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Articles by Sam Toman
They’re Flying High
Published in Up Here June 2012 Tiffany Ayalik(Performer, Outdoor Guide) Depending on who you ask, Tiffany Ayalik is an Arctic butterfl y, or an underwater goddess, or a child of a residential school survivor, or a paddling instructor who rides serious rapids. That’s because this 24-year-old Yellowknifer is all of those: an actor, model, playwright and co-owner of an adventure company.
Roswell North
Are you one of the 2000 Inuit abducted by an alien spacecraft from the village of Anjikuni in 1930? If so, log onto the World Wide Web and leave a message with any of the sites devoted to your experience. They’d love to hear your story. For the hardcore UFO aficionado, the name Anjikuni is as famous as Roswell or Area 51. For those who live by the creed ‘the truth is out there,’ the tagline of the cult TV series The X-Files, the story of Anjikuni is as real as it gets.
In the kitchen with the Laughing Chef
The TV ad fades to black, replaced on screen by a simple kitchen with green wooden cupboards and a refrigerator plastered with fridge magnets. Cooking-show hostess Rebecca Veevee sharpens her favourite ulu to a jingle of jolly pop music. Enter Jordin Tootoo. As the Inuit hockey hero prepares his favourite dish – sautéed caribou – the petite, grandmotherly Veevee flutters about, chopping veggies and chatting in Inuktitut. She checks on his sizzling pan. Taima, she says. Enough.
Looking Ahead - The Mackenzie Bicentennial
If you are planning to visit the Mackenzie Valley this year, you might want to look into the events centred on the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the voyage of Alexander Mackenzie down the long river which bears his name. Plans are shaping up for a month-long festival of events and games in Mackenzie Valley communities, crowned by not one but two reenactments of the trip.
True North strong and unique
In an era of rapid technological advancement and interconnected global challenges, as outlined in Waterloo at 100 , Canada faces a pivotal moment: how to secure its place as a leader in innovation - without sacrificing what makes it unique. This question drove the discussions at the Mapping out the Global Innovation Landscape Conference , held at the Balsillie School of International Affairs on November 21, 2024, as part of International Education Week.
How a $5 fee transforms the lives of student refugees | Waterloo News
Mariak Achuoth’s journey to the University of Waterloo began in a Kenyan refugee camp, far from campus. Displaced by war in South Sudan, he dedicated himself to pursuing formal education, knowing it was his best hope for a better future beyond the camp. His hard work opened a life-changing opportunity—a chance to apply to Canadian universities through the World University Service of Canada’s (WUSC) Student Refugee Program.
How a $5 fee transforms the lives of student refugees
Mariak Achuoth’s journey to the University of Waterloo began in a Kenyan refugee camp, far from campus. Displaced by war in South Sudan, he dedicated himself to pursuing formal education, knowing it was his best hope for a better future beyond the camp. His hard work opened a life-changing opportunity-a chance to apply to Canadian universities through the World University Service of Canada’s (WUSC) Student Refugee Program.
Tuesday, February 13, 2024 | Daily Bulletin
Lights, camera, action: GRADflix winners named A message from Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA). Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs hosted its sixth annual GRADflix showcase on February 6 at Federation Hall. 15 finalists had their videos premiered to an audience of other graduate students, staff, faculty, friends, family, and community members.
Reimagining international partnerships | Waterloo News
Near the end of 2023, University of Waterloo President, Vivek Goel and AVP Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism, Christopher Taylor led a Waterloo delegation travelling to South Africa and Ghana. With the Waterloo at 100 vision that includes a decolonized future for our institution, it is important to examine and reimagine our relationships with African institutions.
All the wisdom beyond books | Waterloo News
Like so many great decisions in his life, it was the advice of his “Auntie Charity” that led scholar Victor Mawutor Agbo to choose the University of Waterloo as the next phase of his academic journey. He had just wrapped up his undergraduate degree in Tourism Management in Ghana and was looking at schools in Europe to continue his studies.
Out of the fire | Waterloo News
Marianna Iovenko remembers the fight for survival leading up to her departure from Ukraine, as Russian bombs were hunting civilians in Kyiv. “We sat in complete darkness after 5:00 p.m. because it was important to hide anything that could shed some light.
Cybersecurity, privacy and artificial intelligence in health | Waterloo News
Canada’s adoption of the latest information technology in the healthcare system is a hot button issue, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Waterloo hosts Indonesian ambassador for Canadian kick-off of FINCAPES climate partnership | Waterloo News
In April 2019, the government of Indonesia announced a 10-year plan to transfer all government offices away from its capital Jakarta to a new sustainable, planned capital city. Jakarta is well-known for its traffic congestion and poor air quality; however, sea level rise also played a role in the island nation’s unprecedented decision.
Solidarity at first sight | Waterloo News
This winter Iranian-made drones have been terrorizing Ukrainians. These violent machines routinely target and destroy civilian water, heating, and electrical infrastructure. That’s not really their objective though. Their true aim is to smash the spirit of Ukrainians, who for centuries, refuse to accept the imperialist aggression of Moscow. At the same time in Iran, hundreds of thousands of people are resisting. Taking to the streets at the risk of brutal reprisals from the state.
Indigenous students rock their mocs | Waterloo News
As far as campus traditions go, Soup and Bannock Days at the University of Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre (WISC) is a must-attend. Most Thursdays, volunteers make and serve soup to attendees while WISC staff dish out deep-fried balls of savoury bread — a traditional Indigenous treat. All are welcome to join. “If I had a magic wand, I would love for an unlimited supply of bannock to magically appear,” says Arts undergraduate student Chole Brideau.
Thursday, June 23, 2022 | Daily Bulletin
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses Canadian students By Stephanie Longeway. This article was originally published on Waterloo News. Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion of their country is nearing its fourth month. University of Waterloo is unwavering in our solidarity with the innocent victims of this invasion, and we stand in support of those who are calling for its end.
Decolonization by design | Waterloo News
With everything going on, a lot of us are searching for community right now. Something that once seemed easy, routine and permanent now feels vital, fresh, and maybe even illusive for the first time in our lives. For those who don’t always fit into our dominant culture, such as racialized folks, the genderqueer, even artists, the search for community is old hat. And while that search is rarely easy, it can be a catalyst for creating something truly special.
Valuing water for our shared sustainable future | Waterloo News
Today the planet is straining under the weight of human development and governments and institutions are searching for innovative answers to protect our planet. Thanks to efforts by researchers like Kelsey Leonard, who joined the Faculty of Environment in 2020, we're exploring and valuing essential environmental knowledge long ignored by non-Indigenous decision-makers. Indigenous Peoples have vast knowledge systems and scientific traditions that can work alongside western scientific methods.
Nine Waterloo researchers among the most cited in the world | Waterloo News
A major annual publication has recognized nine University of Waterloo faculty members as being among the most cited in the word.
Flying the environmentally friendly skies | Waterloo News
For as long as she can remember University of Waterloo Aviation professor Suzanne Kearns dreamed of flying, and at the age of 15, she began training for a career as a pilot. On her 16th birthday — the first day she could legally drive a car — she flew solo for the first time. If it could fly, Kearns was determined to master it. At 17 she slept for months in a Toronto hangar just to get her helicopter license, becoming a wunderkind in her hometown of Wiarton, Ontario.
Seeing the forest through the trees | Waterloo News
Many of us remember the children’s book, The Giving Tree. The sadder than expected tale is about selflessness, but its backdrop centres around a young boy discovering all the ways a tree can be useful. Theresa O’Neill, who is graduating with a master’s degree from the University of Waterloo’s School of Planning in Fall of 2021, knows the story well, but unlike the little boy in the book, never takes trees for granted.
From Mt. Trashmore All The Way To The NBA
Jamal Murray, the Kitchener-born NBA player who spent his childhood training on Mt. Trashmore, went from local-guy-made-good to bonafide international star in the 2020 NBA playoffs. Murray dazzled fans and ignited hometown pride with his signature scoring move, “the Kitchener Shuffle.” For hoops fans in Waterloo Region, the charismatic Murray’s ascendance to sports royalty was pure basketball joy.
Imposter syndrome no more | Waterloo News
“If only I knew then, what I know now.” That common expression applies to most of us, but for two student organizers at the University of Waterloo, it’s a call to action for women researchers across campus to connect-with, support and mentor each other in a space where women waste a disheartening amount of time simply justifying their right to be treated as academic equals.
Our options for saving the Earth are becoming riskier | Waterloo News
With everything else going on, it’s easy to forget the climate crisis. Juan Moreno-Cruz, a researcher in the Faculty of Environment and a Canada Research Chair in Energy Transitions, has a not-so-gentle reminder.
Everything is going to change | Waterloo News
Christine Dow Professor, Faculty of Environment > Canada Research Chair in Glacier Hydrology and Ice Dynamics > Water Institute For eight days straight, researcher Christine Dow and her team dragged a sled-mounted radar system roughly 85 kilometres across the frozen Antarctic. The hard-earned data they collected, added to numerical model outputs produced by Dow and her team, has her convinced the Antarctic Ice Sheet is destabilizing faster than anyone thought.
Where the rubber meets the road | Waterloo Stories
Nearly every Canadian has found themselves in a situation where they must get behind the wheel of a car during terrible weather conditions. It could be a rushed trip to the airport, a commute to work, or an early morning hockey practice. It can be scary. How quickly and effectively roads get cleared makes a big difference for our sanity and economy — it also saves lives.
Culture Fancier Reviews The Art Scene
Does Waterloo Region have an authentic arts and culture scene? Glodeane Brown, who you may know as Culture Fancier, doesn’t think we do — yet. Brown spends a lot of time thinking about this question. The rest of her time she’s more than holding up her end of the cultural bargain. She’s the general manager of Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area (CAFKA), a blogger, lifestyle ambassador and diplomat for everything cool and creative around town.
A Waterloo spinoff company is helping businesses balance sustainability with profitability | Waterloo Stories
A Waterloo spinoff company is helping businesses balance sustainability with profitability by using artificial intelligence to mine companies’ documents, reports and even social media posts to quantify their impact on social issues like gender equity and the environment.
There is no such thing as neutral when you have power | Waterloo Stories
When Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas gulf coast in 2017, it reminded many of the fatal devastation of hurricane Katrina a decade earlier. For some, mostly the Black community from New Orleans who rebuilt their lives in Houston suburbs, Harvey was like a recurring nightmare. Figuring out how to prepare marginalized and dispossessed communities for climate change and other threats is work that still needs to be done.
Beyond flight shaming | Waterloo Stories
The commercial aviation industryis set to grow fromroughlyfourbillion passengerstomore than eightbillion in less than 20years, creatingan industry-wide priority tofill the expected shortfall ofaviation professionals.Withconcernsabouttheindustry’scarbon footprintgrowing,a sustainable future for aviation means training future aviators who can strike a balance between the economicand socialbenefits of flying and its environmental impacts.But striking a balance is what environmentalists refer to...
Creating the first complete map of our world — in real-time | Waterloo Stories
Yuanming Shu Alumni, Faculty of Environment (MSc ’10, PhD ’15) > Co-founder and CEO, Ecopia.aI Shuo Tan Alumni, Faculty of Mathematics (MSc ’10) > Co-founder and VP of Engineering, Ecopia.ai In about a decade our relationship to maps went from pulling over to the side of the road with an over-folded monstrosity struggling to find “D-4,” to casually mentioning to your dashboard that you’d like to stop at Costco for a hot dog and being asked back if you want to take the scenic route.
Everything is going to change | Waterloo Stories
Christine Dow Professor, Faculty of Environment > Canada Research Chair in Glacier Hydrology and Ice Dynamics > Water Institute For eight days straight, researcher Christine Dow and her team dragged a sled-mounted radar system roughly 85 kilometres across the frozen Antarctic. The hard-earned data they collected, added to numerical model outputs produced by Dow and her team, has her convinced the Antarctic Ice Sheet is destabilizing faster than anyone thought.
Scale-up helps pro-athletes (and entrepreneurs) stay in the game | Waterloo Stories
Alexa Roeper Faculty of Science > Co-founder and CEO, Penta Medical > Velocity > Accelerator Centre Alexa Roeper caught a couple of breaks taking her HealthTech company, Penta Medical, from idea to startup to a successful business — literal breaks actually. The first came when a broken foot inspired Roeper to invent a product to help people to heal faster. The second came when a well-known athlete’s broken bone helped launch her company internationally.
Let’s get Astrophysical | Waterloo News
Astrophysicists can mostly agree that something called dark energy is expanding our Universe at an accelerating rate. That discovery was groundbreaking, but that’s only half the puzzle. Two of the top astrophysicists in the game, Waterloo researchers Will Percival and Mike Hudson, have been chipping away at the question of just how fast it’s accelerating for much of their careers.
Let’s get Astrophysical | Waterloo Stories
Astrophysicists can mostly agree that something called dark energy is expanding our Universe at an accelerating rate. That discovery was groundbreaking, but that’s only half the puzzle. Two of the top astrophysicists in the game, Waterloo researchers Will Percival and Mike Hudson, have been chipping away at the question of just how fast it’s accelerating for much of their careers.
Opinion | Did the Ion just amalgamate us?
Psst ... I don't want to jinx anything, but is it possible Kitchener-Waterloo finally, actually, for real this time, just "turned the corner?" We've been saying it for decades, but it might actually be true this time. And isn't it fitting that the light at the end of the tunnel came with the help of a train.
It’s time to wake up and do some physics | Waterloo Stories
When University of Waterloo physicist Anna Golubeva got an email saying she’d won the NSERC Gilles Brassard Doctoral Prize for Interdisciplinary Research she thought it was an elaborate phishing scam. “I just got this email saying I had won the award and a $10,000 prize. It looked real, but who knows right?” says Golubeva sitting in an ultra-modern breakout room in the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Smart home technology needs smart energy users | Global Impact
The key to any healthy relationship is communication. The same can be said about our relationship to home energy use. That makes Bronwyn Lazowski a kind of therapist for our dysfunctional home energy patterns. She studies everyday energy consumer patterns and interactions with technology to help people understand that to live sustainably we not only need smart home technology, but also a smart energy culture.
It's almost midnight; do you feel fine? | Waterloo Stories
According to the women and men at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists — the group of scientists trusted to set the Doomsday Clock — we’re two minutes away from the end of the world as we know it. In 1947 the Doomsday Clock was established as a universal metaphor to illustrate how close we were to losing control of civilization-destroying technologies developed during and after the Second World War.
Battling cancer often means battling traffic on Highway 401
By Sam TomanOpinion Wed., Nov. 28, 2018 Last week news dropped that Doug Ford’s government had quietly dismantled the group planning a high-speed rail link stretching from Windsor to Toronto’s Union Station. In Waterloo Region, where I live, this news was predictable and depressing. Right now, there is no reasonable way to get from Waterloo to Toronto without getting on Highway 401.
Keeping roads safe in our changing climate | Waterloo Stories
Nearly every Canadian has found themselves in a situation where they must get behind the wheel of a car during terrible weather conditions. Whether it’s a trip to the airport, a commute to work, or an early morning hockey practice, how quickly and effectively roads get cleared is an important factor in our safety.
Too small to fail: how modest changes can save millions in flood damage | Waterloo Stories
When extreme weather hits Canada you can count on several things appearing in the media. Images of swollen rivers, flooded homes, brave first-responders, and University of Waterloo researcher Blair Feltmate clearly and passionately articulating the very real threat our communities face from climate change. Feltmate, the head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, and a teacher in the Faculty of Environment isn’t trying to scare anyone.
Waterloo food security expert awarded with prestigious honour | Waterloo Stories
Jennifer Clapp, a Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment, has been awarded the 2018 Innis-Gérin Medal from the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). The biennial award, presented by the RSC, honours a Canadian scholar for their distinguished and sustained contribution to the literature of the social sciences.
Study finds pesticide-free way to combat mosquitoes and West Nile | Waterloo Stories
Researchers at the University of Waterloo may have discovered a new, pesticide-free way to limit mosquito populations in some area and reduce the spread of the West Nile virus. The study by Waterloo researcher Brad Fedy discovered that introducing hungry minnows into bodies of water where mosquitoes breed results in the minnows feeding on mosquito larvae, which dramatically decreases the number of adult mosquitoes capable of carrying the disease.
Opinion | Waterloo Region should be built on collaboration, not compromise
As unprecedented billion-dollar developments along our LRT spine continue, two projects with massive parking structures, one in Waterloo and one in Kitchener, are attracting criticism. They also highlight how the seemingly positive impulse toward compromise for drivers and incremental, inconsistent progress for pedestrians and cyclists are failing our community.
Environment PhD student named 2018 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation scholar | Waterloo Stories
Phoebe Stephens has been named one of Canada’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation scholars for her project investigating the need for sustainable food systems. “Increasingly we are seeing food being treated as a financial product, vulnerable to stock market volatility. This is dangerous for something everyone needs to survive,” said Stephens.
Radically greening the global economy starts with small businesses | Waterloo Stories
This suggests the small business sector, because they have the will, and motivation, could be a treasure trove of untapped innovation on sustainability. Now she’s building on this momentum with a new $2.5 million Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Grant in an effort to radically change the Canadian economy at its foundation.
Waterloo launches Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) | Waterloo Stories
A new organization at the University of Waterloo will focus on bringing together Canadian post-secondary institutions, civil society members and others to mobilize around the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement.
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