College Forges Ahead With Confident Leadership.

From Troy Shantz, Sarnia Journal.


As a young high school teacher in the 1980s, Judy Morris got her bus-driver’s licence so she could take students from low-income and immigrant families on field trips.

To the dismay of school administrators at Bramalea Secondary, however, baboons set upon her school bus during a well-intentioned trip to African Lion Safari, and the curious apes stripped it of mirrors and trim.

“You can imagine,” Morris said with a laugh, “how thrilled the high school principal was with me.”

That kind of enthusiastic leadership has characterized Morris’s tenure as president of Lambton College over the past seven years.

Under her direction, Lambton has undertaken $35 million worth of expansions and renovations, and is now ranked the #1 applied research college in Canada.

Her team has attracted nearly 1,000 international students, and empowered student entrepreneurs to create a middle class in parts of rural Zambia.

Link to the rest here.

Image. Courtesy of Judith Morris, Lambton College.

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Sarnia-Born Professor Wins Prestigious International Award.

From Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer.

A Sarnia-born professor and researcher recently became the first woman and first person from outside of Europe to win the Recipharm International Environmental Award.

Karen Kidd, a professor at McMaster University, was named the 2017 recipient of the award given annually since 2008 by Recipharm, a Swedish pharmaceutical company.

“It has been given to a number of very high-impact researchers that I know quite well, and respect their work quite a bit,” Kidd said.

“So, it was a real honour.”

Kidd said it is the first major award of her career.

“Her work, which explores the potential effects and risks of contaminants on fish and whole ecosystems, is truly impressive,” Lars Backsell, chairperson of Recipharm’s board, said in a news release.

“This research will no doubt be essential in building commitment toward environmental matters and provides valuable guidance for future actions in order to decrease or avoid the negatives impacts of chemical contamination.”

Kidd is scheduled to travel to Stockholm in September to receive the award.

“I’ve had a fantastic group of collaborators, and I’m accepting the award on their behalf, as well,” she said.

“The science that we’ve done has been a big group effort, over many years.”

Link to the rest here.

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Lambton County Invests in Bioindustrial Innovation.

From Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer.

Lambton County is set to become an investor in a not-for-profit agency helping new bio-chemical companies set up their first manufacturing sites.

County council recently authorized finalizing a $2.5-million five-year loan and a $2-million investment in a Bioindustrial Innovation Canada's investment fund so it can fully access $4.5 million in matching federal funds.

The loan includes $1 million advanced to the Sarnia-based agency in March after it approached the county for help.

In 2016, Bioindustrial Innovation Canada was approved for $5.5 million in federal matching funding but only $1 million of its own funds available, so it asked Lambton County to loan it the remaining $4.5 million.

The $1-million advance by the county allowed the agency to secure matching federal funding set to lapse March 31.

John Innis, general manager of the county's finance division, said that when county staff were looking into details of the loan it became clear a loan of $2.5 million was the most the agency's cash flow 'could reasonably be expected' to support.

Link to the rest here.

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