As with previous 91亚色 Circle Lecture & Lunch events, organizers have planned a full day of inspiring lectures by some of the University鈥檚 leading thinkers. For full details, download a PDF of the 91亚色 Circle schedule.

In her聽lecture, 鈥淭he Bird Detective: Investigating the Private Lives of Birds鈥�, 91亚色 Professor Bridget Stutchbury (left), Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology, will explain why some birds readily divorce their partners, why females sneak out to have sex with neighbouring males and why some mothers sometimes desert their babies. Based on her book (2010), this lecture promises to raise the blinds on the secret lives of birds.

On a more serious note,聽Stutchbury will examine聽whether聽bird behaviour can help species adapt to the drastic changes humans are making to the environment. Since the 1980s,聽Stutchbury has studied the ecology and conservation of migratory songbirds. In addition to The Bird Detective, she is聽author of the book (2007)聽鈥� a聽finalist for a Governor General鈥檚 Literary Award.

"The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano, the African, and the Abolition of the British Slave Trade" is the intriguing title of the presentation by 91亚色聽history Professor聽Paul Lovejoy (right), Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History and聽director of the聽. In his聽lecture,聽Lovejoy will explore the pivotal role of Gustavus Vassa, better known by his African name, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1742-1797), in advancing the abolition of the British slave trade. Many scholars consider William Wilberforce (c. 1759-1833) and Thomas Clarkson (c. 1760-1846)聽to be聽the pioneers of the British abolitionist movement, but Lovejoy posits that it was Equiano who was聽the聽seminal influence聽in advocating the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of those in slavery.

Lovejoy聽is a member of the executive committee of the UNESCO 鈥淪lave Route鈥� Project, co-edits African Economic History and Studies in the History of the African Diaspora 鈥� Documents (SHADD), and is research professor and associate fellow of the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the聽University of Hull in the United Kingdom.

Acclaimed Canadian poet and 91亚色 Professor (left) will discuss her experiences as Canadian Athletes Now Fund鈥檚 first poet-in-residence during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games. In her lecture, which is aptly titled, "My Gold Medal Experience: Olympic Poetry", Uppal聽will describe聽how she聽celebrated with the Canadian athletes and their families by writing poetry about winter sports, the games, and the personalities and performances that captured a nation鈥檚 imagination.

How she designed and then 鈥渢rained鈥� for her position, how the athletes responded to daily poetry readings, and other initiatives she鈥檚 undertaken to bridge the sometimes separate worlds of sport and art, will all be addressed. In addition, Uppal will read a short selection of the some of the 50 poems written at the games and recently collected in the book Winter Sport: Poems (2010).

"A World of Suburbs? Finding the Heart of the Urban Century in the Periphery" with 91亚色 environmental studies Professor Roger Keil (right) will offer 91亚色 Circle members insights into urbanization. The 21st century has been heralded as an urban century. Indeed, urbanization is now the most tangible shared experience of humanity. Keil will explore what is behind the story of the "urban revolution". He will uncover聽an important and perhaps astonishing truth: Most urban dwellers now live in the periphery. From the squatter settlements of the Global South to the wealthy gated communities of North America, from the tower block peripheries of Europe or Canada to the newly sprawling cities of Asia, a common theme emerges: where cities grow, they grow at the margins.

Keil is the director of the City Institute at 91亚色 and professor聽in the Faculty of Environmental Studies.聽Among his publications are In-Between Infrastructure: Urban Connectivity in an Age of Vulnerability (2010) and The Global Cities Reader (2006). Keil鈥檚 current research is on global suburbanism and regional governance.聽He is the co-editor of the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research and a co-founder of the International Network for Urban Research and Action.

This free series includes two events annually 鈥撀爄n the spring and fall each year聽鈥� and provides opportunities for learning and networking in a relaxed environment.

Lecture & Lunch events are open to members of the 91亚色 Circle and their guests, each of whom are offered a complimentary lunch sourced from 91亚色 Region as part of the day.

The 91亚色 Circle receives generous support from 91亚色's Alumni Office (program partner) and the Toronto Community News and Metroland Media Group 91亚色 Region (print media sponsors).

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At the Oil: Slick Suits and Sinister Scenarios symposium tomorrow, leading researchers in risk, disaster management, ethics and the environment will provide insights into the murky world of oil and the need聽to prepare聽for聽a聽potential disaster.

The symposium will take place, from noon to 2pm, in the Crowe Room, 109 Atkinson Building, Keele campus. Everyone is welcome.

91亚色 law, governance and ethics Professor Mark Schwartz (right) will discuss the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which caused the largest off shore spill in聽the history of the United States. Schwartz will present an ethical critique of BP and speak about the importance of ethical crisis management and the lessons for Canadian oil producers.

Environmental studies Professor Gail Fraser (left) will compare the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico and its estimated impacts on marine birds to that of a much smaller spill in offshore Newfoundland.聽She will argue that cumulatively smaller, more frequent oil spills off the coast of Newfoundland have likely resulted in higher seabird mortalities compared to the very large single spill in the Gulf of Mexico, because oil breaks down more slowly in cold water and the species composition is different.

Fraser underscores the importance of having baseline data to estimate the impact of oil spills and discusses current challenges in NL regarding access to information relevant to oil spills.

Emergency management Professor Ali Asgary will examine the Canadian emergency preparedness and response capacities and gaps in dealing with large-scale oil spills. He is co-investigator of a recently completed project, 鈥淩eal-time Detection of Oil Spills鈥�, funded by the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada, which developed an expert system for rapid risk assessment of pipeline based oil and gas spills to be used by emergency response teams.

Right: Ali Asgary

Asgary's areas of research include disaster and emergency response, business continuity, development and applications of geographic information systems and agent-based modelling in disaster and emergency management.

Fraser鈥檚 research focuses on issues around the ecology and management of avian wildlife, and the environmental management of the extractive industries of oil and gas.

Schwartz is co-author of the textbook Business Ethics: Readings and Cases in Corporate Morality (McGraw Hill, 2000) and the author of Corporate Social Responsibility: An Ethical Approach (Broadview Press, 2011).

Joanne Jones, a professor of audit and management information systems in 91亚色鈥檚 School of Administrative Studies, will moderate the discussion.

The event is presented by the School of Administrative Studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

For more information, call ext. 20091 or e-mail tarawlo@yorku.ca. To register online, visit 91亚色鈥檚 School of Administrative Studies website.

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The clip is on Metro Morning's website and runs under 5:30 minutes.

Stutchbury is the and a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Biology in 91亚色鈥檚 . She is the author of , which describes her journeys through forests and jungles studying the sexual antics and social lives of birds, and details the science behind their surprisingly sophisticated and often amusing behavior. The book, published by April 16, also explains how understanding birds鈥� behaviour will help to conserve increasingly-threatened species.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Two pairs of purple martins, known for the purple-black feathers of mature males, are cohabiting in a colony house on the south edge of Grenadier Pond.

The birds are rare in southern Ontario, where populations have decreased by 46 per cent in the last 20 years. They feed on flying insects, and even one period of cold wet weather, when insects don鈥檛 fly, can lead to adult starvation in large numbers, says Bridget Stutchbury, Distinguished Research Professor in Biology in 91亚色's Faculty of Science & Engineering, who studies North American songbirds and did her thesis on purple martins.

Stutchbury says it鈥檚 rare for the species to move into a new colony house because they usually return to one where they鈥檝e previously nested and prefer to live with other pairs. The social nature of the bird could mean that more pairs will move into High Park. 鈥淭he idea that they鈥檇 be able to repopulate, I think it鈥檚 exciting,鈥� she says.

Although the creatures are admired for many reasons, there is one misconception about the species, says Stutchbury. The belief that martins have a voracious appetite for mosquitoes is a myth. 鈥淭hey might snatch the odd mosquito, but they鈥檇 much rather eat a nice juicy dragonfly,鈥� she says. They also favour moths and butterflies. 鈥淪ome people might think that they鈥檙e good insect control, but they鈥檙e mostly eating the kind of insects we might admire.鈥�

Stutchbury, a and a professor in the Department of Biology in 91亚色鈥檚 , is the author of . It describes her journeys through forests and jungles studying the sexual antics and social lives of birds, and details the science behind their surprisingly sophisticated and often amusing behavior. The book, published by April 16, also explains how understanding birds鈥� behaviour will help to conserve increasingly-threatened species.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The events give people the opportunity to learn about the hundreds of bee species, how they live, eat and pollinate, and why they're important to humans. In a collaborating effort with fellow students, professors, artists and members of the public, Malach has brought International Pollinator Week to聽Toronto from the United States, where it first started four years ago.

鈥淭his is truly a collaborative event that is reaching out from the ivory tower and into the community,鈥� says Malach.

Events range from a photo exhibit and a Pollinators Cabaret at the Gladstone Hotel to a Pollinators Festival at Evergreen Brick Works.

Birds, bees, bats and butterflies are essential in the bid to produce fruit, vegetables, seeds and flowers. "More than 90 crops consumed by humans are pollinated by insects," says Malach.聽"Globally, pollinators are in decline which is a major threat to food security."

People can help by providing the right kind of habitats for pollinators in the city, such聽as planting daisies, lavender, mint, asters and sunflowers. "Researchers have found that cities can act as havens for declining pollinator populations if appropriate garden techniques are practised," says Malach.聽It is estimated that for every three bites of either food or drink a human takes, one of them can be attributed to the work of a pollinator, usually an insect. The making of chocolate depends on pollinators, as do dairy cows, who eat pollinated alfalfa as their major food source. Bee habitats聽are just one of the topics being presented during International Pollinator Week.

"I am particularly interested in helping to raise awareness around this and to hopefully help inspire urban citizens to be pollinator stewards in their yards and gardens and play a part in enhancing biodiversity and investing in food security in a tangible way," says Malach.

So what鈥檚 the buzz? A couple of bee related events are taking place before Pollinator Week. On Saturday, June 5, from 3:30 to 4:15pm, listen to a talk by 91亚色 Professor Laurence Packer (right), Sarah Peebles and Rob King (MA 鈥�08) regarding the distinct features and challenges of putting on an earlier art installation dealing with the biodiversity of bees. The talk is part of the at the Innis聽Town Hall,聽2 Sussex Ave., University聽of聽Toronto in Toronto. On Sunday, June 6, a hands-on workshop to create a habitat garden that provides appropriate nesting and food for pollinators will take place聽from 10am to noon at the on Lebovic Campus Drive, west of Ilan Ramon Boulevard in Toronto.

Then from Monday, June 21 to Sunday, June 27, Urban Buzz: A Tale of Three Cities, a multimedia exhibit exploring the lives of bees in Toronto, New 91亚色 City and the San Francisco Bay area, will take place from noon to 5pm in the聽Art Bar at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W., Toronto. Photographs by Malach, wire bee sculptures by Charmaine Lurch as well as work by Sarah Peebles and Michael Abraham will be on display. On Thursday, June 24, from 6 to 8:30pm, the Pollinators Cabaret will offer an evening of storytelling, poetry, dance, song and visual art in celebration of pollinators聽in the Gladstone Hotel鈥檚 Melody Bar, followed by events from 8:45 to 11pm in the Art Bar.

翱苍听Sunday, June 27, from 10am to 5:30pm, International Pollinators Week will draw to a close with the Pollinators Festival, a full-day celebration of pollinators with workshops from a diverse group of educators and a marketplace with local honey, bee houses made by local artists and scientists, books and other goods. The event will take place at , 550 Bayview Ave. in Toronto.

The following is a list of workshops to take place at the Pollinators Festival:

Explore the Lives of Bumblebees
10 to 11:15am
Presenter: Sheila Colla, a PhD biology candidate at 91亚色
Bumblebees are important native pollinators of fruits, vegetables and flowering plants in temperate regions.聽Colla will discuss the importance of bumblebees and how people can help preserve declining populations.

Pollinator Gardening at Evergreen Brick Works
11:30am to 12:45pm
Join Evergreen and Pollination Week partners as they get their hands dirty at a planting workshop. Learn pollinator-attracting gardening techniques that can be applied in the backyard, balcony or container garden.

Honeybee Hive Life
1 to 2:15pm
Presenter: Toronto Beekeepers Co-operative
Join the Toronto Beekeepers Co-op to take a close-up look at life in the honeybee hive.

Keeping the Bees
2 to 2:30pm
Presenter: 91亚色 biology and environmental studies Professor Laurence Packer
Learn about the current declining status of bees and what you can do to help save them. Packer will discuss topics from his (HarperCollins, 2010).
Informational tables will be set up by local organizations, artists and architects, and books and local honey will be on sale.

A Pollinator Monitoring Workshop
2:30 to 4:15pm
Presenters: Maria Kasstan聽& Dave and Norma Barr
Learn about pollinator decline and its potential threat to food security. Learn to recognize and support local pollinators and take part in a hands-on, citizen science pollinator-monitoring project.

The Movement of Bees
4:30 to 5:30pm
Presenters: Naomi Tessler聽& 91亚色 PhD student Zita Nyarady
A movement and sound based workshop that brings community together through enacting the movement and sounds of the bee community.

For more information, contact Sabrina Malach at sabrinamalach@gmail.com.

The entry fee for the Pollinator Festival at Evergreen Brick Works is a $5 donation or pay what you can.聽All ages are welcome, but space is limited. To RSVP for by-donation workshops or register for paid workshops, e-mail ebw@evergreen.ca.

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A at 91亚色, Stutchbury says the Canadian bird population has been declining by one to two per cent a year since the mid-1960s. She cited pesticide use and deforestation as a couple of the problems, and singled out the practice of forest clearing for coffee plantations as one of the primary concerns 鈥� another reason to support shade-grown coffee.

But far-off coffee plantations aren't the only problem. The same day the story on Stutchbury ran, NB Power advertised its 2010 herbicide application program on its transmission line rights-of-ways.

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鈥淏oth at the provincial level, and even at the national level, you have dozens of species of songbirds that are in serious decline,鈥� says Bridget Stutchbury, author of Silence of the Songbirds and : Investigating the Secret Lives of Birds.

Stutchbury, in 91亚色鈥檚 , was scheduled to be in Fredericton on Thursday to deliver a public lecture on the severity and the impact of the province鈥檚 songbird decline.

Stutchbury said the causes for the decline are plentiful. Pesticide use and deforestation are two. Coffee is one of the biggest culprits in the case of migratory birds, she said, because forests are cleared to make way for the coffee plantations, pushing the birds out of their refuges. 鈥淭he sun-grown coffee is grown the way we would grow corn, completely out in the open in these massive fields. Row after row after row of coffee plants and not a tree in sight,鈥� Stutchbury said.

Switching from sun-grown coffee to shade-grown coffee that鈥檚 grown in the forest would be a step in the right direction, she said. Reducing pesticide use and encouraging sustainable logging practices are other ways to stop the decline.

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The video is and runs for 2:20.

Stutchbury also took part in a phone-in show about local birds on CBC Radio鈥檚 鈥淢aritime Noon鈥� May 12 where she answered callers' questions about their backyard visitors.聽 The segment begins at the 4:20 mark and runs to the end of the program. The .

Her efforts to use the book to promote conservation of bird habitats was also covered on

A rapid decline in the number of songbirds across North America should serve as a wake-up call about what is being done to the environment, a Canadian biologist warned Friday.

Bridget Stutchbury, Canada Research Chair in Ecology & Conservation Biology in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science & Engineering, said a growing number of bird species will be at risk unless immediate action is taken to protect large natural areas that serve as breeding grounds.

鈥淭he facts can be shocking, and so shocking they are almost hard to believe,鈥� Stutchbury said in Fredericton. 鈥淲hen you talk about biodiversity loss, very realistic forecasts are that in the next 100 years we are going to lose 10 to 15 per cent of the world鈥檚 birds in terms of species.

Stutchbury said the decline is the result of a loss of habitat due to clear-cutting and urban sprawl, not climate change. She said Canada鈥檚 boreal forest serves as a bird nursery for the continent and must be protected to, in turn, protect birds.

鈥淯nless something radical is done in terms of setting aside protected areas for wildlife and plants, it鈥檚 all going to unravel because there are dozens of species on a straight-line trajectory to zero,鈥� she said.

It was also covered in :

Bridget Stutchbury was at Fredericton鈥檚 Conserver House on Friday to speak about the decline of the songbird population in Canada and what can be done to save them.

The 91亚色 scientist and author of Silence of the Songbirds, which was nominated for a Governor General鈥檚 Literary Award for Non-Fiction, recently authored a new book called The Bird Detective: Investigating the Secret Lives of Birds.

Stutchbury stressed the impact the drastic decline in the songbird population will have on biodiversity in the province.

Conservation Council of New Brunswick executive director David Coon and Stutchbury agreed there are simple things individuals can do to protect the environment and the birds鈥� habitat.

Stutchbury suggested buying local and organic products, recycled paper and shade-grown coffee. She said the issue is hitting close to home, as there are several New Brunswick songbirds on the list of declining species. 鈥淭he bird decline is so widespread, it affects all Canadians, no matter where you live,鈥� Stutchbury said. 鈥淏ut in the area of the Acadian Forest (in New Brunswick), we are seeing more.鈥�

Stutchbury鈥檚 comments were also reported on radio stations in Chatham, Owen Sound, Ottawa and Belleville, Ont. and Calgary, Alta., and in Bathurst and Fredericton, NB, and Bridgewater, NS.

Last but not least, her book was :

Reading these essays is almost as good as seeing the birds ourselves. The same is true of The Bird Detective, by Bridget Stutchbury.聽An ornithologist at 91亚色, she has accumulated a wealth of knowledge on bird behaviour from her own research and that of other biologists, and lets us in on the secret lives of both birds and ornithologists.

Here is the rare academic who can make research accessible to the public without dumbing it down. But Stutchbury does more than that: she makes it exciting. Her description of birds鈥� sexual adventures, combined with Stutchbury鈥檚 ornithological adventures, propel the book forward, and made me wish I could travel along with her in the field.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Scientists and environmentalists argue that the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (CNLOPB) suffers the same conflicts of interest that have afflicted the US regulator.

鈥淭he regulator has all this expertise for developing and promoting oil and gas but also is mandated to protect the environment,鈥� said Gail Fraser, a professor of ecology and biology in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Environmental Studies who is studying Canada鈥檚 offshore regulations. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 more than a conflict of interest.鈥�

Fraser said the board lacks transparency on industry waste and spills into the ocean, and is too cozy with industry, running land sales as well as regulating offshore drilling.

The complete article is available on . The story was also carried on .

Fraser's long-term research projects include long-term monitoring of Manx Shearwaters and Leach鈥檚 Storm Petrels, wildlife management and aspects of avian ecology in Toronto鈥檚 urban waterfront and the environmental effects offshore oil and gas.

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In her latest novel, The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood invents new animals to entertain us and get across her concerns about environmental and social collapse.

. . .

In The Bird Detective: Investigating the Secret Lives of Birds, Bridget Stutchbury, Distinguished Research Professor of Biology in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science & Engineering and author of the Governor-General鈥檚 Literary Award-nominated Silence of the Songbirds, also uses animals to illustrate the effect humankind is having on nature. And she does it very effectively without Atwood鈥檚 black wit and disturbing scenarios.

The Bird Detective, in fact, is a cheery little book. Stutchbury delights readers with hundreds of amazing facts and stories about birds, mostly songbirds, which serve to make it all the more tragic that climate change, habitat loss, pesticide use, long-line fishing and other environmental sins are mixing up extraordinary behaviours that have evolved over thousands of years.

The complete review is .

The book was also reviewed by May 7:

As the outdoor reading season opens, Bridget Stutchbury鈥檚 new, informal work on bird behaviour, The Bird Detective: Investigating the Secret Life of Birds, just begs to be read under a backyard tree. The book could serve as beach reading too; marine birds such as the albatross and rhinoceros auklet put in appearances. But Stutchbury, a biologist in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science & Engineering, has done much of her research on songbirds, and tales of their behaviour form the heart of the book.

Stutchbury examines big issues in the family life of any species 鈥� courtship, kids, infidelity and so on 鈥� and describes relevant research projects. Some examples come from her own work with her husband, evolutionary biologist Gene Morton, and some from other scientists.

Behind-the-scenes details set the book apart from typical wildlife guides. In one vignette, Stutchbury recalls conveying nestlings to and from weighing sessions by climbing ladders while clenching paper bags of baby birds in her teeth. The book takes a conversational approach to research, yet Stutchbury packs in a good number of intriguing findings while presenting the science clearly.

The complete .

The Bird Detective was published by April 16.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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