Garden plot behind the Biology Building, also known as the School of Environment and Sustainability community garden, being demolished. Image looking south towards the back of the Biology Building. Tunnel connecting the Agriculture Building to the Biology Building visible.

Historical note: This garden plot was also used to be used to grow research plants for the Biology department. The garden was removed for construction on a new building.

Health, Safety and Environment controlled fire; Larry Riopka; Wayne Rodger

Sunil Choubal, director, Health, Safety and Environment Department, stands among barrels.

Seven men sitting at a long table with microphones laid out in front of them.
Left to right: Jack Sandberg (consumer affairs); Neal Hardy (environment); Graham Taylor (health); Bob Klombies; Dr. Bruno Schiefer, director, Toxicology Research Centre; Blaine Holmlund; Professor George Lee.

Peter MacKinnon, University President, answers reporters' questions after telling the Saskatoon & District Chamber of Commerce the U of S must fight to succeed in an increasingly competitive environment.

Bio/historical note: Image appeared in 4 May 2001 issue of OCN.

Dr. Sylvia Fedoruk, University Chancellor, making presentation of an honourary Doctor of Laws degree to James W. MacNeill at Convocation held at Centennial Auditorium. Iain MacLean, University Secretary, hoods the recipient.

Bio/Historical Note: James William MacNeill was born in 1928 in Saskatchewan and received BSc degrees for both physics and mathematics in 1949 and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering in 1958 from the University of Saskatchewan. MacNeill also received a Graduate Diploma in Economics and Political Science in 1951 from the University of Stockholm. MacNeill was Director of Environment at OECD in Paris (1978–1984), Secretary General of the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) and lead author of its landmark report Our Common Future (1984–1987, and member and Chairman of the World Bank's Inspection Panel (1997–2002). MacNeill was a member of the Caspian Development Advisory Panel, the jury of the Volvo Foundation’s Environment Prize, and a member of several boards including the Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts. In 1988 MacNeill received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the U of S. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1995. MacNeill died in Ottawa in 2016.

A variety of views of the phytotron in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources.

Bio/Historical Note: The phytotron is a controlled environment plant growth facility that enables three full cycles of plant production in one year. Individual chamber environments can be controlled for temperature, light and humidity, enabling testing and selection in a range of conditions including drought and frost simulation. The facility underpins plant and soil science research and teaching in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources.

Head and shoulders image of Minoru Yamasaki, master planner of the Regina Campus.

Bio/Historical Note: One of the major works of Minoru Yamasaki’s (1912-1986) career was the planning of the University of Regina and the adjoining Wascana Centre. This is a 2000 acre park containing the provincial legislature, cultural institutions, and a new university. Yamasaki was chosen because of his imaginative concepts and his ability to relate design to the environment.

Peter MacKinnon (second from right), University President, chats at his 17 Nov. 2000 Friday morning breakfast with, clockwise from lower left: Joan Llewellyn, Labor Relations Director; Sharon Cochran, Associate Vice-President for Human Resources; Sunil Choubal, Health, Safety & Environment Director; Garry Schlichemeyer, Benefits & Pension Director; and Bruce Shepard, Diefenbaker Canada Centre Director.

Bio/historical note: Image appeared in November 24, 2000 OCN.

Health, Safety and Environment (formerly Occupational Health and Safety) announces the appointment of Dr. Mohamed Benmerrouche, as radiation safety manager, and Jamie Gates, as chemical safety manager. Benmerrouche is a nuclear physicist who is also an adjunct professor in Physics and Engineering Physics. Gates, MSc, has experience as a researcher at the U of S and in the Canadian Army and mining industry.

Elizabeth Dowdeswell, honourary Doctor of Laws degree recipient, stands in academic gown with George Ivany, University President, E.K. (Ted) Turner, University Chancellor, and an unidentified man during Spring Convocation held at Centennial Auditorium.

Bio/Historical Note: Violet Elizabeth (Patton) Dowdeswell was born in 1944 in the County of Antrim in Northern Ireland and brought up in an Ulster Scot tradition that puts great emphasis on scholastic achievement. Her family, father emigrated to Canada when she was five, settling in southern Saskatchewan and her childhood influences were those common to the smaller towns (Sceptre. Young, Strasbourg and Briercrest). Dowdeswell worked for the Extension Division, as a 4-H specialist each May to September when she was completing a degree in Home Economics degree and teaching certificate at the U of S. Upon graduation she became a teacher and counsellor at Swift Current Comprehensive School, finding time as well to upgrade and to complete an MSc in behavioural science at Utah State University by 1972. Following a year as a lecturer in economics and marketing at the University of Alberta. Dowdeswell returned to the Saskatchewan Department of Education as a consumer education consultant and later as the Human Rights Ombudsman before being put in charge of federal/provincial education matters. She moved to Ottawa in 1982 to work first with the Treasury Board and then with Environment Canada. After directing the Ontario office of Environment Canada, she became Assistant Deputy Minister of the Atmospheric Environment Service. Her job required community involvement and an understanding of the socioeconomic aspects of global change as she helped develop public services such as the Ozone Watch and the UV-B Index. Dowdeswell was Canada's representative to the World Meteorological Organization and in 1992 again represented Canada as principal delegate to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change at the Earth Summit Conference in Rio de Janeiro. At Rio, as co-chair of a working group on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, her leadership helped confirm Canada's position in the forefront of world sustainable development. She was appointed Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in late 1992, and was asked to combine this with the position of Executive Director of the United Nations HABITAT Programme. Elizabeth Dowdeswell was the highest-ranking Canadian and the most senior of a handful of women to top UN positions (2012). She was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario in 2014.