Seeing the Big Picture

The Faculty of Science made history in more ways than one this September when it kicked off Canada's first integrated Earth System Science (ESS) program.

A joint initiative of the Departments of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Geography, ESS is not only a unique experiment in interdisciplinary education and research — its six faculty members taught the program's first course en masse.

Atmospheric and oceanic sciences assistant professors Pavlos Kollias and Bruno Tremblay, geography assistant professors Bernard Lehner and Navin Ramankutty and earth and planetary sciences assistant professors Jeffrey MacKenzie and Boswell Wing collectively taught a course titled "The Future of the World's Energy Resources," which drew on the unique specialties of each of them.

"All six of us were in the same class at the same time, teaching the students," says Lehner. "It's unique, but it works. Because we come from different backgrounds, we don't always agree, so debates and discussions are bound to break out."

We live on a complicated planet and it helps to have more than one point of view on hand when you're trying to wrap your brain around the many variables that affect such things as climate change. The program also involves professors from the McGill School of Environment and from other disciplines, such as anthropology, biology and chemistry.

"From the student's point of view, the ESS program will complement the traditional departmental offerings with a holistic approach that encompasses the whole planet," says Professor Tim Moore, chair of the Department of Geography.

Michael Woloschuk

Cooking the Books

Looking for a career that offers intrigue, international travel and a chance to foil capers and outwit bad guys? Well, have we got an accounting job for you.

Forensic accountants combine auditing and investigative skills with accounting expertise to expose illegal financial activity and fraud. And Philip Levi, BCom'70, is one of the best in the field: he was recently named Certified Fraud Examiner of the Year by the U.S.-based Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

A senior partner in the Montreal accounting firm of Levi and Sinclair, Levi (pictured) is regularly called upon when something fishy turns up in a company's financial records or when lawyers need expert testimony. He has been a part of hundreds of investigations — including the Enron case — exposing frauds ranging from $100,000 into the billions.

Business is brisk. "Fraud is and always was a growth industry," says Levi. "Enron has not deterred the average fraudster — only the very large and notorious fraudster. Those who commit most of the frauds – the employees and fraud artists — have not been deterred by the stricter legislation in the U.S. or the sentences against high-profile executives."

Levi has executed court orders to search company premises and seize records in scenarios that sound more like an episode of Law and Order than a day in the life of a chartered accountant. He has also given public lectures and written articles about identity theft, the fastest-growing form of fraud in North America.

The hard part of the job? "Probably sifting through the large amount of data used by the fraudster to conceal their activities," says Levi. "But with the use of sophisticated forensic software, this has become easier."

Technology may provide fraudsters with new tools, but Levi says that "the average fraudster is not as computer savvy as they might like to think. They leave a trail behind that the qualified fraud examiner can find, and it leads us right to him or her."

Andrew Mullins