Landscapes - People - Global change

Category: Work with me (Page 2 of 5)

Funded opportunities for fall 2020

REVISED Jan 12, 2020 – These openings are now filled.

It’s recruiting time, and I currently can offer up to three possible positions for students starting in fall 2020. More may become available in the spring as word comes about grants, but for the time being, I’d be keen to hear from students interested in the following projects:

  • Cultural ecosystem services in Bay of Fundy dykelands and salt marshes. I am looking for up to two MES to tackle research on how settlers and Mi’kmaq use and value the drained agricultural land (dykelands) and the salt marshes they replaced (and to which sections will return if abandoned or realigned). These students will become part of the Atlantic landscape case of NSERC ResNet, a national collaborative project designed to develop the utility of ecosystems service approaches for resolving complex resource decisions. Candidates should be socially curious, ideally trained in social science fields (e.g. first degrees in Geography, Environmental Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, Planning) and interested in methods such as quantitative surveys and/or semi-structured interviews. First Nation students are particularly encouraged to apply.
  • Manufacturing envy: discourses of consumption and amenity in property television. I have offered up this topic to this year’s SRES Legacy Scholarship program. The ideal candidate is a high-achieving Canadian citizen or PR, as the Legacy is limited to Canadians with a two-year GPA above 4. Suitable backgrounds would include Geography, Environmental Studies, Anthropology, Planning or Visual Art.

If you are interested, please read this before you get in touch to express interest. If you can get in touch before additional scholarship deadlines start closing in early December, that would be ideal.

6-month job in bibliometrics and/or statistics

I am offering a 6-month non-student position in my lab (Jan-June 2019), co-funded by Mitacs‘ Career Connect program, for quantitative analysis support across a few SSHRC projects (e.g. sustainable agriculture, renewable energy). Required skills include bibliometrics and/or social science statistical methods. A short description is  here, and a fuller one is on the Mitacs site. Viable applicants should be under 30, have relevant Masters qualifications (Library/Information Science, Statistics, Information Technology, Computer Science, Quantitative Social Science, Social/Environmental Psychology, etc), and be a Canadian citizen, PR or refugee. Please help me spread the word.

2019 MES Legacy scholarship on urban densification

Our in-house SRES Legacy Scholarships will be offered again in 2019, and I have pitched in a project called, Last one in, shut the door: Understanding local experiences of urban densification. It is one of up to 8 projects available to high-performing Canadian students who are thinking early for our next MES intake.  A short description of my pitch follows; get in touch if you think you’re a good fit:

Most of us now live in cities. Experts advocate for more compact urban forms, rather than sprawl, to improve carbon footprints, as well as cultural vitality, economic activity and public health in cities. Compact cities are more walkable and have more effective public transit, and the numbers of people working and sleeping there are boons for businesses and cultural institutions alike. For most cities to become compact requires the densification of existing neighbourhoods. Like renewable energy, densification goals are often supported in general, but support weakens upon application. Locals often fight to maintain the status quo in the face of densification developments. The success of those residents depends in part on their social position. This research will explore the local experiences of urban densification planning, using case studies yet to be determined and the emerging concept of ‘climax thinking’, to identify social leverage points for urban transformation towards sustainability.

Funded Masters: Pairing wind and wine?

Vineyards and wind turbine. iStock credit: Petagar

Vineyards and wind turbine. iStock credit: Petagar

Happy to announce that thanks to recent success at the SSHRC Insight Development Grants, Dr. Kirby Calvert (PI) and I are looking for new graduate students for 2019 intake. Our project seeks to provide insight into the unique barriers and opportunities for renewable energy development in ‘high amenity’ (i.e., tourism-based) landscapes, such as wine-and-grape regions in Nova Scotia and Southern Ontario. Kirby and I are both Geographers by training, with interests in the spatial and social dynamics of rural landscape change. We expect to use a mix of methods in this work, including image-rich approaches for understanding discourse and stakeholder perceptions, possibly including social media and Q-method. Qualified and keen students should read the fuller description linked above, and get in touch with us. Nothing wrong with thinking well ahead for 2019; this opens candidates up to additional scholarship opportunities that often close in late fall.

New postdoc opening: Social Dynamics of Nature-based Coastal Adaptation

Wild child with storm surge, Regatta Point, March 3, 2018.

Wild child with storm surge, Regatta Point, March 3, 2018.

As of March 21, DEADLINE EXTENDED to April 15, 2018 for May start.
Thanks to a recent funding decision I’m circulating a new postdoctoral fellowship opportunity to work on a project with Dr Danika van Proosdij and I. This postdoc will be based in Danika’s lab at Saint Mary’s University, and work closely with us both to lead landscape social science around nature-based coastal adaptations such as dykeland realignment, salt marsh restoration, managed retreat and natural shorelines. This postdoc will support the new Making Room for Movement project and be part of an emerging interdisciplinary community of practice in the region on coastal climate adaptation. It could hardly be more timely, given the significant storm surge we’ve had the past few days. Please help me spread the good news!

 

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