Faculty of Health, Community and Education at Mount Royal University

06/05/2026

Robyn Madden Presents in Halifax
Robyn Madden, HPED, presents her project Investigation of Dietary Interventions and Supplement Use in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) at the Canadian Nutrition Society Annual Conference in Halifax, NS. You can find her poster here.

06/04/2026

Tracy Powell Awarded Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant:
Alongside Dr. Janine Brown and Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller, Dr. Tracy Powell is a co-investigator on a four-year, $358,000.00 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant examining how social and political contexts shape end-of-life planning among older adults in Canada. The study, Understanding the Impact of Social-Political Contexts in Shaping Older Adult Canadians’ End-of-Life Planning, began recruitment in winter 2026.

06/03/2026

Community Building and Sustainability
On May 14 and 15, Dr. Moussa Magassa, Associate Vice-President, and Dr. Marva Ferguson, Special Advisor, Community and Belonging, attended and participated in the Inter-Institutional Forum of Scarborough Charter on Anti-Black Racism and lack of Inclusion in Higher Education at Carleton and the University of Ottawa.
Under the theme Advancing Black Excellence and Opportunities in Challenging Times, the forum is held every two years. It brings together members, partners and communities from across the country for discussions, idea sharing and collective reflection on progress and challenges of the charter. Through the work of Dr. Magassa and Dr Ferguson, MRU continues to advance the Scarborough Charter's Commitments to sustained action, accountability and institutional transformation. Presently, 40 institutions have signed on to the Charter.

06/02/2026

Sonya Jakubec - Healthy Aging Alberta Grant Recipient
Research Impact in the News! The Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Parks Society, with Dr. Sonya Jakubec, were selected as Healthy Aging Alberta grant recipients for their decade-long, volunteer led, Good Grief Walking program. The grant, $157,500.00 over 2 years, has enabled the hiring of a dedicated Good Grief Coordinator to expand the program’s scope with funded training sessions, and building out a tool-kit for organizations across Alberta. This lets small organizations access training at no cost to them and means Good Grief will be popping up in more places, bringing the benefits of nature walking through grief and loss to more people all across the province! For more on Good Grief Walking, see Sonya's 2025 guest blog article with Grief Matters: https://griefmatters.ca/blog/good-grief-walking-with-grief

06/01/2026

Dr. Therese Wiart Jenkinson recently presented at the World Forum for Early Childhood Care and Education in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Leading a collaborative session alongside Dr. Pyae Phyo Aung (Myanmar) and Elsa Chahin (USA), the group explored the theme "Small Steps Big Impact: Equity in Pedagogical and Pediatric Care for Infants and Toddlers." The interactive session invited attendees from among the 40 countries represented to share unique perspectives on childcare practices from their home nations.

05/29/2026

New Webstory: MRU nursing across generations
The legacy of MRU nursing alumni began in June of 1969, when the first class of nursing students received their diplomas at the Glencoe Club, nursing pins made of pure gold catching the light on their lapels. An all-female graduating class of 11, these bright young women stepped into a profession that would ask much of them — and shape even more in return. Nearly 60 years later, Anne Kendrew of that same class sits across from two MRU nurses of different generations: Rachael Edwards (class of 2011) and Hamza Echchoujaa (class of 2026). Read the webstory (link in comments)

05/28/2026

O'to po'pa Field School Launch
On May 4th, the second cohort of the O'to po'pa Field School launched with 18 students and 4 mentors from last year's cohort. The group came together in circle as strangers and after spending the day together left as a cohort. After lunch at the Iniskim Centre co-hosted by the centre and social work, the students, mentors, instructors and Elder Hayden Melting Tallow headed out to the east lawn where Dion Simon guided them through the raising of the tipi. The group will continue building their cohort over the coming weeks and will then head out to Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park for five days and 4 nights, where they will become immersed in the Blackfoot culture. The cohort represents multiple cultural backgrounds and programs across the university. from HCE, Arts, Science and Technology.

Christina Tortorelli

05/28/2026

05/27/2026

Dr. Emmie Henderson-Dekort Presents at Carleton University in Ottawa:
Emmie Henderson-Dekort, Assistant Professor in the Child Studies program, attended the Children’s Rights Academic Network (CRAN) Symposium at Carleton University in Ottawa, joining a vibrant community of scholars and practitioners dedicated to advancing children’s rights.
At the symposium, Henderson-Dekort shared insights from her capstone students, highlighting their experiences facilitating a “Shaking the Movers” workshop in Canmore with support from the Landon Pearson Centre for the Study of Childhood and Children's Rights. She also shared her upcoming research on youth participation in developing an ethics model for post-secondary institutions, with a focus on meaningfully engaging youth as co-advisors and co-researchers.

05/26/2026

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: HCE Teaching and Learning Conference 2027: Cultivating Human-Centered Teaching at the Core of Innovative Practice

Abstract Deadline: November 1, 2026,
Conference: May 13, 2027

The Faculty of Health, Community and Education at Mount Royal University invites you to submit abstracts for our biennial Teaching and Learning conference, held on May 13, 2027, in Calgary, Alberta.

More info and abstract submission form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf4xwE5va0SxbPwhX8WMt5LQL9ePqBwEx_fKvz9JWJiKFH-SQ/viewform