Articles by author: Brock University

• Despite three decades of activism, violence against women not decreasing

  Thursday, November 30, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 30 November 2017 – R00227

  The Dec. 6, 1989 École Polytechnique massacre changed the conversation around violence against women, and led to the creation of Brock University’s Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies.

  But Brock Assistant Professor Robyn Bourgeois, an indigenous woman who was a victim of violence as a teenager, says that despite nearly three decades of activism, violence against women is still very much a reality.

  “While we certainly have more social awareness and, more importantly, more resources for those experiencing violence than we did in 1989, we still have a long way to go in Canada to achieve the goal of ending violence against women and girls,” says Bourgeois, also known by her indigenous spirit name Laughing Otter Caring Woman.

  Two years after the mass shooting that killed 14 women, Dec. 6 was named the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada.

  Brock’s Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies holds an event each year to observe the anniversary, and this year Bourgeois will give a public talk highlighting the need for more action on the issue.

  Bourgeois is a survivor of violence, having been trafficked for sexual exploitation in her late teens, and she says that for indigenous women and girls like herself, the odds of being a victim of a violent crime are five times higher than for non-indigenous women.

  “I live every day with the knowledge that because my two children are indigenous females with status under the Indian Act, they face only a 50 per cent chance of reaching age 14 and a 25 per cent chance of reaching age 18 without experiencing some form of sexual violence,” she says.

  In addition to presenting and publishing nationally and internationally on the topic of violence against indigenous women and girls, Bourgeois has been advocating for women in Canada for nearly 20 years.

  She says that living in poverty, involvement in the sex trade and being racialized, disabled, queer or transgender not only increases the vulnerability of women and girls in Canada, but it also shapes how these individuals experience the justice system, social services and health services.

  Bourgeois’s talk will highlight indigenous women and girls to show how all violence is connected.

  “Ending violence against all women and girls requires that we examine our complicity with the dominant social systems of oppression — heteropatriarchy, colonialism, racism, ableism and classism — and work together to dismantle them,” she says.

  What: December 6: Why this day still matters so much

  Who: Robyn Bourgeois (Laughing Otter Caring Woman), Assistant Professor, Centre of Women’s and Gender Studies

  When: Dec. 6, noon to 1:30 p.m.

  Where: Brock University, Academic South Room STH216

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases

• University research saving Ontario vineyards one grape bud at a time

  Wednesday, November 29, 2017 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 29 November 2017 – R00226

  With erratic temperatures and extreme weather events on the rise, researchers at Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology & Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) are working to make vineyards across the region more resilient to climate change.

  After experiencing an unusually mild October, southern Ontario was blasted with a mass of frigid air that caused a record-breaking cold snap in early November — putting grapevines at risk for early frost injury.

  When the mercury plummeted, CCOVI researchers were already out in the vineyards collecting bud hardiness data for the VineAlert program. By also collecting data on grape bud survival rates after cold weather events, the Institute is able to give growers direction on how to manage any damage vines may have sustained.

  “Thankfully, we had some data available and it didn’t get cold enough to damage the vines based on our preliminary bud survival data,” said Jim Willwerth, CCOVI’s senior viticulturist, “but the extreme variances in temperature are especially problematic when the grapevines are early in their cold acclimation process.”

  Now in its ninth year, the VineAlert program tracks a grape bud’s ability to survive cold temperatures over the dormant season, from October to April, across Ontario’s key grape producing regions.

  During that period, alerts indicating which grape varieties may see damage during a cold weather event are sent out to growers and researchers. This allows them to determine when they should utilize their wind machines or other freeze-avoidance technologies.

  Kevin Donohue (BSc ’94), Vineyard Manager at Colio Estate Wines located on the north shore of Lake Erie, said the alert system acts as confirmation that the weather conditions warrant running his wind machine.

  “VineAlert allows us to correlate real-time weather data with what is actually going on in the field,” said Donohue, who also graduated from Brock’s Grape and Wine Technology certificate program in 2002. “We can adjust some of our strategies for field operations to help us to get to the safest level of dormancy going into the winter months.”

  Willwerth said monitoring the hardiness of the region’s grape buds is especially crucial in periods with volatile temperature fluctuations, including the shift from the cold below-average temperatures of early November to the above-seasonal temperatures experienced at present.

  “With all these ups and downs in temperature, we worry the plants won’t acclimate well or they might de-acclimate prematurely, leading to spring frost injury,” he explained.

  As weather patterns continue to become more unpredictable, it’s also important to monitor conditions on a long-term, historical basis in order to use that data to understand and predict the vines’ response.

  That’s why CCOVI researchers will be sampling more grape buds than usual this year in order to further bolster their cold hardiness database.

  The goal is to improve predictive modelling to help growers better understand how their vines will react during erratic weather conditions.

  Willwerth said the years of data will help researchers “further understand how growing season and variable winter conditions impact hardiness, which will allow us to better protect the vines and better understand how viticulture may change in the future.”

  Willwerth operates the VineAlert program along with CCOVI Professional Affiliate Kevin Ker, of KCMS Applied Research and Consulting, and CCOVI Director Debbie Inglis.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases