MES STUDENT MANJULIKA ROBERTSON PUBLISHES PAPER IN ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES

The Westwood Lab’s MES student, Manjulika Robertson and her colleague, Kyle Conway, published a paper in Environmental Humanities, “Oil as Solution to the Problems of Oil: The American Petroleum Institute and the Petromodern Paradox”. This paper takes a deep dive into the 1950’s Petroleum School Series of educational booklets published by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The research uncovers the narratives embedded in the curriculum that worked to gain the consent of American’s to continue exploiting the resource and promise a future where petroleum acts as a sustainable solution to the anthropogenic climate change and other issues, caused by petroleum. Congratulations MJ!!

Citation: Conway, K., & Robertson, M.E. (2021). Oil as Solution to the Problems of Oil: The American Petroleum Institute and the Petromodern Paradox. Environmental Humanities, 13(1), 45-65. https://doi.org/10.1215/22OI011919-8867197

FOREST ECOLOGY & MANAGEMENT STUDENTS CREATE TREE SPECIES FACTSHEETS

Students in ENVI5050: Forest Ecology & Management from Dalhousie created tree species factsheets displaying social, economic, and biological attributes of key trees.

As part of this semester’s class, graduate students each selected a tree species to develop a visually appealing factsheet to demonstrate the key features and display the fascinating facts of the species. All images and text have been reproduced with permission from the students. To see the creative posters and learn more about select local trees, click here.

ALANA WESTWOOD RECEIVES 2021 ‘BELONG’ GRANT FROM DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

Dr. Alana Westwood receives one of Dalhousie’s 2021 BELONG grants for pre-tenure faculty from equity-deserving groups.

Funds from this grant will be used to investigate if and how past species distribution modelling and spatially-explicit land-use planning using Indigenous knowledge about Tǫdzı (boreal caribou in one Dene dialect) has respected best practices for supporting the agency and rights of knowledge-holders. Find out more about the project and all of the BELONG grant recipients and their fascinating work at this link.

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE JACKIE SATURNO PUBLISH PLASTIC POLLUTION RESEARCH

The Westwood Lab’s Research Associate, Jackie Saturno and her colleagues published a plastic pollution paper in Environmental Pollution, “An emerging source of plastic pollution: Environmental presence of plastic personal protective equipment (PPE) debris related to COVID-19 in a metropolitan city”. This study was completed in collaboration with Environmental Scientist and lead author, Justine Ammendolia, as well as Amy Brooks and Dr. Jenna Jambeck from University of Georgia and Dr. Shoshanah Jacobs from University of Guelph.

Read the Toronto Star, Huffington Post Canada and Globe and Mail press releases on this project that highlights the need to increase public awareness on PPE disposal and improve collection methods. An editorial piece with the Canadian Science Policy Centre is also available here regarding this project.

Citation: Ammendolia, J., Saturno, J., Brooks, A. L., Jacobs, S., & Jambeck, J. R. (2020). An emerging source of plastic pollution: Environmental presence of plastic personal protective equipment (PPE) debris related to COVID-19 in a metropolitan city. Environmental Pollution, 269, 116160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116160

ALANA WESTWOOD AND SALLY OTTO ON CANADA’S ECOLOGICAL DEBT: iPOLITICS

Westwood Lab Head, Dr. Alana Westwood, and Dr. Sarah Otto from University of British Columbia published an opinions article in iPolitics, “Rebuilding from a pandemic should strive to pay off Canada’s ecological debt”.

Citation: Westwood, A. & Otto, S. (2020). Rebuilding from a pandemic should strive to pay off Canada’s ecological debt. iPolitics.

LETTER FROM SRES FACULTY TO PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU IN RESPONSE TO VIOLENCE AGAINST MI’KMAW LEADERS

In response to the violence against Mi’Kmaw leaders, fishers and fisheries in southwestern Nova Scotia, Dr. Alana Westwood and her colleagues from the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University co-signed a letter to Prime Minister Justine Trudeau.

The letter, sent in by Dr. Karen Beazley, outlined their support for the Mi’kmaq and their right to hunt, fish, travel and conduct trade in Wabanaki according to the Treaties of Peace and Friendship of the 1750s and 1760s. The letter also urged the Government of Canada to protect the Indigenous leaders, fishers and fisheries against further violence and bring justice to the perpetrators.