sshrc

community-based research navigates social, economic and environmental sustainability

thunder bay and orillia, ont. – 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 researchers dr. martha dowsley and dr. debra mackinnon are leading two community-based studies that will impact how societies understand and navigate food sovereignty and public safety.

dr. dowsley, associate professor in anthropology and geography and the environment, is partnering with lac seul first nation (lsfn) in northwestern ontario and nubian communities in egypt to explore the role of focal plants in the community’s survival, culture, and self-determination and how that role has been altered by the flooding of traditional lands. the study is supported by a $328,000 grant from the social sciences and humanities research council (sshrc).

martha dowsley “many indigenous communities have lost lands and resources to hydroelectric development, severely impacting their economic and cultural wellbeing,” dowsley explained. “by studying some of these injured human-plant relationships we hope to support communities in strengthening their plant relationships. this can have important impacts in areas such as the sustainable development goals, improving the lives of girls and women, and building resilience into damaged local food systems.”

for the study, each community selected a plant with economic and cultural significance: lsfn chose wild rice (manomin) and the nubian communities date palm and a fodder plant called kashrangig. now, the research team will explore the history of lost relationships with these plants to understand how to support indigenous communities as they look to re-establish traditional practices. illustrated books, films and educational resources will be created to help cultural sharing and discussions on food sovereignty and cultural resurgence.

“i hope this research will allow the two case study communities to learn about themselves through seeing how a community on the other side of the world is struggling with a similar problem,” she said. “my hope is that this project will support the communities to find new ways to use their cultural knowledge of plants to continue those plant relationships in a changed environment. it’s all about honouring and nurturing these ancient relationships and finding a place for them in a modern world.”

debra mackinnon in another community-focused project, dr. mackinnon, an assistant professor in interdisciplinary studies, will examine how libraries in mid-sized ontario cities balance safety with their mandate of free and equitable access.

“public libraries are more than just places for books; they serve as critical social infrastructure by providing access to information, encouraging social inclusion and equity, and fostering civic engagement,” mackinnon explained. “however, they face growing pressure to navigate their commitment to social inclusion and equity, while managing the added pressure of ensuring the safety of all staff and patrons.”

in collaboration with public libraries in barrie, brantford and thunder bay, and in the context of ongoing social issues such as the opioid epidemic, mental health crisis, lack of affordable housing, and changing perceptions of public safety, mackinnon and dr. tarah hodgkinson of wilfrid laurier university will engage library staff, patrons, and community members to identify practical, community-driven solutions that support both safety and inclusivity in these spaces. the three-year study is supported by a $97,267 grant from sshrc.

“the work conducted by lakehead researchers is responsive and directly tied to supporting, engaging and enriching our local communities,” said dr. andrew p. dean, vice president - research and innovation. “thank you to our funding partners for recognizing the importance of these projects, not just at the community level, but advancing knowledge nationally and globally in several key areas.”

in 2023/24, 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 received almost $2.5 million in assistance from the research support fund to support the indirect costs of research, which includes costs for supporting the management of intellectual property, research and administration, ethics and regulatory compliance, research resources, research facilities, and research security.

sshrc grants 2023-24

total received: $975,920

insight grants (2-5 year grant)

dr. martha dowsley, department of anthropology and department of geography and the environment, “feeding our relationships: investigating anishinaabe and nubian plant relationships in the context of food sovereignty, biocultural landscapes and sustainable development”, $328,000

co-applicant: dr. charles levkoe, department of health sciences, 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜

dr. lindsay galway, department of health sciences, “climate anxiety and coping among youth and young adults in canada: synthesizing and advancing knowledge and practice”, $308,916

co-applicant: dr. ellen field, faculty of education, 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜
collaborator: kate ashwood, youth climate lab
collaborator: alexis ashworth, root in nature, inc.
collaborator: dr. thomas beery, school of natural history, kristianstad university
collaborator: katie hayes
collaborator: stacie smith, young canadians roundtable on health

dr. debra mackinnon, department of interdisciplinary studies, securitizing the last public bastion: safety in public libraries in mid-sized ontario municipalities, $97,267

co-applicant: dr. tarah hodgkinson, department of criminology, wilfrid laurier university
collaborator: barrie public library
collaborator: brantford public library
collaborator: thunder bay public library
collaborator: federation of ontario public libraries

insight development grant (2-year grant)

dr. bartholomew chireh, department of health sciences and epid@work research institute, “work stressors and job satisfaction and mental well-being among black, indigenous, and people of color skilled trades workers in northwestern ontario”, $63,723

co-applicant: dr. samuel essien, department of health sciences and epid@work research institute, 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜
co-applicant: dr. charles gyan, school of social work, mcgill university
collaborator: dr. annshirley afful, registrar’s office, university of regina

knowledge synthesis grants: evolving narratives of cultures and histories (1-year grant)

dr. martha dowsley, department of geography and the environment, “from manomin to ‘wild’ rice and back again: understanding the transformations of a native ontario grain and indigenous cultural resurgence”, $30,000

co-applicant: dr. keira loukes, school of outdoor recreation, parks and tourism, 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜

individual partnership engage grant (1-year grant)

dr. mirit kastelman grabarski, faculty of business administration, “coach officer training development”, $25,000.

co-applicant: hina kalyal, london police service

connection grants (1-year grant)

dr. leisa desmoulins, faculty of education (orillia) “multiple perspectives for indigenous education activation in simcoe county”, $49,494.

co-applicant: dr. ruth beatty, faculty of education (orillia)
collaborator: christina ruddy

dr. idevania costa, school of nursing, “our voices, our stories: an action-oriented outreach and knowledge exchange webinar series”, $48,520.

co-applicant: dr. catherine phillips, school of social work (orillia)
co-applicant: dr. catherine schoales, school of nursing
co-applicant: dr. michelle-marie spadoni, school of nursing
co-applicant: dr. pilar camargo plazas, queen’s university
collaborator: irmajean bajnok, wounds canada
collaborator: mariam botros, wounds canada

individual pch-sshrc initiative for digital citizen research (connection) (1-year grant)

dr. davut akca, department of interdisciplinary studies (orillia), combatting hate speech in an increasingly polarized era conference, $25,000.

keywords:

sshrc

indigenous communities

food sovereignty

public safety

social sciences and humanities research council grant supports edi research

june 29, 2022 – orillia, ont.

阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 professor dr. sandra jeppesen is receiving $448,376 from the social sciences and humanities research council (sshrc) of canada under their new race, gender, and diversity initiative launched this year.

dr. jeppesen, professor in the media, film, and communications program at lakehead’s orillia campus, will be leading an international team of community-engaged scholars and community organizations to foster knowledge and build capacity around equity, diversity, and inclusion (edi) practices.

“institutional policies surrounding edi have become commonplace, but have proven quite inadequate in improving inequality,” dr. jeppesen said. “we aim to develop more effective practices throughout organizations.”

over three years, the research team that includes the gilbert centre in barrie, pixelles and we are the medium in montreal, the rungh cultural society in vancouver, and the university of virginia equity centre in charlottesville, will investigate critical edi work being done at the community level using an innovative assets-based approach.

“the partner community organizations have been doing equity, diversity and inclusion long before it became a catchphrase,” explained dr. jeppesen. “we have much to learn from them and we hope they will benefit through co-research to document their work, learn from one another, and see their practices utilized throughout many sectors of society for in-depth social and cultural transformation.”

utilizing interviews, focus groups, meetings, and archival research the team will share, analyze, expand and systematize understandings of the work community organizations do around edi. results from that work will drive the development of toolkits and workshops that will be mobilized to support organizations across canada through a proof-of-concept trial run.

"our objective is to understand the deep edi capacity and experience of small community organizations working across issues of race, gender, and lgbtq+ as well as rurality, immigration, and age,” dr. jeppesen said. “and then make this experience available to larger organizations to support, improve, and amplify their on-going edi efforts, which will have profound impacts across canada and globally.

dr. andrew p. dean, 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ’s vice-president, research and innovation, congratulated the research team and thanked sshrc for their continued support of lakehead’s important research.

“at lakehead we value and put particular emphasis on partnerships and research collaborations with community-based organizations,” dr. dean said. “recognizing the importance of edi in today’s workplace, we know that the research results obtained through this grant will have tangible outcomes for our communities, both locally and nationally.”

in 2021/22, 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 received nearly $2 million in assistance from the research support fund to support the indirect costs of research, which includes costs for supporting the management of intellectual property, research and administration, ethics and regulatory compliance, research resources, and research facilities.

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media: for more information or interviews, please contact jaclyn bucik, media, communications and marketing associate, at 705-330-4010 ext. 2014 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in orillia and thunder bay, ontario. lakehead has nine faculties, including business administration, education, engineering, graduate studies, health & behavioural sciences, law, natural resources management, science & environmental studies, and social sciences & humanities. 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked, once again, among canada’s top 10 primarily undergraduate universities in maclean’s 2021 university rankings; as well as included in the top half of times higher education's 2022 world universities rankings for the third consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 10,000 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 in the’s 2022 impact rankings (which assesses institutions against the united nations’ 17 sustainable development goals). visit www.hsbcwebinars.com.

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research in action: project guides climate change communication strategies

by phebeann wolframe-smith

originally published in the chronicle journal on wednesday, june 3, 2020

dr. lindsay galway giving a presentation

photo: dr. lindsay galway speaking at the march climate change communication workshop.

that climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity is not news. this awareness, however, does not always translate into action. to move people to action, governments and organizations need to understand how best to communicate climate change information.

in march 2020, dr. lindsay galway, associate professor in the faculty of health and behavioural science at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 and her team completed a project that sought to understand how citizens in thunder bay, ont., and prince george, bc, can become better engaged with climate change. northern communities are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. although research has been conducted in the arctic, until now, little was known about public responses to climate change in the provincial norths.

“provincial norths are unique case studies, because their economic wellbeing, culture, and history is often closely connected to resource extraction. they are also more remote and politically marginalized. but there is also a strong sense of place, of community, and of connection to the land,” said galway.

the two-year project, funded the social sciences and humanities council of canada, involved three components: representative postal surveys in thunder bay and prince george; interviews with “climate champions” in each community who are engaged in climate change education and action; and lastly, the development of climate change communication strategies based on the gathered data.

the postal surveys involved using canada post’s address database to randomly select 2000 households for each community and then adjusting based on census data to make sure these households represented the demographics of the community as a whole. surveys were mailed to these households asking about climate change beliefs and attitudes, impacts of climate change, and climate change action. the team received just under 400 completed surveys for thunder bay which is considered a strong response rate.

key findings from the thunder bay postal survey in regard to attitudes and beliefs include that 95% of respondents believe climate change is happening, and 86% feel very or somewhat worried about climate change. 40% of respondents report experiencing climate change impacts in thunder bay such as shifts in seasonal patterns, changing frequency and intensity of precipitation, and extremes of weather.

other key findings, those that relate to action, highlight areas for education and change. 70% feel that addressing climate change will have positive effects on the long-term health of our communities, but paradoxically, 51% are concerned about whether addressing climate change will increase taxes. similarly, while 80% felt thunder bay community members should do more to address climate change, only 60% reported taking action themselves. 70% of respondents felt that climate change is more likely to be a threat in the future than in the present.

“people still think of climate change as a threat of the future – that’s key. climate science clearly illustrates that it is problem of now. if we are going to act to address climate change, we need to do it in the next five years” emphasized galway.

the research was supported by an advisory group in each community made up of representatives from organizations who are working to address climate change. following analysis of the data, 30 people from the advisory group and other organizations took part in a climate change communication workshop in march 2020 to discuss the results of the research, and to build best-practices for communicating about climate change in thunder bay, facilitated by galway and dr. paul berger, associate professor in the faculty of education at lakehead.

“dr. galway's research provides a solid foundation from which to take strong action. scholarly evidence of strong local support for addressing climate change helped to secure a unanimous vote in favour of the city of thunder bay’s declaration of a climate emergency” said aynsley klassen, program coordinator at ecosuperior, and a member of the research advisory group.

“eco-superior is also able to use dr. galway's research to guide program development, increase the effectiveness of climate-related communications, and engage community residents in climate actions,” she added.

another outcome of the project has been a video which recently was a finalist in the social sciences and humanities council storytellers competition. the video was created by robert sanderson, a master of health sciences student at lakehead, who was a research assistant on the project.

“working on the project expanded my own interests and knowledge – it was a great opportunity to learn and make connections and gain research experience. i got to see a whole project from start to finish – to see the steps, the challenges and how to overcome them,” he said.

sanderson’s video can be viewed at here and the final report from the project can be accessed here.

photo credit: paul berger

keywords:

climate change

sustainability

sshrc

research partnerships

interdisciplinary

阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 researchers receive sshrc grants

september 16, 2013 – orillia and thunder bay, on

阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 researchers are receiving more than $1.5 million from the social sciences and humanities research council of canada (sshrc) for exciting projects relating to new media, first nations renewable energy initiatives and economic development, weight bias and more.

sshrc’s insight grants aim to build knowledge and understanding about people, societies and the world by supporting research excellence in the social sciences and humanities.

dr. sandra jeppesen, assistant professor of interdisciplinary studies at lakehead orillia and coordinator of media studies for social change, has been awarded an insight grant of $497,482 over five years for her program of research, indymedia 2.0: new media activism in the digital economy. this is the largest insight grant that lakehead has ever received.

“this sshrc grant will allow us to deepen our understanding of grassroots global media activist networks, politics and strategies in the digital media landscape,” said dr. jeppesen.

the seven-person feminist research team, which includes co-applicant dr. adrienne hurley of east asian studies at mcgill university and various 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , will examine anti-racist, queer, anti-colonial, anti-capitalist and anarchist media practices by interviewing 150 grassroots activists around the world to analyze how they are adapting old and new technologies to support radical social movements.

“this project will also create a network of feminist activist-scholars and facilitate the development of online resources for grassroots media activists,” dr. jeppesen added.

dr. chander shahi, associate professor and chair of the forest science program at lakehead thunder bay, is receiving an insight development grant of $73,000 to examine first nations renewable energy initiatives and economic development in northern ontario.

this funding enables dr. shahi to meet with more than 30 first nation communities in northern ontario and hire four first nation 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 from 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 to assist with the research.

“the goal is to create a policy framework for a new renewable energy model that can help first nation communities with economic development opportunities,” dr. shahi said.

this project is the result of an expressed interest by the ontario power authority (opa) and the ontario sustainable energy association (osea), along with community leaders, to understand the role of the renewable energy sector in the economic development of northern ontario’s first nation communities.

these communities often struggle to survive due to limited shelter, health care, transportation networks and electricity, with many relying on expensive diesel-generated electricity.

the use of renewable energy to improve the socio-economic status of first nation communities provides an important opportunity. this project will identify, explore and create community-based policy alternatives for renewable energy that will enhance the sustainability of these first nations communities.

erin cameron is in lakehead's joint phd program in educational studies and her field of study is social, cultural & political contexts of education. cameron is receiving a sshrc doctoral fellowship award of $40,000 over two years for her project, reclaiming the other f-word: addressing weight-based oppression in higher education.

“this sshrc funding allows me to focus on my research, which is aimed at developing teaching strategies that will help to reduce weight bias and help 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 understand that obesity is more complex than just calories in and calories out,” cameron said.

“we live in a society where we are bombarded with messages about obesity, where we have become obsessed with the thin ideal as a marker of health, yet evidence points to the fact that it is fitness not fatness that matters. as a result, weight bias is now more prevalent in schools and health care and it’s been suggested that there’s unintentional harm being caused because of that,” she said. “i hope my work will start to change how we teach and think about obesity in schools and universities.”

cameron will interview faculty members specializing in kinesiology, health sciences, psychology, geography and other disciplines from universities around the world.

“these impressive research projects show that 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 is making an impact on society in many important ways,” said lakehead president and vice-chancellor, dr. brian stevenson.

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media: for more information or to arrange an interview, please contact brandon walker, media relations officer, at (807) 343-8177 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 is a comprehensive university with a reputation for a multidisciplinary teaching approach that emphasizes collaborative learning and independent critical thinking. more than 8,700 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and 1,850 faculty and staff learn and work at campuses located in orillia, and thunder bay, ontario, which is home to the west campus of the northern ontario school of medicine. 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 promotes innovative research that supports local and regional socio-economic needs. in orillia, development continues on building a campus that meets leadership in energy and environmental design (leed®) standards. for more information about 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 , visit www.hsbcwebinars.com.

2013 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 sshrc grant recipients

insight grants (five-year grants):

dr. sandra jeppesen, interdisciplinary studies (orillia), “indymedia 2.0: new media activism in the digital economy”, $497,482.
co-applicant: dr. adrienne hurley, mcgill university.

dr. lori chambers, department of women’s studies, “a legal history of adoption in ontario”, $181,305.

dr. chander shahi, faculty of natural resources management, “enabling community based forest management in northern ontario”, $207,000.

co-applicant: dr. peggy smith, faculty of natural resources management.

insight development grants (two-year grants):

dr. ruth beatty, faculty of education (orillia campus) “equity and math education: connecting anishinaabe agindaasowin and western mathematical ways of knowing”, $74,815.

dr. kristin burnett, department of indigenous learning, “feeding my family": northern first nations, food history, and canadian indian policy in the post world war ii period”, $74,524.

co-applicant: dr. lori chambers, women’s studies.

dr. curtis fogel, interdisciplinary studies (orillia campus), “sexual violence in amateur canadian sport”, $30,550.

dr. valerie hebert, department of history (orillia campus), “post-atrocity justice in colonial french congo: the gaud-toqué affair, 1903-1905”, $33,068.

dr. cheryl lousley, interdisciplinary studies (orillia campus), “planet and narration: narrative testimonies and world-making at the brundtland commission public hearings”, $42,509.

dr. chander shahi, faculty of natural resources management, “first nations renewable energy initiatives and economic development in northern ontario“, $73,000.

graduate student funding:

phd 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 – doctoral fellowships program ($20,000/year)

jocelyn burkhart (education) – three-year award.

erin cameron (education) – two-year award.

sarah sinclair (psychology) – two-year award.

master’s 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 – joseph-armand bombardier canada graduate scholarships (one-year awards worth $17,500)

jamilee baroud (education with specialization in women’s studies).

kyee bo (biology).

aaron keffer (northern environment and cultures).

hannah mcninch (education).

jenny morgan (psychology).

justin raposo (english).