News

It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of our former SEDRD colleague, Dr. Mark Waldron. Mark has had a long and varied career. He started his professional life after graduating from McGill University as an agricultural extension agent in Lanark County and later joined the CBC as a farm commentator covering agriculture across Canada. In 1963, Mark returned to his alma mater as Director of Extension and in 1967, he was named associate director of Continuing Education for McGill University.

MLA student Adele Pierre presented a paper at the GIS Education & Research Conference hosted by ESRI Canada at Hart House, University of Toronto on November 30, 2015. The practice of Landscape Architecture is being transformed through the use of technology, and students are in a unique position to experiment with new software programs, particularly those integrating GIS data with 3D modelling.

On November 9, 2015, faculty and students gathered at the University of Guelph to present this year’s Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation (LACF) Andre Schwabenbauer Scholarship Awards.   Congratulations to landscape architecture students Emily French from the MLA program and Michelle Peeters from the BLA program who were the 2015 recipients.

MLA Award Recipient:  Emily French

Aislin Livingstone was recently awarded the 2015 Peter Klynstra Memorial Scholarship.  Aislin is a second-year Master of Landscape Architecture student in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph.  The award recognizes Aislin’s ties to Atlantic Canada and her passion for the profession, which she has demonstrated in her academic work, employment and volunteer activities.

The Lucy Maud Montgomery Children’s Garden of the Senses will offer a new way to explore nature and literature in Halton Hills when it opens this spring 2016.  The Children’s Garden of the Senses uses plants and other elements with distinct sensory qualities to stimulate children’s senses of smell, sight, hearing, taste and touch.

Eileen Foley, a Master of Landscape Architecture alumnus is the project manager and landscape architect who is helping to transform the Lucy Maud Montgomery Garden in Norval Park to appeal to younger people.

Funded by students, the sustainable green bike shelter is being built at the University of Guelph.  It will will feature solar-powered lighting and green roof.

It’s a new space for storing bikes and for hosting people. A bicycle shelter being built in the heart of campus will double as a pavilion for small events and gatherings, says designer Maurice Nelischer, U of G Sustainability Director and Professor Emeritus in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development.

Read more here.

PhD in Rural Studies Candidate Nael Thaher Returns from Brazil With Unique Experience and Case Study Research in Hand

Several students joined Dr. Wayne Caldwell, Interim OAC Dean and an Environmental Health Manager, Helen Doyle from York Region Public Health to present at the Latornell Symposium on November 17, 2015. The session entitled “Building Resiliency with Rural Communities to Adapt to the Impacts of Climate Change” showcased recent work from the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development concerning healthy rural community planning as well as considerations for green infrastructure in rural locales.