Working through Sam’s draft thesis on the deck.

There is nothing quite like a sabbatical August. I did not have classes to prepare for the fall, for instance, or orientation schedules to negotiate. I can work through my pile of student writing and other tasks at leisure. Often outside.

There has been  a bit of action, though. There was another meeting up in Tabusintac of the UQAR collaborative team to talk with our community partners and refine our research ideas based on what we heard last time. We also had a 2-day meeting for TCA‘s Cluster 3.3 to establish work packages between participants at Dal, UQAR in Rimouski, and Laval in Quebec City. Great people, hard work and a productive time.

TCA Cluster 3.3 meets in Halifax at the end of August, 2022.

Driving around the Acadian Peninsula after the Tabusintac meeting, it was fascinating to see the peat harvesting activities being undertaken by companies like Sun Gro.  In the context of accelerating climate change that we’re living it, with all its costs, it boggles the mind that we are continuing to harvest peat from wetlands. The scars on the landscape are dramatic, and the big vacuums that do the work inspire a menacing feeling reminiscent of the Dune spice harvesters. All this for horticultural soil amendment for which there are alternatives.