Imagine living in a world where the wisdom of Indigenous communities guides our actions towards biodiversity and human health. This isn't just a vision; it's becoming a reality through the groundbreaking initiative known as Ărramăt. This funded project is a pioneering effort to acknowledge and amplify the voices of Indigenous peoples, empowering them to share their knowledge about the environment's role in promoting health and well-being.
Ărramăt Project: harnessing Indigenous wisdom for biodiversity conservation and community well-being
As the Arctic wind whistles through Canada's northern wilderness, a unique collaboration is unfolding between scientists and Indigenous communities. Graduate and Postdoctoral students in the , under the leadership of Dr. Murray Humphries, are redefining how scientific research is conducted.
In our busy everyday lives, it's easy to overlook our deep-rooted connection with nature. The connection is not just about the nourishment we derive or the air we breathe; nature subtly but significantly enhances our well-being. This intriguing intersection is where 91˿Ƶ Department of Natural Resource Sciences PhD candidate directs her research.
Dr. Murray Humphries (PhD’01), a passionate wildlife biology professor at the Macdonald Campus, spends his days immersed in the fascinating world of biodiversity—the colorful, complex tapestry of life on Earth. At the Macdonald Campus, we don't just study this diversity, we celebrate it.
The tidal wetlands and dykelands of the inner Bay of Fundy are critical ecosystems in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, providing essential benefits to human and non-human communities.
These ecosystems offer biodiverse habitats, protection from coastal flooding, and cultural value for Indigenous, Acadian, and other communities. However, they are increasingly threatened by climate change, making their management more complex and their future uncertain.
We live in the Anthropocene era. Human actions have become the major driving force behind unprecedented environmental challenges, creating delicate complexities and uncertainties about the future of the planet and humanity. Canada’s critical landscapes are not spared from these challenges, threatening the well-being of human and non-human communities that depend on them for various natural benefits. Thus, our ability to prepare, plan, and reflect for the future has never been as important to ensure that Canada’s landscapes thrive sustainably and resiliently in the Anthropocene.
Photo: La Terre de Chez Nous
The crème de la crème of the agricultural world gathered in the grand ballroom of the Château Frontenac on October 21 to honor three new inductees to the Quebec Agricultural Hall of Fame.
Tributes were paid to André D. Beaudoin, Charles Vincent and Réjean Vermette (pictured above from left to right), under the watchful eye of the dignitaries in attendance, including the provincial Minister of Agriculture, André Lamontagne.
As climate change intensifies extreme heat, farms are becoming less hospitable to nesting birds, a found. That could be another barrier to maintaining rapidly eroding biodiversity that also provides benefits to humans, including farmers who get free pest control when birds eat agricultural pests.
Both elegant and fierce, killer whales are some of the oceans’ top predators, but even they can be exposed to environmental pollution. Now, in the largest study to date on North Atlantic killer whales, researchers in the American Chemical Society’ Environmental Science & Technology report the levels of legacy and emerging pollutants in 162 individuals’ blubber. The animals’ diet, rather than location, greatly impacted contaminant levels and potential health risks — information that’s helpful to conservation efforts.
As Canadians experience a year of record-breaking wildfires, floods, and extreme heat, experts are warning that these conditions will persist and likely intensify over the coming decades as we experience the escalating effects of climate change and global warming. These impacts are being felt even more acutely in northern regions of the planet, where temperatures are rising at four times the global rate.
Researchers have known for decades that orcas across the North Pacific have harmful pollutants in their system.
, written by a team which includes Professor Elena Bennett in 91˿Ƶ’s Department of Natural Resource Sciences, explores the challenges of the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch defined by humans' colossal impact on the environment. To counteract this widescale destruction, the researchers propose that imagination is a hopeful yet complicated tool for creating a positive environmental future.
As cases creep upward of a rare disease that spreads to humans from wild canines and dogs, medical experts say it's important to get a better understanding of its incidence across the country.
Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is an infection caused by the parasite Echinococcus multilocularis, which is carried by coyotes, dogs and foxes. The tapeworm common in Europe was first detected in wildlife in Western Canada in 2012; one year later, the first human case of AE was found in a woman in rural Alberta.
On September 7, thirty two AES undergraduate research awardees shared posters illustrating their summer research jobs.
Dean Anja Geitmann broke through the waves of animated conversation to congratulate the students for engaging in this inspiring science conversation and to award four researchers for their outstanding posters: