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Planet in Focus festival features films, panel discussions about environment

The following was originally published in YFile on November 3rd, 2014.

The 15th annual Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival, designed to enlighten, engage and entertain with film about the world, will screen the documentary film Honour Your Wordat York University Friday.

A still from the film Honour Your World

Honour Your Word is written, directed and produced by Professor Martha Stiegman of York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES), which is one of the co-sponsors of the film festival. FES Dean Noël Sturgeon will introduce the film, which will screen Friday, Nov. 7, from 3 to 4:30pm, in the Nat Taylor Cinema, 102 North Ross Building, Keele campus.

Honour Your Word is an intimate portrait of life behind the barricades for the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, an inspiring First Nation whose dignity and courage contrast sharply with the political injustice they face. The title refers to their campaign slogan demanding Canada and Québec honour a precedent-setting conservation deal signed in 1991.

A still from the film Honour Your World

A panel discussion will follow the screening with the filmmaker along with Barriere Lake Community spokesperson Marylynn Poucachiche and Shiri Pasternak of Barriere Lake Solidarity. Stiegman spent four years shooting the film called poetic and heartfelt, and one that challenges stereotypes of “angry indians.” Honour Your Word juxtaposes starkly contrasting landscapes – the majesty of the bush, a dramatic highway standoff against a riot squad, daily life within the confines of the reserve – to reveal the spirit of a people for whom blockading has become an unfortunate part of their way of life, a life rooted in the piece of the Boreal Forest they are defending.

The film draws its audience into the lives of two young leaders: Marylynn Poucachiche, a mother of five, and Norman Matchewan, the soft-spoken son and grandson of traditional chiefs. Both spent their childhoods on the logging blockades their parents set up to win a sustainable development plan protecting their land. But it turns out signing the agreement was the easy part.

Now, 20 years later, Norman and Marylynn are taking up the struggle of their youth to force Canada and Québec to honour their word. Their fight may seem an impossible one, but as we spend time with Marylynn, Norman and the community they are so deeply a part of, the audience grows to identify with the impulse driving a struggle that spans generations. For these people, standing up is a necessity, not a choice – and they are compelled to do so, despite the odds.

A still shot from OFFSHORE

York cinema and media studies Professor Brenda Longfellow of the Faculty of Fine Arts will present her interactive, oil-drilling documentary OFFSHORE as the Industry Day “Case Study”Friday, Nov. 7, at 1:30pm at Toronto City Hall. OFFSHORE, co-directed with Glen Richards and Helios Design Lab, is an interactive web documentary about the next chapter of oil exploration. “Extreme Oil” or “Cowboy Drilling” takes place hundreds of miles offshore, thousands of feet beneath the ocean floor, in dangerous and risky conditions where the hazards are immense but the profits are bigger, and where the consequences of something going wrong are catastrophic.

OFFSHORE uses a virtual offshore oil rig as the central interface, combining an innovative mixture of virtual immersion and documentary elements. Beginning with stories from the Deepwater Horizon disaster and journeying to the Arctic, Brazil and Russia, the film probes the consequences and prospects of this new energy frontier.

From the film Trick or Treaty

Trick or Treaty, directed by Alanis Obomsawin, a member of the Abenaki First Nation and a documentary filmmaker, will screen Friday, Nov. 7, at 8pm at Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario. FES Associate Dean Ravi de Costa will introduce the film, which explores “Treaty 9” of 1905, a monumental document in the history of Canada’s First Nations tribes. Obomsawin will be in attendance. She will also be part of a Master Class earlier in the day with journalist/author Geoff Pevere, from 2:45 to 3:45pm, at Toronto City Hall.

Planet in Focus – Industry Day is organized by York grad student and alumnus Mark Terry(BA ’90). The day is devoted to providing creative and business content for filmmakers and opportunities to network with distinguished industry professionals. It will include a Green Screen Initiative Panel, from 11:30am to 12:30pm, discussing advances in environmentally sustainable production practices in film and television production. More information aboutIndustry Day can be found on the Planet in Focus website.

Osgoode Hall Law School PhD Candidate Michael John Long (BA ’04, MES ’08, LLM ’11), an alumnus of York’s Master in Environmental Studies program, is the academic programmer at Planet in Focus and an executive board member at York’s Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability, which is hosting the festival at York this year.

In addition, FES alumna Tzeporah Berman (MES ’95) will receive the Eco-Heroes Award at this year’s festival.

The Planet in Focus film festival was started by FES alumnus Mark Haslam.

To find out what other films and panel discussions are taking place in the Nat Taylor Cinema, check the Planet in Focus schedule. For more information on the festival, visit the Planet in Focus website.


Leading ecologists to speak at York University Oct. 2

The following was originally published in YFile on September 25, 2014.

Harvard University Professor Aaron Ellison and Elizabeth Farnsworth, a senior research ecologist with the New England Wild Flower Society, widely regarded as the power couple of ecology, will be speaking at York University on Oct. 2.Aaron Ellison

Ellison will lecture about his experiences working and teaching in the Harvard Forest at Harvard University. The Harvard Forest is the University’s 1,500-hectare outdoor classroom and a living laboratory for ecological research. At 10:30am, he will deliver a talk titled, “Identifying, anticipating and intervening in ecological regime shifts”. The talk will take place in 306 Lumbers Building on the Keele Campus and is part of the Biology Department Research Talks. It is free and open to members of the York community.

Then at 2pm in 009 Accolade West, Ellison will deliver another lecture titled, “Short and long-term impacts of undergraduate research experiences at the Harvard Forest” to the members of the Faculty of Science Committee on Teaching and Learning.

Ellison is the Senior Research Fellow in Ecology at the Harvard Forest, and an Adjunct Research Professor in the departments of Biology and Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In 1992, he received the National Science Foundation’s Presidential Faculty Fellow award for “demonstrated excellence and continued promise both in scientific and engineering research and in teaching future generations of students to extend and apply human knowledge.”

“Harvard Forest is a fantastic example of ecological research,” says York biology Professor Dawn Bazely, one of the organizers of the talks. “Aaron Ellison is not only one of the top ecology researchers in the world, but he’s also a leader in teaching undergraduates about science, through the National Science Foundation’s Undergraduate Research Experience program, which brings about 30 undergrads from across the USA to Harvard Forest to do research, each summer.”

In his role as a senior research fellow at the Harvard Forest, Ellison studies food web dynamics and community ecology of wetlands and forests, evolutionary ecology of carnivorous plants, the response of plants and ants to global climate change, and the application of Bayesian statistical inference to ecological research and environmental decision-making. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific papers, dozens of book reviews and software reviews, and the books A Primer of Ecological Statistics (2004) and A Field Guide to the Ants of New England (2012). He is the editor-in-chief of Ecological Monographs and in 2012, was elected a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. At home in Roylaston, Massachusetts, a rural town of 1,000 people, Ellison is a member of the Conservation Commission.

At 7pm on Oct. 2, Farnsworth will deliver a public lecture titled, “Conserving the Rich Flora of Eastern North America”. The talk is co-sponsored by the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability at York University, the Department of Biology and the North American Native Plant Society. Admission to this public lecture is free for university students who bring their identification, otherwise there is a $12 admission fee.

Elizabeth Farnsworth

“Elizabeth Farnsworth is a multi-talented biologist, whose work with the New England Wildflower Society builds bridges between the public and researchers in conservation Biology,” says Bazely.

Farnsworth is Senior Research Ecologist with the New England Wild Flower Society, and a biologist, educator, and scientific illustrator. She is also editor-in-chief of the botanical journal, Rhodora. At the society, she co-led the award-winning National Science Foundation-funded project, Go Botany, to develop an online guide to the regional flora for teaching botany. She previously coordinated planning for the conservation and management of over 100 species of rare plants. She has illustrated the Flora Novae Angliae, the Natural Communities of New Hampshire by the NH Natural Heritage Bureau, and three other books, and illustrated and co-wrote the A Field Guide to the Ants of New England (Yale University Press). She is co-author of the Connecticut River Boating Guide: Source to Sea and the Peterson Field Guide to the Ferns.

Farnsworth is a member of the graduate faculties of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the University of Rhode Island, and has taught at Smith College, Hampshire College, and the Conway School of Landscape Design. She formerly served as ecologist with the Connecticut Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. She has conducted scientific research on many ecosystems throughout the world, focusing on restoration, conservation, plant physiology, mangroves, and climate change. She was awarded a Bullard Research Fellowship by Harvard University in 2005 and a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in 1999. She has been a scientific consultant to the National Park Service, The Trustees of Reservations, US Forest Service, Massachusetts and Connecticut Natural Heritage Programs, United Nations and the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust.

The talks are well worthwhile attending, says Bazely. “Both Harvard Forest and the New England Wildflower Society have adopted a hugely interdisciplinary collaborative approach to research and engagement with multiple groups in society.”


Students and professionals unite to create eco-village design on campus

The following was originally published in YFile on August 1, 2014.

What will an eco-village on the York University campus look like? That’s what students enrolled in the Design for Sustainability Workshop course in the Faculty of Environmental Studies were investigating.

The course was created by the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) in 2009 to help explore the topic of sustainability and rethinking public spaces on campus. A part of this course analyzed the mapping of future development on campus and conducted design audits.

Arlene Gould explains concepts to her class

Arlene Gould explains concepts to her class

Course instructor, Arlene Gould, said the course is designed to “train and prepare the next generation of leaders.” Gould explained that the course participants demonstrated hard work and completed much research throughout it. The course is co-sponsored by the York University Development Corporation (YUDC) and Regenesis, an environmental and social justice organization on campus.

This year, the course and its participants focused on a co-housing design charrette and building a community eco-village at York University. Co-housing is a concept that originates from Denmark and pertains to communities and housing. Eco-villages are planned communities that foster social interaction. Equally important are eco-villages that are sustainable communities.

There were five student groups which examined various themes surrounding eco-villages. The groups’ respective topics of exploration included social model for co-housing, shared spaces, green technology, closing the loop (food and water education) and outreach.

Students engage in one of the break out sessions

Students engage in one of the breakout sessions

Participants had the opportunity to listen to guest lecturers and visit sustainable buildings around the Greater Toronto Area throughout this course. YUDC visited the classroom to inform the students about future development plans on campus and to discuss Lands for Learning. Anam Sultan, who spoke on behalf of YUDC, explained that Lands for Learning will provide a vision for potential opportunities that exist on the edge of campus. She notes that York University is looking for “balanced and well-designed planning.”

In the past, the Design for Sustainability Workshop explored the topics of green building strategies and sustainable housing models.

Various industry professionals and community members provided input and imparted their knowledge to the student groups to assist with their projects. During the breakout session, the Green Technology group shared ideas with Martin Liefhebber, an architect with Breathe Architects. Liefhebber provided the group with information regarding green technology and design.

Anam Sultan of YUDC talks about Lands for Learning

Anam Sultan of YUDC talks about Lands for Learning

After the breakout session and interacting with the industry professionals and community members, the groups were able to present their research a second time, incorporating the new information they had gathered during the session. This provided a more realistic view of what an eco-village on York’s campus could look like.

One of the workshop participants, Adam, mentioned, “The course was very informative and a very good application of knowledge. [It] drew in people from the community of green development.”

Another participant, Sherlock, commented, "I see the benefits of the eco-village especially in this day and age. It’s a good change from the monotonous. It also creates a place for people that need a stable environment, while at the same time creating diversity.”

By Kurt Reid, MES student and communications assistant in the Faculty of Environmental Studies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Moose spit fights toxic fungus in plants

IRIS Core Faculty member Dawn Bazely publishes with Mark Vicari and Andrew J. Tanentzap. Journal reference: Biology Letters, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2014.0460

York University researchers investigate new element of the predator/prey relationship

CBC News Posted: Jul 23, 2014 12:14 PM ETLast Updated: Jul 23, 2014 12:55 PM ET

Researchers have discovered that moose saliva may help the animal control potentially toxic vegetation in the bush.

Researchers have discovered that moose saliva may help the animal control potentially toxic vegetation in the bush. (Dawn Bazely)

LISTEN: Dawn's Radio interview "Moose spit fights fungus in plants" 7:56

Researchers at York University have discovered that moose saliva may help the animals control a potential dangerous toxin found in the grass they frequently eat.

A professor of biology at York University said biologists at the university enlisted the help of the Toronto Zoo in collecting spit samples from the captive animals.

Dawn Bazely said the saliva was then applied to a grass which hosts the toxic fungus.

The fungus in the grass that was coated with moose drool grew more slowly and produced less toxins than the control grass.

Dawn Bazely

York University biologist Dawn Bazely says a study of moose saliva is the first evidence that a herbivore encountering toxic plants can actually fight back. (Dawn Bazely )

"If you think about moose they have home ranges. So they may actually be re-encountering the same plants [and] they may get a benefit," Bazely said.

"We certainly know the animals remember plants they encounter and they eat a small amount of the plant, and if it makes them feel ill they might avoid it in the future."

She said the experiment grew from research looking at how grazing by moose affects plants. Over thousands of year,s plants have developed anti-herbivore defences like spines, thorns and bitter berries.

Plants also reach out to a third party for assistance in deterring animals from eating them.

"They can phone a friend to help them with defences," Bazely said.

"And one of the friends they can phone is a fungus. Many plants have hidden inside them a fungus that is living entirely within the plant."

Bazely said the next phase of research is to determine the benefit of the fungus-inhibiting drool.

She said the spit acts quite quickly on the fungus, with noticeable results appearing in 12 to 36 hours.

Original Story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/moose-spit-fights-toxic-fungus-in-plants-1.2715525


PEASE Project Welcomes New Post-Doctoral Visitor!

PEASE is pleased to welcome Philip Vaughter from the United States as its new postdoctoral visitor!

Born in the state of Minnesota in the United States, Philip was educated at Iowa State University and graduated with a Bachelors degree in Biology in 2004 before leaving to live and work in New Zealand where he attended the University of Victoria at Wellington. Following a Masters program at Victoria in 2008, Philip returned to his home state of Minnesota in the USA to complete a PhD program in Conservation Biology at the University of Minnesota. Upon completion, he took a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Saskatchewan. Philip’s research has focused on the creation and implementation of sustainability and environmental policy, the contention between biodiversity and energy policy, and the role of coalition building in environmental policy and movements.


IRIS hosts Canada/South Sudan Roundtable: Responding to the Crisis

Deeply concerned by the widespread political violence that has racked Africa’s newest nation since mid-­‐December 2013, Canadian South Sudanese community members and leaders met in Toronto on March 26, 2014 to share information on the crisis, build peaceful relationships across the Canadian South Sudanese diaspora, generate options for bringing an end to the violence and for coming to grips with its underlying causes.

DSCN0398The day-­‐long meeting was hosted by York University’s Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS), with organizational support from the SubSahara Centre, Peacemedia-­‐ paixmédia, Peacebuild – The Canadian Peacebuilding Network and South Sudanese community activists and opinion leaders. Discussion initially focused on sharing personal experiences of the crisis among the approximately 30 participants. It then turned to identifying the range of options available for short-­‐term peacemaking and long-­‐term peacebuilding, including tackling the country’s glaring governance deficit.

While strong tensions within the South Sudanese community in Canada and elsewhere were acknowledged, roundtable participants, representing a broad cross-­‐section of the South Sudanese community in Canada, pursued discussion in a spirit of solidarity and respect for all and their opinions. No insults or verbal abuse of individuals or specific groups were expressed, despite the depth of anger and sorrow. Each participant had the opportunity to voice their feelings and views on the crisis without interruption. Compassionate listening was encouraged.DSCN0423b

This report highlights the multiple common perceptions of the disastrous direct and indirect impacts of the violence on South Sudanese in their home country and in the diaspora, regardless of ethnic or religious background, age group, gender or educational attainment. It also sets out suggested collective responses to the crisis for urgent further consideration and action both in South Sudan and in Canada.

To encourage open discussion during the roundtable, it was agreed that comments by individuals would not be attributed in this report, and a very few asked that their names not be included in the list of participants attached.

View the full report from the Roundtable.


York University celebrates sustainability and Earth Hour

The following is from the March 25, 2014 edition of YFile.

The Seeds of Hope poster exhibit

This coming Saturday will mark Earth Hour around the world, but every hour is earth hour at York University. So in the days leading up to Earth Hour, the York University community will be celebrating sustainability with events in Vari Hall and York Lanes.

On Thursday and Friday, York University will host the Seeds of Hope poster exhibit from 10 am to 4pm in Vari Hall. Based on a simple premise – “it starts with one” – the Seeds of Hope exhibit conveys the importance of individual action for community sustainability. Through a series of 24 panels, it focuses on the themes of interconnectedness, social justice and peace to show how one idea can inspire and transform an entire community towards sustainable living. The exhibit offers examples of how individuals and small groups inspired by the Earth Charter have taken simple actions to create more sustainable communities.

Seeds of Hope

In addition to Seeds of Hope, the President’s Sustainability Council, the Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS), and students in ENVS 3505 Business and Sustainability will be hosting information tables for anyone interested in learning more about the many ideas and opportunities for getting involved in sustainability at York. Student clubs, campus organizations and businesses focusing on sustainability will be tabling throughout both days.

Along with the activities in Vari Hall, IRIS will be hosting its annual Earth Hour Every Hour events in York Lanes. This year’s lineup includes an updated version of the climate change “Inconvenient Truth” presentation, created by Former Vice President Al Gore’s, which will be presented by Julie Strilesky, who received training from Al Gore and his Climate Reality Leadership Corps in July 2013.

The IRIS event will also feature the Word Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) very own Panda Band – led by Senior Officer of Species, Pete Ewins as well as WWF staff and volunteers. The band will perform a mix of original songs and covers.

For more information, please contact sustainability@yorku.ca or irisinfo@yorku.ca.


Dawn Bazely: From biology to sustainability

The following is an excerpt from University Affair's article, Meet 5 academics who have switched disciplines mid-career, published February 12, 2014 by Daniel Drolet.


Dawn Bazely: From biology to sustainability

Director, Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability 
York University

With degrees in botany and zoology, Dawn Bazely was content working in her field as a biology professor with a specialty in ecology, particularly forest and grassland ecology. But when she was recruited in 2006 as director of York University’s Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (known as IRIS), she encountered a whole new discipline – and a steep learning curve.

“I have learned to feel uncomfortable,” says Dr. Bazely. “But I get to be a student every day. How awesome is that?” She says that the chief editor of Ecological Monographs tells her “that I have done a de facto PhD in sustainability, science policy and environmental security.”

IRIS has a tradition of breaking down barriers: Its first director was a political science professor, its second came from York’s Schulich School of Business. When the position opened up again, Dr. Bazely was asked to apply. “At first I was terrified,” she confides.

“I can’t begin to tell you how different it is from what I did as an ecologist. It’s publishing in completely different journals, it’s science policy. The most important thing I have learned is that social scientists generally believe that researchers in science and engineering don’t understand the history of our own field.”

She also has learned that scientists don’t understand how they damage their own credibility because they insist on being “super-neutral” and not speaking up about policy or political issues. (The most popular research seminar she gives in science faculties is on “Why don’t scientists get more respect?”)

With her new insights, Dr. Bazely now believes this is because scientists fool themselves in thinking science is above the fray. “Being in sustainability has exposed me to the humanities and social sciences and ethics. It has caused me to question my own assumptions.”

She now understands that there are different kinds of knowledge, “and sometimes academic knowledge might take primacy and sometimes it will not. It’s situating that knowledge in the broader human landscape.”

Taking positions on topics of the day is something she is now comfortable doing. “I don’t think doing that damages my standing as a scientist.”


Dawn Bazely’s book tackles environmental change and human security in Arctic

The following appeared in the Monday, January 28th edition of YFile.

A new book co-edited by biology Professor Dawn Bazely is being hailed as the first comprehensive exploration of why human security is relevant to the Arctic.

Book, Environmental and Human Security in the ArcticEnvironmental and Human Security in the Arctic examines at what it will mean to achieve human security and how the health of the environment, identity of peoples, supply of traditional foods, community health, economic opportunities and political stability all play a role.

The traditional definition of security has already been actively employed in the Arctic region for decades, particularly in relation to natural resource sovereignty issues. This book tackles how and why the human aspect should be introduced and what this region can teach others about human security in the wider world. It also reviews the potential threats to security, putting them in an analytical framework and indicating a clear path for solutions.

Contributions come from natural, social and humanities scientists, hailing from Canada, Russia, Finland and Norway. It is co-edited by Bazely, director of the Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability; international relations Professor Gunhild Hoogensen of the University of Tromsø , Norway; Marina Goloviznina, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tromsø in the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Community Planning; and Andrew Tanentzap, the Banting Fellow at York University in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science.

Bazely led the Canadian section of the International Polar Year project, GAPS, Gas, Arctic Peoples and Security, and recently spent her sabbatical as a Charles Bullard Fellow at Harvard Forest, Harvard University. She was also a 2013 recipient of a President’s University-Wide Teaching Award and was named a “hotshot prof” in The Globe and Mail‘s Canadian University Report.

Environmental and Human Security in the Arctic is considered an essential resource for policymakers, community groups, researchers and students working in the field of human security, particularly for those in the Arctic regions.


IRIS director search: One-hour sessions with two short-listed candidates

All members of the Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) community are invited and encouraged to attend a one-hour session with each of two short-listed candidates for the position of IRIS Director. At each session, the candidate will speak for up to 20 minutes about his or her vision for IRIS, followed by a Q&A period. Those attending will have an opportunity to provide confidential feedback for the Search Committee’s consideration.

Session No. 1 (Professor Jose Etcheverry): Jan 27, 9 to 10am at 956 Kaneff Tower, Keele campus.
Session No. 2 (Professor Irene Henriques): Jan 29, 2:30 to 3:30pm at 956 Kaneff Tower, Keele campus.

The posting for the position of IRIS Director is available for viewing.


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