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The effects of a forest fires on water flow and quality in lakes surrounding a Northern Ontario mine
Get PDFWater quality and quantity can be greatly impacted following a forest fire, but fire impacts
can vary based on fire intensity, watershed topography, and post-fire precipitation events. Forest
fires are an important contributor to the natural regeneration of forests. Watershed monitoring is
important for gaining a greater understanding of forest fire impacts on water resources, thus
helping to improve interpretations of overall fire effects. The aim of this study was to reveal fire
disturbance impacts on water quality characteristics surrounding a mine site. The forest fire likely
resulted in increases in dissolved organic carbon and ammonia concentrations, especially
downstream of the mine site. However, no increased metal concentrations occurred after the fire.
Increased flows and frequency of peak flow events in the watershed following the fire did occur,
which can impact water quality in ways that were not measured
Triad zoning in northern Ontario and woodland caribou conservation: a critical review
Get PDFWoodland caribou in Ontario are threatened, posing a conflict between habitat
and timber supply for forest areas. The current management practices with Dynamic
Caribou Habitat Schedules (DCHS) address long-term habitat supply, relying on caribou
to reinhabit harvested areas while lacking evidence of this and failing to address current
demand for critical habitat protection. Meanwhile, Ontario’s forest industry has been
experiencing various other challenges including decreasing wood supply, increasing
road distances and costs, decreasing wood quality, greater public pressure to provide a
wide array of ecosystem services, and more. Ontario’s shift to a sustainable forest
management paradigm has continued to consider wood supply above environmental and
social values. Cumulatively, these have caused pressure to apply an alternative
management solution to current extensive practices that can better meet multiple
objectives. Triad forest management divides the forest into three zones with designated
uses and objectives with a wood production, ecosystem management, and conservation
zone. This has the potential when properly planned to improve wood supply and quality,
reduce road distances and costs, maintain ecosystem services, provide critical caribou
habitat, and more. Though there are various challenges with employing a zoning
method, a balanced approach between current management by using a DCHS with triad
zoning could alleviate these while improving environmental, economic, and social
sustainability
Turmeric effects on Jack pine growth and its survival
Get PDFEfficient forest restoration requires the planting of superior seedlings with optimum
development potential. Jack pine is an important species because it helps to maintain
the structure and function of ecosystems and provides a habitat for a wide diversity of
different types of animals. It has good growth and yield characteristics and is a
profitable species for commercial forestry operations. Curcuma longa (turmeric), a
member of the Zingiberaceae family, is a perennial plant that originates from
Southeast Asia. It has gained widespread popularity and is used in traditional
medicinal practices. The application of turmeric extract has been seen to have a
positive impact on the development of wheat seedlings. This research aspires to find
values of turmeric in the forestry field and hopes to satisfy the question of the impact
of turmeric in the growth and survival of jack pine. Jack pine seedlings were grown
with 5% of turmeric by weight mixed in with soil, 10% turmeric by weight mixed in
the soil, spraying turmeric with 10% concentration mixed in water, 30% turmeric
concentration in water sprayed. I hypothesized that when turmeric is added to soil or
sprayed with water dilution, it will promote height and diameter growth of jack pine.
This hypothesis was rejected because increases in turmeric concentration resulted in
lower height and root collar diameter of the seedlings. Possibly, the component
curcumin, which is an active ingredient in turmeric, can inhibit the growth of certain
plants
Addressing Indigenous community concerns of lake health by assessing water quality in Constance Lake, ON and biomarker responses in freshwater mussels, Pyganodon grandis and Lampsilis siliquoidea
Get PDFConstance Lake First Nation has had concerns regarding the health of a culturally
significant lake, Constance Lake, for several years. There are several external stressors to
this lake including urbanization and forestry, and as a result the community has stopped
utilizing the lake for cultural and recreational purposes. To investigate these concerns,
specifically regarding eutrophication and algal blooms, this study examined water
chemistry and biomarker responses pertaining to energy and stress in freshwater mussels
Lampsilis siliquoidea and Pyganodon grandis. The purpose was to determine current
trophic status and potential for future algal blooms, as well as determine stress levels in
mussels from eutrophication. Studies on glycogen levels over the winter season also
provided some insight into overwintering strategies for freshwater mussels. Indigenous
Knowledge from Constance Lake First Nation was used to guide this study, and tissue
from the gills and foot of mussels were assayed to determine levels of glycogen and lipid
peroxidation, specifically 4-hydroxynonenal. It was found that Constance Lake is still in
a eutrophic state and has the potential to produce harmful cyanobacterial blooms for
years to come. [...
Posttraumatic growth, depreciation, and psychopathology following sexual victimization: a unified model of predictors
Get PDFSexual violence is amongst the most detrimental events a woman can experience,
with survivors suffering long-term consequences to their mental health and perception of self.
However, accumulating research shows trauma can also act as a catalyst for positive change. To
gain a fully comprehensive understanding of sexual victimization, a simultaneous examination of
positive and negative change is needed, as is an exploration of the cognitive and social
experiences that differentiate post-trauma presentations. Method: Female undergraduate
students (N = 358) completed standardized measures assessing positive and negative change
following trauma (i.e., posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic depreciation, respectively);
psychopathology (PTSD, anxiety, depression); world beliefs (thoughts of the world and other
people); cognitive processing styles (rumination types); and social experiences (disclosure
reactions and content). A series of regressions was used to identify the significant predictors of
the three post-trauma outcomes, while structural equation modelling was used to identify the
process of posttraumatic growth. [...
Blowing smoke in the Ring of Fire: a critical analysis of news media discourse on resource extraction in Northern Ontario
Get PDFTalk of societal green transitions has become commonplace across the globe. As the need
to address the impacts of human-driven climate change grows increasingly critical, so too do
massive societal shifts towards environmental justice and sustainability. In Ontario, the Ring of
Fire region has received considerable media attention for its potential to be mined for critical
minerals key to Canada's green transition. As mining corporations move to position themselves
in the centre of these green transitions, it is crucial to interrogate the language used to cover
resource extraction activities in news media. This project employs a critical discourse analysis of
national and regional news media coverage of the Ring of Fire between January 1 2021 and
September 27 2022 to answer the following questions: How are discourses (re)produced in
national and regional news media coverage of the Ring of Fire region in Canada? What general
discursive themes are dominant in news media coverage of the Ring of Fire? How do the
narratives within these themes relate to imaginaries for future green transformations? Grounding
this analysis in ecolinguistics theory, three overarching discursive themes were identified in the
data set: greenwashed and destructive discourses, Indigenous communities-government-mining
industry relations discourses, and conflict discourses. The dominant narratives within these
themes convey a technological and market-led imaginary for future green transformations, where
the region is valued purely in economic and geopolitical terms. Indigenous partnership is
assumed, with any opposition framed as temporary. Linguistic tools, such as salience strategies
and environmental melodrama, can challenge the dominant discourse and provide room for other
imaginaries of societal green transformations
Youth perspectives of schooling in a Northern-Ontario community
Get PDFIn Ontario, northern, rural youth face disadvantages due to their geographic
location, as the majority of students attending high school, if not relocated to another
community for their studies, must endure daily commutes ranging from 60 to 130
kilometers in order to attend classes. Yet, student-youths’ perspectives on how their
geographic location influences their schooling experiences are currently absent from our
understanding of educational equity in northern, rural contexts. While the literature on
northern, rural education has focused almost exclusively on teacher, leadership and
community perspectives, this study utilized a critical consciousness framework and
interpretative phenomenology analysis with photovoice methods to explore youths’
perceptions of rural education.
Five participants shared their thoughts and experiences through photovoice,
individual interviews and focus groups to explore their rural educational experiences. The
objective of this study was to illuminate the barriers to educational success from an
equity standpoint and to explore innovative approaches with photovoice to capitalize on
the strengths of these students in order to address disparities and to create opportunities
for change in educational policy and practice. The findings highlighted some of the ways
in which spatial, socio-cultural and physical obstacles to learning affect youth
development while emphasizing how the school's climate and teachers contribute to
fostering educational equity and a sense of belonging. Findings also revealed that youth
encounter numerous challenges in their pursuit of secondary education. However, they
manage to overcome these obstacles through the support of their schools, which serve as
safe havens fostering strong relationships within the school community, or by benefiting
from a flexible approach to their education.
In the realm of equitable rural education, this study significantly contributes to the
existing body of literature. Specifically, the present study implies that educational equity
requires a lot of work. It encompasses various aspects, including a willingness to learn,
cooperation, sharing of power, finding resources, harnessing creativity and imagination,
and adjusting attitudes. Lastly, this study amplifies the voices of youth in the discourse
surrounding educational equity in northern, rural schools
Media and digital literacies in Canadian teacher educators’ open educational practices: a post-intentional phenomenology
No full textIn this qualitative post-intentional phenomenological research I share insights into the lived
experiences of teacher educators who infuse their open educational practices with media and
digital literacies in faculties of education in Canada. Current research in the field of open
educational practices has limited exploration in the field of teacher education and has yet to
explicitly examine the critical role played by media and digital literacies.
This research is grounded by theories of socio-constructivism, connectivism and
pragmatism. Through a post-intentional phemonenological methodology research, I describe and
differentiate between transcendental, interpretive, and post-intentional phenomenology. I explore
conceptual frameworks for teacher education, open education, and an understanding of literacies.
Through this dissertation, I work to untangle conceptions surrounding skills, fluencies,
competencies, and literacies in the field of media and digital education as these apply to teacher
educators. Through a crystallization approach in this research I generate materials from the data
collected for this study, focusing on teacher educators’ open educational practices, and media
and digital literacies. Facets in the open educational practices of the teacher educators I
interviewed include access, choice, and connections. Facets in the lived experiences of the
teacher educators relevant to media and digital literacies include communication, creativity, and
criticality. [...
Exploring food system assessments as a contribution to sustainability and equity: a case study of the Thunder Bay + area food strategy community food system report card
Get PDFThe corporate food regime has contributed to a number of negative outcomes that include
land, water, and ecosystem degradation; human health concerns; marginalization of smallholder
farmers and urban agriculture producers; and negative social impacts on their livelihoods,
particularly in the context of climate change. As a response, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
have emerged, attempting to transform the food system. One of the primary alternative food
system discourses questioning the limitations of dominant agri-food system practices has been
focused on the concept of sustainability. Sustainability is a contested concept and has different
interpretations depending on one’s political and ideological perspective. As a result, sustainable
food system assessments have been used to analyze the way that sustainability might be an
alternative to the corporate food system and assess progress toward stated sustainability goals.
The outcomes of a sustainable food system assessment are notably influenced by the
selection of a sustainability framework, which brings particular approaches and specified
measurement metrics into play. Many food system assessments, however, neglect to identify
their underlying assumptions and motivations for change. This research explores the use of
sustainable food system assessments and their potential contributions and impacts. Three
interconnected aspects influencing outcomes of assessments were identified in the literature,
including food system governance, sustainability frameworks, and choice of indicators. [...
Impacts of invasive spiny water flea (Bythotrephes cederströmii) on Walleye (Sander vitreus) mercury accumulation, ecosystem biomagnification, and bioenergetics
Get PDFAn evolving threat to freshwater ecosystems is invasive species. The spiny water flea
(Bythotrephes) is an invasive zooplankter well known for its severe negative impacts on
native freshwater zooplankton, but some knowledge gaps exist regarding their impacts to
fishes, high-level trophic organisms, and food chains. Changes in trophic positions at all
levels of the ecosystem can affect contaminant concentrations in large organisms. In this
study I used Walleye (Sander vitreus) total muscle mercury concentration ([MeHg]) and
size data, as well as stable isotope ratios and a bioenergetics model to evaluate the
potential impacts of Bythotrephes on the build up of toxic metals in fishes. I expected to
see an increase in Walleye mercury concentration and a systematic impact of
Bythotrephes on Walleye growth efficiency. In my first data chapter (chapter 2) I found
that the presence of Bythotrephes was associated with an increase in small (<50cm)
Walleye [MeHg] in Quetico Provincial Park and in Rainy Lake. These results suggest that
Bythotrephes have a greater impact on Hg accumulation in smaller fish and may alter
Walleye growth trajectories. [...