(From left): Brad May, manager, Adaptation and Impacts Research Section, Environment Canada; Ryan Plummer, associate professor, Tourism and Environment, Brock University; Heather Auld, associate director, Adaptation and Impacts Research Section, Environment Canada; Don MacIver, director, Adaptation and Impacts Research Section, Environment Canada; Ian Brindle, Vice-President Research; Thomas Dunk, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences.

Brock University, Environment Canada and the Stockholm Environment Institute have formalized plans to collaborate on a climate change research initiative that will benefit both Canada and Sweden.

Adapting national and international climate-change research to local level strategies is the aim of a new tripartite agreement involving researchers from all three institutions. Each group brings integral skills and background to the agreement, which is intended to advance both knowledge and practice.

Don MacIver, director of Environment Canada’s Adaptation and Impacts Research Section, visited Brock yesterday along with Heather Auld, associate director of Adaptation and Impacts Research Section, and Brad May, manager, Adaptation and Impacts Research Section, to hand deliver the Letter of Agreement, which confirms the federal government’s financial contribution through their Grants and Contributions Process.

The letter confirms $50,000 for the first year of a multi-year agreement.

As part of the arrangement, May will become an adjunct professor at Brock in the Department of Tourism and Environment beginning July 1. He will also act as a link to Environment Canada’s vast national and international climate change science and research networks.

“Environment Canada is happy to contribute to this initiative both financially and scientifically,” said MacIver.

Environment Canada will also provide scientific expertise and an historical perspective concerning large, national output models as they relate to climate change adaptation research.

“This agreement will significantly enhance our capacity to conduct climate-change and sustainability research that will have an international impact and appeal,” said Ian Brindle, Vice-President Research. “It demonstrates Brock’s ability to collaborate on timely research initiatives and represents a bold first-step in the development of this joint project.”

“This tri-partite agreement will enable us to better understand and apply adaptive climate change strategies that are participatory, learning oriented and concerned with governance,” said Ryan Plummer, associate professor, Tourism and Environment at Brock.