U of T Mississauga's resource for research-related matters
Spring 2020
COVID-19 has changed much of the way we conduct our daily lives, so whether you are isolating with your family or yourself we at the Office of Vice-Principal, Research hope this newsletter finds your loved ones and you healthy and safe.
Researchers can access up-to-date information from UofT’s Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation at Coronavirus (COVID-19) Researcher FAQ.
VIEW to the U podcast returns with "Checking-in with Profs" as its theme for our fifth season.
Episodes are meant to be a brief check-in with faculty members from various departments at U of T Mississauga to find out how their research might be shifting, or how their focus might relate to the new reality of COVID-19, and how they are managing in this era of physical distancing.
The importance of accurate and timely communication of scientific and public health information has never been more important than at this singular moment in time.
Biomedical Communications faculty Jodie Jenkinson,Derek Ng and Nicholas Woolridge have launched the COVID-19 Visual Media Resource. The Resource is available to the public through the Biomedical Communications program’s website and "is intended for anyone looking for digestible, visualized information about the COVID-19 disease or the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes it,” says Woolridge.
UTM’s Office of the Vice-Principal, Research recently held its eighth RSAF competition and faculty members received support to bolster their efforts.
One of the recipients Professor Marie-Paule Lory from the Department of Language Studies will be pursuing her project, Understanding French Teachers’ Social Representations of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity.
UofT Mississauga Assistant Professor Alessandro Delfanti spoke to UTM Research News on his work related to Amazon workers, their labour issues and the technology employed by its delivery service.
Technological tools for education & connection
The theme for Season 4 of VIEW to the Uis'An Eye on Why' focusing on one main driving question for UTM faculty members in relation to human nature.
In February UTM Research News spoke to ICCIT Professor Negin Dahya who considers the cultural and social contexts of digital media production and use through the lens of learning with a particular focus on women in refugee camps in Kenya.
To ensure you never miss an episode, subscribe today through iTunes or Spotify.
UofT Mississauga Professor David Pettinicchio examines the increased downturn in employment for people with disabilities as a result of COVID-19.
Upcoming Deadlines & Awards Information [NB: the newly revamped OVPRI website requires you to login with your UTORid to see funding opportunities.]
Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows can submit bstracts for consideration until May 29, 2020 for the annual ONEbiophysics conference occuring online on June 18, 2020. Any related questions may be addressed to Professor Milstein
The Partnership Engage Grant also sponsored by SSHRC is due by Research Services internal deadline on June 10, 2020 via MRA at noon, 12.00pm.
The MRA for the SSHRC Connection Grants is due by Research Services's internal deadline on July 27, 2020.
If you would like your proposal to be reviewed by the OVPR at UTM, submit it to car.demarco@utoronto.ca two weeks prior to the internal deadline, and either Maeve Doyle or Carla DeMarco will review your proposal.
Please note this list is a brief snapshot of upcoming deadlines that can be found on the OVPRI websiteand will require you to login with your UTORid to see funding opportunities.
New & Notable
Anthropology
Professor Madeleine Mant spoke to UTM News about the lessons we can learn from past pandemics.
Assistant Professor Vivienne Luk along with Karen Woodall and Edward Shorter shed light on the author Lucy Maud Montgomery’s agonizing drug addiction in Maclean’s.
Professor David Samson spoke with CBC News Online and U of T News and CBC News Online on tips to manage disrupted sleep during this time and to CTV News Online on how our bodies’ fear response to the pandemic can cause a restless night sleep. In April he also discussed in the Toronto Star how the lockdown is demonstrating that the nuclear family no longer works.
Professor Marc Johnson spoke to U of T News about his new YouTube show with his family called Biology in Your Backyardaiming to help young people connect with nature around their home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Post-doctoral fellow Rosalind Murray discusses her research on the impact of road salt on mosquito populations with CBC News.
Lecturer and digital humanities scholar Siobhan O’Flynn spoke with U of T News on how children’s literature can teach everyone how to cope in a time of crisis, reminding us adults of the lessons that many have forgotten with age.
Economics
Professor Phillip Oreopoulos wrote an op-ed on the on the long-term health impacts of COVID-19 in the Toronto Star,and spoke on the health impacts of unemployment during a recession in the National Post. In late April he spoke to WGBH News about what the current recession means for new grads entering the job market, and what’s ahead for the economy.
Assistant Professors Igor Lehnherr and Trevor Porter just published a paper with their recent NSERC USRA student: Avneet Ghotra on Tree-Ring Inferred Atmospheric Mercury Concentrations in the Mackenzie Delta (NWT, Canada) Peaked in the 1970s but Are Increasing Once More in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry
In January Professor Alan Walks moderated a panel event to discuss the City of Toronto’s new 10-year housing strategy HousingTO, which was developed to address the affordable housing crisis. He also spoke with U of T News and The Conversation on how the Coronavirus pandemic is an opportunity to create affordable cities.
Lecturer Beverly Bain of Women and Gender Studies wrote a column in The Conversationabout how the coronavirus discriminates against Black lives through surveillance, policing and the absence of health data.
A project by historical studies professor Elspeth Brown to document LGBTQ+ life in Peel was profiled by the Mississauga News.
Postdoctoral fellow Kira Lussier was quoted in the Globe and Mail about the use of AI in hiring. She also gave a keynote talk for Innovate Niagara’s Women in STEM event, and was featured in Fast Company.
In April Associate Professor Nicole Cohen published her second book on New Media Unions co-authored with Greig de Peuter. In April she also spoke to U of T News on Media layoffs during COVID-19: how the pandemic exposes existing industry problems.
Assistant Professor Alessandro Delfanti spoke to the Toronto Star about new health and safety risks facing Amazon workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With many of us self-isolating, technology has become an integral part of our daily lives to maintain social connection. Assistant Professor Cosmin Munteanu spoke to U of T News on his research that explores how devices can help bring us together.
Language Studies
Professor Adrien Rannaud as presented a research paper on his recent research project (historical poetics of magazine in Quebec) in the Future States online conference. This is a nearly carbon-neutral conference, a “new kind of research event built on the capacities of digital technology, and shaped by our present-day environmental consciousness held by the University of Brighton (UK).
Professor Lisa Kramer spoke on the impact of COVID-19 to global markets (CTV News Channel), economic impact (Global News Online), and how to support local businesses during a pandemic. She spoke about how Canada is in for a massive economic shock, but recovery will be surprisingly quick (Toronto Star) , and while "It's a scary world, for investors fear can be a dangerous emotion" (Maclean's). Finally, she provided commentary on the use of dogs in medical research in K9 Magazine, and she also spoke on President Trump’s economy-versus-health dichotomy in the Toronto Star.
Assistant Professor Sanja Fidler, Raquel Urtasun, and alumna Foteini Agrafioti are profiled for their work in artificial intelligence for International Women’s Day in an IT World Canada article on 10 women advancing AI in Canada.
Professor Aurel Braun discusses assesses Vladimir Putin’s political dominance in this op-ed in Globe and Mail.
In February Professor David Wolfe remarks on how digitization has affected Canadian businesses and helped McCarthy Uniforms in the Globe and Mail.
Psychology
Associate Professor Norm Farb comments on the trend of reclaiming quiet time in the contemporary world by posing the question “How much will people pay for silence?” in Globe and Mail.
Assistant Professor Anna Lomanowska spoke to The Atlantic about how social distancing could change our relationship with FaceTime.
Professor Tina Malti was interviewed by the Toronto Star about the impact of physical distancing on child refugees.
Assistant Professor Jennifer Adese of the Department of Sociology was interviewed by The Guardian about how the Edmonton Eskimos name ‘dehumanizes’ Inuit people.
Associate Professor Philip Goodman talks to UTM Newsabout how a strike at Rikers Island highlights rights issues for incarcerated workers.
Assistant Professor Neda Maghbouleh talked to CBC Radio’s Metro Morning program about keeping kids occupied during physical distancing and with the Washington Post on the challenge of homeschooling while working from home.
Professor Melissa Milkie shared advice to U of T News on how to relieve some of the pressure at home for families living under lock down
Associate Professor Akwasi Owusu-Bempah spoke to CTV News Online on the state of the cannabis industry and the Toronto Staron donations from private entities which drive police priorities.
