Political science Prof. Troy Riddell made headlines on Aug. 12, with a piece he co-wrote for the Ottawa Citizen appearing in newspapers across the country. In the column, the authors discussed the need for judges to be more adequately monitored, and examined possible solutions. They were writing in response to an appeal court ruling in Quebec that ordered a retrial based on a judge’s conduct during the initial trial.

This follows being in the news the previous week for offering his expert opinion on a recent Supreme Court ruling. The Court declared that confessions generated from the RCMP’s “Mr. Big” investigation technique— the undercover operations designed to draw confessions from suspects — are to be presumed inadmissible at trial.

Riddell co-wrote an opinion piece on the subject that was published in the National Post Aug.6. He was also interviewed by Global News and for a news article distributed by Post Media News.

He teaches and researches about constitutional and judicial politics and public policy/administration. His current t research projects investigate how the Charter of Rights and Charter decisions by the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, impact public policy and administration.

History professor Kevin James was interviewed Aug. 4 by CTV News Channel about World War I.  Aug. 4 marks the 100th anniversary of when war was officially declared in the United Kingdom. James will be discussing the importance of knowing if your ancestors participated in the war, how to find them on Ancestry.ca and WWI trends from before, during and after the war.

James has researched European history, specifically focusing on the United Kingdom and Ireland. He has previously been featured on the History Television’s Ancestors in the Attic show as the on-air genealogist, with his work on the show including tracking down the stories of people who fought in past world wars.

Prof. Elizabeth Stone, dean of the Ontario Veterinary College, was featured in the  New York Times  Aug. 1. The article focuses on a book Stone wrote with Hilde Weisert, poet and co-founder of the Society for Veterinary Medicine and Literature.

Their bookAnimal Companions, Animal Doctors, Animal People, celebrates the relationships people have with animals. It’s an anthology of poems, stories and essays that explores such topics as the bond between veterinarians and animals, the “jobs” of the animals in our lives, and the role of animals in our imagination.

Stone says that the goal is to help students and vets “grasp the nonmedical aspects of their chosen profession,” and retain their sense of joy about becoming/being a veterinarian.

Environmental Biology Prof. Mike Dixon and PhD student Cody Thompson, along with Guelph’s Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CESRF), are featured in the latest issue of Scientific American.

The article focuses on a “greenhouse” experiment being considered by NASA that would send plants into space on the 2020 Mars rover. Work being done at CESRF by Dixon, Thompson and others is highlighted as other innovations that would help plants thrive in the solar system, and are proving useful on Earth.

CESRF researchers have created automated food-growing boxes with sensors that can determine which minerals the plants have absorbed. They’re now developing a lighting system that works on the same logic. Using LEDs would reduce the costs of growing food on other planets, notably Mars and the moon.

The technology will also enable plant growth in extreme environments on Earth. Canada currently leads the world in this niche of space exploration, and U of G has the expertise and equipment to approach this complex problem because of CESRF’s customized sealed environment chambers, Dixon says.

Jason Wilson, a sessional lecturer at the University of Guelph-Humber, was on the CBC Radio show Metro Morning and CBC TV’s flagship news program The National Aug. 1, and was featured in the Globe and Mail Aug.  2 for his research on Canadian reggae music. Wilson, who graduated from U of G with a PhD in history in 2013, did his dissertation on the history of reggae music and its role in creating bridges among races in Toronto. An award-winning musician and author, Wilson grew up in Toronto’s Keele and Finch district and says the multicultural urban environment fostered his music style.

Wilson’s first solo album, The Peacemaker’s Chauffeur, was up for Reggae Recording of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards. He and his band, Tabarruk, were nominated in the same category in 2002.  He has performed with some of the biggest reggae acts and has also collaborated with performers from outside the genre, including Alanis Morissette, Amanda Marshall, Percy Sledge and Ron Sexsmith.

Wilson is also the author of four books; won a Canadian Reggae Music Award; and received a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Prof. Christian Giroux of the School of Fine Art and Music was featured in a story in the Toronto Star  recently. The article highlights a new art installation Giroux created with his longtime collaborator Daniel Young that is set to be unveiled in Toronto next week. The sculpture, Nyctophilia, consists of about a dozen concrete light stands with multiple street lamps that use sodium vapor, metal halide and LED lamps to create a composition of colour.

Giroux and Young won the prestigious Sobey Award for contemporary art, which highlights contemporary art and the country’s best young artists, in 2011. They use consumer goods and industrial components to create sculpture and installation pieces. The pair also designed a sculpture and printmaking course allowing students to create 3D artworks.

Giroux, a U of G professor since 2004, has exhibited nationally and internationally. He received funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to create Ontario’s first digital haptic lab in the School of Engineering.