Updates of the Chair

  • Shoreline photos sought for Brock climate change study

    Meredith DeCock examines Lincoln’s Lake Ontario shoreline as part of her Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded research project. (Photo courtesy of Brian Jaworsky)


    From: The Brock News, Thursday, August 1
    By:

    Meredith DeCock is on a mission to determine how Lincoln’s Lake Ontario shoreline has changed over time and the role climate change has played in its evolution.

    But first, the Brock University Sustainability and Society master’s student needs help from the Niagara community.

    DeCock is calling on the public to submit photos of the shoreline and surrounding area that will be used to recreate the coast through time and identify what caused its greatest impacts.

    The study was made possible by the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, which she received last month from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Seventeen Brock graduate students were awarded $670,000 in SSHRC funding in July, along with 14 of the University’s researchers who received $1.3 million. DeCock ‘s study is titled: “A changing Lake Ontario shoreline: Learning from the past in the Town of Lincoln.”

    For DeCock’s study, photos from any year that show any segment of the Lincoln shoreline, its surrounding environment and development, as well as destruction due to high water levels, are needed. Submissions will be accepted until Sept. 30.

    In addition to community submissions, DeCock is using historical aerial photographs and GIS software to calculate the shoreline’s physical changes over time. Photos throughout the years will help her determine which windows of time have seen the greatest change.

    She will then look at how specific climatic and non-climatic factors could have influenced these changes.

    “I’m interested in learning what may be responsible for the most significant changes to the shoreline,” DeCock said. “Is it climate or environmental change, or significant development in the area like the construction of the Queen Elizabeth Way?”

    Working alongside her supervisor, Brock Biological Sciences Professor Liette Vasseur, and in conjunction with the Town of Lincoln, DeCock is part of a larger project funded by the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR) that is working with six coastal communities along the St. Lawrence Seaway to examine how they can deal with the impacts of climate change.

    Meredith DeCock has drawn a series of views of the Lincoln Lake Ontario shoreline over time that will be used to help calculate its erosion and accretion rates.

    “Meredith’s project fits wonderfully well with the spirit of the larger project of ecosystem-based adaptation for the Town of Lincoln,” Vasseur said. “We really hope this community-based approach can help people link their environment to the changes that are happening. Such a tool can have great potential for communicating with communities.”

    DeCock plans to make the results of her research accessible to the public through an interactive web application that will also be used as a communication tool for the larger MEOPAR project.

    “Studying the history of the shoreline is very important, but if we don’t use our findings to impact the future, then we are missing a huge opportunity,” she said. “I hope that by making the information available, we can positively impact future climate change adaptation decision-making.”

    DeCock is also working with her MEOPAR project partners to create blog posts that will share information on the group’s efforts and climate change in general with the community. These posts will be available on Brock’s UNESCO Chair website in the coming weeks.

    She is thankful for the SSHRC funding that made her study possible.

    “Sustainability science is solution oriented,” she said. “To have the federal government support my research elevates the importance of what I am doing. Climate change is a globally urgent topic and to know that our government sees it as a priority helps me to know I am doing something important with my research.”

    Diane Dupont, Brock’s Interim Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, acknowledged the significant work taken on by the graduate students recognized by SSHRC.

    “To see our graduate students have this incredible success in the SSHRC competition is outstanding,” she said. “Our graduate students are making a direct impact on the lives of Canadians and are becoming the researchers of tomorrow. As they continue to contribute new knowledge to the world of academia, I wish them the utmost success.”

    Read the full story in The Brock News. 

     

     

     

    Categories: Updates of the Chair

  • Indicators point toward worse Great Lakes flooding than 2017

    The Town of Lincoln sustained nearly $1 million in damage from spring storms in 2017.


    From: The Brock News, Thursday, May 2
    By: Dan Dakin

    Record-high lake levels led to devastating flood damage in Great Lakes coastal communities in 2017, but in the two years since, little has changed.

    Brock University Professor of Biology and UNESCO Chair in Community Sustainability Liette Vasseur said those communities are in for serious flooding this year.

    And she says despite knowing it was coming, our complacency as a society has meant that we’re not only ill-prepared, but we’ve made things worse on ourselves.

    “The pragmatism people have is that it’s all about today. Nobody thinks about the future,” she said. “We knew this was going to happen. All the signs were there.”

    Vasseur is an internationally recognized expert in the field of coastal flooding and climate change adaptation and is currently leading a research project examining the impacts of the 2017 flooding and what could have been done to change the outcomes.

    She’s been carefully watching the rising lake levels and said Lake Erie, for example, hit a record high in late April.

    Vasseur said the explanation can be found in a number of areas such as the control level plan for the Great Lakes and heavy snowfall and spring rainfall for some regions, but she said the decisions of municipalities and residents are having a major impact.

    “There are climate drivers, but what doesn’t help is the fact that people are building close to rivers and lakes,” she said. “These are dynamic systems. The human component is very important. You remove wetlands and pave over other areas so with heavy rainfall, the water has to go somewhere else.”

    Vasseur said even after the devastating floods two years ago, municipalities have continued to allow projects to be built in these sensitive areas.

    “It’s quite obvious to me that we didn’t learn the lessons,” she said.

    Vasseur’s recommendation is for residents living near coastlines to invest in waterproofing measures, and for municipalities to start creating buffer zones along rivers and lakes. Adaptation measures are badly needed. For some, it may even be to move from their residence, she said.

    While those steps won’t stop the effects of climate change, they will at least help to lessen the impact on communities and infrastructure.

    “We need to start bringing more of the natural components that can help with these storms like recreating wetlands and marshes,” she said.

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    Categories: Updates of the Chair

  • UNESCO Chair celebrates World Poetry Day tonight at Mahtay Cafe

    In celebration of UNESCO World Poetry Day, the UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability: From Local to Global will be hosting a celebration tonight (Thursday, March 21) to recognize the winners of the 2018 Sustainability Poetry Contest.

    The theme of the 2019 contest aligned with International Year Of Indigenous Languages.

    The event will take place at at Mahtay Café in downtown St. Catharines beginning at 6:30 p.m. 

    The event is free and all are welcome to attend.

    Light refreshments will be served.

    Categories: Updates of the Chair

  • Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR)- Lincoln Community Sustainability Project Update

    Thank you to everyone who attended our presentation to the Town of Lincoln at the council meeting last night (Tuesday, March 19).

    At the meeting, Dr. Liette Vasseur, Dr. Bradley May and Masters Candidate Meredith DeCock, all of Brock University, provided an update on the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR)- Lincoln Community Sustainability Project to date.


    Missed the event?

    View the presentation notes

    View the meeting agenda

    View a recording of the meeting 
    *Videos are uploaded by the Town of Lincoln following the meetings

    Visit the project Facebook page 


     

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    Categories: Updates of the Chair

  • Supporting mature female students enrolling in university STEM programs

    (From: The Conversation, February 27, 2019)
    Written by: Liette Vasseur

    Women face many barriers when it comes to post-secondary education, and this is especially true in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), as well as in traditionally male-dominated trades like welding. These barriers are even higher for mature female students — those who are at least 24 years old — who are often discriminated against when they want to pursue their studies.

    My biology master’s student, Heather VanVolkenburg, is a mature student who returned to post-secondary education after having a family. Just before the 2017 Gender Summit in Montréal, we were discussing women in STEM and the challenges they face when I discovered that mature students seemed to encounter even more barriers than younger women. This made me reflect on a simple question: are certain groups of people, especially mature students, being discriminated against in higher education?

    Current Landscape

    During our discussion panel at the Gender Summit, this question came up again by a person in the audience. Some participants were surprised when I mentioned how mature female students face barriers in STEM and trades education. This was the first step towards Heather and I preparing a reflection paper published by the Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s IdeaLab, which sought to determine the current situation of mature female students in STEM and trades and identify the barriers they face.

    We found that mature students understand better their role in society and want to contribute. This is one of the reasons they are interested in returning to higher education. There are, of course, other reasons. Among them are new career options, the need for more credentials and career prospect improvement. Self-interest is often suggested, and though this might have been true a few decades ago, I would caution people against thinking that’s the main reason.

    Admitting maturity

    When we looked at the numbers from universities and colleges in our study, we found that mature female students are increasingly present in STEM and trades. What’s more, when compared with younger students, they tend to have a higher graduation rate.

    Entering higher education after a leave of absence can be difficult for many reasons, such as finding it difficult to navigate the admission process, managing stress related to family and studies, financial burden, etc. What surprised me the most during the research was the variation in admission criteria and selection process among universities, including the amount of fine print that can lead to serious barriers for women returning to higher education.

    Meeting the criteria may seem simple, but for many, navigating university and college websites can be a bit of a nightmare. Admittedly, this is also the case for those of us who work at those universities! Finding the requirements and information on how to apply as a mature student can be a daunting experience — I would not be surprised to learn that many become discouraged and stop looking.

    Entry requirements and admission criteria differ greatly from one university or college to the next. The minimum age to be considered a mature student varies among institutions: at the University of Saskatchewan it’s 21 years of age, while McGill considers a mature student to be 23.

    While some universities are willing to consider admitting people on a case-by-case basis, others are more restrictive. Similarly, some colleges may take life experience into consideration but others will only admit mature female students on a part-time basis. Some universities do not even mention mature students at all.

    Support beyond admissions

    Mature female students furthering their education may need services that are not necessarily present in all universities and colleges. But, as we stated in our paper, “existing support services for mature women may make a difference in whether or not to pursue higher education.”

    Indeed, the need for day care or financial support can be a huge stumbling block. Unfortunately, we found that few universities have extensive support services for mature female students. Thankfully, some do: the University of Northern British Columbia has an entire floor devoted to mature student support with counselling, day-care options, tutoring, etc.

    We certainly suggest that universities share their good practices with each other to enhance support for mature students and possibly attempt to make their systems more consistent to reduce the stress of navigating admission process. Day care is certainly a huge issue for women with young children. However, not all universities and colleges offer this option to students.

    Accessibility and affordability can be the two main barriers for women. Increasing access to day care, even at night, can help support mature female students with children as is the case in Sweden. Probably because of their focus on continuing education, colleges generally tend to offer more services than universities.

    Without financial support, women may be discouraged from or even completely unable to continue their studies. Scholarships and opportunities for summer employment are therefore considered important, and mature female students are often marginalized in this regard. For summer employment programs, we discovered that many of them limit accessibility to students younger than 25 to 29 years old. A woman who has raised a family may therefore be ineligible for such positions.

    We discovered that few federal or provincial programs directly support mature female students in higher education. Some universities offer special financial support for mature students. Queen’s University offers the Science 1948 ½ Mature Student Entrance Bursary for students in engineering. Mount Saint Vincent University, where the number of women is higher than most universities, may be the university with the most scholarships available to mature students.

    Rethinking universities

    Many universities in Canada were established in the 1950s and ‘60s to satisfy the need to educate young people in an era of modern development and scientific advancement. However, demographics are changing, and the baby boom years are long gone. We must now overcome this new challenge: are universities catering only to young students?

    In the United Kingdom, mature individuals now make up a large portion of the student population in higher education. To respond to these changing demographics, universities have had to adapt and modify their programs accordingly. It may be time for Canadian higher education institutions to rethink their programs and services.

    We have only scratched the surface of the issues faced by women in STEM and traditionally male-dominated trades education. In my view, this is a reflection that should also include newcomers and other groups, along with racialized and Indigenous students. We need to think of new ways higher education institutions can welcome people from every demographic. We hope this can help spark dialogue.

    Read the full article
    Read the story in The Brock News

    Categories: Updates of the Chair

  • Deadline nearing for Sustainability Poetry Contest

    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 smoore10@brocku.ca

    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

    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 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

  • Successful launch of MEOPAR Project in Town of Lincoln

    Liette Vasseur led the successful launch of the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR) project in the Town of Lincoln on Thursday, Nov. 29. The project, announced in May, will examine how coastal communities can deal with the impacts of climate change. Researchers will work in collaboration with members of the community on the endeavour. Learn more about the project.

    Categories: Updates of the Chair

  • Mature female STEM students face many barriers to success

    Mona Nemer, Canada’s Chief Science Advisor; Liette Vasseur, Brock Professor of Biology and UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability; Bonnie Schmidt, Founder and President of Let’s Talk Science; Hon. Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport; Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant-Governor; Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation; and Sébastien Goupil, Secretary General of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.


    Mature female students pursuing Canadian university degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects face discrimination and other barriers, says a Brock-authored Canadian Commission for UNESCO research report.

    “Most women return to school because they know they have the capacity and ability to contribute to society,” says the report, researched and written by Brock University Professor of Biology Liette Vasseur and Brock Biology master’s student Heather VanVolkenburg.

    “These people are usually highly motivated and efficient in their studies in part because of their level of maturity,” says the report, which also applies to women in college programs in the trades. “Unfortunately, they face several barriers that they most likely never anticipated.”

    The report defines ‘mature students’ as being 25 years and older.These barriers include things like inadequate daycare, ineligibility for scholarships, and a belief that mature female students won’t produce as much research because of family commitments, says the report, titled “The Non-Linear Paths of Women in STEM: The Barriers in the Current System of Professional Training.”

    Vasseur, who holds the UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability: From Local to Global, presented the report at a conference in Ottawa Tuesday, Nov. 27. Following Vasseur’s keynote address, a panel discussion was held on equity and inclusion in post-secondary STEM learning that included Canada’s Chief Science Advisor Mona Nemer.

    The report identifies six reasons why people don’t pursue a ‘linear’ university educational path, which typically moves from undergraduate to master’s to PhD with no or little break:

    • New career options
    • Need for more credentials
    • Delay due to family reasons
    • Need for family support
    • Career prospect improvement
    • Self-interest

    Unlike their male counterparts, many female mature students delayed further studies because of a widespread perception that raising a family and pursuing academic degrees and careers were incompatible goals, says the report.

    This perception results in an “unconscious bias” that manifests itself in many ways, explains Vasseur.

    “One woman told me she was given a less-important research project because it was believed that she wouldn’t return the next year, as she was expecting,” says Vasseur.

    In another case, a mature woman had a similar experience, but in her case she was given a less-important project because she was close to retirement age.

    Female students with young children may find it difficult or impossible to attend an 8 a.m. or evening class when daycare centres open at 8:30 or 9 a.m. and end by 5 or 6 p.m., Vasseur says.

    Regarding financial support, the report notes that many student scholarship and employment opportunities are limited to people 30 years old and under. There are similar age caps in some post-graduate employment recruitment and retention programs.

    Ironically, despite these and other barriers, mature female students have a graduation rate of 70 per cent compared to a graduation rate of 56 per cent for male mature students, says the report.

    And, the graduation rate of all mature students was four times higher than for young students for the years leading into 2015, says the report.

    Most universities are not particularly welcoming to mature students in general, says Vasseur.

    That’s because many universities in Canada were set up in the 1950s and 60s for a new generation of youth who needed to be educated in a booming post-war job market.

    The report makes a number of recommendations, including:

    • Improve information for mature students, especially on things like specific awards
    • Take work experience more into account for mature student admissions
    • Offer more online options, especially for early morning or evening classes
    • Train professors and admissions staff on unconscious bias
    • Remove age limits for scholarships and student employment programs

    The report, “The Non-Linear Paths of Women in STEM: The Barriers in the Current System of Professional Training,” can be found on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO website.

    Categories: Updates of the Chair