WHITEHORSE - A Japanese machine that vaporizes plastic and converts it to synthetic diesel is now up and running at P & M Recycling in Whitehorse.

Cold Climate Innovation (CCI), part of the Yukon Research Centre at Yukon College, will be testing the machine over the next year in the hopes that it will prove cost-effective and robust enough to take on the road to Yukon communities.

“We are incredibly pleased to have the first continuous-feed plastics to oil machine in North America, here in Yukon,” said Stephen Mooney, CCI director.

The machine can process 10 kilograms of plastic per hour to create 10 litres of synthetic diesel.

Pat McInroy, owner of P & M Recycling plans to use the diesel as heating oil for his 600 square foot operation over the winter.

"We will definitely create way more fuel than we need, so the next job is to find customers that are willing to try something new."

WHITEHORSE – Volunteers are the life-blood of many community organizations and non-profit groups in Yukon. On Thursday September 13th over 20 of these community groups will be at Yukon College to share their work with students and members of the public.

The Opportunities Exchange Fair takes place in The Pit and upstairs lobby between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. It is a joint event created by Volunteer Yukon and Yukon College.

"It’s an opportunity for our students, many of whom are new to Whitehorse, to connect with and participate in their community," said Ann Bowen, event organizer for Yukon College.

"Volunteering with a non-profit or community group provides people with a chance to develop their confidence and skills, and build their resume."

WHITEHORSE – Keith Halliday and his wife, Stacy Lewis, are both knowledge workers. They live in Whitehorse, yet work globally.

"We love the Yukon and felt it was a great place to raise our four kids," said Halliday.

The Yukon-born management consultant provides strategic and organizational advice to corporate, government and non-profit clients as far away as Asia and Europe. Lewis, an intellectual property lawyer, works long-distance with a US law firm.

Halliday and Lewis moved back to Whitehorse 12 years ago. Their reasoning is shared by many of the 60 knowledge workers interviewed by Stefan Voswinkel and Rhiannon Klein.

Last spring, Voswinkel was tasked by the Yukon Research Centre, at Yukon College, with preparing the first-ever comprehensive survey of Yukon’s growing knowledge sector.

A knowledge worker himself, even Voswinkel was surprised by what he found.

BURWASH LANDING - Residents in three Yukon communities are eager to be done with diesel and shift to renewable energy sources to heat and power their lives.

This is the major finding of researchers from the Yukon Research Centre (YRC) at Yukon College and Kluane First Nation (KFN) after conducting an extensive energy and emissions inventory in Burwash Landing, Destruction Bay and Silver City.

"We had fantastic participation from the communities. People really wanted to talk about this," said Lisa Christensen, researcher at the YRC.

"This has enabled us to create a strong report that reflects their energy values and concerns as well as comprehensive data on their energy consumption that will support energy-related decision making and future projects."

Christensen and Janice Dickson from KFN interviewed two thirds of residential households, most commercial operators and all government operators between January and April 2012.

WHITEHORSE – Over 540 new and returning students starting classes next week can look forward to 10 days of music, food, games, and competitions during orientation activities at Yukon College.

This will be capped off with a live concert, “Fallin’ Back” at the College Gym on September 14th. The concert will feature one of Canada’s best live independent bands, Wassabi Collective, local acts, Old Cabin and Wrong Track Freight Train, and hosted by Claire Ness.

“College is more than just class schedules, lectures and exams,” said Lauren Tuck, Orientation Activities Coordinator. “Engaging students in everything college life has to offer is what orientation is all about.”

“It’s also an important way to provide students with opportunities to have fun, make friends, and ease the transition from high school, or wherever they’re coming from in life.”

Dawson City – Nicole Rayburn has a busy week ahead of her. The New-Brunswick-based visual artist opens her latest project re|signed in a Fredericton gallery and then immediately travels to Dawson City. She begins teaching classes next week at the Yukon School of Visual Art (SOVA).

Rayburn taught at SOVA last year also and is happy to make the return trip. Rayburn will teach 4D studio which covers video, performance, photography, and sound, and Visual Culture Studies.

“It was a really great experience and I was very excited to be asked to come back for the upcoming year. I actually think it was SOVA that made my experience in Dawson so great - my co-workers were fantastic and the students were a very engaged and unique group,” said Rayburn.

“There are not many first-year programs that cover topics such as performance and video art. This really allows for a great overlap between my own artistic interests and the topics that I get to cover in the classroom.”

WHITEHORSE – Stocking shelves at the Food Bank, fixing nets at the Canada Games Centre, painting fences at the Wildlife Preserve, and repairing the pump house fence at McIntyre Creek.

These are some of the community projects over 150 Yukon College staff and faculty members will be volunteering for as part of their annual Fall Huddle this week.

“Our theme this year is Your College in the Community,” said Jennifer Moorlag, chair, School of Management, Tourism & Hospitality and one of the event organizers.

“The idea came from the staff and faculty. Many of our staff are involved in a range of community groups and felt this would be a positive way to focus our energy.  We wanted to give back.”

The college volunteers will spend two and a half hours tackling one of 12 activities on Wednesday morning. The volunteer placements came from a mix of staff suggestions and advice from the Volunteer Bureau.

WHITEHORSE � Students and the general public are being invited to meet some of Yukon College�s �Amazing Faculty� in a new advertising campaign launched this week.

The campaign showcases seven instructors from across the wide range of programs and courses available at the college from carpentry, culinary arts and nursing to science, heritage and culture, academic development and community campus access.

�The key to every student�s success will always be the supportive, challenging relationship they each build with a knowledgeable, caring and passionate teacher,� said Bill Dushenko, vice president Academic at Yukon College.

�Through these seven examples we wanted to share the incredible passion for teaching, and for continued learning and research in their subject areas, that our entire faculty brings to their work.�

Victoria Castillo is one of the faculty featured in the campaign.

WHITEHORSE – Conie Rogan and Joel Amos, two Culinary Arts students from the 2012 graduating class, will each receive an award this week for showing quality, leadership and vision in food service, specifically in the area of food safety.

Rogan will receive $750 from the Rendezvous Rotary Scholarship. Amos will receive $500 from the Sysco Edmonton Scholarship. Both were selected from the ten 2012 students by culinary arts faculty.

“This a great surprise,” said Amos, who currently works in the kitchen of the Klondike Inn. “I worked hard, and I am excited to have that hard work rewarded.”

Amos said he will be putting the money towards his wife’s tuition. Martina Amos will be undertaking the one-year certificate program herself this September. The couple plans to eventually open a restaurant of their own either here in Whitehorse, or in their hometown of Inuvik, NWT.

Whitehorse – Yukon emergency medical responders will no longer have to leave their homes for five months at a time to advance their training.

Yukon College has negotiated a program delivery agreement with the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) to offer a Primary Care Paramedic (PCP) certificate program. Significant financial support for the program is being provided by the Community Development Fund (CDF) and the Education Program Committee of the Volunteer Ambulance Society.

“There is a keen interest from Yukon volunteer emergency medical responders to take this training,” said Doug MacKay, chair of the Education Program Committee of the Volunteer Ambulance Society.

“I have nine people on a waiting list for this course - and two more names have just been added.”