Spaces, Places and Faces » Nature

February 17, 2011: Oxbow Park Naturalization

SPF — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:03:44 +0000

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.

January 27, 2011: ‘Green is the Colour of Happiness’

SPF — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 21:58:38 +0000

Nature can make you happier – hear about Lisa Nisbet’s research from her presentation called ‘Green is the Colour of Happiness’ Credit.

This morning on the show we heard from two of the presenters at the Yes You Can conference: Lisa Nisbet on the physical and psychological benefits to spending time in nature, and Owen Temby on greenhouse gas regulation in the US and Canada.

Lisa Nisbet: ‘Green in the Colour of Happiness’
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
Lisa Nisbet is a PhD Candidate and lecturer here at Carleton in the department of Psychology, and Henry Hawkins talked to her this week about her research on happiness and nature. She has created a nature relatedness scale to measure people’s connectedness to nature, and done studies on students who take the tunnels at Carleton, and discovered that they would be much happier if they walked outdoors.

Owen Temby: Greenhouse Gas Regulations in the U.S. and Canada
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
Owen Temby is a PhD candidate and lecturer in the department of Political Science at Carleton, researching air pollution regulations. Henry Hawkins talked to him about the history, and current efforts of air pollution regulation in the United States, the Clean Air Act, and what the recent pledge to govern greenhouse gas emissions could mean for Canada and the U.S. in the future.

The Environmental News
By: Andrew Lindstrom, Regular SPF Contributor
In this week’s Environmental News, study reveals that mass volcanic eruptions led to Earth’s first environmental disaster, the US congress targets the Clean Air Act, a sea census discovers 1200 new marine species, Jordan announces its plans for solar energy, and a newly discovered bacteria will cause the Titanic to disappear within 20 years.

January 6, 2011: Happy New Year

SPF — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 03:08:01 +0000

For our first show in the new year, we played a couple of features from our archives. One about jobs in geography, and another with Michael Runtz, on a talk he gave last year entitled ‘Sex, Flies, and Videotape’. Also, next week is the Yes You Can! conference at Carleton, with SPF’s Robyn Penney giving a presentation at 12:20pm. You can still sign up and buy tickets, so be sure to visit www.yesyoucanu.com for more information.

Michael Runtz: Sex, Flies and Videotape
By: Robyn Penney, Regular SPF Contributor
Last February, 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, and much more in a very lively discussion.

Jobs In Geography
By: John Wall, Alumni SPF Contributor
Last summer, Henry talked with John in the studio one morning about some advice to get a career, or a job in geography. What are employers looking for, and how should geographers sell themselves in a job market? How can geography undergrads get the most out of their undergrad degree?

The Environmental News
By: Henry Hawkins, Regular SPF Contributor
In this week’s environmental news, Prime Minister Harper appoints Peter Kent as Canada’s new environment minister, 2011 begins the International Year of Forests, as well as a potentially big year for electric cars, floods in Australia have been causing serious damage, and the White House oil spill commission has released its report on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

September 30, 2010: The David Suzuki Legacy Lecture

SPF — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:01:18 +0000

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.

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.