Environment

An international team that includes researchers from U of T has designed and implemented an innovative prototype photoreactor for making green chemicals and fuels

An international team that includes researchers from the ��Ƶ has designed and implemented a new model for photoreactors, a solar-powered technology for converting water, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen into greener chemicals and fuels.

The innovative design allows the photoreactor to capture photons at high efficiency under varying sun directions, eliminating the need for sun-tracking. The panels are also manufacturable via extrusion of polymers, making them inexpensive and easily manufacturable at scale – all of which could help make a sustainable future more affordable and practical.

Geoffrey Ozin (supplied photo)

Geoffrey Ozin, University Professor in U of T's department of chemistry in the Faculty of Arts & Science, and his team collaborated with researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany on the project.

“Solar cells are renowned for efficiently and economically converting sunlight to green electricity, circumventing the use of greenhouse-gas-emitting fossil fuels,” Ozin says.

Unlike thermoreactors, photoreactors combine the photons in sunlight and reactants to generate green chemicals and fuels. By using sunlight and water, photoreactors could effectively reduce carbon emissions.

Despite their potential, many photoreactors have been plagued by several challenges, including the high cost of construction materials. They can also be inefficient in converting photons to products. To create these photochemical conversions, photoreactors rely on a photocatalyst, a material that absorbs light and converts a reactant into a product.

However, non-productive processes due to the reflection, scattering, transmission and absorption of light by the photocatalyst and the photoreactor materials can result in energy loss. Photoreactors would benefit from sun-tracking, a device that adjusts the angle of the photoreactor with respect to the position of the sun for optimal harvesting of light.

To be technologically and economically viable, the photon-to-product conversion efficiency of the photoreactors must be at least 10 per cent. While the science of integrating photocatalysts into photoreactors over the past decade for making green chemicals and fuels has yielded significant advances, the efficiencies have remained low – often one per cent or less.

Ozin's team and the group from KIT – which included postdoctoral researcher Paul Kant, PhD student Shengzhi Liang, research scientist Michael Rubin and Professor Roland Dittmeyer – developed a panel-like photoreactor that contains hundreds of parallel microscale reaction channels. They recently published a paper on the promising results of their proposed model in the journal Joule.

A key feature of their design is that each reaction channel is connected to a V-shaped light-capture unit that guides the light into the channel where the photocatalyst is located. All surfaces are highly reflective to optimize the transport of photons from the external light source to the photocatalyst housed in the microchannels with minimal light losses.

Future design adaptations can address the issue of intermittent sunlight by using light-emitting diodes integrated into the photoreactor as the photon source, powered by renewable electricity from photovoltaics and backed up by lithium-ion battery storage to provide 24-7 operations.

Illustration of the photoreactor model, which can be placed on rooftops; upper left shows the photoreactor panels; upper right shows the photoreactors' V-shaped concentrators and tube-like cavity (supplied image)

The new photoreactors model can outperform existing state-of-art photoreactors and can be used on rooftops of houses and solar farms, as well as be integrated with photovoltaics to produce both renewable electricity and green chemicals and fuels.

“This technology has inspired the development of a new generation of solar-powered devices that instead make green fuels such as hydrogen from sunlight and water,” Ozin says.

The advancement comes at a time when the need to combat climate change is more pressing than ever, with record-breaking temperatures marked around the world this summer.

“These solar products will substitute their fossil-based analogues – and will help to reduce our carbon footprint,” says KIT researcher Kant.

“This directly increases chances that we will be able to reach the dream of a sustainably living humanity. Hopefully, we will even make it in time – without drastic temperature overshoot and related disasters.”

New research institutes at U of T Scarborough will tackle important global challenges

siddiq22 — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 18:00:11 +0000

New research institutes at U of T Scarborough will tackle important global challenges

siddiq22 Tue, 08/01/2023 - 14:00

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(photo by Moussa Faddoul)

U of T Scarborough Staff

Topic

Our Community

Institutes for Resilient and Inclusive Societies and Ecosystems

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

SDGs@UofT

Economy

Environment

Research & Innovation

Sustainability

U of T Scarborough

Subheadline

iRISE will include three founding institutes and one institutional strategic initiative that support research to pursue solutions and catalyze change

A new tri-campus unit hosted at the ��Ƶ Scarborough will aim to address societal challenges related to health, the economy and the environment.

Called iRISE (Institutes for Resilient and Inclusive Societies and Ecosystems), the extra-departmental unit has been confirmed by the executive committee of U of T’s Governing Council and comprises three research-focused founding institutes and one institutional strategic initiative (ISI).

“iRISE provides an opportunity to intentionally bring together U of T’s outstanding scholarly strengths under a shared umbrella to address the intersecting complexities related to the environment, health and well-being, and sustainable economies and livelihoods," says Professor Wisdom Tettey, U of T vice-president and principal of U of T Scarborough.

"We look forward to leveraging the synergies and networks that it will foster, to further enhance and amplify the global impact of the exceptional work that is going on across our three campuses.”

iRISE will support multidisciplinary convergence research – research that shows deep integration across disciplines and is driven by a pressing societal need.

“iRISE will pursue solutions and catalyze change by facilitating research discoveries, enabling innovators to move discoveries into action, inspiring communities and building their capacity to act,” says Professor Irena Creed, U of T Scarborough vice-principal research and innovation.

“It will also train future leaders dedicated to creating inclusive, sustainable, just and equitable societies.”

The three founding institutes of iRISE include the Institute for Environment, Conservation and Sustainability; the Institute for Inclusive Health and Well-Being; and the Institute for Inclusive Economies and Sustainable Livelihoods.

iRISE will also be home to SDGs@U of T, an ISI that was approved in May.

Imre Szeman (supplied image)

Imre Szeman, professor of human geography at U of T Scarborough, is the inaugural director for the Institute for Environment, Conservation and Sustainability, which will explore the causes and consequences of climate change and develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Its potential research themes include interactions among plants, soil, water and air; the effects of climate change from the cellular to the ecosystem levels; ecological restoration; environmental sustainability; nature-based climate solutions; carbon markets; Indigenous perspectives on the natural world; and understanding the Earth through the exploration of other planets.

The Institute for Inclusive Economies and Sustainable Livelihoods is led by inaugural director Sergio Montero – associate professor of geography and planning at U of T Scarborough – who takes the reins from interim director Caroline Hossein, associate professor of global development at U of T Scarborough and cross-appointed to U of T's graduate program of political science.

Sergio Montero (supplied image)

This institute will imagine, explore and share alternative economic futures from unique perspectives. Its potential research themes include alternative and cooperative economic practices of Indigenous and racialized communities; data science methods for greater, more equitable prosperity; training and skills development strategies that encourage personal and economic development; advanced understanding of the complex interdependencies among nations, localities and economic agents to facilitate more transparent decision-making.

Interim director Charles Trick, a professor of health and society at U of T Scarborough, will lead the Institute for Inclusive Health and Well-Being, which will explore the many determinants of health of people living in the Anthropocene.

Charles Trick (supplied image)

Potential research themes include fundamental science explorations of aging, elder care and mental health; policy and program pathways to change health inequities; innovative solutions to complex health issues, including arts-based health approaches; and translating knowledge of the relationship between environment factors and well-being into practice and policy.

SDGs@UofT is being led by director Erica Di Ruggiero, associate professor in the division of social and behavioural health sciences at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and in the Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation.

Erica Di Ruggiero (supplied image)

The ISI will be dedicated to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – global targets to end poverty, improve health and education, reduce inequality, spur economic growth and tackle climate change.

Through its SDGs Scholars Academy, SDGs@UofT will conduct convergence research that will identify transition pathways to achieving the SDGs, measure progress, explore interdependencies and design instruments and interventions to build on the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Creed notes that hundreds of faculty, staff and students provided input that influenced the development of iRISE and its institutes. As iRISE continues to evolve, there will be ongoing opportunities for the U of T community to be involved in shaping its future directions. Directors will engage with faculty and students via one-on-one discussions and in departmental meetings.

Membership is open to faculty across U of T. Creed says that iRISE will be particularly beneficial to faculty, staff and students wishing to reach across academic units and institutions to build collaborations and partnerships that engage diverse communities, governments and industries.

“The iRISE directors will lead a vibrant intellectual community that will facilitate local and global partnerships and enable the nimble exploration, development and implementation of solutions,” she said.

New research underscores need to protect 'oasis of the Arctic'

siddiq22 — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 13:59:46 +0000

New research underscores need to protect 'oasis of the Arctic'

siddiq22 Fri, 07/07/2023 - 09:59

Cutline

A beached iceberg on the Nares Strait, which is surrounded by the oldest and thickest sea ice in the world (photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Topic

Research & Innovation

Sustainability

U of T Mississauga

Subheadline

Kent Moore, a professor of atmospheric physics at U of T Mississauga, collaborated with scientists from Environment and Climate Change Canada to study the North Water polynya

A new study by scientist Kent Moore shows that the unique marine ecosystem supporting a web of diverse natural life in the frozen Arctic is managing to sustain itself against the impacts of climate change – so far.

His findings, in partnership with researchers from Environment and Climate Change Canada, were recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Kent Moore (supplied image)

A professor of atmospheric physics in the department of chemical and physical sciences at the ��Ƶ Mississauga, Moore is studying an 85-000-square-foot expanse known as a polynya – the name for a year-round open-water area surrounded by sea ice.

Located in north Baffin Bay between Canada and Greenland, it creates a relatively warmer microclimate with melted freshwater, which triggers an abundant bloom of phytoplankton each spring.

The site attracts diverse species of fish, birds, walruses, narwhals, whales, seals and polar bears who come to feed, mate and rest. For several millennia, the polynya has also been a source of traditional food for local Indigenous peoples.

Scientists refer to this site as the North Water (NOW) polynya, while it is known among some Inuit in Canada and Greenland as Pikialasorsuaq. Whatever name is used, Moore wants to underscore its ecological importance.

“The Arctic is mostly like a desert – it's difficult for a lot of wildlife to survive," Moore said. “But the North Water is quite amazing, because it’s the most biologically productive ecosystem in the region … You can think of it as an oasis in the Arctic."

The Nares Strait region, including northern Baffin Bay (NBB); Smith Bay (SB); Inglefield Fjord (IF); Smith Sound (SS); Kane Basin (KB); Humboldt Glacier (HG); Kennedy Channel (KC); Hall Basin (HB): Robeson Channel (RC); and Lincoln Sea (LS). Blue lines show the approximate location of the North Water polynya. (Map: Scientific Reports)

The NOW is below the Nares Strait, a waterway separating northwest Greenland from Ellesmere Island, surrounded by the oldest and thickest sea ice in the world.

Each winter, ice arches up to 100 kilometres in length from along the northern and southern ends of the strait. They stabilize the ice for seven or eight months, preventing any breaking ice floes from traveling down into the NOW.

To understand how the warming Earth is affecting the region, Moore collaborated with two scientists from Environment and Climate Change Canada to study the ice arches. Their 2021 study found that thinning ice is causing these arches to collapse earlier each year.

“There’s been a lot of work suggesting that without the arches, the NOW will dramatically change,” Moore said. “That change would mean a reduction in productivity, fewer species in the region and just a general decline in the richness of the ecosystem.”

Recently, Moore partnered again with the same scientists to examine satellite data showing patterns of ice arch formation and disintegration each winter since 2007. They also developed weather prediction models to estimate how, in the absence of ice arches, winds will blow ice downstream into the NOW.

They found that when arches do not form, the presence of sea ice tends to be about 10 per cent higher than usual. However, despite variations in ice arch activity, biological productivity in the NOW has held steady.

Moore said this may be because the region’s strong winds push the ice into – and then out of – the polynya, leaving them no time to disturb the ecosystem.

“It’s kind of a good news story that the polynya appears to be more stable than people thought,” Moore said. “We can breathe a bit easier about the NOW for the next few years.”

But as climate change intensifies, the NOW could be at risk. As a critical habitat for so many diverse species, and a key contributor to the food security of nearby Indigenous communities, it needs to continue to be monitored, Moore noted.

“The underlying issue is that we’re still warming the planet up. And there are many other stresses on the environment and the animals in that region,” he said.

“If you go to a scenario where we lose all the ice in the Arctic, then the NOW won’t be there anymore.”

Researchers help youth get involved with Toronto’s net-zero carbon plan

siddiq22 — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 01:16:15 +0000

Researchers help youth get involved with Toronto’s net-zero carbon plan

siddiq22 Wed, 07/05/2023 - 21:16

Cutline

U of T researchers are working on ways to engage youth in the City of Toronto's ambitious plan to drastically reduce carbon emissions (photo by Unsplash)

Alexa Battler

Topic

Our Community

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Subheadline

A new report co-authored by Laura Tozer, an assistant professor at U of T Scarborough, will guide researchers on a youth engagement approach for the City of Toronto's TransformTO Net Zero Strategy

The City of Toronto plans to reduce city-wide carbon emissions to net zero by 2040, and researchers from the ��Ƶ are helping to ensure young people play a key role in reaching its goal.

A new report outlining best practices will guide researchers as they co-design a youth engagement strategy with the city for its TransformTO Net Zero Strategy – one of the most ambitious plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in North America.

Researchers will spend the next year working with youth climate activists and youth-led organizations to begin pilot projects and boost existing programming, all while studying which approaches work best and why.

“We’re helping support the change while we're studying the change,” says Laura Tozer, co-author of the report and assistant professor in the department of physical and environmental sciences at U of T Scarborough.

“We have lots of research questions around what young people think a good life would look like in Toronto’s net-zero carbon transition – and how we would get there.”

The Youth Climate Action in Toronto project will also study ways to support young people from historically marginalized communities in overcoming the additional barriers they face, such as stereotypes and a lack of representation in environmental work. Several research questions and initiatives will focus on ways to reach underrepresented demographics and communities, and amplify their voices.

Assistant Professor Laura Tozer's research focuses on energy governance and how urban settings can become sustainable (supplied image)

Researchers plan to support about eight pilot projects so far. For example, Eve Tuck and Fikile Nxumalo, associate and assistant professors respectively at U of T’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), are working with the Tkaronto CIRCLE Lab to run an after-school workshop where Black and Indigenous youth are designing a land education program focused on climate justice.

One initiative led by Michael Classens, associate professor in the School of the Environment in the Faculty of Arts & Science, is examining how youth-led efforts to improve food justice can overlap with climate action, while another project will study methods to spread the word on climate change in ways that address – not exacerbate – the significant impact the climate crisis has on youth mental health.

“We want to fundamentally resource the action that is already being taken,” says Tozer, director of the IMPACT Lab, a research group focused on climate-change policy and action. “This project is really about supporting the way that young people want to do this work.”

Several initiatives are bridging different fields of study – a core aspect of the U of T centre co-funding the project, the Climate Positive Energy Initiative. Many of the centre’s experts – which span scientists, engineers and economists to social scientists and policy researchers – are bringing different research questions and insights to the project.

“It's a very diverse interdisciplinary team coming at this question from a lot of different angles,” Tozer says.

Report highlights opportunities and obstacles to engaging youth

The researchers’ report lays out best practices gleaned from existing research and their own interviews with young climate activists, city employees and youth engagement specialists, which probed what makes young people want to take action – or avoid it.

They found youth are deeply worried about climate change – to the extent that it is harming their mental health – but many are convinced their actions won’t make a difference. Some see climate change as just one of many threats facing the world, some don’t know where to start and others are moored by feelings of frustration and betrayal at older generations.

The report does strike an optimistic tone, highlighting successful programs, workshops and events across North America – many hosted by schools and noted as accessible entry points. Youth climate councils working with municipal governments were found to be powerful outlets, though more difficult to join.

While many youth believe governments should be held accountable in finding solutions to climate change, they often had low levels of trust in the political process. Young climate activists also shared a concern at being seen as a token young person in political spaces – Tozer says unless they see their voices making an impact, they risk further losing trust in governments.

“Young people need to get something out of this engagement – they don't want to just be extracted from,” Tozer says. “They’ll stop engaging if nothing happens, and stop lending their brilliance to what should be done on climate action.”

The report also highlights the importance of community. Young people are effective recruiters, and spaces that are welcoming, fun and community-oriented tend to not just get young people involved, but keep them coming back. The report also highlights how important it is to acknowledge youth as individuals with varying goals, free time and capacities – as one interviewee put it, “We’re not all Greta [Thurnburg].”

“There are differences in which young people are able to take climate action now, or think of it as part of their lives, so taking an equity-based approach is also important,” Tozer says. “Young people hold strategic power when it comes to climate action, and they are capable of great influence.”

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Climate Positive Energy Initiative

Tips from an exercise physiologist on how to stay fit safely when air quality is poor

siddiq22 — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 15:26:22 +0000

Tips from an exercise physiologist on how to stay fit safely when air quality is poor

siddiq22 Thu, 06/08/2023 - 11:26

Cutline

(photo by Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Topic

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Subheadline

With wildfires causing air pollution in the GTA and across North America, is it safe to exercise outdoors? Professor Ira Jacobs offers his expert advice

The air in Toronto and across parts of North America has become so polluted due to forest fires in Quebec and Ontario that Environment Canada recently issued an air-quality advisory, suggesting people with asthma or heart disease, older adults and children wear a face mask when outside to reduce exposure to smoke particles. In response, many organizations have decided to reschedule outdoor activities or move them indoors.

Ira Jacobs

Ira Jacobs, a professor of exercise physiology in the ��Ƶ's Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education and the director of the Tanenbaum Institute for Science in Sport, spoke with faculty writer Jelena Damjanovic about how everyday fitness and exercise routines can be modified to suit such conditions. Jacobs’ area of expertise includes physiological responses and adaptations to environmental extremes.

Should we exercise outside when the air is smoky from wildfires? What are the risks?

The short answer is no. The main issues of concern are the absolute amount and size of the particles in the air that are associated with both acute respiratory health risks, as well as accumulating increases in those risks with repeated exposures.

The other important aspect is our body’s ventilation rate – how much air is being drawn into our lungs. When it comes to the effects of the forest fires on our outdoor air quality during the last few days … the news is actually fairly bad. Reports indicate that over 90 percent of the air particulate content of forest fire smoke consists of very fine particles that are about less than 2.5 microns in size (about 40-50 times smaller than a grain of sand). The smaller the particulate size, the deeper down into our lungs that those particles can be drawn and deposited. And the deeper they go, the greater the pulmonary/respiratory health risks.

The health risks are compounded because most of us become primarily “mouth breathers” when we exercise, so some of the body’s natural particulate trapping and filtering mechanisms in the nasal cavity become ineffective at the high ventilation rates that we generate during exercise – at least 10 times the normal resting ventilation rates, and much higher for athletes who are training or competing.

What’s a good alternative?

Much of the problem is avoided – or significantly reduced – by exercising indoors, particularly in more recently constructed buildings that are well sealed and where the indoor air is recirculated and cooled as part of the recirculation process. Some large older buildings draw in outdoor air continuously and cool it after it has been drawn into the building – so given today's air-quality challenges, it’s good to know what the status of the air circulation is wherever you’re exercising indoors.

Even in this worst-case scenario, appropriate filters can be installed to trap the particulate matter of concern. In summary, for now and until the air quality index improves, exercise in a air-conditioned building or at home.

For those not easily dissuaded, are there any adjustments they can make to reduce the risks of exercising outdoors?

Reducing the duration of exercise at high ventilation rates will commensurately reduce the risk.

And wearing a respirator like a N95 that traps particulate matter that is less than 2.5 microns in size is also effective, but admittedly not very pleasant on a warm day. And some people find that a respirator or any face mask seriously impedes the ability to maintain the kind of exercise intensities that high-performance athletes need to maintain their training effects.

Award-winning science student – who started university at 13 – graduates from U of T Scarborough

siddiq22 — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 20:33:44 +0000

Award-winning science student – who started university at 13 – graduates from U of T Scarborough

siddiq22 Tue, 06/06/2023 - 16:33

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Charlotte Wargniez, 17, is a new graduate and this year's recipient of the Rose Sheinin Award, given to the highest performing woman student in science across U of T’s three campuses (photo by Chai Chen)

Alexa Battler

Topic

Our Community

Convocation 2023

Physical and Environmental Sciences

Subheadline

Now a sustainability advocate, Charlotte Wargniez was inspired to switch her major to environmental geoscience after taking a first-year geology course

Charlotte Wargniez’s rapid academic climb – one that will see her graduate from the ��Ƶ Scarborough this month at just 17 – began the day she broke her leg.

When she was 10, Wargniez was a competitive skier with a packed schedule – eight hours on the slopes and one hour studying – until a fall left her in bed with nothing to do but learn.

She had been homeschooled all her life through virtual education – a necessity for her family as they bounced around the world every summer, spending six months travelling across the United States, India, Malaysia and Mexico, then living in ski resorts for the rest of the year.

“I got really eager to learn in that time,” says Wargniez. "My parents gave me this legacy to be open-minded to new theories, experiences, ideas and perspectives.”

Her school’s online curriculum let her go at her own pace, and within three months she had finished eighth-grade math – four grades ahead of her age bracket. She took an entrance exam to enrol in a French virtual high school and from then on completed a grade per year.

Wargniez graduated high school at age 13 and was soon enrolled at U of T Scarborough for neuroscience – she’d watched her brother grow up with Epidermolysis bullosa simplex, a genetic condition that made his skin extremely fragile, and picked her program accordingly.

“It made me want to go into medicine, because I saw people like my brother and I really wanted to help them,” she says.

After studying environmental geoscience, Wargniez became a staunch proponent of sustainability (submitted photo)

Her academic goals shifted after a first-year geology course taught by Nick Eyles, former professor of geology in U of T Scarborough's department of physical and environmental sciences (DPES). She says a fascination with the Earth had been brewing after visiting almost every national park in America – and the course inspired her to embrace that interest. She switched her major to environmental geoscience and never looked back.

“I’d wanted to go to medical school to help people, but then I realized how much of what’s happening in the world is about climate change,” she says. “I realized I could also help people through environmental geoscience.”

Eyles became a mentor to Wargniez, teaching several of her courses and enjoying chats during office hours.

“She’s exceptional – not just academically, but in being a competitive skier and the breadth of experience she has,” Eyles says. “It was a real pleasure to work with her. I think she’s got a fantastic future – students like her are why you teach.”

Environmentalism was the cornerstone of Wargniez's extracurricular life too – largely through Regenesis UTSC, a student group dedicated to creating and raising awareness of environmental and sustainability initiatives. She led the team as co-president to revive U of T Scarborough’s free store and create a bike-sharing centre on campus – projects that won Adams Sustainability Grants from U of T.

She also became vice-president of academic affairs with the Environmental and Physical Science Students’ Association, a group that works with the department to host programming, outreach, tutoring and field trips.

Wargniez says starting university so young didn’t present many challenges during her undergraduate experience. While the pandemic hit during her first year, she still made lasting friendships while living on campus and partook in research projects.

She says she did sometimes feel the need to hide her age – particularly from students when she became a teaching assistant. She notes that many of the people she connected with at university may only learn how young she is by reading articles such as this one.

Wargniez is the first and only student to graduate with U of T Scarborough’s new minor in applied climatology. She was also this year’s recipient of the Rose Sheinin Award, given to the highest-performing woman student in science across U of T’s three campuses, and received a DPES excellence and leadership award.

In the fall, she’ll head to the University of Oxford to pursue a master’s of science in sustainability, enterprise and the environment, a unique program examining how businesses and organizations can reach net-zero carbon emissions.

“I think she’s just the sort of person we need in the realm of policymaking for environmental problems and issues – someone who has a thorough understanding of science, how the world works, is experienced, has met a lot of people and has that discipline,” Eyles says.

As she looks to the future, Wargniez has no specific career path in mind yet, just a resolve to create change – and plans to join Oxford’s ski team.

“I want to keep my mind open to anything that will come,” she says. “I know how I want to impact this world, and whatever I find that will work best for me, I’ll take it.”

Sustainable Future – Challenge Accepted! Climate Justice Ep. 4

siddiq22 — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 17:35:35 +0000

Sustainable Future – Challenge Accepted! Climate Justice Ep. 4 siddiq22 Thu, 06/01/2023 - 13:35

Topic

Our Community

Sustainable Future

Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Environment

Faculty of Law

Indigenous

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Sustainability

Truth and Reconciliation

How is Indigenous sovereignty and justice fundamental to climate change policy and action?

The fourth episode of the ��Ƶ’s five-part video series, Sustainable Future - Challenge Accepted!, explores the climate justice work of Indigenous researchers at the university, the challenges they face and how they are leading change.

One way Indigenous communities learn about law is through the land, says John Borrows, professor in the Faculty of Law and inaugural Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law at U of T.

“When I take my students out in the land, they get an opportunity to experience the land directly and hear about the stories, the garments, the water, the birds and the insects,” he says.

To enrich land-based learning, Liat Margolis, associate professor in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, and Elder Whabagoon, an Ojibway Elder who is the First Peoples Leadership Advisor to the General Manager of Transportation Services for the City of Toronto and the Daniels Faculty’s former First Peoples Leadership Advisor to the Dean, co-founded the Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag Youth Program at U of T.

The program provides Indigenous youth with employment, mentorship and pathways to post-secondary education in fields related to design and the environment.

Angela Mashford-Pringle, assistant professor with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and associate director of the Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health, says when she teaches her students about land-based learning, she’s telling them about the beliefs of Indigenous health policy as well.

“[It’s] the balance between the spiritual, the emotional, the physical and the mental,” she says.

“That helps students to connect not only to the work, but then they can see how it connects to the world.”

Watch Episode 4 of the Sustainable Future series

Sustainable Future – Challenge Accepted! Changemakers Ep. 1

siddiq22 — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 18:08:02 +0000

Sustainable Future – Challenge Accepted! Changemakers Ep. 1 siddiq22 Thu, 04/20/2023 - 14:08

Topic

Global Lens

Sustainable Development Goals

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Startups

Sustainability

U of T Mississauga

Sustainability is at the heart of the ��Ƶ’s mission – from academic programming to research, innovation, partnerships and operations.

The U of T community members who are leading this change are featured in a new five-part video series: Sustainable Future – Challenge Accepted! The first episode in the series – Changemakers –focuses on alumni who are championing new discoveries and initiatives in climate innovation, social justice, green tech and more.

“Even if sometimes the situation does look bleak, there is always hope to bring about change and to take action,” says U of T alumna Kehkashan Basu, who co-founded Green Hope Foundation when she was only 12 years old.

From centering the needs of youth impacted by the climate crisis to developing grid-free electricity for communities in Africa via a portable solar-powered battery and taking on the fashion industry by developing sustainable textiles, U of T community members are leading the way toward a more sustainable future.

The Changemakers episode features:

Kehkashan Basu, president and co-founder of the Green Hope Foundation, a youth-led not-for-profit with operations in 25 countries
Olugbenga Olubanjo, founder of green-tech startup Reeddi
Avneet Ghotra, co-founder and chief technology officer of biomaterials startup ALT TEX

Watch Episode 1 of the Sustainable Future series

Inspired by her First Nations heritage and love of nature, PhD student researches salmon conservation

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 21:32:05 +0000

Inspired by her First Nations heritage and love of nature, PhD student researches salmon conservation

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 12/20/2022 - 16:32

Cutline

Jaime Grimm, who researches fish pathogens and salmon conservation, was recently named a Connaught PhD for Public Impact Fellow (photo by Danny McIsaac)

Chris Sasaki

Topic

Breaking Research

Connaught Fund

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Environment

Faculty of Arts & Science

Graduate Students

Indigenous

Research & Innovation

Sustainability

PhD student Jaime Grimm’s research into fish pathogens and salmon conservation – and how she conducts that research – is the culmination of growing up amidst the rich ecosystems of Canada’s West Coast, parents who nurtured a love of nature in her, and her Salteaux First Nations heritage.

“Growing up in British Columbia, I spent a lot of time in nature,” she says, “which was a hugely privileged position to be in. We went camping every summer and my mother and I would spend all day looking for frogs and toads and salamanders – it was like a treasure hunt. She inspired that interest in me.”

In high school, Grimm started taking biology courses. “I was like wow, this is so interesting, so fun. We did a section on marine invertebrates – sea slugs, clams, crabs. I was completely enamored and decided then that I wanted to pursue a science degree and be a biologist.”

Today, Grimm is a PhD student in the Faculty of Arts & Science's department of ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB), supervised by Associate Professor Martin Krkosek and Adjunct Professor Andrew Bateman of the Pacific Salmon Foundation.

A salmon farm on the coast of British Columbia. Some may contain as many as a million fish (photo courtesy of Clayoquot Action)

She was recently named a Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellow by the School of Graduate Studies. The fellowship will enable her to engage the public in her work through training in science communication and public policy, and project-specific funding.

Grimm's research with Krkosek and Bateman is centred around the enormous salmon farms located in the coastal waters of B.C. The farms are giant pens made of nets so that ocean water circulates through them. Because of the high population density – some hold as many as a million fish – the pens are ripe breeding grounds for pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and fungi which can then threaten wild salmon populations.

Juvenile salmon returning to the ocean from spawning grounds in coastal creeks and rivers are particularly vulnerable. Their immune systems haven’t fully developed. Also, young fish aren’t normally exposed to diseases carried by mature fish because the latter are typically far out at sea when the former return to the ocean.

“But now we're adding these farms right on the migration routes of juvenile salmon,” says Grimm. “So, you have this big, potential source of disease that young salmon are encountering at this vulnerable stage in their lives. It's an enormous issue.”

What’s more, farms can be close together; Grimm is trying to determine if a pathogen outbreak in one can ride coastal currents to another.

Juvenile salmon native to the West Coast are at risk from pathogens that spread from salmon farms (photo courtesy of Jaime Grimm)

Like Krkosek, Grimm is committed to finding socially and ecologically just wildlife conservation solutions that recognize Indigenous rights and sovereignty. Her work, she points out, takes place in partnership with and on the unceded lands of coastal First Nations, including the Ahousaht First Nation, the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation and the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation.

She also recognizes that salmon conservation is intimately tied to Indigenous rights because of the importance First Nations place on salmon. “Of course, they’re a source of livelihood and sustenance,” says Grimm, “but they're also essential components of culture. These salmon have spawned and lived in these rivers since time immemorial and, during that time, have been stewarded well by the people who live there.

“And now that this system is being disrupted, it's critically important that we recognize and value Indigenous knowledge and get back to the roots of what was working so well. This is their land, their unceded territory – they should have final say over what's happening.”

According to Krkosek, “Pacific salmon are a keystone species to coastal ecosystems and a centrepiece of the identity and food security of First Nations in coastal B.C. Jaime’s work on salmon aquaculture and infectious diseases is providing essential information to First Nation’s decision-making regarding salmon management in their territories.”

Grimm’s partnership with First Nations includes developing relationships with fisheries managers who work for First Nations, understanding their needs, developing research questions together – and being out on the water together conducting field work.

“The biggest part of it is building a relationship and building trust,” says Grimm. “And making sure we don’t just go in and extract data or knowledge and then leave. It's about working towards a shared goal.”

The Connaught fellowship will help Grimm build on those relationships. One of the projects she is considering is developing workshops for training community members to collect water samples and extract DNA from them in order to learn about the pathogens that are present. Not only would this help Grimm in her work, it would also make it possible for communities to do their own testing in support of their own autonomy and advocacy.

Another potential project lies at the intersection of her scientific endeavors and commitment to science communication. “I’d like to hire an artist from one of the First Nations I'm currently working with to produce a graphical representation of this research,” she says.

“My aim is to publish my scientific results in a peer-reviewed journal but in that form, it will only be accessible to a small group of people. So, I would like to have this beautiful, artistic piece that would be much more accessible that I could share with many more people.”

Grimm is spending the winter in Krkosek’s lab in Toronto but she’s looking forward to being back on the west coast next spring and, at the same time, is looking far into the future.

“I think this will be the journey for the rest of my life,” she says. “Learning how to do this right and do it well. The path I'm on now is difficult and humbling, but it’s what I hope the rest of my career will look like.”

Non-native bees discovered in Canada may pose serious threat to native mason bee populations

lanthierj — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 17:08:14 +0000

Non-native bees discovered in Canada may pose serious threat to native mason bee populations

lanthierj Thu, 12/08/2022 - 12:08

Cutline

Osmia taurus is one of two non-native bee species that have established populations in Canada, ��Ƶ Scarborough researchers say (photo by Don Campbell)

Topic

Research and Innovation

Sustainability

U of T Scarborough

Researchers at the ��Ƶ Scarborough have discovered the presence of two species of bee in Canada for the first time – one of which could pose a big threat to native mason bees.

The non-native mason bees (Osmia cornifrons and Osmia taurus) originate from northern Asia and were introduced to North America more than 50 years ago as crop pollinators.

The presence of O. taurus is the most concerning, says Scott MacIvor, a professor in the department biological sciences at U of T Scarborough and lead author of the study published in the journal PeerJ Life & Environment.

He referenced a recent study in the United States that found an 800 per cent increase in O. taurus coincided with a 90 per cent decline in six different species of native mason bees. The study was done across multiple mid-Atlantic states over a 13-year period.

“O. taurus, the bee that was brought over completely by accident, has had a negative impact on native mason bees in these states,” says MacIvor, who is an expert on bees, pollination and biodiversity.

“It’s too early to say whether this bee will have the same impact on native mason bees here in Canada, but it’s definitely a strong possibility.”

O. cornifrons (also known as the horned-face bee) was brought to the U.S. starting in the late 1960s to help pollinate fruit crops, but due to its similar appearance, O. taurus was also brought over accidentally around the same time.

While there is no evidence that O. cornifrons has a similar negative impact on native bee populations, MacIvor says non-native bees can be considered invasive when they displace native bees by introducing disease, disrupting nests, or simply outcompeting them for resources.

Professor Scott MacIvor is a expert on bees, pollination and biodiversity (photo by Don Campbell)

Potential pathways

MacIvor says the bees likely crossed natural land borders connecting Michigan and New York to Ontario. While the bees have existed in large numbers in the U.S. for decades, it raises the question: Why have they only appeared recently in Canada?

“Entomologists in southern Ontario have been doing bee surveys for decades and it’s only within the last couple of years that they started to appear,” he says.

One reason could be the recent popularity of bee hotels that people are using to support struggling native bee populations in urban areas. Both bee species are cavity-nesting bees, so they might be thriving due to the recent availability of these hotels.

Another potential way they’ve ended up in Canada could be the online sale of bee cocoons to gardeners and bee hotel owners. MacIvor says it’s possible they could be inadvertently sold non-native species instead of native mason bees. While importing bee cocoons from the U.S. is illegal, he says it’s possible they might have slipped past border inspections. Bee cocoons can also be purchased online from Canadian companies, so over time there is a potential they could be shipped to other parts of Canada.

Interestingly, the researchers discovered that batches of O. cornifrons were also imported into Canada in the 1970s as part of agricultural experiments but given the widespread surveying, there’s no proof those bees were able to survive and reproduce in the wild.

Native mason bee conservation

Protecting native mason bees is critical due to the important role they play in pollinating native plants, as well as spring-flowering orchard crops such as peaches, plums, cherries and apples.

While there’s not much that can be done to stem the flow of non-native mason bees naturally, MacIvor says there are a few things people can do to support native mason bee populations.

“For one, avoid buying bee cocoons online,” he says. “Instead, let local populations colonize bee hotels and other habitats.”

He adds the best way to support native mason bees isn’t necessarily to set up a bee hotel since many native bee species make their nests elsewhere, such as decaying wood or underground. Try focusing on plants that flower in the spring such as lupine, beardtongue, raspberry or redbud. These will attract native mason bees and help them thrive.

“If you are interested in native bee conservation, the best thing to do is build gardens with native flowering plants and pay attention and protect spots where nests develop naturally.”

This research was supported by a grant from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

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Non-native bees discovered in Canada may pose serious threat to native mason bee populations

Potential pathways

Native mason bee conservation