Theme: Free Your Genius

This event will bring you on an exciting intellectual journey drawing from the raw experiences of the speakers whose roots stem in Northern Ontario. The theme “Free Your Genius” will highlight each speaker’s unique and unconventional roads to success and provide thought-provoking talks in the spirit of ideas worth spreading.

The Machine Shop - Sault Ste. Marie
83 Huron St
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, P6A 5P4
Canada

Andrea Pinheiro

Artist, Curator and Associate Professor

Andrea Pinheiro is an artist and curator working in photography, video, film, mixed media and installation. She is also an Associate professor at Algoma University in Visual Arts. Referencing historical events, significant sites, and objects, the images and materials in Pinheiro’s work become vessels that record her interactions; gestures that oscillate between creative and destructive processes of transformation. She has completed residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Montello Foundation, Nevada, and SIM Residency in Reykjavik, Iceland. Pinheiro studied at White Mountain Academy of the Arts in Elliot Lake and the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Her work is represented by Cooper Cole Gallery in Toronto.

Aseel Hashim

Graduate Student

Aseel came to Canada as a Palestinian-Iraqi refugee at the age of 10. Upon arrival in Canada, she had very limited numeracy and literacy skills in Arabic, major academic gaps, and no knowledge of the English language. Amazed by the opportunities in Canada that did not depend on her gender and nationality, Aseel was determined to overcome these academic barriers. This spring, Aseel graduated from Algoma University with an Honours Cum Laude Bachelor of Biology and Psychology where she gained invaluable research and professional opportunities, as well as wisdom, support, and knowledge from her mentors. She is the first woman in her immediate family to attain post-secondary education. She is currently pursuing her Master's in Public Health at Lakehead University.

Dave Brodbeck

Full Professor

Born in Sault Ste Marie, Dave received his BA (Hons) from the University of Western Ontario in psychology in 1988, his MA from the University of Toronto in 1989 and his PhD, also from U of T, in 1993. His MA and PhD research focussed on adaptive specializations of memory in food storing birds, specifically black capped chickadees. Dave has studied memory in rats, dark eyed juncos, pine siskins, squirrel monkeys and even university undergraduates. An early adopter of podcasting, Dave has a number of hobby podcasts, including Broken Area with Isabelle Michaud, Tangential Convergence with former AU librarian Ken Hernden, and Spit and Twitches: The Animal Cognition Podcast. Dave met Isabelle Michaud in 1988 in Toronto. Isabelle has an art practice in Sault Ste Marie. They have two children, Madeleine, a PhD student at UWO studying bird migration, and Jon, a Sault College student who also has a podcast (the Jonathan Files).

Elizabeth Edgar-Webkamigad

Director of Health and Human Services for Batchewana First Nation

Liz specializes in cross-cultural learning and education and has been a Community Development Specialist serving Canada and US for over 35 years. Recently, Liz has taken up the honor of working with and leading a team of wonderful professionals as the Director of Health and Human Services for Batchewana First Nation. Liz fully embraces offering health and well-being from a holistic perspective. Liz uses her traditional knowledge and experience, balanced with the gifts received from her western knowledge training, to work towards living the good life~Mino Bimaadiziwin. As a Mom, Auntie, and Grandmother; she truly celebrates and acknowledges Seven Generational thinking. Liz, married for 40 years, is a mother of 4 children and a new grandmother to 2 beautiful girls who are almost 2 years old. Liz, raised in her culture celebrates being a traditional buckskin dancer and with her husband and extended family, supports their children while they learn and live teachings of being Anishinaabe.

Nirosha Murugan

Canada Research Chair & Biophysicist

Dr. Nirosha Murugan is a Canada Research Chair and interdisciplinary scientist who uses a top-down approach to understand how cells and tissues communicate with each other and their environment toward healthy form function.

Stephanie Featherston

Professional Services Director

Stephanie Fetherston is the Professional Services Director at THRIVE Child Development Centre. Prior to this, she worked as a leader and clinical social worker in various positions within the not-for-profit and health sector for almost 20 years. She has held roles in child welfare, youth criminal justice, developmental services and as a psychotherapist supporting individuals with Mental Health and Addictions. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Social Work as well as a diploma in Human Services Counselling. Most recently she just completed her Certificate in Executive Leadership Excellence through the Rotman Institute at the University of Toronto. In Stephanie’s home life she likes to spend quality time with her family including her husband and two children. They love the outdoors and can be found, camping, hiking, backpacking or snowshoeing.