notable

Clockwise from front are Gillian Asche, William Wyman, Leah Sheppard, Stephen Caravan and Darren Holloway.

Students in the Environmental Science 4950 course at Grenfell College presented a poster display recently as part of a theoretical Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The posters outlined details of their statements, which were theoretically based on a proposal to establish a Hydroelectric Generation Plant on the Lower Churchill River, Labrador. Clockwise from front are Gillian Asche, who focused on the effects on aquatics, William Wyman, effects on vegetation and community types, Leah Sheppard, effects on mammals, Stephen Caravan, avian studies and Darren Holloway, effects on geology and soils. A sample of these posters can be seen in the background.

Jessica Humber, an honours candidate in the environmental science program at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, is the winner of the 2004 Gros Morne National Park University Environmental Internship. Ms. Humber will be carrying out a study on the potential effects of boat traffic on the density and species diversity of benthic invertebrates in Western Brook Pond. The internship program is jointly sponsored by Gros Morne National Park of Canada and the Gros Morne Cooperating Association. Open to students in environmental programs at SWGC, the internship provides an opportunity (with $4,500 funding) for students to participate in research projects related to environmental and conservation issues concerning the park and surrounding ecosystems. Evaluation criteria included academic achievement, project design and quality, as well as relevance of the project to park research needs.

Robyn White, a third-year medical student from Paradise, has won the 2004 Society of Rural Physicians of Canada national rural student essay contest. Her prize will be registration, travel and accommodations to next year’s SRPC Annual Conference. In awarding Ms. White top place, one of the judges said he was “moved to tears” and that the essay helps remind physicians why they entered rural medicine. The essay, which was written as an e-mail to family and friends while on an elective in Labrador City, is titled An Experience That Influenced My Passion for Rural Medicine. It can be read at www.srpc.ca.

Dr. Patrick Dabinett, Biology, has been named Aquaculturist of the Year for 2004 by the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association (NAIA) for involvement and contributions to the aquaculture industry in Newfoundland. Aquaculture is the farming or husbandry of living organisms, including plants and animals from both fresh and marine waters for human consumption. Simply put, aquaculture is the farming of the sea. NAIA has acknowledged his research with scallop culture, some of which was patented through Memorial’s Seabright Corporation, and is currently utilized by commercial shellfish hatcheries in Quebec, Nova Scotia and Bermuda. The award also recognizes his charter membership and directorship of the Newfoundland Aquaculture Association which later became NAIA where he was director from 1993-1997. It also acknowledges his establishment of the first larval mussel monitoring program in the early 1990s for NAIA.