A flourishing life on land is the foundation for our life on this planet.
SDG 15 promotes the conservation and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems. This requires collaborative efforts to reduce deforestation, to promote biodiversity, and to prevent land and freshwater degradation. EUC researchers use interdisciplinary approaches to ensure diverse forms of life can flourish on land for generations to come.
Ethnic political identities, multicultural policies, and land rights in Northern Chile
The materiality of land is ductile, not simply because tectonic forces shift the Earth鈥檚 plates or because the interaction of water and soil continuously reshapes the landscape, but because land acquires different valences and uses across time and among different actors. Under Dr. Carlota McAllister鈥檚 supervision, and as part of the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, Ximena Cecilia Martinez Trabucco's postdoctoral research investigates land as a site where diverse forces converge, shaping how it is perceived, occupied, used, experienced, signified, and felt.
Farm decisions, policy tools, and wild bee conservation
Pollinators play a vital role in agricultural landscapes by pollinating both wild and cultivated flowering plants, facilitating plant reproduction and contributing to the yield and quality of many major food crops. However, recent assessments across the United States and Canada estimate that more than one in five pollinator species are at risk of extinction. Among insect pollinators, bees exhibit the highest extinction risk, with roughly 35% of assessed species showing elevated vulnerability.
Podcast dives into the deep relationships between Indigenous languages and ecological knowledge
The (SLL) podcast officially launched in March 2025. Created by 91亚色 Research Chair in Indigenous art and curatorial practice, Associate Professor Lisa Myers and Tania Willard, a Secw茅pemc and settler artist/curator whose research intersects with land-based art practices, the podcast dives into how caring for Indigenous languages and environments is intertwined, and features conversations on cultural stewardship, land sovereignty, and contemporary Indigenous art. Here are summaries of the seven episodes created across Indigenous territories.
Comparing trail camera images with passive acoustic monitoring to measure predator disturbances in a double-crested cormorant colony at Tommy Thompson Park
Meetkumar Patel, EUC undergraduate student in Sustainable Environmental Management, studied predator disturbance events at a ground-nesting double-crested cormorant colony at Tommy Thompson Park with for his EUCURA research project. This project aimed to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to manage larger datasets to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of conservation monitoring efforts. Pairing trail cameras with acoustic monitoring to assess predator disturbances, Patel successfully distinguished between predator species.
Native Pollinator Conservation
Pollinators are integral to life on Earth, unfortunately they are at risk from habitat loss and the introduction of invasive species. Sheila R. Colla and the are educating the world on the importance and struggles of our native pollinators, such as bees and butterflies. Colla, in collaboration with Rachel Nalepa, has drafted Canada鈥檚 very first national pollinator strategy to create a healthier and more biodiverse ecosystem for all!
Las Nubes contributes to biodiversity and advocates for endangered species
Research at 91亚色鈥檚 Las Nubes EcoCampus, directed by Felipe Montoya-Greenheck, has made significant achievements in research and conservation programs in biodiversity protection and sustainable land management practices. The work at Las Nubes monitors mammal, bird and amphibian populations to promote biodiversity and advocate for endangered animals.
Pattern Analytics Through Technology for Environmental Research - Network (PATTERN)
Sustainable forest management is critical to the wellbeing of woodland ecosystems. Tarmo Remmel and his research team provide solutions for mapping dynamic and complex entities, specifically boreal wildfire disturbances and their associated residual vegetation patches. The work scrutinizes the spatial patterns of unburned residual vegetation patches within burned boreal wildfire footprints with the goal of modelling at multiple spatial resolutions why these areas did not burn.
Exploring the rights of animals
Alice Hovorka and her team of graduate students in untangle the larger social and environmental consequences of animal-human relationships. Their work is interdisciplinary and action-oriented, investigates both domestic and wild-animal conflicts and cohesions, and intends on improving animal outcomes globally. They advocate for more sustainable and just interspecies relationships to promote better life on land for all animals - humans included!
Ecosystem productivity responses in the Bruce Peninsula over the past 20 years
The Bruce Peninsula, renowned for its expansive forest and UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve designation, faced a significant setback with a major wildfire in 1908. Since then, vegetation regrowth has produced trees of up to 114 years old. Concerns about the Peninsula's ability to sequester CO2 amid climate change highlight the need for ecosystem productivity estimates. In this project, Lord- Emmanuel Achidago and Richard Bello evaluated gross primary productivity (GPP) models for each season over the past two decades, comparing growth among coniferous forests, croplands, and deciduous forests, representing 55%, 16%, and 14% of the total land area, respectively.
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