Social Science Psychology profile student Jericho (Thelma) Meuyanui Chenui has enjoyed a unique program for young newcomers through Hockey 4 Youth. The organization welcomes new Canadians by providing free on-ice and off-ice programming. They have 11 programs in six cities across Canada and have worked with more than 500 newcomers, supporting kids from 42 different…
Earth Week celebrations will look a little different this year. That’s because the Office of Sustainability would like to offer the Dawson community opportunities to celebrate Earth Week throughout the academic year. In the past few weeks, the team organized a variety of activities for employees and students, including a bike prep workshop and salsa dance breaks.
From April 16-25, there are many opportunities for you to learn and reconnect with people, community and Nature!
There will be garden dig-in workshops, Living Campus Tours and much more. To see the full offering and to sign up, please use this Link.
Other events include:
People around the world will be participating in a four-day BioBlitz April 26-29, including students, staff, alumni, retirees, friends and neighbours of Dawson on Monday, April 29. Take a break and drop by the Peace Garden at Dawson anytime between 3 PM and 6 PM on April 29. This global BioBlitz is part of the City Nature Challenge.
Photo by Doug Smyth
Visit the link for the homepage news story and invite your friends and family to join you at Dawson on April 29!
On April 9, 1,000 Species project coordinator and Biology faculty member Brian Mader’s phone started lighting up with messages from the Dawson community.
“There’s a turkey at Dawson!” was the gist of his 30+ messages.
The turkey was seen by many staff and students and was entered into the 1,000 Species in 1,000 Days official count on iNaturalist.
Brian is not surprised that a turkey showed up on campus since many have been spotted in Westmount. “Maybe he was looking for more turkeys,” he speculated. “They nest around this time of year but in groups.”
The lone Dawson turkey was thought to be a male, also known as a tom or a gobbler. He was spotted near the theatre garden, on the roof and in one of the rooftop gardens.
“If you see the turkey, like all wildlife, give it space and respect,” Brian advised. “And please do not feed the turkey!”
Last month, the City of Westmount issued an advisory to residents saying that “wild turkeys are being spotted more regularly in Westmount,” and said that residents should not approach them or feed them.
Last week, our first bike workshop of 2024 was attended by employees and students eager to learn about getting their bikes ready for Spring. Adam Kingsland (Faculty, Mechanical Engineering) gave an introduction to proper clothing and basic tools needed to upkeep your bike. Another bike workshop is planned for May, date to be determined. Students…
Dawson’s French tutoring centre, CLÉO, has a new series this spring open to students and employees. You are invited to come work on your personal, school-related or professional French-language projects during one of CLÉO’s Pomodoro Workshops. The Pomodoro method entails breaking up larger tasks into smaller more manageable timed units. The next ones will take…
Submitted by Jennifer de Vera.
Adam Kingsland, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Jennifer de Vera, Office of Sustainability, biked to Vanier College to attend an intercollegiate meeting on active transportation in February.
Representatives from 8 colleges met to discuss both best practices and challenges they have had in increasing campus community use of alternative transportation.
At Dawson, we are recruiting employees and students from the community to form an Active Alternative Transportation working group. We will meet once a month to discuss bike workshops and how to help people find alternative walking and/or biking routes to Dawson. All those interested can fill out this form.
We are having our first event on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, by the Gazebos beside Parking Lot #1. It is titled "Getting your bike ready for Spring", led by Adam. In case of heavy rain, it will be postponed to Wednesday, March 20.
Bring your bikes or simply attend to learn! Adam will teach you how to do basic tune-ups, making sure you are riding safely this upcoming season. Sign up here to reserve your workshop spot!
For further information, please email sustainability@dawsoncollege.qc.ca. If you have any questions about bike maintenance, or if you need to fix something in particular on your bike, feel free to email Adam at akingsland@dawsoncollege.qc.ca.
This winter the Dawson Community stepped up to the challenge of being active and supporting mental health initiatives! After 23 days, the Push-Up Challenge has concluded with the achievement of our modest community goal of 2,000 repetitions from all participants. In fact, we reached over 31 times that amount with 62,729 repetitions! We couldn’t have done it without two very dedicated teams: Sigma Nation (20,666 reps) and the Dawson Phys. Ed. Team (13,976 reps)! In addition, Dawson College raised $705 for the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Student Services and Human Resources worked together to offer participation prizes to students and staff. Prizes included gift certificates for IGA, Sports Experts, Lulu Lemon, Cage aux Sports and more! The winners are currently being contacted.
Many thanks to all the participants and organizers, especially Rhea Gurnagul who was present at the Push-Up Challenge Station almost every lunch time!
Our hope is that the Dawson community will continue to stay active and build a habit of working out regularly.
-Submitted by Caroline Blouin
On Feb. 28, 25 members of the Dawson community, mostly students, responded to the invitation of the Office of Sustainability to take part in the first monthly wellness event.
It was beautiful weather, so they went outdoors for part of the Biophilic Tour of Dawson. “Jenn de Vera gave a tour of some of the many wonderful student driven projects that are a part of our Living Campus,” Sophie La Font reported.
The indoor portion showcased the many ways we have incorporated the theory of Biophilia* at Dawson College. The activity concluded with planting a baby spider plant that participants could take with them as a gift.
The March wellness activity took place on March 7 and was a panel discussion with Elder and Knowledge Keeper, Niioie:ren Patton & Concordia's Sustainability Living Lab Coordinator, Sandra Mouafo Nouadje.
*The biophilia hypothesis is the belief that humans are genetically predisposed to be attracted to Nature. It states that all humans inherently love the natural world. This idea that we are drawn to and need Nature was first put forth by a man named Edward O. Wilson in his book, Biophilia, published in 1984.
The Women’s/Gender Studies Certificate faculty and students organized a number of events during the week leading up to Women’s Day and the events continue.
On Friday, March 8 at 10 AM, there will be a Bake Sale fundraiser & Button-making Activity in Conrod’s (2F.4). Proceeds will benefit the Financial Aid Food Bank.
Looking for volunteers to bake and sell goods; sign up here: https://forms.office.com/r/PdF3ZMiVrK
Please feel free to bring a class!
Last Modified: April 11, 2024
