ecosystem Archives | Research & Innovation

The University recruits a new Canada Research Chair and gains a renewed Canada Research Chair

muellerm — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ welcomes the appointment of Christian Haas as its new Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Arctic Sea Ice Geophysics and the renewal of a CRC in the History of Modern China for Joshua Fogel.

As Tier 1 CRCs, Haas and Fogel will each receive $1.4 million over seven years. The CRC is part of a package of CRC appointments announced Oct. 12, by Gary Goodyear, minister of state (Science and Technology).

“Our government’s top priority is creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity,” said Goodyear. “By investing in talented people through programs such as the Canada Research Chairs, our government is supporting cutting-edge research in Canadian post-secondary institutions. This fosters innovation by helping researchers bring their ideas to the marketplace, where they can touch the lives of Canadians.”

In all, the government announced an investment of $121.6 million to fund the appointment of 155 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs at 42 Canadian degree-granting post-secondary institutions.

“The appointment of Professor Christian Haas as Canada Research Chair in Arctic Sea Ice Geophysics and the renewal of Professor Joshua Fogel as Canada Research Chair in the History of Modern China recognizes the excellence of their research and provides them with opportunities to further develop their exceptional research programs,” said Robert Haché, vice-president research & innovation at 91��ɫ. “Through the CRC program, 91��ɫ continues to build on its research strengths and enhance opportunities for graduate training.”

Christian Haas

Haas, a professor of geophysics, in the Department of Earth & Space Science and Engineering in the Faculty of Science & Engineering, is examining the underlying reasons for the recent, rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice and the consequences for the Arctic climate system and ecosystem, for Northerners, and for better access to Arctic resources and shipping routes. His research also addresses the role of changes in winds and ice drift as well as of variations in atmospheric radiation and temperature and ocean salinity and temperature on ice thickness and areal coverage.

A thorough understanding of the reasons for the recent Arctic sea ice decline will help fuel predictions of future scenarios and identify links to possible human-induced causes for climate change.

Ice information obtained by Haas’ research utilizing airborne and ground-based field campaigns in the Arctic and Antarctic, satellite remote sensing and numerical modeling provides important information for safe and environmentally responsible resource exploration and extraction, as well as shipping and over-ice travel. His research contributes unique information on ice thickness, one of the most important sea ice properties for the design and regulation of offshore structures and ships, safe ice utilization and assessment of oil spill development.

Fogel, a professor in the Department of History in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and member of 91��ɫ’s Centre for Asian Research has been examining the dynamic cultural and political relations between China and Japan over the past two centuries.

Joshua Fogel

The history of modern China cannot be fully or properly understood, Fogel maintains, without examining the dynamic cultural, political, and economic interactions between China and Japan over the last two centuries. Fogel’s research focuses on this interaction and the importance of Japan in China’s modern development.

He is presently writing a comprehensive history of Chinese-Japanese relations from antiquity through the present as well as a more focused monograph on the history of the Japanese expatriate community in Shanghai (1862 to 1945). His work is premised on the fruitful assumption that the modern history of China is incomprehensible without a full consideration of modern Japanese history.

For more information, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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History of Las Nubes captured in stunning photo book

fmaquito — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Las Nubes: Conservation in the Cloud Forests of Costa Rica, a new book by two 91��ɫ graduate students, tells the story of the Las Nubes Biological Reserve through stunning photos and accompanying text, from its 91��ɫ beginnings until today.

“Las Nubes is Spanish for ‘the clouds’, and Las Nubes Biological Reserve is a place where the opportunity for discovery is as limitless as the sky,” write its authors, 91��ɫ environmental studies PhD candidate Chris Saker (MES ’09) and Ana Maria Martinez (MES ’10), a PhD candidate in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Education.

Organic shade-grown coffee beans. All photos by Brett Cole

Las Nubes: Conservation in the Cloud Forests of Costa Rica (Rainforest Editions), available through the 91��ɫ Bookstore, is dedicated to the memory of the late 91��ɫ environmental studies Professor Howard Daugherty.

Golden-hooded Tanager

“The book is intended to raise awareness of the natural beauty of this ecosystem and the research, teaching and outreach programs conducted at Las Nubes,” says Barbara Rahder, former dean of the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES). “It is also a fundraising project for FES and the Fisher Fund.”

But it is also what Rahder calls “a tribute to the years Professor Howard Daugherty spent developing our educational and research programs at Las Nubes.” Daugherty first conceived of the book as a way of showcasing the program's accomplishments, and the reserve itself, as well as promoting conservation. He spent some two years on the book, hand picking the photos from the thousands that had been taken, and helping to fashion the storyline. After his death, the work was continued by his colleagues, students and friends.

Laughing Falcons

The book contains 200 photographs by nature photographer Brett Cole, of everything colourful, strange and wonderful that thrives and fights for life amid the towering rainforests – from birds, such as the Golden-hooded Tanager and flowers like the Apostle’s Iris, to the Morpho butterfly, a caterpillar dotted with parasites, and spiders and shiny-backed beetles.

Cole was commissioned by FES in 2007 “to capture the fragile, but diverse ecosystem at Las Nubes,” says Rahder. And capture it he did, showing a glimpse of the rich diversity of the 124 hectares of protected rainforest on the Pacific slopes of the Talamanca Mountains in southern Costa Rica. It was this piece of rainforest that was donated to 91��ɫ by Dr. M.M. (Woody) Fisher in 1998.

It’s not only an essential refuge for tropical biodiversity, but a place where students and researchers from 91��ɫ’s FES, as well as other academic institutions, go to learn and conduct research in tropical conservation, sustainable development and biodiversity, while working with local communities.

Apostle's Iris

“Hundreds of our undergraduate and graduate students have been able to do fieldwork at Las Nubes. 91��ɫ is committed to social justice and that is embodied in our fair trade Las Nubes coffee, which is grown by local farmers in shaded coffee farms,” says Rahder.

Orchard spider

All proceeds from the sale of this book go to the Fisher Fund in Neo-Tropical Conservation, Faculty of Environmental Studies, 91��ɫ, to support student and faculty research at Las Nubes.

Order single copies through the or by contacting Steve Glassman, bookstore director, at glassman@yorku.ca or ext. 33018.

For more photos, visit the at the bottom of the .

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Chemical stress on Canada's water focus of Katz lecture June 29

fmaquito — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Non-ecologists, here is your word for the day: biome.

It means a very large ecosytem, and the boreal biome comprises about 60 per cent of Canada‘s land area. It includes more than two million lakes and accounts for about 85 per cent of Canada's freshwater and some 25 per cent of global wetlands. Despite the magnitude of this resource, an increasing number of environmental stressors – not least chemicals – have put it at risk.

The southern part of the biome, including both fresh waters and terrestrial ecosystems, has been affected by acid deposition for at least a half century. Contamination by mercury is widespread, and elevated levels of trace organic contaminants of many types are now measurable over much of the area.

For the 2011 Morris Katz Lecture, Trent University Professor Peter Dillon (left) will discuss biogeochemistry and how the movement of chemicals through the boreal environment can be used to assess the effects of these chemical stressors. Dillon will speak on Wednesday, June 29, at 2:30pm, in the Senate Chamber, N940 Ross Building. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Dillon specializes in the biogeochemistry of lakes and their catchments. He was the scientific leader of environmental research and long-term investigations carried out at the Dorset Research Centre in central Ontario for the past 25 years and still maintains a close association with the centre.

He is currently the director of Trent University's Water Quality Centre. A member of the Royal Society, he recently won the Miroslaw Romanowski Medal for environmental science.

Much of his current research focuses on the cycling of elements, including sulphur, carbon, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus, in catchments and in lakes, on the processes that control their fluxes and on the transformations of chemical species that occur during the movement of these elements through ecosystems.

In his lecture on Wednesday, Dillon will look at how contamination by other metals, once isolated to regions near mining and smelting activities, is more widespread. In the past few decades, climate change has come to the forefront, and it is clear that the boreal will be one of the more heavily affected parts of Canada.

"Although climate change can directly effect the biological communities of the boreal, most effects will be mediated through alterations in environmental chemistry," says Dillon in his lecture abstract. "In addition, climate change can and is altering the response of lakes and their catchments to other stressors, for example, is reducing the rate of recovery of ecosystems from declining acid deposition rates.

"For an quantitative understanding of how the boreal biome responds to changes in the magnitude of stressors, it is critical to have measurements that go beyond simple description of ecosystem properties such as concentrations of various chemicals in different compartments."

For more information on the Morris Katz Lectureship, contact Carol Weldon, Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry administration assistant, at ext. 55410, by fax at 416-736-5411 or by e-mail to cac@yorku.ca, or visit the ��ɱ��ٱ�.

Major contributions in support of this year’s lecture have been made by 91��ɫ's Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry and Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment.

About Morris Katz

Morris Katz, 1901-1987, was an outstanding scientist. He spent 35 years in public service, where he pioneered air pollutant sampling and measurement methodology and was among the first to demonstrate the presence of ozone damage to vegetation in Ontario. He taught chemistry at 91��ɫ until his death. He authored or co-authored more than 150 books and articles and was the recipient of numerous awards for his work.

The Morris Katz Lectureship was made possible by the establishment of an endowment fund created through contributions from his family, friends and colleagues, private companies, universities and government. Major contributions in support of this year's lecture have been made by 91��ɫ's Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

About 91��ɫ's Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry

The Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry was established in 1985 in response to a growing public concern about the atmospheric environment. It offers programs that provide students with the necessary theoretical background and practical laboratory experience to enable them to make meaningful contributions to important environmental concerns upon their graduation. 91��ɫ also offers MSc and PhD degrees in atmospheric chemistry.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Professor Laurence Packer to discuss why bees are at risk at tomorrow's Pollinators Festival

fmaquito — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Celebrate the birds and the bees tomorrow at the Pollinators Festival. Learn why the bees are at risk with 91��ɫ Professor Laurence Packer in the Department of Biology and about the social life of honey bees with the Toronto Beekeeping Co-operative.

The Pollinators Festival, part of , will take place from 8am to 3pm at the Evergreen Brick Works, 550 Bayview Ave., Toronto. Pollinator Week is an international celebration of the ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles.

There will be a presentation by Scott MacIvor of on “Wild Bees Using Toronto Green Spaces”, a tour by Sheila Colla, a 91��ɫ PhD biology candidate, on “Meet the Bumble Bees: Why We Need Them and What They Do”, as well as a workshop on why bees are important to food production by . There will also be local and international honey for sale at the farmer’s market.

It is expected to be a day filled with educational and celebratory events about pollinators, featuring garden tours, honey tasting, hands-on workshops, arts and crafts, speakers, panel discussions and more. 91��ɫ Faculty of Environmental Studies student Madeleine Lavin was this year’s assistant organizer for the festival.

For more information, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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