Surrey, BC teacher in service. October 2013
A wonderful two-day set of presentation to educators in District 36. Such a warm a generous group of people. Other that massive amount of fog and a sore throat from 12 hours of talking, everything went quite well. Many thanks to my kind hosts in Surrey. Note that the hall where I was speaking still had wedding decorations up. Kind of nice.
APA conference in Hawaii. August 2013
A nice way to end my sabbatical year was the APA conference in Hawaii. I presented our poster, invited authors of excellent studies to submit their work to School Psychology Forum, and tried to recruit students from other schools to come to McGill. There was still time for hiking, snorkeling, eating, and generally having a wonderful time. For those of you who do not know, the person in these photos is not a student or colleague, but is my wife, Joyce. She refuses to go with me to conferences, but made an exception for this one.
Top row: Joyce and I after snorkeling. Taken by Jim Ward, photographer who accompanies the snorkeling tour; Northwest Oahu at dawn; Joyce and I
Middle row: Manoa Falls; North Shore of Oahu; Joyce fording a stream near the Maunawili Falls; from our hotel room
Bottom row: spinner dolphins; Joyce with a baby octopus--she got inked seconds after this photo; mountains near Maunawili falls; Steve and Joyce watching a sea turtle
Labbies in Seattle for the NASP Conference in Seattle. February 2013
Sarah at her poster.
Steve and Anna present their mini-skills workshop.
School Psychology Forum's editorial board meeting and wine tasting.
The corner of Steve's poster that was chewed on by my dog the morning of his flight into Seattle.
Anna Polotskaia at her poster.
Overall, an excellent conference with many exciting research opportunities, fine dining, connections made, and a chance to see old friends. This is a favourite conference of the Connections Lab. Only Anna Polotskaia and Sarah Glaser from the connections lab were in attendance. Victoria Doobay and Cheryl Walker of McGill were also there as well. Next stop: CPA.
Steve in Poland -- Sept 2012
Many thanks to my good friends, colleagues, and research partners in Poland. This was a wonderful and productive trip.
Top row:
1. Me doing a keynote address at the European and Polish Neuropsychological Society conference on language at the University of Gdansk.
2. Here is Professor Ania Jankowska holding court.
3. Here is Michal. He is a fellow recovering from a severe brain injury a few years ago. I consulted on his case last year. The guy came all of the way from Kracow to meet me. Nice guy—a former med student before his injury. He just won a 1,500 metre race (that is why he has the banner and medal)—so his running is good. Highlight of the trip--by far.
4. Beautiful Gdansk
5. More Gdansk. Really love this city.
2nd row:
1. More Gdansk.
2. The wonderful Marta Bogdanowicz. A good friend—I hosted her in Montreal when she was here over the summer. In Sept she had me to her home for (a very good) dinner. She is probably the most famous psychologist in Poland and is beloved by all. Also a fine cook, dog lover, a great mentor, fine scholar, warm person, role model, friend, and a true inspiration.
3. Here are some photos from Warsaw—a mostly ugly and grey city. After the war, people just started rebuilding with no real plan—so the layout is a mess. Then the Russians supplied a bunch of ugly buildings to make it worse. But the old town was built to look exactly as it had before the war. That part is very nice. I had a great time wandering about Warsaw. Highlight--eating pickled herring and onions (surprisingly good) with Ania. Then agreeing not to comment on the smell of the other's breath.
4. The tomb of the unknown was inspiring. They have plaques commemorating every major Polish battle for the last 1500 years. Intense and moving.
5. A statue of Nicholas Copernicus in Warsaw.
3rd row:
1. Next is Sopot—It is a spa town on the beach. I ran on the beach. People looked at me like I was being chased or stole something. A dog started chasing me. I stopped and returned the dog to a very nice old gentleman.
2. More Sopot.
3. The beach at Sopot. The Baltic is a little cold.
4. Me squinting in Gdynia—“nice photo, Ania.”
5. Ania at the airport. I said, let me take a picture of you before I go. She said, “Does it have to be serious?” I said, “Of course not.” This is what I got. The lovely Professor Jankowska is a great collaborator, warm and generous host, kind soul, modest, hard working, probably the smartest person I know and a good friend. I will see her again in February when we are presenting a 2-hour workshop together at the NASP conference in Seattle.