Articles from:February 2019

  • Deadline nearing for Sustainability Poetry Contest

    Thursday, February 07, 2019 | By

    Brock’s UNESCO Chair has declared the theme of its annual Sustainability Poetry Contest to be aligned with the ‘International Year of Indigenous Languages.’ Poems are being accepted from everyone in the Niagara region until Feb. 15.

    There’s still time to enter the 2019 Sustainability Poetry Contest, presented by Brock University’s UNESCO Chair in Community Sustainability, Liette Vasseur.

    Poets are encouraged to submit their English and French poems that relate to this year’s theme, International Year of Indigenous Languages, until Friday, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m.

    The contest is open to all residents of Niagara (inclusive of members of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities and Six Nations), and will operate in co-operation with Indigenous groups and stakeholders across the region.

    Poems can be submitted online by visiting the UNESCO Chair’s website or via email to [email protected]

    Prizes such as books and gift cards will be awarded in each of four categories: elementary student; high school student; college/university student; and general public.

    Winners will be announced at the UNESCO World Poetry Day celebration at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 21 at Mahtay Café in downtown St. Catharines.

    The event is free and open to the public, but registration will be required as space is limited. Register onEventbrite.

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    Categories: Updates of the Chair

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

    Thursday, February 07, 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.

    Monday, February 04, 2019 | by 
    From: The Brock News 

    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.

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    Categories: Updates of the Chair

  • International research shows wasps can be used to combat agricultural pests

    Tuesday, February 05, 2019 | By

    TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2019 | by Cathy Majtenyi
    From: The Brock News

    The first line of defence when bugs attack plants is often synthetic pesticides or insecticides.

    But an international team conducting research in Thailand and other southeast Asian countries has documented an alternative way to counter-attack killer bugs: unleashing wasps.

    Brock University biologist Liette Vasseur was part of the research team, led by Kris Wyckhuys, an agro-ecologist at Australia’s University of Queensland and the China Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

    The cassava plant is at the centre of a study conducted by an international research team that includes Brock biologist Liette Vasseur.
    The team examined the impacts of Phenacoccus manihoti, a type of mealybug that attacks cassava plants, on Southeast Asia’s crop production of the root vegetable.

    After invading Thailand in 2008, the pest quickly spread and destroyed the cassava plants, resulting in an almost 30 per cent decrease in Thailand’s cassava crops and a 162 per cent increase in the price of starches like cassava.

    The same happened gradually in Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar. To solve the problem, farmers in all these countries cut down forests to make room for more cassava fields, leading to high levels of deforestation.

    The study examined the impact of introducing a type of wasp called Anagyrus lopezi (Hymenoptera).

    “The introduction of the wasp really helped control the population of the mealybug,” says Vasseur. “Having better yields reduced the pressure on farmers to clear forests to add more land for cassava production.”

    Once the cassava crops were reinstated, deforestation rates in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar dropped anywhere from 31 to 95 per cent, because farmers no longer needed to clear the land for the cassava crops.

    “With reduced damage, prices increased again making agriculture more sustainable,” says Vasseur.

    This case study, she says, illustrates a successful biological control program.

    “This is a great example of how, by using nature, we can help enhance agroecosystem sustainability,” says Vasseur.

    “It is very often cheaper and more effective in the long term since most pests become resistant to synthetic pesticides.”

    The researchers’ findings are in their recently published paper, Biological control of an agricultural pest protects tropical forests.

    Categories: Updates of the Chair