VIURRSpace (Royal Roads University and Vancouver Island University)
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Western red cedar
No full textPressed specimen of Thuja plicatahttps://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/27243/MCcandless.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=
Making sense of science centre exhibit-making: a diffractive ethnography
No full textInteractive science centre exhibits are hands-on devices designed to appeal to visitors’ curiosity in order to entice them to explore scientific phenomena. Their success (or failure) at that task has been the primary subject of research conducted in science centre exhibitions, which overwhelmingly relies on evaluation methods to measure how well exhibits help visitors achieve the museum’s educational objectives. As a result of that tight methodological focus, our knowledge of science centre exhibitions is deep but narrow, with scant documentation, analysis, or theorization of what happens before, after, and behind the scenes of each visitor engagement.
This dissertation addresses that gap. It communicates the results of a month-long new materialist diffractive ethnography conducted at the New York Hall of Science. The field study was conducted during the remediation of The Happiness Experiment, a newly opened (and, as is typically the case, only partly working) exhibition. The Happiness Experiment comprised over twenty novel or adapted exhibit components, all of which needed to communicate not only to visitors seeking to engage with them but also with the floor staff tasked with facilitating them and the exhibits staff who needed to fix them and create the systems required to maintain and operate them for the life of the exhibition.
From opening exhibit cabinets to find what had jammed up their works to tracing exhibits’ parts as they travelled through delivery systems, workshops, storage closets, offices, and lunchtime brainstorms, I followed exhibits staff, visitors, and the exhibits themselves in order to ask “How can we understand the ways that the people who create exhibits, the exhibits they create, the visitors who use them, and the science centre that houses them all manage the relationships that shape their interactions?”. I explore what insights emerge from understanding exhibits as interactive devices, cybernetic feedback loops, parts in complex systems, and agential partners in an on-going iterative dance.
I found that looking at The Happiness Experiment through those lenses (and extending attention beyond the scope of traditional evaluations) revealed a sprawling, dynamic ecosystem of exhibits, their parts, and their partners that extended beyond the exhibition’s operating hours and outside the lines marking its boundaries on the building map. I found that relationships between exhibits and the people who design, develop, facilitate, and maintain them can be rich and productive, or they can be fleeting, or they can devolve into a stalemate. In sum, the people who are nominally “in charge” of running science centre exhibitions in fact cannot control the exhibits that they build — but neither are they powerless to influence them, particularly if they can achieve the conditions that cultivate flexible, generative long-term relationships with exhibits and through them, their visitors
Optimization of a Hydrogen Alternative Aviation Fuel Supply Chain Under Demand and Emissions Constraints - A Case Study of Canada
Get PDF2023The potential of using hydrogen-based alternative aviation fuels, to meet national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction commitments was investigated using a mixed-integer-linear-program (MILP) optimization model that minimized the total energy consumed “energy intensity” for a hydrogen-based alternative aviation fuel supply chain. The model provided (i) optimal jet fuel blend ratios and, (ii) the number and types of hydrogen production plants that would meet forecasted demand and GHG reduction target constraints. The model was optimized for time horizons of 2035, 2050, 2065, and 2080 in Canada, assessing distribution and resilience scenarios. By 2065, two resilient hydrogen infrastructure pathways emerged: one with 556 polymer-exchange-membrane-electrolysis (PEM), 4 Nuclear-Solid Oxide Electrolysis (SOE), and 2 Steam Methane Reforming Carbon Capture and Storage (SMR-CCS) plants, and another with 24 Alkaline Electrolysis (AE), 7 Nuclear-SOE, and 6 SMR-CCS plants. The 2080 net-zero solution was not found using this model due to GHG emissions in hydrogen production
[Poster] Vacant to vibrant: The revitalization of Nanaimo North Town Centre
No full textPosterPoster exploring the research question: How can Nanaimo North Town Centre be effectively revitalized to create an energetic, busy, and thriving atmosphere for the surrounding community?https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/27222/Poster.pdf?sequence=
Understanding and harnessing the motivations of Squamish Off-Road Cycling Association’s volunteers
No full textThe purpose of this action-oriented research study was to determine the motivations of the Squamish Off-Road Cycling Association’s (SORCA) volunteers and provide actionable recommendations for SORCA’s Board and staff to protect and grow the mountain bike community and trail network in Squamish. The inquiry question was: How might SORCA harness the motivations of its volunteers to enhance the organization’s current and future initiatives? A survey, World Café, and interviews were used in this study, which adhered to Royal Roads University’s Research Ethics Policy. The findings revealed that although most volunteers are motivated to give back, contribute to the trails, support SORCA, and build genuine relationships with others, the volunteers also want more opportunities to volunteer; yet, some volunteers find volunteering intimidating. The findings and literature supported the recommendations that SORCA can attract and retain more motivated volunteers by creating a targeted volunteer engagement strategy
Accountability in the Political/Bureaucratic Interface of the Canadian Federal Government
Get PDF2023Abstract The overall objective of this dissertation is to expand the existing research on accountability relationships, mechanisms and practices among selected entities at the pivotal point where politics and the bureaucracy intersect. The research is unique in the sense that it was conducted through the lens of a former public service executive with over twenty years’ working experience in the federal public service. This positionality afforded a deeper understanding of perspectives and commentary offered by academics, practitioners, and former senior officials both elected and non-elected. The methodologies of historical analysis and narrative inquiry were applied to the extensive literature on accountability relationships, mechanisms and practices. The result is a comprehensive synthesis of the story of accountability. The synthesis begins with an exploration of its roots in the Canadian version of the Westminster model of government. What follows is a look at the institutions that play a major role in how accountability relationships play out and how accountability mechanisms are enforced. This critical analysis included both the evolution of the institutions as well as the transformation of the environment in which accountability is practiced.
Accountability regimes were analyzed for Parliament, the Offices of the Prime Minister, the Privy Council, Treasury Board Secretariat, the Office of the Auditor General, and departmental deputy ministers. For each of these entities, a framework was developed to systematically discern and connect authorities, accountability relationships and mechanisms used to hold elected and non-elected senior officials accountable.
The work builds upon decades of research by academics and practitioners. Accordingly, it fills a gap in academic literature through the critical examination and synthesis, from multiple sources, of the complicated, multidimensional, and dynamic accountability relationships, both internal to government and within Parliament. Another important outcome of the research was the identification and compilation of a vast array of accountability mechanisms that had not been studied in a comprehensive way. Consequently, the research makes a distinctive contribution to the overall study and practice of accountability in the political/bureaucratic interface of the Canadian federal government. KEYWORDS:
Accountability, Canadian federal government, political/bureaucratic interfac
Strategies to support ADHD learners in the classroom
No full textPosterPoster exploring what is ADHD and how educators can adopt simple strategies in classroom in order to enhance learning of students in ADHD?https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/26928/Poster.pdf?sequence=
Regionalization of a distributed hydrological model using 25 catchments on Vancouver Island
Get PDFAlthough Vancouver Island water supply has considerable reliance on surface water, catchments remain predominately ungauged and hydrologically data poor. The objective of this study is to enhance the understanding of hydrological model processes and advance regionalization of a distributed water balance model for potential application to runoff prediction in ungauged catchments. Ultimately, the current study contributes a regionalized distributed climate water balance that can be reliably employed for monthly runoff prediction in Pluvial and Hybrid catchments on Vancouver Island from 1981-2010. However, the study could not find sufficiently acceptable performance for Nival catchments through calibration. Precipitation and runoff spatiotemporal trends with implications on model performance are analyzed and discussed. Lastly, further research suggestions targeting model improvement and regionalization are provided
Genetic analysis reveals hidden threats and new motivation for conservation translocation of black-tailed prairie dogs at the northern limit of their range
Get PDFThis article was originally published as: Cullingham, C.I., Stephens, T.R., Swan, K.D., Wilson, S.C., Janes, J.K., Matchett, M.R., Griebel, R., & Moehrenschlager, A. (2023). Genetic analysis reveals hidden threats and new motivation for conservation translocation of black-tailed prairie dogs at the northern limit of their range. Global Ecology and Conservation, 46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2023.e02591Biodiversity loss continues at unprecedented rates; to slow loss, conservation practitioners are working to remove species from risk of extinction. But, even when species are no longer at risk of extinction, they likely exist in small, isolated populations, especially at range edges, and their long-term persistence is uncertain. The northernmost population of the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), located in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada, is potentially isolated from the core of the prairie dog range and has experienced dramatic population fluctuations. To better understand the genetic health of this population, we genotyped 566 individuals alongside individuals from Montana (N = 48) and South Dakota (N = 40), at 15 microsatellite loci. We also generated over 1000 base pairs of mtDNA sequence data for a subset of individuals from each of these three locations. The microsatellite data indicate that the Saskatchewan population has extremely low variability (HO = 0.231), and a high level of inbreeding (FIS = 0.14) compared to other prairie dog populations. Analysis of population structure indicates that the Saskatchewan population is isolated from the black-tailed prairie dog range. However, data from the mtDNA indicates the Saskatchewan population was connected to Montana in the recent past. Considering these results, it is important to evaluate management strategies such as genetic rescue via translocations to increase diversity and circumvent negative impacts of inbreeding. While translocating individuals presents challenges, we believe this may be the best option for Saskatchewan prairie dogs given the continuing impacts of climate change and disease.Article e02591This research was supported by the Wilder Institute
Surfing for recovery: my self-managed blue space intervention for substance use disorder maintenance
No full textPre-designed activities in a natural water setting, known as blue space interventions (BSIs), are recognized for their health-promoting qualities. BSIs, including those involving surfing, have been shown to provide opportunities for improving the self-efficacy of diverse groups, including people with substance use disorder (SUD). However, little is known about the lived experience of those in recovery from SUD or how BSIs contribute to self-efficacy and sustained recovery for this population. This research aimed to gain insight into the relationship between surfing, blue space, self-efficacy, and recovery-oriented health outcomes. Using a multi-method case study design with an autoethnographic lens, I utilized my own experience as an adult male experiencing SUD to explore whether participating in a self-managed BSI could influence my surfing and recovery efficacy. I developed a BSI, implemented it on myself, and reflected on my experience before, during, and after using various data collection tools, including: (a) a self-interview experience; (b) semi-structured reflective journal entries; (c) researcher-generated photographs; and (d) online semi-structured interviews with family members. This process required a great deal of learning, skill development, and discipline. Overcoming challenges associated with the BSI helped me uncover recovery-related skills (e.g., planning, preparation, social networking, introspection, self-regulation), pushed my reflective practices into a more well-developed and effective space, and encouraged the development of personal autonomy, which allowed me the opportunity to find value in my interpersonal relationships and connect purposefully with my spirituality. I believe that the opportunities and challenges associated with the intervention design and evaluation created an environment for my surfing and recovery efficacy to develop.https://viurrspace.ca/bitstream/handle/10613/27422/Broderick.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=