UGRC 2026 Program

FINE ARTS - ARTIST STATEMENTS

Group 1: Environment

Bryan, Emma,“Freak of Nature”

Freak of Nature. is a relief Linocut print on stonehenge paper. This piece is inspired by a poem titled The Two-headed Calf by Laura Gilpin. The poem describes the calf being found in the morning and brought to the museum to be displayed, as a freak. Prior to this the calf enjoys a calm evening with his mother under the stars. I choose to represent the calf as a fawn instead, to call back to the fauna of North Bay as well as my previous works about deer hunting for sport in the North.

Bujas, Madalyn,“The Summer in Nana's Garden”

This is a relief print with collage elements. The piece focuses on a formative memory I had while spending my summers at my Nana’s house. Where my brother, cousin, and I got distracted by some curious potato bugs hiding amongst our Nana’s garden. Instead of helping her in the garden we began to play with the isopodes. Instead of redirecting us she allowed us to play, explore and engage with these charming bugs. My Nana, a retired preschool teacher, has taught me patience when working with children as well as my passion for teaching, which I still carry now.

Bujas, Madalyn,“Accidentally Biting the Hands That Feeds”

This is a two block relief print. This artwork depicts me caring for my pet snake. I have bread, incubated, and raised my two pet snakes. This has been a monumental moment in my life. The work confronts the dichotomy between the domestic life of a captive bread snake and wild intuition of an animal. A mistaken bite when feeding is no different than a teething puppy bite, it is the perception of the animal that changes the meaning. The bite comes from a place of confusion, excited hunger, and misplaced feeding aggression, a normal part of snake development.

Bujas, Madalyn,“Lets Go in the Garden”

This is a mixed media artwork containing found objects, acrylic paint, and crochet. This work speaks to a child like wonder, a space designed for play, exploration and learning through experience. The playful crochet elements and bright colours speak to a childlike imagination. A world and home constructed for the bugs that inhabit it. The found objects and crocheted plants create a modern man-made space outside of the bug's original habitat.

Hodgins, Zaphrin,“Gathering Wintergreen”

My relief print Gathering Wintergreen considers how the environment holds value for humans through experience, which creates a mutually beneficial relationship with land. My piece focuses closely on a single wintergreen plant: a perspective that centres the plant itself and draws the viewer's gaze down to the forest floor in order to create an intimate experience between the plant and viewer that encourages connection and care for forest life. By contrasting the plant’s beauty against the empty land behind it, Gathering Wintergreen addresses ecocide and invites those who interact with it to develop a desire to protect natural environments.

Kozuskanich, Ross,“Untitled Assortment”

Inspired by the wonder cabinets of the Renaissance, this work features a small display case stocked with petri dishes, each containing their own small world. Rather than a cabinet of wonder, I have created a cabinet of imagination. Each petri dish features a location and objects from my youth that have made me the artist I am today. In a sense, the cabinet is a collection of all the worlds within my mind. The aim of the cabinet is to inspire creativity—whenever someone is feeling stuck creating art, they can use the worlds of the cabinet for ideas.

*please note that the image attached below shows the work partially unfinished. The exterior of the cabinet and empty petri dishes will be completed in time for the UGRC

Lamoureux, Vance,“Sails like a Vessel”

This is a two block relief print, the first layer depicting a nautilus and the second layer with terminology and the golden ratio for this piece is meant to be a fusion between the arts and science, as they often overlap and compliment each other. They work better together like this instead of in competition with each other.

Matson, Eliisa,“Wild Beauty”

This piece is a sculpture cast created from a mold formed over a relief sculpture made of clay. The casting process preserves the tactile marks of the hand sculpted clay. The design features a bear in the center with surrounding flora, architectural ridges, and bead‑like semi‑spheres that radiate outward, blending organic growth with ornamental symmetry. This piece speaks to the natural beauty of the perfection of nature and the wilderness within it.

Petznick, Katherine,“Lights Out”

My eight-layer reductive print uses the well-known style of Vincent Van Gogh, specifically Starry Night, to create a conversation about how landscapes have changed due to pollution. My piece focuses on light pollution caused by nearby cities and even greenhouses, and how the sky is significantly different, even though both scenes are of cities in the distance. I researched how the sky changes under light pollution and drew on my firsthand experience. The print was done by inking the first layer, printing it around 36 times and then carving away where you want the colour to stay, then washing and repeating with the next colour.

Petznick, Katherine,“Changing of the Sky”

My eight foot by seven foot tapestry piece on a custom A frame is immersive because of the size as people are able to put themselves in the scene. This piece focuses on experimentation with new materials and techniques such as sewing to achieve the size needed to make it immersive. Using different types of fabrics allowed me to achieve different feelings, such as how the ground is more solid while the sky is semi transparent and layered to give the illusion of a sky shifting colour. It is encouraged for people to stand with the work and take photos as it allows the viewer to be immersed in the scene but it is not mandatory for someone to be in the photo as the scale alone of this piece can create an immersive effect.

Group 2: Identity

Bryan, Emma,“Nostalgia”

Nostalgia. is a mixed media drawing created with Watercolour, Pitt Pastels, Graphite and Crayon on stonehenge paper. This is a self portrait themed around nostalgia of my childhood and the protection of my inner child. My face is nothing but an adult mask to me, so this drawing is what it would look like if I took off that mask. Inside I am still the same child I've always been. This is illustrated by my inner self childish spewing out onto the page in the form of the playful crayon drawings, stickers and flowers.

Corbeil, Dakota,“Notes Fated Just For Me”

Notes Fated Just for Me is about the self-reflection that arises when listening to music. I have found that songs have served as messengers from the universe about life, love, and the whole range of human feelings and thoughts.

Notes Fated Just For Me is a screenprint that uses lines to speak to the idea that songs can shape emotions, memories, and identity.

This colourway is a vintage orange-red overlayed on a light brown. I chose those colours to make the print feel analog, vintage, and warm, but also visually striking and passionate.

Gingrich, Devon,“To Ponder What Holds”

Some objects enter silently but remain heavy. They flow through hands, time, and circumstances, absorbing meaning well beyond what they appear to contain. Living with such an object can induce a sense of pause. A recognition that doing nothing is also an option. This emerges from that suspended moment in which value is emotional rather than concrete, and scale, weight, and stillness are symbolic. The piece, which was created as a pastel and charcoal work, represents the conflict between holding something exactly as it is and imagining what it could become, recognizing that transformation and preservation are both equally weighted actions.

Hutchinson, Kathleen,“Self-Inflicted Wounds”

This piece explores being too self-critical, and how holding yourself to an impossible standard restricts you in life.

Johnstone, Anna,“Ophelia”

This photoshoot was done as a step in the process of creating a large oil painting. The final painting called back to Sir John Everett Millais’ Ophelia for inspiration both aesthetically and in narrative. I was my own model and photographer. I needed reference photos but also wanted to create several pieces that were representative of the emotional and mental cost of creating a final project that expresses trauma.

Johnstone, Anna,“Untitled”

This photo does not come with prescribed interpretation but rather seeks an experience based on the viewer.

Mackey, Paige,“No Place I would rather be”

Inspired by the song titled Rather Be This piece is meant to represent the place in which there is no where else in the world I would rather be.

My painting is based off a landscape in Algonquin park along the Spruce boardwalk. As an indigenous woman, I feel deeply rooted within the park and when visiting time after time I can feel the presence of my ancestors within the land.

When I am with you there’s no place I’d rather be

Synnott, Julia,“An Artist's Mess”

An Artist’s mess is a mixed media art piece on a wooden panel for a Contemporary Painting course semester one. It explores the beauty in chaos and process of making art. It utilizes a maximalist approach with an extremely busy composition. It is comprised of pencil crayons, crayons, paint brushes, sequins, thread, a broken mug, watercolour, felt, scrap fabric, ribbon, yarn, a palette, marker, glitter (glue, paint and loose) and acrylic paint. Freedom is emphasized through the materials exceeding and spilling outside the confines of the panel. This artwork celebrates the unpredictability and energy inherent in the artistic process.

Turnbull, Tate,“Unbound from within”

‘Unbound from Within’ was inspired by the land displacement that Indigenous people have faced by the actions of the Canadian government. The piece came together through utilizing different materials and modes of art, such as, screen-printing, sculpture, collage and painting. Using mix-media allows the elements to play with each other and expand the viewers outlook on place, time and memory. With the experience of growing up off my reserve, in a small town, surrounded by people who did not look nor think as I. Art has become my language to express the anguish of coming from two different worlds in which one is valued and the other dismissed.

Group 3: Society and Culture

Adams, Katelyn,“Bye, I love you”

My work is titled Bye, I love you, a typical farewell said over the phone. The participant walks into a candle light room, with soft somatic music playing, and they step in front of the table with an array of items from candles, fruit, a phone, a clock, and a note pad and pen. There are pillows on the ground for people to kneel on, treating the table like an altar of sorts for prayer (for a lack of a better comparison). The participant can then write a message to someone they love who has passed on. They light the paper on fire with the candle flame and let it burn or ‘send’ in the ashtray provided. The ashtray has rosemary on the bottom to add an additional sensual aspect through smell. Rosemary is symbolic of remembrance and love and spiritually represents protection and wards off negative energy. The music component is called somatic music, a curated frequency or rhythm meant to evoke mind and body connection and encourage the participant into a reflective and meditative state.

The practice of burning notes to send messages comes from Chinese traditions of burning paper to send messages to ancestors in the spiritual realm. I also burn messages to send to the universe in my own spiritual practice. The phone is a visual marker of the intent of sending messages and connecting with others. The array of items are meant to imitate vanitas still life's. Visually connecting my piece to a genre of art about symbolic objects meant to represent death, the futility of material things and the transience of life.

Bryan, Emma,“When I was young I was rich”

When I was young I was rich. ( Frame of mind.) is a 4 layer screenprint series on stonehenge paper. This piece is representative of missing the simple days of my childhood. The toys are supposed to represent the richness of my childhood, specifically, the luxury of innocence. In childhood I only thought about what toy I wanted to play with next, instead of how many pounds I gained in a week. The images inside of the frame illustrate my current frame of mind in a world full of societal expectations. The scale is a symbol to represent the issue of low self esteem in girls, especially when it comes to body image and fitting into a society obsessed with being skinny.

Corbeil, Dakota,“The Good Life Comic”

The Good Life Comic aims to satirize and exaggerate gender roles and heteronormativity. This work uses the screenprinting technique, as well as halftones, to allude to 1950s-era comic strips, a medium that would have been mass-produced in the Sunday papers and would have perpetuated ideas of gender roles.

While the comic uses 1950s imagery in its illustrations, it speaks to today’s society and its growing conservatism in recent years. The notion that the era of the housewife is something we should go back to undermines every other human experience that doesn’t happen to fit into such a small box.

Jenner, Erin,“The Speaker”

‘The Speaker’ is a triptych of varied screen prints that are inspired by 20th century propaganda posters. The bright blue, red, and green works are meant to serve as visual interest and distract from the true message. The suited figure represents corrupt politicians and people in power, while the head of a wild dog refers to animalistic behaviours, or an absence of humanity. The hand sign is a reference to the biblical command of ‘speaker’, the governing voice. The background features an array of newspaper articles detailing social/political conflicts, while the phrase We Are translates to We are one of the same, as we are no better (than animals).

Murray Wylie, Darryn,“Forgive me Father for I have Sinned”

Screenprint on stonehenge paper

Panchishin, Chloe,“Surveillance State”

Surveillance State explores the overbearing control and surveillance and self-surveillance of civilians and the feeling of constantly being observed and judged by the broader world, even in your own home. For this work I lifted advertisements of phones, pointing out the dominating nature of cameras in these advertisements; how they are advertising ease of self-surveillance. The imagery feels oppressive, like you are being watched from inside the print. I have seen myself and my peers grow agoraphobic in recent years, and this piece displays a feeling of observational horror that I believe everyone who came of age in a world where cameras are in every pocket feels deeply.

ABSTRACTS - POSTERS

Group 1: Aging Rat Brains, Forever Chemicals, and Chemical Synthesis in Biological Organisms

Bassi, Karan,“Synthesis of Biologically Important Novel Dihydrothiopyrans”

The indole nucleus and thiopyran ring are biologically significant heterocyclic structures. Indole-fused dihydrothiopyrans can be synthesized through formal cyclization of indoline-2-thiones with malononitrile-derived electrophiles. Benzaldehyde–malononitrile adducts have been shown to undergo cyclization to give chiral dihydrothiopyrans; however, substitution of benzaldehyde with formaldehyde is expected to produce novel achiral indole-fused dihydrothiopyrans. This work investigates whether formaldehyde can serve as a suitable electrophilic partner in this transformation. Reactions were performed using substituted and unsubstituted indoline-2-thiones in acetonitrile under thermal conditions and characterized by chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. The outcome is the development of a general route to previously unreported sulfur-containing indole-fused heterocycles.

Coutu, Philippe,“Investigation of The Proposed Oxidative Stress Mechanism For Biological Toxicity of Forever Chemicals (PFAS)”

Environmental contamination by ‘forever chemicals’ (PFAS) is of significant human/animal health concern, particularly in our local North Bay region. While much research focus has been placed upon detection strategies and environmental measurements, little has been ascertained about the actual biological mechanisms of PFAS toxicity. Utilizing the molecular genetic tools available in Drosophila melanogaster, we are investigating the purported oxidative stress hypothesis by challenging animals with impaired resistance to oxidative stress with exposure to PFAS at a range of environmentally and biologically relevant concentrations and assessing their sensitivity to PFAS relative to unimpaired controls. Results and discussion will be presented.

Dagar, Mona,“Synthesis of Trimeric Indoles Fused with Nine-membered Sulfur Containing Ring”

Polycyclic structures are highly valued in medicinal and synthetic chemistry due to their prevalence in a wide array of biologically active natural and synthetic compounds. Among these, indole-based polycyclic heterocycles are recognized as an important scaffold, largely owing to their broad spectrum of pharmacological properties. In parallel, thiopyrans and fused thiopyran systems have drawn considerable interest for their therapeutic potential, including analgesic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antihyperplasia, antibacterial, and antipsychotic effects. Therefore, the development of robust and practical synthetic methods for constructing indolyl-sulfur fused heterocycles is of considerable current interest. We have recently developed a methodology for the synthesis of nine-membered sulfur-containing triindoles starting from indoline-2-thiones. The details of these findings will be presented.

Gubbels, Allyson,“Immunogold Optimization for Ultrastructural Analysis of Locus Coeruleus Projections in the Aging Rat Brain”

Our research focuses on the optimization of an immunogold labeling protocol, which will be a critical methodological step for investigating non-pathological age-related neurodegeneration. By refining this technique, we aim to assess the possible loss of mitochondrial integrity within Locus Coeruleus projections. Establishing a robust protocol for our facility will be essential for characterizing subtle ultrastructural changes that occur during the aging process and can be used for future research.

Group 2: Using Satellite Imagery to Understand Environmental Change

Hatch, Lorraine,“Land Cover Change Detection Throughout the Construction of the 2020 Côté Gold Mine in Northern Ontario Using Sentinel-2 Imagery”

This project examines the change in land cover on the 2020 Cote Gold mine site between the years 2017 and 2025. Write function memory insertion was used on Sentinel-2 L2A imagery to detect change and unsupervised classification was used to analyze the resulting imagery. The analysis showed that there was a detectable change in land coverage in the area over the relevant period.

Kozuskanich, Blair,“Detecting urban growth through the northward expansion of Columbus, Ohio.”

This poster looks at the state of Ohio and the concentrated growth occurring around its largest city Columbus, specifically the northern area of Columbus that stretches towards Delaware, OH. The growth is measured through the increase in urban area over the past 5 years and is measured using satellite imagery and Catalyst software to run change detection algorithms in order to quantify and visualize the amount of growth that has occurred.

Legace, Baxter,“Detecting Downburst Impacts in Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park Using Sentinel 2 Imagery”

This project examines the extent of forest damage in Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park following a severe downburst on June 21st, 2025. The storm caused widespread destruction throughout the park, prompting the need for spatially based assessment of its impacts. Using Sentinel‑2 satellite imagery, the analysis compares pre‑ and post‑event conditions to identify areas of canopy and vegetation loss. Classification techniques were applied to quantify the affected area and estimate total forest loss in hectares.

Vermeer, Bri,“Natuurmonumenten in progress: Remote sensing artificial land development in the Markermeer, the Netherlands”

The Marker Wadden project, initiated by Natuurmonumenten, involves constructing artificial islands within the Markermeer, a sediment-rich freshwater lake in the Netherlands. This study asks: How can multi-date remote sensing detect and analyse artificial land development resulting from ecological engineering in the Markermeer? Sentinel-2 imagery from 2015, 2016, and 2025 is analysed using change detection techniques to quantify the transition from water to land. Results are expected to demonstrate that multi-date Sentinel-2 imagery effectively captures significant engineered landscape transformation and supports monitoring of managed freshwater systems.

Group 3: Athletics and Interventions

Pelletier, Oceane,“The effects of acute exercise on cortisol dynamics following a cold pressor test”

This study investigates the effects of acute exercise on cortisol dynamics following a cold pressor test. On Day 1, participants complete a cycling VO₂max test to determine the workload corresponding to 77% VO₂max. On Days 2 and 3 (counterbalanced), participants undergo a cold pressor test (0-4 degrees) under two conditions: CPT only, or CPT followed by a delayed 30-minute cycling session at 77% VO₂max. Salivary cortisol is collected at multiple timepoints during laboratory sessions and across several samples the following morning to assess cortisol awakening response (CAR). It is anticipated that moderate-high intensity post-stressor exercise will attenuate next-day CAR compared with CPT alone, indicating a buffering effect of acute exercise on stress-related cortisol regulation.

Ringma, Jacob,“Effect of Acute High Dose Nitrate Supplementation On Neuromuscular Performance”

This study investigates the effects of acute high-dose nitrate supplementation on neuromuscular performance of individuals with varying aerobic fitness levels. Participants complete randomized, double-blind trials involving the ingestion of beetroot juice or placebo. The Function of the tibialis anterior muscle is assessed using surface electromyography and peripheral nerve stimulation. Measures included maximal M-wave, maximal voluntary contraction, rate of force development and relaxation, and force production during twitch trains (10-100Hz). These measures reflect the changes in muscle power and force production. It is hypothesized that nitrate supplementation will enhance muscle contractility, with greater effects in those with lower aerobic fitness.

Travers, Michael,“Effects of Exogenous Nitrate Supplementation on Time to Exhausting Cycle Performance in Aerobically Trained and Untrained Individuals”

This study examines the effects of acute high-dose dietary nitrate (NO3) supplementation, from beetroot juice (BRJ), on cycling time to exhaustion (TTE) in aerobically trained and untrained individuals. Fifteen Nipissing University students completed a VO2max test, and double-blinded, placebo-controlled TTE tests using NO3-rich and NO3-depleted BRJ. Less aerobically fit individuals are expected to show greater improvement in TTE time and larger reductions in resting blood pressure, compared to more aerobically trained individuals.

Vyas, Prisha,“Testosterone, Grit & Competitive Endurance”

Research demonstrates a bidirectional relationship between testosterone and competitive behaviour. The present study examines whether exogenous testosterone influences grit-related perseverance during a competitive endurance task. Participants (male and female) complete the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) and a behavioural endurance task before and after intranasal administration of testosterone or placebo in a counterbalanced design. Endurance time serves as the primary dependent variable, with trait grit included as a covariate in mixed-model analyses. Data collection is ongoing. Preliminary findings examining hormonal effects on competitive persistence and potential sex differences will be presented at the conference.

White, Benjamin,“The Effect of a Short-Term Stickhandling and Shooting Training Intervention on Stickhandling and Shooting Performance in Youth Ice Hockey Players”

This study examined whether a four-week, eight-session off-ice training program improved stickhandling and shooting skills in 57 male youth hockey players (ages 12–15) of mixed skill levels. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group and completed pre- and post-testing of stickhandling, shot velocity, and shooting accuracy. Results showed significant improvement in obstacle course stickhandling performance for the intervention group. Figure-eight performance improved only after excluding scores of zero. No significant changes were found for shot velocity or accuracy. Findings suggest short-term off-ice training improves stickhandling but not shooting performance

Group 4: Gathering Information from Trees

Alderson, Daniel,“Nutritional Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) Extract Protects Against Oxidative Stress in Drosophila melanogaster”

We investigated the effects of nutritional supplementation of Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) extracts on the developmental success of animals experiencing chronic endogenous oxidative stress. Utilizing Drosophila as a well-established model of both invertebrate and vertebrate developmental biology, we treated animals genetically manipulated to be sensitive to oxidative stress with varying concentrations of Chaga extract to assess its protective efficacy. We find that Chaga extract provides significant protection against chronic oxidative stress during organismal development.

Belisle, Robert,“Analysis of δ18O of charcoal extracted from fire scars in red pine (Pinus resinosa Aiton.) as an indicator of burn severity”

Emulating natural disturbance regimes is a cornerstone of ecosystem-based forest management that requires knowledge of the natural pattern of disturbance on the landscape over time. Wildland fire is the predominant disturbance shaping temperate forest ecosystems, and knowledge of past fire regimes is lacking information on fire severity beyond the most recent events covered by historical records or archival data (e.g. remote sensing). The objective of this study was to determine if the stable oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) of charred bark collected from fire scars formed on red pine during an intense crown fire are related to burn intensity. The study was conducted on a burn site in River Valley, Ontario, where a severe crown fire burned 2500 ha of white pine-dominated forest in 2018. A total of 31 red pine trees were selected from an area within the burn with a high survival and scarring rate. Total height and DBH were measured on each tree as well as the length, width and aspect of the fire scar. We sampled charcoal from the top and bottom of the scar, and these materials were analyzed to estimate δ18O values. Analyses will focus on the associations between δ18O values and the variables describing the scar formation (e.g. length, width) and overall damage resulting from the fire (e.g. crown dieback %). Ultimately, these associations will be examined to determine the potential to use charcoal collected from dendrochronological sampling of fire scars to reconstruct the severity of wildland fire events recorded in tree-rings.

Gillies, Colby,“Growth responses of balsam fir saplings to the frequency of simulated moose browsing”

To investigate the relationship between browsing frequency and compensatory growth in balsam fir (Abies balsamea), saplings were clipped each October over 5 years (2021-2025) to simulate moose (Alces alces) browsing. Variables representing vertical and lateral growth were measured at nine sites in early stages of succession following insect disturbance in Gros Morne National Park. Differences in vertical versus lateral growth were analyzed to determine if prolonged disturbance would exhibit increased compensatory growth to escape the zone of moose browsing. Growth priorities were also examined in the context of insect damage during a spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) infestation.

Paczay, Teanna,“Assessing the effects of partial harvest on black spruce in the boreal forest of Northeastern Ontario using stem analysis”

Ecosystem-based forest management matches silvicultural systems to species regeneration goals across the landscape. Partial harvest systems, which manage multiple cohorts, are not currently used in boreal conifer stands in Ontario, and their long-term effects on black spruce (Picea mariana) remain poorly understood. This study reconstructed volume growth of black spruce following a partial harvest in a peatland east of Cochrane, Ontario. In 1994, stands were assigned to control, light (35% basal area removal; DBH >12 cm), and heavy (all merchantable stems removed) treatments. Trees were felled in 2009 and analyzed using stem analysis and WinSTEM to determine treatment effects on incremental and cumulative volume growth.

Young, Alexandra,“The relationship between simulated browsing intensity and production of anti-herbivore defence chemicals in balsam fir (Abies balsamea) in the boreal forests of Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, Canada”

Conifers are considered a low-quality forage for herbivores due to high levels of indigestible fiber and potentially toxic secondary metabolites. Balsam fir, an important boreal conifer, is relatively palatable, forming up to 90% of the winter diet of moose in Western Newfoundland. In response to herbivory, plants often incur trade-offs between regrowth and chemical defence strategies. Few studies have examined such trade-offs in boreal conifers. Our study investigates whether consecutive years of simulated browsing of balsam fir saplings: 1) influences the production of anti-herbivore chemicals (phenols and condensed tannins); 2) affects patterns of re-growth; and 3) induces growth-defence trade-offs.

Group 5: Theory and Practice in Nursing

Aitken, Ethan,“A Computational Model for Predicting Preterm Birth in Pregnant Women”

The present study presents a mathematical model of preterm birth that accounts for interactions between clinical, environmental, and biological factors, distinguishes between exogenous inputs and endogenous states, and dynamically estimates risk to forecast early and late-onset preterm birth. By construction, the model integrates the key concepts of previous PTB prediction models, biological studies of PTB, and health system modeling of PTB prevention strategies, filling a gap between predictive accuracy, biological relevance, and clinical relevance that has characterized previous studies that typically optimized only one of these dimensions, in a bounded and reproducible computational environment that supports scenario analysis and decision support.

Baldwin, Alycia,“Integrating Evidence-Based Practice in Undergraduate Nursing Clinical Placements”

Submitting on behalf of the BPSO Student Leads:  Alycia Baldwin, Dominic Langowski, Gurkirat Singh, Kalee Granter, Lovedeep Kalia, and Marianna Utano

Integrating evidence-based practice (EBP) into clinical placements is essential to preparing competent and accountable nursing graduates. Although EBP is emphasized in classroom learning, translation into practice remains challenging. This poster examines how involvement in the Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO) supports undergraduate nursing students in applying Best Practice Guidelines (BPGs) during clinical experiences. Through the application of BPGs, care plan evaluation, and reflective dialogue with instructors, students strengthen clinical reasoning, confidence, and leadership capacity. Embedding BPSO-informed expectations into placements fosters a culture of inquiry, bridges theory and practice, and prepares students to enter the workforce as evidence-informed change agents.

Daoust, Alissa,“Able to Care? Professionalization, Disciplinary Power, and the Exclusion of Non-Normative Bodies in Undergraduate Nursing Education”

This project interrogates the taken-for-granted status of nursing competence in Canada by asking: How has the professionalization of nursing historically produced standards that exclude disabled aspirants from undergraduate nursing education? The paper situates competency and fitness-to-practise requirements within a Foucauldian analytic of power, normalization, and biopolitical governance. Through a historically informed discursive analysis, it traces how regulatory frameworks consolidate an archetype of the competent nurse and position particular bodily capacities as prerequisites for safety. I argue that these standards are contingent effects of professionalization and that inclusion requires restructuring the regulatory apparatus through which competence is defined, assessed, and enforced.

Richards, Sydney,“The Impact of Home Support Interventions for Managing Hypertension in Rural Adults”

Purpose of the Study:

To examine whether home-based interventions improve hypertension self-management among rural adults.

Methodology:

A literature review will be conducted using the PICOT framework to guide the research question, search strategy, and analysis of relevant evidence.

Anticipated Conclusion:

It is anticipated that home-based interventions will demonstrate improved patient outcomes, including better blood pressure control, increased adherence to treatment, and enhanced self-management behaviors among rural adults with hypertension.

Singh, Gurkirat,“Poster”

This qualitative descriptive study asks: How do Black and People of Colour (BPOC) nursing students experience rural academic and clinical learning environments at Nipissing University? Data were collected through three focus group discussions, five in-depth interviews, and one auto-ethnographic account from a BPOC research assistant. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns across participants’ narratives. Findings indicate that identity and cultural background shape students’ resilience, advocacy, and sense of belonging, while experiences of discrimination and microaggressions negatively affect well-being and academic performance. The study concludes that targeted anti-racism initiatives, mentorship, and culturally responsive supports are essential to promote equitable nursing education environments.

Group 6: Empathy, Emotion, and Well-being in Psychological Processes

Navdeep Kaur,“The Impact of Mindfulness and Social Media Detox on Stress and Well-being in University Undergraduate Students”

The study investigates whether combining mindfulness with social media detoxification (reduction) significantly reduces stress compared to social media detoxification alone. Using a randomized controlled trial design, 60 undergraduate participants were assigned to either a Mindfulness + Social Media Detox or a Social Media Detox only control group for 4-weeks. Data were collected via the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF). It is anticipated that the combined intervention will yield a synergistic effect, resulting in significantly lower stress and higher psychological well-being. These findings will the highlight the necessity of integrative behavioural strategies in addressing the modern digital mental health crisis.

Armstrong, Paige,“Emotional Prosody in the Irrelevant Speech Effect”

In a recently completed study, irrelevant speech differing in emotional prosody did not cause a memory disruption as expected.  In this study, full sentences spoken using different emotional prosodies served as auditory distractors.  Performance on a working memory task was not affected by the background speech presented.  However, the repeated semantic structure of the sentences may have made it easier to ignore the emotional speech.  In the current study, we used emotionally spoken words to reduce semantic repetition.  Participants completed a serial recall task while ignoring words spoken in either an angry tone or a happy tone.  Accuracy in the serial memory task will determine the disruptive nature of the different types of speech.  This will help us understand the effects of semantic versus emotional disruption in irrelevant speech.

Gyman, Jacob,“Bad Mood, Bad Judgment? Emotional State Effects in Personality Detection”

Accurate personality perception is increasingly evident in text-based online interactions, yet why judgment accuracy varies remains poorly understood. The present study examines judges’ accuracy in detecting Big Five traits from text-only dyadic conversations and tests whether judges’ emotional states influence trait-detection performance. Targets completed the IPIP-50, and judges rated targets’ personalities following online chat interactions. Judges’ emotional states were assessed using automated facial expression analysis (Noldus FaceReader), providing valence and discrete emotion indicators. Accuracy will be evaluated via correlations between self and judge-ratings. This study advances judge-centered models of online personality perception.

Matthews, Tess,“Investigating the effect of testosterone on emotional contagion and the potential moderating role of psychopathic traits”

Some recent work indicates that people scoring high in psychopathic traits are less susceptible to contagious yawning – a construct linked to empathy. A separate body of work suggests that testosterone can impair empathic behaviour. This experiment investigated whether testosterone would reduce contagious yawning and whether variability in psychopathic traits would moderate this effect. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of testosterone or placebo, and asked to complete a yawn contagion task. I predict that testosterone will decrease contagious yawning, but only for people scoring relatively low in psychopathic traits. Preliminary results will be presented and discussed.

ABSTRACTS - RESEARCH PAPERS

Group 1: By the Numbers: Care Giving, Identity, and Belonging

Michaud, Ella,“The Utilization of Respite Services and Perceived Mental Health of Informal Caregivers in Canada”

This project was an undergraduate thesis in Sociology that explored the relationship between respite in Canada and the perceived mental health of informal caregivers. Data from the 2018 General Social Survey of Caregiving and Care Receiving was retrieved and analyzed using SPSS, and it was found that respite decreases the perceived mental health of informal caregivers, particularly for women in the age group of 45-54 years. At the time of project commencement (summer 2023), there were no other academic papers published using this dataset. This represents a glaring gap in Canadian research on respite and mental health.

Pires, Alieya,“Examining Ingroup–Outgroup Identity in Youth Sport: An Evaluation of the Together for Us (T4Us) Intervention Sticky-Note Activity”

Together for Us (T4Us) is an athlete-led intervention designed to strengthen team identity in youth sport (Bruner et al., 2025). T4Us includes an interactive sticky-note activity prompting athletes to examine ingroup and outgroup characteristics. This study explored how participation in the activity helped 90 youth athletes (Mage= 13.29 years) examine differences between ingroup and outgroup characteristics and develop the core values associated with their team identity. Sticky-note responses were qualitatively analyzed using content analysis. Findings highlight clear ingroup–outgroup differentiation, with a higher frequency of positive ingroup identity characteristics compared to outgroup characteristics.

Simard, Paris-Chanel,“The Limits of Care for Women Experiencing Gender-Based Violence: Survival Isn’t Enough”

Women with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) experience gender‑based violence (GBV) more often than other non/disabled women. There is not much research that focuses on their own voices and experiences. In this project, we wanted to listen to women directly. We asked: What do women with IDD who have experienced GBV need to feel supported as they navigate impacts of GBV? We interviewed eight women and analyzed what they told us. They said they need support that includes trust, dependability, and having choices. We used a feminist intellectual disability theory (Fish et al., 2025) to help us understand their experiences and guide our analysis. We hope these findings will help improve support for women with IDD who experience GBV.

Uwaifo, Orobosa,“Lights Out: Performance, Resistance, and Belonging in Nigerian Boarding School Life”

This paper explores the nightly lights out ritual in Nigerian girls’ boarding school dormitories as a site where discipline, identity, and quiet resistance intersect. Drawing on personal experience, intergenerational interviews with former boarders, and digital cultural artifacts such as TikTok skits, I approach lights out as a recurring social performance. Using Erving Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life alongside Pamela Jennifer Kea’s concept of third-space subjectivities, I argue that the moment the lights go off marks a shift from institutional order to a more intimate backstage world. In this darkness, girls whisper, share stories, test authority, and build forms of belonging that persist across generations.

Group 2: Identity & Interactions in Digital Games: Minecraft and More

Constable, Allysia,“Completing Minecraft and Revealing the Anti-Hero”

This paper analyses the completionist route of Minecraft, where players complete everything possible within the game. This includes seeking out the best possible armour and tools, as well as defeating every boss. Through this route, the player character (referred to as Completionist Steve) demonstrates the Dark Triad traits, including Machiavellianism and narcissism. Players live out these undesirable traits through Completionist Steve and become the anti-hero of the Minecraft world. This can be seen by examining Completionist Steve’s journey and the requirements of the completionist route, with particular focus on how villagers and major mobs can be used to Completionist Steve’s advantage.

Kilfoyl, Rya,“Minecraft as Optimization of the Natural World”

Minecraft creates a digital natural environment which the player must navigate in order to progress through the game.  In contrast to other games which create similar environments, Minecraft’s use of the grid structure consistently reminds the player of the system in which the fictional world is situated. Although ultimately it is the player’s choice to interact with the features of gameplay which portray an optimized version of a natural world, players are constantly reminded that the digital natural world is more efficient and perhaps better suited for achieving one’s goals than the real natural world; the player will always be reminded that commodifying the digital natural world is the only way to survive.

Zarac, Catherine,“The Voice of the Voiceless: The Value of Silent Player Characters”

Most digital games use voice acting in some capacity to relay the game’s narrative. However it is common for games to leave the player character without a voice. Academics and developers disagree on whether this is a hindrance or an aid to the player’s enjoyment of a game. I believe this is the most suitable type of protagonist for simulational media as distinguished from representational media. Silent player characters preserve the player’s projective identity, giving them a greater sense of embodiment, freedom of interpretation, control and immersion when compared to voiced protagonists which may make players feel disempowered.

Group 3: Weaponizing the Past: Denial, Distortion, and the Politics of Memory

Bigras, Clayton,“Alex Jones a Martyr for the Truth [The Effects of the Ernst Zundel Trials on Holocaust Denial]: 1985-2025”

My paper examines the trials of Ernst Zundel and the effects that the trials had on Holocaust revisionist institutions, primarily, the Institute for Historical Review and the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust. In my paper I seek to answer, how did prominent self-proclaimed academic Holocaust revisionists (deniers) from the Institute for Historical Review and the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust mobilize the life, research, and trials of Ernst Zundel to reinforce Holocaust denial?  I will be examining primary sources from the IHR and CODOH to understand how Ernst Zundel has been used to reinforce Holocaust revisionism.

Brown, Kydmen,“A HARMLESS MYTH, AND LIKE OTHER ANCIENT MONUMENTS: The Rebellion of 1837’s Necessity for Responsible Government, National Historiography, and Other Myths”

Focusing on historiography of the canonical literature of the Rebellion of 1837 and Responsible Government, the question is asked in what ways did the interpretation of the Rebellion’s legacy change with time and why? If these are shaped by social utility, what are their consequences? The interpretations of the Rebellion’s necessity for responsible government have sought to prescribe or subscribe social attitudes concerning national identity, unity, imperial loyalty, and American wariness. Historical contingencies have determined these interpretations. The contemporary interpretation, though incorporating aspects of reflexivity, still prescribes the myth of a peaceable kingdom, denying an inherent violence in Canadian history.

Krabi, Jakob,“The Science of Falsifying History: The Myth of a Legal Soviet Baltic Incorporation”

In the contemporary landscape of Russian foreign policy, the 1940 annexation of the Baltic States has been transformed from a historical event into a primary front of modern hybrid warfare and memory politics where the weaponization of memory serves to delegitimize the sovereignty of the Baltics and characterizes Baltic independence as an artificial Western project rather than a restoration of legal statehood. The research question I am answering is: How has the history of WW2 been weaponized by the West/Baltics, and Russians? In this essay, I will analyze the myth of a legal Soviet Baltic annexation, specifically focusing on the Russian Narratives (2004-2025) and their Baltic and Western interpretations.  the Russian Federation’s official narrative from 2004 onwards characterizes the 1940 incorporation of the Baltics as voluntary, legally sound, and necessary, it masks the illegality of the Soviet occupation by casting the Baltic States as ‘artificial’ secessionist projects of the West used to destabilize, and empowers Russian interests. This systematic falsification is grounded in a science of history serving as fuel for the Russian diaspora and contributing to weaponizing the memory of World War II; further stoking fears of neo-Nazism outside of Russia. The Kremlin is delegitimizing Baltic sovereignty to justify contemporary foreign policy and is using memory as a tool of an active hybrid war with the West.

Group 4: Voices We Need to Hear

Adams, Katelyn,“Unconventional in the Makings”

My research paper is a purposed (hypothetical) curatorial project about 3 artists that create art through found items. Combining stereotypical masculine objects and queering or feminized them in a way that goes against the objects intended purpose. I explore the transformation of the masculine object as it is mixed with feminine items that create an artwork that questions the gender binary. I intend to interview at least one artist to understand their process of making this art. I will discuss how I plan on installing these pieces and my curatorial choices for the exhibition. My anticipated conclusion is to challenge how we view masculine and feminine items and how through the process of transformation or queering an object we see the reflection of discourse around gender today.

Aultman, Alexander,“The unique real intersection between the variable-index infinite nested radical product and the transfinite power tower”

We look for the intersection between R=(xR)^(1/x)  and y=x^y. R^(x-1)=x, and y^(1/y)=x, so if y=R, x-1=1/y. x=1+1/y, and by raising the equality to the power y, we get y=(1+1/y)^y, the fixed point of the exponential growth operator. We find that the derivative of the difference between these functions is monotonic and that the real solution is therefore unique.

Johnstone, Anna,“The Watching Period: Surveillance Cameras and Menstrual Data”

This paper was written for Human Rights in a Digital Age as an exploration of the ways in which privacy, technology and safety clash as menstrual tracking apps sell data and tech companies offer surveillance for a subscription.

Sekiziyivu, Joachim,“The Ethical Implications of Predictive Analytics in Health, Education, and the New Workplace”

This research project examines the ethical implications of predictive analytics in healthcare, education, and the modern workplace. The central research question asks: How do predictive systems affect privacy, fairness, autonomy, and accountability across these sectors? Using a qualitative methodology, the study conducts a comparative literature review and analyzes real-world case studies of algorithmic decision-making systems. Ethical frameworks—including principles of justice, transparency, and data governance—guide the analysis. The anticipated conclusion is that while predictive analytics enhances efficiency and personalization, insufficient oversight can reinforce bias and inequality, necessitating stronger regulatory standards, transparency mechanisms, and human-centered AI governance practices

Group 5: What’s in a Place? Sociology, Ethnography, & Geography

Brown, Kydmen,“SONS OF THE DOMINION: A Sociological Study of Canadian Ethnic Nationalism”

Surveying the social media postings of two major far-right Canadian ethnic nationalist movements, Second Sons and the Dominion Society of Canada, I have gathered data on the insecure self perceptions of a nation under siege, with the foundations of culture and identity at stake. The rhetoric espoused by these accounts not only mirrors the frustrated and desperate ethnic nationalisms seen across the world today but a unique flavour of fascism. This issue though is not new but is endemic to the Canadian colonial state. By bringing the ugly truth of domestic chauvinism to light, it is hoped that we might more readily recognise, disarm, and dispose it whenever found.

Clement, Dylan,“The Land Remembers: Critical Archival Analysis of Fort La Cloche and the Upper Lake Huron Region”

This project examines how Fort La Cloche can be understood as a dynamic cultural and ecological landscape rather than a static Hudson’s Bay Company trading post. It asks: how did environmental conditions and Indigenous-settler interactions shape the operation, meaning, and legacy of Fort La Cloche in nineteenth-century Upper Lake Huron? Methodologically, the study combines archival analysis of Hudson’s Bay Company records, environmental history, historical geography, and experiential landscape engagement. By critically reading colonial archives alongside the material landscape, the project anticipates concluding that the Fort La Cloche region was shaped through reciprocal relationships among Indigenous-settler networks, ecological systems, and imperial trade structures.

Dean, Mitchell,“Reconstructing the Scythians: Greek Ethnography and the Limits of Historical Knowledge”

This project asks whether a coherent history of the Iron Age Scythians can be reconstructed given the absence of surviving Scythian written sources. Drawing on Greek ethnographic and historiographical texts—especially Herodotus—alongside archaeological evidence such as burial mounds and material culture, this study examines how narrative genre, intertextuality, and cultural perspective shape historical reconstruction. Through comparative textual and material analysis, it argues that while a plausible account of Scythian society can be produced, it is fundamentally mediated through Greek narrative frameworks. The resulting history, therefore, is not purely Scythian, but a Greek construction of Scythia grounded in both observation and literary convention.

Group 6: Mythmaking at War: Posters, Pixels, and Performance

Cucksey, Blaze,“Ere aught thy manly courage shake: British Army Recruitment Posters and the Myth of the ‘Highlander,' 1914-15”

Your Country Needs You! From the outset of the Great War, recruiting posters across Britain called men to the Colours, imploring them to enlist in the ‘New Army.’ Between 1914 and 1915, hundreds of thousands answered the call. Centered on recruitment posters, this paper explores the ways in which a particular ‘Highlander’ archetype was mobilized in an effort to attract Scottish men to military service. More specifically, I examine how these posters articulated the archetype and argue that they not only represent imperial efforts to construct identity, but also reflect the assumptions of both the colonizer and the colonized.

Fumo, Nicolas,“Evolution of Battlefield Performance”

My project is looking at battlefield performance in the CEF, and how, over time, the CEF has transitioned the role played in the military as a whole during World War 1. I will be looking at certain divisions, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade, the 1st Battalion Canadian Infantry and how these three divisions had influenced the idea of Lions being led by Donkeys, will be looking at tactics from the divisions, and the battles looked at are the 2nd battle of Ypres, Festubert, Givenchy and Vimy. Research Questions I will be looking at are: Were the military losses due to incompetence from generals or actual reasons, like bad weaponry, natural causes, etc, and is the myth of lions being led by donkeys historically accurate when talking about the CEF? Overall, the conclusion I have came too is that the myth is a collective memory which the public had created to compensate for the losses in World War 1, and that the overall battlefield performance change had allowed the CEF to assist in winning the war.

Merry, Aidan,“Playing the Good War: Myth and Memory in WWII Games”

My project asks how World War II video games reinforce or challenge the Good War myth through their stories and gameplay. Using historian John Bodnar's memory contest, I analyze six games by looking at narrative and mechanics. I argue that while games like Red Orchestra 2 provide a messier and more honest portrayals of war, blockbusters like Call of Duty: WWII ultimately won the memory contest by selling millions of players a simpler, heroic story of American victory.

Group 7: Forms of the Advanced Dystopia

Currie, Madison,“Empowerment as Spectacle, Resistance as Survival in Dystopian Fiction (Forms of the Advanced Dystopia)”

This essay will explore the diverging versions of feminism found in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen is seen as a symbol of female empowerment in The Hunger Games; however, her autonomy is mediated through spectacle, desirability, and strategic romance. All these work as tools to help her control her life with the dystopian grasp, reflecting postfeminist narratives that equate empowerment with visibility. In contrast to visibility being a tool, Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale seems to adapt to the structural gender oppression led by the dystopian patriarchy by becoming less visible, suggesting that the postfeminist heroism adjusts rather than dismantles.

Thibodeau, Lêanne,“Exploring Existentialism Through Dystopian Landscapes”

The world of fiction allows for creative thinkers to investigate and trial extreme situations to potentially discover truths about humanity. How do authors, such as Jaqueline Harpman and Marlen Haushofer, use dystopia as a tool to confront freedom, meaninglessness, and identity – popular existentialist questions? Through the close reading and analysis of the novels I Who Have Never Known Men by Harpman and The Wall by Haushofer, I explore feminist existentialism through a dystopian landscape, as such dystopian settings permit an experimental space to test how meaning, morality, and identity emerge when humanity is reduced to its most basic conditions.

Welbanks-Virgin, Abigail,“Rediscovering Femininity, Empathy, and Humanity in the Post-Apocalyptic Landscape: Examining Effects of Isolation in Speculative Fiction (Panel title: Forms of the Advanced Dystopia)”

This paper examines two dystopian novels containing an isolated character with a singular perspective. I will look at I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman and The Wall by Marlen Haushofer, both of which contain single female characters in a post-apocalyptic world attempting to survive the absence of society. Through these texts I will evaluate how isolation can affect one’s mental state and behaviour, how feminine identity manifests in the absence of society, how the woman writer of speculative fiction stresses the importance of empathy and connection, and how that writer defines humanity at its core.

Group 8: Canada, Culture, and Cuba

Drenth, Hillary,“Tension within the Secular and Multicultural State”

The Canadian Multiculturalism Act of 1988 promoted the Canadian identity as a mosaic of cultural and racial diversity where all citizens have the right to preserve and enhance their cultural heritage, however, the francophone minority within Canada have strongly opposed this act. This essay proposes that while the multicultural act has made strides to enhance equality and the respect for diversity within Canada, it has failed to address oppression felt upon the societal culture of Quebec, which has led to illiberal policies such as the infringement of charter rights under Bill 21 to advance cultural conformity over diversity.

Fawcett, Colt,“The Seven Deadly Sins of Cuba: Canada's Role in The New World Order”

My submission is a takedown of the reasons put forth to justify the inhumane blockade of Cuba.

Hancocks, Elizabeth,“Multiculturalism and Liberal Universalism: An Inquiry of their Coexistence”

My paper's purpose was to determine whether liberal universalism and multiculturalism can coexist, specifically examining the case of Canada. Asking is liberal universalisms claims to cultural neutrality neutrality and equality through uniform civic rights, in the Canadian context it conceals majority dominance and fails to address historical injustices properly; therefore multiculturalism provides a more just and realistic framework by recognizing cultural and ethnic differences, power imbalances, and the need for group differentiated rights, particularly for Indigenous peoples, Quebecois, and immigrants within Canada. I drew on the work of political philosophers such as Charles Taylor, John Locke, John Rawls, and Will Kymlicka to argue that liberal universalism and multiculturalism are too distinct to be fully combined. Ultimately, it is concluded that liberal universalism and multiculturalism rest on fundamentally different ideological foundations. While both options are viable and realistic, they must act independently of one another, as coexistence within the same state ends in one taking precedence and dominating the other, as represented by the case of Canada.

Group 9: A Soldier’s Tale: Lives and Loss from the Front Line

Bacque, Isabella,“Devoted Nationalism: The American Civil War and Why Men Fought It”

It has long been a question of historians as to why men choose to fight in the most brutal conflicts imaginable, such as the American Civil War of 1861-65. This paper, through examination of primary source material from men who fought throughout the American Civil War and others on the sidelines provides an explanation for why those 2.4 million men took up arms. Nationalism, though a young ideology at the time, is present in a large amount of Civil War testimonies and thus was a major factor, or base to others, in why men fought in the American Civil War.

Forno, Kara,“From Blackburn to the Battlefield: The Story of a Canadian Soldier”

The Great War claimed more than 61,000 Canadian lives. This paper focuses on just one, Sergeant James Shorrock. First, Shorrock’s life and military service are reconstructed as fully as the surviving evidence allows, drawing on military records and related documents. Second, I examine what these sources reveal, how they can be interpreted, and which details emerge as most significant. In doing so, I reflect on questions of evidence, verification, and historical meaning. By combining biography and analysis, the paper shows how reconstructing one life contributes to our understanding of the human cost of the Great War.

Kring, Tanaeya,“Why Men Fought in the American Civil War”

This research paper analyzes letters from individual soldiers to understand the motivations of those who fought in the American Civil War. Examining both Union and Confederate sources of the course of the war, it focuses on why men initially decided to fight, why men continued to fight, and why men were still fighting in 1865. Although there were many reasons why men fought, including personal convictions, political propaganda, and familial support, these factors changed in importance over time. Originally, men fought due to ideals of patriotism, duty, and nationalism. But as the war dragged on, these ideals faded even as the goals of both sides stayed the same, creating a sense of national and personal commitment that kept men fighting.

Madigan, Aeongus,“The Lost Lad of Massie: Private Percy Evans, 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion, C.E.F.”

The Great War claimed more than 61,000 Canadian lives. This paper focuses on just one, Private Percy Evans. First, Evan’s life and military service are reconstructed as fully as the surviving evidence allows, drawing on military records and related documents. Second, I examine what these sources reveal, how they can be interpreted, and which details emerge as most significant. In doing so, I reflect on questions of evidence, verification, and historical meaning. By combining biography and analysis, the paper shows how reconstructing one life contributes to our understanding of the human cost of the Great War.

Group 10: GESJ Roundtable: Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others

Findlay, Fiona, Ojeda, Amaya, Yu, Valentina

During this panel, we will discuss Susan Sontag’s pathbreaking book, Regarding the Pain of Others. Rather than separate papers, we will hold a roundtable discussion about representations of war and atrocity.  From Goya’s etches to photography to digital recordings, from the Crimean War to the current war on Iran, we analyze why people are drawn to images of other people’s pain. We examine the roles of sympathy and voyeurism in understanding and ending war, and the ethics of bearing witness to images of atrocity. This roundtable emerges out of course work done in GEND 3216, Testimony and Witness. 

Group 11: State Violence and its Interpreters: Media, Protest, Gender, and the Nation

Arculus, Allison,“It Has Been Called a Symbol of Peace and a Symbol of Terror: Terrorism Discourse and the Politics of Legitimacy in Toronto's 2009 Tamil Protests”

This project examines the 2009 Torontonian Tamil protests, which sought to challenge the Sri Lankan government's myth of civilian protection amid the brutality and war crimes of Eelam War IV. Using primary sources, particularly coverage from the Toronto Star, I analyze protestor motivations, messaging, and methods of mobilization to trace how demonstrators became conflated with a designated terrorist organization. I conclude that while some concerns raised by non-protesting Torontonians were understandable, these hasty assumptions ultimately delegitimized the protests and their urgent call to protect Tamil civilians, reinforcing the very narrative of civilian protection that enabled mass atrocity in Sri Lanka.

Cutler, Declan,“An Examination of Historians Interpretation of Louis Riel and his effect on identity in Canadian History”

I aim to examine how historians’ interpretations of Louis Riel have changed from 1885 to the present, and what these changing interpretations reveal about evolving Canadian national, regional, and Indigenous identities. The goal of my research is to situate the changing narrative of Louis Riel and how the myth of him has evolved from the Red River Resistance to modern day opinions.

McBride, Bridget,“Working Title: Reporting of the Chicago Tribune on the Battle of Nanjing”

My thesis is in what ways did the Chicago Tribune report on the Battle of Nanjing between December 1937- January 1938? My research questions include what is the reporting focused on? What is the narrative for the Battle of Nanjing? What is the interpretation of the Battle of Nanjing. My methodology is reading newspapers from Chicago Tribune from December 1937 to January 1938. I will be analyzing the reporting in these newspapers including diction, political leanings, cartoons, and other factors. The conclusion that this research will likely reach is that the Chicago Tribune reporting is mainly about the Americans in the Battle of Nanjing.

Mills, Breanna,“From Silence to Scholarship: Writing on Woman Perpetrators”

My research paper explores the ways in which women historians developed the scholarship on woman perpetrators. I will be tracing historiographical research from the 1970s to the present and doing a chronological analysis of the records. Through this, I seek to build an understanding of the changes in scholarship overtime and examine why women perpetrators have been overlooked. Additionally, highlighting how these historians challenge gender myths and displayed the importance of women’s voices on such topics. For this paper, I anticipate that scholarship has expanded over the years to view woman perpetrators as ordinary people, capable of violence.

Group 12: Community Engagement and Digital Mapping

Fathima,“A Geospatial Approach for Road  Maintenance Monitoring in North Bay”

The objective of this study is to create a GIS-based system to digitize road patrolling activities in North Bay. The study incorporates ArcGIS Survey 123 to gather spatial information, Map Viewer to visualize spatial information, and Dashboards to facilitate monitoring. The proposed system replaces traditional reporting practices with spatial information, which improves its accuracy, efficiency, and accessibility. The proposed system can benefit municipal infrastructure management, ensure accountability, and can improve the decision-making. It also showcases the power of integrating web-based GIS applications to support municipal infrastructure management.

Duck, Amanda,“Heat map analysis of transit ridership data collected for the City of North Bay, 2019-2025”

North Bay Transit is the primary source of public transportation within the City of North Bay. This collaborative project examined ridership data for all bus stop boardings collected from 2019 to 2025 along the ten bus routes. Specifically, bus stop boarding records were recoded and represented using heat mapping techniques to display and identify spatial-temporal patterns associated with each stop. Identifying unique historical patterns associated with ridership activity will allow the City of North Bay to better improve current and future transit planning endeavours.

Kozuskanich, Blair,“Creating a Geospatial Interface for Monitoring Parking Space Use”

Working in collaboration with the City of North Bay, a smart phone application was developed to assist downtown parking attendants collect, in real time, geo-referenced digital records of parking occupancy.  Additionally, a dashboard software interface was designed for City managers interested in visualizing and assessing both spatial and non-spatial trends in these data.

Vermeer, Bri,“Planning an accessible interpretive trail: a site suitability analysis at Esker Lakes Provincial Park, Ontario”

This project examines how digital mapping can support accessibility-focused planning in protected natural areas. Using Esker Lakes Provincial Park as a case study, a GIS-based site suitability analysis was conducted to identify conceptual corridors for an accessible interpretive trail. Terrain constraints, hydrological exclusions, and proximity to reliable infrastructure were integrated through weighted spatial modelling. Field experience and historical planning context informed data correction and modelling decisions. Iterative filtering produced 20 candidate corridors, from which two priority areas were identified as the most feasible for implementation. The project demonstrates how spatial analysis can support transparent, accessibility-oriented planning in environmentally sensitive landscapes.

Group 13: Reel and Artificial Intelligence Learning

Bitonti, Mya,“Teaching, Applying, and Practicing Justice: A Comparative Analysis of Indigenous and Canadian Legal Concepts in Film and Culture”

Project compares Indigenous justice as expressed through the oral tradition with the Canadian criminal justice system, focusing on differences in how law is learned, applied, and practiced. It draws on cinematic examples of performative jurisprudence and communal justice in Atanarjuat (2001) to wage its critique on the dehumanizing aspects of Canadian justice.

McMaster, Ames,“Video Short: The Land of the Clouds”

A documentary-style, mixed media video presentation, The Land of the Clouds draws inspiration from the work of filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin, connecting the nations of Canada and Mexico in space and in time through themes of colonization, resource extraction, and MMIWG.

Shah, Vruddhi,“Emotionalized AI and the Moral Foundations of Social Life”

Our project explores the ethical concerns surrounding emotionalized AI, specifically with regard to whether developing emotional relationships with AI companions leads to lack of authenticity in life. My research question is: does emotionalized AI contribute to a lack of moral development in human relationships? Through philosophical analysis, I respond to the arguments of Weber-Guskar, Kaczmarek, and Lancaster, assessing their ethical concerns regarding self-deception, lack of mutuality, and emotional dependency. I argue a key point, as well as a counter-argument that defends emotional AI as ethical, to conclude that emotional AI is an ethical concern that needs to be regulated, not prohibited.

Group 14: The Nature of Capitalism

Arculus, Allison,“Thar She Blows, It’s the Economy!: Nantucking Whaling and the Staples Trap”

This paper examines the economic rise and fall of Nantucket's whaling industry and argues that the island's collapse stemmed not from environmental depletion, geographic misfortune, or catastrophic events alone, but from its inability to adapt due to its evolution into a staples trap. Drawing on staples theory from W.A. Mackintosh and Harold Innis, I contend that sustained reinvestment in whaling, path-dependent innovation, and cultural overidentification transformed external shocks into existential threats. Comparing Nantucket to New Bedford, I conclude that structural rigidity (rather than whaling’s unsustainability) ultimately explains the island’s economic downfall.

Brown, Kydmen,“To Encourage a Spirit of Industry: The Failure at Moose Factory to Encourage Fur Trade Participation, 1730-1763”

With this study, I investigate how the HBC sought and failed to encourage participation in the fur trade at Moose Factory in the eighteenth century. Whereas other scholars like Arthur J Ray, Francis & Morantz argue that the intense economic competition in the region led to the HBC's loss of revenue, I argue that it was the Company's inability to reconcile Cree conceptions of reciprocity that led to their failure to encourage trade. Thus their economic engagements with the Cree remained incompatible with their overriding social attitudes towards hospitality/kinship, gift-giving, and debt.

Cucksey, Blaze,“Dissolving Monastic Rumours: Battle Abbey’s Economic Wellbeing Before the Dissolution”

A narrative persists regarding the role of monasteries in late medieval England, one which dismisses their economic significance as landlords within their broader communities. This paper comparatively analyzes the economic relations and wellbeing of monasteries across England between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, paying particular attention to the microhistory of Battle Abbey. With the use of cellarers’ rolls and the Valor Ecclesiasticus, I contend that monasteries were not predisposed to their ultimate dissolution, rather they were responsive actors in a changing economic environment. Agrarian capitalism was emerging in England all while, and monastics participated in what can be considered the birth of capitalism.