Media releases

• Research examines what it will take to foster empathy for the world’s oceans

  Wednesday, October 06, 2021 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 6 October 2021 – R0101

  Oceans support all life on Earth. Yet for many, oceans remain out of sight and, as a result, out of mind.

  A Brock University-led research team set out to find out if people would feel more empathy for the oceans — which typically means a willingness to care for the environment — if they are shown either optimistic or pessimistic future scenarios of the high seas.

  The research, “Fostering ocean empathy through future scenarios,” used both virtual reality and written formats to give participants two differing scenarios about the future of the oceans: one describing a future of environmental sustainability and social equality; and another describing a world dominated by resurgent nationalism, regional conflicts and environmental degradation.

  “Our results showed that post-test empathy levels were significantly higher than pre-test levels,” said Jessica Blythe, Assistant Professor in Brock’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC). “In other words, future scenarios fostered ocean empathy. We also found the pessimistic scenario resulted in higher empathy compared to the optimistic scenario.”

  While seeing the future scenarios impacted participants’ feelings toward oceans, the research team’s findings, published last month in the journal People and Nature, show little difference between the virtual reality and written formats.

  “As one of the first studies to demonstrate the influence of an intervention purposefully designed to build ocean empathy, the research presents a novel approach for supporting ocean sustainability,” said Blythe.

  In addition to Blythe, the research was co-authored by Gary Pickering, Brock Professor of Biological Sciences and Psychology; Julia Baird, Canada Research Chair in Human Dimensions of Water Resources and Water Resilience and Associate Professor in the ESRC and the Department of Geography and Tourism Studies; Brock ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow Gillian Dale; Nathan Bennet from The Peopled Seas Initiative; Kirsty Nash from the Centre for Marine Socioecology and Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania; and Colette Wabnitz from the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia and Stanford’s Centre for Ocean Solutions.

  The research team produced a video summarizing the research which can be found on YouTube here.

  Jessica Blythe, Associate Professor in Brock’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre is available for media interviews about the research.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected] or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock launches Canada’s first PhD in Sustainability Science

  Wednesday, October 06, 2021 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 5 October 2021 – R0100

  Brock University’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) has launched a PhD in Sustainability Science, the first program of its kind in the country.

  Offered by only a few leading institutions internationally, the PhD in Sustainability Science marks Brock’s 10th doctoral program and will welcome its first cohort next September.

  The program is the latest addition to the ESRC’s academic offerings, which include a master’s program in Sustainability Science and Society, an undergraduate minor in Sustainability and a new micro-certificate in Environmental Sustainability.

  ESRC Assistant Professor Jessica Blythe says the PhD program offers a scholarly opportunity for changemakers who are keen to address some of the pressing issues of our time.

  “Climate change, biodiversity loss and inequality really define the most urgent challenges that we need to address, from local to global,” says Blythe, who, with fellow ESRC faculty member Julia Baird, was a co-recipient of the Faculty of Social Sciences Early Career Researcher Award for 2021. “We’re really excited because our program will tackle those challenges head on. Students will also be integrated into our research networks with leading scholars around the world to really advance sustainability science, not only on the practical front but also on the theoretical and research fronts.”

  Ryan Plummer, Director and Professor of the ESRC, is delighted to see the launch of the PhD program, which was part of the original vision of the Centre when it was formed in 2012. He says it has been nearly a decade in the making, but good things come with age.

  “Part of the vibrancy of having a world-class research centre is that you need a critical intellectual mass,” says Plummer. “For the change we need in the world, we require people working at the interface of science and society who are catalysts, advancing scientific knowledge as part of the academy as well as being change agents. A PhD now is much more than academic training, and sustainability science broadens our mission to engage community partners, which is critical for meaningful change.”

  Associate Professor Marilyne Jollineau, Graduate Program Director for the ESRC, says she is eager to welcome students from diverse backgrounds and to enact principles of equity, diversity and inclusion. She notes that the program is designed to support students coming from different academic fields and to foster mentoring relationships among scholars at different points in their journeys.

  “We start everybody from the same position and set the foundation for sustainability science,” says Jollineau. “Students may take their courses with master’s-level students, so there’s a reciprocal relationship, and they’re learning from each other as well as learning from different academics who are part of the program. The courses are also tailored to suit the needs of a PhD student, which facilitates mentorship and bridges the gap between professors and students.”

  Blythe says she looks forward to the richness that applicants from various academic backgrounds will bring to the program.

  “I think one of the very exciting things that draws us all to sustainability science is how it cuts across everything and is becoming mainstreamed in every single field and profession,” says Blythe. “One of the real strengths of our graduate program is how transdisciplinary we are, with graduate students coming from business backgrounds, biology and health backgrounds, among others. We need sustainability thinkers with strong academic training in all fields.”

  Associate Professor Julia Baird, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Human Dimensions of Water Resources and Resilience, says the program will best suit students who are wholly committed to solving problems.

  “I hope to welcome students who have a keen interest in working on matters at the nexus of scholarship and practice,” says Baird. “That’s what we want — people who are passionate about engaging in world-class scholarship and really focused on very real, very urgent problems.”

  See more on the new PhD in Sustainability Science, see this story in The Brock News.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected] or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases