News

• David Brown presents his new collaborative research project with Niagara Falls Museum and Library

  Thursday, February 04, 2021 | By Samantha Morris

  

  Dr. Dave Brown (top left) joined researchers across Brock University’s Faculty of Social Sciences for a virtual symposium.

  Dr. Dave Brown joined researchers across Brock University’s Faculty of Social Sciences on February 4th, 2021 for a virtual symposium where he shared about his research project, “Collaborative research proposal with Niagara Falls Museum and Library: Geolocation and Interpretation of Digital Historical and Heritage Assets in Niagara”. This project was one of many funded by the Special COVID-19-Related Dean’s Discretionary Fund.

  In spring, 2020, as the disruptive potential of the pandemic became clear, the Dean’s Office sought to support ongoing and innovative initiatives by members of the Faculty of Social Sciences. As activities across FOSS were reimagined and realigned to comply with the new COVID-19 context, the Special COVID-19-Related Dean’s Discretionary Fund was created. The online symposium showcased and discussed several of the projects that were supported through this fund, including Dr. Brown’s research.

  Tags: David Brown, Faculty of Social Sciences, FOSS, funding, heritage, library, museum, Niagara Falls, research, tourism
  Categories: News

• Brock prof to talk climate change with Chief of Vuntut Gwitchin Government

  Thursday, February 04, 2021 | By Samantha Morris

  FROM THE BROCK NEWS | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2021 | by Cathy Majtenyi

  

  Kevin Turner, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Tourism Studies. (Photo courtesy of Daniel Hughes)

  Residents of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in Old Crow, Yukon are living on the frontline of climate change, witnessing dramatic landscape changes in the Arctic due to rising temperatures.

  Under the leadership of Dana Tizya-Tramm, Chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin Government, Yukon was the first Indigenous community to draft a climate change emergency declaration, Yeendoo Diinehdoo Ji’heezrit Nits’oo Ts’o’ Nan He’aa (or After Our Time, How Will the World Be?) in 2019.

  Brock University Associate Professor in Geography and Tourism Studies Kevin Turner is very familiar with the dramatic response of the landscape to climate change on the traditional territory of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.

  Researching the area of Old Crow, Yukon, for over a decade, he continues to monitor landscape changes including landslides, vegetation change, lake drainage and fire. His research integrates chemical analyses of water and sediment to evaluate impacts of changing landscape features on lakes and rivers.

  Turner, who is Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Arctic Studies at the University of Washington, will be sitting down with Chief Tizya-Tramm for a “fireside chat” hosted by the World Affairs Council at a virtual public lecture Tuesday, Feb. 9 from 7 to 8 p.m.

  Turner and Tizya-Tramm will discuss emerging issues and priorities identified by the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in the face of global challenges.

  Diverse topics will include efforts to conserve the Porcupine Caribou Herd, adjustments during a pandemic, and pathways for unifying traditional insight of changing climate and landscapes with ongoing science-based monitoring approaches.

  “I’m looking forward to it, and in particular discussions of bringing together science-based research and traditional knowledge for the benefits of those most influenced by climate change,” says Turner.

  For more information and to register, click here.

  FROM THE BROCK NEWS

  Tags: event, First Nations, geography, Kevin Turner, northern Canada, Physical Geography
  Categories: News

• Brock mourns the passing of first female faculty member

  Monday, January 25, 2021 | By Samantha Morris

  FROM THE BROCK NEWS | MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2021 | by Dan Dakin

  

  Josephine Meeker, Brock University’s first female faculty member, passed away Monday, Jan. 11 at the age of 90.

  Brock University was an important part of Josephine Meeker’s life for far longer than the three decades that she worked here.

  Believed to be the first woman ever hired as a Brock faculty member, Meeker started as an Assistant Professor of Geography on July 1, 1965 and retired 30 years later on June 30, 1996. In between those two dates, Meeker played a significant role in the development of the Department of Geography and the University as a whole. She was the first Director of Continuing Education, the first president of the Brock University Faculty Association and had tenures as a member of both the Board of Trustees and Senate, for which she served a term as Chair. She was also influential in the creation of the Women’s Studies program, and in 1995 received the Rosalind Blauer Award for improving the position of women at Brock.

  

  Josephine Meeker, who began her time at Brock as an Assistant Professor of Geography in 1965, is shown leading a class in 1968.

  Meeker, born in Hamilton in 1930, passed away Monday, Jan. 11 in St. Catharines at the age of 90.

  “Josephine brought a commitment to Brock, never ceasing to put Brock first,” said John Menzies, Professor of Earth Sciences and Geography. “Her commitment to students was incredible, not only in helping them in their studies, but also in their whole life here and afterward.”

  After graduating from McMaster University in 1953, she began a teaching career in Hamilton, where she was responsible for the United Nations Club, which led her to oversee multiple trips to Washington and New York. That led her to graduate studies at Indiana University and Columbia University in New York City, where she met her future husband Donald, and started working with the United Nations.

  After completing her graduate studies, she returned to Canada to start her academic career at Brock.

  Meeker’s niece, Wendy Nelson, said Brock held a very import place in her aunt’s heart.

  “My Aunt Jo cherished her role as ‘Professor Meeker’ and the chance to teach and mentor students at Brock University,” Nelson said. “She was so proud of the University and its development over time. Throughout her lifetime, her highest praise of individuals was reserved for graduates of Brock. In her eyes, a degree at Brock was Josephine’s ‘seal of approval.’”

  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in memory of Meeker to either Brock University or McMaster University. A virtual celebration of life for students, colleagues, friends and family will take place Sunday, March 7 at 2 p.m. To participate, contact the family via Nelson at wnelson@rogers.com

  An online book of condolences can be found at turnerfamilyfuneralhome.ca

  Read the full obituary in The Globe and Mail here.

  STORY FROM THE BROCK NEWS

  Tags: Faculty, geography, Josephine Meeker
  Categories: News

• New book chapter explores the historical micro-geography of liberal urbanism in Toronto’s Brunswick Avenue neighbourhood

  Monday, January 11, 2021 | By Samantha Morris

  Dr. Phillip Mackintosh has published a new chapter in the book Micro-Geographies of the City, 1750-1900 titled “Liberalism underfoot: A micro-geography of street paving and social dissolution – Brunswick Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, 1898–99”.

  This chapter defines liberal urbanism in the context of Toronto’s paving problem and the universally unpopular local improvements by-law, devised to rehabilitate and ultimately capitalise the modern city. It focuses on the particular case of Brunswick Avenue and how Brunswickers’ perturbations of choice dismantled community good will. The four blocks of Brunswick Avenue between College and Bloor underwent two phases of pavement installation from 1880 to 1900. The first stretch, from College to Ulster, laid a cedar block roadway in 1882, which had an expiry date of 1892. Property owners tolerated their spent cedar roadway for four years and then purchased an asphalt surface in 1896, built by contractor David Chalmers in October 1896. Curiously given the snooty reputation of the homeowners in that section of Brunswick the same neighbourhood wanted only a plank sidewalk on the west side of their new asphalt pavement despite the city engineer recommending brick.

  Read the chapter and full book here.

  Citation:

  Phillip Gordon Mackintosh (2021) Liberalism Underfoot: Paving and Social Paradox—Brunswick Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, 1898. In Alida Clemente, Jon Stobbart & Dag Lindstrom eds, Micro-Geographies of the City, 1750-1900. Research in Historical Geography Series, London: Routledge.

  Tags: book, book chapter, geography, historical geography, Human Geography, Phillip Mackintosh, research, Toronto
  Categories: News

• New research uses leading-edge methods to track a retrogressive thaw slump in Old Crow Flats, Yukon

  Friday, January 08, 2021 | By Samantha Morris

  

  A new paper authored by Geography and Tourism Studies Associate Professor, Dr. Kevin Turner, and Geography alumni Michelle Pearce and Daniel Hughes titled “Detailed Characterization and Monitoring of a Retrogressive Thaw Slump from Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems and Identifying Associated Influence on Carbon and Nitrogen Export” has been published in Remote Sensing. This paper is open-access and available to download here.

  Abstract:
  Ice-rich permafrost landscapes are sensitive to ongoing changes in climate. Permafrost retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs) represent one of the more abrupt and prolonged disturbances, which occur along Arctic river and lake shorelines. These features impact local travel and infrastructure, and there are many questions regarding associated impacts on biogeochemical cycling. Predicting the duration and magnitude of impacts requires that we enhance our knowledge of RTS geomorphological drivers and rates of change. Here we demonstrate the utility of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) for documenting the volumetric change, associated drivers and potential impacts of the largest active RTS along the Old Crow River in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada. RPAS surveys revealed that 29,174 m3 of sediment was exported during the initial evacuation in June 2016 and an additional 18,845 m3 continued to be exported until June 2019. More sediment export occurred during the warmer 2017 summer that experienced less cumulative rainfall than summer 2018. However, several rain events during 2017 were of higher intensity than during 2018. Overall mean soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) within sampled thaw slump sediment was 1.36% and 0.11%, respectively. A combination of multispectral, thermal and irradiance (derived from the RPAS digital surface model) data provided detailed classification of thaw slump floor terrain types including raised dry clay lobes, shaded and relatively stable, and low-lying evacuation-prone sediments. Notably, the path of evacuation-prone sediments extended to a series of ice wedges in the northern headwall, where total irradiance was highest. Using thaw slump floor mean SOC and TN values in conjunction with sediment bulk density and thaw slump fill volume, we estimated that 713 t SOC and 58 t TN were exported to the Old Crow River during the three-year study. Findings showcase the utility of high-resolution RPAS datasets for refining our knowledge of thaw slump geomorphology and associated impacts.

  Citation:
  Turner K.W., Pearce M.D., and Hughes D.D. (2021). Detailed Characterization and Monitoring of a Retrogressive Thaw Slump from Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems and Identifying Associated Influence on Carbon and Nitrogen Export. Remote Sensing, 13(2):171. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13020171

  Tags: alumni, journal article, Kevin Turner, northern Canada, remote sensing, research, Yukon
  Categories: News

• New book chapter examines the changing ecology of the Arctic from a paleoenvironmental perspective

  Saturday, January 02, 2021 | By Samantha Morris

  

  Dr. Michael Pisaric has published a new chapter in the book Arctic Ecology titled “Arctic Ecology – A Paleoenvironmental Perspective”.

  In the absence of measured climate and ecological data records, paleoecology, and paleoclimatology provide unique opportunities to examine ecological and climatic conditions across long timescales and provide much needed long‐term context. Across the Arctic there are numerous ecological problems affecting the biota and landscapes of this environmentally sensitive region. Climate change is chief amongst these. This chapter examines the changing ecology of the Arctic from a paleoenvironmental perspective. Using examples from studies throughout the circumpolar Arctic, the changing ecology of the Arctic is examined across longer timescales than typically considered in ecological studies. While instrumental records of climatic change in the Arctic are generally short, dendrochronology can provide key insights into climate variability during the past several centuries to millennia. There are many types of natural archives of ecological and environmental change from marine terrestrial environments in the Arctic.

  Citation:

  Pisaric, M., & Smol, J.P. (2021). Arctic Ecology – A Paleoenvironmental Perspective. Pages 23-55 in D.N. Thomas (Ed.) Arctic Ecology. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118846582.ch2

  Tags: book, book chapter, Canada, Michael Pisaric, northern Canada, paleoclimatology, Physical Geography, research
  Categories: News

• Michael Ripmeester acknowledged for 25 years of service to Brock

  Wednesday, December 16, 2020 | By Samantha Morris

  

  The Department of Geography and tourism Studies would like to congratulate Dr. Michael Ripmeester on being recognized for his 25 years of service to Brock University today at the President’s Holiday Celebration. We are thankful for the countless contributions he has made to our Department, and to Brock as a whole.

  Tags: Faculty, geography, Michael Ripmeester
  Categories: News

• New book explores transnational pushback against LGBTQ rights

  Monday, December 07, 2020 | By Samantha Morris

  FROM THE BROCK NEWS | MONDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2020 | by Amanda Bishop

  

  A new book from recently retired Brock Professor Catherine Jean Nash focuses on resistances against LGBTQ rights and equalities in different regions, or ‘heteroactivism.’

  Resistances against LGBTQ rights and equalities in different regions, or ‘heteroactivism,’ is the focus of a new book from recently retired Brock Professor Catherine Jean Nash.

  Nash, from Brock’s Department of Geography and Tourism Studies, and co-author Kath Browne of the University College Dublin coined the term for the phenomenon featured in their book, Heteroactivism: Resisting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Rights and Equalities published by Zed Books earlier this fall.

  Nash and Browne define heteroactivism as “both an ideology and a set of practices” used by a broad range of groups and organizations who oppose sexual and gender rights by “asserting the supremacy of heterosexual marriage and normative gender roles as the foundations for the best society and the best place for raising children.”

  “In order to understand their arguments and why they are framed as they are, one has to understand the social, cultural and political contexts that heteroactivists find themselves in,” says Nash.

  Whereas “homophobia” is a term that implies hatred, heteroactivists often sidestep the label by arguing that they are not motivated by hatred or oppression, but rather by apparent attacks on their individual rights, such freedom of religion, freedom of speech or parental rights.

  

  Catherine Jean Nash of the Department of Geography and Tourism Studies is the author of a new book on heteroactivism.

  “With LGBTQ rights and equalities in place in Canada, the U.K. and Ireland, these groups have had to revise or reshape their strategies in order to find room to have their ideas and position heard,” says Nash.

  Nash and Browne also show in the book that heteroactivism is adapted based on geography. “Heteroactivist ideas ‘travel’ across national and international boundaries and are taken up, but often in specific, local ways,” Nash says.

  The book grew out of research first begun in 2012 and supported by two Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grants, following many years of progress in laws designed to enshrine the rights of members of the LGBTQ community.

  “When this research first started, we were curious about what arguments individuals and groups who opposed LGBTQ rights and equalities could make, given that these rights and equalities are the law of the land, so to speak,” says Nash. “We saw these groups as quite marginal given the law and policy changes and assumed this would be a small project.”

  However, as Nash began to take a closer look at groups objecting to LGBTQ legal rights, visibility in the media or gender-inclusive language, the research turned up an unexpected result.

  “We began to notice that for many reasons, including the advent of social media, these groups developed increasingly complex international connections,” says Nash, noting that individuals read and commented on each other’s blogs, published newsletters and attended conferences such as the World Congress of Families.

  “In many cases, these groups developed similar but specific arguments,” says Nash. “That is, they might have objections to, say, sex education curriculum in both Canada and the U.K. but have distinctive and specific concerns given the different history of these locations because, as we argue, geography matters.”

  Nash points to the strategy of the Conservative government of Ontario that debated repealing the 2015 sex education curriculum, arguing that “traditionally minded” minority groups objected to the LGBTQ content and that their views needed to be respected in a multicultural society. By contrast, when some Muslims parents in the U.K. protested the LGBTQ-inclusive sex ed curriculum as well as broader school programs aimed at diversity that included LGBT families, they had to show “that they understood that LGBT rights were U.K. values which they needed to embrace, so they framed their argument as one of ‘parental rights’ to determine what is ‘age appropriate,’” according to Nash.

  Even more significantly, Nash says that as a result of these adaptations, “LGBTQ opposition began to move from what had been the margins to the centre of political debates, particularly around trans rights, teaching sex ed, parental rights and freedom of speech.”

  This observation illuminated a need for careful study of the complex landscape of heteroactivism.

  “The purpose of the book is to set out in some detail the sorts of arguments heteroactivists make by looking at specific battles in Canada, the U.K. and Ireland,” says Nash. “We were primarily concerned when we started that academics in particular were not paying any attention to heteroactivist opposition or in developing counter arguments to heteroactivist claims, though academics in Europe and the U.S. are now increasingly focusing on the various types of resistances that are becoming more prominent.”

  Nash and Browne will now continue their research in this area, turning their attention to a multi-year project called “Beyond Opposition” funded by a more than $3-million European Research Council Grant awarded to Browne.

  “The project’s goal is to engage with individuals and groups who might be opposed to or are uncomfortable with social and political changes around LGB, Trans or abortion for example,” Nash explains. “These are people who, in their different geographies, might find themselves in difficulty — for example, workplaces may celebrate gay Pride while some individuals themselves don’t support it and yet to voice their opposition might cause them strife in the workplace.”

  Nash, who will act as co-researcher on the Canadian component of the project with a post-doctoral fellow, says that although this project is just starting out, “the ultimate goal is to try to work beyond the us/them binary” to better understand how we might accommodate differences.

  Anyone interested in the project can complete a questionnaire at beyondopposition.org.

  STORY FROM THE BROCK NEWS

  Tags: book, Catherine Nash, geography, Human Geography, research
  Categories: News

• Social Sciences event to showcase faculty, student research 

  Thursday, December 03, 2020 | By Samantha Morris

  FROM THE BROCK NEWS | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 03, 2020 | by Jeannie Mackintosh

  

  Michael Pisaric (left), Professor of Geography and Tourism Studies, is pictured during a trip to Sunset Beach in St. Catharines to measure the quantity of plastics turning up in the sand. Pisaric is one of three faculty members who will speak about their work at the Social Sciences Research Colloquium on Wednesday, Dec. 9.

  From lake bottom sediment to digital data, from hockey to health care, and from local actions to global implications, there’s no shortage of impactful research being done in Brock University’s Faculty of Social Sciences (FOSS).

  The University community is invited to hear about some of the compelling projects underway by faculty and students during the upcoming Social Sciences Research Colloquium taking place online Wednesday, Dec. 9 from 1 to 4 p.m.

  This annual event recognizes the outstanding achievements of FOSS researchers and gives award recipients an opportunity to present their findings to the Brock community and wider public.

  This year’s virtual colloquium will feature recent recipients of FOSS faculty awards that recognize consistent records of outstanding research achievements as reflected in the quality and quantity of refereed publications, grants awards and other research activities.

  Featured recipients include Michael Pisaric, Professor of Geography and Tourism Studies, who received the 2019 Distinguished Researcher award; Assistant Professor Karen Louise Smith from the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film, who received the 2019 Untenured Researcher of the Year award; and Nicole Goodman, now Associate Professor of Political Science, who received the Untenured Researcher of the Year award in 2018, but was unavailable to present until this year.

  In addition to faculty members, three winners of the Social Sciences Student Research Award were selected to present, including Pulkit Garg, who is pursuing a Master of Sustainability supervised by Professor of Biology Liette Vasseur; Jessica Falk, a Master of Arts candidate in Social Justice and Equity Studies, who is supervised by Margot Francis, Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies; and Master of Arts candidate in Critical Sociology Appiah Bonsu, who is supervised by Associate Professor of Sociology Trent Newmeyer.

  This is the second Research Colloquium to showcase FOSS student researchers alongside faculty award winners. Combined, faculty and student presentations represent six FOSS departments.

  Winners of the 2020 FOSS faculty awards will be announced at the Research Colloquium, providing a preview of next year’s event.

  All are welcome to attend the free online event. For more information, including the draft agenda and login instructions, please visit the Research Colloquium website.

  What: Social Sciences Research Colloquium
  When: Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020 from 1 to 4 p.m.
  Where: Lifesize
  Who: This webinar is free and open to the public.

  STORY FROM THE BROCK NEWS

  Tags: awards, event, Faculty of Social Sciences, FOSS, Michael Pisaric, Research Colloquium
  Categories: News

• Geography and Tourism Studies Adjunct Professor named to the Order of Canada

  Tuesday, December 01, 2020 | By Samantha Morris

  FROM THE BROCK NEWS | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 01, 2020 | by Maryanne St. Denis

  

  Brock alumnus David Grimes, pictured in 2016 receiving Brock’s Faculty of Mathematics and Science Distinguished Graduate Award from Dean Ejaz Ahmed, was named to the Order of Canada last week.

  A man well known to the Brock University community — and to the world for his critical climate change work — has received one of the country’s highest honours.

  Brock alumnus David Grimes (BSc ’75) was named to the Order of Canada on Friday, Nov. 27. He was recognized for his outstanding leadership in meteorology and for his pioneering development of a global strategy on climate change and disaster-risk preparedness.

  Grimes was the first Canadian to serve as President of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a United Nations agency that co-ordinates international efforts to better understand the planet’s pressing weather, water and climate issues. He served two terms in the lead role from 2011 to 2019.

  He was among 114 appointments to the Order of Canada announced by Governor-General Julie Payette last week. Also receiving the honour was John Peller, a leader in Canada’s wine industry and a long-time supporter of Brock University.

  The Order of Canada recognizes Canadians whose service shapes society, whose innovations ignite imaginations and whose compassion unites communities.

  During his time at Brock, Grimes studied mathematics, and nuclear and quantum physics, ultimately graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Physics.

  Upon graduation, he joined Environment Canada, where he trained as a meteorologist and spent more than four decades fulfilling policy and management assignments. He also served as Assistant Deputy Minister and head of Environment Canada’s Meteorological Service from 2006 to 2019.

  Grimes was previously honoured by Brock, receiving the University’s Alumni of Distinction Award in 2012 and the Faculty of Mathematics and Science Distinguished Graduate Award in 2016.

  “I am very pleased to hear that David Grimes has been named to the Order of Canada,” said Ejaz Ahmed, Dean of Brock’s Faculty of Mathematics and Science. “It is a well-deserved honour.”

  “We are very proud of David’s unparalleled contributions to science and society.”

  Recipients of the Order of Canada will be invited to accept their awards at a ceremony to be held at a later date.

  STORY FROM THE BROCK NEWS

  Tags: Adjunct Faculty, awards, David Grimes
  Categories: News