TALKING SENSe
Spring and Summer
Term 2015
Growing the SENS Community
Collaborative student garden initiative about more than just growing food
Many people on campus are familiar with
the fenced plot of land behind the Biology
building. This summer, rather than being
used to grow plant material for biological
research, the plot has been taken over by a
group of SENS students, who have turned
it into a thriving community garden. This
student-led initiative is about much more
than growing vegetables, however. PhD
candidate Ana-Maria Bogdan, one of the
proponents of the garden, shared her
enthusiasm for the project: “This initiative
succeeds in bringing together students
with diverse educational and cultural
backgrounds, and encourages them to
use their knowledge and experience in
a collaborative effort ... with hopefully
tasty rewards! The garden also provides
an exploratory space, where we can leave
our keyboards and pens behind, and step
outside of our offices, to make a contribution
towards a more sustainable food system.”
Late last winter, when the garden project
was nothing more than a good idea, a survey
was sent to the SENS community—students,
faculty, and staff—to ask them for their
opinions. “The enthusiasm and support we
found was certainly the main reason we
decided to push forward,” says Ana-Maria.
“I think SENS wanted to see this garden
created, because of its potential to enhance
the sense of community, as well as to create
a sense of appreciation for growing one’s
own food.”
The project was not without its barriers,
however. Finding and securing a suitable
plot of land within walking or biking
distance of campus was critical, but initially
proved difficult. Two other plots of land
were offered, but the students chose the plot
behind the Biology building, given its vicinity
to Kirk Hall, where SENS is housed. “The
location could not have been better,” says
Ana-Maria. “Our enthusiasm for the project
certainly helped us to navigate this barrier,
but we also received significant support
from faculty, especially Vladimir Kricsfalusy
in SENS and Bohdan Kordan at St. Thomas
More.” PhD candidate Hardi Shahadu has
also been a driving force behind the project.
Now, as the end of summer approaches, the
students are already realizing the benefits
of the garden. Of course, they are looking
forward to the vegetable harvest, but Ana
says that many of the garden’s benefits are
more intangible. “Weeding a plot together
with your fellow student makes for a
great opportunity to establish meaningful
connections, to get to know the people
you work with better. You drift slowly from
caring about their plot being watered or
weeded, to caring more about their life and
well-being. We chat about recipes and foods
that we’ve never heard about before as we
learn about each other’s cultures. I think
the students have benefitted by gaining the
valuable life experience of growing their own
food, but also by finding a place to unwind,
in the midst of the tumultuous waters of
grad school.”
Participants in the community garden can
use or share the produce as they wish at the
end of the season. “We are considering a get
together after harvest, to share foods from
the garden,” says Ana-Maria.
Talking SENSe | Spring and Summer Term 2015 2
IN THIS ISSUE
1 - SENS Community Garden
2 - Executive Director’s Message
3 - SENS Photo Contest 2015
4 - SENS Profiles
5 - Toddi Steelman Named MVA Board
Chair
6 - Undergraduate Certificate Receives
RCE Award
7 - Spring Convocation 2015
7 - Founding Faculty Member Retires
8 - Faculty Members Receive Tenure
8 - Teaching at the Nelson Mandela
African Institution for Science and
Technology
10 - Water Worlds: SENS PhD Student
Publishes in Nature
10 - Upcoming Events
Executive Director’s Message
Universities and their roles and missions
are increasingly in the news. The time for
universities functioning solely as ivory towers
of thought removed from social responsibility
has passed. This raises some interesting
questions about how we in SENS serve the
broader good and why we are motivated to
do so.
How does SENS create value from the local to
the global? What role are we playing to create
science, and other types of knowledge, in the
service of society?
The short answer is that we are an asset for
economic development, a force for social
equity and sustainability, and a trusted
partner for communities, industry and nonprofit organizations. Most recently, this is
evident in the work of the Global Institute of
Water Security and Jeff McDonnell’s MOST
(Mine Overlay Site Testing) facility and how
it will assist our understanding to improve
mining reclamation. Helen Baulch has also
undertaken research on detecting water
quality problems at Buffalo Pound Lake
which provides drinking water to the City of
Regina. Markus Hecker and his colleagues
in the Toxicology Centre are pioneering
new ways to detect harmful environmental
toxins that minimize testing on animals while
improving accuracy of results. Maureen Reed
is catalyzing work in Biosphere Reserves and
Model Forests to demonstrate them as real
models of economic, social and ecological
sustainability in action.
Our students are also engaged in this kind of
research. Recent MES graduate Nils Lokken
just completed his work on “Attitudes, Trust,
and Wildlife Co-management in Igluligaarjuk,
Qamani’tuaq, and Tikirarjuaq, Nunavut,
Canada” which documented Inuit trust in the
wildlife co-management system in an effort
to increase understanding of Inuit goals
in wildlife management. Raea Gooding,
another MES student, completed her work
on denitrification in small reservoirs which
contributed to developing innovative
solutions to nutrient pollution in prairie
landscapes. MSEM student Leonid Akhov
has been working with City of Saskatoon
to prohibit “cosmetic” use of herbicides
within the city limits while recommending
alternative methods of pest control.
This work is hard. It is satisfying. It is not for
everyone, but it matters. In SENS we have
intentionally focused on a problem-oriented
mission. We are affecting real people’s
lives in many ways. We serve Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, Canada and the world. How
does your work make a difference?
Toddi Steelman, PhD
Executive Director
School of Environment and Sustainability
University of Saskatchewan
Kirk Hall, Room 323
117 Science Place
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5C8
Executive Director
Toddi Steelman, PhD
Newsletter
Sharla Daviduik, MRM
Administrative Officer
Meagan Hinther, BSc
Communications Specialist
Please submit comments to
sens.info@usask.ca
MSEM students will be headed to the Redberry Lake Biosphere
Reserve in September for the ENVS 806 field course. Mohammed Al-Mahdawe and Leonid Akhov, shown here, completed
the course last year. Photo courtesy Vladimir Kricsfalusy.
3 Talking SENSe | Spring and Summer Term 2015
“Earth’s Vein” Wins SENS Photo Contest
The 2015 edition of the SENS photo contest didn’t disappoint. Forty-four photographs, taken by students and alumni, were entered in four
categories: Natural Environment, Urban Environment, Research and Student Life, and Sustainable Community.
Over fifty votes were cast, and Ana-Maria Bogdan’s photograph, “Earth’s Vein,” shown above, won the Natural Environment category, and was
the overall contest favourite. Ana-Maria’s caption for the photo read, “On my way to Cartier Lake, I got the chance to witness this relentless
meandering transport of life-giving sediment.”
Ana-Maria also won the Urban Environment category with “Reconstructing the Gardens of Babylon,” a photo of her indoor garden. Ranjan Datta
won the Sustainable Community and Research and Student Life categories, with two of his photographs from the Laitu Khyeng Indigenous
Community in Bangladesh, where he conducted research for his PhD dissertation.
SENS thanks the students and alumni who entered the contest. We never fail to be amazed by your wonderful photographs!
The 2015 SENS Photo Contest Winners. Above:
“Earth’s Vein” and, to the right, “Reconstructing
the Gardens of Babylon” by Ana-Maria Bogdan, along with Ranjan Datta’s photographs
of the Laitu Khyeng Indigenous Community in
Bangladesh.
Talking SENSe | Spring and Summer Term 2015 4
Student Profile: Emily Cavaliere, PhD Program
Research Interests:
I’m interested in the biogeochemistry of
changing aquatic ecosystems. I’m currently
studying nutrient dynamics of ice-covered
lentic ecosystems (that is, lakes, ponds, and
reservoirs).
Place of Birth:
Salem, Oregon, USA
Most Significant Achievement:
My most significant achievement was to
continue my education past high school. I’m
the first one in my immediate family to earn a
Bachelor’s degree. And now I have a Master’s
and I’m working on my PhD.
What impact do you hope your research
will have?
I hope that my research will show that the
little we know about ice-covered lakes needs
to be improved to mitigate the effects of
climate change, particularly for the systems
used by native species and for our own drinking water.
How do you define sustainability?
I define sustainability as the desire to preserve
natural resources for the future.
Favourite Music:
Ambient electronica.
Emily had an unexpected visitor during her
field work at St. Denis. Photo courtesy Jay
Bauer.
Influences:
My grandmother is my greatest influence.
She told me that I had the capacity to go to
graduate school and that it was okay to be
passionate about science.
Faculty Profile: Markus Hecker
Research Interests:
Alternatives to animal testing; aquatic ecology;
chemical safety; ecotoxicology; environmental
risk assessment; fish biology
Place of Birth:
Neuss, Germany
Most Significant Achievement:
Development of alternative in vitro biotests
(e.g. the H295R Steroidogenesis Assay that was
recently adopted by the US-EPA and OECD)
that replace live animal tests in current chemical testing programs, and which significantly
reduce numbers of animals used in these
programs.
Favourite Music:
Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd.
Influences:
Jacques Cousteau.
What impact do you hope your research will
have?
I hope that my research 1) will help to better
understand the potential impacts environmental contaminants have on wildlife and people,
and 2) that it will provide solutions for the
protection of ecosystems and human health.
How do you define sustainability?
I do not believe that the term “sustainability”
should be used on its own, as it seems to imply
“sustaining” or “continuing” things in the state
they are in. I prefer the term “sustainable development,” which I would define in a similar way
to the Brundtland Commission: “Sustainable
development is when our actions of today will
not compromise the needs of future generations and those of the ecosystem surrounding
us (meaning earth).”
Associate Professor Markus Hecker is
Canada Research Chair in Predictive
Aquatic Ecotoxicology and SENS Graduate
Chair
5 Talking SENSe | Spring and Summer Term 2015
Alumni Profile: Tobi Jeans Maracle,
Class of 2012
“Balance” is an important tenet for Tobi Jeans
Maracle. A member of the Anishnawbe (Thunderbird Clan) from Matachewan First Nation in
northern Ontario, Tobi spent her youth at the
reserve and also in southern Ontario’s cities.
“The comparison between urban Ontario and
a remote northern reserve led to questions for
me,” she says. “How can we sustain both lifestyles
and not put stress on the resources that make
them both possible? It became apparent to me
that one man’s backyard was another’s barren
wilderness.” Upon deeper reflection, she realized that some values inherent in an indigenous
worldview conflicted with some of those found
in a western worldview. “I felt that these values
needed to find some level ground.”
When she came to SENS, balance again came into
play. “Mentorship is pivotal while away from your
First Nations community,” Tobi says. “Dr. David
Natcher played this role for me.” Dr. Natcher,
professor in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources and SENS associate, recruited Tobi for
her MES degree. “My grandmother did not live
to see me graduate with my Master’s degree, but,
before she died, she reminded me that education
is key. In order to bridge the gap between the
indigenous and western worlds, we need to be
educated in western schools alongside traditional knowledge. Dr. Natcher saw this as well, and
the potential for First Nations people, like me, to
write the story for native communities.”
The MES degree she earned at SENS allowed Tobi
to continue her studies. She is currently a PhD
student in natural resources and sustainability
at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She is a
Tobi with her husband, Brian Maracle, in Denali
National Park, with Mount McKinley in the
background.
fellow in the Resiliency and Adapation Program
there, and is adjunct professor in the University of
Alaska’s Tribal Management program, where she
works mostly with rural native students. When
she has time, Tobi works for Alaska native tribes
and tribal consortiums in resource development
and environmental policy. Her continued work
to bring together an indigenous worldview with
that of the western academy has provided some
profound insights.
“One constant in life is change,” she says. “Recently, I was visiting a remote First Nations reserve
and I saw what I see too often: the uninvited
effects of environmental and social change. The
Aboriginal youth there characterized their lives
as hopeless. Although their leadership is fighting
hard for them, it seemed to me that the change
from ‘hopeless’ to ‘hopeful’ could not come
fast enough. Most Aboriginal scholars start in
humble beginnings, often marginalized and impoverished, but we must find room to innovate.
Exposure to a wider group of successful, likeminded individuals and communities will provide
the motivation and mentorship we need to begin
seeing change come more quickly.”
Tobi has two recommendations for First Nations
graduate students: first, consider interdisciplinary departments outside of your comfort zone,
and second, find a mentor. “I believe the opportunity to be a part of SENS played an integral part
of my continued development as a First Nations
person. This opportunity was only made possible
with the support, mentorship and patience of Dr.
Natcher and SENS. Throughout my studies, Dr.
Natcher and SENS consistently made room for
my First Nation’s traditions. I believe this makes it
possible for me and other First Nations students
to succeed. Choosing an interdisciplinary department made all the difference in opening my mind
to new ideas, and to opening new doors for me
after graduation.”
Tobi is a pragmatist when it comes to predicting
the future where sustainability is concerned. “I
don’t know what it holds,” she says. “All we can
do to prepare for the future is to diversify what
we know and open our minds to the idea that
change is constant. Once we accept that change
is constant, and therefore the answer is always
changing, we will adapt and move more fluidly
into the future with confidence. Accepting that
we don’t have the answers takes ego out of the
equation. Then all we are left with is the capacity
to come up with solutions.”
TODDI STEELMAN
APPOINTED CHAIR
OF MEEWASIN
VALLEY AUTHORITY
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
SENS Executive Director and Professor Toddi Steelman took on a new
role in April: Chair of the Meewasin
Authority Board of Directors. Dr.
Steelman was originally appointed
to the Board, which includes representatives from the Government
of Saskatchewan, the University
of Saskatchewan, and the City of
Saskatoon, in July 2014.
Toddi Steelman is the ninth
chair of the Meewasin Valley
Authority Board.
“I’m honoured with this appointment and look forward to working
as board chair with the diverse
groups that care deeply about
Meewasin and its importance as
the heart and beauty of our city,”
said Dr. Steelman.
Talking SENSe | Spring and Summer Term 2015 6
RCE Award: SENS Undergraduate Certificate Recognized
The Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development in Saskatchewan held its annual recognition awards at the University of Saskatchewan in May. RCE
Saskatchewan is one of a network of such centres, all part of
a United Nations University initiative to advance the United
Nations Decade for Sustainable Development, which ran from
2005 to 2014 (see http://www.saskrce.ca/system/files/files/
RCE_FAQ_Backgrounder.pdf for more information). The recognition awards honour initiatives which make contributions
to formal or non-formal education for sustainable development (ESD), and build capacity within the community and the
province for ESD.
The SENS Undergraduate Certificate was one of several
projects recognized at the event. The certificate was created
so undergraduate students would have access to integrated
sustainability programming at the University of Saskatchewan, an offering which had not been previously available.
The certificate focuses on sustainability from local to global
contexts, and gives students the opportunity to focus on
either sustainability and natural resources, or on sustainability
and community. The introductory course for the certificate,
ENVS 201: Foundations of Sustainability, introduces students
to the sustainability concept and different interpretations of
sustainability, while focusing on how to integrate knowledge
and perspectives from both the social and natural sciences.
ENVS 401: Sustainability in Action is the certificate capstone
course. Students work on interdisciplinary, collaborative projects to address sustainability challenges on campus. Projects
have addressed issues such as green roofs, renewable energy,
greening the U of S endowment, composting, and landscape
management.
instructors in ENVS 401. “ We taught them [core sustainability
concepts], guided them and expected them to take dramatic
action with their projects.” This aligns directly with the RCE
Saskatchewan themes of building sustainable communities
and promoting cultural adaptation for sustainability.
U of S Interim Provost Ernie Barber and SENS Executive Director Toddi
Steelman at the RCE Recognition Awards
“I think about sustainability not as an environmental matter
but a cultural and behavioural matter,” says Phil Loring,
assistant professor in SENS, who also instructs ENVS 401.
Clearly, RCE Saskatchewan is in agreement.
Considering the certificate was launched in fall 2014, SENS
is very pleased that it has already been recognized with
an RCE award. “Our students set out to take actions,” says
Colin Laroque, professor in Soil Science and SENS, one of the
From left:
Saskatchewan Lieutenant
Governor Vaughn Solomon
Schofield; ENVS 201
instructor Felicitas Egunyu;
ENVS 401 instructors Colin
Laroque and Phil Loring;
SENS Executive Director
Toddi Steelman; and, RCE
Saskatchewan Co-coordinator Lyle Benko at the RCE
Saskatchewan Recognition
Awards
7 Talking SENSe | Spring and Summer Term 2015
Spring Convocation 2015:
SENS Reaches the 100 Alumni Mark
Spring Convocation 2015 marked many
milestones. Not only were six Master of Environment and Sustainability and four Master
of Sustainable Environmental Management
degrees conferred, the first five students to
complete the Certificate of Proficiency in Sustainability received their parchments. SENS
Astri Buchanan, MES – The Influence of
Gender on the Adaptive Capacity of Swedish
Reindeer Herding Communities. Supervisor:
Maureen Reed
Noel Galuschik, MES – Phosphorus
Cycling and Water Quality in an Agricultural
MEMBER OF SENS
FOUNDING FACULTY
RETIRES
Charles Maulé, Professor in the Department of Civil and Geological Engineering and SENS, retired in June. Dr. Maulé
was one of the first faculty appointed
to SENS, when the School’s faculty
was formed in 2008. Prior to that, he
served as a member of the School’s
Advisory Committee, and played a key
role in the initial development of the
curriculum for the three SENS graduate
programs.
Dr. Maulé taught ENVS 831: Current
Issues in Land Reclamation and Remediation, and advised seven students in
the MSEM program. He served as Chair
of the SENS Academic Programs Committee several times, and, as a senior
member of the faculty, was often called
upon to serve as Acting Director in the
Executive Director’s absence.
also has an extra reason to celebrate this year
-- the School now has more than 100 alumni!
The Spring 2015 class brings the total number
of graduates to 104.
The School congratulates its latest grads:
Richard Baah, MSEM - A Mechanism for
Benchmarking the Sustainability of the
University of Saskatchewan Agricultural
Practices and Operations. Advisor: Ken
Belcher
Davida Bentham, MSEM – Environmental
Sustainability Policy and Practice in Aboriginal
Education Settings in Canada. Advisor: Marcia
McKenzie
Kelly Richardson, MSEM – Biodiversity
Conservation: Recommendations for the City
of Saskatoon. Advisor: Bob Patrick
Katie Suek, MSEM – Aboriginal Youth and
Urban Food Production. Advisor: Rachel
Engler-Stringer
Rosa Brannen, MES – Controls on
Connectivity and Streamflow Generation in
a Canadian Prairie Landscape. Supervisors:
Chris Spence and Andrew Ireson
Watershed. Supervisor: Helen Baulch
SENS has benefitted tremendously
from Dr. Maulé’s contributions, and we
all wish him well in his retirement.
Raea Gooding, MES – Denitrification in Small
Reservoirs: Understanding Nitrogen Removal
Across an Agricultural Watershed. Supervisor:
Helen Baulch
Matthew Harmin, MES – Epistemological
Stretching and Transformative Sustainability:
An Intuitive Inquiry. Supervisor: MJ Barrett
Nils Lokken, MES – Attitudes, Trust, and
Wildlife Co-management in Igluligaarjuk,
Qamani’tuaq, and Tikirarjuaq, Nunavut,
Canada. Supervisor: Douglas Clark
Janell Rempel, MES – Costs, Benefits, and
Barriers to the Adoption and Retention of
Shelterbelts in Prairie Agriculture as Identified
by Saskatchewan Producers. Supervisor:
Suren Kulshreshtha
Certificate of Proficiency in Sustainability:
Leah Jordon
Peter Olsen
Janessa Paetkau
Laura Soucy
Amie Vowles
Executive Director Toddi Steelman presented Dr.
Maulé with a certificate of appreciation at his
retirement party.
Talking SENSe | Spring and Summer Term 2015 8
SENS FACULTY RECEIVE
TENURE
Few decisions can impact a faculty
member’s career in the way that the
tenure decision does. A faculty member’s tenure case file takes more than
six months to work its way through the
levels of School and University committees, and approval must be received at
each one for tenure to be granted. To
receive tenure, faculty must meet the
standards set by the University in the
categories of academic credentials;
teaching and supervision; knowledge
of the discipline; research, scholarly,
and artistic work; administration; and,
public service and service to professional bodies.
Two SENS faculty, Douglas Clark and
Christy Morrissey, have met these
standards, and were granted tenure on
July 1, 2015. SENS is very pleased to
recognize this milestone achievement.
Congratulations, Doug and Christy!
That One Time We Taught at the
Nelson Mandela African Institution for
Science and Technology (NMAIST)
After three months of proposal preparation
and waiting a month for award notification,
on December 16, 2014, an announcement
arrived in our inboxes that we—Ayodele
Olagunju and Jania Chilima—had received
the 2014 Academic Without Borders (AWB)
Grant, in the amount of $10,000! One grant
is given annually by AWB, a Montrealbased non-government organization, for a
capacity development project at a higher
institution of learning in a low- to mediumincome developing nation. This was exciting
news—the grant is highly competitive,
open only to academic professionals and
researchers at Canadian institutions. It also
meant that the hard work of delivering on
our proposal was to begin!
We proposed to design and deliver an
Environmental Governance and Decision
Making course at the Nelson Mandela
African Institution of Science and Technology (NMAIST) in Arusha, Tanzania. The grant
required us to find a partner at the host
institution. We were fortunate to partner
with Dr. Hans Komakech, Lecturer in the
School of Materials, Energy, Water and Environmental Sciences (MEWES). Dr. Komakech’s
background is in water engineering and
policy, and environmental management. He
is an alumnus of the UNESCO-IHE Institute for
Water Education in the Netherlands and has
a vast understanding of environmental issues
in East Africa, especially from a governance
perspective. His expertise was very helpful,
especially at the curriculum development and
delivery stages of the course.
We arrived in Arusha the night of April 27; the
temperature was 18°C, near the lowest experienced in most tropical areas. Considering that
it was snowing when we left Saskatoon on
April 25, this was a treat! Arusha is heralded as
‘the Geneva of Africa,’ given its many diplomatic agencies. This, however, understates
its natural beauty, including Mount Meru, a
view of Mount Kilimanjaro, Arusha National
Park, numerous lakes and springs, and, the
lush greenery of the tropical trees. It’s truly
nature’s paradise.
Christy Morrissey and Doug Clark
received tenure on July 1, 2015.
The next morning, Dr. Komakech met us for
our formal introduction (this was the first time
we met in person) and to review the plan for
Ayodele and Jania at the main entrance to campus.
the next three weeks. The next day we visited
NMAIST to meet staff and faculty in our home
department, the School of MEWES, and to
select a classroom. NMAIST is impressively
modern, with technologically advanced lecture theatres, facilitation rooms, classrooms,
and laboratories. We selected the classroom
where we would spend 9 am-3:30 pm daily
for the next three weeks, and were ready for
our first class on Monday May 4.
The class had 26 participants—10 NMAIST
graduate students, and 16 others, including industry and municipal government
representatives, and graduate students and
lecturers from other universities. Participants
came from different environmental subdisciplines, such as: biotechnology/material science, natural resource management,
land use planning, wildlife management,
sustainable agriculture, geography, tourism
management, community planning, forestry,
and environmental education. This rich class
composition helped to ensure that issues and
class materials were approached from a truly
interdisciplinary perspective, informed by
many knowledge types and experiences.
Participants were highly informed and
9 Talking SENSe | Spring and Summer Term 2015
learning were
respected.
Participants in a small group discussion.
focused and were always ready to learn and
challenge current discourses. We felt like
new learners, exposed to diverse and rich
understandings of environmental issues
that are contextually different from what we
experience in Canada.
The course had four modules, reflecting
our backgrounds and the expertise we had
gained at SENS. However, the emphasis was
on issues and practice in developing nations,
especially Tanzania. The modules were Environmental Governance; Environmental Impact Assessment; Human and Ecological Risk
Assessment; and, Professional Practice and
Ethics for Environmental Professionals. Two
cross-cutting themes, Environmental Decision
Making and Conflict Management in Resource
Communities, were taught separately to connect the modules, putting further emphasis
on contextual realities of the developing
world, specifically livelihood sustainability,
human-wildlife interaction and management, and community governance of natural
resources. The course used a compressed
format and a facilitation style of teaching, to
ensure adult learning pedagogies and mutual
Visiting Mr. Kitomali’s farm.
We wanted participants to gain
further practical
skills through
interactive
learning: classes
had break-out
sessions, world
café discussion
groups, gallery
walk presentations, and group
presentations.
We invited
experts with
field experience
and good understanding of the Tanzanian
social and regulatory context to give lectures.
Mr. Edward Lekaita, a resource management
lawyer with the Ujamaa Community Resource
Team, works with marginalized pastoralists
and nomadic communities in northern Tanzania, to ensure their ways of life are preserved
and that they have secure and recognized
land rights. Mr. Lehada Shila, country director
for the Tanzania Domestic Biogas Program at
the Centre for Agricultural Mechanization and
Rural Technology (CAMARTEC), spoke about
how innovative, small-scale biogas facilities,
designed and pioneered by CAMARTEC for
small holder farmers, are transforming energy
production and use in Tanzania. Dr. Jasper
Ijumba, professor from NMAIST, legal expert,
and biologist, presented the legal framework
of Tanzanian environmental impact assessment. We organized a field visit to an integrated biogas application site at Mr. Kitomali’s
farm, a few miles from campus. The field trip
was a highlight for many, including us, as
we had a team of CAMARTEC staff and other
biogas researchers join us to learn about the
benefits of biogas use, such as application of
bio-slurry in
farming and
aquaculture;
how such
operations
can minimize
GHGs, especially methane
in the atmosphere; and, its
increased importance in the
supply chain of
organic foods
for European
markets.
The main course ended on May 22 with presentations from student groups. The class had
been divided into four teams to undertake different projects—two on EIA, and one each on
ecological risk assessment and human health
risk assessment. The larger campus community was invited to participate, which proved
to be very educational and helped to assess
the width and depth of knowledge acquired
by participants. The presentations helped to
reinforce taught materials, to clarify misconceptions, and to provide additional insights.
We were excited to see the level of confidence
and knowledge displayed by the participants.
They were awarded certificates of completion
by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Burton LM
Mwamila, who was accompanied by the Dean
of the School of MEWES, Professor Karoli N.
Njau, and other MEWES faculty.
The experience gained from teaching abroad
was invaluable. It was a mutual learning experience that will always remind us of how environmental scholars and practitioners work
together to make our world a better place.
The “take home” messages from our time at
NMAIST are: issues surrounding livelihood
sustainability are very different in developing
versus developed countries; genuine knowledge sharing on key issues such as environmental governance needs collaborative
efforts that bring academics and practitioners
together; and, developing countries coping
with rapid changes in technology, especially
in the energy sectors and environmental management, have considerable knowledge to
share. Solutions derived locally have contextual sensitivity and are ‘fit-for-purpose.’ Doing
research to increase capacity for ‘fit-for-purpose’ innovations can be more effective than
transferring solutions from elsewhere. As PhD
candidates in environment and sustainability,
we believe that experiences such as designing and teaching a course in a foreign country
is definitely one of the best ways to have a
richer understanding and a more holistic
picture of global environmental issues.
We are very grateful for the support and
encouragement we received from Dr. Toddi
Steelman, Dr. Maureen Reed, and the entire
SENS staff. Our appreciation also goes to Dr.
Lawrence Martz, Vice Dean (Social Sciences),
College of Arts and Science, for his assistance
with preliminary logistics. Last, we are grateful
to our supervisors, Drs. Jill Gunn and Lalita
Bharadwaj, for the mentoring provided.
By: Jania Chilima and Ayodele Olagunju, SENS
PhD Candidates
Talking SENSe | Spring and Summer Term 2015 10
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 3 - First day of classes
September 4 - 1:30 pm - ENVS 990
begins, Room 144 Kirk Hall. Ice cream
social to follow.
September 7 - Labour Day, University
closed
Water Worlds: PhD Student’s Paper
in Nature Challenges the Status Quo
Although only in his second year as a SENS
PhD student, Jaivime Evaristo is making a
splash in the world of water research.
Evaristo is the lead author on a paper published in the September 3rd issue of Nature
that sheds new light on how water moves
through soil to nourish plants, recharge water
stocks and discharge in streams.
“The prevailing view in the field assumes that
beneath the soil surface lies one huge tank
where all water ‘meets, greets, and mixes’,”
said Evaristo. In fact, his research shows that
around the world, water is compartmentalized, with plants using soil water that does
not contribute to groundwater recharge or
stream flow.
Evaristo’s research followed that of his supervisor and co-author Jeffery McDonnell, SENS
professor and associate director of the Global
Institute for Water Security. In a paper published in 2010, McDonnell and colleagues first
challenged the single-mixing-tank model,
tracking for the first time the isotope composition of mobile and immobile water at the
watershed scale.
Professor Jeff McDonnell and PhD
student Jaivime Evaristo.
“Jaivime’s PhD findings have the potential to
change how we view the hydrological cycle
– from what we teach in grade 10 science to
academic research in related ecosystem and
soil biogeochemical studies. It’s a huge finding,” said McDonnell. “I’m very impressed with
the quality of Jaivime’s work on challenging
current theories. It speaks to the caliber of water research undertaken at the U of S and the
quality of the SENS graduate program.”
One unique aspect of Evaristo’s work was using the scientific equivalent of crowd sourcing to collect data from 47 study sites around
the world and using that data to calculate the
extent of ecohydrological separation between
plant water and groundwater.
“My mission is to show myself that what we
have found in field studies at Jeff ’s sites in
Oregon and Mexico and my MSc research site
in Puerto Rico is something that is ubiquitous
in nature,” said Evaristo, freshly back from six
months studying these processes under controlled conditions at the Biopshere-2 facility
near Tucson, Arizona.
Both Evaristo and McDonnell hope that their
findings will inform new tool development
that will more accurately predict water quantity and quality in diverse environments and
how different parts of the world will respond
to climate change and land-use change.