Kate Sherren

Landscapes - People - Global change

Tag: IDPhD

Congratulations Dr. Margeson!

February 20, 2026 /

Keahna Margeson’s hybrid examining committee

Absolutely delighted to introduce Dr. Keahna Margeson, after a stellar defense of her Interdisciplinary PhD dissertation, Using Comparative Social Impact Assessment to Understand Resistance and Support for Causeway Removal and Tidal River Restoration . Defenses aren’t recorded, but if it had been, it would have been a great training tool. Thanks to Dr. Guadalupe Ortiz Noguera for serving as such an insightful external reviewer,  and to Wenda Greer, Helena Martel, and Peter Tyedmers for chairing, organizing and repping the IDPhD (and photography), respectively. Massive gratitude to Keahna, her committee and co-supervisor for a wonderful 4.5-year collaboration. Thanks to so many of the lab for coming along to support Keahna, and especially Elson for bringing the party. The occasion has made the whole week shine.

The defense audience (after we put the bubbly stuff out of view)

Congratulations summer 2025 graduates

July 3, 2025 /

Me, Yan and Mike Smit after her IDPhD graduation in June, 2025.

Two weeks ago I enjoyed attending the ‘spring’ graduation (which happened very late this year) to watch our most recent MREM cohort cross the stage, and one MES (they tend to defend in the summer so attend the fall one). IDPhD graduate Dr. Yan Chen also received her degree, after deferring from the fall graduation, and her co-supervisor Mike Smit and I were both on the stage for the event. We also got to bring her back to sit with us for the rest of the ceremony. Another great thrill was having 2002 MES alumna Karen Hudson receive an Honorary Doctorate in the same ceremony, and give the address. We welcomed all the above graduates and their families back in the SRES suite for a reception after the event, sponsored by the Faculty of Science. Congratulations, all! And to those whose stage photos I ended up in, sorry for my tassel malfunction.  Outgoing FGS Dean Marty Leonard didn’t warn me she was going to call me up for official photobombing.  🙂

New review paper by Robin on place and mobility

February 12, 2025 /

Very excited to announce the first paper out of Robin Willcocks-Musselman’s interdisciplinary PhD process, co-authored with her committee members Karen Foster, Julia Baird and Julia Woodhall-Melnik. This open access paper, Finding mobility in place attachment research: lessons for managed retreat, is in a special issue of the journal Frontiers in Climate that came out of the Columbia Managed Retreat conference back in 2023. In this thorough review tackled in her comprehensive exam, Robin goes deep on theories of place and what they have to say about mobility overall, and the specific implications for forced relocations such as during managed retreat for climate adaptation. The implications can be positive and negative, and her empirical work will seek to explore this in more detail in relation to managed retreat in the Atlantic region. Bravo, Robin!

This table from the paper synthesizes the positive and negative implications of place for managed retreat.

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