Professor Peter Victor appointed to lead Ontario’s Greenbelt Council

York University Professor Peter A. Victor has been appointed chair of Ontario’s Greenbelt Council, which makes recommendations for the protection of more than 1.8 million acres of agricultural and environmentally sensitive land in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. “Dr. Victor brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and insight to the Greenbelt Council,” said Minister of Municipal […]

PhD student Tanya Gulliver: Can Canada handle a Gulf-style oil disaster?

If a monster iceberg (like those now being formed from the melting of the Greenland ice shield) was to collide with the Hibernia platform, says Michael Klare, a noted American oil expert, author and academic, it could prove to be far more devastating than last year’s BP spill, which dumped almost five million barrels into […]

Professor Timothy Leduc to discuss climate refugees at film screening April 29

Environmental studies Professor Timothy Leduc (MES ’01, PhD ’07) will be part of a panel discussing the environment, following a free screening of the documentary film Climate Refugees. The screening will take place Friday, April 29, from 6:30 to 8pm in Room 2158 JJR MacLeod Auditorium, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King’s College Circle, University of […]

Four researchers to offer fresh ideas at Saturday's York Circle event

From the ‘burbs to birds and from social justice to Olympic poetry, the next installment of the York Circle’s popular Lecture & Lunch series returns on Saturday, April 30. It promises plenty of new ideas for inquiring minds. As with previous York Circle Lecture & Lunch events, organizers have planned a full day of inspiring lectures […]

Professor Rod MacRae co-authors study that finds organic farms are more energy efficient

Organic farms can be more energy efficient than conventional farms that mass produce crops using unsustainable practices, a surprising result from a study co-authored by a York University professor. Researchers analyzed 130 studies to compare the energy use and global warming potential of organic versus conventional farming. They concluded that organic farms were more energy […]

Researchers, presenters to explore how artists can reduce their carbon footprints April 20-22

Artists of all stripes from around the world are reducing their carbon footprint in creative ways. Many prominent ones – including the Cirque de Soleil’s Gil Favreau – are coming to York this month to share how at a conference on sustainability and the arts. Hosted by York’s Faculty of Fine Arts, Staging Sustainability: Arts, […]

Canadian Studies lecture to examine national parks and Canadian identity

Hosted by the Canadian Studies Program and student club in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, the Canada Like You’ve Never Heard it Before Lecture Series explores everything from economics and indigenous issues to Canadian government and poetry. The next instalment of the series will be delivered by Cate Sandilands, a professor in York's […]

Leading researchers discuss BP oil spill and potential for Canadian oil disasters March 9

The risk of a catastrophe on the scale of BP’s offshore Deepwater Horizon disaster happening in Canada poses a real threat to people’s health and the economy. At the Oil: Slick Suits and Sinister Scenarios symposium tomorrow, leading researchers in risk, disaster management, ethics and the environment will provide insights into the murky world of oil and […]

Professor Gail Fraser: Canadian public in dark on effects of oil development off Grand Banks

The Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Canadian governments are reviewing a section of the Atlantic Accords that critics say lets offshore oil and gas operators veto a wide swath of information from being released publicly, including environmental and safety data, wrote Ottawa’s The Hill Times, Feb. 22: Meanwhile, as governments keep talking, operators continue to use the […]

Filmmaker draws inspiration from work of Global Suburbanisms team

A United Way report last week highlighted a problem in Toronto: our city’s poor are increasingly concentrated in crumbling highrise towers, mostly in the inner suburbs, wrote Edward Keenan in EYE Weekly Jan. 20: The report addresses a subject that National Film Board filmmaker-in-residence Katerina Cizek has been studying for two years, while making films on […]