A new research paper was published on FACETS on November 3, 2025, analysing the environmental impact assessment process for Canadian mines. The paper presents the first complete list of IA laws that apply to mining in Canada; provides an open-source database of mine and quarry projects subject to IA; quantifies mining and IA trends; andContinue reading “New study finds gaps in environmental impact assessments of Canadian mining projects “
Author Archives: woodlab
Congratulations on graduating, Samantha Chu!
Samantha Chu is graduating with a Master’s of Environmental Studies from Dalhousie University. Her study explores how forest professionals in Canada currently engage in knowledge exchange, their preferred methods for acquiring knowledge, the barriers they experience, and the state of trust they have in research, including the factors that influence that trust. You can checkContinue reading “Congratulations on graduating, Samantha Chu!”
Congratulations on graduating, Mary Legorburu!
Mary Legorburu is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts first-class Honours in Environmental Science and a minor in Gender & Women’s Studies from Dalhousie University. The thesis investigated the effects of forestry road crossings on stream habitat health in Napu’saqnuk (the St. Mary’s River watershed) in Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia). Historical and current forestry activities (e.g.Continue reading “Congratulations on graduating, Mary Legorburu!”
Celebrating 2024-2025 awards and scholarships to Westwood Lab members
Congratulations to Dr. Alana Westwood, Dr. Alana Lajoie-O’Malley, Samantha Chu, and Mary Legorburu for recently being awarded highly competitive awards. Dr. Westwood was awarded the Top Cited Article Award for the paper on “A systematic map of knowledge exchange across the science-policy interface for forest science: How can we improve consistency and effectiveness?” This paperContinue reading “Celebrating 2024-2025 awards and scholarships to Westwood Lab members “
Congratulations on graduating, Ali MacKellar!
Ali MacKellar is graduating with a Master’s of Environmental Studies from Dalhousie University. This thesis explores the connections between colonial resource extraction and queerness to fill a knowledge gap regarding the impacts of extraction on queer communities. By retracing the establishment of extractive industries as instruments of settler state expansion, unmasking the persistent systemic racism,Continue reading “Congratulations on graduating, Ali MacKellar!”
EFRI Kickoff Workshop
The EFRI Kick-Off workshop was held from September 4-6, 2024. The first day of the workshop was an introduction to the Nova Scotia Forest Ecosystem Classification (FEC) Guide led by the co-author of the guide, Peter Neily. Students had an opportunity to learn in the field about how to classify a forest stand using theContinue reading “EFRI Kickoff Workshop”
Congratulations on graduating, Rosie Bleyer!
Rosie Bleyer is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in environmental science and a minor in Indigenous Studies from Dalhousie University. Using data collected in the field over the summer of 2023, in her Honours thesis Rosie has worked to identify and prioritize barriers to Atlantic salmon habitat connectivity in Napu’saqnuk (the St Mary’s River)Continue reading “Congratulations on graduating, Rosie Bleyer!”
Celebrating recent awards and scholarships to Westwood Lab members
Congratulations to lab members Samantha Chu and Ben Collison for recently being awarded highly competitive scholarships from the federal tri-council funding agencies. Sam’s MES thesis proposal “Effective researcher-end-user knowledge exchange: understanding the preferences of foresters” earned her a Canada Graduate Scholarship – Masters from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for the upcomingContinue reading “Celebrating recent awards and scholarships to Westwood Lab members “
Fining big polluters can reduce environmental damage, but only if the fines match the crimes
Some of the country’s biggest polluters are multibillion-dollar companies. Limited fines may not be enough to stop them, but other potential solutions exist. Read the full article by Ben Collison on The Conversation or The Narwhal Monetary penalties for breaking environmental laws continue to rise. Yet, many companies are failing to maintain compliance and pollution continuesContinue reading “Fining big polluters can reduce environmental damage, but only if the fines match the crimes “
New studies find Canadian researchers in the environmental studies and sciences are still experiencing interference in their work
On November 30, two new studies were published in FACETS documenting researchers’ perceptions of the prevalence of interference in science, its sources, and effects and considered whether these perceptions differ by region, career stage, research area, membership to any scientific society, and social identity. The articles were accompanied by an op-ed in the Conversation and a blog post inContinue reading “New studies find Canadian researchers in the environmental studies and sciences are still experiencing interference in their work “
