News

This afternoon, the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development will celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of our 2023 graduates. Among this group of individuals are five doctoral (PhD) graduands, who have proven their extraordinary level of academic aptitude and become subject-matter experts in areas related to sustainability management. Some of our newest doctoral alumni include:  Dr. Truzaar Dordi; Dr. Sadaf Mollaei; Dr. Sisir Pradhan; and Dr. Francisco Felix Martin del Campo.

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

The School of Environment, Enterprise and Development is delighted to introduce Professor Rosella Carè, who joined SEED on May 1st as Assistant Professor and the holder of the RBC Professorship in Sustainability and Financial Management.

Professor Carè joins us from the University of Cagliari, where she was Assistant Professor of Banking and Finance. She received a Ph.D. in Sciences de Gestion at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers (CNAM) of Paris and a Ph.D. in Healthcare Management and Economics at the University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro (Italy). She currently holds a Marie Curie Research (Global) Fellowship, a prestigious and highly competitive award administered by the European Commission. Dr. Carè was a visiting researcher at the University of Waterloo in 2021/22.

Dr. Carè has served as the Principal Investigator of the research project "COPERNICUS - Social Finance for Social Enterprises: Theory and Practice to build a more inclusive society," which was funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship. Her expertise lies in the areas of social and sustainable finance, alternative finance (fintech), impact investing, sustainable banking, ESG, climate risks, and financial stability. Dr Carè has a strong record of publications, including three books in the sustainable finance area.

We look forward to the contributions Rosella will make to our department and programs, and to through the initiatives and outreach associated with the RBC Professorship in Sustainability and Financial Management.

Based on a recently concluded study Illuminating Hidden Harvests (IHH): the contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development, this webinar uncovers the contributions and impacts of small-scale fisheries through a multidisciplinary approach to data collection and analysis. It aims to contribute to a more holistic understanding of what small-scale fisheries are, their importance, why they are essential for efforts to achieve the SDGs. By using this knowledge wisely within a human rights-based approach in line with the SSF Guidelines, and by empowering small-scale fishers and fishworkers, a more inclusive, equitable, sustainable and resilient small-scale scale fisheries subsector can be achieved, supporting the transition from vulnerability to viability. Click here to view an infographic on this context.

Title of the Webinar: The Transition From Vulnerability to Viability Through Illuminating Hidden Harvests
Date: May 26, 2023 (Friday)
Time: 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM UTC (8:00 AM to 9:15 AM EDT - 2:00 PM to 3:15 PM CEST - Convert to your local time here)
Speaker: Nicole Franz | Equitable Livelihoods Team Leader at FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Fisheries Division
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdr0tNWk_hM (watch this webinar live and participate in its Q&A session)

Click HERE or see the attached poster for more details about this webinar.

Most people try to understand ‘happiness’ from a purely philosophical perspective since it is believed that scientific exactitude has little to do with this construct. While the art of happiness (or the route to happiness) has a rich tradition in Eastern and Western literature, the scientific aspect of it (or the root of happiness) has often been neglected. Besides, the positive emotion of happiness is a far less emphasized area of research, in comparison to research on negative emotions like anxiety or depression.  

Given this backdrop, the present talk will address issues like: (a) challenges in understanding happiness as a construct, (b) observed evidence in scientific domain, and (c) establishing happiness as a transdisciplinary field of study.

Date: Thursday, June 08, 2023 

Time: 
11:00 am - 12:30 pm: Main event (Talk)
12:30 pm -   2:00 pm: Lunch

Location:
Alumni Hall (201), United College, University of Waterloo, 190 Westmount Rd N, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G5

Speaker: Prof. Manas Kumar Mandal | Cognitive neuropsychologist serving as a distinguished professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Chair: Prof. Bruce Frayne | Dean, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo

Free Registration. Seats are limited. Please register here 

Dr. Neil Craik, law professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development and Waterloo Climate Interventions Strategies Lab member, is part of a growing area of research critically assessing the impacts and governance challenges of large-scale climate interventions in the world’s oceans. Recently, he was part of a team of experts assembled by the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative that were tasked with assessing and recommending paths on how to tackle this emerging challenge. Their new paper, Deep-sea impacts of climate interventions, which appears in the journal Science, explores the environmental risks of climate interventions, the current ocean governance challenges and what needs to be done to address them.

Originally posted on Waterloo News

New research finds that Canada’s electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) has more than tripled in the last two decades, the equivalent of filling the CN tower 110 times and generating close to a million tons in 2020 alone. 

The University of Waterloo researchers completed the first comprehensive estimate of e-waste in Canada to understand its lifecycle, from sales of electronic items to e-waste generation. Their findings reveal that the e-waste generation per person has increased from 8.3 kg in 2000 to 25.3 kg in 2020. The e-waste in Canada is expected to continue rising in the near future and underscores the need for proactive forecasts to better manage the evolving electronics sector.

“This study provides useful insights to policymakers for setting up targets for e-waste reduction and recycling to recover valuable resources from e-waste,” said Komal Habib, professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development and Waterloo Industrial Ecology Group. “E-waste could also help to create a secondary supply chain of critical materials, reducing the risks of potential supply disruptions.”

The estimated growth of e-waste is attributed to consumer habits and Canada’s growing population. As the number of households increases, so does consumption. The study found that large household appliances, such as refrigerators and washing machines, dominate the e-waste stream considering mass. However, the less bulky items dominate in quantity; household lighting is the top item, followed by toys and sports equipment, and information technology (IT) and telecommunications equipment, such as cellphones and laptops.

There are pros and cons of the expected increase in e-waste for the recycling industry. When it comes to IT and telecommunication equipment, the industry’s efforts to make lightweight products are leading to the dilution of precious and critical materials per product, creating a challenge for recyclers to recover. However, increasing quantities of this e-waste could lead to potential incentives for the continuous operation of the recycling industries.

“The findings will be beneficial for stakeholders to explore possible material and revenue generation opportunities from e-waste,” said Habib. “For example, it can help electronic manufacturers and recyclers to understand the potential for urban mining, plan for future extractions of critical materials, and identify the need for safe handling of any hazardous materials.”

The study also indicates that more attention should be given to improving repair, refurbishment, and product life extension opportunities rather than focusing solely on recycling and material recovery. In the future, the researchers indicated that assessing consumer behaviour data to create a more accurate and complete picture of e-waste management in Canada is necessary to better inform sustainable management practices.

The study, A first comprehensive estimate of electronic waste in Canada, appears in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.

“Look beyond the beauty of our coastal wetlands, and you’ll find this habitat is hard at work,” starts the short video by Navya Vikraman Nair, PhD candidate in Sustainability Management (Water). Her work has been selected as one of this year’s top 25 Storytelling Challenge finalists; a national competition run by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

The annual contest, now in its 10^th edition, challenges postsecondary students from across the country to show Canadians, in up to three minutes or 300 words, how social sciences and humanities research is affecting our lives, our world and our future for the better. Navya submitted a video about her current research on linkages among water quality, blue carbon ecosystems and coastal fisheries.

"I am beyond thrilled and honored to be selected as a finalist among the Top 25 in 2023 SSHRC Storytellers challenge” she said. “It's an honour to have the opportunity to share my research and its importance with a wider audience, and I am grateful for the chance to inspire others to take action towards a more sustainable future."

The top 25 storytellers were selected from a pool of nearly 200 applicants and represent 14 postsecondary institutions. Each finalist is awarded a cash prize and will compete for a top five spot in this year’s showcase.

Finalists will present their story at the Storytellers Showcase at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences on Monday, May 29, 2023, at 9 a.m. E.T.at York University. The final five winners will be chosen from among the 25 finalists and will be revealed at a Big Thinking event the same day.  

In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bayo Akomolafe begun part-time graduate studies in the School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development (SEED) to advance this passion. With the help of his supervisor, Dr. Amelia Clarke, and the research team in SEED, his return to academic life and transition from a core engineering base into socio-technical studies was seamless. His research narrowed in on deep decarbonization pathways, or strategies, that can propel sustainable development and energy transitions in four leading Sub-Saharan African cities with a combined population of about 30 million.

His case study focused on Accra, Addis Ababa, Lagos or Nairobi, and the progress they are making. For example, in the city of Lagos, Nigeria, they installed solar energy systems in schools, hospitals, and municipal buildings, and all the cities are developing waste-to-energy systems. These strategies will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but will also have an added benefit of improving energy accessibility for their inhabitants.

Despite these successes, his study underscored how social transformations for deep decarbonization require a lot of capital which make it difficult for these cities who are already constrained fiscally. In addition, human and technical capacity gaps remain a challenge for cities adopting widespread sustainable modern energy, stunting their overall development.

“It’s important to address these issues now to support sustainable growth and improve things for future generations,” said Akomolafe. “A benefit of this research is that I have been able to better understand the importance and impact of what I do as an engineering professional in the power sector. I am proud that my career and studies have allowed me to help nations with chronic energy poverty improve their capacity for electricity accessibility.”

As for what’s next, Akomolafe will be receiving his Master of Environmental Studies (MES) in Sustainability Management (SUSM) this spring 2023. This accomplishment will be added to a growing list from these last two years, which include becoming a Canadian citizen alongside his family and a licenced professional Engineer in Canada. In the fall he hopes to begin his PhD in SEED to continue his work helping developing nations transition to sustainable energy.

By Chantel Vallis, Faculty of Environment