Articles from:March 2016

  • Brock, Australian university sign agreement on sustainability research

    Monday, March 28, 2016 | By

    Story from The Brock News

    Brock University has signed an agreement with the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) in Australia that will enable Brock students to pursue a PhD in sustainability at USC.

    The memorandum of understanding (MOU), signed March 14 by Brock Professor and Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) member Gary Pickering and the Director of USC’s Sustainability Research Centre Tim Smith, formalizes a long-running research relationship between Brock and USC in the areas of global change, sustainability and resilience.

    For several years, USC has offered a transdisciplinary PhD program in sustainability that synthesizes research in the social, economic and behavioural sciences to address environmental and societal concerns.

    This new agreement will allow researchers from Brock’s ESRC to supervise students in the sustainability PhD program, and give students the opportunity to study in Australia and Canada.

    “The ESRC is tremendously excited to sign this MOU with USC. It will allow for deeper research partnerships between Brock and USC and it will bring doctoral students into the Centre who can contribute to its burgeoning research culture. This is a great step forward in the development of the ESRC,” says ESRC director Tim Heinmiller.

    “This MOU builds on existing, high impact research collaborations between the Sustainability Research Centre at USC and the ESRC at Brock. All involved intend this to be a very active MOU, and together help build the capacity in our young researchers and scholars to meet the global challenges in sustainability that we face,” adds Pickering.

    To strengthen this new partnership even further, USC has established a new PhD scholarship in Social Dimensions of Global Change. Under the MOU, Brock students can apply for this scholarship, which will cover tuition, living, and travel expenses.

    USC is offering one scholarship for this program. The deadline is April 29. For more information click here.

    To learn more about the PhD program click here.

    Categories: Sustainability, Sustainability at Brock

  • Brock University commemorates Earth Hour through words and action

    Thursday, March 17, 2016 | By

    From The Brock News

    In the lead-up to this weekend’s Earth Hour, Brock University is actively promoting the concept of environmental conservation to our youth – by word and example.

    Biology professor and UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability Liette Vasseur is fresh off the heels of a live stream session that she delivered to high school students across Canada. Her lesson explored the inter-relationship between climate change and agriculture sustainability.

    Vasseur also supervises graduate students’ research on teaching environmental concepts to children in homeschools and elementary and secondary schools.

    “High schools need to have a course – or at least a half-course – on protecting the environment and sustainability,” says Vasseur, adding that this basic education can lead to more awareness and action down the road.

    At the university level, Brock has increased its “diversion rate” to 68.5 per cent in 2015.

    “That means that 68.5 per cent of materials we generated ended up not going to the landfill because of our Blue Bin recycling and organic waste collections,” says Domenic Maniccia, director of Custodial and Grounds Services.

    “It’s a collective effort between staff, faculty, students, food services, residence; everybody has a stake in it,” he says, adding that Brock University is among the Top Five environmentally sustainable universities in Ontario with respect to waste diversion.

    In addition, Brock University will be taking a number of measures to commemorate Earth Hour, which this year will take place from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. March 19. These include:

    • Parking Lots T, U, V in Zone 2: lights out (Zone 2 permit holders will be able to park in Zone 1 from 4 p.m. on March 19 as a result of lights out in Zone 2)
    • …. click here to continue reading this story.
    Categories: Sustainability, Sustainability at Brock

  • USC revels in sustainable partnership with Canadian uni

    Monday, March 14, 2016 | By

    From the Sunshine Coast Daily

    THEY have only been together for three years, but the University of the Sunshine Coast and Brock University knew their relationship was meant to be.

    USC Professor Tim Smith and Brock Professor Gary Pickering signed a memoriam of understanding to build on existing collaborations between the Sustainability Research Centre at USC and the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre at Brock.

    Prof Smith said the university’s respective sustainability centres had already joined a consortium of 10 partners from seven countries to participate in the Climate Adaptation and Water Governance project.

    CADWAGO has received more than one million Euros in funding from three European philanthropic organisations; Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Volkswagen Foundation, Compagnia di San Paolo and has seen key researchers advise European governments about best practice for dealing with flooding events based on researching events from around the world.

    A 14 minute joint video developed by the two universities was showcased at the world’s oldest academy, the Royal Society in London.

    The MoU also signals the introduction of a new PhD scholarship being offered by USC, which people can apply for until April 29.

    It is anticipated the agreement will foster closer collaboration between USC and Brock to maximize research opportunities and provide richer student experiences in the global and regional sustainability domains…

    Click here to continue reading.

    Categories: Sustainability

  • The University of the Sunshine Coast and Brock University commit to sustainability research

    Friday, March 11, 2016 | By

    Media Release

    The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) and Brock University (Canada) signed an agreement today committing to collaborative sustainability research. The agreement builds on existing collaborations between the Sustainability Research Centre (SRC) at USC and the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) at Brock.

    It is anticipated that the agreement will foster closer collaboration between USC and Brock to maximise research opportunities and provide richer student experiences in the global and regional sustainability domains.

    Associate Professor Dana Thomsen who led the sustainability programs at USC for 8 years says “the agreement builds on current research between USC and Brock such as the Climate Adaptation and Water Governance project, which includes a consortium of 10 partners and attracted over 1 million Euro in external funding”.

    A joint video production between USC and Brock on flooding was recently showcased at the world’s oldest academy, the Royal Society, in London.

    USC has also offered a PhD scholarship to further these collaborations.

    For more information contact:
    Media Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast
    Ph: Terry Walsh 5430 1160, Email: [email protected]

    Categories: Sustainability