VIU Students at Beach

Student Stories

Mariners alum takes passion for her sport overseas

Submitted by Eric Zimmer on September 16, 2024 - 10:39am

It was around ninth grade that Linnea Brickwood realized just how passionate she was about volleyball.

“I became obsessed with the challenges of volleyball, the diversity and the fast-paced play,” she says. “Growing up as a competitive gymnast in an individual sport, I also loved the team aspect and the connection that can be physically felt when you and your team are on the court all playing your best game.”

VIU students design sustainable food systems

Submitted by Rachel Stern on August 16, 2024 - 2:11pm

VIU students Matt van Dinther and Savonah MacLeod gained hands-on learning experiences during a VIU study to support food security and wellness in a remote BC community.

Students from Horticulture, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Engineering, and the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanic programs worked with the Heilsuk (Haíłzaqv) Climate Action Team to design aquaponics and aeroponic tower gardens as a land-based solution to food security and food sovereignty. 

Ali Dillion-Cardinal amplifies teen voices in compelling play

Submitted by Rachel Stern on August 7, 2024 - 9:42am


Warning: The play, The Kids Are All Dying, contains conversations about gun violence and a school shooting, loud gunshot sounds, discussion of child death, coarse language, drugs and alcohol.

Ali Dillon-Cardinal wrote a play that explores the often-unheard voices of teenagers dealing with the trauma of a school shooting.

Saving an endangered Nanaimo flower

Submitted by Rachel Stern on July 12, 2024 - 9:34am

A small flower with yellow and cream petals is on the edge of extinction in Canada and a VIU research team is fighting to save it.

Bryan Lamprecht, a VIU Biology student, is working with Dr. Jasmine Janes, a VIU Biology Professor, studying Hosackia pinnata, also known as Bog bird’s-foot-trefoil. The rare species is red-listed in BC and Canada. There are only five sites where this rare flower grows in Canada, all near Nanaimo. The plant also grows along portions of the western coast of the United States.