Members of the MacEwan community are doing impressive things both on and off campus. Three times a year, we celebrate the recent accomplishments and efforts of our staff, faculty, students and alumni who are winning awards, publishing work and making a difference.
Publications
Associate Professor Dr. Sara Grewal, whose research focuses on how Urdu literature and hip hop have been mobilized to resist social/colonial oppression, appeared in a recent Walrus article on the thriving Punjabi hip-hop scene in Brampton, Ontario. She says it can be traced to collaborations that include the likes of comedian, rappers and even poet Rupi Kaur. To hear more, listen to this Research Recast(ed) episode.
Dr. Melissa Hills and Dr. Leah Flaherty, both associate professors of biological sciences, just published a paper with two MacEwan alumni as co-authors – Paige Kuczmarski, Bachelor of Science ’17, and Morgan Momborquette, Bachelor of Science ’19 – that looks at invasive species in urban forest soils.
Mack Lamoureux, Bachelor of Communication Studies ’15, is writing a book for Penguin Random House Canada about Romana Didulo, QAnon cults, conspiracies and the weird adventures he’s had covering them as an investigative reporter.
Leanne Stevens, Bachelor of Arts ’23, wrote a paper as her final project in a 400-level sociology course and worked with her sociology and criminology prof Dr. William J Schultz to polish that paper, which they published in May. They looked at how institutionalization processes impact others in prison settings, such as correctional officers (COs), drawing on 131 interviews with COs across Western Canada.
Dr. Sandra Rollings-Magnusson, associate professor of sociology, has published a book about early life on the Canadian Prairies, titled Folklife and Superstition: The Luck, Lore and Worldviews of Prairie Homesteaders.
Research
Alum Ethan Hagen, Bachelor of Science, Honours ’15 and current PhD student at the University of Alberta, is one of 15 students from across Canada who will receive the inaugural Personnel Award for Indigenous Scholars from Brain Canada Foundation, the CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health, and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada. This funding will allow Hagen to look into addiction research using zebrafish, under the co-supervision of MacEwan Psychology Professor Dr. Trevor Hamilton.
Awards and accolades
MacEwan photographer Steven Stefaniuk was recognized with a University & College Designers Association (UCDA) Design Excellence Award in the People and Portraits category for a photo (above) of AJA Louden, a 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient. Curious about Stefaniuk’s work? If you’ve seen a photo on our website or in one of our stories, chances are that he was behind the lens.
Julia Archelene Magsombol, Bachelor of Communication Studies ‘23, and Dr. Steve Lillebuen, assistant professor of communications, received a Special Recognition Citation from the National Newspaper Awards for their work on the Climate Disaster Project, a teaching newsroom based out of the University of Victoria. Magsombol and Dr. Lillebuen were among educators, partners and students who published investigations into climate disasters, and first-person accounts of survivors. Magsombol completed her work as part of one of Dr. Lillebuen’s journalism courses.
Dr. David Danto, professor and dean of the Faculty of Health and Community Studies, is a 2024 Canadian Psychological Association Elected Fellow for his distinguished contributions in the area of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
Two members of the MacEwan community received first place awards at the Women in Cyber Security 2024 Capture the Flag event. Selena Lovelace, Bachelor of Science, Computer Science ’24, received the student award and Meaghan Neill, Bachelor of Science, Computer Science ’23, received the non-student award.
In May, alum Melissa Nollski, Early Childhood Development ’95, received an Esquao Award, which highlights her achievements and contributions as an Indigenous woman toward building Alberta.
Tip your cowboy hat to Bachelor of Communications student Kyla Lightfoot who was crowned the 2024 Miss Rodeo Airdrie at the Wild West Fashion Show.
Brynn O'Connell, a fourth-year Bachelor of Science student, under the supervision of Dr. Brian Franczak, associate professor in mathematics and statistics, received the Classification Society Poster Presentation Award at the 2024 Classification Society Annual Meeting at UBCO for her poster about Variable Selection for Clustering and Classification of Data with Missing Values.
Dr. Anthony (Tony) Fields, MacEwan University’s chancellor, received the F.N.G. Starr Award, the Canadian Medical Association’s highest honour, in recognition of his visionary leadership in cancer care.
Sujit Velmurugan came second for his marketing automator Workflow at the Inventures competition during his time at MacEwan in the Bachelor of Commerce program.
In the arts
Photo: Alexis Marie Chute
Alumni Advisory Council member Kyra Droog, Bachelor of Communication Studies '19, was invited to read her poetry at the Edmonton Poetry Festival in April, along with Janel Lope, Bachelor of Arts '23, and Derek Lantz, a Bachelor of Arts student who represented MacEwan’s Bolo Tie Collective.
Arienette Zak, a student in the Hearing Aid Practitioner program, is St. Albert's poet laureate – a partnership between the St. Albert Public Library and the City of St. Albert. Zak will be a cultural and literary ambassador, and a champion for poetry, language and the arts for the duration of her two-year term.
In Sports
MacEwan is represented well on the Canadian Paralympic Sitting Volleyball team. Watch players Allison E. Lang, Design Foundations ’13 and Design Studies ’15; Sarah Melenka, Massage Therapy ’21; and Heidi Peters, a current Bachelor of Arts student, as they are led by head coach Nicole Ban, a current Bachelor of Science student and a former Griffin athlete; and assistant coach Kate Rozendaal, Bachelor of Science ’19 – the team has its eyes set on gold this year!
Try to keep an eye on the incredibly fast Amanda Rummery, Bachelor of Commerce ’19, who holds records for 100, 200 and 400 in her disability sport classification, will compete in the 400-metre track event at the Paralympics.
MacEwan men's hockey's career Canada West points leader Jordan Taupert, career points leader for MacEwan’s men’s hockey in Canada West, signed a professional contract to play in Germany – where his grandfather is from – in the DEL 2 league with top team Lausitzer Füchse for the 2024/25 season.
Another former Griffins hockey player, Ethan Strang, will head across the ocean to join the Guilford Flames for their 2024/25 season. While at MacEwan, Strang accumulated an impressive 27 points from 12 goals and 15 assists in 28 games.
Accomplishments
In the National Cyber League spring competition, MacEwan placed 12th in the team category, out of 476 teams. Students also did significantly well in the individual competitions: Selena Lovelace, Bachelor of Science, Computer Science ’24, placed 17th out of 7412; and Conlan Myers placed 48th. Professor Calin Anton, who teaches a security course in computer sciences, asks students to compete in this event as part of their course assessment.
Alvin Ntibinyane, assistant professor in communications, was chosen by the European Commission as one of five jurors for the Lorenzo Natali Prize, which is the EU's flagship journalism award that celebrates excellence in journalism.
Elliot Rose, Bachelor of Commerce '19 and former Alumni Advisory Council member, pitched his business venture as part of the RBC Foundation Ventures @MacEwan – an eight-week program guided by MacEwan’s entrepreneur in Residence. His winning pitch was inspired by his personal experience with dialysis that led him to create VISITOR, clothing that allows for access points to medical staff during a person’s treatment, so a patient can be more comfortable.
And finally, our esteemed President and Vice Chancellor Dr. Annette Trimbee, has been reappointed for a second term. Among many community-building initiatives, some of the many significant milestones from her first term include securing the $125 million provincial investment in the new School of Business building, achieving Campus Alberta Quality Council audit status, and spearheading strategic investments that position MacEwan to grow from to 30,000 students by 2030. Here’s to another five years!
To submit a shout-out for our next edition, email communications@macewan.ca.