We Can: A Community Research Lecture Series Launches

Researchers at SMU and their community partners are sharing their work with the Saint Mary’s University community in a new series of presentations and discussions on Zoom We Can: A Community Research Lecture Series. The new series is the creation of Dr. Adam Sarty, Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, and Associate Vice-President, Research, and Ray MacNeil, Network Manager CLARI, who want to demonstrate how research at Saint Mary’s is often a very close collaboration with community partners.

Research featured in the first session covered the connection between the agri-food business and immigration and will lead to recommendations about how to ensure the succession of family farms, grow small businesses, and encourage young entrepreneurs including Black Nova Scotians. A second team of researchers revealed their findings around the pre-contact use of copper among ancient civilizations here in Mi’kma’ki. A centerpiece of their work is the partnership and sharing with Mi’kmaq groups around Nova Scotia without whom their work would not be possible. Stay tuned for more sessions in Fall 2021.

Saint Mary’s University Anthropologist Investigates Former Shubenacadie Residential School Site

Dr. Jonathan Fowler.

An investigation of the former Shubenacadie Residential school site grounds has begun as the result of a partnership between Sipekne'katik First Nation and Saint Mary's University. 

"This has been top of mind for Sipekne'katik for many years and the tragic discovery in Kamloops brings a renewed sense of urgency to our work," says Sipekne'katik First Nation Chief Mike Sack.

The Sipekne'katik Council and management and Sipekne'katik Grand Council have been working directly in recent years with Dr. Jonathan Fowler, an Associate Professor with Saint Mary's University’s Anthropology Department. Dr. Fowler is one of the country's leading researchers in archaeological geophysics and remote sensing. His investigation on the former Shubenacadie Residential school grounds is to determine if there is any burial evidence on site. Using several techniques, including ground-penetrating radar (GPR) Dr. Fowler is working directly with community member and Mi'kmaq cultural heritage curator for the Nova Scotia Museum, Roger Lewis as a co-investigator. 

"This urgent and essential work must be undertaken thoroughly and to the highest standard," says Dr. Fowler. "We will examine the site carefully and with the most powerful technologies available." 

Dr. Fowler's GPR research has successfully mapped burials associated with the 1873 sinking of the SS Atlantic and identified nearly 300 unmarked graves in the pre-Deportation Acadian cemetery at Grand-Pré National Historic Site of Canada.    

New Partnership Supporting BIPOC Youth in Computer Science, Technology, Leadership and Sustainable Development

Alfred Burgesson, Founder at Tribe Network and Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray, President of Saint Mary’s University.
Photo Credit: Ian Selig

A new province-wide program available to youth ages 15 to 18 in Nova Scotia who identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Colour and are interested in developing skills in computer science and technology, leadership, and sustainable development has launched.   

"The Brilliant Creators Fellowship offers a unique opportunity for BIPOC youth to develop new skills while practicing creativity, innovation, leadership, and learning with technology. We are committed to working with youth and empowering them to be creators of the world they want to live in," said Alfred Burgesson, Founder at Tribe Network.  

The 15 participants in the Brilliant Creators Fellowship are engaged in regular workshops, events, team-focused projects, and hands-on, experiential learning opportunities. Participants will develop their interpersonal skills and competencies in digital literacy, communication, sustainable development while also developing peer-to-peer networks. In addition to skill development, participants will also gain access to community leaders and industry mentors. The Saint Mary's University Entrepreneurship Centre will support youth entrepreneurship skill development throughout the initiative.   

"Saint Mary's University is committed to a world without limits. The Brilliant Creators Fellowship helps us to support and reduce barriers facing BIPOC youth, which is an important part of achieving that goal," says Saint Mary's University President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray. "We are proud to partner with Tribe Network and Brilliant Labs on this project."   

"We recognize the importance of championing diversity across all fields of research, work and study," says President Summerby-Murray. "That is why we are offering every student who finishes this program a $12,000 scholarship over four years to study computer science or business at Saint Mary's University."    

In the first year of the program, participants include youth from Halifax, Dartmouth, Lower Sackville, Fall River and Membertou First Nation. 

Saint Mary’s University is pleased to partner with Tribe Network, to support the participants, and to further the impact of the Brilliant Creators Fellowship for years to come.    

Saint Mary’s Looks to Future with New Brand Story

Saint Mary’s University is looking to the future with the launch of a new brand.      

“It is time for Saint Mary’s University to assert our place boldly among the top Canadian universities and proclaim our advantages at home and around the globe,” says Saint Mary’s University President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray. “This is the brand for our university and for our times. Saint Mary’s University offers a bright, ambitious vision for the future.”  

The new brand platform results from months of qualitative and quantitative research and extensive consultation with a diverse group of more than 3,000 faculty, staff, students, alumni and other stakeholders.   

The new treatment includes a logo, wordmark and tagline, ‘World Without Limits.’    

“‘World Without Limits’ is a wonderful distillation of who we are and what Saint Mary’s strives for every day. It is about investment in people, about economies, international relations and social prosperity, changes in science, technology, environment and business. It is also about acknowledging and tackling the very real limitations placed on diverse and marginalized cultures and peoples, and addressing the mental health issues that many grapple with every day. It is about Saint Mary’s bold vision and our commitment to our university community, for Halifax and for Nova Scotia,” says President Summerby-Murray.    

“More than an updated look and feel, our new brand platform is a powerful way of telling the Saint Mary’s story,” says Erin Sargeant Greenwood, Vice-President, Advancement. “Saint Mary’s offers a unique experience. We are a caring community, more typically associated with smaller universities, combined with the research and student engagement opportunities of the largest institutions. We are moving the university forward in a way that reflects our traditions and values and embraces our bright future.”   

Related links

• Learn more about our new brand platform

• Learn about the Sobey School brand

• Learn about the Husky logo

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Study shows long-lasting impacts to lake health from old gold mines

Water on the tailing fields of the historical Montague Gold District transports contaminated materials towards Mitchell Brook, which flows into Barry's Run, and then into Lake Charles. Wind is also a mechanism of tailings transport. Credit: Linda Campbell

New findings of a multi-university team of researchers show that pollution from historical gold mining in Nova Scotia, Canada, persists at levels that impact the health of aquatic ecosystems, despite mine operations closing nearly a century ago.

“Mining activities from 100 years ago can still impact freshwater ecosystems today. Our work reveals that lakes may show signs of recovery from those impacts,” notes Saint Mary’s University Professor and co-author Dr. Linda Campbell. “Even so, we must remain vigilant about understanding and monitoring the legacy of those contaminated tailings in our modern ecosystems to support recovery processes.”

Over 350 gold mines operated throughout Nova Scotia between the mid-1800s and 1950. Urbanization and land development has taken place nearby some historical mining areas and people sometimes use these areas for recreational activities. Waste tailing materials with elevated and potentially toxic levels of arsenic and mercury often are associated with historical gold mining sites in Nova Scotia. The tailings can contaminate soil and aquatic sediments through water and wind movement.

This study used dated sediments from the bottom of two urban lakes located near one of the region’s largest historical mining operations. Lake sediments are a well-recognized and information-rich natural archive of past environments which allow the assessment of geochemical and biological conditions of lakes and their watersheds before, during, and after pollution has occurred.  

The study was recently published in the peer-reviewed international journal Science of the Total Environment and highlights how pollution from past gold mining combined with contemporary stressors such as climate change and urbanization may contribute to prevent complete lake recovery from century-old mining pollution.

“Past mining activities that occurred throughout Nova Scotia introduced considerable amounts of arsenic and mercury into the environment,” says lead author Allison Clark, from Mount Allison University. “Although the Montague Gold District closed to mining 80 years ago, lakes nearby still remain severely impacted.”

Currently, arsenic levels are still very high in the lake sediments—300 times above levels that are known to harm aquatic organisms. Mercury has returned to levels observed before gold mining began. This suggests that arsenic is behaving differently than mercury within the sediments at the bottom of tailing-impacted lakes.

“Mining is both a blessing and a curse,” notes Mount Allison University Associate Professor and co-author Dr. Joshua Kurek. “Society benefits but past mining activities practiced throughout Nova Scotia continue to harm ecosystems and citizens are now left with the clean-up costs.”

Additionally, invertebrates that live on and interact with the lake’s sediment have become less diverse compared with a similar reference lake, likely due to the mining pollution as well as other recent watershed stressors. Loss of key organisms may affect lake food webs, leading to issues with water quality.

Funding for this research was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Genome Atlantic.

SMU Research Partnership Rewriting History of Pre-Contact North American Copper Trade

Cape d’Or and the surrounding areas are where much of the copper examined for this research originated. (Photo - Communications Nova Scotia)

A Saint Mary's University research partnership with the Nova Scotia Museum has uncovered evidence that may rewrite North American understanding of the pre-contact trade of copper across the continent.

The lead Saint Mary's researcher on this project, Dr. Jacob Hanley, is a geologist who studies ore deposits and is a member of Algonquins of Greater Golden Lake First Nation in Ontario, Canada. After an exciting discussion with a colleague regarding prehistory in Atlantic Canada, Dr. Hanley began to take an interest in where the Indigenous people of Atlantic Canada sourced their pre-contact metals.

"One of the most important metals to the Indigenous population of North America was copper. It was an essential material for toolmaking and working that also held a spiritual significance," says Hanley. "The prevailing understanding of copper in North America during the Late Archaic Period to Early Woodland Period, that is to say, is 4,500 years ago to 500 A.D, is that the copper originated from deposits from Lake Superior, the Lake Superior Basin, and Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan. Our findings strongly suggest this is not the case and that a site in the Bay of Fundy played a much bigger role in history."

The lead Nova Scotia Museum researcher is Dr. Katie Cottreau-Robins, Curator of Archaeology. Additional project collaborators include Roger Lewis, Curator of Mi'kmaq Cultural Heritage, Nova Scotia Museum, and the New Brunswick Archaeological Services Branch. The project itself would not have been possible without the permission and participation of the Metepenagiag First Nation and Mainland Mi’kmaq Grand Council members who allowed the team to examine significant cultural artifacts.

"This copper comes from Cape d'Or, located in the Bay of Fundy, a place of extreme significance in terms of the history of Mi'kma'ki," says Lewis. "To get to these outcrops, you can only approach from the water or climb down the cliffs. We hope to support more research to examine whether the act of gathering the copper itself may have had an additional cultural significance due to the danger and the level of skill required to gather it successfully."

Unlike traditional methods of analyzing artifacts, the team uses a new method usually reserved for finding ore deposits for mining purposes. This new to archeology method is non-invasive and more accurately reads the chemical make-up of the copper while leaving the artifacts completely intact.

"Our data suggests that Cape d'Or and the Bay of Fundy was the main source of copper for the Mi'kmaq people and beyond," says Cottreau-Robins. "All the artifacts we have examined, and initially described as having come from the Lake Superior region, actually originated in the Bay of Fundy. This suggests that much of the copper artifact collection in the northeastern region, believed to have come from the Lake Superior area, may have an Atlantic origin. The implications of this are huge, as it means reshaping our understanding of pre-contact trade across Atlantic Canada, Eastern Canada and the Eastern United States and re-examining the role copper played cultural in the history of Atlantic Canada's Indigenous peoples."

This project recognizes the importance of the artifacts they are working with to the Metepenagiag First Nation and have ensured that they are analyzed in New Brunswick, so they remain in their province of origin and can be returned swiftly.

"Saint Mary's University takes pride in doing world-class research that creates new knowledge and disseminates it to the world," says Dr. Malcolm Butler, Vice-President, Academic and Research. "The work of Dr. Jacob Hanley and his team is an exemplar of this commitment and takes community-based research collaboration to a new level. We are proud to be a part of this collaboration across provinces and with the Metepenagiag First Nation."

Hanley and Cottreau-Robins have written about their research findings in a chapter of the upcoming anthology Far Northeast 3000BP to Contact, which can be found here.

Saint Mary’s University hosts The Hockey Conference featuring Hockey Hall of Fame member Angela James

Over sixty presenters and guest speakers from across North America and Europe are expected to meet virtually to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Hockey Conference, an academic conference on ice hockey that was founded at Saint Mary’s University twenty years ago. Hosted by the Saint Mary’s University Centre for the Study of Sport & Health, the theme for this year’s conference is hockey in a changing world. 

The conference, happening online June 4-6, will feature keynote speaker Angela James, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and a trailblazer for women’s hockey and Black hockey players in Canada. Other guest speakers include Kaleb Dahlgren, who survived the Humboldt Broncos bus crash; Kurtis Gabriel, an athlete in the National Hockey League; Jessica Platt, the first transgender woman to play professional hockey; Kieran Block, the first Black parahockey athlete on the Canadian National Paralympic team, and Rhonda Taylor, the first woman to sit on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (which eventually became part of Hockey Canada).

“We had to postpone by a year as a result of the pandemic and move it online, but I think we’ve still managed to come up with a solid event despite the setbacks,” says conference organizer Dr. Cheryl MacDonald, who is also the Associate Director of Outreach at the Centre for the Study of Sport & Health. “My main goal was to celebrate Dr. Colin Howell, who founded the conference in 2001 and just retired after 50 years at Saint Mary’s, so I’m glad we can still make that happen for him.” Dr. Howell will be giving the inaugural Dr. Colin Howell Distinguished Lecture at the conference as part of the celebrations.

Local guest speakers will include Ryan Francis, a member of Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaw community, Nicole Durand of the parahockey community, Serge LeBlanc of the Acadian community, and Savannah Newton from Hockey Nova Scotia’s female high-performance program. SMU men’s hockey alumni Bob Dawson, a member of the first all-Black line in Canadian university ice hockey, will also be speaking briefly about Black hockey in the Maritimes as he introduces Angela James’ keynote speech.

The Hockey Conference is an interdisciplinary event held every two years in a different city. It brings together scholars and community members and facilitates a range of analyses and discussions on the sport in its many forms. Presenters have come from diverse fields such as history, economics, sociology, human kinetics, and business. Notable guest speakers have included Jean Beliveau, Hazel McCallion, Ken Dryden, Jenn Botterill, Billy Bridges, and Ted Nolan.

The conference is free for observers, and all are welcome. Registration is required on the conference website at www.thehockeyconference.ca.

Saint Mary’s University Researchers Take Part in CBC Earth Day Special

On Earth Day, Saint Mary’s University researcher Dr. Danika van Proosdij and honours student Makadunyiswe Ngulube took part in a special event hosted by CBC. They discussed climate change and, more specifically, the multi-million-dollar salt marsh restoration research project underway in the Chignecto area.

The project, Making Room for Wetlands: Implementation of Managed Realignment for Salt Marsh Restoration and Climate Change Adaptation in Nova Scotia, seeks to restore over 75 hectares of tidal wetland (i.e., salt marsh) habitat through the realignment and decommissioning of dyke infrastructure at multiple sites in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia.

This project includes a well-established partnership between Saint Mary’s University and CB Wetlands & Environmental Specialists (CBWES) Inc. using innovative and proven techniques with a comprehensive monitoring program.

Click here to read more on Saint Mary’s participation in CBC’s special Earth Day coverage. Or listen to the researchers on CBC’s Information Morning here (~32 minutes into the segment).

Additional reading

• Government of Canada partners with Saint Mary’s to create new coastal habitat and combat climate change

• National recognition for Saint Mary’s geographer

• SMU faculty participate as scientific experts at G7 Oceans Inspiration Expo

Saint Mary's Hosts: Black Business Initiatives - 25 Years & Beyond

A screen capture from the event.

On April 20, the Sobey School of Business Community Revitalization & Prosperity Network launched a conversation series with the Nova Scotia-based Black Business Initiative (BBI), the longest serving Black business development initiative in Canada.

The first conversation, called Black Business Initiatives: 25 Years & Beyond, featured BBI CEO Dr. Rustum Southwell, Cynthia Dorrington, President of Vale & Associates Human Resource Management and Consulting Inc. and Dr. Harvi Millar, Professor of Operations Management at the Sobey School of Business.

The panellists spoke to Dr. Harjeet Bhabra, Dean of the Sobey School, about the history of Black-owned businesses in Nova Scotia and the work that remains to be done to remove barriers to success, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his remarks, Dr. Southwell noted that Black-owned businesses have contributed over a billion dollars to the Nova Scotia economy in the 25 years since BBI was founded. Innovations by Black entrepreneurs in Nova Scotia include the world-class medical company BioMedica Diagnostics of Windsor (founded by Abdullah Kirumira) and SureShot Solutions of Lower Sackville, which provides highly specialized equipment for many of the world’s most successful coffee chains (founded by CEO Michael Duck).

Despite a long history of business success and over 200 years of African Nova Scotians in the province, Ms. Dorrington noted that due to systemic barriers, it can be difficult for Black entrepreneurs and small business owners to access necessary financing, coaching, advisory services and many of the other keys to business success. As a result, these businesses are often prevented from achieving their full potential. “To grow beyond a certain level, you must work on your business, not just in your business,” she said.

Black entrepreneurs are also often shut out of certain sectors, like aerospace and information technology, due to systemic barriers. Dorrington said we need to “think big… and provide mentorship and coaching to help business owners see the next big opportunities.”       

Dr. Harvi Millar presented recent research into how Black-owned businesses have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that surveyed businesses are facing challenges including cash flow, reductions in operating capacity, declining customer bases and temporary or permanent business closures.

The research shows that in addition to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, Black business owners face barriers including racial bias, lack of scale, insufficient access to wealth and collateral, lack of peer-to-peer support networks and limited market access.

Dorrington noted that these barriers are often built into unfair and outdated systems that we must now work to redesign. “These systems didn't have all voices at the table when they were designed,” she said. “This is the time. If you're going to address it, you have to look at the system and really assess what is working and what is not. We must take the initiative and get rid of what isn't working.”

Dr. Southwell noted that “no Black person – no matter how wealthy or successful in business – hasn’t felt marginalized at some point in their life.”

To lift up Black businesses, Dorrington said we must acknowledge systemic racism as a first step. “We must come together to navigate. Until you face those barriers you don't see them. People who have navigated them in the past, we can put our heads together but speak with one voice.”

The next conversation, to be scheduled shortly, will explore Barriers to Doing Business for Black Entrepreneurs: Access to Capital Market. Visit the Community Revitalization & Prosperity Network to learn more.

Assessing global human progress with a new environmental twist

The International Development Studies program at Saint Mary’s is teaming up with the School of Social Sciences at Mahatma Gandhi University in India to co-host a virtual panel discussion on Monday.

The purpose of the April 19 event is to take a closer look at the 2020 Human Development Report, the 30th anniversary edition of the yearly report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Titled “The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene,” this latest version is quite different from its predecessors, introducing a new environmental lens to the report’s annual Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI typically tracks human progress in countries around the world by measuring such factors as a nation’s health, education and standards of living. For the 2020 report, the HDI also took the countries’ carbon dioxide emissions and material footprints into account. By adjusting the index to reflect planetary pressures, the report paints a sobering picture of humanity’s progress by making the wellbeing of both people and the planet central to the definition of human development.

“It’s a unique opportunity to have an international discussion,” says Dr. Gavin Fridell, SMU’s Canada Research Chair in International Development Studies and one of the panellists. “This report is quite different, and represents a massive turning point, so it’s worthy of us having a more serious discussion about it.” 

Joining him on the panel are Dr. Kate Ervine, also a faculty member in the IDS program at Saint Mary’s; Dr. Joseph Tharamangalam of the Sociology & Anthropology department at Mount St. Vincent University; and Dr. C.T. Aravindakumar, Pro-Vice Chancellor and faculty member in the School of Environmental Science, Mahatma Gandhi University. The panel’s moderator is Dr. Sabu Thomas, Vice Chancellor (President), Mahatma Gandhi University.

“The report is not very optimistic,” Fridell notes, adding the pandemic has also changed thinking around human development, further highlighting economic inequalities and environmental pressures.

“COVID-19 is teaching us a lot of things,” he says. “We have learned that in an emergency, we are capable of slowing down our economic growth … but who pays the price? And the report isn’t saying that we have to end economic growth, but constantly increasing economic growth is not compatible with the climate crisis.”

Each panellist will begin with a brief presentation, then the event will open up to a Q&A discussion. Similar conversations have been taking place around the world since the report’s release in December, but this is the first such public forum in the Maritime provinces. See the UNDP’s December 15 announcement for more details and perspectives about the 2020 report.

“While humanity has achieved incredible things, it is clear that we have taken our planet for granted,” Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy Youth, said in the announcement. “Across the world young people have spoken up, recognizing that these actions put our collective future at risk. As the 2020 Human Development Report makes clear, we need to transform our relationship with the planet — to make energy and material consumption sustainable, and to ensure every young person is educated and empowered to appreciate the wonders that a healthy world can provide.”

Open to the public, the panel discussion begins at 10:30 am on Monday. See the event listing on the SMU Events Calendar for more information and the Zoom links. 

Bridget Brownlow receives Paul Harris Fellow Award

Bridget Brownlow

Saint Mary’s University’s Conflict Resolution Advisor and president of Peaceful Schools International, Bridget Brownlow, has received the Paul Harris Fellow Award from the Rotary Club of Halifax Harbourside.

The award, established in 1957, is given to a community member that has made an outstanding contribution to the community. Brownlow is being recognized for her notable service with Peaceful Schools International, teaching peaceful education to children from over 200 schools around the world.

The Paul Harris Fellow Award has been received by many household names, including: Mother Theresa, polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk, N.S. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang, and former Saint Mary’s President Colin Dodds.

Congratulations Bridget!