Kate Sherren

Landscapes - People - Global change

Tag: MES

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.  🙂

Congratulations, Gardenio

June 30, 2021 /
A screensnap from Gardenio da Silva's online defense today, June 30, 2021.

A screensnap from Gardenio da Silva’s online defense today, June 30, 2021.

Congratulations to Gardenio da Silva who defended his MES thesis this morning on Social impact assessment (SIA) practice for hydroelectricity in CAnada: a review of methods and monitoring. Wonderful to have IA expert Meinhard Doelle examining the thesis from Sweden,  John Parkins ringing in early from Alberta (in the midst of this heat wave) in a committee capacity, and colleague Andrew Medeiros managing it all as chair. It was a wonderful conversation about the practice of SIA, using hydro dams as a case, in a challenging context. Gardenio’s work leveraged secondary datsets, including SIA documents and longitudinal media coverage. Both papers within the thesis are at an advanced stage of publication, which makes the process a bit easier, but there was a lot to engage on. Great to see so many MES defending comfortably within the allocated two years.

Congratulations Yan Chen

October 22, 2016 /
Yan Chen, MES 2016

Yan Chen, MES 2016

Yan Chen defended her innovative SSHRC- and NSGS-funded MES thesis masterfully on Friday. She gleaned youth landscape values from a year’s worth of Instagram images from a 5-km radius of the actual and proposed headponds, respectively, of the Mactaquac and Site C dams. Being the first defense since a large new class of MES students started in the fall, the room was packed with supporters. Committee member John Parkins skyped in from the University of Alberta, and Faculty of Management colleague Jennifer Grek-Martin examined the thesis, which included wide-ranging discussions on landscape, sense of place, aesthetics, digitalism (our new religion as described by Yuval Harari), and virtual/augmented reality. It was everything you hope a defense can be: Yan spoke strongly in support of her work, and creatively about its potential implications and improvements. I look forward to getting her papers out in the literature, and building on it with a SSHRC Insight Grant that went in on Monday, led by colleague and expert in making Big Data matter, Mike Smit.

 

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