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Friday, October 27, 2023

V2V Thematic Webinar in October:

This talk traces the implications of fisheries policy-making and management decisions on research and monitoring practices with a view to offering insights on the potential strengths and limitations of the evidence base for fisheries management. It then “turns the telescope around” so to speak and considers how data collected as part of fisheries monitoring programs typically contributes to decision-making in practice and the extent to which most fisheries management decisions are data-driven, evidence-based and transparent in nature. The talk draws from the Canadian experience but seeks to offer perspectives on fisheries management structures and practices more generally.


Title of the Webinar: Connecting data to Fisheries Decision-Making and Policy: Observations from A Practitioner in the field
Date: Oct 27, 2023 (Friday)
Time: 12:00 PM UTC to 1:15 PM UTC (8:00 AM EDT to 9:15 AM EDT - 1:00 PM WAT to 2:15 PM WAT - Convert to your local time here)
Speaker: 
Trevor M. Swerdfager| Practitioner-In-Residence, School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability & Fellow, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo


YouTube link (watch this webinar live and participate in its Q&A session)

Friday, September 29, 2023

V2V Thematic Webinar

This talk focuses on the initiatives of ICAR - Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute of India to address the multi-dimensional pressures on inland fisheries and ways in which sustainability can be achieved by responding to vulnerabilities and transitioning towards viability.


Title of the Webinar: Challenges and Opportunities in the sustainability of Inland open water fisheries in India
Date: Sep 29, 2023 (Friday)
Time: 12:00 PM UTC to 1:15 PM UTC (8:00 AM EDT to 9:15 AM EDT - 1:00 PM WAT to 2:15 PM WAT - Convert to your local time here)
Speaker: 
Dr. Pranaya Kumar Parida Scientist, ICAR- CIFRI and Fisheries Resource Assessment Specialist, CRFM, SVG


YouTube link (watch this webinar live and participate in its Q&A session)

Researchers from the University of Waterloo, including Alex Cimprich, a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, have completed the first-ever assessment of a Canadian hospital to reveal its total environmental footprint and specific carbon emission hotspots.

The study, Environmental footprinting of hospitals: Organizational life cycle assessment of a Canadian hospital, appears in the Journal of Industrial Ecology.

Posted by Media Relations - click for the full story

SEED is hosting the viewing of “The Gig is Up” film which is presented through the Planet in Focus International Film Festival, Cross Canada Campus Tour on Thursdays, September 28th at 7:00pm in EV3-1408.

THE GIG IS UP uncovers the real costs of the platform economy through the lives of workers from around the world for companies including Uber, Amazon and Deliveroo. From delivering food and driving ride shares to tagging images for AI, millions of people around the world are finding work task by task online. The gig economy is worth over 5 trillion USD globally and growing. And yet the stories of the workers behind this tech revolution have gone largely neglected. Who are the people in this shadow workforce? THE GIG IS UP brings their stories into the light.

Please RSVP for the event if you can join us! Light snacks will be provided.

As a first-year Environment and Business student, I wanted to live on campus and meet other people. I chose United College, formerly St. Paul’s, because of the proximity of the residence to my classes, the tight-knit environment, and the Faculty of Environment Living Learning Community (ENV LLC).

As a member of the ENV LLC, we were given a peer mentor to help us through any first-year problems, share tips, support us, and more. We also had special events like a plant social, essay writing workshops, resume building, and information on upper-year housing, among others. I was able to meet other students in the Faculty of Environment. More information on the ENV LLC can be found on United’s website at Living Learning Communities at United | United College.

The majority of the students on my floor were from the Faculty of Environment, but some were from other faculties. It was nice to meet lots of different people and further my social circle. I enjoyed being able to learn more about other programs and see different points of views. It was also always interesting to see the difference between the ideas generated from someone from the Faculty of Environment versus someone from the Faculty of Math or Science.

We were also given a “Don”, which is an upper year student that lives on the same floor and is your mentor, plans events, and checks-in with you. Our Don planned a movie night, a game of manhunt, trips to a Thanksgiving farm, and more. These fit in perfectly with the other events already planned by United or faculty exclusive events like ones for the ENV LLC. They had more movie nights with free snacks, a band, fireside chats, swimming at the PAC, and so many others.

Amidst the global pandemic, United, ENV LLC, and the upper-years who ran events, worked really hard to make sure we had a wonderful first year. They were even able to have a modified Welcome Week with a scavenger hunt and other activities to encourage you to bond with your floor mates. WUSA (Waterloo University Student Association) also hosted events for first-years such as a silent disco, chopstick handling competition, free ice cream, and more.

As luck would have it I was placed in a double room with an ensuite washroom. United offers a single room, a single room with an ensuite, a double room, and the version I was placed in. I was considering both types of double rooms because I wanted to have a roommate. The regular double room came with a layout that has the beds on one side, a dividing wall with storage, and then the desks on the other. I found it really interesting but ultimately I chose having a semi-private bathroom instead. More details can be found at Live at United | United College.

United College was a great start to my career at the University of Waterloo. I made many lasting relationships and this set the stage for my continuing time at university.

Submitted by Alison Zangrilli, 3A Environment and Business

Alexander Cimprich, Steven B. Young.  July 2023.  Environmental footprinting of hospitals: Organizational life cycle assessment of a Canadian hospital.  Journal of Industrial Ecology  

Jonathan Raikes, Daniel Henstra, Jason Thistlethwaite. July 2023.  Public Attitudes Toward Policy Instruments for Flood Risk Management.  Environmental Management

Sadaf Mollaei, Leia M. Minaker, Jennifer K. LynesGoretty M. Dias.  June 2023. Perceptions and determinants of adopting sustainable eating behaviours among university students in Canada: a qualitative study using focus group discussions.  International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 

Francisco Martin del Campo, Simron Singh, Tomer Fishman, Michael Drescher.  June 2023. The Bahamas at risk Material stocks, sea-level rise, and the implications for development.  Journal of Industrial Ecology

Ankesh Siddhantakar, Jair Santillan Saldivar, Thomas Kippes, Steven B. Young.  June 2023.  Helium resource global supply and demand: Geopolitical supply risk analysis.  

Larry Swatuk, David R. Black.  May 2023.  Editors’ introduction: The complexities of worlding international relations: perspectives from the margins.  International Journal Canada s Journal of Global Policy Analysis 

Yi-Shuai Re, SabriBoubaker, Pei-Zhi Liu, Olaf Weber.  May 2023.  How does carbon regulatory policy affect debt financing costs? Empirical evidence from China.  The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance 

Adeboye Oyegunle, Olaf WeberAmr Elalfy.  April 2023.  Carbon Costs and Credit Risk in a Resource-Based Economy: Carbon Cost Impact on the Z-Score of Canadian TSX 260 Companies.  Journal of Management and Sustainability 

Jeffrey Wilson, Céofride Gaudet, Anders Hayden.  April 2023.  Towards Sustainable Wellbeing: Moving beyond GDP in Canada and the World.   

New research shows that U.S. public pension funds would be $21 billion richer had they divested from fossil fuels a decade ago.  

The study, out of the University of Waterloo in partnership with Stand.earth, analyzed the public equity portfolios of six major U.S. public pension funds, which collectively represent approximately 3.4 million people, to determine the effect divesting from their energy holdings would have had. In total, researchers estimate that the pension funds would have seen a return on their investments that was 13 per cent higher on average. 

Another analysis of the same eight U.S. public pension funds included in the report found that the carbon footprint that would have been reduced had they divested 10 years ago is equivalent to the emissions for powering 35 million homes per year. 

Researchers say the report proves that divesting creates additional financial value, lowers exposure to climate risks, and reduced the carbon footprint of portfolios.  

“Influential investors, like these large public pension funds, can bring about positive change on a few fronts,” said Dr. Olaf Weber, professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development at Waterloo. “Energy divestments can create higher returns for the funds, which leads to higher returns for the beneficiaries and reduced exposure to climate risks. Consequently, it leads to safer pensions.” 

The report also explored ways that recent changes in the performance of the energy sector due to major global events—such as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine—would have influenced the funds. During the last three years, the value of the fossil fuel sector went up because of the reduced oil supply from Russia. Hence, divestment has not been that attractive from a financial point of view. However, the report found that even in times of high performance in the fossil fuel sector, divestment does not reduce financial returns in any significant way. 

“If climate chaos like fires and floods weren’t enough, this latest report strengthens the case even further that public pension funds must divest from fossil fuels as part of meeting their fiduciary duties,” said Amy Gray, senior climate finance strategist at Stand.earth. “As the longest-term investors for workers, the last thing pension funds should be doing is gambling with retirement and deferred wages of their members.”  

Future work will include going into more detail regarding the emissions of particular portfolio holdings on a per-holdings basis or analyzing the emissions of specific companies and then excluding those with the highest emissions. 

"This new Waterloo data hits home for me. My mom is a beneficiary of a public pension, and my family is depending on that retirement income for security," said Miguel Alatorre Jr., Fossil Free California.  "It's unconscionable to me that these funds are investing in fossil fuel companies driving climate change, heat waves, wildfires and flooding, all while losing income for workers.” 

 The report, The Impact of Energy Investments on the Financial Value and the Emissions of Pension Funds, was presented at the IEEFA Energy Finance Conference on June 22.  

This article originally appears on Waterloo News

Faculty Teaching Award

Dr. Cameron McCordic is a deeply committed and highly innovative teacher, whose teaching has had a significant positive impact on developing student’s problem-solving skills and critical engagement. The committee was particularly impressed by Dr. McCordic’s innovative approach in tailoring learning experiences in large classes to the individual learning needs of students. His development of teaching materials using new technologies demonstrates a deep commitment to student success that has inspired both his students and his colleagues.

Faculty Research Award

Dr. Simron Singh is a globally recognized expert in socio-ecological metabolism who has pioneered the field of island industrial ecology that analyses and leverages resource-use patterns in island systems as an adaptation strategy to climate change impacts. His work on complex disasters, which broadened the understanding of natural disasters to include disaster response and the social and ecological impacts of these responses, has also been recognized as making path-breaking and original contributions to the political ecology of disasters. The committee noted the deeply humanistic element to Dr. Singh’s research and his research program. His research is driven by a recognition of the need to keep individuals and groups at the centre of his research program with a view to improving the lives of more vulnerable communities and to promoting cross cultural understandings.

Learn more about the Faculty of Environment’s awards

BLUE JUSTICE AND COASTAL LIVELIHOODS TO TRANSITION FROM VULNERABILITY TO VIABILITY

Vulnerability To Viability (V2V) Global Partnership, University of Waterloo, Canada
in collaboration with Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and NIRMAN Odisha

Venue: Satapada on Chilika, India

Date: August 12 - 19,  2023