Indians and Canadians have very different views on the environment. Rashi Khilnani speaks to two experts – Dr. Deep Saini, Dean of the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, and environmental activist Rohit Mehta – to find out what tips these cultures can share with each other.
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Andrew Janes’ most recent co-op term has been a jumble of secrecy and confidentiality.
When first approached for an interview, he agreed. However, soon afterwards he said he couldn’t release any information. His emails sounded 007-esque, with lines like, “until it is released there is not much I can mention” and “the information I could provide at the moment wouldn’t be enough.”
With all the secrecy, you might think he was working for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) on a top-secret plot to foil terrorists. Actually, he was studying the spread of the H1N1 virus.
You’ve heard the buzz for months now . . . use hand sanitizer like it’s going out of style. But how do we actually know what’s going on with the H1N1 virus (previously known as “swine flu”)? Janes(right), a 3B geography student, spent his past two co-op terms at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto studying the virus’s spread with a team of experts.
With co-op terms in fall 2008 and spring 2009, he started his second term soon after the outbreak in Mexico was first recognized. His team of physicians, epidemiologists, mathematicians, statisticians, geographers and public health officials accurately predicted how the virus would spread. “With the recent outbreak we’ve been analyzing travel patterns and the spread of H1N1 around the globe,” says Janes. “Our work’s been used to provide information to the province and government during the height of the outbreak.”
As a research assistant/cartographer, he used his Geographic Information System skills learned at Waterloo to map these global travel patterns. “I’m helping in the production of maps and figures for use in reports and journals, and the creation of web maps for display on the biodiaspora.com website.”
The research team began developing a system after the 2003 SARS crisis. The system rapidly evaluates air traffic patterns to accurately predict how diseases and viruses will travel around the world. According to a CTV news article, the team’s H1N1 analysis was conducted less than 24 hours after the virus appeared.
The original secrecy surrounding the project was to prevent information leaking before the report was complete. It has since been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, used by Canadian government health agencies, including the Public Health Agency of Canada, and attracted media attention.
For a geography student, work at St. Michael’s came as a bit of a surprise. “After growing up with a parent in the medical field, I’ve always been surrounded by the health world,” he says, “At first I wasn’t aware of the connections between geography and the medical community, but this co-op position changed the way I look at the use of geography. Most people think geographers will end up teaching, analyzing the physical environment or just making maps, but this position opened my eyes to the variety of uses for GIS and just how diverse geography can be. Geography can be used just about anywhere and using it in medicine is a great way to have a positive influence on the world. I’d like to continue apply my knowledge of cartography and geography within the medical community.”
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Alumni, Geography and Environmental Management, Geomatics, News
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Dr. Deep Saini, Dean of Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, was honored with a Guest Professorship by Professor Rong Zhang, the Vice President of Nanjing University on the afternoon of September 22, 2009. Dr. Jun Bi, Dean of School of Environment, Dr, Xinqing Zou, the Associate Dean of International College, Dr. Zhehua Dai, Associate Director, Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges from Nanjing University were present at the award ceremony. Dr. David Wood, Director of International Education and Training Programs and the Joint Program Assistant, Ms. Suping Zhao of Faculty of Environment, UW, were also at the ceremony. Read the rest of this entry »
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The Mississippi River is more meandering than mighty these days for a University of Waterloo graduate and his adventure-loving crew who have begun rowing its 4,000 kilometre length in their hand-built York boat.
Their current challenge is to get the 10-metre, flat-bottomed, wooden boat, named Annie, through shallow, narrow waters, past the rocks, logs and sand bars they are meeting at every turn.
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“This is about putting environment in the faculty of environment from my point of view,” Saini told a crowd of about 15 to 20 onlookers. “. . . We were looking for opportunities to take our research and training to somewhere in the real environmental surroundings, and look around: you couldn’t ask for a better place than this.”
The 30,000 square foot research facility is being funded primarily through a $9-million grant from the federal government’s G8 infrastructure legacy fund and will first be used by summit organizers during next June’s event, then converted into a research facility for the University of Waterloo.
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When it comes down to it, not many people can honestly say they have done their part for the environment. Mark Funk, on the other hand, has certainly contributed to the health of the planet with his work at the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority in Exeter, Ontario.
He gained first-hand experience with tree planting programs, identifying species at risk, preventing agricultural erosion and other restoration projects for rare ecosystems. He also helped with ecological land classification on the property ABCA owns. Read the rest of this entry »
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Dr. David Wood, Director of International Education and Training Programs, Faculty of Environment, as well as the Academic Director of Ontario-Jiangsu Student Exchange Program, University of Waterloo, was honored with a Guest Professorship by Mr. Congcai Xu, the President of Nanjing University of Finance and Economics on the afternoon of June 9, 2009. VP Chengming Xu, Weifen Qiu, Director, Office of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Dean of the School of Business Administration, Lijun Hou were present at the award ceremony.
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Huge project aims to help kids eat healthier
Two University of Waterloo professors are part of a huge, Canada-wide research project to reduce childhood obesity. Rhona Hanning and Len Tsuji [ERS, Faculty of Environment] will survey children in Grades 6 to 10 who live on remote Cree reserves in the Hudson and James Bay areas.
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Alumni, Environment and Resource Studies, News, Research, Uncategorized
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The University of Waterloo’s Centre for Environment and Business and its undergraduate program have scored No. 1 in Corporate Knights magazine’s annual business schools ranking that measures how well universities do in integrating sustainability into the school experience.
Corporate Knights is a Canadian-based publication that positions itself as the “world’s largest circulation magazine with an explicit focus on corporate responsibility.” It’s the second year in a row the Waterloo program has been ranked No. 1 in the country.
“This recognition is a tremendous honour for us,” said Deep Saini, dean of the Faculty of Environment. “Our program represents a shift in traditional thinking — the integration of business and environment. Our graduates and co-op students are helping governments and businesses advance their sustainability and business objectives in very tangible, positive ways.” Read the rest of this entry »
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Benefit Concert for Alternatives Journal with Bob Wiseman
Tuesday, June 16 – Princess Café, 46 King Street North, Waterloo
Bob Wiseman, among other inventive things, is celebrating the 25th anniversary and vinyl relaunch of In Her Dream: Bob Wiseman Sings Wrench Tuttle. It is a worthy environmental chronicle of that time, and pertinent on many levels in the new millennium. Two songs take you through the 1985 bombing of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior, intrigue and decoys all the way. Learn more..
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