Spaces, Places and Faces » Nature

September 2, 2010: Petitcodiac River

SpF — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:10:04 +0000

A map of the Petitcodiac River, with its 4 main tributaries highlighted in light blue.

From time to time on SPF we like to highlight the work of volunteer organizations that work to promote environmental protection and restoration. Today we put the spotlight on Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, an organization that promotes public education and research on the health of Lake Ontario and its watershed. We played an episode of their podcast, “Living at the Barricades,” which discussed the reopening of the causeway gates on the Petitcodiac River in New Brunswick. Click here to access the podcast via the Waterkeeper website!

July 15, 2010: Sean Carey

SpF — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:28:34 +0000

A polar bear and young cub; hear about the danger of extinction facing polar bears in the Hudson Bay region in the Environmental News

This week on the show we heard from Sean Carey, professor of Geography at Carleton University and head of the Cold Regions Hydrology lab. He recently won the Young Scientist Award from the Canadian Geophysical Union for his research in understanding hydrological processes in northern environments. His research also focuses on snow, ice, and frozen ground in the north and how they affect hydrological processes, as well as being involved with environmental reconstitution of the Alberta Oil Sands. Robyn Penney spoke with him about the award, as well as some of his research.

On the Environmental News, Henry talked about the new Ontario eco-fee, some updates from bp, the dwindling numbers of Hudson Bay polar bears due to climate change, water shortages around the world, and in Panama, the first islands being abandoned due to rising sea levels brought on by climate change.

May 27, 2010: Dana Meise: Trans Canada Traveller

SpF — Thu, 27 May 2010 23:50:49 +0000

This week on the show, Henry Hawkins spoke with Dana Meise, who is travelling across Canada on the Trans Canada Trail. He began in Newfoundland in 2008, and has been walking (minus winters) ever since. He has now made it to Ottawa, and we checked in with him to hear about how his travels have been going. You can find out more about him at his website.

What happens when a bicycle faces off against a train? If it were a contest of strength or speed the bike wouldn’t have a chance. But in many parts of Canada, rail travel is declining and outdoor activities are on the rise. From coast to coast, discontinued railway line are being turned into recreational pathways for cyclists, rollerbladers, skiers and snowmobilers. We heard from Carol Hunsberger, who took us on a bicycle trip along a former railway corridor in the Laurentians, and looked at what the conversion of rails to trails says about our changing transportation pattern.

March 18, 2010: Research in the North

SpF — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:39:23 +0000

This morning on the show we heard a special report from Briyan Grimwood entitled ‘Soundscapes of the North’. Bryan has been part of an SSHRC funded research project, travelling to Gjoa Haven, Nunavut as part of a research initiative for the International Polar Year. This segment documents some of the diverse soundscapes of the north experienced during his trip, and some conversations with some of the people he has been working with.

Later, Carol Hunsberger spoke with Laura Tucker, an environmental studies major who worked with Transport Canada on a research project on Arctic shipping routes. She presented the report’s findings at a meeting of hundreds of polar researchers in Whitehorse. They talked about some of her experiences, as well as Canada’s political strategies for dealing with Northern issues.

February 25, 2010: Water Purification and Michael Runtz

SpF — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:27:25 +0000

This morning Henry talked with Edward Lai, Professor of Analytical Chemistry here at Carleton University. Along with Banu Ormeci, he has been working on a technology to purify water of estrogenic compounds, otherwise known as female sex hormones. These compounds are found in water supplies, and are not filtered out in the traditional processes. After being given a grant from the Canadian Water Network, they are working toward a refining the process, and a larger implementation to local water suppliers and industries.

Later Robyn spoke with Michael Runtz, a professor of Biology, and specialist of Natural History here at Carleton. They discussed the field of Naturalism, and his participation in the recent 2010 Discovery Lecture.

Henry also spoke with Marie-Odile Junker, a professor of linguistics here at Carleton. She is working on the Cree-Inuu linguistic atlas, and she gave us a brief look at her research, and discussed why she is working on the atlas, and who she hopes will benefit from it most. The atlas can be found here.

November 19, 2009: Voter Representation and Environmental Justice

SpF — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:28:08 +0000

On today’s show we looked into the geography of voting. Many of us take “one person, one vote” for granted, but Stewart Fast explained how our votes can make more, or less, of a difference based on where we cast them. He spoke with Andy Blair and Yannick Carrière of Fair Vote Canada.

Then, we heard about environmental justice and the Alberta oil sands. Clayton Thomas-Muller from the Indigenous Environmental Network gave a keynote speech on the topic at the Power Shift Canada conference few weeks ago. We played a slightly shortened version of his address. Thanks to Greg Macdougall for recording the speech.

November 12, 2009: Alberta Acts on Climate and the Future of the Spirit Bear

SpF — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:05:40 +0000

This week we covered two western Canadian stories with environmental and social twists. Carol Hunsberger interviewed Greg Powell of ‘Alberta Acts on Climate Change’, a joint initiative of the University of Calgary and the Pembina Institute, on environmental citizenship and action on climate change in a province that often gets sneers on climate and carbon policy.

In the second half of the show John Wall interviewed Simon Jackson, founder of the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition about his efforts to produce a Hollywood animated film about BC’s white kermode bear and plow the profits into habitat protection on the Pacific Coast.

October 22, 2009: Snakes and Writers

SpF — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:08:29 +0000

On this show Matt Street looked into the loneliness of the long distance writer. He brought us an interview with a group from Toronto who turned the solitary process of writing into a group effort when they formed the Write Club. This group challenges themselves to write fiction for the club, get it published and share it with as many people possible.

We also heard from Dan Harvey, a wildlife biologist who has been studying rattlesnakes for 10 years. He spoke with Carol Hunsberger about how Ontario’s rattlesnakes are doing, as well as how efforts to protect them fit in with federal and provincial species at risk legislation.

June 25, 2009: Growing Up – Environment and Education

SpF — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:52:17 +0000

In honour of fathers day John Wall started the show off with a discussion on how he and his partner work together to integrate the environmental concepts into raising a child. John spoke of a number of useful tool and resources available to young fathers (and mothers) and gave a few words of wisdom from his experience in the process.

In the second half of the show Matt Street spoke with Asni Mekonnen the Senior Program Officer with the World University Services of Canada about their new Shine a Light campaign. Ms. Mekonnen spoke about the importance of the raising the base level of education for young girls in refugee camps and the various ways the Shine a Light Campaign is proposing to accomplish this. In this segment Matt references one of the many you tube videos that have been posted on-line by supporters of the program. You can either link to these through the shine a light campaign website, or view the video by Joelle Baseya here.

May 21, 2009: Campfire Stories And Karate Kids

SpF — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:37:27 +0000

On the May Long weekend SPFer Matt Street went camping at Sand Banks Provincial Park and took along his audio recorder. He recorded some interesting sounds, but he particularly liked this story that was read around the campfire. Listen carefully and you can hear the fire and the frogs in the background.

The Story is tentatively called “The Rub.” – By Douglas Ullrich ready by Mark Sedore. Here is what the Author wrote about it:

“It’s sort of random at the start, and then makes more sense as it goes on. It’s basically about sitting on the subway or the streetcar and looking across the aisle at somebody who looks totally content, just in the moment and thoughtless, and almost wishing you could have that kind of simplistic certainty or peacefulness (even though you’re aware of the fact that just sitting there, pondering all this stuff, analyzing all these angles, means you could never be that person).”

In the second part of the show Matt Street reports back to Paul Martin on a Karate fundraiser for the Brockville YMCA in Brockville Ontario.