Following my July 21 blog entry about the near-miss of the International Space Station by orbital debris, I thought you would be interested to know how an ISS crew would respond to a rapid depressurization of the Station. A depressurization would certainly result from a breach of the hull if hit by a piece of […]
Last week, I was in Toronto participating in the annual general meeting of Tomatosphere. Tomatosphere is a Canadian project that promotes science learning at the grade school level (students aged 8 – 14). It connects students’ fascination with space travel and the role that green plants must someday play in the life support system of space […]
The credibility and influence of the University of Calgary Senate stem largely from its diverse membership. Members include an impressively capable and passionate group of volunteers with substantial knowledge, skills and experiences from the business, government, non-profit and academic sectors. In this guest blog entry, I asked Senator Jill Wyatt to report on the […]
Several thousand first year students have arrived this week at the University of Calgary. I see energy, smiles and spirited conversation everywhere I walk today on campus. Exciting stuff. The University has planned a week-long Orientation program to ease the Class of 2019’s transition to university life. Our intent is to welcome the freshmen to […]
I mentioned in my June 22 blog entry that I had delivered a lecture entitled ‘What has space brought us?’ to the participants attending the summer session of International Space University. At the end of the lecture, I encouraged each student to prepare and practice a brief ‘elevator pitch’ to highlight a few benefits of the […]
Another University of Calgary alumnus has done us proud. Dr. David Kendall MSc’72, PhD’79 was recently appointed by the United Nations as incoming Chair of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). This is a big deal – the first time that a Canadian has held such a position. The Committee […]
I had always hoped that cancer would be conquered within my lifetime, but I’m no longer sure that will happen. Cancer is a complex disease. In fact, it’s not just one disease; every single cancer is different on a genetic basis. Consequently, a cure for cancer remains elusive. I was pleased to hear that the new Calgary […]
I met today with the Senate Executive Co-chairs Ian Minnifee and Phil Tuck to debrief our last Senate and Executive meetings. The debriefing of past meetings is something that we routinely do. However, today’s debrief was not routine – it was my last meeting with Ian and Phil. Both of these stalwart individuals have reached […]
I was in Athens, Ohio last week participating in International Space University (ISU). Ohio University is hosting ISU’s Space Studies Program for nine weeks this summer. 101 young professionals from 35 different countries are in attendance and learning about space across theme areas that include sciences; engineering; applications; policy, economics and law; management and business; human […]
This morning we held the convocation for the 2015 University of Calgary graduates in Education. During this ceremony, we also conferred an honorary degree on Nellie Cournoyea, the first female aboriginal government leader (premier of the Northwest Territories) and the longest serving public figure in the North. I noted that it was Senator Georgette Habib […]