July 2006
July 4, 2006
KAMLOOPS-Sultan Sandur, who graduated with a BA in Canadian Studies with a minor in Sociology this past June, is the first-ever from Kamloops to be selected to join a 32-member Junior Team Canada trade mission, which heads to China and Hong Kong this August.
Junior Team Canada, a Global Visions International Program initiative, is comprised of Canada's best and brightest sixteen to twenty-five year olds, gathered together to represent the interests of small and medium-sized businesses in a number of economic sectors, including agriculture and agri-food products, building products and services, bio-technology, education, environment, financial services, information and communications technologies (ICT), natural resources, transportation, and tourism.
Sandur and his fellow delegates will be responsible for identifying companies in their regions which may have a specific interest in exporting or international business, but may be lacking the resources to be able to do so. Such businesses then negotiate representation on the trade mission through a sponsorship arrangement.
"I am hoping to represent the tourism and education sectors, and I need to get my sponsors by the end of July: the sooner the better," said Sandur. "I welcome corporate and personal sponsorships and no sponsorship is too small," he added.
Once a sponsorship has been arranged, the Junior Team Canada member works alongside the company's management, preparing materials and conducting research specifically suited to the companies they will be representing.
Sandur has already been researching the target market.
"As Canada's second-largest single-nation trading partner after the United States, and its first in Asia, China offers excellent commercial opportunities to Canadian firms," he noted. "As Canada is currently negotiating Approved Destination Status with China, this would be an excellent opportunity for potential sponsors to promote their company or organization in the Chinese market."
"Hong Kong also provides a wealth of opportunities," said Sandur. "Last year Canada exported almost $2 billion CND in goods to Hong Kong alone, making it Canada's 14th largest export destination for goods. Hong Kong companies have cumulative investments in Canada of CND $5 billion."
Currently, Sandur has negotiated sponsorship arrangements with the BC Chamber of Commerce, TRU World, South Thompson Inn and Conference Centre, Bilkey Quinn, City Furniture and Appliances, Rocky Mountain Vacations, Brewster Tours and Atlas Drilling Ltd.
Sandur heads to Ottawa July 4 to 7 for mission preparation and training, research, and gaining value-added information for sponsoring companies and organizations.
During the trade mission August 3 to 21, the delegates will carry out the results of the pre-mission planning, which may include meetings with government, chambers of commerce, industry associations, media, industry experts and Canadian government personnel in the region, making contacts and compiling information. Once business is concluded overseas, the delegates complete a comprehensive report for each of their companies.
Global Visions created the Junior Team Canada program in order to create opportunities for young Canadians to promote Canadian industry and culture, and to provide access to national and global networks for young Canadians to acquire the international development, trade and cross-cultural experience to become the next leaders of Canada. As a key component of this initiative, a team of young Canadians from across the country is formed each year, with these teams traveling to foreign markets and explore business opportunities on behalf of their sponsors in Canadian business and industry.
Team members network with government, business and education leaders in order to gather key market intelligence. In addition, the team examines the global issues that developing countries face, and looks at how Canada can play a lead role in making a difference. At the end of the mission, participants produce market reports that are presented to their sponsors. These reports are also used by Canadian companies and organizations to help to further identify opportunities in foreign markets.
Business owners interested in sponsoring Sandur or finding out more about the project may contact him at (250) 377-0087 or (250) 371-0616 or email: sultansandur@hotmail.com.
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For more information, please contact:
Sultan Sandur at (250) 377-0087 or (250) 371-0616 by email.
Guillaume Parent (Project Manager, JTC 2006) at (819) 246-0240 or
Website: www.gvconnects.com
Photo available on request.
July 6, 2006
KAMLOOPS-Thompson Rivers University announced today that it has instituted a Heart Safe Workplace program, a component of which is placing AEDs (automated external defibrillators) in the workplace to make early defibrillation immediately available in cardiac emergencies and increase chances of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
"Because every minute counts when sudden cardiac arrest strikes, TRU is placing AEDs in key locations on campus. We will also provide training to employees who volunteer to be part of an emergency response team," said TRU President Roger Barnsley.
"Our goal is to protect the lives of our employees," added Doug Sweeney, Occupational Health & Safety manager at TRU. "CPR is not enough. It is a temporary measure that helps maintain blood flow to the brain. A lifesaving pulse of electricity, defibrillation, is the only treatment and must be delivered quickly to restore the heart?s normal rhythm. Having the AEDs on-site increases access to early defibrillation and helps us save lives."
Every year, sudden cardiac arrest claims the lives of at least 250,000 people each year. The only known treatment for sudden cardiac arrest is the use of a defibrillator, which uses a powerful electric shock to stop the abnormal heart rhythm and allow the heart to return to a more normal beating pattern. Survival rates for sudden cardiac arrest are less than two per cent when defibrillation is delayed ten minutes or more.
Unlike models of defibrillators intended for use by health care professionals, AEDs do not require extensive medical knowledge to understand or operate. The expertise needed to analyze the heart's electrical function is programmed into the device, and enables ordinary people to provide treatment to victims of SCA. A four-hour training session, covering both AEDs and cardiopulmonary resuscitation is all that is necessary to learn how to use the device.
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For more information, please contact Douglas Sweeney at (250) 371-5805 or by email.
July 7, 2006
KAMLOOPS-Ginny Ratsoy, who teaches English at Thompson Rivers University, has recently had her book, Theatre in British Columbia, published by Playwrights Canada Press, as part of its series Critical Perspectives on Canadian Theatre in English.
Ratsoy, whose local theatre involvement includes writing notes for Western Canada Theatre play programs and a study of the influence of professional theatre companies on small cities, using Kamloops, Prince George and Nanaimo as sample communities, edited the collection of eighteen scholarly and critical articles encompassing the period from the late 1960s to the present.
"This period of time was crucial for BC theatre," explained Ratsoy. "It marks the era when our theatre really came into its own."
Theatre experts such as Reid Gilbert, Sherrill Grace, James Hoffman, Malcolm Page, and Jerry Wasserman contributed articles on such playwrights as Tomson Highway, Joan MacLeod, George Ryga, as well as on theatre companies, including Tamahnous, Caravan Theatre, and Headlines.
The book also explores larger questions about the defining characteristics of scholarship on BC performance, explained Ratsoy.
"The collection aims to both represent the recognized theatrical milestones in the province and provide a forum for insight into areas that have been historically marginalized," she said.
Theatre in British Columbia is the only regional collection in the Critical Perspectives series. The first book of scholarly essays on BC drama, the volume will be used as a model for additional collections to be published by Playwrights Canada Press, said Ric Knowles, University of Guelph professor and general editor of the series.
"The series sets out to make the best critical and scholarly work in the field readily available [by publishing] the work of scholars and critics who have traced the coming-into-prominence of a vibrant theatrical community in English Canada," said Knowles.
The book is Ratsoy's second. Her first, Playing the Pacific Province: An Anthology of British Columbia Plays, 1967-2000, co-edited with fellow TRU professor James Hoffman, was published in 2001.
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For more information, please contact:
Ginny Ratsoy at 250.828.5238 or by email.
or Playwrights Canada Press at 416.703.0013
July 10, 2006
KAMLOOPS-Researchers at the Centre for Early Education and Development Studies (CEEDS), created at TRU by its Canada Research Chair in Early Childhood Education, have received two grants to study children's health and development.
Canada Research Chair Dr. Amedeo D'Angiulli is the principal researcher for a project that received $293,371 over three years from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to study trajectories of vulnerability regarding children's health and development. The project will explore the various developmental pathways that Canadian children follow, leading either to good health and well-being or to poor health and unfavourable academic outcomes, and to understand the factors that influence those pathways and lead to inequities.
"The study will involve the entire population of children enrolled in public school districts in BC," explained D'Angiulli. "Although this is a study focused on BC, it will have important implications for Canada in general."
The study will use anonymous administrative data available from the health and education sectors in British Columbia; and will link these with census data describing the children's neighbourhood conditions.
"The proposed study challenges current research thinking about health and developmental trajectories, and will explore relatively novel research methods and new ways of sharing findings with policymakers and community members," said D'Angiulli.
"We anticipate that the results of this research program will influence policies and programs related to early childhood conditions that impact school readiness, and the ways in which schools accommodate children with varying levels of health or school readiness in order to reduce children's vulnerability to future disparities," he added.
Dr. Stefania Maggi, Associate Director of CEEDS, has just received a career award of $480,000 over six years and an operating grant of $75,000 over two years from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research to study psychosocial determinants of adolescent health behaviour.
Maggi, who has studied adolescent smoking and drinking for the past 10 years, will identify and describe the mechanisms and factors that seem to predispose youth to smoke, drink, and take drugs.
"Behaviours such as smoking, alcohol or drug use, and sedentary lifestyles become apparent in adolescence and tend to predict long-lasting adult habits and lifestyles," she explained.
"My doctoral work suggests that there are early predictors of adolescent substance abuse that can be observed at a young age, years before the health behaviours have become measurable," said Maggi.
"Some experts have argued that to increase the potential for success of prevention and intervention programs, these programs need to be targeted to a much younger audience," she said. "Although health behaviours may be consolidated during adolescence, theorists have suggested that they are acquired over a long period of time, prior to the adolescent years and during the critical developmental years spanning birth to late childhood."
The results of Maggi's study will likely be of interest to education and health policy-makers and practitioners across the globe; locally, she said, "Thanks to the established partnership between CEEDS and the Kamloops-Thompson School District #73, I have continuous opportunities to communicate the results of my research promptly and to translate it in recommendations that are meaningful for the school district, and each individual school."
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For more information, please contact:
Amedeo D'Angiulli at 250.828.8734 or by email.
Stefania Maggi at 250.828.8765 or by email.
For background info visit the CEEDS website.
July 11, 2006
KAMLOOPS-Teachers interested in finding out about wikis and other tools for teaching with technology should mark Aug. 28 and 29 on their calendars.
That's when TRU's Instructional Development and Research Group (IDRG) and School District 73 (SD 73) will present the Tech It Up! summer institute focusing on teaching with technology.
"Teachers at any level can attend sessions of interest to expand their awareness of using educational technologies in their teaching, whether they're teaching face-to-face, online, or a combination of both," explained co-organizer Melissa Jakubec, an instructional designer with TRU's Instructional Development and Research Group.
The event is more focused on how technologies can be used effectively in teaching, but there will be some workshops so teachers can learn how to use classroom management systems like Moodle and WebCT," she added.
"Themes include curriculum tools, enhancing instruction with technology, and emerging technologies, with round table discussions to close each day," she said. "The round tables are a key feature for thoughts and ideas on topics like time management, ethics, academic honesty, student motivation, emerging technologies and distributed learning."
Cost of the summer institute, to be held at TRU, is $50 before Aug. 4 and $60 after that date. Fees include lunch and refreshments throughout the day. Participants may view a detailed program and register online or by phone to 250.852.6251.
On August 30th, the day after the institute, teachers may attend a free, half-day introduction to the SD73 course "Introduction to Distributed Learning," which will have a pilot offering in the fall.
"The intro to the distributed learning course will be an informally structured online seminar that models the development of learning communities, with participants encouraged to explore their own areas of interest," said Jakubec.
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For more information, please contact Melissa Jakubec at 250.852.6257 or by email.
July 11, 2006
KAMLOOPS-The chief negotiator for the First Nations Education Steering Committee, who reached an historic agreement with the provincial and national governments last week, is bringing his expertise to Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops.
Dr. Nathan Matthew, highly regarded as a national leader in aboriginal education, has agreed to work with the university to provide advice to the Office of the President on First Nations initiatives. The announcement was made today in Kamloops by Thompson Rivers University President, Dr. Roger Barnsley.
As the chief negotiator for the First Nations Education Steering Committee, Matthews signed a new agreement on July 5 with the BC Government and the Government of Canada that will lead to the recognition of First Nations' jurisdiction over First Nations' education (K-12) in British Columbia.
Matthew, who was also recently recognized by TRU with the awarding of an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree, has distinguished himself over the past thirty years in First Nations government and education, and has played a key role in developing educational and business capacity within his community, the Secwepemc Nation, and other provincial and national organizations.
As a part-time consultant to the president, Matthew will provide a range of strategic advice on First Nations issues, as they relate to the university, and assist with the building of relationships and partnerships in support of aboriginal education initiatives at TRU in the years ahead.
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July 14, 2006
KAMLOOPS - Thompson Rivers University is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Martin Whittles as the new interim Dean for the Williams Lake campus, responsible for academic programs and issues. He replaces Dr. John Belshaw, who leaves later this month for a new position as a Dean at North Island College in Courtenay, BC.
Dr. Whittles brings to his new role a background of diversity that is in many respects the essence of what Thompson Rivers University has become over the past 36 years. His first career was as a fully qualified (Red Seal) journeyman carpenter, followed by five years service with the RCMP.
Turning to academics, he then attended the University of Lethbridge, the London School of Economics and the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, and later taught at Red Deer College and the University of Lethbridge before coming to Kamloops as an assistant professor of Anthropology in 1998.
His research work and areas of special interest are focused on aboriginal issues, including community and economic development and indigenous education, and during his doctoral research program he lived and worked for two-and-one half years in the farthest north community in the Northwest Territories.
Over the next several months, Dr. Whittles will work with faculty and staff in Williams Lake in planning for the opening of the new campus in that community, while the university proceeds with finalizing the requirements and launching the search process for a new senior leadership position at the Williams Lake campus.
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Josh Keller - Director
Marketing & Communications
Thompson Rivers University
July 19, 2006
KAMLOOPS- Question: What do you call a doctor who graduated at the top of his class? Answer: Lucas Cockburn.
TRU grad and scholar-athlete Lucas Cockburn topped all fellow students at medical school, winning seven awards at his convocation from Queen's University this past May.
After graduation from Kamloops Secondary School in 1998, Kamloops-born Cockburn came to Thompson Rivers University on an entrance scholarship. An exemplary scholar and outstanding athlete who played basketball throughout his four years of university study, Cockburn was named Male Athlete of the Year three times before graduation in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science degree, also winning the Governor-General's Silver Medal for achieving the highest marks of all degree graduates.
Entering medical school at Queen's University in Kingston, On. the following year, Cockburn continued to garner awards as a top student, foreshadowing his amazing accomplishments in his final year.
His awards for academic achievement and medical proficiency included the Edgar Forrester Prize and Edgar Forrester Scholarship for achieving the highest standing in medicine in the final year, the Professor's Prize in Surgery for achieving the highest standing in surgical subjects, the W.W. Near and Susan Near Prizes for the highest standing throughout the course, the Hannah Washburn Polson Prize for proficiency in the final year in medicine, surgery and obstetrics, and the Dr. Osler Briggs Dickinson Scholarship for outstanding performance in surgery.
Finally, Cockburn received the award for which his mother is most proud: the Pamela C. Williams Memorial Award for a graduating medical student who, in addition to good academic standing, demonstrates fellowship, compassion for patients, significant extracurricular achievement and community involvement.
Cockburn, who volunteered at Ponderosa Lodge and with Big Brothers & Sisters while at TRU, was involved with coaching basketball to youth through the Boys and Girls club while also keeping up with the arduous study schedule of a medical student at Queen's.
He is currently completing a family practice residency at Toronto Western Hospital, after which he plans to do a year of emergency medicine training and begin work in ER and family practice. After that, for the first time in more than eight years, the young doctor's options are open.
"I am not sure yet where I plan to go, but returning to BC is definitely an attractive option," he said.
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July 21, 2006
KAMLOOPS-There's an inequity in returning Canadian soldiers' health care, a Thompson Rivers University researcher has found.
Major Wendy McKenzie, a TRU Nursing instructor and deputy commanding officer with the Rocky Mountain Rangers, was at NATO headquarters in Brussels this past April to deliver her paper, "Global deployment of Reserve Force Solders: A Leadership Challenge," to an international audience.
Her paper looked at the psychological support necessary for reserve or part-time soldiers prior, during and specifically following deployments to combat zones.
McKenzie's perspective as Deputy Commanding Officer with the Rocky Mountain Rangers coupled with 29 years as a reservist gave her insight into deployment of reservists. McKenzie is thought to be the only Canadian military nursing officer currently serving as a Deputy Commander of an Infantry Combat Arms Unit.
"Our reserves are being called more often to serve in conflict situations like those in Afghanistan and Bosnia," said McKenzie, who estimates that reservists make up upward of 10 per cent of Canadian troops in conflict zones today.
"There is not an unlimited supply of regular-force soldiers to fill the Canadian commitments in places like Afghanistan; therefore reservists will be needed to fill the gap.
"We are duty-bound to ensure these men and women, who volunteer to deploy, are looked after when they come home," she said.
Unlike regular forces, where an entire unit is called for duty, the call to duty for reserves is more likely an offer, and may only be extended to an individual.
McKenzie identified a gap in health-care services for individual reservists who serve and then return to isolated communities across the country.
"Coming home from a deployment to Kamloops, for instance, is different from returning to a military base. Currently the reservist does not have access to the whole support network available on a full-time army base," she said.
Besides her paper, McKenzie had input into three chapters of a book being written to guide NATO military commanders in psychological support for combat soldiers. She will also be undertaking research in the near future that will reinforce existing military policy for BC for psychological support for reserve force soldiers.
McKenzie joined the Rocky Mountain Rangers soon after she graduated from South Kamloops High School. A summer position with the Rangers included first-aid training which progressed into provincial and national first-aid competitions and sparked her interest in health care. After graduating from Thompson Rivers University in 1984 with a nursing diploma, she spent 20 years as a critical care nurse at Royal Inland Hospital, during which time she returned to university to complete a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in 2000. She?s been a nursing instructor at TRU since 2004 but still is an active practitioner, working a shift or two every month at RIH to keep current and to give context to her course work.
She also serves as the aide-de-camp for Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo when Her Excellency is in the BC Interior, and is curator of the Rocky Mountain Rangers military museum and National President of the Army Museums of Canada.
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For more information, please contact Wendy McKenzie at 250-377-6141
For photo please contact Bronwen Scott.
July 24, 2006
KAMLOOPS-TRU will institute some road and parking lot closures on its Kamloops campus to facilitate the BC Games.
Lot C (staff lot west of the Culinary Arts Building):
Closed from 7 am July 25 to 2 pm July 31.
This lot will be closed to accommodate food services for athletes.
Lot L (student lot south of Clock Tower and east of Culinary Arts):
Closed from 8 am July 27 to 4 pm July 30.
This lot will be used as a turnaround and stop for athlete buses going to and from the BC Games food services.
College Drive (road in front of Sciences and Gymnasium):
Closed from 8 am July 27 to 4 pm July 30.
This road will be used as a BC Games transit and pedestrian link.
University Drive from Westgate to traffic circle:
Closed from 3:30 pm to 6 pm July 27 and from 5 pm July 29 to 3 pm July 30.
This road will be used as a transit link and athlete's road for the opening ceremonies and for athlete transport.
Please note: Campus visitors heading off campus to points north of the Overlanders Bridge may follow university drive in a counter-clockwise direction to the traffic circle southeast of the Trades & Technology Centre, where they may then connect with Dalhousie Drive in order to access the eastbound lane on McGill Road so that they may turn left (north) at the Summit/McGill intersection.
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For more information, please contact Warren Asuchak, Associate Director of TRU Facilities Services, at 250.371.5872.
July 26, 2006
KAMLOOPS-Statistics show that about half of all university and college grads start the next phase of their lives in a city or town other than the one they grew up in, which means any given community can expect to lose half of its educated youth.
There's an educational program that seems to buck this trend, however.
"Meat-cutters tend to go back to the communities they came from to work or start their own businesses," said Thompson Rivers University (TRU) meat-cutting program coordinator Ken Jakes, who has been involved in the program, the only one of its kind in the province, for many of its 30-plus years.
Kelowna's John Siegmann, owner-operator of Johnny's Custom Meats, is one of these grads who, after completing TRU's Retail Meat Processing program in 1991, returned to his home town to ply his trade.
After working as a Cooper's Foods meat manager for a dozen years, Siegmann, who won two trophies for excellence the year he graduated, opened his shop in Kelowna in 2003 and hasn't looked back since.
"Business has been phenomenal," he said. "Way, way more than I ever thought it would be."
Jakes thinks part of this success may be due to rising population that's upping meat consumption, while Siegmann points to consumer confidence (and lack of it due to the mad-cow crisis) for the success of small, locally owned meat shops.
The BC government's Work Futures statistics seem to agree, stating that there are "a growing number of smaller butcher shops that cater to the increasing demand for specialty meats."
That may be why Jakes is reporting excellent job prospects for his students.
"Meat-cutting grads have their pick of several good positions, and because of the trades shortage, wages are rising," he said.
"All our grads end up in the work force, and most have several job offers to choose from. This year, the program received two to three times as many job postings as there are students to fill them," he added.
Siegmann has been reading the industry for the past 15 years, and figures self-employment is the way to go.
"Small meat shops are going to start popping up everywhere," he said. "And it?s very rewarding being your own boss."
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For more information, please contact:
John Siegmann at 250.860.5646 or by email.
Ken Jakes at 250.828.5351 or by email.
July 28, 2006
KAMLOOPS-This summer, eleven young men and women have had an unusual opportunity to participate in hands-on, real-world science projects - with pay.
A mix of high school and university students, members of Weyerhaeuser's Environmental Youth Green Team, have been involved in five local projects, working with bluebirds and pine beetles, grasslands and wetlands, and pulling bags and bags of that rancher's enemy, knapweed.
"The first thing we discovered is you need gloves to pull knapweed. We've pulled about 12,000 plants, at least 100 garbage bags full," said team member Sarah Greenwood, who has completed three years of a Bachelor of Science degree at TRU and is now preparing to transfer to UNBC's environmental engineering program, where she'll have a head start due to this summer's experience using GPS to map knapweed predators and bluebird nesting sites.
Greenwood is one of the six full-time, permanent members of the team who have been joined periodically by one or more of five additional part-time members. The group was formed when Weyerhaeuser approached TRU Associate Professor of Biology, Tom Dickinson, in early spring. The forest company had been asked by a number of local conservation-oriented groups like Ducks Unlimited, the BC Grasslands Conservation Council and the Kamloops Naturalists Club to fund small but vital projects in the area, and wanted to combine the projects and funding to benefit both youth and the environment.
Together with Dickinson, the local conservation groups, BC Parks and the City of Kamloops, the company created a plan for a team of youths to tackle the various issues, and provided $25,000 funding for wages and supplies.
"We wanted to find projects that could be done on the ground that would have clear, physical effects at the end of the day," explained Dickinson, who gives the students their work assignments each day and provides support and mentoring.
"These projects are good for teaching us about biology," said Paige MacKay, who graduated from SKSS in June and will be entering her first year of Bachelor of Science degree studies at TRU this fall with the ultimate goal of a career in sports medicine. "Working with Tom is great. He gives us information on everything," she enthused.
Keenan Kicia, who also graduated high school this past June, has been helping to monitor TRU's pine beetle control campaign and getting to know the campus at the same time, which, he says, will radically reduce first-year jitters when he starts his first year in sciences at TRU this September. Although Kicia has participated in previous ecological projects like the burrowing owl recovery program, Adopt-a-Road and knapweed control through his church, he's on a learning curve with the Green Team.
"I didn't even know we had bluebirds out here," he said, referring to the group's work with the Kamloops Naturalists Club refurbishing bluebird trails around the Kamloops area, mapping bluebird nesting sites and chick survival, and building new nest boxes destroyed by the 2003 wildfires.
Bighorn sheep and mule deer were a new experience for Jeff Bleach, a co-operative education student from Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology, whose work with the Green Team will fulfill the requirements for a work component related to his fish and wildlife program course work.
"I'm really looking forward to the Ducks Unlimited project, because it reflects on my fish and wildlife stuff," said the Lion's Head, Ontario student whose mother, recently relocated to Kamloops, heard about the Green Team on a local radio station and immediately let her son back east know about the opportunity.
Alert parents were also responsible for the presence of two secondary students on the team. Quinn Harris, entering Grade 12 at Sa-Hali Secondary, was shown an ad by her father who works at TRU, while Danielle Curry, who starts Grade 12 at SKSS this September, heard about the opportunity from her dad, a Weyerhaeuser employee.
"My dad's a forester, so seeing the effects of the pine beetle first-hand, and understanding its biology has been the best part of this work," explained Curry, who is headed for university sciences, and possibly medicine, once she's finished high school.
"I was looking for a summer job that would help with my future, since I'll be taking sciences at university once I graduate high school. I would definitely do something like this again," said Harris.
It's been a great learning experience for students at the university level as well, explained Amanda Matton, a 3rd-year TRU biology student.
"We've been learning new skills like GPS and Excel while we graph the beetles and chart bluebird population growth using data from 1980 to the present, and it gives me an idea of what I might want to do in the future," said Matton, who has also been an active volunteer at the Kamloops Wildlife Park volunteer and with the city's Adopt-a-Road program.
The project gives the students much more than individual benefit, Matton explained. "We're doing things that otherwise wouldn't get done."
The students are setting up a date for volunteers to get involved in one of the projects, a "knapweed-pulling party," on Aug. 12.
"All we need is hands," said Matton.
"Even ten extra people would be awesome," added Greenwood.
Community members interested in helping out can contact the Green Team by email or leave a phone message at 250.371.597.
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For more information, please contact:
Dr. Tom Dickinson (TRU Biology) 250.828.5447
Mr. Lawrence Pillon (Weyerhaeuser) 604.661.8163
Environmental Youth Green Team 250.371.5971
Photos available: Please contact Bronwen Scott at 250.371.5739 or by email.