U of G News

Woodcock Walk (In-person)
2025-04-08 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto) | Arboretum Centre, 200 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Canada
A breathtaking ascent to the skies, a graceful fall to the ground, and a mesmerizing, yet quirky, call… PEENT. The sky dance of the American Woodcock is a truly incredible spectacle, and we at The Arboretum invite you to join us in a search for this captivating display! Our Woodcock Walk begins at the Nature Centre, where we’ll unveil some of the mystery behind these aerial acrobats before heading into the field with hopes of witnessing their enchanting performance in person.
Fee: $12 (plus HST) per person.

One Health Policy & Practice: What can Canada and India learn from each other?
2025-04-08 10:30 - 12:00 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
Speakers from India and Canada will draw from their expertise and experience to reflect upon lessons for One Health Policy and Practice. The event is for 90 minutes on Tuesday 8 April 2025, 10:30 a.m. – noon ET l 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. PT | 8 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. IST. This event is the first in a series of events to be organized by the MSSRF – U of G working group and hosted by CIRCLE. This event will be held virtually via Zoom. Please register from the event website to receive the meeting link.

Dissertation Writing Retreat (DWR) Online (Application Deadline: March 5, 2025)
2025-04-08 08:45 - 16:00, 2025-04-07 08:45 - 16:00 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
To apply for this program, you must complete the application form on the Library’s Dissertation Writing Retreat webpage. The application deadline is March 5, 2025. (Note: you cannot register for Dissertation Writing Retreat through this Library Workshop Calendar.)
This intensive one-week (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.) program is designed to help graduate students accomplish their thesis writing goals and accelerate their time to completion. Participants are expected to participate all 5 days.
DWR offers graduate students focused and supported individual time to write, as well as lessons on writing issues and access to one-on-one support with writing experts. We recommend that students attend DWR early in their thesis or dissertation writing process.
Writing Services offers DWR once every semester.
This program is ONLINE.
Questions? Email writing@uoguelph.ca.

Virtual Bird Sounds Series
2025-04-07 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-02 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-03-31 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-03-26 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-03-24 12:00 - 13:00 | Arboretum Centre, 200 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Canada
Into birding but the songs have you stumped? Whether you are new to learning bird sounds or you want a good refresher, this course is for you. Join Chris Earley, Arboretum Interpretive Biologist and author of 5 bird field guides, for a series of eight virtual noon-hour lectures that cover over 150 bird species! We will focus on songs and some common, distinctive calls and will apply different methods to remember them. Each course will start with a short intro topic about birding by ear before we dive into the bird species. Learn how to make your own calls, read a sonogram, make up your own memorable bird song sayings, and more! Each class will finish with a 10-15 minute discussion period so you can ask all your bird-related questions. See the descriptions below to find out which bird groups are covered in each class. All eight programs cost of $70 (plus tax) – that’s less than $10 per program! This fund-raising initiative will help support other Arboretum educational programs.
Fee: $70.00 + H.S.T. This event will take place on Zoom. The list of topics with the presentation date is listed below. If you miss any of the programs, each one is recorded and the recording will be sent to you the next day. The recordings will be available for one month after the last program.
Mondays and Wednesdays, March 17, 19, 24, 26, 31, April 2, 7 and 9, 2025, Noon – 1 p.m.

Woodcock Walk (In-person)
2025-04-04 19:30 - 20:30, 2025-04-03 19:30 - 20:30 | Arboretum Centre, 200 Arboretum Rd, Guelph, N1G 2W1, Canada
A breathtaking ascent to the skies, a graceful fall to the ground, and a mesmerizing, yet quirky, call… PEENT. The sky dance of the American Woodcock is a truly incredible spectacle, and we at The Arboretum invite you to join us in a search for this captivating display! Our Woodcock Walk begins at the Nature Centre, where we’ll unveil some of the mystery behind these aerial acrobats before heading into the field with hopes of witnessing their enchanting performance in person.
Fee: $12 (plus HST) per person

Documentary Screening: Butterflies on the Brink
2025-04-03 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-03-29 16:30 - 18:30 | The Bookshelf Cinema, Ontario, Canada
Butterflies on the Brink: The Story of the Mottled Duskywing tells the story of a University of Guelph project to reintroduce an endangered butterfly. The documentary will be screened at the Bookshelf Cinema in downtown Guelph on March 29 at 4:30 p.m. and April 3 at 7 p.m.
Butterflies on the Brink follows the research and recovery team, led Dr. Ryan Norris from the Department of Integrative Biology and biologist Jessica Linton, with support from the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory team, as they work to reintroduce the mottled duskywing butterfly to Pinery Provincial Park. The project represents the first time a butterfly has ever been successfully reintroduced into Ontario, and, since their reintroduction in 2021, the butterflies are showing signs of recovery.
Once widespread across many parts of central Canada, mottled duskywings have nearly disappeared from Ontario. Like many other species, the butterflies’ number have plummeted in recent decades due to habitat loss. In 2012, the butterflies were declared endangered in Canada.
Butterflies on the Brink is a captivating tale of triumphs, setbacks, and the unwavering dedication of a group determined to secure the future of this enchanting butterfly.
Dr. Ryan Norris and Jessica Linton will be at the screening for a Q&A afterwards.
Advance tickets are available in the bookstore. All seats $12.00 (HST included).
The film recently won Best Feature at the SOFA Film Festival.

Journée d’étude: Improvisation, Pedagogy, and Cocreative Worldmaking
2025-04-03 09:00 - 17:30 | ImprovLab, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
“An adept improviser can find ways forward amid impasse, agency amid oppression, and community amid division.”
– The Improviser’s Classroom
Join us on April 3, 2025 at ImprovLab for a full-day symposium investigating ways to re-imagine pedagogy through the prisms of activism, reciprocity, and communal care. This free, open-to-everyone event is focused around the launch of The Improviser’s Classroom: Pedagogies for Cocreative Worldmaking, the new collection edited by Daniel Fischlin and Mark Lomanno and published through Temple University Press.
Demonstrating how improvisation can inform scenes of teaching and learning, The Improviser’s Classroom also outlines how improvisatory techniques offer powerful, if not vital, tools for producing connection, creativity, accompaniment, reciprocity, meaningful revelation, and lifelong curiosity. This event will explore the ideas brought up in this book through several offerings, including:

presentations by the Critical Studies in Improvisation graduate program’s newest cohort: Simon Flint, Mark Leroy, Emma Bortolon-Vettor, and Georgia Simms
the book launch for The Improviser’s Classroom: Pedagogies for Cocreative Worldmaking, featuring a conversation with jashen edwards, Daniel Fischlin, Mark Lomanno, and Carey West
a keynote by David L. Clark, featuring improvised musical responses by annais linares and Germaine Liu
closing reflections by Fred Moten, professor of performance studies and comparative literature at New York University

Find the full schedule for the day’s events below:

9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. – Coffee and Gathering
9:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. – Welcome (IICSI)
9:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. – IMPR 6010/6410 Student Presentations on Emergent/Embodied Teaching Philosophies and Multidisciplinary Approaches to Improvisation; moderated by Jashen Edwards and Daniel Fischlin;
11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. – Lunch Break
1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Book Launch: The Improviser’s Classroom: Pedagogies for Cocreative Worldmaking (“Insubordinate Spaces” series edited by George Lipsitz; Temple UP, Edited by Daniel Fischlin and Mark Lomanno; featuring contributors Carey West and Jashen Edwards)
2:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – Coffee Break
2:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. – Keynote David L. Clark “I do not know how to teach: scenes from a life, made up” with improvised musical response from annaïs linares and Germaine Liu. Moderated by Daniel Fischlin.
4:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Break
4:30 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. – Fred Moten (Closing Reflections). Moderated by Mark Lomanno.
6 p.m. – Downtown Gathering for Food and Conversation – TBA

Graduate Accountability Group - Online
2025-03-31 13:00 - 15:00, 2025-03-24 13:00 - 15:00 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
The Graduate Student Accountability Group provides a welcoming, safe and productive online space for graduate students to do their work. The group is facilitated by a learning specialist and is designed to help you identify small goals and accomplish them during short work periods.
Comments from previous participants:

“The group is a great way to work in community and accomplish tasks in a set amount of time.”
“DO IT! I was able to tackle lack of motivation and be productive in each session. The group helped me progress through the semester more than I would have on my own.”

The format for each two-hour session is:

Introductions and micro goal setting in group 25 minutes of independent work
Review micro goal with group and set goal for next 25 minutes
25 Minutes of independent work
Review micro goal with group and set goal for next 25 minutes
25 Minutes of independent work
Debrief and share main goal to be completed before next accountability group

Questions? Email learning@uoguelph.ca.
Please note that you are registering for the entire semester of the Graduate Student Accountability Group, which meets January 6 to March 31, 2025. There is no group on February 17. We encourage regular participation throughout the semester.
Once you sign up you will be invited to the weekly Teams meeting. Please use the rsvp function each week to confirm attendance.
Thank you and we look forward to working with you!

Signs of Spring Craft Show and Sale 2025
2025-03-29 10:00 - 19:00, 2025-03-28 10:00 - 19:00 | University Centre, Ontario, Canada
Get ready for… the University of Guelph’s Signs of Spring Craft Show and Sale where you can find Canada’s best local food & craft vendors.
Come and join us for the University of Guelph’s New Signs of Spring Craft Show and Sale held in the University Centre. Get excited for the amazing opportunity to shop at Canada’s most talented artisans and designers for unique Canadian handmade fashion pieces, jewelry, pottery, glasswork, leather goods, knits, metalwork, natural soaps and lotions, woodworking, delicious gourmet food and so much more!
Invite your friends & family because Admission is FREE and enjoy the wide selection of unique pieces.
Visit Signs of Spring for more information.
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. Subscribe to our newsletter for a chance to win a $250 Gift Card!

Gryphon Grocery Bus
2025-03-29 10:00 - 12:30 | University Centre, 150 Research Ln, Guelph, Ontario, N1G2W1, Canada
We are excited to announce that the University of Guelph is running the Gryphon Grocery Bus again – a free service that will take students directly to and from food stores in Kitchener.
The Gryphon Grocery Bus will take folks from the University Centre Platform 12B to Kitchener. The bus will arrive at 9:55 a.m. and depart at 10 a.m. sharp. Students will have one hour total time to explore the grocery stores listed below and any others within the vicinity:

Farmers Market
New City Supermarket – Chinese / East Asian Grocery Store
Amiri Supermarket – Middle Eastern Supermarket
SMK African Foods
Variedad Latina (smaller) – Salvadorian restaurant, with some central American groceries
Ben Thanh – South East Asian grocery store

Subscribe for more information.
Register for the November 9 bus.
Register for the November 30 bus.
Register for the March 8 bus.
Register for the March 29 bus.

53rd Southern Ontario Undergraduate Chemistry Conference (SOUSCC-53)
2025-03-29 08:15 - 21:00 | Waasamowin – Summerlee Science Complex Atrium, 474-570 Gordon St, Guelph, ON, N1G 1Y2, Canada
The Department of Chemistry is hosting an undergraduate chemistry, biochemistry and related area students in Ontario (and neighbouring provinces/areas) conference.
This event will showcase the research conducted by our province’s undergraduate researchers, but also provide an opportunity for these students to discuss their research while networking and forming new collaboration among attendees. Join us for a day of insightful talks, poster presentations, and opportunities to connect with other students. We can’t wait to see you there!

Workplace Writing Series: Q&A on Building a Career in Policy Writing
2025-03-27 16:30 - 18:00 | McLaughlin Library, 480 Gordon Street, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Strong writing skills can open doors to new opportunities! Join us as we ask Dr. Rochelle Pereira-Alvares about the demands writing policy in different industries.
Here is Dr. Pereira-Alvares’ bio:
Rochelle Pereira-Alvares is an experienced policy professional with strong analytical and research skills. Since graduating from the University of Guelph in 2014 with a doctorate in History, she has worked for the provincial government and professional regulators in Ontario. Rochelle is currently a policy advisor at the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario where she delivers and implements agile and effective policies that minimize risk and maximize public protection. She enjoys travelling, experimenting in the kitchen, and dancing.
This event is in-person in Library Room 384 and a light dinner will be served.
Questions? Please email Mary (mmccaffe@uoguelph.ca).

SPSS micro 11: Multiple linear regression
2025-03-27 15:30 - 16:00 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
Looking for a statistics tune-up using SPSS? Come to the sixth workshop in our 11-part series to teach you the basics! In SPSS micro 6: Independent samples t-test, you will learn the data type required for the test, check the assumptions for the test, and conduct both an independent samples t-test and a Wilcoxon signed-rank test!
Prior knowledge of SPSS is not required. Prior knowledge of statistics is not required. If you have no knowledge of SPSS or statistics, attending workshops #1 and #2 is highly recommended to orient you to these topics.
You do not need to attend every session 🙂 if you miss a session or want additional support, you can check the SPSS LibGuide (written by the instructor).
NOTE: This workshop will be held online via Teams. This workshop is open to U of G students, staff, and faculty. You MUST have a University of Guelph e-mail (ending in either @guelphhumber.ca or @uoguelph.ca) to register and participate in this workshop. As an e-mail will be sent to all registered attendees the morning of the workshop, registration closes 6 hours before the workshop.

Raise a cup (the Grey Cup) with the Toronto Argonauts on March 27!
2025-03-27 15:00 - 17:00 | Gryphon Centre Arena, 149 Reynolds Walk, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 4Z8, Canada
Raise a cup (the Grey Cup) with the Toronto Argonauts on March 27.
Join us at Craft Kitchen and Ale House from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. for a celebration with the 2025 Grey Cup Winners.
Take your photo with the Grey Cup and meet some of the Argos team.
And don’t miss your chance to grab tickets for the May 30 game, happening at Alumni Stadium.

LaunchLab Expo - Celebrate Student Entrepreneurship
2025-03-26 12:00 - 16:00 | University Centre Courtyard, Ontario, Canada
The John F. Wood Centre is excited to announce the return of the LaunchLab Expo, a showcase of the next generation of student entrepreneurs!
The LaunchLab Expo showcases the innovative ventures of student founders from the Hub Incubator’s LaunchLab program. The event provides a platform for these emerging entrepreneurs to present their ideas, field questions, gather valuable feedback, and gain experience in a trade show setting.
This drop-in event is open to all students, staff, faculty, and the public. It is a great opportunity to meet student founders, explore their ventures, and network with fellow students, faculty, staff, and industry and community members. Plus, you’ll have a chance to vote for the People’s Choice Award!
We invite you to join us in celebrating these hardworking students as they share their innovations with the public for the first time and set out on their entrepreneurial journeys!

One Health Seminar - How can evaluation contribute to One Health?
2025-03-26 11:30 - 12:30 | OVC Enhanced Clinical Learning, 415 Gordon St., Guelph, Ontario, Canada
This seminar will bring together two solitudes: multi-stakeholder platforms, and utilization-focused evaluation.
In recent years, the field of program evaluation has shifted attention from the conventional and dominant focus on accountability (verifying outcomes) to striking a balance with learning-oriented evaluation. The more recent learning-focused approaches are collaborative, process-oriented, and in tune with systems change. The articulation of One Health in practice requires multiple stakeholders to come together to agree on collaborative action. These gatherings have multiple names (living labs, multi-stakeholder platforms, etc.) with different areas of emphasis (collaboration, experimentation, innovation). Regardless, these organizational arrangements require that individuals step out of their workplace boundaries; sometimes for a single workshop, other times for extended periods under formalized consortia. As with any project or pilot initiative, those involved in these collaboration spaces soon come up with questions. How do we know whether this is working? Who else needs to be here? On what basis do we keep investing in this effort? How will we know when we ‘get there’? The answer lies in Utilization-Focused and Developmental Evaluation: a decision-making framework for collaborative design of evaluation.
Ricardo Ramirez is an Independent researcher and consultant and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph.

Composting for Gardeners - Vermicomposting (Virtual)
2025-03-25 19:00 - 20:00 | ONLINE, Ontario, Canada
Vermicomposting is a way of using earth worms to compost organic material. One benefit of this method is that it can be done in the home using special bins that require a very small space.
The course will introduce you to the equipment needed including some inexpensive DIY options. It will help you select the right kind of worms and show you how to maintain them to keep them healthy. We’ll review ways of harvesting the vermicasts – the worm poop – and explain how it should be treated for best results in the garden.
At the end of this course you will know the basics of taking care of your new pets and how to resolve any problems you might have.
If you are going to take this course it is a good idea to also take Introduction to Composting for Gardeners.
Fee: $10 (plus HST) per person.

Exhibit Launch – Charting Scottish Travels: The Origins of Tourism in Scotland
2025-03-25 17:15 - 19:00 | McLaughlin Library, 480 Gordon Street, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
About the exhibit
The Highlands occupy outsized space in the study of Scottish tourism history. The country’s great cities, and especially Edinburgh, the ‘Athens of the North’, have long attracted visitors. As the industries of the country grew, concentrated in its ‘Central Belt’, they attracted travelers, too. But for many the ‘Caledonian tour’ was above all a Highland affair. As tourism increased, spawning a range of businesses that catered to an expanding group of consumers, a tour of Scotland often involved travel north of the ‘Highland line’.
Guidebooks, tickets, maps, and other resources, from travelogues to postcards, became part of the apparatus of travel, and tourists could also recount their experiences in their own hand. The University of Guelph’s Scottish Studies Collection, in the McLaughlin Library’s Archival & Special Collections, boasts an impressive and expanding set of travel-related material, examples of which are featured in this exhibit.
This exhibit was curated by students in experiential learning classes supervised by Dr. Kevin James, Scottish Studies Foundation Chair and professor in U of G’s Department of History, and Melissa McAfee, special collections librarian, Archival & Special Collections, McLaughlin Library.
The launch will also include a sale of Scottish books to support opportunities for Scottish Studies students. Cash or e-Transfer payment will be accepted.
The launch programme will run for around 45 minutes, followed by refreshments, viewing of the exhibit, and a book sale.
RSVP by March 21 to attend.

Write to Publish : Communicating with Journals and Negotiating Publishing Contracts
2025-03-24 13:00 - 14:30 | McLaughlin Library, 480 Gordon Street, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
When planning to publish your work, knowing how, when, and what to communicate with a journal editor can increase your chances of acceptance and open new opportunities. This two-part session will cover key correspondence—before, during, and after submitting your manuscript, followed by a discussion on how to understand and negotiate your publishing contracts. We’ll have plenty of time for questions and answers afterward.

March Open House
2025-03-23 10:00 - 15:00 | Ontario
Open house event for prospective students and their families. Tour campus, explore residences, facilities and labs, attend information sessions, and chat with faculty, staff and currents students at the resource fair.

World Water Day 2025
2025-03-21 13:00 - 16:00 | Ontario
Join us on Friday March 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. in Richards 3504, University of Guelph for our annual celebration of World Water Day! 🌍
The theme for this year is Glacial Preservation – more information can be found on the United Nations website.
We have an incredible line up of speakers, including Emmanuelle Arnaud, Jackie Goordial, Oliver Conway-White and Aaron Berg – you won’t want to miss these insightful and engaging presentations!
Presentations:

Glaciers, Geology and Groundwater – Dr. Emmanuelle Arnaud, Professor, SES, U of G
Talkin’ Taliks: Exploring the Link Between Permafrost and Groundwater with Airborne and Surface Geophysics – Oliver Conway-White, PhD Student, University of Waterloo
Left Out in the Cold: The Microbial Ecology of Cryophilic Life – Dr. Jackie Goordial, Assistant Professor, SES, U of G
Monitoring the Melt: Satellite Technology for Tracking Changes in Norther Surface Water – Dr. Aaron Berg, Professor, GEO, U of G

Refreshments will be provided, all are welcome!
