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Message from VPR Research and Innovation are Front & Centre a t the Univer sit y of Toronto S carbor ough From its beginnings, this campus has been an integral part of the University of Toronto, and has inspired and educated students to become problem solvers of tomorrow. Our world-class faculty members are research leaders in their fields, and engage students across a wide spectrum of disciplines, with a commitment to excellence. Our academic community of scholars creates an environment where leading humanists, social scientists, artists and scientists develop ideas and focus on problems that matter. University of Toronto Scarborough’s outstanding research environment is deeply embedded in the university’s long history. And we are on a path to continue to provide and further enhance the strength of our research enterprise by hiring the best faculty, admitting top students at all levels, providing innovative academic programs and educating the brightest minds of tomorrow. 4 | University of Toronto Scarborough
At U of T Scarborough, our faculty are thought leaders recognized for excellence in their fields. We are committed to ensuring that students get research experience as early as possible – and to providing a top-notch experience for our growing body of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. As part of our commitment to nurturing entrepreneurship, The Hub provides an innovation space where students from across the disciplines can explore ideas and launch successful businesses. “ We are committed to ensuring that students get research experience as early Our vision is simultaneously local and global. Our collective promise to our city, as possible – the eastern Greater Toronto Area, and indeed the world is to deepen knowledge and and to providing uncover innovations that enhance human conditions. Our research strengths span areas as different as environmental sciences, clinical psychology, neuroscience and cultural a top-notch studies. It is this diverse expertise, nestled in interdisciplinary and international collabo- experience for our ration, that enables us to tackle the issues of climate change, poverty, access to health growing body of care and other societal concerns that challenge humanity right now. It is this expertise that makes us proud to co-create communities, advocate for change, and push the graduate students boundaries of knowledge. and postdoctoral fellows.” In these pages, you’ll discover just a small fraction of the impressive work we’re doing here at Canada’s leading university. We invite you to follow our research news and share in this exciting world of discovery and impact. H. Bernie Kraatz, PhD Professor and Vice-Principal Research Annual report 2017/2018 | 5
Impact by the Numbers General Statistics ( by year ) Total Research Funding by Source 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 1% 2% $81,176 other connaught fund $226,601 other federal federal granting research funds $1,127,349 agencies ( number of grants and contracts ) 10% $6,759,522 391 not- for- profit $1,039,791 9% 368 384 funding applications inter- institutional 7% 253 collaboration 58% $783,608 233 244 5% total funding sponsors government of ontario 8% $610,243 70 foreign total private sector partners government $958,292 5 $11.6 Million total no. of funding programs total funding 117 cihr Tri-Agency Funding $898,529 Entrepreneurship – The Hub (2017-18) 15.6% Combined revenues and investment of Hub startups increased $5.8 $100,000 57.6% Million 26.8% sshrc $1,542,326 nserc $3,318,666 560 students participated in Hub events 30 companies formed 6 | University of Toronto Scarborough
Grant Success 90 88.2% 80 80.0% 76.5% National Success Rate 70 66.0% 66.4% 66.1% 60 60.9% UTSC Success Rates 50 45.5% 47.6% sshrc insight grant 40 40.0% 30 31.8% nserc discovery grant 31.1% 23.1% 20 cihr project grant 10 14.6% (fall 2017 and spring 2018 competitions ) 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 Supervisions by U of T Scarborough Faculty 2017-18 Statistics 2017-18 146 151 total Research Faculty 2016-17 250 235 110 2015 –16 179 119 139 2015-16 680 2016 –17 239 2015-16 422 2016-17 764 publications Journal Articles 524 475 2017-18 798 Book Chapters Books 27 17 501 Other 117 master’s doctoral postdoctoral Commercializaton 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18* total New Invention Disclosures** 9 Priorit y Patent Applications Filed 5 License and Option Agreements 2 Start-up Companies Formed by Facult y 3 * Data for 2017-18 is preliminary and may change until finalized in 2019. ** Counts with at least one inventor from UTSC (full counts rather than weighed by inventor).
an evolutionary surprise: Brain size decrease due to habitat change Modern-day mountain beavers have a smaller relative brain size than their ancestors did, a surprising evolutionary finding in wild species. Ornella Bertrand, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anthropology, is the lead author of a study that compared virtual endocasts – the imprint the brain makes against the inner part of the cranium – and found that the part of the brain related to sight may be what shrank over time. Unlike its ancestor, which lived in trees, the modern moun- beyond gps : tain beaver adapted to burrowing, meaning it lives mostly underground. Being less reliant on its vision, it appears an area Monkeys can of the neocortex responsible for sight may have shrunk over time in this species. plan their routes An evolutionary decrease in brain size has been observed in domesticated animals such as chickens, pigs and dogs, but this is a rare example of a decrease in brain size due to a specific shift in where the animal spends most of its time, says Bertrand. Julie Teichroeb found that vervet monkeys A member of Professor Mary Silcox’s lab at U of T Scarbor- can solve multi-destination routes in the ough, Bertrand took first place in the Taylor and Francis Best same way humans do. Student Paper Award, a top prize from an international paleon- An assistant professor in the Department tology society for her paper exploring rodent brains. of Anthropology, Teichroeb is also lead author of a study showing that the monkeys apply simple rules of thumb to find rela- tively short routes without having to think too much about it. “People are amazed that animals can often find the shortest route when foraging for food, and the big ques- tion is how they’re able to figure it out,” she says. “Solving these kinds of routes is extremely difficult mathematically but we’ve found that these monkeys, much like us, rely on heuristics.” Teichroeb and study co-author Eve Smeltzer, a PhD student in U of T’s Depart- ment of Anthropology, observed the vervets at Lake Nabugabo in Uganda. Vervet monkeys, which are found mostly throughout southern Africa, help serve as a non-human primate model for understanding genetic and social behav- iours in humans. They’ve been observed to experience hypertension, anxiety and social dependency, and even display spiteful behaviour. Annual report 2017/2018 | 9
Our Stories Exploring molecular mechanisms of virus infection For Christina Guzzo, the prospect of about medical advancement is essential working in a room containing poten- not only because of her own line of work, tially deadly pathogens is an exciting and but because she recognizes that as break- essential part of her research. throughs are made in HIV treatment, we An assistant professor in the Depart- must also adapt how we treat people with ment of Biological Sciences, Guzzo HIV socially. received support from the John R. Evans “Any young Canadian who is diag- Leaders Fund, which helps to create nosed early and adherent to antiviral infrastructure for cutting-edge labora- treatment can live a long, fulfilling and tories. Her lab will conduct advanced relatively ‘normal’ life,” says Guzzo. “In research on HIV. the long term, our research will provide Guzzo cares deeply about the influ- new ways to extend the lifespan of HIV- ence HIV stigma has on public policy and infected individuals, and ultimately, aims about other social hurdles HIV-positive to contribute knowledge to the ongoing people are needlessly forced to encounter quest for effective HIV vaccine and cure every day. For her, spreading the word strategies.” How will climate change affect the spread of disease? A new model developed by Péter Molnár may help researchers better understand how diseases will be affected by climate change. “Climate change is altering the environment as we know it and it’s also changing the interactions species are having with parasites and pathogens,” says Molnár, an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. “The ultimate goal is to have some predictive capability for how these interactions are changing due to changing temperatures, [so that we can] help manage the spread of disease in humans and animals.” Molnár and his team developed a model that uses physiological characteristics from well-known species, such as the malaria parasite, and applies them to understudied ones. “If we can get some idea of what may happen with climate change, you can start to plan for the time when a disease arrives, and this applies to wildlife, cattle, humans – whatever you want to manage,” says Molnár. 10 | University of Toronto Scarborough
beyond gps : Monkeys can plan their routes The complexity of beating a personal best “Personal bests” act as reference points in as they surpass it. They won’t risk playing human behaviour. another game and sinking below where “If your personal best is 28 push-ups their personal best used to be. But eventu- and you get 29, then you feel much, much ally they’ll come back and try again. happier than if you do 27, even though To bridge models in social sciences [the two numbers] are very close,” says and computer science, Anderson believes Ashton Anderson, an assistant professor in finding more reference points will make the Department of Computer and Math- social science theories more predictive. ematical Sciences. Computation is having a significant Anderson co-led a study with colleagues impact on the social sciences, where from the Wharton School at the Univer- historically lab studies were limited to the sity of Pennsylvania that analyzed a dataset number of participants. “Now we have of more than 130 million chess games by datasets of billions of people, searching for 70,000 players. what they want to find, talking to their So if personal bests are used as reference friends, finding romantic partners and so points, how do we expect them to affect on. [Big] datasets and the computational how people behave? resources that we have to process them Anderson says individuals will exert are akin to the invention of the telescope. extra effort the closer they get to their Before, we were just looking at the stars personal best, and will stop playing as soon with our bare eyes.” Annual report 2017/2018 | 11
Our Stories Adapting our view on dementia Marlene Goldman, a professor of English and expert in contempo- rary Canadian literature and the gothic, is changing the way we view aging and dementia. Goldman worked with neurologists and clinicians to under- stand the current perspective on the condition. When she finished her book, Forgotten: Narratives of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease in Canada (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2017), she wanted to make its subject accessible to the audience she studied. That’s when she added “filmmaker” to her resumé. Goldman adapted Nobel winner Alice Munro’s short story, “In Sight of the Lake” for the screen because it offers an alternative to the gothic approach to dementia. Working in film was a contrast to the solitary scholarly writing experience. “It was amazing to move from an individual process to co-writer, co-director and producer.” She worked with experienced writer and director Philip McKee, whom she credits with making her work better. “How we understand and respond to cognitive decline is based on our culture,” says Goldman. “People with dementia don’t always share our sense of ‘reality,’ but when we take the trouble to forge connection, everyone benefits because we gain access to a fascinating, alternative and imaginative view of the world.” 12 | University of Toronto Scarborough
sin o - w es t ern rel at io n s a n d l aw : Top book prize Li Chen has won one of the most presti- gious awards in Chinese studies from the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) for his book Chinese Law in Imperial Eyes: Sovereignty, Justice and Transcultural Politics (Columbia University Press, 2016). The AAS awarded the Joseph Levenson Book Prize to Chen, who is the chair of the Department of Historical and Cul- tural Studies. The book takes a unique look at how Western views of China and Chinese law were influenced in the century leading up to the First Opium War (1839-1842). Chen argues that recovering the varied and contradictory roles of Chinese law in Western “modernization” helps focus the subsequent Euro-Americentric discourse of studies, history of international law global modernity through the eyes and empire, post-colonial theories, and of China. Chinese history and Sino-Western rela- “This book was part of the collective tions. His book also sheds new light on effort of a growing number of scholars to important topics such as the formation of re-situate the conversation about Chinese comparative Chinese law in the West, the cultural, legal, social or economic tradi- origins of the First Opium War and the tions,” says Chen. application of foreign laws in China. The book shows how constructed The AAS awards the Joseph Levenson differences between societies were first Book Prizes to two English-language hardened into cultural or racial bound- books (on the pre-1900 and the post- aries and then politicized to make sense 1900 periods respectively) that make the of international conflicts and hierarchy. greatest contribution in increasing the Chen draws on recent work in anthro- understanding of history, culture, society, pology, cultural studies, critical legal politics or the economy of China. Making Toronto transit better The King Street pilot project aims to improve travel times for Toronto Transit Commission commuters along Toronto’s busiest streetcar route – and it seems to be doing just that. Steven Farber, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Geography, worked on the project. He is also co-director of U of T’s Spatial Analysis of Urban Systems lab, which conducted the research on the King Street pilot. “[Travel] times have been improved by about four to five minutes during the rush hour period,” says Farber. The pilot aimed to reduce car traffic along a 2.6 kilometre stretch of King Street by allowing motorists to drive only one block before forcing them to turn right, giving priority to streetcars, which transport more than 65,000 passengers per day. “From a transit perspective and an operational perspective, the pilot is achieving the goal of providing a much faster and more reliable transit route to tens of thousands of people daily,” says Farber. Annual report 2017/2018 | 13
Our Stories h e a lt h h u m a n i t i e s : A truly interdisciplinary program “Health humanities or medical The founding director of SCOPE: humanities, as it’s also sometimes called, The Health Humanities Learning can take a few different forms,” Charise Lab (an arts- and humanities-based says. “One approach involves more research and education initiative at U theoretical considerations of health, ill- of T Scarborough), Charise is the first ness, disability and embodiment, as well recipient of the Digital Scholars Fel- as the aesthetics of representing illnesses lowship, co-sponsored by the Jackman like AIDS, cancer, dementia or depres- Humanities Institute and University sion in various creative media. But the of Toronto Scarborough, which allows field also encompasses more applied, her to explore the special affordances hands-on practices: the use of arts-based of a digital approach to age studies and health interventions such as art therapy, health humanities more generally. ‘narrative medicine,’ universal design, “An interdisciplinary field like health and healthcare architecture, to name humanities has many possible futures,” just a few.” says Charise. “One important thread Andrea Charise, an assistant professor in Charise is a literary scholar with more to follow will be how the relationship the Department of English and Inter- than 15 years of experience as a medical between arts, humanities and health plays disciplinary Centre for Health and researcher, primarily in geriatrics. out in different national contexts. The Society, is the lead developer of Canada’s Her interdisciplinary research aims to amplification of voices, experiences and first undergraduate program in health highlight the fascinating texture of communities that have historically been humanities. The program looks at the aging, which is far more complex than marginalized or exploited in the name of impact of the humanities and critical the usual platitudes regarding decline or health care, research and policy is another social sciences on health. so-called “successful” aging. necessary future for this field.” facin g do min a n ce : Why we may prefer a wider face on our clocks and cars Research by Pankaj Aggarwal reveals that there may be an unconscious appetite among consumers for products that convey dominance. Products like cars and watches are often marketed as sleek, classy and reliable. But that’s not necessarily what consumers may be looking for when they go shopping. “If these products are used in situations where you’re competing with someone else, the goal may be dominance,” says Aggarwal, a marketing professor in the Department of Management and U of T’s Rotman School of Management. Aggarwal studies the notion of anthropomorphism, the idea of attributing human traits to non-human entities. “While people don’t want to interact with dominant human faces, we found they prefer it in certain products when their goal is dominance,” says Aggarwal. So what are the lessons for product designers, marketers and consumers? Aggarwal says designers may want to look beyond just aesthetics and functionality to also consider how the product represents certain traits, like dominance or warmth. “With cars, some may find it useful to convey dominance, but for others, like health- care products, you may want to signal the complete opposite trait.” 14 | University of Toronto Scarborough
Uncovering rock-carved churches Michael Gervers’ research focuses on digitally church officials seemed surprised it was preserving the knowledge and technique of taking place,” says Gervers. “ how Ethiopia’s rock-cut churches are made. A crew of craftsmen, typically with no A professor in the Department of His- formal training and using only hammer and torical and Cultural Studies, Gervers has chisel, will carve out 50 centimetres of rock travelled to Ethiopia three times since 2015, in a day. Carving a church 15 metres square and uncovered 20 modern churches across by four metres high can take two years of the country. non-stop work, and often progress is slowed It’s a challenge, Gervers’ work has attracted the atten- by a lack of funds or workers. but I’m perfectly tion of descendants of Ethiopian royalty. Since most of the modern rock-cut Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, churches are being made in rural areas, the happy in this the grandson of the country’s last ruling only way to find out more is to visit them. environment. emperor, awarded Gervers the Grand Cross Often this involves travelling from vil- Other than of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia in recog- lage to village, and, once there, asking the nition of his research. craftsmen if they know of other churches basic food and There are hundreds of rock-cut churches that are being built, notes Gervers. water, I don’t scattered throughout Ethiopia, some dating As for what continues to motivate him crave much as far back as the 12th century, with a few most about his research, he says it’s as much containing the finest examples of monu- the physical as the intellectual challenges that in life. What mental stonework found anywhere in the come along with it. Most of the churches are motivates me world. But many thought the practice of carved into the side of hills or mountains. most is seeing carving churches from rock had all but Gervers has even had to scale down a sheer disappeared 500 years ago. Even scholars of cliff on a rope to access a church. this project Ethiopian culture didn’t seem to know it “It’s a challenge, but I’m perfectly happy through.” was still taking place in remote areas of the in that environment,” he says. “Other than country. basic food and water, I don’t crave much in “Scholars and government officials didn’t life. What motivates me most is seeing this seem to know it was happening. Even some project through.” Annual report 2017/2018 | 15
Our Stories
App as a tour guide in Rouge National Urban Park A new mobile app for Rouge National Urban Park developed by U of T Scarborough students is so good, it’s like having a seasoned tour guide right in the palm of your hands. The project was part of the students’ work placement with Parks Canada as part of the Arts & Science Co-op program, but work on the app took place in The Hub, U of T Scarbor- ough’s centre for innovation and entrepreneurship, under the Changing landscape guidance of Hub Director Gray Graffam. “We wanted the app to be user friendly and fun, one that high- and Arctic ponds as lights the amazing ecology and cultural history for people in real time,” says Kaitlyn Chow, a graduate of the master’s program in a source of carbon Environmental Science who helped develop the app. Chow developed the content side of the app along with emissions fellow Environmental Science master’s student Winston Lee, while Computer Science students Derek Etherton, Alex Cavanagh, Dayde Reid and Brian Au worked on the technical side. In addition to an interactive park map detailing trails and Some ponds in the High Arctic may be points of interest, users can also turn on a Rouge Tracking a hidden source of greenhouse gases. feature that acts as a GPS-based virtual tour guide. A study co-authored by Environ- More than 1,700 species have been documented in the mental Science Professor Myrna Simpson park, which also includes a diverse range of habitats including looked at how dissolved organic carbon meadows, wetlands, marshes and farmland, not to mention a (DOC) stored in Arctic permafrost is stretch of Carolinian Forest found nowhere else in Canada. being released into Arctic watersheds It also has a rich history spanning more than 10,000 years of as a result of physical disturbances that human habitation. relocate nutrients across the landscape. Rouge National Urban Park is the first national park in For the first time, researchers were able to Canada located in an urban setting. determine that the chemical composition of carbon in these ponds is vastly different than in rivers in the High Arctic. “This is one of the novel findings of the study – that these ponds could play an important role in the global carbon cycle,” says Simpson. What’s more, she notes, the Arctic permafrost stores a lot of carbon because it generally remains frozen, locked into place for a long time. With rapid thawing of the permafrost, that’s changing. In fact, using radiocarbon dating, the researchers found DOC more than 5,000 years old that was being degraded. An important next step for the research will be to see how widespread the phe- nomenon is, for example if it happens in all Arctic ponds and different types of bodies of water. Annual report 2017/2018 | 17
Our Stories Can the pursuit of happiness Using AI to study make us feel unhappy? craters on the moon Getting caught up in the pursuit of happiness A new technique developed by Mohamad “ may end up making us feel unhappy. Ali-Dib uses the same technology behind “The annoying thing about happiness self-driving cars to measure the size and for people interested in pursuing it is that location of crater impacts on the moon. it can be such a moving target,” says study “[We’ve] developed a technique from co-author Sam Maglio, an assistant professor artificial intelligence that can automate It helps if you in the Department of Management and U of this entire process, [saving] significant can let go of T’s Rotman School of Management. time and effort,” says Ali-Dib, a postdoc- “Happiness is something that everyone toral fellow in the Centre for Planetary happiness as wants a little bit more of, but there’s no Sciences (CPS). a goal that clearly defined end state for when you’ve “It’s the first time we have an algorithm needs constant got it.” that can detect craters really well for not So what can people do if they want or only parts of the moon, but also areas pursuing and need to pursue happiness as a goal? of Mercury,” Ali-Dib says. He developed instead see it as For one, says Maglio, focus on the present the technique along with Ari Silburt, something that thing that makes you happy, and appreciate Chenchong Charles Zhu and a group the progress you’ve made in achieving it. If of researchers at CPS and the Canadian is already all hiking makes you happy, for example, just Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics around you.” focus on the current hike and not the life- (CITA). time of hikes you will need to take. Knowing the size and location of The other is to take stock of what’s already craters on bodies like the moon is impor- in your life that’s making you happy or pro- tant because it offers a window into the viding you with a sense of happiness. history of our solar system. By studying “It helps if you can let go of happiness impact craters of all shapes, sizes and ages, as a goal that needs constant pursuing and we can better understand the distribution instead see it as something that is already of material and the physics that occurred all around you.” in the early stages of our solar system. 18 | University of Toronto Scarborough
In his research, Jackson Yue Bin Guo focuses on the interplay between popular and elite cultures. A PhD candidate of late imperial Chinese history who works with Pro- fessor Li Chen in the Department of Historical and Cultural Studies, Guo is also affiliated with the Culinaria Research Centre. His research focuses on how alcohol shook the distinctive features of social class, ethnicity and other constructed boundaries during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). “What fascinates me about the Qing dynasty is that the empire was massive, so there was a flourishing of trade and a lot going on culturally that was so influential to the drinking im p eri a l g at herin gs : culture,” says Guo. “A big part of my research going forward is looking at the different ways drinking habits of the elites Interplay between were influenced by commoners. We’re talking about 300 mil- lion people around that time, so it’s very likely that elites were popular and influenced by what was going on among commoners.” To conduct his research, Guo went to four of the larger elite cultures archives in China and Taiwan, spending a month in the First Historical Archives of China in Beijing, where most of the Qing records are kept, to manually copy research material.
Our Stories Toronto needs to develop a fresh vision Fresh vision for for its public art projects. This is the key finding of Redefining public art policy Public Art in Toronto, a comprehen- sive report co-authored by Dan Silver, associate professor in the Department of Sociology, and Dr. Sara Diamond, president and vice-chancellor of OCAD University. The authors and their teams inter- viewed artists, architects, developers, politicians and other experts in Toronto 20 | University of Toronto Scarborough
and Montreal. They also relied on compared to cities like Chicago, San for Nuit Blanche, while Silver was an inventory map of all public art Francisco, Vancouver and Montreal. co-creator of the Art of the Danforth projects completed in Toronto from “The funding model is pretty festival. 1967 to 2015, looked at a host of unique to Toronto; it’s a maze and “Public art is about building a public art policy documents for the you can lose yourself in it,” says profoundly livable city,” says Dia- City of Toronto and collected similar Silver. “But the bottom line is that mond. “There’s no denying it has an documents from 30 other cities how projects get funded in Toronto aesthetic role, but it’s more than just a around the world as part of a com- is through a negotiation with devel- decorative add-on; it can help play an parative analysis. opers for a percentage of development important role in the future trajectory The result? While there are areas costs that then go towards public art.” of the city.” where Toronto is doing well, there Diamond and Silver say the report “I hope when Toronto looks at its are clear areas where it’s falling offers a path forward for the city by city-building plans in the coming behind. outlining eight key recommendations years and decades, more of an effort A key area of improvement is ranging from robust funding to better will be made in reaching out to all of how the city goes about funding promotion of public art. They bring its neighbourhoods,” Silver says. art projects. The number of public a wealth of experience from outside “All of these areas have rich cul- artworks in Toronto is at an all- of academia, with Diamond being tural activity and are deserving of an time high but investment has lagged the chair of the advisory committee effective strategy.” d o yo u s e e w h at i s e e? The dangers of live A mind-reading journalistic reporting algorithm reconstructs what Recent events suggest that the ability of journalists to safely do their job, we perceive like reporting live on location, has been greatly compromised – even for local news reporters. Jeffrey Dvorkin, director of the Journalism program, explains how an increase in attacks on the media can be attributed to soci- etal shifts and changes in news organizations. “At a certain point in time, news organizations decided to save money by only sending a reporter out by themselves without a camera person, without a producer to help set up the shot and be a second set of eyes and ears. [In] an Internet age, [this has] rendered the reporter more vulner- able,” he says. Dvorkin, who began his journalism career at CBS News in 1972, has seen a transformation in the media environment. “Previously war cor- respondents, people who did a lot of crime reporting, were the journal- ists ending up with PTSD, and now we’re seeing it with photo editors, desk editors and copy editors. There is so much harshness out there that we have to figure out a better way that we can support good journalism and good journalists.” Dvorkin notes that all large institutions – media, government, edu- cation – are under attack. “The deference that the public used to give to the academy, the church, the media is gone. We’re living in more troubled times, so our obligation is to present information, educa- tional opportunities and development opportunities that make sense to people, and not just retreat behind ivory towers.” Annual report 2017/2018 | 21
Our Stories Is climate change driving Surprising clues to hurricanes? anxiety and depression Athena Masson, a doctoral student in the Environmental Science Rutsuko Ito and Andy Lee, both associate program working with Professor William Gough, studies hurri- professors in the Department of Psychology, canes in the Atlantic basin. found that a specific part of the hippocampus could play an important role in emotional Compared to other years, was 2017 an unusual year regulation. for hurricanes? The finding calls into question our under- Compared to recent years, the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season has standing of how exactly this part of the brain been an active year, including the frequency of storm formation, works, since the hippocampus is an area of major hurricane formation, and storms forming beyond the desig- the brain commonly linked with memory nated hurricane season. and dementia. The amount of activity can partly be attributed to the warm sea “What this shows is that we may need surface temperatures maintained over the mild North American to rethink how the hippocampus processes winter season. The [U.S.] National Hurricane Center and other information,” says Ito. meteorological agencies called for an above-average hurricane If the hippocampus plays a role in basic season this year because of these contributing elements, and warned motivational behaviour, it may offer impor- about the possibility of both more activity and higher strength in tant insights into a range of mental health the Atlantic basin. illnesses. Addiction, for example, could be linked to deficits of approach motivation. Can we say that hurricanes like Harvey and Irma are a result Anxiety and depression, on the other hand, of climate change? could be linked to avoidance behaviours, Hurricanes like Harvey and Irma are consistent with what we can which could also manifest themselves in this expect in a warming climate. But it’s a bit tricky to say these storms part of the brain. are only caused by climate change. We are experiencing a slight positive trend in the frequency of tropical storms developing, but we are not yet seeing a change in their intensity – although it isn’t out of the question that elements including intensity, duration and size are on the increase. The fuel for Atlantic basin hurricanes comes from heat stored in the upper levels of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Research in the U of T Scarborough Climate Lab and elsewhere has shown the sea surface temperatures in [these] bodies of water have increased. The atmosphere is also changing, and these changes may be affecting the creation and development of hurricanes. My research shows a clear trend for more hurricanes making landfall than in the past, which is a serious concern. 22 | University of Toronto Scarborough
“ do you see w h at i see? This is the first time EEG has been used to reconstruct images based on A mind-reading visual stimuli using neuroimaging techniques. The technique could have [EEG] could algorithm wide-ranging clinical applications. provide a means “It could provide a means of reconstructs what communication for people who are of communication for people who we perceive unable to communicate verbally. Not only could it produce a neural- are unable to based reconstruction of what a person is perceiving, but also of what they communicate remember and imagine, of what they verbally. Not only Researchers are now able to digitally want to express,” says Nestor. could it produce reconstruct images of what people per- “It could also have forensic uses for ceive, based on their brain activity. law enforcement in gathering eyewit- a neural-based A technique developed by Dan ness information on potential suspects reconstruction Nemrodov, a postdoctoral fellow in rather than relying on verbal descrip- Assistant Professor Adrian Nestor’s lab tions provided to a sketch artist. of what a person in the Department of Psychology, uses “What’s really exciting is that we’re is perceiving, electroencephalography (EEG) data to not reconstructing squares and tri- but also of what obtain the images. angles but actual images of a person’s “When we see something, our brain face, and that involves a lot of fine- they remember creates a mental percept, which is essen- grained visual detail,” adds Nestor. and imagine, of tially a mental impression of that thing. “It unveils the subjective content what they want to We were able to capture this percept of our mind and it provides a way to using EEG to get a direct illustration of access, explore and share the con- express.” what’s happening in the brain during this tent of our perception, memory and process,” says Nemrodov. imagination.” Annual report 2017/2018 | 23
Faculty Awards internal external University of Toronto President’s Impact Award 2017 Royal Society of Canada Fellow 2017 U of T Scarborough Principal’s Research Award 2018 frank wania, Physical & Environmental zindel segal, Sciences Psychology U of T Scarborough Research Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Excellence Faculty Scholars 2018-21 Fellowship 2018 julie mccarthy, robert haslhofer, Management Computer & Mathematical Sciences anthony ruocco, Psychology giulio tiozzo, Computer & Mathematical andre simpson, Sciences Physical & Environmental Sciences Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science Early Researcher Award 2018 stefanos aretakis, Computer & Mathematical U of T Scarborough Research Sciences Recognition Award 2018 artur izmaylov, blake richards, Biological Sciences Physical & Environmental Sciences 24 | University of Toronto Scarborough
Canada Cendri Hutcherson, an assistant professor of psychology and the director of the Toronto Research Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, is U of T Scarborough’s most recent Canada Chairs Research Chair. Hutcherson’s research focuses on the development of neural and behavioural models of decision making and self-control. Her research program aims to explain and predict why people succeed or fail to make good choices in different contexts, and hopes to yield new technologies and strate- gies to help them improve their decision making. These strategies will allow indi- viduals to set and achieve their goals more effectively, and will help create more effec- tive health and educational policies. cendri hutcherson, Canada Research Chair in Decision Neuroscience, 2018-2023 c u rre n t c a n a da re s e a rc h kagan kerman, Physical & Environmental Sciences, c h a i r s at u o f t s c a rb o ro u g h CRC in the Bioelectrochemistry of Proteins, 2016-2021 daniel bender, michael lambek , Historical & Cultural Studies, Anthropology, CRC in the CRC in Global Culture, Anthropology of Ethical Life, 2014-2021 2006-2020 brian connelly, bianca schroeder, Management, CRC in Computer & Mathematical Sciences, Integrative Perspectives on CRC in Data Centre Technologies, Personality, 2016-2021 2014-2019 marney isaac, Physical & Environmental bebhinn treanor, Sciences / Centre for Critical Biological Sciences, CRC in Development Studies, Spatially Resolved Biochemistry, CRC in Agroecosystems and 2016-2021 Development, 2013-2018 Annual report 2017/2018 | 25
Student Awards 2017-18 u of t sca rborough u n dergr a duat e r e s e a r c h p o s t e r f o r u m (Co-sponsored by the Library and the Office of the Vice-Principal Research) 1 st place janessa tam & hoi tai lau, Centre for French & Linguistics Processing digraphic text (Cantonese- English) in social media settings U of T Scarborough Undergraduate Research Prize 2017-18 (Co-sponsored by the Library and the Office of the Vice-Principal Research) nikolai meek , Computer & Mathematical 2 Sciences tian lin, olivia rennie, nd Physical & Environmental Sciences and Centre for Critical Development Psychology Studies karen wang, place Community forestry approach to climate change adaptation: Example from the dry zone of Myanmar Arts, Culture & Media 3 rd place sumaya dano, Interdisciplinary Centre for Health and Society Social support and illness perception: How social support is associated with perceived symptom burden in patients on Graduate Student Research Award 2017-18 jacob koudys, maintenance dialysis Psychology, Master’s level Graduate Student Travel Grants 2017-18 sathesan thavabalasingam, $22,995.46 Psychology, Doctoral level (grant year : may 1, 2017 – april 30, 2018) 26 | University of Toronto Scarborough
Research Events c e l e b r at i o n o f re s e a rc h e xc e l l e n c e l ec t u re s e ri e s Bringing the community together to advance the intellectual life of the campus is the goal of U of T Scarborough’s Celebration of Research Excellence Lecture Series. “This series crosses academic boundaries to build a sense of common identity, allowing recent award winners to share their notable discoveries, and fostering a collective passion for education and research,” says [then] Acting Vice-Principal Research Marc Cadotte. “This is a forum that will stimulate the imaginations of those who share the need to know more.” The 2017-18 series was comprised of eight lectures, featuring leading U of T Scarborough scholars: marc cadotte, Biological Sciences li chen, Historical & Cultural Studies jamie donaldson, Physical & Environmental Sciences michael inzlicht, Psychology marney isaac,Physical & Environmental Sciences / Centre for Critical Development Studies lisa jeffrey, Computer & Mathematical Sciences anthony ruocco, Psychology frank wania, Physical & Environmental Sciences n e w f ro n t i e r s s e m i n a r s e ri e s The New Frontiers Seminar Series showcases the newest research Speakers in the New Frontiers Seminar Series being conducted at University of Toronto Scarborough and 2017-18 were: highlights new discoveries from leading external researchers. The seminars are designed to reach a broad audience, and jennifer chun, Sociology are presented by the U of T Scarborough Graduate Students’ girish daswani, Anthropology Association, with sponsorship from the Office of the Vice- marlene goldman, English Principal Research. jayeeta sharma, Historical & Cultural Studies jeffrey hutchings, Dalhousie University (guest) julie lockwood, Rutgers University (guest) massimo pigliucci,The City University of New York ( guest) Annual report 2017/2018 | 27
Outreach s ci e n c e re n d e z v o u s at t h e t o ro n t o zo o attendance ~1500 U of T Scarborough is continuing its long-standing partnership with the Toronto Zoo and Let’s Talk Science with an aim to get kids excited about studying science. Faculty and students brought the lab to the zoo to inspire the next generation of scientists as number of event volunteers part of Science Rendezvous, a 80 national festival of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math- ematics) that takes place at more than 300 sites across Canada. volunteer hours spent planning 1400 Featured speakers at this year’s Sci- ence Rendezvous at the local event at the Toronto zoo included Pro- fessor Maydianne Andrade, Professor social media reach Marc Cadotte and Assistant Professor 33,000 + impressions Tod Thiele, all from the Department of Biological Sciences. 28 | University of Toronto Scarborough
l e t ’ s ta l k s ci e n c e The number Let’s Talk Science, an award-winning national charitable outreach of registered organization, creates and delivers unique learning experiences that volunteers engage children and youth in science, technology, engineering and has grown mathematics (STEM). Let’s Talk Science at U of T Scarborough 36% has been delivering free hands-on activities to youth in Scarbor- ough and throughout Ontario since 2004, and has reached more than 30,000 students in the past 14 years. More than 5700 youth participated in the 173 events and activities in the last organized by the UTSC branch of Let’s Talk Science in 2017-18, two years while the number of registered volunteers has grown 36% over the last two academic years. Number of Registered Volunteers More than 2010 2011 20 144 5700 youth participants 2012 143 in 2017-18 2013 108 2014 154 2015 189 2016 305 2017 498 2018 675 Annual report 2017/2018 | 29
Books Published by U of T Scarborough Research Faculty This is a non-comprehensive list of books published by our faculty members between January 2017 and June 2018. For full credit of covers, please see page 69. SUSTAINABILITY POLICY, PLANNING AND GENTRIFICATION IN CITIES SUSANNAH BUNCE ROUTLEDGE EQUITY, JUSTICE AND THE SUSTAINABLE CITY SERIES Aisha Ahmad Aparna Balachandran, Sandford Borins Susannah Bunce Rashmi Pant & & Beth Herst Jihad & co.: Bhavani Raman (Eds.) Sustainability Black markets and Negotiating business policy, planning and Islamist power Iterations of law: Legal narratives : Fables of the gentrification in cities histories from India information technology, automobile manufacturing, and financial trading industries Clayton Childress Jennifer Clapp & Sébastien Drouin, Barry Freeman S. Ryan Isakson Myrtille Méricam- Under the cover: The Bourdet & Caroline Staging strangers: Theatre creation, production, and Speculative harvests : Vernisse (Eds.) and global ethics reception of a novel Financialization, food, and agriculture Correspondance littéraire de Karlsruhe, Vol. 4 30 | University of Toronto Scarborough
MOBILIZING FU CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN CONTENTIOUS POLITICS “Nearly seventy years ago, Mao Zedong’s Communist party came to power through mass protests and a people’s army. Since then his successors have MOBILIZING WITHOUT THE MASSES been increasingly intent on limiting the possibilities for mass protest against their WITHOUT policies or organized resistance of any sort. Diana Fu ingeniously explores and explains how China’s modern citizens are working around those constraints and creating new forms of apparently unorganized resistance. This is an important 978110 8 420 5 49 F U – M O B I L IZI N G W I T H O U T T H E M AS S ES PP C C M Y K and under-appreciated part of the struggle to determine China’s political future.” James Fallows, The Atlantic THE MASSES “… Her deeply embedded ethnography shows how organizers have adapted to the fragmented opportunity structure of the Chinese state at the local level. Her book represents an important contribution to the literature on contentious politics and is a milestone in our understanding of China’s powerful but deeply flawed industrial relations system.” Sidney Tarrow, Maxwell M. Upson Professor Emeritus of Government, Cornell University, and author of Power in Movement (Cambridge, 2011) “Based on remarkable participant-observation field work, Diana Fu provides a CONTROL AND CONTENTION IN CHINA rare and revealing look inside the otherwise opaque world of China’s labor NGOs ... Mobilizing Without the Masses is a must-read, not only for those studying contemporary China but for anyone interested in the possibilities for social mobilization and social justice in authoritarian regimes.” Elizabeth J. Perry, Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government, Harvard University “… Mobilizing Without the Masses stands out for disaggregating the state horizontally, rather than vertically, and because it unpacks the repression– mobilization nexus in a strikingly bottom-up, close-to-the-ground way. Fu explores what needs to be collective about collective action and how the response to migrant worker demands is not always uniform ... we are not likely to see another book like this on Chinese activism and techniques of control soon.” Kevin J. O’Brien, University of California, Berkeley A STUDY OF THE WE ATHE RHE AD E AST AS IAN INSTITUTE COLUMBIA UNIVE RS IT Y DIANA FU Cover image: © Sandra Subraian / OpenART Diana Fu Marlene Goldman John Hannigan & Greg Richards (Eds.) Mobilizing without the Forgotten : Narratives of masses: Control and dementia and Alzheimer’s The SAGE handbook of new contention in China disease in Canada urban studies Bruce Kidd & John R. Miron Sharlene Mollett & Cesar R. Torres (Eds.) Thembela Kepe (Eds.) The organization of cities : Historicizing the Initiative, ordinary life, and Land rights, biodiversity Pan-American Games the good life conservation and justice: Rethinking parks and people Beyond Women’s Words “This book is by some of the most distinguished, clever, and informed writers in the field. It builds on one of the transformative texts in oral history theory/ practice to offer exciting and important contributions to the subject.” Margaretta Jolly, University of Sussex, United Kingdom Beyond Women’s Words unites feminist scholars, artists, and community activists working with the stories of women and other historically marginalized subjects to address the contributions and challenges of doing feminist oral history. Feminists who work with oral history methods want to tell stories that matter. They know, too, that the telling of those stories—the processes by which they are generated and recorded, and the different contexts in which they are shared and interpreted—also matters—a lot. Using Sherna Berger Gluck and Daphne Patai’s classic text, Women’s Words, as a platform to reflect on how feminisms have influenced the field of oral history, this collection brings together an international, multigenerational, and multidisciplinary group of authors whose work highlights the variety in understandings of, and approaches to, feminist oral histories. Through five thematic sections, the volume considers Indigenous modes of storytelling, feminism in diverse locales around the globe, different theoretical approaches, oral history as performance, digital oral history, and oral history as community-engagement. Beyond Women’s Words is ideal for students of oral history, anthropology, public history, women’s and gender history, and Women’s and Gender Studies, as well as activists, artists, and community-engaged practitioners. Katrina Srigley is Associate Professor in the Department of History at Stacey Zembrzycki and Franca Iacovetta Edited by Katrina Srigley, Nipissing University, Ontario, Canada. Author of the awardwinning monograph Breadwinning Daughters: Young Working Women in a Depression-Era City (2010), her current collaborative work with Nipissing First Nation focuses on the history of Nbisiing Anishinaabeg territory. Stacey Zembrzycki teaches at Dawson College, Quebec, Canada. She is the author of According to Baba: A Collaborative Oral History of Sudbury’s Ukrainian Community (2014) and its accompanying website www.sudburyukrainians.ca, and is co-editor of Oral History Off the Record: Toward an Ethnography of Practice (2013). Franca Iacovetta is Professor of History at the University of Toronto, Canada, and co-editor of Studies in Gender and History at University of Toronto Press. A past president of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, she is author or editor of ten books, including the award-winning Gatekeepers: Reshaping Immigrant Lives in Cold War Canada (2006). ORAL HISTORY/WOMEN’S AND GENDER HISTORY Cover image: Aunt Grace and the Elders (1978) © Daphne Odjig, Anishinaabekwe from Wikwemikong Unceded Territory. Beyond Women’s Words FEMINISMS AND THE PRACTICES OF ORAL HISTORY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY ISBN 978-0-8153-5771-1 www.routledge.com Edited by Katrina Srigley, 9 780815 357711 Routledge titles are available as eBook editions in a range of digital formats Stacey Zembrzycki and Franca Iacovetta Jeffrey M. Pilcher Katrina Srigley, Stacey Sherry S. Yu Zembrzycki & Franca Food in world history: Iacovetta (Eds.) Diasporic media beyond Second edition the diaspora : Korean Beyond women’s words : media in Vancouver and Feminisms and the Los Angeles practices of oral history in the twenty-first century Annual report 2017/2018 | 31
Research Funding by Re search Facult y Data source: University of Toronto Research Information System Award Report, prorated, Grant Year April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2018. Report generated on July 9, 2018. This is a non-comprehensive list. faculty department sponsor program project title awarded Aggarwal, Management Social Sciences & Insight Grant Tradeoffs and product flaws: Applying $15,228.00 Pankaj Humanities Research social norms to anthropomorphized Council (SSHRC) products Ahmad, Political Science Norwegian University Norwegian Research The Jihadist war economies project $61,541.00 Aisha of Life Sciences Council Subgrant Ambuehl, Management Connaught Fund New Researcher Incentives for complex transactions - $17,500.00 Sandro Award Bridging economics and ethics Andrade, Biological Natural Sciences & Discovery Grant Examining links between behaviour, plasticity $33,000.00 Maydianne Sciences Engineering Research and diversification under environmental Council (NSERC) heterogeneity using broadly distributed spiders Aretakis, Computer & Connaught Fund New Researcher Mathematical problems in general relativity $5,000.00 Stefanos Mathematical Award Sciences NSERC Discovery Grant Mathematical problems in general relativity $30,000.00 Arhonditsis, Physical & Environment Canada Great Lakes Eutrophication risk assessment with $60,000.00 George Environmental University Research process-based modelling and evolutionary Sciences Fund algorithms in the Bay of Quinte AOC Environment Canada Great Lakes Determination of the best management $60,000.00 University Research practices in the Napanee River watershed Fund Environment Canada Great Lakes Integrated modelling to assess phosphorus $60,000.00 University Research best management practices in Hamilton Fund Harbour Environment Canada Great Lakes Eutrophication risk assessment and $68,000.00 University Research adaptive management implementation in Fund the Hamilton Harbour AOC: Elucidating the role of internal nutrient recycling Environment Canada Great Lakes Modelling nutrient exports and dynamics $50,000.00 University Research including internal nutrient loading in Fund Lake Erie Mitacs Elevate (PDF) Guiding delisting decisions in the Great $23,958.34 Lakes area: Development of a Bayesian risk assessment methodology NSERC Discovery Grant A Bayesian framework to study the effects $58,000.00 of hydrological extremes under present and future climate conditions U.S. Department Operating Contract Great Lakes water quality models inventory $50,020.99 of State Armstrong, Psychology NSERC Discovery Grant Toward a universal theory and model of $26,000.00 Blair word comprehension Arruda Psychology Brain & Behavior NARSAD Young Circuit maturation and susceptibility $2,612.82 Carvalho, Research Foundation Investigator Award to depression Maithe 32 | University of Toronto Scarborough
faculty department sponsor program project title awarded Arruda Psychology Canada Foundation Infrastructure Maturation of sensitive circuits underlying $10,983.05 Carvalho, for Innovation (CFI) Operating Fund early life stress Maithe (IOF) CFI John R. Evans Maturation of sensitive circuits underlying $60,000.00 Leaders Fund early life stress Ministry of Research, Small Infrastructure Maturation of sensitive circuits underlying $60,000.00 Innovation and FundRese early life stress evolutionary algorithms in Science the Bay of Quinte AOC NSERC Discovery Grant Maturation of circuits underlying learning $33,000.00 and memory panee River watershed NSERC Research Tools Circuit basis of decision making across the $9,354.62 & Instruments - lifespan anagement practices in Hamilton Category 1 Harbour Averbakh, Management nserc Discovery Grant Nonclassical discrete optimization problems $21,000.00 Igor Birn, Anne- Political Science Canadian Institutes Open Operating Health diplomacy at a crossroads: Social $8,333.33 Emanuelle of Health Research Grant justice-oriented south-south cooperation in (CIHR) a time of global changeLake Erie Blouin, Historical and SSHRC Insight Living on the edges: Cultural landscapes $5,116.67 Katherine Cultural Studies Development Grant in the Hellenistic and Roman eastern Nile Delta Boonstra, Biological NSERC Discovery Grant - The role of stress in natural populations $15,000.00 Rudy Sciences Northern Research Supplement NSERC Discovery Grant The role of stress in natural populations in $51,000.00 Office of Naval Research Quantifying stress in marine mammals: $3,459.73 Research Measuring biologically active cortisol in cetaceans and pinnipeds Borins, Management SSHRC Insight Grant Extending the reach of a methodology $18,148.00 Sandford for studying narratives about politics and government University of Extending the reach of a methodology $6,000.00 Toronto Excellence for studying narratives about politics and Award - SSH government Bowen, Arts, Culture SSHRC Aid to Scholarly Renaissance and reformation / renaissance $29,347.86 William & Media Journals et réforme Brown, Anthropology / CIHR Project Scheme Chronic medical conditions and perinatal $76,500.00 Hilary Interdisciplinary Grant mental illness Kathryn Centre for Health & Society CIHR Request for Infants born to women with disabilities: $4,167.00 Applications (RFA) Health and health care Operating Grant Connaught Fund New Researcher Maternal diabetes and perinatal mental $17,500.00 Award illness: A population-based cohort study National Institutes Operating Pregnancy in women with disabilities: $114,598.56 of Health (U.S.) Grant-R01 Using novel methods to characterize risk Women’s College Women’s Xchange Pilot randomized controlled trial of an $7,495.50 Hospital Project Funding interconception intervention provided by public health nurses to improve reproductive and perinatal outcomes Annual report 2017/2018 | 33
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