as if people mattered.
Central to this approach is viewing efficiency not as a function of yields, profits, or commodities produced but of reproducing the conditions for local health and wellbeing. The talk will center small-scale agriculture as an engine of social reproduction, the continual creation of communities of practice. This analysis both helps to re-value the rippling benefits of local farm systems and illuminate the profound damage of commercial plantations that emphasize commodity production.

Equity Essentials: Call it Out? Identifying and Responding to Microaggressions
2024-02-07 14:00 - 15:30 | University Centre, 150 Research Ln, Guelph, Ontario, N1G2W1, Canada
This workshop session will identify the systems and attitudes that contribute to microaggressions and discuss strategies for responding effectively.

Gain a broader awareness of how oppression affects the lived experience of equity-deserving groups, and the specific context of EDI on post-secondary campuses.
Understand how dominant groups perpetuate, actively or unconsciously, oppression.
Be able to apply key concepts related to anti-racism, oppression, privilege, and tokenism.
Understand how unconscious bias affects individuals and communities; and
Be able to identify microaggressions and apply appropriate and effective responses to microaggressions.

Canada's Constitution: 1982 wasn't 1789
2024-02-07 17:30 - 18:30 | Alexander Hall
Join us to hear from Justice Malcolm Roe, Supreme Court of Canada to discuss the evolution of Canada’s constitution.
In revolutionary France, 1789 became Year One in the new constitutional order. No comparable event occurred in Canada with the adoption of the Constitution Act, 1982. While the Charter and the protection of Aboriginal and treaty rights are significant, in most respects Canada’s constitutional order requires understanding how it developed, starting with the perspective of 1867.
When: February 7, 2024, 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Where: ALEX 100
More event information.
Presented by: Department of Political Science, and the Justice and Legal Studies Program

Landscape Architecture Guest Lecture: Kona Gray of EDSA
2024-02-08 12:00 - 13:00 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
The Landscape Architecture program in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development presents a guest lecture by Kona Gray, FASLA. Principal of EDSA and President of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
With over 29 years of experience in 30+ countries, Kona has designed memorable places and unselfishly served the profession through volunteer efforts with care. His portfolio ranges in multiple scales with emphasis on communities, parks, hospitality, urban public realms, mixed-use developments, healthcare, museums, aquariums, and campus spaces.
Kona’s award-winning projects are passionately inspired towards creative design solutions that solve environmental issues, improve quality of life, and celebrate humanity through Landscape Architecture. All are welcome to attend the online lecture.

Community-centered conservation and One Health in action: the Jane Goodall Institute's work
2024-02-08 14:30 - 15:30 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
Marie Meloche has worked with grassroots organizations, local and international NGOs in Canada and the Middle East before joining the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada team in 2018. As the Programs Manager, she supports the implementation of community-centered conservation projects in Africa and Canada. She believes that the key to sustainable development is to build meaningful partnerships with communities and local actors, with women at the center of the locally-led development strategies.
Interested members of the University of Guelph community should email onehealth@uoguelph.ca to receive the Teams Link for this seminar.

Hibernate: A virtual, creative workshop on caring for our mental health in winter
2024-02-09 12:00 - 13:00 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
Winter is a hard season for many of us. The days are shorter, the quality of light is not as brilliant as the spring & summer months, the cold temperatures limit our activities and often lead us to retreat inside. For these reasons and more, our mental health can really suffer during the winter months.
Join us for this creative workshop as we focus on how winter can be a season of healing dormancy and restoration. We will use art to reflect upon the ways that we want to care for ourselves in this season.
If you attended this workshop when Jazmine hosted it last January 2023, you are more than welcome to attend again. Though the theme remains the same, the art directive will be unique.

UC Agriculture Day
2024-02-12 09:00 - 15:00 | University Centre Courtyard, Ontario, Canada
Come on out to the UC for UC Ag Day happening on February 12th, 2024.
Learn about different agriculture industries in Canada such as dairy, poultry, swine, beef and cash crop farming. You will have the opportunity to speak with students who are involved in many areas of agriculture, and voice your questions and inquiries about Canadian agriculture.
Clubs that are apart of the Ontario Agricultural College will also have poster boards on display with information about different agriculture industries, as well as pictures and descriptions of what their club gets up to here on campus and in the community! There will also be popcorn and some free giveaways!

Local Government: A Social Ontology of Care
2024-02-13 12:00 - 13:00 | MacKinnon Building, 87 Trent Lane, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
What is ‘local government’? How can it be understood?
Join our guest speaker JS (Kobus) Wessels, University of South Africa, who takes a theoretical lens to question, study and challenge our underlying assumptions about good or bad local government within different contexts.
The day-to-day well-being of people worldwide is affected in dissimilar ways and intensity by local governments. in some countries, residents are barley aware of this sphere of government, while in other countries, they live through vivid experiences of good or bad local government.
When: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024 from noon to 1:00 p.m.
Where: MacKinnon 019
Learn more

Skills for Research Impact Series: Evaluating KTT Activities
2024-02-13 13:00 - 14:30 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
When all is said and done, how do you know it worked? Go beyond the anecdote and learn to use evaluation techniques to assess the impact of your knowledge mobilization efforts.
After attending this workshop, participants will be able to:

Summarize the steps involved in evaluating KTT
Discuss common challenges and best practices in KTT evaluation
Use strategies to identify KTT measures and indicators
Explain trade-offs in deciding what and how to measure
Select appropriate KTT evaluation goals
Build a logic model or theory of change to explain KTT rationale
Create a basic evaluation framework for their own KTT work

Register to attend.

Human Rights & You: Addressing Discrimination and Harassment on Campus
2024-02-14 13:30 - 15:00 | University Centre, 150 Research Ln, Guelph, Ontario, N1G2W1, Canada
This workshop encourages participants to move beyond the text of Ontario’s human rights legislation to understand how legal requirements affect our day-to-day work.
How do we identify when behaviour is harassment or discrimination? How do we know when behaviour rises to the level of a human rights violation? What is a reasonable response to a complaint in the circumstances? How do we prevent human rights violations from occurring in the first place?
This workshops provides tools and strategies to respond to each of these questions.

Winter Tree I.D. (In-person)
2024-02-15 09:00 - 16:00 | Arboretum Centre, 250 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Canada
No leaves? No problem!
In this hands-on, interactive workshop you will learn about the variety of tree features that are useful for identifying trees in winter. From buds and twigs to leaf scars and bark, we will take an in-depth look at the surprisingly distinctive characteristics that let us unlock the identities of trees in their dormant season. We will focus on native Ontario tree species, with some common introduced species included as well.
Part of the session will be held outdoors, so be sure to dress for the weather! Each registrant that attends the workshop will receive a copy of The Arboretum’s Tree Bud Biodiversity Sheet.
Fee: $94 (plus HST) per person if you register by the early bird deadline of February 7, 2024. After February 7 the fee is $104 plus HST.

U of G on Tour: Ontario Veterinary College Complex
2024-02-15 12:30 - 13:20 | University of Guelph
This tour travels through the OVC anatomy museum and the non-clinical areas of the Large and Small Animal Clinics for about 50 minutes. Maximum 30 participants.
Due to biosecurity and confidentiality concerns, a guided tour is required, and participants are not permitted to “wander around” or explore within the clinics without a guide. Please note that there is a strict no photography or video recording policy in the clinics or in areas where animal patients are present.

Wellness Friday - Calming Your Mind During Challenging Times
2024-02-16 12:00 - 13:00 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
Today’s life is fast-paced and leaves little time to relax and decompress. Greater pressure is being put on all of us to do more. The result is that many of us have lost the ability to sit still and simply be with ourselves.
This session will explore personal stress triggers and review some practical, easy techniques to make brief relaxation moments a natural part of everyday life.

Winter Birdwatching at The Arboretum
2024-02-17 09:00 - 11:00 | Arboretum Centre, 250 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Canada
It may seem cold and dark, but winter can be an incredible time for birdwatching!
Join us for a winter stroll through The Arboretum in search of our toughest birds and learn about how they persevere through our most challenging season. We’ll also be on the lookout for visitors from the north, as several birds from our northern forests sometimes visit The Arboretum on their winter travels.
This walk is a great introduction to birding for new birders or an opportunity to hone your skills if you have some experience, and we will have binoculars available to borrow. Please dress warmly, as birding requires lots of standing still and it may be chilly!
*Maximum 18 adults.
Fee: $12 (plus HST) per person, per day.

Owl Program
2024-02-17 14:00 - 15:30 | Arboretum Centre, 250 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Canada
Discover how to use your eyes and ears to identify Ontario’s Owls. Through a wide variety of hands-on activities participants will learn about owl plumage, calls and behaviour, habitat requirements, migration patterns, and owl folklore. You’ll get a chance to meet some of Wild Ontario’s owl ambassadors, and then be shown tips and tricks for finding owls in the wild!
Please note this is an indoor program only in our Arboretum Centre. Pre-registration is strongly advised to ensure your spot. Should there still be space available we will also accept payment at the door the day of the event.
Fee: $12 (plus HST) per person

Family Day Crafternoon!
2024-02-19 13:00 - 16:00 | Art Gallery of Guelph, 358 Gordon Street, Guelph, Canada
Bring your young artists to the Art Gallery of Guelph this Family Day and explore our current exhibitions with activities that incorporate bright colour pastels to create unique DIY scratch art and a collaborative community banner! Inspired by the exhibition Tautuppaa | Long Looking featuring the distinctive work of Inuit artist Tim Pitsiulak, this drop-in program for children and caregivers will explore how to make images with black paint that is scraped away to reveal a colourful image, while also contributing to a community banner that will be displayed at the gallery, incorporating participants’ vibrant drawings on black paper that celebrate gratitude, family, and relationships to land and nature.
Drop in any time between 1 to 4 p.m. on Family Day! This program is designed for kids aged 4 to 14 with their caregiver(s), though all ages are welcome. Please note: children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Free; all materials are provided; no experience is required. Come dressed for a mess!

Take Your Break: Free Hot Beverage for All Employees
2024-02-20 09:30 - 11:00 | University Centre Courtyard, Ontario, Canada
Taking regular breaks during the workday can help you destress and recharge. Stop by the UC Courtyard or the OVC Cafeteria between 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. for a free hot beverage. Bring along your colleagues. This opportunity is available for all U of G employees.
The Take Your Break event is not just about recognizing our staff and faculty for all the amazing things they do by providing them with free drinks and snacks. It is also about making the space to engage in healthy work habits, step away from our workspaces to take a walk, and do it with our colleagues to support our mental and social well-being.

Conifer Workshop (In-person)
2024-02-22 09:00 - 15:00 | Arboretum Centre, 250 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Canada
The world’s tallest, widest, oldest, and most primitive trees belong to this diverse group of plants.
Come learn about the dwarf evergreen in your backyard, the holiday tree in your living room and the stately giants towering in the forest. This indoor/outdoor workshop will discuss the evolution, identification, characteristics, and uses of conifers from both Ontario and around the world. A tour of the Arboretum’s extensive Conifer and Dwarf Conifer collections will be included in your day, so please dress for the weather.
Fee: $80 (plus HST) per person if you register by the early bird deadline of February14, 2024. After February 14 the fee is $90 plus HST.
