Media releases

• Brock’s community eclipse event set to educate and engage

  Thursday, April 04, 2024 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: April 4 2024 – R0045

  As Niagara prepares to witness the rare total solar eclipse, Brock University is welcoming the community to campus Monday, April 8 for a learning experience like no other.

  Eclipse on the Escarpment will feature more than a dozen free educational exhibits that will engage adults and children alike in science, history and culture through interactive experiments, hands-on projects, informative posters and interesting simulations, followed by a community viewing of the total solar eclipse.

  Among the experiences, which begin at noon in Ian Beddis Gymnasium, will be a live experiment that will see Biology researchers use an infrared thermal imaging camera to monitor the reaction of Oxalis plants during the darkness of the total solar eclipse.

  “Oxalis are known to display rapid plant movement by retracting their leaves towards the shoot when kept in darkness. This phenomenon seems to be mediated by a protein called phototropin,” says Alonso Zavafer, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and Engineering. “Phototropin acts as a light switch by detecting blue light and controlling the internal water level of the leaves. During the day, there is blue light and the leaves open, while at night when only far-red and near infrared light is present, the leaves close.”

  Zavafer says the reaction is believed to be an evolutionary response to promote photosynthetic growth during the day and prevent dehydration of the leaves at night. He expects the plants will close their leaves during the total solar eclipse when the sun is blocked by the moon.

  “Plants can move and sense the day and night cycles,” he says. “Our experiment will show plants can be fooled by the eclipse into thinking they are experiencing a night cycle.”

  Other exhibits will explore animal behaviour during an eclipse, the role of the 1919 eclipse in confirming the theory of general relativity, the 17th-century poem titled “The Eclipse,” ancient tools used to calculate and display celestial information. the history of the moon, and a NASA initiative involving a computer simulation of a lunar rover that follows the physics of the moon.

  A chemistry-focused exhibit will highlight the celestial origins of the elements in the periodic table with physical examples participants can touch, while an exhibit led by Earth Sciences faculty and students will feature a display of meteorite and rock samples, a moon photo selfie station and a hands-on demonstration on creating an impact crater.

  Physics students will demonstrate how to create a pinhole camera, which can be used to safely view the eclipse as a projection on paper. Visitors can bring a cereal box or similarly sized cardboard container to make their own.

  Guests from Niagara College solar spectroscopy, Niagara Geopark, SETI Institute and Space Place Canada will also be on site, many using specialized equipment to view, monitor or livestream the eclipse.

  Among the scientific observations expected to take place on campus will be the use of a digital smart telescope to observe physical, meteorological and biological phenomena, while also livestreaming the eclipse to the Brock University YouTube channel with the assistance of BrockTV.

  Brock’s Department of Geography and Tourism Studies will be using a scientific weather station during the eclipse to measure and record changes in temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, as well as shortwave radiation.

  The community viewing will take place on Alumni Field from 2 to 4:30 p.m., with the eclipse reaching maximum totality at 3:19 p.m.

  Solar eclipses can be safely viewed with the use of ISO-certified eclipse glasses. Looking directly at the sun with the naked eye can cause permanent eye damage. Complimentary viewing glasses will be available on Monday, April 8 in Ian Beddis Gymnasium from noon to 3 p.m. or at several locations across campus beginning at 11 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis while quantities last.

  People coming to campus for the event are reminded that paid parking is available through the Honk mobile app. Parking may also be paid in person at a kiosk inside the Walker Sports Complex near the Hungry Badger from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

  Visitors travelling to campus are encouraged to arrive early to avoid traffic delays and to consider taking public transportation.

  For more information about Eclipse on the Escarpment, please visit brocku.ca/eclipse

  Media are invited to attend the Eclipse on the Escarpment event. For assistance arranging interviews or parking, please contact Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock research shows work needed beyond new National School Food Program

  Wednesday, April 03, 2024 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY: April 3 2024 – R0044

  The federal government is on the right track with its new National School Food Program that will provide 400,000 meals to children, but more needs to be done to increase food security in Niagara and beyond, say two Brock University political scientists.

  “This marks a critical milestone in Canada, the only G7 country without such a program,” Professor of Political Science Charles Conteh says in response to the new program announced Monday, April 1.

  “Supporting schools and community groups struggling to provide nutritious meals to children, some of society’s most vulnerable, is a small but vital part of the solution to the crisis of food insecurity,” says Conteh, Director of Brock’s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO).

  Assistant Professor of Political Science Joanne Heritz says the new program “will assist a growing number of families who are struggling to regularly provide their children with nutritious food.”

  “While this policy is a step in the right direction, it will not solve the challenges an increasing number of people face at home in meeting the nutritional needs of their children due to inadequate wages that fail to pay for increasing food and housing costs,” she says.

  Heritz is the author of a policy brief the NCO released on Tuesday, April 2 titled “Sustaining Food Security in Niagara.”

  The brief documents food insecurity at the local, provincial and national levels and provides a detailed examination of food bank reliance in Niagara. It analyzes various responses to food insecurity and concludes with recommendations for all levels of government.

  “As charitable organizations, food banks were designed to provide temporary assistance to those in need,” says Heritz. “Today, they are responding to systemic inadequacies by supporting an alarming number of vulnerable residents with food security.”

  But this trend shows no signs of slowing down because the main drivers of food insecurity — unaffordable housing, precarious employment and inadequate social assistance — aren’t being addressed, she says.

  Her research shows food bank usage has risen in all of Niagara’s 12 municipalities. The largest increase was seen in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where use grew 118 per cent from 2021 to 2023, followed by St. Catharines and Thorold with an 82 per cent increase from 2022 to 2023 and Niagara Falls with a 65 per cent increase from 2022 to 2023.

  Additionally, more than 40 per cent of those relying on Feed Niagara-based food banks are children, says the brief.

  The research also notes a “dramatic” rise in the number of employed people accessing Niagara’s food banks for the first time, with some working three or four jobs, along with those on fixed incomes.

  Heritz lists several policy recommendations for federal, provincial and local governments that would help boost food security efforts in Niagara, including:

  • Providing a basic income for low-income households.
  • Raising minimum wage, disability benefits and social assistance rates to align with a living wage. As an example, the brief says full-time workers in Niagara need to earn $20.35 an hour, from the current minimum wage of $16.55 an hour, “to meet their basic needs in 2024.”
  • Increasing the supply of community housing in response to the growing number of people on waitlists.
  • All municipalities supporting Niagara Region in securing federal and provincial funding for affordable housing.

  Brock University Assistant Professor of Political Science Joanne Heritz and Professor of Political Science Charles Conteh are available for media interviews on the topic.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases