This morning on the show we heard from Sarah Walker about the Oxbow Park Naturalization Project, and took a trip to the archives to hear about Dana Meise, who is walking across Canada on the Trans-Canada Trail.

Sarah Walker: . . . → Read More: February 17, 2011: Oxbow Park Naturalization]]> Oxbow Park, one of the few remaining natural spaces on Carleton’s Campus. Credit.

This morning on the show we heard from Sarah Walker about the Oxbow Park Naturalization Project, and took a trip to the archives to hear about Dana Meise, who is walking across Canada on the Trans-Canada Trail.

Sarah Walker: Oxbow Park Naturalization Project
By: Robyn Penney, Regular SPF Contributor
Oxbow Park was created in the early 1990s as a space of recreation and relaxation on campus, governed by ideas of sustainability and naturalization. By planting indigenous species of plants and shrubs, the park has become a natural, low maintenance area on campus that provides an accommodating haven for wildlife. Robyn talked to Sarah about OPIRG-Carleton’s efforts to conserve the park, and how Carleton views the park as a liability instead of a recreation area.

Dana Meise: Trans-Canada Traveller
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
This morning we replayed an interview with Dana Meise from last year, who is spending his summers walking across Canada on the Trans-Canada trail. Starting in Newfoundland in 2008, he walked his way through Ottawa last May, and after his third season had walked a total of 7,570km. Henry talked to him about his travels to that point, and some of his experiences along the way.

The Environmental News
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
In this week’s environmental news, Ontario halts all plans for offshore wind electricity projects, a court in Ecuador has ordered Chevron to pay 8.6 billion dollars for for environmental damages caused by mining in the 1970s and 80s, compensation payments for the 20 billion dollar Gulf of Mexico fund stumble along, and two recent reports provide further evidence of the link between climate change and extreme weather events.

Paul Grigoriev: Biodiversity By: Andrew Lindstrom, Regular SPF Contributor 2010 was designated by the . . . → Read More: November 25, 2010: Biodiversity]]> This morning on the show we had the first feature from new SPF’er Andrew Lindstrom, an interview on biodiversity, and heard an overview of electricity generation and transmission from our first renewable energy episode, not included on last week’s show.

Paul Grigoriev: Biodiversity
By: Andrew Lindstrom, Regular SPF Contributor
2010 was designated by the UN as the International year of Biodiversity, due to concerns over diminishing numbers of species seen around the world in recent years. In pursuing his own interest about the subject, and working on a course project, Andrew caught up with Paul Grigoriev to discuss the issue. Paul works with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, an organization that created the Endangered Species Red List, to highlight species facing threats to their habitat and future existence, and ultimately promote conservation efforts.

Renewable Energy Series: Episode One – Primer on Energy & Power, Generation and Transmission
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
We also managed to broadcast this feature on the basics involved with talking about renewable energy, on the differences between energy and power, and the process involved in electricity generation and transmission. We couldn’t fit in to last week’s jam packed episode, so we gave it some airtime this morning. You can listen to this episode in its original context here.

Environmental News
By: Veronica Tang, Regular SPF Contributor
In this week’s environmental news, hope falters after a New Zealand mine explodes for a second time, clean energy hurts Ontario’s wallets, the first tiger summit ends with promising goals, and hybrid tugboats take a bite out of air pollution.

Madgical Moments, Episode 2: Peacekeeping Around The World By: Joanne Cameron, Government Documents Specialist

This morning on the show we had the second episode of the Madgical Moments, brought to you by the Madgic . . . → Read More: October 21, 2010: Madgical Moments, Part 2]]> Canadian Peacekeepers at the Israel/Egypt border in 1962. Hear about the ‘Keeping The Peace’ map in this week’s Madgical Moment.

Madgical Moments, Episode 2: Peacekeeping Around The World
By: Joanne Cameron, Government Documents Specialist

This morning on the show we had the second episode of the Madgical Moments, brought to you by the Madgic Department in the MacOdrum Library here at Carleton. This episode looks at a map called ‘Keeping The Peace’, from the Understanding Global Issues current events series that is available through the Madgic Department. The map gives an overview of the history and locations of peacekeeping around the world since the end of World War II. It highlights a number of locations including Haiti, Pakistan, Kosovo, and East Timor.

You can see the Madgic Library website here, and access their blog here.

Declaring Toxins
By: Digory McGinn, Guest SpF Contributor

What does it mean when a substance is suddenly declared a toxic chemical? Special guest host Digory McGinn prepared a short report on the subject in light of the recent status of bisphenol-A being labelled a toxic substance.

The Ottawa Forest and Greenspace Advisory Committee
By: Robyn Penney, Regular SpF Contributor

The OFGAC works to protect trees and greenspaces within the capital region, and report to city council on important issues, and Robyn gave a short profile of their organization this morning.

The David Suzuki Legacy Lecture: Writer’s Festival 2010 By: Robyn Penney & Henry Hawkins, Regular SpF Contributors

David Suzuki was in Ottawa this past week as part of the annual Writer’s Festival, and gave his Legacy Lecture speech. . . . → Read More: September 30, 2010: The David Suzuki Legacy Lecture]]> David Suzuki, answering questions during his Legacy Lecture given as part of the 2010 Writer’s Festival.

The David Suzuki Legacy Lecture: Writer’s Festival 2010
By: Robyn Penney & Henry Hawkins, Regular SpF Contributors

David Suzuki was in Ottawa this past week as part of the annual Writer’s Festival, and gave his Legacy Lecture speech. The talk was based on his life’s work, and was developed as a response to the question, ‘If you had one last lecture to give, what would you say?’. Covering everything from the beginnings of life on Earth to the future of sustainable development, and touching on biology, genetics, conservation, education, and the economy, Suzuki’s Legacy lecture is an excellent summary of his work over the last 40 years. It has recently been the subject of a film that will see limited release tomorrow, as well as an accompanying book.

Robyn and Henry attended the lecture, and had a live roundtable discussion of the lecture, discussing some of the issues he brought up during his talk.

The Interactive Learning Project: Micheal Nemr
By: Robyn Penney, Regular SpF Contributor

Everyone has played some sort of video game in their life but have you ever thought of watching a live lecture in a 3-D auditorium, then hanging out with your friends on top of Dunton tower? Maybe it’s a different kind of fun than beating out your opponent in a racing game but it could be the future of “going to school” here at Carleton. Robyn interviewed Micheal Nemr on an interactive learning project for Carleton University courses, a video game-like experience where students can wander round a representation of campus and talk with professors.

The Environmental News
By: Robyn Penney, Regular SpF Contributor

In this week’s news, the Canadian government spends 2.5 million dollars on bottled water and water coolers, new improvements in solar cell research from Stanford University, and the Council for Canadians bash Harper’s agreement to join the international conference of water corporations.

Have you ever wondered what it takes for a building to be ‘green’, or what that term means beyond some vague definitions or confusing claims? The LEED Certification is perhaps the most widely . . . → Read More: September 16, 2010: LEED Building Certifications]]> The LEED Certification Logo of the Canada Green Building Council, and one of the first Platinum Certified buildings in the US.

Have you ever wondered what it takes for a building to be ‘green’, or what that term means beyond some vague definitions or confusing claims? The LEED Certification is perhaps the most widely sought certification a building can get, and with 5 levels of certification, there are a number of things involved in the process. Some buildings are built to the standards, others are retrofitted to be more green, and some even manage to go completely ‘off the grid’. Robyn Penney has a keen interest in the topic, and has been doing some interest on the subject. This morning she shared the results of her research with us.

It’s a new year at university, and that means that we are currently recruiting new volunteers for the show. This morning we talked a bit about our own experiences on the show, why it’s been so beneficial for us, and how new people can get involved.

Have you seen all the new trees growing across from Carleton’s campus along Bronson Ave. by Sunnyside? Recently, city workers have been damaging a number of these trees in their maintenance work, ruining the efforts of the local community members who have been working hard to get the city to support their construction of this mini green space. We heard from Declan Hill about what they’ve been trying to do for the area.

Mel-Rose also brought us the week’s Environmental News, and talked about Syncrude being charged with a number of counts of pollution for Oil Sands runoffs into the Athabasca River, a new LIDAR project, and the discovery of a number of Viking artefacts in Norway that have been recently uncovered by melting glaciers.

After that we tapped the . . . → Read More: January 7, 2010: Forests and Bears]]> In today’s show we feature two interviews that touch on forests. In the first half of the show we heard from Chris Henschel of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, speaking about forests and climate and how forestry is being included (or not) in current global climate change negotiations.

After that we tapped the archives for one of our favorite stories from 2009, an interview with Simon Jackson of the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition on BC’s white kermode bears and an innovative effort to protect their habitat.