If you鈥檙e working in 3D film or aerospace engineering, what impact do the latest developments in brain and vision research have on your industry鈥檚 practices? What if you鈥檙e drafting government policy on air quality control and need expertise in how the latest atmospheric chemistry and physics findings translate into plans and policy?

Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows at 91亚色 have new options to pursue the research and applied dimensions of these and other questions, thanks to $3.3 million in funding from the (NSERC).

httpv://youtu.be/OtRWua59EPU

The funding, provided through NSERC鈥檚 $29.6聽million investment over six years in the Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) Grants program, will support two new training programs in the Faculty of Science & Engineering, each valued at $1.65 million over the period.

Students and fellows enrolled in each program will gain experience in basic and applied research, along with the practical and professional skills needed to successfully transition to research careers in the academic, industry or government sectors.

Professor Hugh Wilson in the Faculty of Science & Engineering鈥檚 Department of Biology will lead the Vision Science and Applications program. Based in the internationally-recognized (CVR), the program focuses on vision-based information technologies that require optimal information displays to ensure accurate human interpretation of data are playing an increasingly important role in many economic sectors.

Key applications include:

• 3D digital media (e.g., 3D film, geographical databases, autocad systems)
• Aerospace (e.g., cockpit technologies, search-and-rescue)
• Face and scene analysis technologies (e.g., facial biometrics)
• Visual health and assessment technologies (e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), perimetry)

The Vision Science and Applications team includes 25 researchers at seven international universities and 10 partner organizations, including , the and . At 91亚色, a total of 10 professors affiliated with CVR will lend their expertise to the project. The program will enrol four students in its first year and 16 students in each successive year.

Professors and in the Faculty of Science & Engineering鈥檚 Department of Chemistry will lead the Training Program for Integrating Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics from Earth to Space (IACPES) program. Jointly based in 91亚色鈥檚 (CAC) and the Centre for Research in Earth & Space Science (CRESS), the program鈥檚 interdisciplinary focus will give students an integrated understanding of atmospheric chemistry and physics from earth into space.

Key applications include:

• measuring and modelling atmospheric change
• examining air quality and health issues
• monitoring changes in the arctic atmosphere
• detecting sources of greenhouse gases
• measuring Earth鈥檚 changing atmosphere from space
• exploring and understanding other planets鈥� atmospheres
• developing the policy implications of atmospheric science

The IACPES team includes 11 applicants at six universities and 23 collaborators at 10 partner organizations, including , the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, the (NOAA) in Boulder, Colo., several industries and two premier research institutes in Germany.聽The program will create 21 places for undergraduate students, master鈥檚 students, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows in its first year, with over 200 places created over the successive five years.

httpv://youtu.be/6YlFv0Xd9no

鈥淏y securing two of only 18 projects awarded to universities across Canada, 91亚色 builds on its strong track record in leading large-scale, interdisciplinary collaborative research projects,鈥� said Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation. 鈥�The programs will provide our innovative research centres 鈥� CVR, CRESS and CAC聽鈥� with a competitive advantage in attracting excellent graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who wish to pursue careers in the applications of vision science or atmospheric chemistry and physics. NSERC鈥檚 CREATE program strengthens the role of universities in training the highly-qualified people needed in today鈥檚 scientific knowledge economy.鈥�

鈥淣SERC鈥檚 CREATE Program helps graduating students become highly sought-after professional researchers in the natural sciences and engineering, both in Canada and abroad,鈥� said Suzanne聽Fortier, president of NSERC. 鈥淭he program not only helps improve the skill set of Canada鈥檚 next-generation of research talent, but it also helps to support their retention in the workforce.鈥�

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer

The post NSERC awards 91亚色 research centres $3.3 million appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Reporting back to the communities was a condition of receiving IPY research funding in 2007, and after three years ecologist and political scientist Gabrielle Slowey were ready to deliver. When the two arrived by bush plane,聽citizens in Fort Simpson and Inuvik聽crowded into local meeting halls to hear them. Some had helped do the research, all were curious to hear the results.

Right: Dawn Bazely in a plane back to Yellowknife from Fort Simpson

鈥淭hey were never going to read a report. They need to hear things orally,鈥� says Bazely, director of 91亚色鈥檚 Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability.

Bazely led the Canadian component of an IPY project called (GAPS), investigating the effect of oil and gas development on northern communities. She oversaw teams of natural聽and social scientists investigating invasive plant species, housing security and homelessness, mental health services and the advantages of self-governance in indigenous communities in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

"What聽was really unique about our program was聽no other聽had natural and social scientists working so closely in tandem from the beginning," said Slowey.聽Oil and gas was the context, human security or the well-being of these communities was the framework.聽The collaboration worked really well and achieved real results, she said.

Above: Gabrielle Slowey in front of the igloo church, Our Lady of Victory, an Inuvik landmark

Normally, denizens of these northern communities pay little heed as scientists from the south come and go, and never return to share their findings, says Bazely. This time they were all ears. The research offers them a glimpse of what is in store for them and ways they can deal with change. 鈥淚t鈥檚 empowering,鈥� she says.

Slowey agrees. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not just taking knowledge away, we鈥檙e giving it back and helping them.鈥� She also presented her findings in Whitehorse.

For the past three years, Slowey has been comparing the ability of self-governing versus non-self-governing indigenous communities to cope with change wrought by oil and gas development and exploration. After surveying residents, community leaders and industry 聽officials, she found self-governing communities, such as Old Crow, have more control over what happens to them. They can make their own decisions and negotiate directly with the territorial government over oil and gas development. Non-self-governing communities such as Tuktoyaktuk must deal with multiple levels of government to get anything done. 鈥淪elf-government removes all those layers and gives more local empowerment.鈥�

Left: Gabrielle Slowey

After her presentations in Whitehorse and Inuvik, people in communities such as Pelee Crossing, Yukon, and Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories (NWT), sought Slowey's advice on how to proceed given mining exploration or oil exploration occurring聽in their area. "I highlighted not just onshore but offshore oil and gas development. It鈥檚 going to be huge."

Folks in the NWT were also curious about the potential impact of devolution (downloading of jurisdiction from Ottawa to the territories)聽on their self-government agreements and future development.聽It's a hot topic in the North and Slowey has pointed out in聽newspaper editorials how聽Ottawa bureaucrats are ill-prepared to make decisions about the North because they have no understanding of what life is like for the people who live there.

Moreover, she says,聽鈥渨e tend to think of people in the North as victims of policy instead of agents of change. I鈥檓 telling them they鈥檙e on the right track by pursuing self-government.鈥� Do it now, she鈥檚 saying, before聽the territorial government embraces聽devolution. Yet it's not so easy, as聽local indigenous leaders scramble to keep up as聽Ottawa keeps changing the rules of the game.

Over the past three years, Bazely and her students have聽looked for evidence of invasive plant species in settlements from Fort Simpson, gateway to the Nahanni and聽home of the caribou, north to Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope and Inuvik. Oil and gas exploration and development has brought outsiders to the area and with them a foreign fungus that has infected the grass that caribou eat. Not good news for people whose diet depends on caribou meat. Bazely advised communities to revegetate the ground along the pipelines and roads聽with local seeds, not imported seeds. Doing so could lead to聽local聽鈥� and sustainable 鈥� business opportunities, she told in Fort Simpson.

Above: The frozen Mackenzie River

The will be published in peer-reviewed academic journals, presented at conferences and spawn graduate theses, says Bazely. But the best value, she believes, comes from sharing it directly with local policy-makers and citizens.

By March, IPY research will be completed and next year the results will be shared at a Montreal conference, .

Bazely is editing a book, Environmental Change and Human Security in the Arctic, to which Slowey is contributing a chapter. By this聽fall, Slowey expects to finish editing a book, Rethinking Public Policy in the Northwest Territories, highlighting each of the Canadian GAPS subprojects.

The biologist and political scientist have embraced the IPY imperative to report back to the communities. They plan to share their IPY research findings with indigenous groups in northern Ontario and聽local聽groups in Pennsylvania, who are faced with聽shale-gas development.

By Martha Tancock, YFile contributor

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Professors report back to Arctic communities on International Polar Year Research appeared first on Research & Innovation.

, released this week by University of Ottawa Press, calls for a shift in the debate surrounding climate change.

鈥淚 wanted to move the discussion away from the debates we鈥檙e constantly hearing in the news 鈥� the validity of climate science and the economic validity of a response,鈥� says author 罢颈尘辞迟丑测听尝别诲耻肠,聽professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Environmental Studies.

鈥淭here is today an abundance of scientific research and policy options to develop climate change responses, but I believe what we are lacking is a spirited sense of our situation and the willpower to make significant cultural change. This is what these dialogues with Inuit allowed me to consider,鈥� he says.

鈥淢uch of the current debate focuses on how to continue extracting all the resources we can while limiting the harm to the environment. These storylines reflect our cultural tendency to economize. It鈥檚 not that economizing in itself is wrong 鈥� but it holds too much power. As soon as any scientific research, cultural understanding or religious worldview conflicts with this perspective, it becomes marginalized from the corridors of power,鈥� says Leduc.

Accordingly, Leduc believes all parties concerned must be part of the discussion. With this in mind, he created an Inuktitut companion to the book that presents the central ideas of Climate, Culture, Change for the Inuit who have been instrumental to this project. It is available to , free of charge.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to note that I did not 鈥榞ive voice鈥� to Inuit, for their perspectives have been well represented in climate change research and policy circles by hunters, elders, groups like the Inuit Circumpolar Council and activists like Sheila Watt-Cloutier,鈥� he says. 鈥淗owever, I feel this book has allowed me to open space for us to consider some alternative ways of thinking about climate change.鈥�

Leduc notes that while it鈥檚 impossible to predict exactly how we鈥檒l be affected in the future, the coinciding impact of climate shifts, environmental degradation and the end of oil will make that future significantly different than what we know today.

Left: Timothy Leduc

鈥淓ither we are proactive in envisioning a radical change of those cultural beliefs and practices that underlie our failed response to climate change, or we continue to deny our situation and thus lurch from crisis to crisis,鈥� Leduc says. 鈥淓very step in that direction brings us closer to a future where we have less time and space to develop a humane, just and wise response.鈥�

Leduc holds a PhD in Environmental Studies from 91亚色, and has worked for a number of years in northern indigenous communities.

91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Environmental Studies is the first of its kind in Canada, and one of the first worldwide. It is one of the broadest interdisciplinary programs in the country, offering students an abundance of faculty interests and courses, allowing them to focus on a particular subject area while acquiring a breadth of knowledge.

Visit the聽 blog for more information on the book.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Professor Timothy Leduc: Include Inuit experience of climate change in Western debate appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Nor is it enough to set up a supposed green company in the Global South to offset the spewing emissions of companies in the Global North. Without a substantial system change, an alternative way of living, climate change will continue unabated, says Anders Sandberg. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see any change, frankly. Carbon emissions are still increasing dramatically.鈥�

When carbon emissions are traded or bought for offsets, such as planting trees, they are done so at the end of the carbon change cycle, rather than at the beginning. A lot of money continues to go into the development of more carbon sources. 鈥淔rom my perspective it鈥檚 not very positive,鈥� says Sandberg. Much of the offset purchasing is by large multinationals in the Global South, where they set up green companies to offset pollution in the United States, but by doing so they displace many of the local people and their economic livelihoods.

In the book, the Sandbergs write, 鈥淭he concept of climate change itself can be an oppressive force鈥iding the historical connections of the carbon economy to colonialism, capitalism and rampant and exploitive resource extractions."

鈥淲e鈥檙e asking people to look at the climate change issues from a broader perspective, which could bring forth more ideas,鈥� says Sandberg.

In , the third volume in the Our Schools/Our Selves book series, 2010, published by the ,聽the Sandbergs look at who is most affected by climate change and the need for聽systemic change beyond capping and trading carbon emissions.

They don't believe that free markets, new green聽technologies and international agreements are enough to alleviate climate change. Despite green technologies, levels of consumption will likely remain high. Even if all the cars are electric, there will still be suburbs, roads and gridlock, potentially leading to an increase in the amount of electricity used and the building of more hydroelectric dams, which then affects the environment and the people who use it. 鈥淚 think we need to look at and imagine other ways of living,鈥� says Anders Sandberg.

Left: Anders Sandberg

Although climate change is a global issue, the solutions are not. What鈥檚 needed is a closer look at the origins of climate change and the areas it most impacts, he says. Areas such as the Tar Sands of Alberta, the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, the Canadian north, the coastal regions of Bangladesh and the island states of the Pacific.

鈥淲e have to look at the people on the ground who are harmed by this. What we are trying to do is turn the prism from the global to the local. But we鈥檙e not just looking at the horror stories; we鈥檙e also looking at the hope and resiliency of these communities and whether they might have some answers to the climate change problem.鈥� For one thing, it鈥檚 important to understand the vulnerabilities that聽have built up in these communities, explore their origins, call for reparations from those who are responsible and build on the resiliencies that remain.

One of the contributors聽to the book, 91亚色 environmental studies master's student Jelena Vesic (BES Spec. Hon. '08),聽points to the polar bear as a symbol and a victim of climate change.聽There is now a threat to First Nations who harvest them because they are considered endangered, yet a closer look reveals that in some regions the polar bear is holding its own. Banning聽their harvest聽would聽affect First Nations communities that have hunted polar bears as part of their culture for centuries. The ban would also affect the local economy and the resiliency that鈥檚 built into the particular relationship between the Inuit and the polar bear.

Right: Tor Sandberg

Climate Change 鈥� Who鈥檚 Carrying the Burden? contains a collection of papers from prominent people such as Stephen Lewis, Canada's former ambassador to the United Nations, who looks at the health impact of global climate change; author and journalist Naomi Klein, who talks about paying the climate debt; and聽scholar and activist Vandana Shiva on the G8/20 summit and climate change.聽Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May explores shrinking ecological footprints and expanding political ones, while visiting Fulbright scholar at 91亚色 Professor No毛l Sturgeon challenges the family values and environmental practices that are tied to the carbon economy.

The majority of articles, however, are written by junior scholars and graduate students in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Environmental Studies who are passionate about climate justice. They write on a range of topics, including the recent聽climate-focused conferences in Copenhagen and Cochabamba, climate change-induced migration, Hurricane Katrina, the Niger Delta, the First Nations youth adoption of hip hop music to fight HIV/AIDS. the largest squatter settlement in Europe (the free town of Christiania in Copenhagen) and food policy in the Greater Toronto Area.

The Sandbergs discuss what they see as the dominant story 鈥� cap and trade and offsets 鈥揳nd the alternative story that calls for systemic change and climate justice, which emerged at the 15th United Nations conference on climate change they attended last December in Copenhagen.

Anders Sandberg is currently using Climate Change 鈥� Who鈥檚 Carrying the Burden? in his course 鈥� Environmental Studies 1200, Taking Action, Engaging People and the Environment.

The book will be officially launched by 91亚色鈥檚 (the Sandbergs were part of the institute's delegation to the climate change conference in Copenhagen) on Wednesday, Oct. 20, from 3 to 4:30pm at 305 91亚色 Lanes,聽Keele campus.

The themes of the book will also be featured in a session titled 鈥淐limate Change, Climate Justice and Human Rights鈥� during 91亚色鈥檚 Inclusion Day聽鈥� Dialoguing Across Differences tomorrow.

For more information on the book, visit the website.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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Research grants cover most of these expenses, but聽the geography graduate student聽welcomes the $15,000 she won as this year鈥檚 master鈥檚-level recipient of the Garfield Weston Award for Northern Research. The money聽will聽help cover her tuition fees, books and living expenses. "It was definitely nice to get it."

The award is one of many scholarships presented by the Canadian Northern Studies Trust on behalf of the .

Right: Liz Miller on a dig

Miller is the second 91亚色 geography graduate student to win it in two years. Last year, Anna Abnizova (BSc Spec. Hons. '05, MSc '07) was the doctoral-level recipient.

Both students are researching northern wetlands under the supervision of Arctic hydrologist Kathy Young, a geography professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

Last week, Miller returned to Toronto after three months studying the water flow of two hill streams that drain into the Polar Bear Pass wetland. It was her third trip to the North, her first to conduct her own research.

In the summer of 2009, Abnizova聽chose her as a field assistant to measure water levels, surface area and carbon fluxes聽in wetland ponds fed by snowmelt in this protected wildlife sanctuary.

Left: Liz Miller out 'fishing'

Their research adds to a growing understanding of the effect of climate change on the North. Polar Bear Pass is an oasis of vegetation in the middle of a polar desert. Its plant life nourishes insects, migratory birds and mammals, from lemming and fox to muskox and caribou, not to mention the polar bears that migrate through this protected wildlife area. That plant life depends on the sustainability of the wetland ponds, on the snowmelt and water flow.

Miller鈥檚 love of nature began as a child growing up in rural New Brunswick. She helped her father garden and went on camping and hiking trips across Canada with her parents. Unsure what to study after high school in Toronto, she enrolled at 91亚色 because the Environmental Science Program offered such variety. She could take biology, geography, ecology and conservation and learn about everything from soils and hydrology to plants and animals. Her first taste of the Arctic came after third year when she helped Professor Rick Bello measure carbon release from peatlands in Churchill, Manitoba.

But, until Abnizova invited her to be a field assistant last year, Miller never imagined returning to the Arctic. For three years after earning a bachelor of science in 2006, she had hopped from one government contract to another. She still hasn鈥檛 narrowed her interest to a single field, but can boast a wealth of experience in conservation聽鈥� assessing wetlands, mapping endangered-plant sites, doing surveys of red-shouldered hawks and forest inventories, evaluating the health of streams, restoring wetlands and planting trees.

Right: Rifle-totaing Liz Miller takes no chances in Polar Bear Pass

This week, Miller climbed aboard yet another plane to see Europe for the first time. In three weeks, she鈥檒l return to finish her master鈥檚 degree and then decide whether to do a doctorate.

After witnessing the wildlife聽鈥� caribou in particular 鈥� in Polar Bear Pass, she may branch into a broader investigation of the relationship between聽physical geography (land and water)聽and the biological community. 鈥淚 like figuring out why plants grow where they grow and animals are where they are.鈥�

By Martha Tancock, YFile contributing writer

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post Geography graduate student Elizabeth Miller wins northern research award appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Organized by the , the (IRIS) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair聽for Reorienting Teacher Education聽Towards Sustainability, the Leadership for Sustainable Communities Symposium will focus on learning, leadership and climate change.

Leading experts from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom will gather at 91亚色鈥檚 Keele campus for the symposium. They will share their experiences and expertise in the area of climate change with students enrolled in summer courses that address issues of sustainability. The focus of the symposium will be a shared dialogue to examine the intersections between education, leadership and climate change.

91亚色 Faculty of Education Professor Charles Hopkins (right) will open the conference. As the UNESCO Chair聽for Reorienting Teacher Education聽Towards Sustainability聽, Hopkins has developed and continues to coordinate an international network of institutions from 38 countries working on the reorientation of teacher education towards the issues inherent in sustainable development. Hopkins is also an adviser to both UNESCO and the United Nations University regarding the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, which began in 2005 and continues until 2014. A major contributor at previous UN summits on sustainability in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 and in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002, he聽authored聽Chapter 36聽of Agenda 21 of the Rio Earth Summit Action Plan on Education, Public Awareness & Training. Previously, Hopkins was a superintendent with the Toronto Board of Education.

Following Hopkins' opening comments, David Greenwood (left), a professor in the Department of Teaching & Learning at Washington State University, will deliver the keynote address, titled 鈥淣ature, Empire, and Paradox in Environmental and Sustainability Education鈥�. Greenwood conducts research on the relationship between environment, culture, and education; environmental, place-based and sustainability education; and alternative education. He has published widely in journals such as: Harvard Educational Review, Educational Researcher, American Educational Research Journal, Curriculum Inquiry, Educational Administration Quarterly, Environmental Education Research, Canadian Journal of Environmental Education and a host of other publications. Greenwood聽is working on his second book, which will聽examine place and education.

After聽Greenwood's address, a panel of scholars from聽IRIS, the Faculty of Environmental Studies and will present their work as it relates to climate change.

Particpating in the panel are:

(left)聽is聽a professor of biology in 91亚色's , an ecologist and聽the director of IRIS.聽Bazely has聽conducted field research in many ecosystems, including arctic tundra, sub-arctic and temperate salt-marshes, deciduous forests, temperate managed grasslands and prairies, and her research findings on white-tailed deer and lesser snow geese have informed wildlife and conservation management in Canada. In 2003, she published a book on the ecology and control of invasive plants with Professor Judy Myers of the University of British Columbia. She is currently leading an interdisciplinary project based in Canada, Norway and Russia on human security in the Arctic, specifically the impact of oil and gas development on people and ecosystems.

Patricia (Ellie)聽Perkins (right)聽is a professor and聽program coordinator for the Faculty of Environmental Studies at 91亚色. An聽economist who is concerned with the relationship between international trade, the environment and local economies, Perkins聽is interested in globalization and how local economies may grow as an antidote to international trade. She also looks at international means of controlling air pollution in the Arctic and at the metals and minerals resource industries.聽Perkins is the primary investigator of a (SSHRC) funded research project聽titled "Collaborative Research for Equitable Public Participation in Watershed Governance:聽Canada, Brazil, Mozambique, South Africa, Kenya". In 2008, she was awarded the 91亚色 Knowledge Mobilization Course Release for Community Engagement Award. Currently, she is editing a book on feminist ecological economics.

Professor (left)聽is director of Osgoode Hall Law School鈥檚 Mooting Program as well as its LLB/MES Program.聽He is actively involved in the work of the Standards Council of Canada and the International Organization for Standardization in the field of environmental management standards. He has published on numerous topics related to environmental and international affairs, including the ISO 14000 environmental management standards, global environmental governance, sustainability, regulatory reform, corporate social responsibility, Canadian forest law, international relations theory and international fisheries regulation. His current research focuses on the role of voluntary standards for environmental management and corporate social responsibility in the governance of corporate conduct.

In the afternoon, 91亚色 film Professor Brenda Longfellow, award-winning filmmaker, writer and theorist, will screen her 2008 feature-length documentary Weather Report to symposium participants.

As the world reels from a series of unprecedented weather events, it is clear that climate change is forcing a fundamental re-evaluation of our most basic assumptions about energy, progress and values. Produced with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the National Film Board of Canada, looks at the dramatically evolving impacts and social implications of climate change. Travelling through North America, the Canadian Arctic, India and China, the film explores how the battle against climate change is implicated in the larger movement for sustainability and global justice.

Winner of the Sundance Channel's Green Award and the Bronze Remi Award at the 2008 WorldFest-Houston Independent International Film Festival, Longfellow's film has earned high praise from climatologists, educators and others in the field.

"Weather Report is a beautifully filmed documentary that travels the globe and is one of the first films to put a human face on the myriad impacts of climate change. Highly recommended,"聽said Professor Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the聽Yale Project on Climate Change in the聽School of Forestry & Environmental Studies at聽Yale University.

Left: Brenda Longfellow

"Weather Report masterfully accomplishes something scientists have not been very good at 鈥� putting a real, human face on the consequences of global warming and the resulting climate change," said Cindy聽Parker, co-director聽of the Program on Global Sustainability聽& Health in the聽Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Following the screening, there will be an informal聽round-table discussion on climate change and education with a focus on translating knowledge into action. The discussion will feature contributions from:

Professor Tony Shallcross is聽a visiting scholar from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). Shallcross聽is teaching聽ecology, ethics and education in the Graduate Program in Education Summer Institute at 91亚色. He has聽more than聽20 years of experience working in schools and is a former deputy head and head of department. Before taking up his post at MMU, he was a lecturer in environmental studies at the University of Edinburgh.

is a professor in聽91亚色's Faculty of Education where he coordinates the 91亚色/Seneca Institute for Mathematics, Science聽& Technology Education聽and the Graduate Diploma in Environmental/Sustainability Education.聽Alsop has taught in primary and secondary schools in inner-city London and coordinated the Centre for Learning & Research in Science Education聽at the Roehampton Institute at the聽University of Surrey. He has published widely in science and technology education and his recent books include and [co-edited with Larry Bencze and Erminia Pedretti]. He holds affiliated scholarly positions at the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Mexico; the Roehampton Institute;聽and the Centre for Science, Mathematics &Technology Education at the聽Ontario Institute for Studies in Education,聽University of Toronto. He is associated with a number of activist organizations including The Project for Altruistic Science and Technology Education.

Soni Craik is the acting executive director of EcoSource and has worked for the organization for over four years to extend its educational programming.聽Craik links her academic background聽with her interest in education for sustainability through child rights.聽She has聽worked for the International Institute for Child Rights聽& Development and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in South Africa as a facilitator of a participatory programs evaluation, specializing in working with elementary-aged children.聽Craik has also worked as an environmental education consultant for the Packard Foundation in Ethiopia and for the Child Welfare League of Canada in Cuba on a joint study of Havana鈥檚 social systems.

Rebecca Houwer is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Education at 91亚色.聽Prior to returning to university, she worked for several years with community-based organizations committed to educating youth.聽Her academic interests include: ethics and critical place-based education in urban contexts; participatory action research as praxis; ethical community-university relations; ecology without nature; and, collaborative place-making and place-recovery with, and by, forced migrants.聽She聽is a research assistant for the $1-million Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) grant by SSHRC led by 91亚色 social work Professor聽 in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

The symposium will conclude with a wrap-up and pledge that will be delivered by Hopkins.

For more information, visit the聽 Web site.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Those questions and more are at the heart of , a new collection of essays edited by 91亚色 history Professor Myra Rutherdale published this spring by McGill-Queen鈥檚 University Press.

The book examines the crucial role women have played in health and medicine as nurses and midwives, particularly in the remote geographical areas that dominate Canada鈥檚 landscape. As the book's editor, Rutherdale assembled a national contingent of scholars from nursing, women鈥檚 studies, geography, native studies and history to supply the essays and anecdotes that are contained within its pages. The result is a comprehensive volume that provides insight and understanding into the two centuries of history and courage of the women working on the front lines of health care and medicine in Canada鈥檚 remote communities.

"I was inspired to gather these works together into one collection because I was made aware that there were many scholars working on the history of outpost nursing and midwivery in rural Canada," says Rutherdale. "It struck me that there would be common themes across the country and across the two centuries explored in this book. Most particularly I thought that the perspective of 鈥榯he periphery鈥� would be useful to explore."

"Were these women, especially the trained nurses, acting as agents of the state or in the best interests of agencies like the Red Cross? To what extent were they actually autonomous?" asks Rutherdale. "And, were they merely reinforcing the sometimes racist and social inequities that seemed to be part of many of the federal government schemes?"

Left: Myra Rutherdale

"Did they, for example, work with midwives from northern communities, and how did they respond to medical traditions which were already established in the communities before their arrival? What motivated these women nurses and midwives to take up their work in the first place?"聽notes Rutherdale.聽"Were they just looking for adventure or were they women who wanted to advance in their chosen careers?"

The essays contained in the book also explore themes of religion, colonialism, social divisions and native-newcomer relations. Special attention is paid by Rutherdale to nursing in Aboriginal communities and the relations of race to medical work, particularly in connection to ideas of British ethnicity and conceptualized meanings of whiteness.

Rutherdale聽looks at the experience of nurses in Newfoundland and Labrador, northern Saskatchewan, northern British Columbia and the Arctic. The book features essays on topics such as Mennonite midwives in Western Canada, missionary nurses and Aboriginal nursing assistants in the Yukon.

"There were many interesting submissions and several fascinating stories. The Mennonite midwives explored [in an essay] by University of Waterloo history Professor Marlene Epp were especially interesting since they were so integral to the communities in which they worked. Not only were they midwives but they also worked as undertakers and arranged bodies for funeral rites," says Rutherdale.

Right: A nursing station in Iqaluit

What she discovered in compiling the book was that creativity was a key attribute for the women profiled within Caregiving on the Periphery. "The midwives and nurses who worked on the periphery had to work often alone, or sometimes with just one partner, and they had to work quickly to ensure the survival of their patients," says Rutherdale. "They did not necessarily have the opportunity to consult doctors or to speak with teams. They had to do their best under some harsh circumstances. They had to be skilled and confident in themselves. Nurses were trained 鈥榥ot to diagnose,鈥� but they often found themselves having to do just that, and quickly. They were tested in these communities and had to work hard."

That quality of creativity was also a key element for some of the research that went into the book, says Rutherdale, as there were challenges associated with the fact that some of the nurses, midwives and patients did not leave聽detailed primary source material. "As is evident from this collection, there are some very innovative ways to get around this frustrating lack of evidence," says Rutherdale. She cites an article by Judith Young, professor emerita of nursing at the University of Toronto. "One example of this is the excellent article by Judith Young who researched midwives in 19th-century Toronto. She used directories and land purchase records as well as other official documents to trace the existence of these fascinating midwives 鈥� records that might not be turned to for the questions which she ultimately answered. Sometimes one has to be innovative and creative to find traces of the human past."

Rutherdale also drew on the creativity of her 19-year-old son when she was seeking an appropriate title for the book. "I always find titles rather challenging. I had several titles, most of which were not favoured by family, colleagues or publishers," says Rutherdale. "Finally, I hashed it out with my son who has two parents who are historians so he has heard his fair share about Canadian history throughout his life. He thought Caregiving on the Periphery made a lot of sense given what the authors were trying to highlight in their collective works. And how does one disagree with an opinionated 19-year-old?"

Above:聽Donalda McKillop Copeland with her interpreter and his friends, Southampton Island, early 1950s.聽Rutherdale is researching the experiences of McKillop Copeland.

Rutherdale teaches Canadian history, with a special focus on 20th-century Canada and native-newcomer relations in the Department of History in 91亚色's Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. She also teaches聽courses on the history of the body and Canadian women's history.

Her current research project is on the history of the introduction of westernized medicine into northern Aboriginal communities. "I look at the history of traditional medicine and ask what changes took place when doctors and nurses moved to northern communities to establish nursing stations and small hospitals," she says. "Northern Canada is still woefully under-served in terms of access to health care and there are many inequities that still exist in northern communities. The infant mortality rate is high, and women are still being sent to the south to deliver their children. This is ridiculous in 2010."

Caregiving on the Periphery is available online through , and .

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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It鈥檚 been a year of research-intensive events and activities in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and one of the most notable initiatives has been the Research Matters series. It attempts to answer the question: 鈥淲hy does research matter?鈥� In particular, it focuses on the ways in which LA&PS researchers 鈥� both faculty and students 鈥� are using their skills and expertise to address timely community, cultural, social, economic and industry challenges.

Missed out on a Research Matters session? Videos and audio files are available online.

There are two more Research Matters sessions scheduled this year, open to the 91亚色 community. The first, which will be held on March 24 from 10am to聽noon in 109 Atkinson Building, takes up the theme of knowledge mobilization. Michael Johnny, manager of聽91亚色鈥檚 Unit, will provide general insights into what knowledge mobilization is and how it ties to LA&PS researchers. Professor from the School of Social Work will discuss his knowledge mobilization efforts in the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender research.

The second session will be held on April 19 from 10am to聽noon in 305 91亚色 Lanes and will focus on human rights, international law and global health policy. Political science Professor Lesley Jacobs, director of the , will present in collaboration with four emerging 91亚色 scholars: Hope Olumide Shamonda聽(PhD candidate in philosophy);聽 (PhD candidate in philosophy); Ruby Dhand (PhD candidate in law); and Mariette Brennan (PhD candidate in law).

The series聽has also explored topics ranging from pandemic planning, indigenous research and聽China鈥檚 competitive advantage in the world market to聽the grammar of aid in international development, community engagement as methodological practice, and, most recently, the value of Canada鈥檚 North.

鈥淥ne of the highlights of the year for me in the role of associate dean, research, has been the launch of this series,鈥� says Professor Barbara Crow. 鈥淚鈥檝e gained helpful insight into the individual and collaborative research undertakings of faculty and students, and enjoyed watching connections being made between academic research and what鈥檚 going on in our communities, our workplaces and our lives.鈥�

To RSVP for either of the upcoming sessions, e-mail Lorraine Myrie at lmyrie@yorku.ca.

Republished with files courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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On Monday, northern researcher Chris Burn comes to 91亚色 to talk about the impact of climate change on permafrost in Canada鈥檚 western Arctic.

For almost 30 years, has closely observed changes in the frozen terrain around Mayo, in central Yukon, and in the Mackenzie River Delta. At Mayo, he is examining the "drunken" forest, where聽trees tilt as the permafrost thaws below them. In the outer聽Mackenzie Delta, he has obtained substantial evidence of permafrost thaw due to climate warming. There he is investigating ground deformation near ice wedges, and ground movement during permafrost development in drained lakes, including the growth of frozen mounds called pingos.

Burn holds a Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada Northern Research Chair in the Department of Geography & Environmental Studies at Carleton University. He is a vice-president of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and currently serves as chair of the society鈥檚 Research & Grants Committee.

His research聽involves collaboration with the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun in central Yukon, and federal and terrritorial governments.

The 91亚色 Geography Alumni Lecture Series has invited Burn to speak on March 8 at 5:30pm in 304 Accolade Building West.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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On Aug. 12, Kathy Young led 69 Arctic hydrologists, oceanographers and observers聽from every circumpolar nation on an expedition to Baffin Island. As chief delegate of the , the Arctic hydrologist and 91亚色 geography professor had been planning this seven-day conference聽on 's Lyubov Orlova for two years. In this second of two instalments聽about the expedition, 91亚色 communications officer Martha Tancock and professional photographer document excursions to spectacular Pangnirtung Fiord, a聽wilderness park, and an island teeming with thick-billed murres and prowled by聽belligerent polar bears.

Day 4 鈥� Fiords and flowers
Saturday, Aug. 15

Jason鈥檚 wake-up brought good news: The Lyubov Orlova was proceeding up Pangnirtung Fiord (above) on schedule, we were 20 miles below the Arctic Circle, the sky was clear and sunny, and聽the temperature was 11掳C聽 鈥� ideal for a hike near Auyuittuq National Park.

Steep rocky mountain slopes delivered surprises as we cruised up聽the spectacular and ancient Pangnirtung Fiord 鈥� patches of purple Arctic fireweed, a frothy waterfall, a solitary cabin at its foot. Snowcapped mountains patched with glaciers glistened under an intense blue sky in the distance.

We divided into three groups: the fast walkers, who sprinted as far and as high as they could behind restless adventurer Benoit Savard then tore back down to shore, where some stripped to their underwear and leapt like Finns out of a sauna into the frigid fiord; the hikers, who strode behind ornithologist and 91亚色 grad Elizabeth Gow (BSc Hons. 鈥�07, MSc 鈥�09) into the middle distance; and the 鈥減lant鈥� walkers like me who poked around the meadow close to shore with Arctic botanist Susan Aiken (left). (Photo by Martha Tancock.)

What riches she revealed. She鈥檇 never seen a grass meadow in the Arctic before, only sedge meadows. Here she identified silky Arctic sweetgrass, which doesn鈥檛 have a scent like its sister in the south. Except for the spiky aromatic Labrador tea, which was everywhere, Arctic flowers don鈥檛 waste their precious energy on producing scents. At our feet, in spongy hummocks and around rock outcrops, we found and tasted mushrooms, crowberries and blueberries. Our guide yelped when she spotted vistortia, a sort of Arctic peanut. She showed us how Inuit women roll wicks from cotton grass and use heather for bedding. We saw caribou scat and lemming holes, raven feathers and a finch-like pippet. When some of us ventured further up the slope 鈥� keeping within eyesight of rifle-bearing sentinels 鈥� she warned us to watch out for polar bears that sometimes sleep in the cool crannies between hills. This sedgey place, though, is more home to caribou and muskoxen.

Instead of the promised wilderness picnic, we enjoyed a barbecue on deck, warmed by the聽noonday sun.

Evening documentaries about Arctic and Antarctic expeditions topped an afternoon of papers on modelling hydrological variables and climate change. Research scientists and 鈥渆xplorers鈥� Glen Liston and Mathew Sturm and two others marked International Polar Year (IPY) by snowmobiling 4,200 kilometres across Arctic Canada. For seven weeks in March and April, they followed rivers and crossed barrens and lakes to place themselves 鈥渟quarely and firmly in the nexuses that changed the Arctic.鈥� That included retracing part of 19th-century British explorer John Franklin鈥檚 ill-fated first expedition to chart the north coast of Canada.

Left: An iceberg close to Monumental Island

The second film documented Liston and other American and Norwegian scientists on an IPY overland scientific expedition to the South Pole in 2007-2008. Along the way, Liston drilled 90 feet to get 2,000-year-old ice core samples. He was also the one who descended into a hut buried deep in the snow, unvisited since the Russians left it, chairs neatly stacked on tables, in the 1960s.

Day 5 鈥� A monumental challenge and a Monumental polar bear
Sunday, Aug. 16

Scientists sounded a collective alarm today. There is no doubt that climate change is wreaking havoc in the Arctic, but without more data and better modelling they cannot make accurate predictions or provide a big picture of the impact. The evidence is clear. As climate warms, Yukon rivers freeze later, river ice breaks up earlier and there are more ice jams. In Alaska, sparse data makes it difficult to predict the impact of increasing drought and fires on water supply needs, fish passage and聽tundra travel. Heavy rainfall and warmer temperatures聽are thawing permafrost and causing landslides and soil collapse, but current data can only give a local, not a regional, picture.

Above: Thick-billed murres circle high over the cliffs of Akpatok Island

Keynote speaker Larry Hinzman, director of the International Arctic聽Research Center聽in Fairbanks, Alaska, underscored their message at the end of the day. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got some huge challenges,鈥� he said. If we are to predict the environmental impact responsibly, he said, we have to start viewing the Arctic as a system and not focus solely on our own special areas. Work has already begun on developing a circumpolar modelling system that could be ready in 10 years.

Left: From left, geography Professor Kathy Young聽with two 91亚色聽graduate students, PhD candidate Anna Abnizova (centre), who helped organize the conference,聽and master's candidate Jane Assini (right), who acted as a conference observer

We expected to see a colony of walruses on an excursion to Monumental Island in the Davis Strait today. Not a sign of them and聽we soon discovered why. A polar bear was swimming along the shore, disguised as a whitecap. We pulled up close and fell silent as it climbed ashore, stopping to sniff the air above and gaze in our direction then stepping nimbly over uneven rocky shelves. It was a male, according to naturalist Elizabeth Gow, because the urine stains were under its belly, not down its back legs.

Homeward bound we skirted an iceberg and got close enough to touch. On this聽excursion, two groups lifted bergy bits found later in Hudson Hurricanes, the cocktail of the day, concocted by bar manager聽Canina Clifford (BA Hons. '07, MA '08).

Day 6 鈥� Task forces and titans
Monday, Aug. 17

We鈥檙e in luck. A calm sea and sunny weather make a trip possible to Akpatok Island in Ungava Bay. Akpa is Inuktitut for murre and there are millions nesting on the narrow ledges of the chiselled cliffs.

Right: Victor and vanquished on Akpatok Island

After final morning workshops where delegates proposed task forces on snow, precipitation and ungauged basins, conference business ended. By 1:30pm we were zooming toward the tan-coloured cliff walls shrouded in thick layers of white cloud 鈥� perfect camouflage, we discovered, for polar bears. But within minutes, we saw a mother and pup napping on the shore, then a male snacking on fallen eggs. As we motored further along the shore, a massive male ambled towards us, its front paws stained with blood. We rounded the point to see a fallen male with a deep gash on its forearm. We had just missed a clash of titans. We pitied the vanquished even more when Gow predicted his certain death. On the way back, we saw the victor cleaning his paws.

That evening, as the Lyubov Orlova chugged towards Kuujjuaq, Nunavik,聽our final destination, we dressed up for the captain鈥檚 dinner and toasted Kathy Young many times over for a job well done.

Above: Sunrise over Hudson Strait

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