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Canadian Campus Newswire

Source: Brock University
http://www.brocku.ca/webnews/displaystory.phtml?TEMPLATE=template.html&sid=1536

Professors to be honoured for teaching and research excellence

October 13, 2006

Brock
University will honour three faculty members for their contributions to
teaching and research as part of the second ceremony of its Fall Convocation
to be held on Saturday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m., in the Ian D. Beddis Gymnasium,
located in the Walker Complex.

Professor Zopito Marini of the Department of Child and Youth Studies in the
Faculty of Social Sciences, will receive the Brock University Award for
Distinguished Teaching, the second major award for teaching excellence he
has received from Brock this year. He also received the Faculty of Social
Sciences Award for Excellence in Teaching at Spring 2006 Convocation.

The Distinguished Teaching Award recognizes a faculty member who has made a
significant commitment to providing and developing quality learning
experiences for students, in addition to making valuable contributions in
curriculum development and the mentoring of colleagues. Professor Nota
Klentrou from the Department of Physical Education and Kinesiology and
Professor John Hay from the Department of Community Health Sciences will
receive the Brock University Award for Distinguished Research and Creative
Activity. This award recognizes faculty members who demonstrate outstanding
research achievements, contributions toward the training of future
researchers, and consistency in scholarly or creative performance.

"These professors are extremely deserving of this recognition, and we are
very proud of their outstanding accomplishments," says Terry Boak,
Vice-President, Academic and Provost. "They are widely respected on both the
national and international stages for their work in their respective fields,
and for providing quality teaching and research experiences for
undergraduate and graduate students. Their exceptional teaching, research
and leadership skills reflect well on the overall teaching excellence and
research quality for which Brock is well known."

Brock's 2006 Fall Convocation will be celebrated during ceremonies taking
place on Friday, Oct. 20, and Saturday, Oct. 21. The University's fifth
President and Vice-Chancellor, Jack N. Lightstone, will officially be
installed at the Friday ceremony. The University will confer 715
undergraduate and graduate degrees from all six Faculties during its Fall
2006 Convocation.

These ceremonies will also mark the last convocation for Dr. Raymond
Moriyama as Brock's Chancellor. Moriyama completes his term as Chancellor on
March 31, 2007.

Professor Zopito Marini, Department of Child and Youth Studies, Faculty of
Social Sciences:

Professor Zopito Marini is the complete teacher in the sense that he is not
only an excellent instructor in the classroom, he is also committed to the
promotion of good teaching. He consistently receives one of the top rankings
for teaching evaluations in his department and he was listed as one of
Brock's favourite professors in The Student's Guide to Canadian
Universities.

One of his colleagues writes: "He has the intellectual curiosity and
emotional courage to engage in active and ongoing reflection on his approach
to pedagogy ... He examines feedback from students and makes efforts to
address their concerns through alterations in his teaching approaches."

Professor Marini's philosophy of teaching was published in the April 2000
issue of The Teaching Professor under the title, "The Teacher as a Sherpa
Guide." The publishers of the journal included this article in a compendium
of the best articles over the past 20 years because "it was well-received
when first published and remains relevant today."

He has been a major player in encouraging professional development at Brock
and has contributed to the scholarship of teaching by presenting and
publishing on issues related to the humanization of technology in
instructional settings.

Professor Marini excels as a university teacher, as a dedicated educator
outside the classroom, and as leader in media and community relations at
Brock. He is actively involved in teaching educators, counsellors and
parents, and is often called upon to provide comments about social issues
such as bullying, school violence and conflict prevention and resolution
strategies.

Professor Marini has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to his students,
involving them as co-presenters on scholarly presentations and co-authors on
many publications, and he has always been a generous mentor for new faculty
members at the University. His distinguished contributions to teaching and
learning at Brock are characterized by one of the main tenets of his
teaching philosophy, that "the teaching should remain long after the teacher
has gone."

Professor Nota Klentrou, Department of Physical Education and Kinesiology,
Faculty of Applied Health Sciences:

Professor Nota Klentrou's work epitomizes the spirit of the University's
research culture, emphasizing multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches
to complex problems in human performance and health. Since arriving at Brock
in 1996, her research program has undergone exponential growth, resulting in
at least three peer-reviewed publications per year, regular securing of
external funding, and a steady stream of student mentorship.

Professor Klentrou has distinguished herself as an exceptional researcher in
the areas of applied physiology, pediatric exercise physiology, osteoporosis
prevention, and health and performance. Since her appointment to the
Faculty, she has published one book chapter, 24 peer-reviewed articles in
high-impact journals and conference proceedings, with seven more under
review, 82 peer-reviewed abstracts/conference presentations, co-authored one
book, and she has been the Principal, or Co-Investigator for 10 research
grants. Her work has contributed significantly to her discipline and to the
University's research capacity.

The impact of Professor Klentrou's work in exercise physiology is evidenced
by her extensive consulting, advising and service as a reviewer. Her
professional expertise has been utilized as a journal reviewer and external
reviewer for university undergraduate programs in Physical Education and
Kinesiology.

In 2000, she was the recipient of the Bobbi Steen Legacy Award from the
Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical
Activity. She also served as the Chair of the Organizing Committee for the
2003 Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology Annual Conference, and was
invited by the 2004 Olympic Organizing Committee to serve as a results
supervisor for all gymnastics events at the Athens Summer Olympic Games. She
is currently the treasurer of the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology.

Professor Klentrou's reputation also extends beyond academia. She has served
as a scientific advisor and keynote speaker for local, national and
international organizations, including Osteoporosis Canada and the
International Federation of Gymnastics, and also contributes to her
community by promoting and consulting on health and physical activity issues
with local school boards.

She was recently asked by Osteoporosis Canada to be involved in the
production of an educational DVD, entitled Bone up and Break Through!, which
was distributed across Ontario by the Ontario Osteoporosis Strategy group to
promote regular exercise as a strategy for osteoporosis prevention and
management.

Professor John Hay, Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of
Applied Health Sciences:

Since the early 1990s, Professor John Hay has been a pioneer in developing
our understanding of why children choose to be active or inactive and
equally, in finding ways to measure children's activity. He has a strong
interest in the activity levels of children with chronic disease - such as
cystic fibrosis, leukemia, epilepsy, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis - as
well as otherwise healthy children who have difficulties with co-ordinated
movements. He believes that physical activity is a key component of health
in every child's life but has particularly important ramifications for
children with chronic illness. Through his research, he is developing
non-invasive, non-intrusive means of measuring clinically relevant aspects
of physical activity. This is particularly important to children with
chronic illness who need to be physically active but often are not. As
Professor Hay notes: "The last thing sick kids need is to be attached to yet
another monitor by yet another health-care professional."

Since 2001, he has published two book chapters, 16 peer-reviewed journal
papers, with six more under review, 19 peer-reviewed abstracts, and 33
presentations at scientific meetings. He is, or has, been Principal or
Co-Principal Investigator on seven external peer-reviewed research grants
from national agencies, such as CIHR, SSHRC and the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation, representing some $3 million in sponsored funding.

As part of his research agenda, Professor Hay is also a consultant to
numerous national and international research initiatives in Canada, Italy,
the Netherlands, Denmark, and Australia, on the role of physical activity in
children's bone health in leukemia, rheumatoid arthritis, epilepsy, Crohn''s
disease and in respiratory function in cystic fibrosis. He has just
completed a term as member of the Board of the North American Society for
Pediatric Exercise Medicine.

His Children's Self-Perception of Adequacy in and Predilection toward
Physical Activity (CSAPPA), a measure that captures a child's generalized
self-efficacy toward physical activity, was a seminal contribution that
linked self-reported participation in organized and free time physical
activities with motor function, physical fitness, and body mass index, and
helped to develop an understanding of why many children choose to be
inactive. His recent research on a relatively unknown yet common childhood
disorder known as Developmental Co-ordination Disorder, which affects five
per cent of school-aged children, began with the predictive capacity of the
CSAPPA. His Habitual Activity Estimation Scale (HAES) is used
internationally in clinical research as an effective and feasible instrument
to measure the physical activity of children. The HAES has been instrumental
in research leading to changes in the way that children with chronic
illness, particularly leukemia and cystic fibrosis, are counselled for
physical activity.

Professor Hay is a strong voice for children, the health of children, and
the need to help all children find joy at play. His concern is, and has
been, to help understand those children for whom what is often taken for
granted - that children love to play - is not always so.


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