UTSAA Magazine â Spring 2006 - University of Toronto Schools

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Principal’s MessageA real sense of family (continued)John Macaulay ’45presenting bursarycheque for $115,650to Principal Mintz atthe Annual Dinner.enrol for the 2006-07 academic year. A numberof these students will be applying for financialassistance and some will benefit from thegenerosity of all those alumni who contributedto the Preserving the Opportunity BursaryEndowment Campaign, as well as the recent givingof alumni and ‘friends of UTS’ to the AlumniAssociation Annual Fund to ‘top up’ the annualendowment income.This continuing support of the StudentBursary program does much more than just give astudent a chance to attend UTS; it preserves UTS.Without the mechanism of financial assistance,UTS would lose much of its unique character.In fact, UTS would be all but lost. The beauty ofUTS is that it attracts students who are driven byacademic curiosity; they look to being challengedby their teachers and peers. They measure eachother on the basis of intellect, talent and achievement,not wealth. What draws them to UTS andeach other are the qualities they share. These veryqualities are the jewels that make UTS unique– a school unlike any other school, the schoolof choice for the best and the brightest in theGreater Toronto area.The future of UTS has been very much onthe minds of many this past year. Walking throughthe school’s hallways, as I do daily, one can sensethe unspoken wish to know, hovering in the air.What will the future bring?The lengthy process surrounding Affiliationhas placed a good deal of strain on staff and students,and the Principal search has heightenedsome of the tension that has been in the air sinceJanuary 2004 when we began our new form ofgovernance. I am certain that the entire UTScommunity is greatly relieved to have the Long-Term Affiliation Agreement. We will now be ableto face the future with a greater sense of controland direction.I am certain that with this news aboutAffiliation and with the conclusion of the Principalsearch expected soon, that by July 2006 UTS willbe able to turn to a new chapter in its illustrioushistory. I am equally certain that regardless of theoutcome, UTS will meet every challenge thrownits way, because as in previous years, and as perUTS tradition, the community will unite to ensurethat this school not only survives, but thrives andproduces many more alumni of the calibre thatI have encountered at the Alumni Dinner andRemembrance Day, at various class luncheons anddinners, the golf tournament and around the tableat UTSAA Board meetings. s p r i n g 2 0 0 6 | u t s a l u m n i a s s o c i a t i o n m a g a z i n e
Cover StorySnake Lady!Kate Jackson’90 is a herpetologist, one ofthose rare individuals who have devotedher life to the study of snakes and frogs,amphibians and reptiles. During her short career,she has worked all over the world – in the Congo,in the Americas, in Guam, – a feat not surprising,considering the depth of her passion for all things“herp”. In fact, her herpetological roots trace backto early childhood, having read books like WhyFrogs Are Wet and Peterson Field Guide to theAmphibians and Reptiles of Northern America.“So far as I know, as long as I can remember, I’vebeen a herpetologist,” says Kate with a smilingshrug. “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t.”Kate lights up as she speaks of the Congo; shespent an isolated and extremely successful monthin northern Congo last year – her second trip, collectingspecimens of snakes, lizards, and frogs in aplace No Man Had Gone Before. Camping in thedarkness of the Likouala District’s remote forests,she and her faithful guide used a diversity of tacticsto hunt for the unknown specimens to createa survey of the area.This experience was a long way from her firstherpetological gig – that is, beyond her childhoodhobby of collecting toad eggs in the Rosedaleravine with a jam jar and kitchen sieve – a summerposition with the now defunct ReptileBreeding Foundation, then host to 70 species ofamphibians and reptiles and a number of financialtroubles. “I called the Foundation and askedif I could work for them,” Kate recalls. “And theysaid yes, could I run the place?” The eighteenyear-oldand untrained Kate was deemed Curatorfor the summer, thrown into the Foundation’sworld of escaping snakes and on occasion rescuinga soft shell turtle from one escapee’s hungrythroat. To top off the already-wild nature of herfirst job, “[her] two employees were two prisonerson parole.”In her second job, Kate worked for an iguanafarm in Costa Rica. Her job description? “Takingcare of two thousand iguanas,” Kate chuckles. “Ihave a scar to showfor it,” she adds,pulling up hersleeve to show offa whitish, crescentshapedscar onher forearm, theunfortunate resultof an iguana cleanupgone awry. Notbeing one to leaveout details, sheexplains: “That’s apart of the lowerjaw there, and theupper jaw you canjust barely see.”Another summerwas spent as an intern with Smithsonian’sNatural History Museum, studying snake fangsusing electron microscopy. “That was sort of myintroduction to intellectually self-indulgent basicresearch,” she admits. It was a completely differentexperience from the physical fieldwork shehad done with the Foundation and the iguanafarm. “I had always thought that I would go intothe zoo doing something very practical like captive-breedingfor re-release,” she comments. “Butwhat I was doing at the Smithsonian was studyingthe structure of snake fangs to try to figure outhow venomous snakes had evolved. And that’s apurely intellectual question. It’s basic science.”The internship turned out to be a milestone of herearly career: it was her scientific work there thatled to her graduate studies and dissertationat Harvard.It comes as no surprise then that Kate’sassortment of bizarre and very different earlyexperiences have shaped her philosophy of herpetology.For her, herpetology is about the recognitionand adoption of a passion, a way of life. “AndI get a lot of e-mails, usually from young boys,saying they want to do what I do when they grow“...as long as Ican remember,I’ve been aherpetologist...Ican’t remembera time when Iwasn’t.”u t s a l u m n i a s s o c i a t i o n m a g a z i n e | s p r i n g 2 0 0 6
Page 2 and 3: UTSAAMagazine5Contentss p r i n g 2
Page 4 and 5: UTS Board ReportA new chapter is bo
Page 6 and 7: President’s ReportHeader (continu
Page 10 and 11: Cover StorySnake Lady! (continued)L
Page 12 and 13: Alumni Annual Dinner 2005Many frien
Page 14 and 15: Alumni Annual Dinner 20051241. Mark
Page 16 and 17: Alumni Annual Dinner 2005123451. Ji
Page 18 and 19: Remembrance Day 2005John Fox ’43
Page 20 and 21: Alumni NewsElizabeth McCusker ’79
Page 22: Office of Development and Alumni Af

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UTSAA Magazine â Spring 2006 - University of Toronto Schools