Professor Gail Fraser comments on conflict of interest in Canada's offshore oil and gas regulations

Newfoundland and Labrador’s natural resources minister is rejecting calls for the overhaul of the agency that regulates the province’s offshore oil industry, even as the United States moves to distance its regulator from the companies it oversees, wrote The Globe and Mail May 12: Scientists and environmentalists argue that the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum […]

Professor Roger Keil: Cutting Transit City could increase racialized poverty, social dislocation

Economic spinoff arguments for transit can be complex, wrote NOW Magazine April 29 in a story about efforts by Toronto Mayor David Miller to save the Transit City plan: If people use their cars less, for example, they may have more cash to spend on clothes or theatre tickets, but there might be less work […]

Limiting growth will help environment, save jobs, says York prof

Peter Victor, a professor in York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, was featured in the Hamilton Mountain News April 22. His recent book, Managing Without Growth: Slower by Design, Not Disaster, argues economic growth hurts the environment and has not eliminated poverty or provided full employment: “We need a new measure of success,” said Victor, […]

York welcomes Professor Janusz Kozinski, Faculty of Science & Engineering's new dean

York University has appointed Janusz Kozinski as dean of the Faculty of Science & Engineering. Kozinski will begin a five-year term at York on July 1. He has been dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan since 2007, but spent much of his career at McGill University. A widely acknowledged expert […]

South Simcoe Green Economy Transition Centre officially launches; York University among partners

The South Simcoe Green Economy Transition Centre officially launched Mar. 26 in Bond Head, ON. The centre will include up-to-date virtual databases on best practices for reducing energy costs, education and training opportunities through online programs and videoconferencing, and access to government grants. York University announced its involvement, along with partner organizations Nottawasaga Futures and […]

Osgoode professor launches book on imbalances in globalized governance

A Perilous Imbalance: The Globalization of Canadian Law and Governance, a new book co-authored by Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Stepan Wood, shines an urgent light on the dangerous imbalances in contemporary forms of globalized governance. The book will launch Wednesday, April 7, from 12:30 to 2pm in the Private Dining Room of the Executive […]

Researchers collaborating across borders to battle invasive plants in Ontario

Alien invaders are among us. In spring and summer you see them every day. They are everywhere and respect no borders. Fortunately, York biologist Chris Lortie and his colleague José Hierro at Universidad Nacional de La Pampa in Argentina are on the case. With a team of students from around the world, they are looking for […]

How has global warming affected Arctic permafrost?

On Monday, northern researcher Chris Burn comes to York to talk about the impact of climate change on permafrost in Canada’s western Arctic. For almost 30 years, Burn has closely observed changes in the frozen terrain around Mayo, in central Yukon, and in the Mackenzie River Delta. At Mayo, he is examining the "drunken" forest, […]

Passings: Chemistry Professor Michael Pollard showed great promise as a researcher

Michael Pollard, a chemistry professor in the Faculty of Science & Engineering, died suddenly of an aneurysm on Saturday, Feb. 27, in Toronto. He was just 36. Left: Professor Michael M. Pollard In Prof. Pollard's honour, York's flag will be lowered to half-mast at sunrise on Friday, March 5, until sunset on Saturday, March 6. Although he was […]

IRIS wants nominations for volunteers to serve on its executive board

The Institute for Research & Innovation in Sustainability (IRIS) at York University is accepting nominations for volunteers to serve on its executive board. Nominations are open to students, staff and faculty and are due by March 3. IRIS promotes practical sustainability solutions that encompass environmental, social and economic considerations at local, regional and global scales. Operating as a […]