Kate Sherren

Landscapes - People - Global change

Two papers out on Bay of Fundy by Elson

January 23, 2025 /
Figure 4 in Galang et al (2025) in Sustainability Science, showing increases in empathy measures.

Figure 4 in Galang et al (2025) in Sustainability Science, showing increases in empathy measures.

Kudos to McGill Bennett-lab NSERC ResNet PhD student Elson Galang whose first two PhD papers came out this past week, both based (at least in part) on the workshops that he led at SMU about the Bay of Fundy NSERC ResNet case study in November 2022. The first one came out in Sustainability Science on January 16th, Co-imagining future scenarios can enhance environmental actors’ empathy toward future generations and non-human life-forms, that found measurable impacts on participants’ empathy towards future people and other life forms, the latter even lasting 3 months after the event. This is tantalizing evidence of the value of participating in the development of environmental scenarios. The second paper came out in Environmental Science & Policy on Jan 21st, Participatory scenario planning: A social learning approach to build systems thinking and trust for sustainable environmental governance. This shares more good news about participation in such processes in relation to the cognitive, relational and normative dimensions of social learning. Both papers also describe innovative methodological tools for assessing these complex ideas. Congratulations, Elson!

 

Eastern shore citizen science for TranSECT

January 2, 2025 /

Camilo Botero presents the project and preliminary results to the community at the Sheet Harbour Lion’s Club.

Thanks to Moira Donovan for the great article out on CBC today, Eastern Shore project harnesses community for climate science. The piece is about one of the 14 work packages within TranSECT, the large research project I co-lead out of the new CFREF project Transforming Climate Action. The Dal-based team for this work package about risk governance and citizen science comprises Camilo Botero, Ron Pelot and Floris Goerlandt, in partnership with Eastern Shore churches and schools. This article provides me a great excuse to post a few pictures from the end of November when TranSECT co-lead Ian Stewart and I attended an event in Sheet Harbour recognizing the end of the pilot phase of this innovative citizen science project.

The Bishop of the Anglican church diocese that is a key partner for the project reflects on what she has heard. 

On the return, Ian and I spied these across the inlet and went across to investigate: massive ‘transition pieces’ for offshore wind turbines, shipped there from Europe and awaiting further transportation to Martha’s Vineyard in the US). Soon I expect we’ll be seeing more of these arriving for use off Nova Scotia.

New paper: from sustainable grazing learner to leader

January 2, 2025 /

On New Year’s Eve, a new paper came out online first and OA in Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems led by former postdoc Brooke McWherter, called From learner to leader: exploring learning, motivations, and roles of regenerative grazing mentors. This paper emerged from her collaboration with Farmers for Climate Solutions and the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, funded by FCS and Mitacs, that followed and assessed the national  Farm Resilience Mentorship Program (FaRM) for adaptive grazing. This paper is based on interviews with half of the program’s mentors that explored their own learning journeys, and how and why they became mentors to others. I a meta move, Brooke also mentored MREM alum and RA Hunar Arora, who is a co-author on this piece.

Two people labelled social supports and mentor pull a learner up a stylized hill showing various stages of learning.

Figure 2 in the new ASFS paper led by Brooke, showing the process of becoming a mentor.

MREM class of 2024

December 11, 2024 /

Alex Legault and I at the mixer after day two of the MREM presentations, Dec 10, 2024.

I spent the last two days watching our 30 MREM students presenting their final projects to culminate their programs. It was an impressive showing, with students demonstrating hard work, care and rigour, as well as strong mentorship. It was also great to see the cohort showing up for one another, asking questions and cheering. Congratulations to my advisees, Alex, Bianca, Christie, Clara, Emily, and Maranda. I look forward to reading those final reports, and watching where your careers take you next!

New ResNet paper feat. Bay of Fundy

December 6, 2024 /

A quick note today to celebrate a new paper out in People and Nature, led by ResNet McGill PhD student Yiyi Zhang. The paper, Servicesheds connect people to the landscapes upon which they depend, uses two landscape case studies to demonstrate a new framework (see below) for delineating servicesheds. In the Bay of Fundy she explored “fisheries benefitting fishers, and flood protection benefitting flood-prone communities”. The Monteregie of Quebec is the other case study, with a focus on agriculture. Her study explicitly explores the impacts of tidal wetlands on coastal protection compared with the dykes that substitute that service. An ambitious study, conceptually and practically. Congratulations Yiyi and her team at McGill, including Brian Robinson and Hugo Thierry.

Zhang et al. figure 2 outlining the serviceshed framework

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