Public Design Unit (PDU), I am here: Mapping Detroit Water Shut-offs (detail), Projection Map Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit | Photo: PDU
Latest issue of ResearchLIFE magazine
A message from Vice-President (Research and International) Digvir S. Jayas, on the new issue of ResearchLIFE:
While we were preparing to mail the winter 2020 issue of ResearchLIFE magazine, the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic hit Canada, resulting, sadly, in many deaths, millions of unemployed Canadians, economic devastation across the country and a ‘new normal’ which requires physical distancing from family, friends and colleagues.
I look at my original message in this issue and note that the environment we live in is changing more than I could have ever imagined, when I reflected on the transition from winter to spring. There remains, however, the knowledge that if we persevere through this difficult and unprecedented time, we will come through this. We must be patient, we must trust our scientists and health experts to guide decision making, and we must, above all, remain hopeful for a different world than we envisioned less than six months ago. Humans are resilient by nature and we can all work together and do our part to flatten the curve and come out the other side.
The issue highlights four early career UM researchers who are making great strides in their scientific, creative and scholarly investigations:
- Tracie Afifi (Community Health Sciences) – The Measure of Maltreatment – Her research into the harms that maltreatment causes to children is providing evidence for changes being adopted around the globe.
- Karen Dow (Civil Engineering) – Ice, Ice, Maybe – Dow is studying the complexities of the conditions that influence the formation of ice and the unseen turbulent waters beneath.
- Mary Kate Dennis (Social Work), Indigenous Scholar – Lessons on Loss – Dennis is learning and listening to Indigenous Elders about their experiences with trauma and loss.
- On the cover, you will see an image from the creative works of Daniel McCafferty (School of Art) titled Freehand. His practice “is more a form of inquiry, rooted in critique, that uses print, publishing, video, photography, data, mapping and programming, to explore relations between communication, community and power.”
I invite you to explore the many research investigations highlighted within this issue, from impactful award winners to budding undergraduate researchers.
Research at the University of Manitoba is partially supported by funding from the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.