News 2010

October 7, 2010 - Dr. Glen MacDonald, Director of the University of California Institute of the Environment

Climategate, Recession and the Future of Climate Change Policy The View from California
3:30 – 5:00 PM, Thursday Oct 7, NCB Room 114

For the past 25 years, Dr. Glen MacDonald has been researching, writing, teaching and working on documentaries and broadcasts about environmental and environmental change issues. MacDonald’s goals are to increase and disseminate knowledge about the environmental sustainability challenges we face, form partnerships between scholars, government agencies, policy makers and the private sector to develop environmentally and economically sustainable solutions to those challenges, and to educate new generations to take up these challenges in ways we may not even be able to imagine today. He does not, however, see our world as all doom and gloom. Environment and sustainability challenges have brought together people from different nations, social and economic strata, from universities, from government and from the business world in a multitude of efforts to confront these issues. Never before have so many sectors been so engaged in finding environmental and sustainability solutions, and MacDonald sees this as a rare opportunity to create not just a better environment, but a more sustainable and vigorous economy and society.  

MacDonald specializes in water scarcity and has active field research locations in California, the northern Great Plains and adjacent Rocky Mountains, the North American subarctic, Russia and Siberia. A recent focus of his work is on the threat of perfect droughts in California and throughout the arid subtropics due to climate warming.

MacDonald is widely published and has appeared on NBC National News, NPR, BBC, Discovery Channel, CBC, National Geographic Online, local news outlets and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of an award-winning book on biogeography.

Dr. Glen M. MacDonald will also speak on But it’s a Dry Heat...Climate Change and Water Challenges in Western North American and Beyond – Oct. 6, 7 to 8 PM UCC 37 (Reception to follow in SSC 3036)
Dr. MacDonald’s presentations are made possible by a co-partnership between the Department of Geography and the Centre for Environment and Sustainability.
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October 7-10, 2010 - Interdisciplinary Conference on Integrating Complexity: Environment and History
The Department of Philosophy and Rotman Insititute for Science and Values

Please join us for an interdisciplinary conference from October 7-10, at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. Integrating Complexity: Environment and History will consist of two linked workshops exploring a set of challenges to scientific understanding that span many fields of the natural and human sciences, and that have broad implications for research choices, for social policy, and for scientific understanding. The two workshop themes are Organism-Environment Interaction: Past, Present and Future and Methodology in the Historical Sciences. READ MORE

This is an Off-Year Workshop for the International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology, and is sponsored by the Rotman Institute of Science and Values.

The final submission deadline is Aug. 1, 2010. If you are interested in presenting at the conference, please send a one-page abstract to iceh@uwo.ca for consideration. (If you are interested in attending and contributing as a session chair or informal discussion leader rather than giving a talk please let us know!) See the conference website at http://www.iceh.uwo.ca/ for full submission information and conference details.
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CES Director Announced
From the Dean of Science
I am pleased to inform you that Dr. Gordon Southam of the Departments of Earth Sciences and Biology has accepted a three-year appointment as Director of the Centre for Environment and Sustainability, commencing August 1, 2010. Dr. Southam’s appointment was advanced at the recommendation of the CES Director Selection Committee. READ MORE

On behalf of the Selection Committee please join me in welcoming Gordon Southam to the Centre for Environment & Sustainability and to its leadership team. I am confident that, with your support, Gordon will provide effective and creative leadership of the Centre.

Gordon Southam  (http://www.uwo.ca/earth/people/faculty/southam.html)
Dr. Southam's Vision Statement for the Centre for Environment and Sustainability
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MES Co-op Symposium Friday, August 27th, 2010
8:30 AM to 5:30 PM Western Science Centre, Room 240
Each year, students in the Masters in Environment & Sustainability Program (MES) have the rare opportunity to engage with real-world clients and work on consulting projects that will have real-world impact while still in the classroom. This year's conference, held at the new Convergence Centre, Research Park featured presentations from the seven consulting groups that make up this year's MES student body. Please join us for the annual MES Co-op Symposium bringing the MES program for 2009-2010 to a close. Each student will communicate their experience and learning from the co-op work term in a short presentation with a question period to follow. Link to student presentation schedule.
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7th Annual Earth Day Colloquium April 23, 2010
8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Spencer Engineering Building, 2200 & 2202
The 7th Annual Earth Day Colloquium gets underway with a reception on Thursday, April 22nd, at 6:00 p.m., at the UWO Grad Club (Middlesex College), and precedes an exciting day-long program showcasing the latest research and innovative thinkers in Environment & Sustainability. The Earth Day Colloquium, a multi-disciplinary conference-style program, offers a sampling of research across a broad spectrum that includes the sciences, engineering, social sciences, business, policy and management.

Colloquium participants can choose from two concurrently run sessions consisting of five presentations of ten to twelve minutes in duration. After each presentation, audience members will have the opportunity to pose questions directly to the presenters to receive first-hand information. 
The Earth Day Colloquium organizers, UWO Graduate Students in the Environment & Sustainability Collaborative Research program, are pleased to announce this year’s Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Dean Jacobs - Consultation Manager for the Walpole Island First Nation and founding Director of the Walpole Island Heritage Centre, who will give the following address:   

Spirit of the Land: Sustaining the Circle of Life

Other distinguished invited speakers include:
Sean Galloway - Urban Design: It’s a Place, Not a Project - Urban Planning, City of London
Dr. Jamey Essex - Foodsheds, Locavores, and Backyard Chickens: The Promises and Perils of Local Food Movements - Department of Political Science, University of Windsor
Dr. Doug Haffner - Collapse: Food Webs of the Great Lakes are in Peril - Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) at University of Windsor

The Earth Day Colloquium provides an opportunity for students, faculty, citizens of the city of London and area, government and industry to experience cutting-edge insights in Environment and Sustainability research.
Refreshment breaks throughout the day give participants an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with others who are involved in Environment & Sustainability.  
The Earth Day Colloquium is an excellent way to celebrate our home, our Earth, and to discover some of the promising research projects that will sustain it. Everyone is welcome to the opening reception on Thursday and to the colloquium on Friday.
To learn more about The 7th Annual Earth Day Colloquium please visit the Earth Day Colloquium webpages.             ________________________________________________________________________________

Chris Turner, Author of The Geography of Hope
A Tour of the World We Need (EVENT POSTER)
Wednesday, April 7 – 4:30 PM to 6 PM, UCC Room 146
Author, journalist, environmentalist and sustainability expert, Chris Turner went on a global mission to find the answer to this question: "Would this - this place, this machine, this social system or way of life - be capable of continuing on its present course for the foreseeable future without exhausting the planet's ability to sustain human life at something like the current population and quality of life?" (Read more)
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Environmental Exposition - Thursday, April 1st
9:30 am to 4:30 pm, The University Community Centre – Gymnasiums
Students in the first-year Environmental Issues course want to get the word out. They’ve been working hard on environmental investigations and projects that explore timely issues and technologies, and now it is time to go public with their important findings at the Day-long Environmental Exposition.  The Environmental Expo will consist of 64 evocative presentations on 25 topics that confront some of the difficult environmental concerns we face in today’s world, and will examine some of the technological advances used for solutions. The presentations are the results of team members who have pooled their research, talents, resources and hours of collaborative work to create original commentaries on important and timely topics.  Far-ranging and diverse topics will inspire, delight, provoke, challenge and inform. The following sample of the day-long roster provides a hint of the Exposition’s depth and variety:  
Cool Runnings: Deep lake water cooling initiatives
A Slippery Slope: The peak oil concept and its effects on oil & gas exploration/development
Holy Smokes: The distribution and impacts of PAHs in urban or agricultural environments
Illegal Aliens: The impact of invasive species on Canadian ecosystems
Waste Not, Want Not: Innovative strategies for reducing or reusing consumer waste
It’s Getting Hot in Here: Changing climate patterns and their impact on species survival
Green Cuisine: The greening of human diets
… and many, many more.
In addition to imaginative presentations, participants can anticipate helpful fact sheets and visual displays - concrete resources to assist in learning and to inspire action. This showcase for the environment is for anyone who cares about our fragile earth and how we can protect it. Or, to put it another way, there is something at The Day-long Environmental Expo to interest everyone. The students extend an invitation to everyone in the Western Community, the City of London and area, and members of government and business to “Come to the Environmental Exposition,” an informative, fun and free event.  Not to be missed!
For further information please contact:  Natasha Patrito Hannon, PhD, Instructor, ES 1021
Phone:  (519) 661-2111, ext. 84651 Fax:  (519) 661-3076 email: npatrit@uwo.ca 
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Western's 3rd Annual Green Awards Announced
Winners Natasha Patrito Hannon, Chris Mouritzen, Carol Di Peitro
We extend our congratulations to this year's winners of Western's Green Awards, in recognition of their contributions to sustainability on campus. The awards help raise awareness of sustainability at The University of Western Ontario through the acknowledgement of community members who have made positive contributions. Read about the winners and their contributions here Western News Article Western News Article.
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Richard Heinberg - March 25, 2010
Senior Fellow-in-Residence, The Post Carbon Institute, California U.S.A.
Life After Growth: Why the Economy Is Shrinking and What to Do About It
4:30- 6:00 PM Thursday, March 25, 2010, 3M Centre Rm 3250 (EVENT POSTER)
Richard Heinberg will discuss how the ongoing economic recession represents a fundamental break with recent history: growth has ceased and may never return in the same way, because energy and resource limits are increasingly constraining economic expansion. But families and communities may actually be better off in a sustainable, "steady-state" economy--one that values people and nature over high-rate financial returns.
Richard Heinberg is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost Peak Oil educators.
A columnist for the Ecologist Magazine, he has also authored scores of essays and articles for such magazines and journals as: The American Prospect, Public Policy Research, Quarterly Review, Z Magazine, Resurgence, The Futurist, European Business Review, Earth Island Journal, Yes!, Pacific Ecologist, Wild Matters, The Proceedings of the Canadian Association of the Club of Rome, Canadian Dimension, Alternative Press Review, and The Sun. He appears regularly in film and television documentaries as a leading international expert in peak oil and is a regular contributor to numerous websites.
Richard is the author of nine books translated into eight languages, including: 
Blackout: Coal, Climate, and the Last Energy Crisis (2009)
Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines (2007)
The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism & Economic Collapse (2006)
Powerdown: Options & Actions for a Post-Carbon World (2004)
The Party's Over: Oil, War & the Fate of Industrial Societies (2003)
A Senior Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute, Richard has given over three hundred lectures on oil depletion to a variety of audiences.  In recognition of his major environmental contributions, Richard has received such prestigious awards as, the M. King Hubbert Award for Excellence in Energy Education, the “Books to Live By” Award of Excellence from Body/Mind/Spirit Magazine, the Bronze and Gold Environmental Awards for his books Powerdown and The Oil Depletion Protocol and the Independent Publishers Book of the Year (IPPY) Bronze Award in the category of Current Events.
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Harold Crabtree Foundation Award in Public Policy - March 29
Climate Change and Water Issues in Ontario (Event Poster)
Linda Mortsch, Adaptation and Impacts Research, Climate Research Division Environment Canada, and Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo
Monday March 29, 2010, 2:30pm-3:30pm,Social Sciences Centre 9420 (9th floor)
Linda Mortsch is a senior researcher with Environment Canada and an adjunct at the University of Waterloo. Her research interests include assessing the effects of climate change on water resources in North America.  She was Convening Lead Author for the North American Chapter of the IPCC 2007 Scientific Assessment.
The 4th special lecture in a series on the topic of Public Policy Dimensions of Water Security in the Context of Climate Change.
Coffee and refreshments will be served after during a discussion session.
Contact Professor Gordon McBean at 519-661-4274 or gmcbean@uwo.ca for more information.
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TD Canada Trust Go Green Challenge Winners
 Our congratulations to Peter Schnurr, 4th year Honors student in Environmental Science, and Hilary Booth, 4th year Honors student in Biology as winners in the national TD Canada Trust Go Green Challenge, with UWO faculty sponsor Dr. Amarjeet Bassi, Chemical and Bio-Chemical Engineering.  Their novel project proposal “Sustainable Food and Energy Production: Closing the Loop from Farmfield to Waste”, places municipal organic solid waste into anaerobic digester units that will produce methane gas as a renewable energy source.  Nutrient rich liquid from the digesters can then be used to grow algae for biofuel and bio-product production.  In addition, the nutrient rich solid from the digesters can be used as organic fertilizer.
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Faculty of Law
Panel Discussion on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law: Canadian Mining in Developing Countries
Date: Thursday, March 18th, 2010, 12 noon to 1:30
Location: Moot Court Room, Faculty of Law, UWO
Everyone is welcome! The panel will discuss whether, and if so, how Canada should regulate Canadian mining companies operating overseas for compliance with international environmental and human rights standards.
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Dr. Avri Kadmon - March 9, 2010
Israeli Water Expert
Leading the way - Israel's Successes in Water Management
10:30 am to noon - Tuesday, March 9, 2010, Talbot College Room 205
Water problems in Israel include over-pumping from aquifers, insufficient aquifer wash and recharge, aquifer salinization; water source contamination; insufficient supervision of water supply; and environmental pollution. With successive years of drought, the situation becomes worse. Lake Kinneret is almost fully utilized in terms of water pumped from it into the National Water Carrier and the same is true for the coastal and mountain aquifers. The coastal aquifer is over-pumped and the damage may soon be irreversible. The Samaria Mountains aquifer is also almost fully utilized. 
The Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) is planning a spurt of activity regarding river rehabilitation and other water-related projects. Dr. Kadmon is in charge of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Mapping and River Rehabilitation and all KKL-JNF involvement in river rehabilitation. He sits on 14 river authorities for river rehabilitation as well as planning committees for river rehabilitation. 
Dr. Kadmon has received numerous awards in recognition of his significant contributions to solving Israel’s water problem. 
Dr. Kadmon’s presentation will be followed by a Q &A. Light refreshments will be served. Everyone is welcome.
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4th Annual Cross-disciplinary Luncheon - March 5, 2010
Sustainability in Developing Countries
Friday March 5th, 12pm – 2pm McKellar Room in UCC (EVENT POSTER)
The Ivey Centre for Building Sustainable Value with support from the Centre for Environment & Sustainability will host faculty and graduate students from across campus this Friday with the aim of engaging in multidisciplinary discussions about cutting-edge research in social and environmental sustainability. This is the fourth of a series of annual events to foster interdisciplinary cooperation. To attend, RSVP required by February 26, 2010.
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Slow Burn Renews Contaminated Property
RESTORE Group (Research for Subsurface Transport and Remediation)
Link to Western News article by Paul Mayne
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3rd Annual Western Green Awards
Nomination Period February 2-26 2010
Nominations are being sought for the Western Green Awards to recognize contributions to sustainability on campus. The purpose of the award is to help raise awareness of sustainability at The University of Western Ontario through the acknowledgement of community members - student, faculty, and staff - who have made positive contributions. To read more about this initative, learn how you can participate and access a nomination form, please visit the university Green Awards site (part of Physical Plant and Capital Planning Services), or Email greenawards@uwo.ca.
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David Noble - February 22, 2010
Founder and Principal of 2 degrees C, navigating Climate Change
www.2degreesc.com
The 2 degrees challenge: Climate catastrophe or sustainable inspiration?
4:30 to 6 PM, Middlesex College Room 110
Fresh from the Climate Change conference in Copenhagen, activist David Noble, will give a firsthand perspective as a participant. What was achieved? Anything, or was it just a lot of hot air? What were the conference outcomes? How does the world view climate change? Two degrees C of global warming over pre-industrial global average temperatures is viewed as a critical threshold above which the risks of catastrophic climate change increase dramatically. Are we moving in the right 2 degree direction?
David Noble is founder and principal of 2degreesC, a global organization with a core team in Canada that works with and through a network of partners, clients and friends all around the world. It is dedicated to advancing collective action and transformational change in response to the global climate crisis.
Copenhagen was David’s fifth international climate negotiation. He has trained with Al Gore and is a presenter with the Climate Project, has been a keynote and featured presenter to diverse audiences in 10 countries in North America, Europe and Asia. He has worked on more than 60 projects spanning the public, private and youth sectors, academia, and various professional sectors.
David’s articles appear frequently in professional and general interest publications, and he has contributed to several national and international reports, including a UNICEF report on the human security impacts of climate change on children. He co-edited and wrote for, Stepping up to the Climate Change Challenge: Perspectives on local government leadership, policy and practice, distributed to nearly 4,000 Mayors and chief administrators in municipalities across Canada.
David Noble is a man of passion and purpose. Audiences have called his talks energetic, exciting, motivating, inspiring, hopeful, and not to be missed!
We are pleased to invite everyone to participate in this special speaker event. EVENT POSTER ________________________________________________________________________________

Melissa Hardy - January 18, 2010
Broken Road and Land as Story
Author Melissa Hardy visited Western January 18, 2010 for a public speaking engagement. Her audience heard readings from her book Broken Road, and an public lecture on "Land as Story: a road broken and the tragic undoing of the Cherokee Nation". Broken Road is set against the historical backdrop of the events leading up to the Trail of Tears and deeply rooted in the mythology and sacred history of the "Real People" (the name by which the Cherokee referred to themselves), and an account of the intense love-hate relationship between white Americans and the tribe that, more than any other, embraced white culture and emulated its institutions. It was a relationship that was to end in the destruction of the Cherokee way of life and the heartbreaking loss of their ancestral lands. Melissa Hardy's visit is supported by the Centre for Environment and Sustainability. Link to poster.

Melissa Hardy, Novelist
"Land as Story: a road broken and the tragic undoing of the Cherokee Nation"
Monday, January 18, 2010, 4:30 p.m.- 6:00 p.m., Rm 110 Middlesex College
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FILM NIGHT November 24, 2009
Blind Spot with special guest, John Michael Greer
What if all of the expectations you have about the future are completely wrong? Mark your calendars for November 24, 2009 and plan to see the documentary film Blind Spot by Adolfo Doring. Come and enjoy a film, pizza and a lively Q&A led by John Michael Greer, social critic on resource scarcity and depletion and author of The Long Decent, The Ecotechnic Future. The evening begins at 6:00 p.m., Middlesex College in Rm 110. All Welcome! Click for poster and details________________________________________________________________________________

Government of Canada - November 18, 2009
Three Public Lectures and Student Career Seminar
 Everyone is welcome to attend a series of three public lectures by members of the Government of Canada, delivered at various locations on campus on Wednesday November 18, 2009. Students will not want to miss a special seminar focussing on careers.
The Global Financial Crisis
Mr. Tiff Macklem, Associate Deputy Minister and G7 Deputy for Canada, Finance Canada
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., Social Science Room 2050
Developing Climate Change Policy in Canada
Mr. Bob Hamilton, Associate Deputy Minister, Environment Canada
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m., Room 1 Natural Sciences Centre  
The Chrysler and GM Rescue
Mr. Paul Boothe, Senior Associate Deputy Minister, Industry Canada
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., Ivey Room 2R21
Student Career Seminar
Students are invited to attend a Student Career Seminar with Officials from Finance Canada, Environment Canada and Industry Canada.
November 18, 2009, 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m., Room 343 Talbot College
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E&S READS - November 3, 2009
Peter Victor "Managing without Growth: Slower by Design, not Disaster"
7:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 3, 2009, Middlesex College Room 1
Expansion and unlimited economic growth - these are common catch phrases of industry and government. But are these ideas sustainable as the world faces difficult environmental challenges? Dr. Peter Victor, economist and Professor in Environmental Studies at York University, argues that management without growth does not lead to economic disaster. By extending input-output analysis, he applies the physical law of the conservation ofmatter to the empirical analysis of a national economy. 
Dr. Victor has 40 years of experience working in the environmental field as a consultant, public servant and academic. Presented by: The Centre for Environment and Sustainability
Discussion Session - Author Q&A
Dr. Victor’s book, Managing Without Growth: Slower by Design, not Disaster is a selection for Environment & Sustainability Reads. Dr. Victor will be discuss his book and field questions from students and a general audience.
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, Kresge Building, Room 106
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Commencement of the MES Program Application Period
We welcome new applications for the 2010/2011 MES Program beginning October 9, 2009.
More Information
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Dr. Helen Caldicott
The Nuclear Question The Acute and Chronic Dangers of Nuclear Power and Nuclear War
As the subject of the 1982 National Film Board of Canada's Oscar-winning documentary "If you Love
This Planet", Dr. Caldicott inspired a generation to work toward nuclear disarmament. Dr. Caldicott continues her mission with her most recent books Nuclear Power is Not the Answer and War in Heaven. Dr. Caldicott visited Western on October 16, 2009 to deliver a public lecture on "The Nuclear Question: The Acute and Chronic Dangers of Nuclear Power and Nuclear War". View poster

Sponsors: Faculty of Information and Media Studies, the Centre for Environment and Sustainability, the Global and Ecosystem Health Interest Group at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, the Physicians for Global Survival and the McConnell Family Foundation.
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CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Director, Centre for Environment and Sustainability
Click here for PDF

DispatchES Environment & Sustainability Newsletter
Click here for PDF (Summer)

 

This page was last updated on April 21, 2010
Centre for Environment and Sustainability Web Contact: hsanders@uwo.ca