8 posts tagged with "Environment"

Dr. Rashid Sumaila, OceanCanada Scientific Director and University Killam professor in UBC Science’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, as well as the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs in the Faculty of Arts, has won the Royal Society of Canada (RSC)’s Miroslaw Romanowski Medal for scientific work relating to environmental problems.

(book chapter in On Active Grounds) This book considers the themes of agency and time through the burgeoning, interdisciplinary field of the environmental humanities. Fourteen essays and a photo album cover topics such as environmental practices and history, temporal literacy, graphic novels, ecocinema, ecomusicology, animal studies, Indigeneity, wolf reintroduction, environmental history, green conservatism, and social-ecological systems change. The book also speaks to the growing concern regarding environmental issues in the aftermath of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) and the election of Donald Trump in the United States. This collection is organized as a written and visual appeal to issues such as time (how much is left?) and agency (who is active? what can be done? what does and does not work?). It describes problems and suggests solutions. On Active Grounds is unique in its explicit and twinned emphasis on time and agency in the context of the Environmental Humanities and a requisite interdisciplinarity.

Coastal communities depend on the marine environment for their livelihoods, but the common property nature of marine resources poses major challenges for the governance of such resources. Through detailed cases and consideration of broader global trends, this volume examines how coastal communities are adapting to environmental change, and the attributes of governance that foster deliberate transformations and help to build resilience of social and ecological systems.

The trans-disciplinary thematic areas of oceans management and policy require stocktaking of the state of knowledge on ecosystem services being derived from coastal and marine areas. Recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially Goals 14 and 15 explicitly focus on this. This Handbook brings together a carefully chosen set of world-class contributions from ecology, economics, and other development science and attempts to provide policy relevant scientific information on ecosystem services from marine and coastal ecosystems, nuances of economic valuation, relevant legal and sociological response policies for effective management of marine areas for enhanced human well being. The contributors focus on the possible nexus of science-society and science-policy with the objective of informing on decision makers of the governmental agencies, business and industry and civil society in general with respect to sustainable management of Oceans. Chapter in Handbook on the Economics and Management of Sustainable Oceans

OceanCanada investigators joined researchers from around the world to explore integrated ocean, coastal, lake and watershed management at the 2016 CoastalZone Conference in Toronto, June 12-16.

Dr. Nancy Doubleday (OCP Arctic Working Group) and students Sarah Newell (PhD. candidate) and Kathryn Pringle (B.A. candidate), participated in the 3rd Annual Spring Water Forum at McMaster University on April 18. The Water Forum is organized by the McMaster Water Network, a University-wide initiative to connect water science, technology and policy to deliver local and global impacts. The network provides opportunities for students, both undergraduates and post-graduates, and faculty to engage with the community and develop partnerships on issues related to this important and life-giving resource.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/beaufort-sea-environmental-assessment-1.3490983

The Inuvialuit are pitching a far-reaching scientific and traditional knowledge study that would help researchers better understand how Arctic ecosystems will be affected by climate change, increased shipping and oil and gas development.

"We see ourselves as part of the ecosystem, so anything that is going to affect that is going to affect us as well," said Duane Smith, chair and CEO of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.

... The letter, co-authored by the Inuvialuit Game Council, says the Arctic Ocean, compared to Canada's other coastlines, is the least studied. It also calls for long-term monitoring and reports considerable gaps when it comes to understanding issues such as the amount of fish and their food sources.

UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries researcher Rashid Sumaila said he thinks the Beaufort Sea would be appropriate for a broad study such as an RSEA.

"There's a lot of changes coming. This makes the place really special," said Sumaila.

Dr. Dana Miller, postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia, and OceanCanada Director Dr. Rashid Sumaila have released a working paper examining the impact of the recent oil spill in Vancouver's English Bay. The paper presents an estimation of the economic impacts of this oil spill on Metro Vancouver’s marine-related economic activities, including commercial fishing and tourism activities.