News

  • Brock biologist featured in book on influential environmentalists

    Sunday, February 26, 2017 | By

    Published on April 20 2016

    From The Brock News
    April 19, 2016

    Brock University biologist Liette Vasseur is featured in a recently published book profiling women environmentalists around the globe.

    “I was honoured, almost scared; I was so surprised,” Vasseur says of appearing in the book Citoyennes de la Terre (Women Citizens of the Earth), a collection of profiles complied by Florence Piron, a professor in the Department of Information and Communication at Laval University in Quebec.

    Vasseur was noted for a variety of accomplishments, including her work with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Commission on Ecosystem Management, being President of the Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology (CCWESTT) and president-elect of the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists.

    She also holds a UNESCO Chair in Environmental Sustainability and is a member of Brock’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre. She has research partnerships with a variety of Canadian and international governments and organizations.

    Vasseur is noted for her research on communities’ responses to climate change impacts and managing ecosystems in coastal and forested areas, taking her to such places as Burkina Faso and China.

    “Who would have thought that this little country girl, who loved to draw animals and help out her florist father, would one day become this accomplished woman who has contributed so much to research on climate change and sustainable development?” writes profile author Vincent Leboeuf Gadreau.

    “Who would have thought that her passion for the environment and communities would one day lead her to work with leading scientists on the other side of the planet and influence changes to environmental policies?”

    In the book, Vasseur joins such notables as Jane Goodall, Rachel Carson, Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai and Canadian politician Elizabeth May.

    Story from The Brock News.

  • Lake to Lake Podcast: Water, who has it, who uses it, and how much it costs

    Sunday, February 26, 2017 | By

    Published on March 28 2016

    St. Catharines Standard, Lake to Lake Podcast: Episode 2

    Episode 2 of the Lake to Lake Podcast, taking a look at water, who has it, who uses it, and how much it costs. We talk to Brock University economist Steven Renzetti and Scott Maxwell from Wells of Hope.

    Click here to listen to the Lake to Lake Podcast.

  • Brock, Australian university sign agreement on sustainability research

    Sunday, February 26, 2017 | By

    Published on March 28 2016

    Story from The Brock News
    March 23, 2016

    Brock University has signed an agreement with the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) in Australia that will enable Brock students to pursue a PhD in sustainability at USC.

    The memorandum of understanding (MOU), signed March 14 by Brock Professor and Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) member Gary Pickering and the Director of USC’s Sustainability Research Centre Tim Smith, formalizes a long-running research relationship between Brock and USC in the areas of global change, sustainability and resilience.

    For several years, USC has offered a transdisciplinary PhD program in sustainability that synthesizes research in the social, economic and behavioural sciences to address environmental and societal concerns.

    This new agreement will allow researchers from Brock’s ESRC to supervise students in the sustainability PhD program, and give students the opportunity to study in Australia and Canada.

    “The ESRC is tremendously excited to sign this MOU with USC. It will allow for deeper research partnerships between Brock and USC and it will bring doctoral students into the Centre who can contribute to its burgeoning research culture. This is a great step forward in the development of the ESRC,” says ESRC director Tim Heinmiller.

    “This MOU builds on existing, high impact research collaborations between the Sustainability Research Centre at USC and the ESRC at Brock. All involved intend this to be a very active MOU, and together help build the capacity in our young researchers and scholars to meet the global challenges in sustainability that we face,” adds Pickering.

    To strengthen this new partnership even further, USC has established a new PhD scholarship in Social Dimensions of Global Change. Under the MOU, Brock students can apply for this scholarship, which will cover tuition, living, and travel expenses.

    USC is offering one scholarship for this program. The deadline is April 29. For more information click here.

    To learn more about the PhD program click here.

  • WEPGN announces Connecting With Water award to support junior researchers

    Sunday, February 26, 2017 | By

    Published on March 21 2016

    From The Brock News
    March 21, 2016

    World Water Day offers an opportunity to consider the significance of one of our most precious global resources.

    Here at Brock University, the Water Economics Policy and Governance Network (WEPGN) will celebrate by offering a new award to its junior researchers who want to share their findings with a broad audience.

    WEPGN is a Canada-wide research initiative that has been headquartered at Brock since it was founded in 2012. The network connects researchers and partners to facilitate meaningful and urgent research into the social, economic and political dimensions of water — matters that are especially relevant to water and jobs, which is the theme of #WWD this year.

    The new Connecting With Water award will provide funding for knowledge mobilization activities that communicate the findings generated by WEPGN research projects.

    Most importantly, the award will enable junior researchers to propose and undertake their own projects while developing practical skills in knowledge translation and project management.

    “The Water Economics, Policy and Governance Network is proud of the role students and other highly qualified personnel have played to date in the success of the network,” explains Steven Renzetti, program director for WEPGN. “We hope that the Connecting With Water award provides an avenue through which students and HQP can research water-related issues and communicate their findings to other researchers and the broader water community in creative ways.”

    The award grew out of a pilot project in 2014/15, when Iftekhar Ahmad, a Masters student at York University, was awarded funding for his work on Human well-being, ecosystem services and watershed management in the Credit River Valley: Web-distributed mechanisms and indicators for communication and awareness.

    Junior researchers may request up to $7,500 to support their knowledge mobilization project over a period of up to six months. Applications must be submitted with the support of a WEPGN affiliated researcher… Click here to continue reading this story in The Brock News.

  • World Water Day a reminder of water-related issues

    Sunday, February 26, 2017 | By

    Published on March 21 2016

    From The Brock News
    March 21, 2016

    Tuesday, March 22 is World Water Day, a United Nations initiative that dates back to 1992 and aims to raise awareness about the precious resource.

    Brock University Professor Steven Renzetti says it’s a reminder about the importance of being aware of water-related challenges.

    “We are relatively fortunate in Canada because we have, in most cases, access to clean drinking water,” he says. “That’s not true in most of the world.

    “Shortages of water and shortages of clean water affect every dimension of people’s lives. It’s a big problem.”

    From health issues associated with a lack of clean drinking water to hydro disruptions related to water shortages, Renzetti says there are massive social problems associated with water challenges.

    He says the demand for water is rapidly growing as the world’s population continues to climb and the need for food and energy skyrockets.

    However, our available water sources aren’t growing with the demand.

    “We still have the same water supply the dinosaurs did,” he says.

    Renzetti says water is one of the areas where we can see climate change in action. From droughts and floods to severe storms, these manifestations of climate change threaten infrastructure and food supplies around the world.

    “Water — it’s really where climate change shows up and it’s a massive threat to wealthy countries,” he says.

    Associate Professor Tim Heinmiller says while many parts of Canada have an abundance of water, some areas face serious issues including northern communities, which don’t have proper water delivery systems, and the southern prairies, which battle water scarcity…. click here to continue reading this story.

  • Brock University commemorates Earth Hour through words and action

    Sunday, February 26, 2017 | By

    Published on March 17 2016

    From The Brock News

    In the lead-up to this weekend’s Earth Hour, Brock University is actively promoting the concept of environmental conservation to our youth – by word and example.

    Biology professor and UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability Liette Vasseur is fresh off the heels of a live stream session that she delivered to high school students across Canada. Her lesson explored the inter-relationship between climate change and agriculture sustainability.

    Vasseur also supervises graduate students’ research on teaching environmental concepts to children in homeschools and elementary and secondary schools.

    “High schools need to have a course – or at least a half-course – on protecting the environment and sustainability,” says Vasseur, adding that this basic education can lead to more awareness and action down the road.

    At the university level, Brock has increased its “diversion rate” to 68.5 per cent in 2015.

    “That means that 68.5 per cent of materials we generated ended up not going to the landfill because of our Blue Bin recycling and organic waste collections,” says Domenic Maniccia, director of Custodial and Grounds Services.

    “It’s a collective effort between staff, faculty, students, food services, residence; everybody has a stake in it,” he says, adding that Brock University is among the Top Five environmentally sustainable universities in Ontario with respect to waste diversion.

    In addition, Brock University will be taking a number of measures to commemorate Earth Hour, which this year will take place from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. March 19. These include:

    • Parking Lots T, U, V in Zone 2: lights out (Zone 2 permit holders will be able to park in Zone 1 from 4 p.m. on March 19 as a result of lights out in Zone 2)
    • …. click here to continue reading this story.

  • USC revels in sustainable partnership with Canadian uni

    Sunday, February 26, 2017 | By

    Published on March 14 2016

    From the Sunshine Coast Daily
    March 14, 2016

    THEY have only been together for three years, but the University of the Sunshine Coast and Brock University knew their relationship was meant to be.

    USC Professor Tim Smith and Brock Professor Gary Pickering signed a memoriam of understanding to build on existing collaborations between the Sustainability Research Centre at USC and the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre at Brock.

    Prof Smith said the university’s respective sustainability centres had already joined a consortium of 10 partners from seven countries to participate in the Climate Adaptation and Water Governance project.

    CADWAGO has received more than one million Euros in funding from three European philanthropic organisations; Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Volkswagen Foundation, Compagnia di San Paolo and has seen key researchers advise European governments about best practice for dealing with flooding events based on researching events from around the world.

    A 14 minute joint video developed by the two universities was showcased at the world’s oldest academy, the Royal Society in London.

    The MoU also signals the introduction of a new PhD scholarship being offered by USC, which people can apply for until April 29.

    It is anticipated the agreement will foster closer collaboration between USC and Brock to maximise research opportunities and provide richer student experiences in the global and regional sustainability domains…

    Click here to continue reading.

  • The University of the Sunshine Coast and Brock University commit to sustainability research

    Sunday, February 26, 2017 | By

    Published on March 11 2016

    Media Release
    11 March 2016

    The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) and Brock University (Canada) signed an agreement today committing to collaborative sustainability research. The agreement builds on existing collaborations between the Sustainability Research Centre (SRC) at USC and the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) at Brock.

    It is anticipated that the agreement will foster closer collaboration between USC and Brock to maximise research opportunities and provide richer student experiences in the global and regional sustainability domains.

    Associate Professor Dana Thomsen who led the sustainability programs at USC for 8 years says “the agreement builds on current research between USC and Brock such as the Climate Adaptation and Water Governance project, which includes a consortium of 10 partners and attracted over 1 million Euro in external funding”.

    A joint video production between USC and Brock on flooding was recently showcased at the world’s oldest academy, the Royal Society, in London.

    USC has also offered a PhD scholarship to further these collaborations.

    For more information contact:
    Media Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast
    Ph: Terry Walsh 5430 1160, Email: [email protected]

  • WEPGN post-doc starts new year as economist with the US EPA

    Sunday, February 26, 2017 | By

    Published on February 11 2016

    We would like to congratulate Dr. James Price on his new position with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Last month James moved to Cincinnati and began working as an Economist with the EPA.

    During his time at Brock, James was a Post-doctoral Fellow in the Department of Economics and worked with Diane Dupont and Steven Renzetti on several WEPGN-supported projects. He received his PhD from the University of New Mexico with concentrations in environmental and natural resource economics, development economics, and econometrics. His research focused on nonmarket valuation, water resource modeling, and interaction between the environment and health outcomes.

    Best wishes on your new career!

  • New Sustainability PhD program information session being held

    Sunday, February 26, 2017 | By

    Published on January 21 2016

    From the Brock News

    An information session about a new PhD program in Sustainability, and its partnership with a university in Australia, is being held Tuesday, Jan. 26.

    The program will offer students the opportunity to study in Canada and Australia thanks to a partnership between Brock University and the University of the Sunshine Coast.

    The drop-in session runs from noon to 1 p.m. in the Scotia Bank Atrium in the Cairns building.

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