Project Investigator: Sarah Flicker. Partner: Native Youth Sexual Health Network (NYSHN).

Funding: CIHR Operating Grant.

Term: 2015-2022.

The research aims to (1) Understand the landscape, feasibility and readiness of communities across Canada to incorporate HIV prevention content into diverse Indigenous gatherings; (2) Build the research and health promotion capacities of 9 Indigenous SHC youth leaders and 3 trainees, as well as other youth in their communities; (3) Evaluate satisfaction and comfort level with SHC among youth participants; (4) Assess the intentions of youth at different Indigenous gatherings to: (a) engage in sexual practices; (b) use drugs and alcohol and (c) adopt harm reduction strategies; (5) Qualitatively understand community perceptions (e.g., youth, elders, adults) of the SHC and doing HIV outreach at Indigenous gatherings; (6) Disseminate a digital and print "wise practice" toolkit on doing culturally-safe peer lead HIV prevention outreach with Indigenous youth at communal gatherings. The project reaches "high risk" youth with information and resources to prevent the further spread of HIV and other STIs. The community partner, NYSHN, has developed a unique peer-lead intervention called the "Sexy Health Carnival" (SHC) that takes a strengths-based approach to promoting Indigenous youth health at pow wows, Métis gatherings and Inuit festivals. Pilot tests demonstrated that it is capable of reaching youth who (based on their sexual and drug histories) may be at significant risk for HIV with an approach that they appreciate.

Co-Investigators: Roger Keil and Patricia Wood; PI: Raktim Mitra (Toronto Metropolitan, formerly Ryerson University)

Funding: SSHRC Partnership Development Grant

Term: 2018-2022

StudentMoveTO is a collaboration that aims to generate insights, debates, and actions to improve transportation experiences of post-secondary students in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), Canada with ten partner colleges and universities, and four partner government and community organizations with a goal of better understanding the answer to the question of #howdoyoumove? Specifically, the project aims to generate conversation between students, scholars, post-secondary institutions, policy makers and communities about the importance of addressing students’ travel needs in planning and policy making; to provide first-of-its kind data and insights on topics identified through a collaborative effort, which can be used to inform public policy and bring change; to create a substantive publicly available resources to enable teaching, collaborative research and policy making for post-secondary institutions, and public and private organizations across Canada; and in the longer term, an opportunity to pursue a province-wide or national collaboration.

Project website: https://www.studentmoveto.ca/

Co-Investigators: Leesa Fawcett and Anna Zalik

Funding: SSHRC Connections Grant.

Term: 2018-2020.

This two-day workshop, titled “Ocean Frontiers: An Interdisciplinary Workshop on the Changing Contours of Marine Space and Resource Access,” brought together a network of interdisciplinary scholars to explore the political-economic and ecological dynamics that shape new resource practices in marine zones. The overall goal was to unite social scientists and ecologists to share their understanding of how contemporary marine resource use is redefining the ocean frontier, as well as how oceans should be conserved and equitably used, and by whom. A series of videos offering overviews of the inquiries conducted by specialists who participated in the Ocean Frontiers Workshop in May 2017 has been released. The video releases complement the passing of a motion in January 2018 by the EU that calls for a moratorium on deep sea mining.

Website: https://euc.yorku.ca/2018/09/27/ocean-frontiers-an-interdisciplinary-workshop-on-the-changing-contours-of-marine-space-and-resource-access/

Principal Investigator: Jinthana Haritaworn.

Funding: Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities.

Term: 2015-2021.

The five-year study explores collective experiences of belonging and displacement among queer and trans Black people, Indigenous people and people of colour (QTBIPOC) who live, work or play in Toronto. Using digital maps, the study sheds light on alternative forms of taking space and making space that are currently emerging in QTBIPOC communities. The project is being designed and conducted collaboratively with three EUC graduate students, Rio Rodriguez, whose MES major portfolio is a QTBIPOC mapping project on the Toronto gay Village and the Zona Colonial in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Syrus Marcus Ware, who is doing a PhD on disability arts; and Alvis Choi, whose MES major portfolio is on queer of colour performance, as well as Ghaida Moussa, who is doing a PhD on disability justice in Social and Political Thought.

Co-Investigators: Patricia Perkins and Peter Victor.

Funding: SSHRC.

Term: 2014-2021.

Human beings have had such a powerful impact on planetary environmental systems since the Industrial Revolution that scientists say Earth has entered a new geologic age: the Anthropocene, the era of humanity and its effects on Earth. York and University of Vermont are collaborating on a six-year $2.5M SSHRC Partnership grant led by Peter Brown of McGill to develop a doctoral curriculum designed to produce leaders who can help lighten humanity's footprint on the planet's fragile ecosystems. The program, called Economics for the Anthropocene (E4A), provides resources for up to 60 graduate students to explore theoretical and practical aspects of ecological economics, drawing on a broad range of disciplines and experiential learning with a strong environmental focus.