One of my greatest joys as president of MacEwan is learning about the impactful work being done by faculty, staff, alumni and students.

This fall, Edify magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 issue focused on individuals doing great things in and for their communities. Of the 40 people recognized, eight had strong connections to MacEwan. This included three members of our faculty and staff – Carolyn Jervis, director and curator of the Mitchell Art Gallery; Dr. JJ Wright, assistant professor of sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Science; and Kevin Chavez Laxamana, instructor with the School of Continuing Education. I encourage you to take a moment to read the short profile we published about them where they shared how MacEwan supported their success.

While each of these impressive individuals was recognized for achievements in a variety of areas, they were united in their shared sense of passion for their work and a drive to make a meaningful difference in their communities. I know people working and learning across our institution share this passion.

As we start to plan our holiday menus and celebrations, I thought I would highlight the many ways people across MacEwan are doing inspiring work related to food.

For Dr. Gail Low, MacEwan’s Chair of International Health, the stress of the pandemic sparked a new avenue of research. Wishing to support people as they navigated the unknown of the pandemic, Dr. Low began investigating how food might help people return to a more normal life and reduce their anxiety. It goes much deeper than sourdough – her findings have far-reaching implications as they identified how including healthy habits in our daily routine can help us overcome the myriad of challenges we face.

But what is healthy? Dr. Alissa Overend, associate professor in sociology, began as a health researcher and that passion led her to explore the changing politics of food, eating and nutrition. Her book, Shifting Food Facts, provides a fascinating analysis of how we define “healthy” foods and why we are challenged by conflicting dietary advice and nutritional evidence in our news feeds.

Economics professor, Dr. Shahidul Islam, combined his interests in economics and food in his article in The Conversation Canada. He examined how the rise in food prices due to inflation was negatively affecting people’s eating habits, which could lead to long-term negative impacts on the health of Canadians.

Then we have the recent example of two disciplines coming together to help farmers. Dr. Samuel Mugo, associate dean of development and professor of physical sciences, and Dr. Mohammed Elmorsy, associate professor in computer science, collaborated to help producers combat the rising costs of fertilizers and the dangers of climate change through the creation of a soil sensor to help them make informed decisions about what fertilizers may be needed, and how much. It’s a powerful example of how collaboration can produce real-life solutions to current and emerging issues.

Bonnie Dong, MacEwan's manager of sustainability, in front of a new sustainable public art piece in Building 8. 

Bonnie Dong leads MacEwan’s sustainability initiatives. She got hooked on sustainability in university while earning her civil and environmental engineering degree. Once the Alberta director of the Canada Green Building Council, she’s now leading a team that has many exciting projects underway, including providing dozens of students the opportunity to grow herbs and vegetables in our community gardens and teaching them about healthy, sustainable food choices.

Do you know how a cybersecurity expert became MacEwan’s beekeeper? Troy Donovan was curious about beekeeping and stopped the head of facilities in the hallway to ask if MacEwan would be interested in starting an urban hive. Now the program is abuzz, producing some of our biggest yields yet and engaging a dozen student and staff volunteers every year.

Troy Donovan, MacEwan's resident beekeeper 

MacEwan alum Ariel del Rosario is well known for his tasty creations at Filistix, but he’s also a community leader who supports local causes and Edmonton’s food scene. Now, he’s using his passion to directly help our students by teaching them how to cook affordable and nutritious meals. He is the first person to show some of our students how to properly use a knife and is empowering them to learn new culinary skills that will last them a lifetime.

Food security is top of mind this season. I want to recognize SAMU for their innovative work on the food pantry. I also want to acknowledge Lara McClelland and her team in University Relations for launching the pop-up lunch initiative. These efforts and many others reflect our shared commitment to creating a supportive environment.

All very impressive work done by individuals who are excited to explore new areas connected to their passions, all of which will have a direct impact on the community. I’m very excited to see that this year’s Interdisciplinary Dialogue Project is focused on food, as it will cook up many more interesting ideas and concepts to explore. Who knows – it may even spark a lifelong passion and set one of our students on a path to accomplishing great things like the leaders profiled in this column.

Dr. Annette Trimbee
President and Vice-Chancellor