It is commonly quoted that it takes 17 years to move research or evidence into practice (really helpful, right?). Knowledge translation and dissemination have become more popular in recent years to help close this gap and get knowledge to the public sooner, so maybe we are down to a 15-year lag now (just kidding, to […]
In October 2020, a notable lawsuit, against a Canadian-based mining company, was settled. While this settlement will bring closure on terms that are acceptable to the plaintiffs, it left unresolved some important legal issues. Among these are whether transnational corporations based in Canada can be held civilly liable for breaches of international law abroad. (For […]
This weekend, I read two fascinating pieces of work that I’d like to reflect on here. The first is an article by Rao, Segar, Bress et al. (2020) on the association between a risk of cardiovascular illness and West African ancestry. This study is important because the old canard has been that being Black, and […]
Buy local! Eat with the seasons! Reduce your food miles! These slogans are commonly used by groups who promote a more ethical and ecological approach to eating. And, at first, they seem like uncomplicated, good advice. Why wouldn’t I be alarmed to hear that much of the food in the grocery store travels hundreds, and […]
Recently, pronouns have swirled around me. I had conversations with others wanting to know why they should state their pronouns in meetings or why they should consider putting their pronouns in their email signatures. Then a little bit later, I was reading a professional document in which all the pronouns were written with a singular […]
If you read my last blog, you know that sperm whales live in distinct cultural groups, called vocal clans, and that each clan speaks a unique dialect. From long-term research in the eastern Tropical Pacific and the eastern Caribbean, we know that clans can be distinguished based on their dialects alone, although they also differ […]
My engineering education has taught me to think in terms of systems: inputs, outputs, and everything that happens in between. So while my PhD research focuses on clean energy technology, I cannot help pondering the big picture of the world’s problems and their underlying causes. I have found clarity in the writings of ecological economists, […]
I’m a dilettante in gender studies or the philosophy of science but even I know that learning about how we learn (epistemology) is important. How we learn within science is through the tried and tested scientific method. Usually, we come up with a hypothesis and make a prediction, we run our experiment as appropriately controlled […]
The days are getting cooler, nights longer and the leaves are changing colour. Fall is in the air. Time to dig out the sweaters, pumpkin recipes and rakes. Well, maybe not that last one. If you are lucky enough to live in a neighbourhood with a lot of trees, chances are you are familiar with […]
A version of this post was first published on The Conversation, which features relevant and informed articles written by researchers and academics in their areas of expertise and edited by experienced journalists. Oh, Canada I remember having a “proud Canadian” moment flying home from a trip to the United States in 2002 when I read […]