Research Day 2009
Join us on Earth Day for a look at some of the research conducted by members of the Centre for Environment. Featured will be eight research presentations followed by a presentation of graduate students' awards.
WED APRIL 22, 2009
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (includes lunch and is followed by refreshments)
FACULTY CLUB, 2nd floor, 41 Willcocks St. (east of Spadina Ave., north of College St.)
Please REGISTER HERE (free). Everyone is welcome at any time throughout the event. Registration is not required but recommended for catering purposes only.
For enquries, please contact Mona El-Haddad, 416-978-6526.
Via TTC: 3 streetcar stops south of Spadina subway station;
Parking: 1 Spadina Crescent, or 213 Huron St. (underground, 1 block east), north of College St. (Call 416-978-PARK or visit U of T Parking Office)
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PROGRAM SCHEDULE:
Schedule is subject to change; please visit this page for updates. Please see abstracts and biographies below.
10:00 a.m.
INGRID STEFANOVIC, Director, Centre for Environment: Opening remarks
10:10 p.m.
PHILIP BYER, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering and Centre for Environment
Addressing Uncertainties about Climate Change in Project-Level Environmental Impact Assessments (abstract and bio)
10:40 p.m.
RACHEL BRYANT, Ph.D. candidate, Dept of Philosophy and Centre for Environment (Environmental Studies Program)
Justifying Conservation: What Good is Biodiversity? (abstract and bio)
11:10 p.m.
TENLEY CONWAY, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Geography U of T Mississauga; Full member, grad faculty of Centre for Environment
Patterns of Vegetation across the Greater Toronto Area: The Role of Urban Form, Policy & Neighbourhood Socio-Economics (abstract and bio)
11:40 p.m.
RALUCA ELLIS, Ph.D. candidate, Dept. of Chemistry and Centre for Environment (Environmental Studies Program)
Ammonia in the Environment: the Role it Plays in the Formation of Harmful Particulate Matter (abstract and bio)
12:10 p.m. LUNCH
12:50 p.m.
SARAH WAKEFIELD, Associate Professor, Dept. of Geography; Full member, graduate faculty of the Centre for Environment
Environmental Health Protection in a Multicultural City: A Case Study of Toronto's Pesticide Use Reduction Program (abstract and bio)
1:20 p.m.
BRAD BASS, Researcher, Adaptation and Impacts Research Division of Environment Canada, at Centre for Environment; Adjunct Professor, Centre for Environment
Can the Green Roof Industry Succeed in Canada? (abstract and bio)
1:50 p.m.
MAY JEONG, B.A (Hons) student, majors in Environment and Society (Centre for Environment) and Political Science
Mining and Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador and Northern Ontario
(senior undergraduate environmental research course; abstract and bio)
2:20 p.m.
KRISTEN GAGESCH, B.Sc. (Hons.) student; DAVID PHOTIADIS, B.A. (Hons) student;
CATHERINE MULE, B.Sc. (Hons) student; ALYSE RUNYAN, B.A. (Hons) student;
ALICJA WIERZBICKA, B.Sc. (Hons) student.
Campus Sustainability: Lessons Learned from Leading Universities
(senior undergrad environmental research course; abstract and bios)
2:50 p.m. PRESENTATION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS' AWARDS
3:00 p.m. REFRESHMENTS
ABSTRACTS AND SPEAKERS' BIOS
PHILIP BYER, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering and Centre for Environment
Addressing Uncertainties about Climate Change in Project-Level Environmental Impact Assessments
Climate change has important implications for the design of many types of infrastructure projects, and these need to be explicitly addressed in environmental assessments of these projects. This presentation, which is based on research for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA), discusses three basic analytical approaches - scenario analysis, sensitivity analysis, and probabilistic analysis - for understanding the implications of the uncertainties about these climate change impacts, and how they complicate decision-making. The use of these approaches is illustrated in a case study of a hydroelectric project. Also discussed will be suggestions for communicating this information to decision-makers and stakeholders. The presentation will end with a brief explanation of the objectives of a new, follow-up research project for CEAA that is looking at methodologies that can be used to help decide on the type and degree of adaptation that should be used to respond to uncertain future climate change.
Dr. Philip Byer is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and the Centre for Environment at the University of Toronto. He joined the University in 1975 after completing his undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1995-2006, he was the inaugural chair of the Division of Environmental Engineering (now known as the Division of Environmental Engineering and Energy Systems). His teaching, research and professional work are in the areas of environmental planning, project evaluation, environmental impact and risk assessment, and waste management. He co-teaches the Centre for Environment's graduate course on Environmental Decision Making (ENV 1001H). In addition to his university work, Professor Byer has been a member of various environmental advisory committees for governments and the private sector.
RACHEL BRYANT, Ph.D. candidate, Dept of Philosophy and Centre for Environment (Environmental Studies Program)
Justifying Conservation: What Good is Biodiversity?
Both conservation biology and conservation policy are aimed primarily at the protection of biodiversity. Often, this is justified by reference to the intrinsic value of biodiversity. This presentation critiques this, and offers a justification for conservation based not on the value of biodiversity, but on the value of welfare of humans and other animals. First, it will explore the multivocal concept of biodiversity and show that, minimally, an argument for the value of biodiversity would have to be an argument for the values of 1) nativeness; 2) evolution and ecosystem function; and 3) differences among kinds. Next, the presentation will demonstrate that although its advocates claim that biodiversity bears intrinsic value, neither nativeness, nor evolution and ecosystem function, nor differences among kinds fare well in typical tests of intrinsic value. Finally, an alternate justification for conservation will be presented, based on the nearly undisputed value of welfare. The challenge for a welfare-based justification for conservation is not to limit its explanation of the value of conservation to the use-value of species, places and organisms that are not sentient, because to do so would be to disregard what it is like for many people to care about them. This presentation will demonstrate how a welfare-based justification for conservation can meet this challenge.
Ms. Rachel Bryant is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Philosophy and the Centre for Environment's collaborative program in environmental studies. Her research focuses on environmental ethics and its relationship to both theoretical and applied ecology. Specifically, her dissertation critiques the claim that biodiversity has intrinsic value and offers a justification for conservation based not on the value of biodiversity, but on the value of the welfare of humans and other animals. Rachel has studied seabirds nesting on islands from Nunavut to Maine, and earned an M.Sc. from Memorial University (Newfoundland) for her research on seabirds in Labrador. She holds a BA from Middlebury College (Vermont).
TENLEY CONWAY, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Geography U of T Mississauga; Full member, grad faculty of Centre for Environment
Patterns of Vegetation across the Greater Toronto Area: The Role of Urban Form, Policy & Neighbourhood Socio-Economics
A rural-urban gradient approach is often used in urban ecological studies to understand the impacts of urbanization on various ecological features. The focus of the approach is to explore differences between sites with varying densities of urban development. The underlying assumptions of the urban-rural gradient approach are two-fold: (1) cities are monocentric and/or isodimetric, so that distance from city centre can be used to measure urban intensities and (2) urban density is the primary factor shaping ecological conditions. In North America, the first assumption is rarely met in major metropolitan centres, while the second assumption ignores additional components of urban form, socioeconomic conditions, and local policy that may also impact ecological heterogeneity. This research explored drivers of vegetation patterns in the Greater Toronto Area through three questions: (1) can variations in urban vegetation abundance be explained by distance to city center? (2) what other aspects of urban form and neighbourhood socioeconomic conditions are correlated with vegetation? and (3) what is the impact of municipal urban forestry programs on urban vegetation? A simple measure of vegetation, NDVI derived from Landsat imagery, was used to represent vegetation abundance. The results suggest that distance to city center can only explain a small portion of the variation in NDVI, while other aspects of urban form and neighbourhood socioeconomic conditions are significantly related. In addition, municipal tree planting programs also positively influence vegetation abundance. The presentation will end with a discussion of the planning implications of these results.
Dr. Tenley Conway is an Assistant Professor in Geography at the University of Toronto Mississauga. She is also a Full Member of the Centre for Environment's graduate faculty. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. from Rutgers University and has a B.S. from Cornell University. Professor Conway's research works to integrate insights from environmental geography and landscape ecology with geo-spatial technologies to improve our understanding of the relationship between human activity and the physical environment. She is currently working on a SSHRC funded project looking at human drivers of urban ecological features, as a well as several projects exploring land use/ land cover change across urbanizing landscapes.
RALUCA ELLIS, Ph.D. candidate, Dept. of Chemistry and Centre for Environment (Environmental Studies Program)
Ammonia in the Environment: The Role it Plays in the Formation of Harmful Particulate Matter
Intensive field campaigns are central to assessing the importance of atmospheric ammonia in fine particulate matter (PM) formation, which has strong implications for human health, climate change and ecosystem diversity. The Border Air Quality and Meteorology study (BAQS-Met) was an interdisciplinary field campaign conducted in Southwestern Ontario during the summer of 2007. Local emissions of ammonia in this agricultural area can contribute to the formation of fine PM when sources of gaseous acids are encountered. Measurements of ammonia were acquired using a new Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) spectrometer at the Harrow supersite. The QCL spectrometer was part of an extensive suite of instrumentation for measurements of PM and their gaseous precursors. Complimentary meteorological measurements such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature and relative humidity were also made. Using these data, the gas/particle partitioning of ammonia will be investigated to assess the importance of meteorology and local emissions on the formation of fine particulate matter.
Comparison between different ammonia measurement techniques is essential in ensuring accurate data. A second field campaign was held in Easter Bush, UK over the summer of 2008 for the inter-comparison of ammonia sensors. Eleven instruments, including the QCL spectrometer, were deployed for measurements of ammonia over intensively managed grassland mainly used for sheep-grazing. Also discussed will be the suitability for the QCL spectrometer to acquire specific, sensitive and fast measurements of ammonia that capture both the complexity of the atmosphere and the timescale on which that chemistry is occurring.
Ms. Raluca Ellis completed her Honours B.Sc. in analytical chemistry at York University in 2006. Shortly after, she started her Ph.D. with Professor Jennifer Murphy's atmospheric chemistry research group in the Department of Chemistry, and the Centre for Environment's collaborative program in environmental studies. Her research is on optimization of the quantum cascade laser (QCL) spectrometer for measurements of ammonia.
SARAH WAKEFIELD, Associate Professor, Dept. of Geography; Full member, graduate faculty of the Centre for Environment
Environmental Health Protection in a Multicultural City: A Case Study of Toronto's Pesticide Use Reduction Program
The goal of this research was to enhance understanding of the environmental health information needs of specific cultural-linguistic groups and explore the ability of current initiatives to reach and protect these groups, using the City of Toronto's Pesticide By-law as a case example. Study participants were Spanish- and Cantonese-speakers recruited with the assistance of three Toronto community groups. Data gathered through focus groups (n=23 participants) and detailed in-home interviews (n=10) documented perceptions and practices of relevance to the pesticide campaign, such as the use of outdoor space and views about pesticide use and regulation (including the City by-law). Results indicate that research participants were unlikely to encounter accessible environmental health messaging in their daily lives. The safety and legality of pesticide products available for sale in Toronto stores appeared to be overestimated, potentially leading to unsafe behaviours. Most participants indicated they were unwilling to make formal complaints about neighbours who were not complying with the bylaw (currently the primary mechanism for enforcement). These results indicate that environmental health protection needs to address socio-cultural and linguistic differences in order to provide comparable levels of environmental health protection for all residents. Appropriate strategies for information sharing and community engagement are crucial to the development of inclusive policies and programs and equitable environmental health protection.
Dr. Sarah Wakefield is an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Toronto, where she teaches and conducts research on community food security, urban sustainability, and environmental justice. She uses a range of qualitative and quantitative methods to explore her areas of interest, including community-based research methods. Much of her current research involves interdisciplinary and intersectoral partnerships with community organizations and health policy actors. Sarah is currently Director of the Collaborative Program in Community Development, and coordinates the teaching activities of the Sustainability Office. She is also a Full Member of the Centre for Environment's graduate faculty.
BRAD BASS, Researcher, Adaptation and Impacts Research Division of Environment Canada, at Centre for Environment; Adjunct Professor, Centre for Environment
Can the Green Roof Industry Succeed in Canada?
Green roof infrastructure has been widely adopted in Europe and is growing in Japan but has made relatively little headway in North America. The common explanation given for this is government legislation that supported a number of greening initiatives while high residential and commercial densities made green roofs a favoured technology in cities. A recent analysis of the green roof industry in Germany, which has seen the highest rates of adoption, suggests that there are other factors and trends that contributed to the growth of this industry. Evidence for the absence of one of these trends in Canada suggests why the adoption of green roof technology has been slow and how it might be increased to create a more viable industry.
Dr. Brad Bass is a researcher with Environment Canada's Adaptation and Impact Research Division, located in the Centre for Environment at the University of Toronto, where he manages the Division's research program for the St. George campus. The research program focuses on adapting to climate change, particularly in the use of energy and ranges from ecological technologies, such as green roofs, to modelling the future energy supply scenarios at different scales to agent-bases simulations of adaptation. Dr. Bass is also an Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Environment, a member of the Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change's Task Group on Data and Scenario Support for Impact and Climate Analysis and the Chair of the North American Green Roof Research Committee. He has supervised numerous high school, undergraduate and graduate students and teaches economic geography at the University of Toronto's Mississauga campus. In addition, Dr. Bass is a regular contributor to interfaith dialogues and is a member of the City of Mississauga's Environmental Advisory Committee.
MAY JEONG, B.A (Hons) student, majors in Environment and Society (Centre for Environment) and Political Science
Mining and Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador and Northern Ontario (senior undergraduate environmental research course)
During the past year, two groups of students in the Centre for Environment's environmental research course ENV420Y examined different aspects of the Canadian mining industry and the impact of its activities on aboriginal communities in developing countries and North America. The focus was upon "junior" mining firms - the companies which find mineral reserves and obtain governmental approvals and then sell those mining rights to the senior firms which actually do the mining. The purpose of the research was to find ways in which mining impacts might be reduced and the share of mining revenues going to aboriginal communities could be increased. Subjects addressed included financing of the industry and associated regulatory controls, documentation of alleged social and environmental impacts caused by mining, and the extent to which junior firms operating in Ontario show a concern for corporate social responsibility. Case study research included examination of the ability of the Ecuador legal system to provide redress for mining impacts, and six examples of successful impact-benefit agreements between mining firms and local communities in North America and Australia. Finally, study was made of the potential to apply lessons learned from those case studies to Northern Ontario.
Ms. May Jeong is in her fourth year Honours B.A. student pursuing a double-major in Environment and Society (Centre for Environment) and in Political Science, with a focus on global environmental governance. Her primary interest is in the Post-Kyoto debate surrounding climate change and its mitigation efforts. This year, as a research assistant, May conducted research on multilateral environmental agreements and the role of Canada at United Nations negotiations. She is also interested in the intersection of environment and politics and the role of media in covering them both. After graduation, she hopes to seek out opportunities to hone her policy and reporting skills while working as policy analyst or an environment reporter.
KRISTEN GAGESCH, B.Sc. (Hons.) student; DAVID PHOTIADIS, B.A. (Hons) student; CATHERINE MULÉ, B.Sc. (Hons) student; ALYSE RUNYAN, B.A. (Hons) student; ALICJA WIERZBICKA, B.Sc. (Hons) student.
Campus Sustainability: Lessons Learned from Leading Universities (senior undergrad environmental research course)
By making changes in areas such as education, research, product purchasing, land development and transportation, universities can play a powerful role helping to shift society toward sustainability. For a number of years, senior students in the Centre for Environment's course ENV421H Environmental Research have examined such possibilities at the University of Toronto. This year, instead, students looked at practices in leading universities identified by sources such as the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Seven different research teams studied sustainability implementation at recognized leaders such as the University of British Columbia, Harvard University, and the Australian National University. The subjects examined were: (1) transportation to and from campus; (2) models for incorporating sustainability within university governance systems; (3) campus design and green spaces; (4) ways of engaging and mobilizing students; (5) green buildings; (6) energy, in terms of purchasing, appliances and individual consumption; and, (7) links between, on the one hand, education and research and, on the other, the university food system. Each team then prepared a report setting out lessons learned and recommendations for changes at the University of Toronto.
Ms. Kristen Gagesch is currently in her last year of an Honours B.Sc. degree program, graduating this June with a major in Environment and Science (Centre for Environment), a second major in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and a minor in Fine Art History. She is working towards pursuing a career in wildlife conservation in Honolulu, Hawaii, where her family now lives.
Mr. David Photiadis is a fourth year student graduating this June with a Honours B.A. degree with majors in Environment and Society (Centre for Environment) and Environmental Resource Management (Dept. of Geography). His undergraduate focus has largely been climate change and the opportunities to reduce greenhouse gases, supplemented with work at Zerofootprint Software, Inc. and U of T's Sustainability Office. He will be seeking further work experience before pursuing a Master's in Environmental Management.
Ms. Catherine Mulé is completing her final year of an Honours B.Sc. degree program, graduating this June ith a major in Environment and Science (Centre for Environment) and Human Biology. She regularly volunteers at the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP) and at the Hospital for Sick Children, and will commence her Master's degree in Environmental Applied Science and Management at Ryerson University in the Fall of 2009.
Ms. Alyse Runyan is in her final year of an Honours B.A. degree program, with a specialist in Archeology and a major in Environment and Society (Centre for Environment). She is interested in urban environmental issues and the connection between business and the environment.
Ms. Alicja Wierzbicka is currently in her last year of a Honours B.Sc. degree program, graduating this June with a double major in Environment and Science (Centre for Environment) and Human Biology, and a minor in Environmental Chemistry. She hopes to start the Centre for Environment's Master of Environmental Science offered at University of Toronto Scarborough this fall to continue exploring the quickly expanding environmental field.