Articles tagged with: alumni

  • Faculty and students participate in Ontario Farmland Forum

    Thursday, May 30, 2019 | By

    four students standing in front of an Ontario Farmland Forum banner

    Geography and Tourism Studies student volunteers at the Ontario Farmland Forum.

    On March 28, 2019, a group of Geography and Tourism Studies students travelled to Ball’s Falls Conservation Centre to volunteer at the 2019 Ontario Farmland Forum. This event was organized by the Ontario Farmland Trust, which is currently led by Executive Director, Kathryn Enders (Brock BA GEOG ’06).

    The Forum looked at different approaches to protecting farmland in broader landscapes, including the waterways, woodlots, hedgerows, and fields that make up farm systems. It featured presentations by Dr. Chris Fullerton, and Geography alumna Sara Epp (BA GEOG ’08; MA GEOG ’13).

    More details can be found on the Farmland Forum website.

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  • Department hosts first Alumni-Student Mixer event

    Tuesday, May 28, 2019 | By

    On March 8, 2019, the Department of Geography and Tourism Studies held our first Alumni-Student Mixer event. The night began with an alumni panel where four alumni from our programs answered questions and shared about their experiences during their studies at Brock and life after Brock. This discussion was followed by time for our alumni, students, faculty, staff and retirees to network with each other.

    We would like to thank everyone who attended, and say a special thanks to our four alumni panelists:

    • Rebecca Anello, Junior Meteorological Technologist, Environment and Climate Change Canada. Rebecca graduated from Brock with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography in 2014 and a Master of Science in Earth Sciences in 2017.
    • Greg Higginbotham, Marketing Manager, Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls. Greg graduated from Brock with a Bachelor of Tourism Studies in 2010 and a Master of Arts in Applied Health Sciences (Leisure Studies) in 2014.
    • Kerrie Pickering, PhD Candidate in Sustainability, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. Kerrie graduated from Brock with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies in 2010 and a Master of Arts in Geography in 2013.
    • Edward Stubbing, Senior Transportation Planner, AECOM. Edward graduated from Brock with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Geography 2009.

    Keep an eye out for our next Alumni-Student Mixer event on social media (follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!)

     

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  • Event to shine light on innovative GIS uses

    Tuesday, May 28, 2019 | By

    REPOSTED FROM THE BROCK NEWS
    MARCH 05, 2019     | by 

    Brock’s Map, Data and GIS Library is hosting an event on Thursday, March 7 to help inform the University community of ways to use GIS software.

    Whether you realize it or not, geographic information systems (GIS) are part of your everyday life.

    When you plan a trip in Google Maps, you’re using GIS. When news outlets use maps to add visuals to stories, they are made through GIS.

    But the software’s value doesn’t end there.

    GIS is used for spatial analysis, city planning, viticulture research, environment research and sport analysis. Last year’s Esri Canada Scholarship winner from Brock, Kyle Rankin, used GIS to analyze hockey, investigating shots on goal to determine the best place to shoot from in hopes of scoring.

    In an effort to help inform the Brock community of the innovative uses of GIS, the University’s Map, Data and GIS Library is hosting an event on Thursday, March 7.

    Esri Canada, from whom Brock licenses its GIS software, will be at the map library (MCC 306) from 10 to 11:30 a.m. to detail various GIS uses and to answer questions from the University community.

    Esri representatives will discuss both the researcher side of the software for students and faculty, looking at how GIS can support their work, and the administrative side, looking at how GIS can be used for areas such as recruitment and facilities management.

    Register for the event on ExperienceBU.

    Story reposted from The Brock News.

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  • Brock research encourages Niagara to explore becoming a UNESCO Global Geopark

    Monday, May 27, 2019 | By

    REPOSTED FROM THE BROCK NEWS
    FEBRUARY 07, 2019     | by 

    Carol Phillips, Research Co-ordinator with the Niagara Community Observatory, presents a brief she wrote about the possibility of Niagara becoming a UNESCO Global Geopark.

    With the mighty cataracts, vineyards producing critically acclaimed wines and vast networks of bicycle paths, tourists coming to Niagara have many options of what to see and experience. There’s also a world of rocks, canyons, waterfalls and other land features that even many locals don’t know about.

    Niagara’s unique, rich geology — and the economic and cultural activities connected to these features — might be better known if the region was to become a UNESCO Global Geopark, says new research from Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO).

    “Being designated a UNESCO Global Geopark allows Niagara to brand itself internationally as a destination for geotourism,” says Carol Phillips, author of the NCO policy brief Ohnia:kara: An Aspiring Global Geopark.

    “Niagara has a fascinating Earth history that has created so many beautiful sites, culminating in Niagara Falls,” says Phillips. “And this brand allows us to showcase those sites as well as the history and culture that has developed around them.”

    The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) describes a Global Geopark as being a “single, unified geographical area where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development.”

    Spearheading efforts for Niagara to become a UNESCO Global Geopark is the geographic educational non-profit group called Geospatial Niagara. The NCO policy brief says the group has identified more than 78 geosites in the region that are of geological, environmental or cultural interest.

    These include the Welland Canal, the Wainfleet Bog, Beamer Falls, Balls Falls, the Mewinzha Archaeology Gallery in Fort Erie and historical sites from the War of 1812, among others.

    The NCO policy brief says, under a geopark system, Niagara Falls would still remain the major draw for visitors to the area. But the tourism industry could be expanded by creating a niche for geotourists interested in seeing Earth history and the historical and cultural sites that have evolved from these unique and significant land features.

    The brief notes that the Niagara Escarpment, on which Brock University sits, has been a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve since 1990. A geopark designation with infrastructure such as visitor centres and plaques with QR codes “can help the Biosphere Reserve tell its story by guiding people to lesser known geosites as the escarpment winds to its greatest asset, Niagara Falls,” says the brief.

    Darren Platakis, Executive Director of Geospatial Niagara, says another big advantage of Niagara being designated a UNESCO Global Geopark is that it could provide a strong educational component for Niagara students from kindergarten to Grade 12.

    “A Geopark will provide opportunities for students to not only learn and begin to understand our geology and how it is so interdependent with our environment, culture and history, but they can also gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the 12,000 years of Indigenous history in Niagara,” says Platakis.

    “This Indigenous history is an extremely important element to the overall development of the application and programming for the Geopark,” he says. “Students, local residents and tourists will see Niagara with a new set of eyes.”

    Platakis says the designation could also attract researchers and students to the area, with programs and services connecting into a wide range of studies at Brock and Niagara College.

    Geospatial Niagara submitted an expression of interest to the Canadian National Committee for Geoparks and is in the process of applying to UNESCO to become a Global Geopark.

    The NCO’s policy brief looks at the costs and benefits of geoparks in China, the United Kingdom and France and concludes that a UNESCO Global Geopark designation could benefit all 12 municipalities in Niagara.

    “This policy brief encourages all levels of government and sectors of society in Niagara to consider the benefits of a UNESCO Global Geopark and how they may each play a part to make it a reality,” says NCO Director Charles Conteh.

    “The vision behind the Global Geopark initiative in Niagara is closely aligned with the sociocultural and economic advancement of the region,” he says. “Leveraging and promoting this initiative should be a fundamentally community-driven effort if it is to be sustainable.”

    The NCO brief lays out a number of “next steps” in making the UNESCO Global Geopark a reality in Niagara, emphasizing that it will take a broad community effort across the environment, education and tourism sectors.

    Story reposted from The Brock News.

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  • Global geopark promises ‘potential and opportunity’

    Monday, May 27, 2019 | By

    Brock University releases policy brief on initiative

    REPOSTED FROM THE ST. CATHARINES STANDARD
    February 07, 2019 | By: Allan Benner

    Geopark

    Carol Phillips from the Niagara Community Observatory at Brock University discusses the potential held by establishing a UNESCO Geopark in Niagara. – Allan Benner , The St. Catharines Standard

    Niagara’s tourism potential should not be limited to Niagara Falls.

    And an initiative launched about five years ago by Geospatial Niagara should help the region boost its potential for drawing visitors to some of the more remote attractions the peninsula has to offer.

    Niagara Community Observatory research co-ordinator Carol Phillips presented a new policy brief Thursday morning that focuses on the potential that developing a UNESCO Global Geopark could hold for Niagara — such as bringing more tourists to the area and giving them reasons to stay longer.

    Phillips said a proposed geopark, to be called Ohnia:kara, would encompass the entire Niagara Region and highlight at least 78 attractions in all 12 local municipalities — “from Beamer Falls in Grimsby to Niagara Falls, from the Wainfleet Bog and Welland Canal, all the way on down.”

    She described it as an “international geo-tourism brand” that can be used by communities to promote natural and heritage resources while focusing on sustainable economic development and fostering conservation and education.

    For a tourism-focused region such as Niagara, she said being designated a UNESCO Global Geopark “is a way to advertise to potential visitors that this is a geography that you need to see and experience, and that includes everything from its geology through to its cultural history and its economic character.”

    She said there were 12.9 million person visits to Niagara in 2017, of which 8.4 million were visitors from elsewhere in the province, and those visitors spent $2.36 billion during their stays.

    “But less than half of those visitors stayed overnight, and of those who did the bulk of them only stay one night, maybe two,” Phillips said.

    A geopark designation, she added, will help promote Niagara “as more than just the day trip.”

    Phillips stressed that there is no regulatory limitations associated with the UNESCO designation that would further limit land use planning in the region.

    The initiative was first proposed about five years ago by Geospatial Niagara founder Darren Platakis, who first learned about a geopark in southern New Brunswick called Stonehammer.

    “When I stumbled upon the Stonehammer geopark site, all I saw was potential and opportunity,” Platakis said.

    He said the initiative is “all about creating those opportunities and living up to the potential that Niagara has, globally — beyond Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake.”

    “We have such a wealth of sites to see, opportunities,” he added.

    Platakis said the initiative holds a great deal of educational potential, too.

    Although a mandate of Geospatial Niagara is promoting geo-literacy, he said many Grade 12 students can’t identify all the municipalities within Niagara Region.

    “That’s because they’re not invested in their communities. They don’t learn about their communities.”

    The global geopark initiative is “a way to attract students to Niagara to do research, to keep students here, for students that are from Niagara that go away to university it’s a stronger pull factor for them to come back to their communities if they become involved,” he said.

    Geospatial Niagara secretary Ian Lucas said funding will be needed to continue moving the project forward.

    “We have lofty goals and realistic expenses,” he said, responding to a question from an audience of about 40 people.

    “We will be coming to the point very soon where we will be actually coming out and saying, here’s our ask. This is what we would like in terms of financial support, idea support, in-kind support.”

    Lucas said the organization will continue meeting with municipal councils to discuss plans and potential.

    Phillips said much of the preliminary work has been completed by Geospatial Niagara.

    For instance, she said a formal expression of interest has been submitted to the Canadian National Committee for Geoparks, allowing Ohnia:kara to officially be identified as an aspiring geopark.

    Platakis struggled with emotion while reflecting on the progress that had been made towards making a project he started five years ago a reality.

    “If you would have said to me last year at this time we’d be here today doing this, I probably wouldn’t have believed it.”

    But thanks to the work of Geospatial Niagara members, Niagara Community Observatory and community support, Platakis said efforts to establish the geopark have reached “the end of one chapter and the beginning of another one.”

    Story reposted from The St. Catharines Standard.

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  • Brock research explores potential new tourism niche in Niagara through UN designation

    Monday, May 27, 2019 | By

    REPOSTED FROM THE BROCK NEWS
    FEBRUARY 04, 2019     | by 

    New research by Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO) says there’s potential to enhance Niagara’s vibrant tourism industry if the region were to become a UNESCO Global Geopark.

    Visitors coming to Niagara have lots to see and do thanks to the region being a top tourism destination.

    New research by Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO) says there’s potential to enhance Niagara’s vibrant tourism industry if the region were to become a UNESCO Global Geopark.

    A Global Geopark is an area containing “sites and landscapes of international geological significance,” according to UNESCO.

    “Being designated a UNESCO Global Geopark allows Niagara to brand itself internationally as a destination for geotourism,” says Carol Phillips, author of the NCO’s policy brief Ohnia:kara, An Aspiring Global Geopark.

    “Niagara has a fascinating earth history that has created so many beautiful sites, culminating in Niagara Falls,” she says. “This brand allows us to showcase those sites as well as the history and culture that has developed around them.”

    The policy brief discusses the concept of a geopark in more detail, describes the efforts of the geographic educational non-profit Geospatial Niagara to apply to become a geopark, offers case studies from other areas of the world and outlines “next steps” in the application process.

    The NCO will launch the policy brief Ohnia:kara, An Aspiring Global Geopark Thursday, Feb. 7 at Brock University. A panel will discuss the brief and the way forward for Niagara.

    What: Launching of NCO policy brief Ohnia:kara, An Aspiring Global Geopark
    When: Thursday, Feb. 7 from 9 to 11 a.m.
    Where: Room 207, Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex, Brock University
    Who: Carol Phillips, Research Co-ordinator, Niagara Community Observatory
    Panelists: Darren Platakis, Geospatial Niagara, Ohnia:kara Steering Committee; David Fennell, Professor, Geography and Tourism, Brock University, Ohnia:kara Steering Committee; Walter Sendzik, Mayor, St. Catharines; Phil Davis, Indigenous Culture Liaison, Ohnia:kara Steering Committee.

    Story reposted from The Brock News.

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  • Congratulations to Sara Epp on her successful PhD defense

    Thursday, December 20, 2018 | By

    The Department of Geography and Tourism Studies is pleased to congratulate Brock alumna, Sara Epp (BA Geography ’08; MA Geography ’13), on the successful defense of her PhD on November 10, 2018. More information about Dr. Epp’s PhD research is available below.

    Understanding the Multifunctionality of Small-scale Family Farms and the Impacts of Land Use Policies on this Farm Structure

    This research analyzes the resilience of Old Order Mennonite farmers that have migrated to northern Ontario for agricultural endeavours. Over the past fifteen years, Anabaptist farmers, including Old Order Mennonites, have moved to northern Ontario as raising land prices and limited land availability in southern Ontario has restricted their ability to purchase new land. Northern Ontario, with an abundance of productive, less expensive land, has proven to be an opportune location for many farmers. These farmers have increased access to local food, broadened the productive spectrum of crops and improved food security for many communities. Their economic and social impacts on northern communities has been significant, as has their impact on the broader farm community. While the Old Order Mennonite community has grown in northern Ontario, the factors of their resilience are unknown. This dissertation examined three Old Order Mennonite communities in northern Ontario, utilizing key informant interviews with community members, municipal representatives, provincial staff and non-Mennonite farmers in order to understand the agricultural resilience of Old Order Mennonites. The results demonstrated that agricultural diversification, as well as a strong sense of community and cultural convictions were important factors within their resilience. This research also found that transformation and decline, often viewed separately from resilience, did not weaken the communities but contributed to their resilience.

    Download the full paper here.

    Examination Committee:

    • Wayne Caldwell, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph, Advisor
    • Chris Fullerton, Geography and Tourism Studies, Brock University, Advisory Committee Member
    • John Smithers, Geography, University of Guelph, Graduate Faculty
    • Ryan Gibson, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph, Graduate Faculty
    • Al Lauzon, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph, Exam Chair

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  • New research by geography alumnus looks at fire history in southwest Yukon Territory

    Tuesday, December 04, 2018 | By

    Student in forest taking a tree core sample

    Tyler Prince taking a tree core sample in southwest Yukon Territory. Photo by Kevin Turner.

    New research by Tyler Prince (Brock Geography and Master of Sustainability alumnus), Michael Pisaric, and Kevin Turner was published this week in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Read more below.

    Abstract:

    Previous research suggests climate warming during the current century is likely to lead to an increase in the frequency and severity of wildfire. Recent wildfire seasons in northern Canada generally support these studies, with some of the worst fire seasons on record occurring during the past decade. While we can readily track the spatial and temporal distribution of these events during recent decades using satellite-derived data, historical records of past fire activity are relatively short. Proxy records of past fire activity are needed to fully understand how fire regimes may be shifting in response to changing climatic conditions. A high-resolution fire record, dating back to the early-Holocene, has been reconstructed using a 512-cm sediment core collected from a small lake in southwest Yukon Territory, Canada. Macroscopic charcoal was counted throughout the core at contiguous 0.5-cm intervals. The core was also analyzed for loss-on-ignition and magnetic susceptibility. Fossil pollen preserved in the lake sediment was analyzed to determine vegetation change throughout the Holocene. Macroscopic charcoal analysis indicates an active fire history throughout the record, with 90 fires occurring throughout the Holocene. CharAnalysis indicates an average signal to noise index of 6.2, suggesting the peaks are significant and detectable from the slowly varying background level. Results suggest the fire regime in this region responds to both top-down (climate) and bottom-up (vegetation) factors. Fire return intervals changed in response to shifts in precipitation and temperature as well as the expansion of lodgepole pine into the region. The shifts in precipitation and temperature were attributed to the oscillation of the Aleutian Low pressure system and fluctuations in climate associated with the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age.

    Access the full paper online.

    Prince, T., Pisaric, M., and Turner, K. (2018). Postglacial reconstruction of fire history using sedimentary charcoal and pollen from a small lake in southwest Yukon Territory, Canada. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, online.

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  • Alumni profile: Sarah Lepp

    Friday, November 30, 2018 | By

    Geography alumna, Sarah Lepp (BSc Physical Geography ’13), was recently featured in Niagara College’s Research and Innovation News. Read more below.

    Profile: Sarah Lepp

    Sarah Lepp:Profile


    November 14, 2018

    Like many, Sarah Lepp was bored in her high school geography class – not realizing until university that it did not have to be all about memorizing capital cities and world atlases.

    While the St. Catharines native had always hiked in Short Hills Provincial Park, the discipline of Physical Geography at Brock gave her fresh eyes and a renewed appreciation for how the landscape was defined tens of thousands of years ago by glaciers and today by the physiographic variations.

    She’s the type always inspired by both peculiarities and patterns so it wasn’t surprising she became involved in the study of fluviomorphology, the phenomena of how water carves out a new natural integrity. It would be the first of many proficiencies to come.

    “Being out in nature has always and still does make me happy and peaceful; I always wanted everyone to have experiences like this.” It was in an effort to help keep the integrity of the environment that drew her initially to Niagara College some 15 years ago for a diploma in Environmental Technician Field/Lab before her foray into geography for a Bachelor of Science degree.

    Yet geographers are a curious bunch; they need to make sense of the world, understand how things change over time and how this knowledge could help others. Still looking to find her own place in the world, Sarah arrived back at NC’s Research & Innovation division a decade ago and worked her way to Senior Research Associate while cultivating her own path.

    Through her work at the Agriculture & Environmental Technologies Innovation Centre (AETIC), she has become highly valued in the agricultural industry for her expertise in geographic information systems (GIS), field topography dataset analysis, precision agriculture data quality, and something called phytogeomorphometrics, the study of how plants interact with the land surface (the research team has done extensive work with quantifying landforms and how crop and crop health changes with landform types).

    Continue reading Sarah’s profile here.

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  • Geography alumna Diana Aquino wins Niagara Young Professional Award

    Friday, November 30, 2018 | By

    Diana Aquino (Geography Alumni) wins Women in Business award from GNCC

    Photo from Women In Niagara (@GNCC_WIN) on Twitter.

    The Department of Geography and Tourism Studies is pleased to congratulate Geography alumna Diana Aquino, Walker Environmental Group, on winning the 2018 Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce Women in Business Young Professional Award.

    The Women in Business Awards (WIBA) is an annual event to recognize the leadership and success of women in the Niagara business community.

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