Undergraduate Honours student, Sierra Clark, presented her poster “The burden, determinants, and experience of Acute Gastrointestinal illness (AGI) for Indigenous Batwa-Pygmies in southwestern Uganda” at the McGill Science undergraduate research conference held October 2. Sierra was nominated by the department of Geography to present her research to a panel of judges, fellow researchers, as well as peers. Sierra’s poster comprised of her honours thesis that takes a mixed methods approach (quantitative and qualitative) to understand the burden of infectious AGI for an Indigenous Batwa population in sub-Saharan Africa.Sierra’s poster was also accepted, and presented, at The 5th Biennial Conference of the International Association for Ecology & Health that was held in Montreal August 2014.
GEOG 200: Geographical Perspectives on World Environmental Problems
Jolene Labbé, Joanna Petrasek MacDonald, Michelle Maillet and Anna Bunce from the Climate Change Adaptation Research Group (www.jamesford.ca) presented their research work on IHACC to the undergraduate class GEOG 200: Geographical Perspectives on World Environmental Problems held at McGill University on October 16th 2014.
Dr. James Ford awarded CIHR Applied Public Health Chair
Dr. James Ford recently became one of twelve CIHR Applied Public Health Chairs in Canada. This award supports Dr. Ford's research and the Evaluating Health Adaptation to Climate Change (EvHACC) program. The objectives of the Applied Public Health Chair initiative are to:
- Support high quality and focused programs of policy and program intervention research of national relevance to public health
- Foster formal linkages with the public health system to support the timely and effective application of research into policies, programs and practice.
- Support Canadian universities to develop graduate and continuous education programs in public health
- Stimulate innovative approaches in public health intervention research, mentorship, education and knowledge translation
- Educate and mentor the current and next generation of public health researchers (trainees, post-graduate students and junior faculty), practitioners and policy makers.
To read more about this specific award, please click here.
To read more about the CIHR Applied Public Health Chair initiative, please visit their website.
Project abstract
Climate change has been described as the greatest threat to public health this century, with Indigenous populations identified as 'highly vulnerable'. The global response to the risks posed has been to focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is imperative yet the science shows that we will not be able to avoid climate change, with the World Health Organization estimating that the direct health impacts alone will cost $2-4bn/yr by 2030 globally. For this reason, finding ways to adapt our health systems and behavior to reduce the risks of climate change is imperative, and is reflected in the increasing urgency with which governments at various levels in Canada and internationally are beginning to prioritize adaptation. Yet what can we do to adapt? How can we reduce the risks posed by climate change? What evidence is there on what will work? Unfortunately we have few answers to these questions, particularly for Indigenous populations including Canada's Inuit who are living in a region experiencing the most dramatic climate change anywhere. Indeed, the health community has long neglected climate change as a risk and is only beginning to recognize the magnitude of the problem. Canadian research is at the vanguard of such developments, and Dr Ford's team have spent over a decade working with Indigenous communities examining the risks posed by climate change to health and identifying risk factors. The program of research proposed here will take this to the next step, evaluating specific interventions for reducing the health impacts of climate change for 3 Indigenous populations: Inuit of Canada, Shipibo in the Amazon, and Batwa of Central Africa. The project builds upon ongoing research projects held by Dr Ford from the IDRC & tri-councils, has strong buy-in at multiple levels of health governance, and will work with decision maker partners to systematically and rigorous evaluate and prioritize potential health adaptations.
Marie-Pierre Lardeau presents at the Beringia Center in Whitehorse, Yukon
The IHACC (Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change) project manager, Marie-Pierre Lardeau, presented at the Communicating Climate Change Adaptation lecture series at the Yukon Beringia Centre in Whitehorse on October 2nd 2014. Her presentation Community Based Approaches to Adaptation to Climate Change, Experiences from the Field: Stories from the Arctic discussed community-based adaptation from the research perspective showcasing four case studies in Inuit Arctic communities.
During the fall of 2014, the Beringia Centre, in partnership with the Yukon Arts Centre and the Yukon Development Education Centre, is proud to be presenting a film and lecture series on climate change adaptation. This lecture series is part of a larger Yukon Government project on climate change adaptation issues facing the Yukon, and is funded by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada's Climate Change Adaptation Program.
Watch Marie-Pierre's presentation below, and learn more about this event by visiting their website.
Congratulations to Michelle Maillet on completing her M.A. thesis
Longtime Climate Change Adaptation Research Group lab member and McGill University graduate student, Michelle Maillet, has completed her M.A. thesis titled "Is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change an effective (or appropriate) institution for supporting indigenous peoples’ adaptation to climate change?"
Michelle started working with the CCARG in May 2010 as a research assistant, where her role included editing the book "Climate Change Adaptation in Developed Nations: From Theory to Practice". In September 2011, she started her M.A. as a graduate student at McGill under the supervision of Dr. James Ford. She completed her thesis in the summer of 2014. Michelle also held the position of project manager for the IHACC project from January to September 2013. As a research assistant and graduate student, Michelle went to the 16th, 17th and 18th sessions of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as a representative of McGill University and the CCARG. She developed her research topic and question at these sessions.
Additionally, Michelle has contributed greatly to the geography community at McGill, through her activities on the Geography Graduate Society committees and executive, through her participation in a departmental mentoring program, and as an invaluable member of the CCARG. Since finishing her thesis, Michelle has remained as part of the CCARG as an R.A, and has also taken on a position at McGill University as the Department of Geography's Undergraduate Program Advisor as of June 2014. All of us at the CCARG wish her the very best in this role!