Employment and Opportunities

Geophysics or Planetary Science Assistant Professor, Tenure Track - Southeast Missouri State University

The Department of Chemistry and Physics at the Southeast Missouri State University is looking for a Geophysicist or a Planetary Scientist for a tenure-track position.

To Apply, click here.

ENVR 448 Socio-Ecological Systems Research

Have you ever wondered what it's like to do interdisciplinary research? In Term 2, we will be offering ENVR 448A: Socia-Ecological Systems Research. This is a great opportunity for upper-level undergraduates to gain experience conducting an interdisciplinary research project on a topic related to humans and the environment. You will work with a faculty mentor throughout the term to conduct a research project, while caining knowledge and skills about the research process through weekly class sessions.

Projects in Term 1 included mapping the UBC Farm's water footprint, invesitgating seafood's contribution to food security in the Arctic, and using technology to make the organic certification process easier for B.C. farmers.

To register, click here.

Programs and Events

IRES Faculty Seminar with Dr. Matthew Schnurr

Topic: Africa’s Gene Revolution: Genetically Modified Crops and the Future of African Agriculture

Africa has emerged as the final frontier in the global debate over the potential for Genetically Modified (GM) crops to enhance agricultural productivity and alleviate poverty and hunger. Proponents argue that GM crops represent one of the most promising means of improving yields and livelihoods across the continent, and have invested just under half a billion dollars in these new technological possibilities under the banner of Africa’s Green Revolution.  Opponents voice concerns over intellectual property, adverse health and environmental impacts, and the increasing control of multi-national corporations over the continent’s food supply.  Both sides have worked hard to frame the terms of this polarized debate, the result being they often speak past one another, rarely engaging in meaningful dialogue.

This presentation seeks to seeks to bridge this gap by assessing the ecological, social and political factors that are shaping Africa’s ‘Gene’ Revolution and evaluating its potential to achieve its lofty goals.  It summarizes an analysis of whether Genetically Modified crops constitute an appropriate technology given existing agricultural systems, and evaluates the implications of these findings for scholars, policy makers and farmers.

Time & Place: AERL Room 107, November 12th, 12:30-1:30pm. Pizza will be served at noon!

Colloquium with Dr. Martyn Clark

Topic: Advances in Continental Domain Hydrologic Modeling and Prediction

Martyn is a Professor of Hydrology at the University of Saskatchewan, Associate Director of the University of Saskatchewan’s Centre for Hydrology and the Canmore Coldwater Laboratory, Editor-in-Chief of Water Resources Research, and Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. Martyn’s research focuses in three main areas: (i) the developing and evaluating process-based hydrologic models; (ii) understanding the sensitivity of water resources to climate variability and change; and (iii) developing the next generation streamflow forecasting systems. Martyn has authored or co-authored over 150 journal articles since receiving his PhD in 1998.

Time & Place: ESB 5104, November 14th at 4:00pm

Seminar with Dr. Martyn Clark

Topic: Advances in Computational Hydrology

As part of the Global Water Futures project, the computational hydrology group at the University of Saskatchewan's Coldwater Lab builds tools to simulate and predict hydrological processes. We span spatial scales from hillslopes to continents and time scales from seconds to centuries. Some of our example contributions include ensemble forcing data for large-domain hydrological models, multi-scale hydrologic models, continental-domain network routing models, ensemble methods for data assimilation, and process-based methods for model benchmarking and model evaluation. Much of our model development work is targeted toward applications in streamflow forecasting, water security assessments, and improving the representation of hydrological processes in Earth System models.

Time & Place: ESB 5108, November 15th at 12:30pm

PhD Thesis Defense: Manuel Colombo

Topic: On the Biogeochemical Processes Controlling Trace Metal Distributions in the Canadian Arctic Ocean and Arctic Rivers

Time & Place: ESB 5108, November 15th at 2:00pm

Healthy Diets and Sustainable Food Systems with Dr. Hasan Hutchinson

Dr. Hasan Hutchinson is the former Director General for the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion at Health Canada and the lead on the most recent Canada Food Guide.  Combining sustainability with healthy eating, the Canada Food Guide aligns with the recent  EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health guidelines and advocates for a planetary health diet. There will be a keynote address followed by a panel discussion.

Time & Place: School of Population and Public Health, Room B151, 4:00pm - 6:00pm