Dr. Tom Whillans, an environmental and resource studies professor for three decades, will receive Trent University’s 2013-2014 Award for Educational Leadership and Innovation. The award honours Trent faculty members who have made a distinctive impact through their educational leadership, teaching, innovation and successful communication.

Professor Whillans joined the Environmental and Resource Studies Program at Trent University in 1983, spending nine years as department chair, and has spent decades researching ecosystem development, habitat restructuring, and other issues related to ecological restoration. In addition to his leadership in developing new curricula and programs, Prof. Whillans has been called Trent’s foremost champion of incorporating community-based research into teaching and learning for over 25 years, creating opportunities for universities to connect and work with community organizations on solutions to environmental issues.

“Dr. Tom Whillans is a natural choice to be recognized by the university for his educational leadership and innovation,” said Dr. Steven E. Franklin, president and vice-chancellor of Trent University. “His vision for evolving teaching methods and his enthusiasm for creating applied learning opportunities have both established Trent University as a pioneer in community-based learning and made a lasting impact on his students’ learning and future careers.”

Dr. Whillans’ leadership was fundamental in establishing and sustaining the Trent Centre for Community Based Education (TCCBE) and its partner organization, the U-Links Centre for Community Based Research in Haliburton County, both of which are internationally recognized and have led to Trent University’s position as a leader in community-based research and teaching. The organizations’ history began in 1989 when Dr. Whillans worked with renowned Trent professor Dr. John Wadland on an experimental course called “Bioregionalism”, matching student researchers with community organizations that lacked the capacity to conduct their own research. The course immersed undergraduate students in the ecological, cultural and economic development of the surrounding region while completing research projects in the Haliburton Highlands.

The success of “Bioregionalism” led to Dr. Whillans’ and Dr. James Struthers’ decision to offer a service learning course at the graduate level on Community Economic Development in Peterborough, which in turn became a pilot for the establishment of the TCCBE in 1996, a partnership between Trent University’s Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies, the Peterborough Social Planning Council, and Community Opportunity & Innovation Network (COIN). The TCCBE and U-Links have become ongoing mechanisms for students, faculty and local organizations to pool their resources and work together on community-inspired research projects that enhance the social, environmental, cultural or economic health of the community.

Prof. Whillans’ students and his faculty colleagues praise his passion for real-world learning and community engagement, calling him a master at empowering students to take ownership of their education. “In all the courses I took with Tom, there was always a lot of hands-on learning. It was great to be able to come up with our own projects, to be creative in our own way,” said Amy Tenbult, who graduated last April with an Environmental Resource Science/Studies degree, a program kick-started by Dr. Whillans during his tenure as chair. “That makes a huge impact. It gives us real life experience to be able to work on a project that the university might take on and utilize, to learn about employers that are out there, and find out what you can do with an environmental science degree.”

Professor Whillans’ legacy at Trent will include the visionary development of a new joint degree/diploma program in Ecological Restoration, a program unique in Canada which has been hailed as the ideal model for initiatives of its kind. In partnership with Fleming College, Prof. Whillans led the creation of a new program that takes advantage of excellence in applied environmental education across two institutions and provides students with two credentials in four years. “Right now in the environmental field there is a transition – it used to be that employers would hire college graduates to be field technicians, and university graduates for management positions, but with financial restrictions, now they need people who can do both,” says Prof. Whillans. “The students that come out of this program are very qualified, which makes them much more in demand by employers.”

Prof. Whillans has also been instrumental in developing funding grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), attracting new faculty members to Trent, and liaising with other educational institutions and community stakeholders to ensure that projects will have excellent teaching outcomes as well as significant community impacts. He believes that engagement with local and regional society is part of a professor’s core role, and that collaboration with partner organizations is the key to solving problems and finding solutions.

“These accomplishments have been entirely through the genuine and spirited collaboration of the Peterborough and Haliburton communities, my colleagues at Fleming College, and the students, staff and faculty of Trent University. I am grateful for that good company on this journey.”

Prof. Whillans will receive his award at a Celebration of Teaching Excellence on Monday, March 31 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in Champlain College’s Great Hall. Honourees from previous years will also join us as we celebrate those who exemplify Trent's commitment to teaching. Community members are welcome to attend.