Falling in love can happen at any speed. For Kelly Kamo McHugh, the fall was fast. She arrived in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, in 2014, just a few months after graduating with her bachelor of science in environmental sciences degree. “As a kid, I was always very interested in the Arctic and northern Canada, so when I was searching for jobs, I looked everywhere in Canada but focused on the North,” Kelly explains.
BMO Field features real turfgrass, but its management is no ‘walk in the park.’ The care of the outdoor Toronto sports stadium takes special skill and innovation. Robert Heggie, director of grounds with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, oversees the care of BMO Field – home to both the Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts.
Each of us has a unique relationship with land. Some of us farm it, some protect it; we all live on it, enjoy it and sustain life from it. Our relationships with land also provide a unique opportunity for reflection toward reconciliation with Indigenous peoples—the original peoples and their descendants—in the form of land acknowledgments.
Cannabis has had a profound impact on Dr. Peter Chen’s life. The plant inspires him, challenges him and rewards him. It also helped him tremendously throughout his academic career. “I saw the benefits. I was a huge proponent for it and if I could make a career out of it – amazing,” he says.
Shannon Bieman was president of the first graduating class of Ridgetown Campus in 1997. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ridgetown becoming a U of G campus, we thought it would be fun to catch up with Shannon, who graduated with an Associate Diploma in Agriculture and won the “Best All-Round Student Award” that year.
Giulia Mattalia is a postdoctoral fellow with the Biocultural Diversity Lab at Ca'Foscari University of Venice. She recently completed a short-term exchange to learn from Prof. Susan Chiblow in the School of Environmental Sciences and further explore Indigenous environmental science and practice. After completing her 3 weeks at U of G, we caught up with Giulia to hear more about her research and capture her reflections post-experience.
A University of Guelph study of COVID-19 in small and rural communities emphasizes that government policy needs to include the pandemic experiences of those communities. Dr. Leith Deacon, a professor in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) at the Ontario Agricultural College, conducted a large-scale quantitative survey in nine Ontario counties. He and his team examined how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted those living in small and rural communities to help governments develop more informed policy.
Supporting rural communities and promoting sustainable food systems are the shared concerns of two University of Guelph emerging researchers who will receive the Government of Canada’s most prestigious scholarships. Maria Margarita Fontecha, PhD candidate in rural studies and an Arrell Scholar, has received a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship worth $50,000 per year for up to three years. Dr. Khodokar Kabir, post-doctoral fellow in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, has received a prestigious Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship worth $70,000 a year.
You could say Rebecca Osborne conducts her research at a snail’s pace.
And like that old adage of “slow and steady wins the race,” Osborne has indeed won. For the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Science Exposed photo contest, a snapshot of snail embryos by the U of G environmental science and toxicology doctoral candidate took home one of three jury prizes as well as the people’s choice prize.
“It’s really exciting to feel like my work is getting out there,” Osborne said.
Strip mall parking lots have never been renowned for their ability to entice passers-by to gather and mingle. But that has been changing in parts of Toronto in the last few years thanks to a University of Guelph-led project called plazaPOPS.
The project has transformed barren parking lots in Toronto’s outer boroughs into inviting spaces where residents can sit and chat between shopping errands, or where entire neighbourhoods can gather for day-long community and cultural events.