News

Ready, Set, Charge!

Thursday, June 07, 2018 | By Amanda Smits

Blog Contributor: Shelby McFadden

Photo: Electric vehicle charging station located at the Brock University International Centre.

We have exciting news to share, as Brock was just approved for the installation of 10 new level 2 electric vehicle charging stations, which are to be installed by November 2018. Brock was generously given $75,000 through the Ontario Government’s Workplace Electric Vehicle Charging Incentive Program to carry out the project.

To date, Brock has three electric chargers on campus, all of which are used frequently. The first charging station was installed at International Centre in 2013, through the partial gifting from Sun Country Highway. Then in 2016, two additional stations were added. There is one charger at the Central Utilities Building, and one in Lot H behind the tower.

These chargers are available to be used by the Brock community, but also by people in the community and visitors to the Niagara Region. Currently, these chargers are free to use for permit holders, with non-permit holders only needing to pay a small amount for parking.

With the student population sitting at around 18,000 students, and electric vehicles rising in popularity, these new charging stations will make it easier to accommodate electric vehicles on campus.

This is really exciting, especially as someone who hopes to buy her own electric vehicle one day soon.

While not perfect, electric vehicles have less impacts on the environment, as the only emissions are associated with electricity production, which is less of an issue with coal having been phased out in Ontario. By driving an electric vehicle, the average Canadian can reduce their car’s gas emissions by 60 to 90% (Plug ‘N Drive, n.d).

This is a step in the right direction for helping to reach Brock’s emission reduction target of 20% by 2023.

I am personally quite excited to see these chargers pop up around campus in the upcoming months, and am looking forward to future initiatives contributing to sustainability on campus.

References:

Plug ‘N Drive. (n.d). Electric vehicle benefits. Retrieved from https://www.plugndrive.ca/electric-vehicle-benefits/

Categories: Blog, Innovative Partnership, Student Contributor, Sustainability at Brock
Master of Sustainability Students takes the lead in Brock-Lincoln Living Lab

Tuesday, June 05, 2018 | By Amanda Smits

Blog Contributor: Lydia Collas

Each year, Master of Sustainability enrolled in the co-op stream undertake a projects course where they work as a team to provide a consultancy-type service to an external business or an area of the Canadian Government. This year, Ben House, Yuka Kataoka, Zach MacMillan, and Salima Medouar worked with the Town of Lincoln in association with the Brock-Lincoln Living Lab that was set up last year. I met up with Zach to find out more about what his team had got up to and what they’d learnt from the experience.

Photo: SSAS Student Presentations in SSAS 5P03 (from left to right) Salima Medouar, Leaya Amey, Zach MacMillan, Ben House, Yuka Kataoka, Quratulain Shahzad, and Sylvia Hussein

1. So working with the Town of Lincoln, what was the project you were tasked with?

Our team worked to create a sustainability needs assessment for the Town. This document will be used to highlight focus areas for the subsequent stages of the Brock-Lincoln Living Lab. As we began communicating with the project sponsor, it became apparent that there would be more value in creating a detailed inventory of the Town’s assets relating to sustainability. Such assets are anything that contributes to achieving the Town’s long-term sustainability goals and include local policies, physical structures, natural resources, social resources, and economic institutions.

2. How did you go about achieving that?

The first step in the project was to create a framework that we could use to organize our data. We used the Town of Lincoln’s sustainability initiative to highlight four key asset areas that influence sustainability: Natural, Social, Economic, and Built. Each member of the team was in charge of one of the areas based on their interests and experiences. I was both the lead on built assets as well as the project manager for the team.

Once we had an outlined framework and clear roles for the project we went to Town Hall to retrieve that data we needed. We were also fortunate enough to communicate with Town employees who had specific insights on the four asset areas, which helped us get multiple perspectives on the project. We then synthesized all the material and included it in a final report along with some recommendations for future work, which we presented to both members of Lincoln (including senior management) and the Brock University ESRC.

3. What did you learn about project management as a result?

This project demonstrated the importance of creating a detailed yet manageable timeline for projects, particularly when you’ve got multiple commitments to fulfil. I also learned the importance of forming a strong team and drawing on the strengths of each member. While I was the official project manager for the project we took a collaborative approach that allowed each of our skill sets to be utilized to the fullest – an approach I plan to use in future projects.

4. So how did it go – did you achieve what you set out to?

Yes, I believe we did achieve our project goals. By the end of the six weeks, we had created a 30-page document which outlined a wide variety of assets that are important to the Town’s sustainability goals. Combining all this information into one document will be very helpful for the next stage of the Brock-Lincoln Living lab.

5. What do you think the impact of your work will be?

In the municipal setting, sustainability is an important, though oft misunderstood, concept. This project will help to provide consensus on the topic. The integrated framework that we used will help the Town to move away from understanding sustainability in silos and move toward an integrated approach to sustainability planning. It also creates a strong foundation for future work on the Brock-Lincoln Living lab and the Town more generally. Mainly this project helps the Town to begin incorporating a new perspective on everyday tasks. It also demonstrated that sustainability in this context is more diverse than simply environmental planning.

6. This course is a bit different to the others that you take as part of the program, how do you feel it has complemented your other studies?

This course was a perfect complement to the program. Being given the opportunity to implement our knowledge of sustainability into a real organization as a core program requirement is invaluable. It helped me to learn and refine skills, such as project planning and communicating with community stakeholders, and provided an important network opportunity – all of which will help me to secure employment after completing my degree. I am particularly interested in municipal planning: my Major Research Paper will evaluate municipal planning documents and my future career goals lie in the planning profession, so I was very fortunate to work on this project.

Finally, I’d like to thank some people that we would have been lost without. Carrie Beatty from the Town of Lincoln gave her time and advice during each stage of the project and her genuine interest in incorporating sustainability in the municipal setting was truly valuable. I would also like to thank Dr. Bradley May for offering project management expertise to the team.

Congratulations to Zach, Yuka, Ben and Salima on completing an informative project that has paved the way for the future work undertaken as part of the Brock-Lincoln Living Lab. To find out more about the Living Lab, visit brocku.ca/esrc/brock-lincoln-living-lab/. For more information about the Master of Sustainability degree program, visit brocku.ca/ssas.

Categories: Blog, Experiential Education, Innovative Partnership, SSAS Student Contributor
Sustainability Committee Workshop

Friday, June 01, 2018 | By Amanda Smits

Blog Contributor: Kaitlin James

The Brock Sustainability Coordinating Committee serves as a forum for discussion of sustainability related information, practices, actions and initiatives, with a goal to enhance and promote sustainability at Brock.

Today we had our first sustainability committee workshop of the new year. It was great to meet everyone and hear about all of the different initiatives going on across the university campus. Bringing together such a diverse group of individuals is integral to be able to facilitate and sustain sustainability campus wide, and allowed for an all-encompassing, active discussion of what we would like the future of sustainability to look like at Brock, including potential challenges in implementation.

Myself and the other summer interns were excited to share with the group what we have been doing over the last couple of weeks and engaged in meaningful conversation to help build our list of current initiatives taking place across campus, ensuring that our list is as comprehensive as possible. It was great to see all that is being done across the school to make steps towards a more sustainable campus. I’m excited to see what the future of sustainability at Brock has in store for us!

To learn more about Sustainability at Brock visit: brocku.ca/sustainability

Categories: Blog, Student Contributor, Sustainability at Brock
Co-op with MTO inspires master of sustainability student to pursue career in environmental policy

Monday, May 28, 2018 | By Amanda Smits

The next instalment in our series of blog posts about the co-op experiences of Sustainability Science & Society (SSAS) students, we hear from Nicholas Fischer, who will soon be graduating with his Master in Sustainability degree. Last summer, Nich worked for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) in the Environmental Policy Office.

Blog Contributor: Nicholas Fischer

In my role as an Assistant Policy Analyst at MTO, I provided support to the Senior Policy Analysts on a variety of projects related to transportation infrastructure and landscape remediation. My principle assignment involved generating a policy brief and supporting house notes to various members of senior management. These briefing materials were the product of background research and communication with various provincial ministries and governing bodies, outlining the impacts which changes to the Environmental Assessment Act of Canada would have on provincial infrastructure delivery and environmental assessments.

Outside of this project, I supported staff with additional projects and policy amendments, including: pollinator health in provincial right-of-ways, provincial waste management, endangered species protection and best management practices, and biodiversity strategies used across Ontario’s provincial ministries.

The most interesting project I worked on was developing policy solutions for environmental assessment procedures for Ontario. During the time I was with the MTO, the Federal Government of Canada was undergoing a review of federal environmental assessment legislation which would ultimately impact how infrastructure delivery took place at a federal and provincial level. My project focused on identifying the impacts these legislative changes would have for the Ontario provincial government and identifying avenues of possible policy reform to ensure that infrastructure development and design in the province could continue in a sustainable manner, fitting within the new regulatory framework proposed at the federal level.

My co-op experience has definitely helped to solidify the idea that I would like to focus my career experiences in the realm of environmental policy. Prior to this experience, I was unsure of working in the policy sector, however working with the MTO has shown me that without policy development and analysis, no real environmental change can take place on a regional or provincial level. Policy creates the avenues for change within a government and within local populations, and without policy avenues, it is difficult to affect real change for the betterment of our shared natural environment.

I would like to thank the entire Environmental Planning Office for allowing me a breadth of experience on a variety of projects which showed me exactly how the province upholds environmental protection and sustainability within an infrastructure-based ministry. Additionally, I would like to thank Melissa Beamer of the Brock Co-op Office for working continuously with the SSAS students to ensure we found appropriate, challenging and rewarding co-op experiences.

The ESRC’s SSAS program offers students the option of completing either a major research project and a co-op experience, or a longer research project that culminates in a thesis. Undertaking a co-op provides students with firsthand experience of how important knowledge of sustainability is in creating policy, guiding business development and ultimately helping the community. Graduating students frequently cite their co-op experience as being influential in guiding their future career plans. To find out more about the SSAS program, visit brocku.ca/ssas.

Categories: Blog, Co-Op, Experiential Education, SSAS Student Contributor
In our backyard: ESRC playing a part in Brock’s Community Garden

Friday, May 25, 2018 | By Amanda Smits

Blog Contributor: Shanen D’Souza

Brock’s Community Garden, located opposite Theal House, has received tremendous support and involvement by the Niagara community in recent years. Every year people are encouraged to adopt a plot and grow different plants, whether it is colourful flowers or vegetables for supper. The 12 initial plots were so high in demand that the grounds crew had to make 8 additional plots, and now all 20 plots are assigned.

The Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) has adopted one plot and will be maintaining it over the summer months. I, along with the other summer interns as well as the staff at the centre, will be growing various plants this summer. Being an international student who grew up in a desert, I never had the opportunity to plant and watch flowers grow and bloom, so this is a very exciting opportunity for me.

We will be planting cardinal flowers, a native red flower of the Niagara region. The Centre is working to promote sustainability on campus and aims to be an environmentally-friendly community member. Planting a native species promotes the unique flora of Niagara, and the red colour signifies the signature Brock red colour. We will also be planting some red vegetables like tomatoes and red peppers, and hopefully even some cucumbers.

I am excited to watch these plants grow and bear fruit over the next couple of months. I have heard that deer and bunnies do feast upon fruits of the Brock Garden, but hopefully we will get to enjoy some too!

Categories: Blog, Innovative Partnership, Student Contributor
Brock student makes Top 20 in national science research photography contest

Wednesday, May 23, 2018 | By Amanda Smits

TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2018 | by Cathy Majtenyi

Master of Sustainability Science student Dana Harris has made the Top 20 in a national photography contest for her submission featuring the cells of jack pine trees.

Master of Sustainability Science student Dana Harris is wrapping up her degree program with a bang — or rather, a snap.

She and 19 other researchers from across Canada are vying for the 2018 People’s Choice Award in a national research photography contest offered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

NSERC’s Science Exposed showcases images taken during scientific research being conducted in all fields by faculty and student researchers in post-secondary institutions and researchers in public and private research centres. Public voting to help determine the contest’s winners is now open on the Science Exposed website and continues throughout the summer.

Harris’ photo, titled “Exploring the Jack Pine Tight Knit Family Tree,” shows phases of developing xylem cells, stained in different colours, that are found in a wood sample cored from the outermost part of a jack pine tree in the Northwest Territories, where she is from.

Dana Harris’ submission to the NSERC Science Exposed competition features cells of the jack pine tree.

She says she uses the photo and others like it as a conversation starter to explain her research, which examines the impacts of climate change on sub-arctic ecosystems.

“When I would show my friends and family pictures of what my jack pine cells look like, they would say, ‘oh, I thought that was a scarf or knitting or netting,’” she says. “That’s where I got the title of my photo.”

The image, shot from a microscope, shows the jack pine tree’s phloem, cambial and xylem cells (blue dye) and mature xylem cells (red dye) in a thin slice of the wood.

It is one of a series of images taken weekly over the past year to track the growth of the jack pine tree’s various cells.

“Understanding these growth dynamics will help better estimate the impacts of climate on cell development and jack pine tree ring formation,” says Harris. “This type of information is useful for researchers who create climate reconstructions using tree rings as a source of historical climate data.”

Canada’s far north is widely considered to be the ‘canary in the coalmine’ of climate change, as melting permafrost, changes in vegetation cover and shrinking ice caps are among highly-visible changes to the environment.

Harris is presenting her research findings at the “Wood formation and tree adaptation to climate” conferencein Orleans, France from May 23 to 25.

“Brock is very proud of our student researchers, who channel their knowledge, energy and curiosity into investigations that address key challenges in society,” says Brock’s Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon.

“The fact that our student’s photograph is among the stunning images of scientific research is testament to her skill and the training and research mentorship she received from Brock University faculty.”

Making it to the Top 20 for the People’s Choice Award is a particularly sweet victory for Harris.

She was also a competitor in NSERC’s Science, Action! research video contest, making the first cut of the three-round competition. Altogether, seven videos from Brock University were in the contest.

Harris’ video, “Jack Pine Growth, NT,” has garnered more than 1,400 views.

Following her conference presentation in France, Harris will head back to her hometown of Yellowknife to “continue developing the overall understanding of the ecological and environmental impacts of climate change on sub-arctic ecosystems,” she says.

Categories: Applied Research
RECL 4P16 – Advanced Wilderness Program Planning

Friday, May 18, 2018 | By Amanda Smits
Blog Contributor: Garrett Hutson

The RECL 4P16 (Advanced Wilderness Program Planning) 10-day wilderness backpacking trip returns from the Bruce Peninsula on a high note. The trip was co-led by an ESRC research assistant and RECL alumna (Liz Peredun, second from the left standing), an ESRC participating faculty member (Garrett Hutson, second from the right standing) and a RECL graduate student (Chris Falcioni, not pictured). From April 25 to May 5 the group hiked from the town of Lion’s Head, Ontario to the Bruce Peninsula National Park through deep snow and challenging terrain along the Bruce Trail. Fourth year RECL students worked in leadership teams and taught extensive environmental studies curricula while in the field. Completing the trip represented the final requirement for many of these students who will be graduating from Brock this coming June.
Categories: Blog, Experiential Education, Faculty Contributor
First week at the ESRC: An introduction to what we’re working on this summer

Thursday, May 17, 2018 | By Amanda Smits

Blog Contributor: Shelby McFadden

Summer student assistants (from left to right): Kaitlin, Shanen and Shelby working in Theal House.

From the moment my parents and I pulled up to the quaint wonder that is Theal House during a tour of campus, I knew that I would get along perfectly at Brock. I immediately decided to accept my offer for the Masters of Sustainability program for fall 2018. I made the important decision in Swiss Chalet over lunch, as my family and I went over all the benefits of attending Brock.

Little did I know then, but I would later be offered the Special Projects Assistant position within the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) for the summer. And so on the evening of May 6^th, I moved to St. Catharines, and by the next morning, I was sitting in Theal House and starting training. Some of you may have a vague recollection of hearing about how the ESRC renovated and moved into Theal House back in February and how the Centre is partnering with Facilities Management on sustainability initiatives through a formal charter. These milestones mark an exciting time for sustainability at Brock, and this summer is no exception, as we are working hard in the Centre on sustainability planning.

To help carry out this new work on sustainability at Brock, three students, including myself, have been hired for the summer to work on both sustainability planning and communications. This is a really exciting opportunity for me, as I get to familiarize myself with Brock and the ESRC before I start my Masters in the fall. I will be able to gain valuable and relevant experience in the field of sustainability, and help contribute to something meaningful and positive in the Brock community.

To be able to have a job you enjoy often feels rare to find, and so I am beyond thrilled to be joining the passionate and skilled staff dedicated to sustainability in the ESRC. I think the most amazing part is that staff, faculty, and students are all coming together to share their insights and skills, to engage with issues surrounding sustainability, and help to share Brock’s future directions.

In the week and a half I’ve been at the Centre, I feel like I’ve gotten a good grasp on what’s currently happening at Brock in regard to sustainability, and I am optimistic for what is to come in the future. I am convinced there is a lot of good work being done at Brock, but that there is also a lot of room for growth and improvement. I want people to be aware that even though the Centre is tucked away in its own private space on campus, we are very much an active part of campus, and that there’s a lot of good and promising work being done here. I encourage faculty, staff, students, and visitors to pay attention to sustainability initiatives and efforts throughout the year, and to come visit us at Theal House and see what the ESRC is doing. We will be around all summer working hard on these exciting initiatives. Stay tuned to find out additional information and initiatives in our weekly summer blog series.

Categories: Blog, Innovative Partnership, Student Contributor, Sustainability at Brock
Brock Master of Sustainability student heading to Cambridge University for PhD in Zoology this Fall

Wednesday, May 16, 2018 | By Amanda Smits

Blog Contributor: Samantha Morris

Lydia Collas graduating with a BA (Honours) Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge. Photo credit: Aiden Chan

Master of Sustainability student, Lydia Collas, is headed back to Cambridge University to start her PhD in Zoology under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Balmford this September. Building off her master’s research, which focuses on decision-making in agriculture, Lydia’s PhD research will explore “reforming agricultural policy to safeguard biodiversity: Are farmers willing to adopt land sparing?”

The Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) is also pleased to announce that Lydia is the recipient of the ‘Cambridge International Scholarship’. This scholarship is awarded by the Cambridge Trust to the 250 highest ranked students undertaking PhD studies at Cambridge University. The ESRC would like to congratulate Lydia on this accomplishment and wish her all the best with her studies at Cambridge this Fall!

Before heading back to the UK, Lydia will defend her Master’s thesis titled “Decision-making in agriculture: Why do farmers decide to adopt a new practice?” on May 23^rd at 1pm. The defence will take place in the Cairns Building Room 209M (the Biolinc Boardroom), Brock University, and everyone is welcome to attend.

Categories: Blog, Thesis Defense
Green thumbs needed to grow Brock Community Garden

Tuesday, May 15, 2018 | By Amanda Smits

TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2018 | by Jocelyn Titone

Alison Innes (MA ’13), Social Media Co-ordinator for the Faculty of Humanities, tends one of Brock’s 12 free community garden plots. Six plots are still available to interested Brock staff, faculty and students.

In addition to plants, the University is hopeful interest will grow in the Brock Community Garden.

Brock’s grounds crew is busy tilling the soil, creating new grass aisles and enlarging the 12 garden plots located beside the entrance of the Zone 2 parking lot near Theal House.

University staff, faculty and students looking to cultivate their green thumb are invited to use one of several free garden plots, assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

Six plots are available, with six already claimed. The Rosalind Blauer Centre for Child Care will use two plots for experiential learning; Biological Sciences Professor Liette Vasseur’s research team will use three plots to test different cover crops — plants grown for the protection and enrichment of the soil; and Brock employee Alison Innes (MA ’13) plans to tend one plot for her personal vegetable garden.

Before learning about the community plots last year, Innes, the social media co-ordinator for the Faculty of Humanities, considered herself a ‘gardener without a garden’ and often resorted to container gardening in her apartment complex.

“It’s just wonderful to have space to grow things,” she said of the University’s communal greenspace. “It’s easy to stop by the plot at the end of the day and pick some fresh veggies to take home for supper.”

Last year, Innes grew radishes, lettuce, carrots, chard, cucumber, zucchini, onions, beans and garlic. This year, she looks forward to adding potatoes and trying some heirloom varieties of vegetables such as purple beans. She also has an assortment of herbs and pollinator plants.

Unfortunately, butterflies and bees aren’t the only animals the plants attract.

“I joke that the deer and bunnies on campus are really well fed,” she said. “They got all my sunflowers and most of my beans last year. It takes a little creativity to discourage them from munching, but that’s the case wherever you garden.”

Garden plots are expected to be ready for use after Tuesday, May 22. Water will be available near the garden as well as some tools for sharing. Pesticides are not permitted and annual and non-invasive plants are preferred.

“I can’t wait to get started,” said Innes. “I find working in the garden really calming and meditative. I like to garden in the evening when it’s a bit cooler and will sometimes see wildlife and birds.”

Innes encourages first-time gardeners to consider getting a plot.

“Try it. It’s not as difficult as it might seem, although your garden will need regular care like weeding and watering,” she said. “There are lots of easy-to-grow vegetable like potatoes, beans or summer squash, and lots of great online resources on how to layout your garden. Growing plants from seeds keeps costs down, too.”

Staff, faculty and students interested in claiming a garden plot are asked to contact Grounds Manager John Dick at [email protected]

Story originally published in The Brock News.