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The Elders speak about the best interests of a Stó:lō child: family, connection and culture
No full textIn response to recent legislative changes by the Government of Canada many Indigenous nations are engaged in the development of legal and practice frameworks to regulate culturally safe and equitable child and family services. To support this process there is a need to define the best interests of the child according to the nation based on cultural knowledge and traditions. Storywork, an Indigenous storied approach, is used to examine the question, “How do Stó:lō people define the “best interests of the child” based on the cultural, linguistic and governance structures of their nation?” Drawing on Indigenous literature and the history of child welfare in Canada affirms that culture is central to developing Indigenous based services. A series of sharing circle discussions with Stó:lō Elders from the Coqualeetza Cultural Education Centre and the Fraser Valley Aboriginal Children and Family Services Society were held to gather their life-experience stories. The Elders’ unique worldview and understanding of the teachings of a good Stó:lō life were central to mobilize community-based Indigenous knowledge on child-rearing in the past and present that centers the teachings of our ancestors. Thematic analysis was then used as a way to make meaning from the Elders’ life-experience stories to create new knowledge informing what is in the best interests of the Stó:lō child. As a result, a Longhouse Framework was created using four-story poles representing new stories of child well-being. These story poles include: 1) How children experience and understand shxwelí (life spirit); 2) Children learn the ways of co-reliance; 3) Families and communities care for their children; and 4) Raising children in healthy Stó:lō ways. This knowledge will be used to inform better practices for those working in the field of Indigenous child welfare and offer recommendations for communities which are moving towards self-determination in the area of child welfare.Graduat
2023 Study Leave Report
Full text linkA report on the 3-month study leave of Fine Arts and Grants and Awards librarian Christine Walde.FacultyReviewe
Hydrogen Liquefaction Facility in Kitimat to Supplement Hydrogen Injection into Natural Gas Pipeline
Full text linkTo help facilitate a global transition to low-carbon emissions energy sources, hydrogen injection into BC's Coastal Gaslink pipeline, replacing a portion of the existing natural gas, is proposed. The hydrogen and natural gas would be processed at the destination plant in Kitimat for export. The economics of this including operational and infrastructure costs are considered to study the economic benefit to replacing some natural gas with hydrogen. A rough process to separate natural gas from hydrogen at the destination plant is outlined. The energy requirements to liquefy hydrogen are estimated based on the conditions of the processing plant. This energy requirement is compared to those of other proposed hydrogen liquefaction plants to estimate the specific liquefaction cost for hydrogen at the Kitimat plant.
Ultimately, the results show that hydrogen injection would be profitable, increasing daily earnings by $1.1 million CAD with 5% hydrogen injection (by volume).Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)UndergraduateReviewe
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Littlewood Forest report
No full textThe 17-acre Littlewood Forest stewarded by the Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture is a second-growth coastal Douglas-fir forest with a pond, natural springs, and a low-lying
wetland complex, all of which have been heavily impacted by invasive species due to decades of neglect. Research for this report included field assessments of the entire forest, which were used to create a compartmentalized map to assist with stewardship of the space, as well as stakeholder interviews and analysis, a review of existing reports and relevant data, and creation of a list of recommended actions for restoration and conservation. While most of the land around the Littlewood Forest was cleared for agricultural use in the 1800s, the area that comprises the forest area was left mostly intact, possibly due to the presence of a swamp and natural springs that occur in that area. In the 1950s, the land was converted into a horse racetrack, which operated until the turn of the century. It was eventually acquired by the District of North Saanich, subdivided, reclaimed through demolition of buildings, and leased to the Sandown Centre to manage restoration activities.
Part of the smallest and most threatened biogeoclimatic zone in British Columbia, the forest contains several small, unique ecosystems. Despite threats from invasive species, it has strong
biodiversity, with a variety of trees, shrubs, and wildlife. The most significant threats to the forest come from Himalayan blackberry and English ivy, both of which outcompete native plants for resources and diminish the forest’s biodiversity and overall health. Descriptions, locations, and treatment options for each invasive species are presented.
The descriptions accompanying the map of six management zones in this report detail species compositions, historical context, conservation concerns, relevant observations, sub-zones with unique characteristics, safety concerns, and physical descriptions of each section of the forest. This is followed by a review of stakeholder feedback that informed the development of four primary (left) and four secondary (right) values to guide and prioritize management actions within Littlewood Forest:
● Recreation (trails, birdwatching)
● Education (native plants/ecosystems)
● Restoration (invasives management)
● Biodiversity (protection/improvement)
● Wildlife (habitat conservation)
● Volunteers (engagement/management)
● Reconciliation (work with First Nations)
● Safety (hazard trees, woody debris)
Potential interventions are prioritized through the use of an impact vs. effort matrix and presented by zone to compartmentalize and streamline management options. Due to its complexity and numerous options, a process map for Zone 1 is presented to assist in sequencing actions, followed by a possible action plan for the entire forest. These findings are summarized in a stewardship plan designed for public dissemination.
Appendices include a presentation of historical photos of the forest area over the past century along with descriptions of visible changes to the site, a table of interventions/recommendations, and supplementary maps of water features, trails, landmarks, debris, and notable hazards.Sandown Centre for Regenerative AgricultureGraduat
Real-time gesture-based sound control system
No full textThis thesis presents a real-time, human-in-the-loop music control and manipulation system that dynamically adapts audio outputs based on the analysis of human movement captured via live-stream video. This project creates a responsive link between visual and auditory stimuli, fostering an interactive experience where dancers not only respond to music but dynamically influence it through their movements. The system enhances live performances, interactive installations, and personal entertainment, creating an immersive experience where users’ movements directly shape the music in real time. This project demonstrates how machine learning and signal processing techniques can create responsive audio-visual systems that evolve with each movement, bridging human interaction and machine response in a seamless loop.
The system leverages computer vision techniques and machine learning tools to track and interpret the motion of individuals dancing or moving, enabling them to participate actively in shaping audio adjustments, such as tempo, pitch, effects, and playback sequence in real time. Constantly improving through ongoing training, the system allows users to generalize models for user-independent use by providing varied samples; around 50–80 samples are typically sufficient to label a simple gesture. Through an integrated pipeline of gesture training, cue mapping, and audio manipulation, this human-centered system continuously adapts to user input. Gestures are trained as signals from human to model, mapped to sound control commands, and then used to naturally manipulate audio elements.Graduat
Application of high-Z nanoparticles to enhance current radiotherapy treatment
No full textRadiotherapy is an essential component of the treatment regimens for many cancer patients. Despite recent technological advancements to improve dose delivery techniques, the dose escalation required to enhance tumor control is limited due to the inevitable toxicity to the surrounding healthy tissue. Therefore, the local enhancement of dosing in tumor sites can provide the necessary means to improve the treatment modality. In recent years, the emergence of nanotechnology has facilitated a unique opportunity to increase the efficacy of radiotherapy treatment. The application of high-atomic-number (Z) nanoparticles (NPs) can augment the effects of radiotherapy by increasing the sensitivity of cells to radiation. High-Z NPs can inherently act as radiosensitizers as well as serve as targeted delivery vehicles for radiosensitizing agents. In this work, the therapeutic benefits of high-Z NPs as radiosensitizers, such as their tumor-targeting capabilities and their mechanisms of sensitization, are discussed. Preclinical data supporting their application in radiotherapy treatment as well as the status of their clinical translation will be presented.This research was funded by a Nanomedicines Innovation Network (NMIN) Strategic Initiative (SI) grant, 2021-RES-SI-05; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant (DG), RGPIN-2017-04501; and Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR), CIHR PJT-399879.FacultyReviewe
Fostering inclusion for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth in Northern Canada through research in drama education and Applied Theatre
Full text linkThe purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which theatre can be applied in educational settings to foster inclusion and safety for 2S/LGBTQIAP+ youth located in remote communities within Northern Canada. The research took place in a remote community within the Northwest Territories (NWT), through a collaboration with teachers who lead the Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) club. By using methods of Community-Based Participatory Action Research, the study posed the following questions: (1) What are the experiences of inclusion and exclusion that 2S/LGBTQIAP+ youth have in a remote community within the NWT and how can theatre empower these youth to communicate the ways they feel accepted and safe within their school environment? (2) How can theatre serve as an effective training tool for educators located in remote communities to understand how to foster a school culture of inclusion for 2S/LGBTQIAP+ students? (3) According to the youth participants and their experiences, what are some ways of thinking that might lead to stigma surrounding gender identity and sexual diversity in remote communities, and how can theatrical interventions begin deconstructing these paradigms? To answer these questions, a series of theatre-based workshops were facilitated with youth participants who were active members of the collaborating secondary school’s QSA club. With information from the youth workshops, a theatre-based professional development workshop was also facilitated separately with educator participants who worked at the collaborating school or the school district. This thesis outlines the background information, relevant fieldwork details, and final research findings of the study.Graduate2025-04-1
Single-Class Instance Segmentation for Vectorization of Line Drawings
Full text linkImages can be represented and stored either in raster or in vector formats. Raster images are the most ubiquitous and are defined as matrices of pixel intensities/colours, while vector images consist of a finite set of geometric primitives, such as lines, curves, and polygons. Since geometric shapes are expressed via mathematical equations and defined by a limited number of control points, they can be manipulated in a much easier way than by directly working with pixels; hence, the vector format is much preferred to raster for image editing and understanding purposes. The conversion of a raster image into its vector correspondent is a non-trivial process, called image vectorization. Creating vector images from a given raster image can be time-consuming and requires the expertise of a skilled graphic user.
This thesis explores the effectiveness of a Deep Learning based framework to vectorize raster images comprising line drawings with minimal user interventions. To improve the visual representation of the image, each stroke in the line drawing is represented with a different label and vectorized. In this document, we present an in-depth study of image vectorization, the objective of our research, challenges, potential resolutions, and compare the outcomes of our approach on six datasets consisting of different types of hand drawings.
More specifically, this thesis begins by comparing raster images with vector images, the importance of image vectorization, and our objective to convert raster images to vector-based representations by accurately separating each stroke from the line drawings.
In further chapters of this thesis, a Deep Learning based segmentation methodology is introduced to perform Single-Class Instance Segmentation of hand drawings to process the input raster image by labeling each pixel as belonging to a particular stroke instance. This segmentation approach is able to leverage the spatial relationships between each stroke instance.
A novel loss function specifically designed to optimize our highly imbalanced datasets by scaling the margins and adding a regularization term to improve its feature selection technique. The weighted combination of our proposed margin regularized loss function is combined with the Dice loss to reduce the spatial overlap and improve the predictions over infrequent labels.
Finally, the effectiveness of our segmentation technique of line drawing vectorization is compared experimentally with the state-of-the-art and our reference method. Our method can successfully handle a wide variety of human drawing styles. The results are comparable in terms of accuracy and way ahead in terms of speed and complexity, with other methods.Graduat
The legal somatics of Bentham’s Auto-Icon and those who willed their carcases away
No full textThe author undertakes a critical and theoretical study of the political writings of Jeremy Bentham and his friends and colleagues relative to the Anatomy Act 1832 in the United Kingdom; the public dissection of Bentham’s body by Dr. Thomas Southwood Smith in 1832 prior to the passage of the Act; and the “Auto-Icon,” both the subject of his essay on the use and disposal of the dead human body written in 1831 and his name for his simulacrum seated in University College London. The author argues that Bentham’s Auto-Icon is an early exemplar of bioart (art made from human tissues or bodily matter), or at least an instance of political aesthetics making use of the body, which formed part of a project of law reform: in other words, an instance of “legal somatics.” The legal somatics of the bioart are described in terms of literary and aesthetic modes and meanings embodied in the use of bodily matter, and connected to similar acts of those who “willed,” or postured as if they would will, their bodies away for posthumous dissection and use for experimentation, such as John Boys who, 30 years prior to drafting his will contested in Boys v Morgan [1838] EngR 768, 59 ER 359, agreed with a Dr. Hector Campbell “that he should have [Boys’] carcase for chemical and anatomical experiments.” In doing so, the author considers how the human body in, and as, art or aesthetic practice factors in challenging and creating legal principles and values.UVic Graduate Student Law & Society Research GroupFacultyUnreviewe