Meredith DeCock is on a mission to determine how Lincoln’s Lake Ontario shoreline has changed over time and the role climate change has played in its evolution.

But first, the Brock University Sustainability and Society master’s student needs help from the Niagara community.

DeCock is calling on the public to submit photos of the shoreline and surrounding area that will be used to recreate the coast through time and identify what caused its greatest impacts. 

The study was made possible by the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, which she received last month from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Seventeen Brock graduate students were awarded $670,000 in SSHRC funding in July, along with 14 of the University’s researchers who received $1.3 million.

For DeCock’s study, photos from any year that show any segment of the Lincoln shoreline, its surrounding environment and development, as well as destruction due to high water levels, are needed. Submissions will be accepted until Sept. 30.

In addition to community submissions, DeCock is using historical aerial photographs and GIS software to calculate the shoreline’s physical changes over time. Photos throughout the years will help her determine which windows of time have seen the greatest change.

She will then look at how specific climatic and non-climatic factors could have influenced these changes.

“I’m interested in learning what may be responsible for the most significant changes to the shoreline,” DeCock said. “Is it climate or environmental change, or significant development in the area like the construction of the Queen Elizabeth Way?”

Working alongside her supervisor, Brock Biological Sciences Professor Liette Vasseur, and in conjunction with the Town of Lincoln, DeCock is part of a larger project funded by the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR) that is working with six coastal communities along the St. Lawrence Seaway to examine how they can deal with the impacts of climate change.

Meredith DeCock has drawn a series of views of the Lincoln Lake Ontario shoreline over time that will be used to help calculate its erosion and accretion rates.

“Meredith’s project fits wonderfully well with the spirit of the larger project of ecosystem-based adaptation for the Town of Lincoln,” Vasseur said. “We really hope this community-based approach can help people link their environment to the changes that are happening. Such a tool can have great potential for communicating with communities.”

DeCock plans to make the results of her research accessible to the public through an interactive web application that will also be used as a communication tool for the larger MEOPAR project.

“Studying the history of the shoreline is very important, but if we don’t use our findings to impact the future, then we are missing a huge opportunity,” she said. “I hope that by making the information available, we can positively impact future climate change adaptation decision-making.”

DeCock is also working with her MEOPAR project partners to create blog posts that will share information on the group’s efforts and climate change in general with the community. These posts will be available on Brock’s UNESCO Chair website in the coming weeks.

She is thankful for the SSHRC funding that made her study possible.

“Sustainability science is solution oriented,” she said. “To have the federal government support my research elevates the importance of what I am doing. Climate change is a globally urgent topic and to know that our government sees it as a priority helps me to know I am doing something important with my research.”

Diane Dupont, Brock’s Interim Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, acknowledged the significant work taken on by the graduate students recognized by SSHRC. 

“To see our graduate students have this incredible success in the SSHRC competition is outstanding,” she said. “Our graduate students are making a direct impact on the lives of Canadians and are becoming the researchers of tomorrow. As they continue to contribute new knowledge to the world of academia, I wish them the utmost success.”

Brock graduate student research projects awarded SSHRC funding in July include:

SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship
Julianne Burgess, Educational Studies: “Community resilience: Learning from/with young adult Syrian refugees in Ontario.”

SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships (doctoral)
Stephanie Beni, Applied Health Sciences: “Examining implementation of the meaningful physical education approach.”

Courtney Bishop, Child and Youth Studies: “The role of policy and practice in supporting the human rights and quality of life outcomes for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”

Tessa Mazachowsky, Psychology: “The neglected areas of children’s future thinking: Bringing attention to methodological issues and the development of children’s saving for the future.”

Breanna Wylie, Psychology: “Evaluating and improving children’s use of causal language within a legal context.”

SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships (master’s)
Sydney Bryk, Classics: “Using artifacts to teach more than just history.”

Lucas Coia, History: “Off the beaten path: Rural cult and local identity in southern Italy, 1200-1500 CE.”

Meredith DeCock, Sustainability: “A changing Lake Ontario shoreline: Learning from the past in the Town of Lincoln.”

Carolynn Hare, Child and Youth Studies: “Control is the key: The role of attention, trait anxiety and individual differences in cognitive control.”

Sajan Karn, Philosophy: “Ethics.”

Jessica Linzel, History: “The shopkeep aristocracy: Mapping trade networks in colonial Niagara.”

Colleen Logie, Education: “Mental health and wellness in Ontario schools: Priorities of new teachers and their mentors.”

Carly Magnacca, Applied Disability Studies: “Evaluating behavioural skills training in acceptance and commitment therapy for caregivers of children with neurodevelopment disabilities.”

Amanda Marcinkiewicz, Applied Disability Studies: “Evaluating committed action outcomes in acceptance and commitment therapy for caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities.”

Samantha Montague, Education: “An exploration of the influence military leadership has on sexual misconduct.”

Laura Tardi, Applied Disability Studies: “A comparison of a modified food chaining procedure with sequential presentation plus non-removal of the spoon for food selectivity in children with autism spectrum disorder.”

Madeline Zoelman, Education: “A math problem: How do students’ attitudes toward math impact career aspirations?”