The Master of Arts in Island Studies (MAIS) at the University of Prince Edward Island is a unique, interdisciplinary, and policy-driven graduate course that critiques islands on their own terms.

The program is open to students from around the world. They come out of undergraduate programs from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and diverse degrees, or with professional workplace experience in the public, private, or resource sectors, and they study a myriad of islands.

Faculty in the MAIS program come from a wide range of departments, ranging from Environmental and Political Studies to English, Education, and Economics.

Search "Master of Arts in Island Studies" to find out what some of our students and professors are doing.

Students are required to take six courses and write a thesis. The three Compulsory Courses, offered annually, are

* Themes...

Dolores LeVangie is a Master of Arts (Island Studies) student who has travelled to Chiloe Island, Chile. This island is roughly the same size as PEI with a population of around 150,000. Dolores travelled to the remote Williche community of Tweo, which is located on the southern tip of Chiloe and only accessible by boat. In March 2010, she returned to the island to do ethnographic field work for her Master's degree, working at the Williche Health Centre and travelling with the health team doing interviews in various communities.

Dolores plans to examine how “islandness” influences the effects that modernity has on illnesses and treatment in island populations. This research will explore how living on an island impacts the effects that post-colonialism, modernity, and capitalism have on types of illnesses of island populations and how this impacts the medical systems of islands...

Voice of the Community, featuring photos by Carlos Reyes-Manzo, is the result of a three-year research project exploring the strengths and challenges facing rural PEI communities. The book is a collaboration between Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Reyes-Manzo, and a research team led by Dr. Vianne Timmons (former Vice-President, Academic Development and Adjunct Professor of Education) and consisting of Drs. Sandy McAuley and Fiona Walton (Education), Barb Campbell and Kim Critchley (Nursing), and Jennifer Taylor (Family and Nutritional Science). (Andes Press Agency)

The second edition of Veterinary Epidemiologic Research by Ian Dohoo, Henrik Stryhn (Health Management), and Wayne Martin, is a newly revised and expanded graduate-level text on the principles and methods of veterinary epidemiologic research. The first edition (2003) quickly became the standard graduate-level text for veterinary epidemiology programs around the world. (VER Inc.)

For more information: www.upei.ca/ver/

Island Studies Journal (ISJ) is a scholarly journal dedicated to the inter-disciplinary study of our “world of islands.” Published twice a year (May and November), the first issue appeared in May 2006. Editor-in-chief is Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino, Canada Research Chair in Island Studies, based at the Institute of Island Studies, UPEI. The international Editorial Board is made up of island studies scholars from over 50 universities and institutions.

Maritime Quality Milk (MQM), one of the Atlantic Veterinary College’s centres of expertise, serves all the Atlantic provinces. MQM uses milk-quality research to strengthen the region's agriculture and agri-food sectors and develops and markets milk-based diagnostics for disease surveillance through non-invasive testing methods.

Each year, MQM works with 335 dairy farms--that's 20,100 cows and 150,750,000 litres of milk.

For more information: www.milkquality.ca

Roxanne Laughlin, a Foods and Nutrition honours student in the UPEI Faculty of Science, has won a national award for her passion and commitment to research. The Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research presented her with the Morgan medal during the Dietitians of Canada national conference in Charlottetown.

For more information: www.upei.ca/news/media/2009/06/16/upei-student-wins-national-morgan-meda...

The Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre (SJDAWC) has funded the following projects looking at ways to improve pain management in animals:

Improving pain control for surgery on the front legs of dogs (Dr. Kip Lemke) (on-going)
Canadian veterinarians’ use of painkillers in cattle, pigs, and horses (Dr. Caroline Hewson) (partially funded by the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada)
Assessment of changes in Canadian veterinarians’ use of painkillers in dogs and cats between 1994 and 2001 (C Hewson,)
Postoperative pain in dogs: Preemptive management (K Lemke, C Runyon)
Postoperative pain in dogs and cats (S Dohoo, I Dohoo)

The SJDAWC has also produced 2 posters on pain management in animals, in cooperation with the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association:
Lemke KA, Hewson CJ, Crook AD. 2008. Anaesthetic and Pain Management Protocols for Healthy...

In a series of SJDAWC-funded projects from 1995-99, Dr. Gary Conboy and colleagues showed that lungworm was an important cause of chronic coughing in dogs in Atlantic Canada, and developed a diagnostic test for the condition, which can be readily treated. This test is now part of the standard workup in dogs with chronic cough, formerly most often diagnosed as due to allergies and managed (but not cured) with long-term corticosteroids.

These projects include:
The medical importance of lungworm in Island dogs (Dr. Gary Conboy et al)
Improving the diagnosis of lungworm in dogs (Dr. Gary Conboy)
Canine lungworm in the Atlantic Provinces (Dr. Gary Conboy)
French heartworm in Newfoundland (Drs. Gary Conboy and Fred Markham)

In 2001, Dr. Conboy’s team identified the first French heartworm case in a dog in Atlantic Canada (in Newfoundland) and since then...

The overall research goal of the Comparative Orthopedic Research Laboratory (CORL) at the AVC is to promote the health of athletic animals with musculoskeletal injuries. Two SJDAWC-funded projects helped Dr. McDuffee move toward this goal. Through the project, A model for bone healing in the horse, isolation of bone cells from bone tissue was evaluated. Results from the initial study provided data that subsequently assisted Dr. McDuffee in obtaining further research funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) (Cell based strategy to promote bone healing).

In another SJDAWC-funded project, (Skeletal muscle as a source of bone and cartilage cells to improve healing in the horse), Dr. McDuffee’s team is investigating muscle as a donor tissue source. Muscle provides results similar to that of periosteum, but is harvested with easier techniques, has fewer problems...

Through several SJDAWC-funded research projects, Dr. Jay McClure’s research team has looked at immune function, primarily in horses. These projects include:

- Treatment of immune failure in newborn foals
- Screening tests for immune failure in newborn foals
- Effect of aging on the immune system of horses
- Improved diagnosis in equine diarrhea

The first project compared two products used in the treatment of failure of passive transfer (FPT), a common and potentially fatal condition of immune failure in foals. A further SJDAWC-funded study compared five different FPT screening tests for foals to the gold standard, radial immunodiffusion (RID), from which recommendations for optimal testing were made to veterinarians. In further work, Dr. McClure and colleagues have studied the effects of age and nutritional status on immune function in horses and foals...

Senior veterinary students provide consistent basic and preventative health care to incoming and resident horses at 2 horse sanctuaries on PEI— Handibear Hills in Breadalbane (since 2004) and the PEI Equine Retirement Society, Inc in O’Leary (since 1997). The care of these horses includes vaccination, physical examination, dental work, and monitoring and treatment for parasites.

The Research in Early Child Development (RECD) Initiative is a multidisciplinary collaboration between researchers at the UPEI Centre for Education Research (CER) and the PEI Children's Secretariat. The PEI Children's Secretariat, a group of twelve local networks involved in healthy childhood development, includes both government and community contacts. The RECD research team are working on developing and implementing a conceptual research framework of early child development (ages 0 to 8 years) in Prince Edward Island. The research model nests the child in several spheres of influence — the family, the community, the society, and the global world. Such a framework presents new challenges for the early child sector to rethink current policies and practices related to healthy child development, with the goal of developing more integrated approaches to supporting children and their...

Off-flavours in milk occur at a low incidence in all milk-producing areas of Canada, with "outbreaks" occurring periodically in certain localities, often for no clearly defined reason. In the late 1990s, the incidence of off-flavours in bulk-tank milk was unacceptably high in PEI, with 50/330, or 15% of herds, affected during the winter season of 1999-2000.

A study was initiated and, as a first step, the reliability of the milk transport personnel in identifying off-flavours in milk was evaluated using a sensory study. It was concluded that, in the absence of a more objective diagnostic tool, the use of trained milk graders is appropriate for field monitoring of flavour quality of bulk-tank milk, especially where a simple “accept/reject” decision is required.

Off-flavour cases were more common during the fall and early winter months, and were concentrated in the...

The objectives of this study were as follows: (a) to evaluate the use of bulk tank milk for the monitoring of the Se status of dairy herds in PEI; (b) to obtain information on the Se status of lactating dairy cows in PEI in order to assess the adequacy of current Se supplementation practices; and (c) to examine the relationship between Se status and somatic cell counts, the prevalence of clinical mastitis, and other measures of herd productivity and disease in herds in PEI.

Results were presented to the PEI dairy producers at meetings and through reports and newsletters. Practical information was provided to the participants on the Se status of their herds and steps that could be taken to improve micronutrient nutrition in their herds. Clinical evidence suggests Se nutrition of herds has improved as a result of this work. There has been one peer-reviewed publication, and the...

A joint project across Atlantic Canada, this project work to build capacity and infrastructure development in school health. Dr. Donna Murnaghan (Nursing) leads the PEI schools network. Work includes proposal development, data training, publication writing, and partnership development and maintenance. The reach of this project is more geared to academics, but also targets key stakeholders (NGOs, health alliances, provincial departments, youth groups, the Teachers’ Federations, and Home & School Associations). The other three networks include workplace health, community health, and data analysis.

The Canadian Tobacco Control Research Initiative (CRTCRI) was conducted at one Prince Edward Island intermediate school by the Comprehensive School Health Research Team (CSHRT). The team surveyed adolescent-aged students’ beliefs and perceptions surrounding the physical and social environmental factors at school which influence students’ decisions to remain smoke-free.

More recently, the School Health Action Planning & Evaluation System / Youth Smoking Survey – Prince Edward Island (SHAPES/YSS-PEI) was implemented in the 2008-09 school year across PEI (grades 5-12 - census sample). The School Health Action Planning and Evaluation System collected data on physical activity, healthy eating, tobacco use, and mental fitness. In the upcoming school year (09/10), we are proposing to meet with schools to discuss their feedback reports, identify areas for improvement, and...

Dr. Janet Bryanton, principal investigator from the School of Nursing, is partnering with the PEI Reproductive Care Program and the PEI Department of Health to conduct a feasibility study on the PEI Perinatal Database. This database houses perinatal information on all PEI mothers and newborns, since 1990, including those giving birth outside of PEI. It holds a wealth of population-based provincial data that are not collected by any other mechanism. PEI is one of only five provinces in Canada with an established provincial perinatal database. The specific objectives to be addressed are:

1. Determine the current barriers to accessing data from the PEI Perinatal Database by researchers outside the Department of Health;
2. Investigate the processes and policies that must be put in place to allow access to the PEI Perinatal Database (i.e., release protocols, privacy, and...

This research project involved six rural communities on Prince Edward Island: O’Leary, Lennox Island, Kensington, Rustico, Montague, and Souris. In each of these communities, focus groups were held to learn about health issues concerning the children and youth of that community. These focus group results have been analyzed and validated by an Advocacy Group of community leaders. After the Advocacy Group has identified a priority health issue, community working groups are formed to develop initiatives that address the priority.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Vianne Timmons
Co-Investigators: Dr. Kimberley Critchley, Dr. Jennifer Taylor, Dr. Fiona Walton, Dr. Barbara Campbell, Dr. Alexander McAuley
Research Co-ordinators: Jane MacDonald & Rosalyn Adamowycz

Maritime Quality Milk is a research and service centre within the Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI. The Centre has an integrated research and service capacity that is unparallelled in the Canadian dairy industry. Maritime Quality Milk marries the traditional agriculture and agri-food industry with innovative bioscience by collaborating with a network of 750 dairy producers and more than 300 farmers, industry partners, and associated research partners to improve milk quality.

Link to website: www.milkquality.ca/

Eating Between the Lines (EBTL) is an early literacy, healthy eating program for young children, developed and tested in child-care facilities in Prince Edward Island. In 2009, an e-learning resource was created for kindergarten educators, parents, and children. The EBTL website connects children’s early literacy development with their growth and understanding of healthy eating and includes units such as Eating the Rainbow, Breakfast Matters, and The Salad. The website, created by a team of early childhood researchers and an advisory team, includes separate sections for parents, enabling them to link nutrition and literacy activities in the home, and, for educators, allowing the information to be used in the classroom.

Principal Investigators: Dr. Ray Doiron, Education, and Dr. Jennifer Taylor, Family and Nutritional Sciences.

This ongoing research involves the assessment of disease status and quality of life of 2,000 people in PEI. Evidence exists for the economic savings that occur with increased diagnosis of celiac disease, a condition that can remain symptomless for decades.

This project is primarily funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) as a community-university alliance. By projecting Atlantic Canadians’ future housing needs from 2009 to 2029, the research alliance will be able to effectively expand our understanding of the special challenges and issues facing our aging population. The demographic projections, along with the qualitative information, will be compared to the Atlantic region’s current housing options and models of innovative seniors housing from other countries to develop policy recommendations.

As a community-university alliance, community partners have been involved in all aspects of this project. In addition to academics at UPEI, on PEI, our stakeholder group includes about 20 active members from a variety of government and non-profit organizations including the Department of Health, Department of...