Geography Commons^™

Gogeomatics And Its New London Ontario Group, Chunhua Liao, Hongyu Zhang, Peter Crawford

GIS Day

GoGeomatics Canada is an online career network for the Canadian geomatics community. Founded in 2005, the website provides job postings, events listings, magazine articles and newsletter services for geomatics professionals. Informal and free monthly networking events at pubs across Canada are happening in more than ten regions including Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara, Calgary, Vancouver, and Edmonton. In October 2016, a new GoGeomatics London chapter was founded by a group of graduate students from the Department of Geography at Western University to bring social and career development events to the local geospatial community. The first event was held on Oct. 25 at …

Use Of Drones And Gis To Identify Geoglyphs In The Sihuas Valley, Peru, Felipe Gonzalez-Macqueen

GIS Day

Geoglyphs are anthropogenic features built onto the landscape by either removing a layer from the ground to expose the soil underneath or adding layers on top to create a relief. The most well-known examples of this are in the Nazca Valley, Peru where features can measure up to 400m long and have a variety of shapes. However not all geoglyphs are as big and complex as these, as is the case of the Sihuas Valley, Peru where geoglyphs are smaller and less elaborate in comparison. To identify and map these geoglyphs and other features, we used a combination of satellite …

Examining The Community Food Environments For Elementary School-Aged Children In The City Of London And Middlesex County, Ontario, Catherine Dubreck

GIS Day

Childhood obesity is a growing public health issue of global importance. In Canada, one in four children and youth are overweight or obese. Research suggests diet plays a crucial role in childhood obesity, and that prevalence rates of overweight or obesity among children in a neighborhood may relate to area socioeconomic characteristics and other environmental factors. The community nutrition environment (e.g., the type, location, and accessibility of food outlets) and the consumer nutrition environment (e.g., the price, promotion, placement, and availability of healthy options and nutrition information) can influence dietary habits, including the specific meal a child orders from a …

Using Map Interfaces To Visualize And Access Archival Resources: Results Of A Survey Of North American Archives, Tom Belton

Western Libraries Presentations

This presentation reveals the results of a 2015 survey of North American archives as to their views on the utility of mapping layers to provide access to archival resources.

Collaborative Approaches To The Management Of Geospatial Data Collections In Canadian Academic Libraries: A Historical Case Study, Leanne Trimble, Cheryl Woods, Francine Berish, Daniel Jakubek, Sarah Simpkin

Western Libraries Publications

Special Issue: Geospatial Data Management, Curation, and Preservation - Part 2

The Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) is a consortium of the twenty-one university libraries in Ontario, Canada. Since 1967, OCUL member institutions have worked together to share costs and workload through collective purchasing and licensing of information resources and more recently through the establishment of a shared digital infrastructure known as Scholars Portal. Under the auspices of OCUL, Ontario's university map librarians formed the OCUL Map Group in 1973 to seek opportunities to communicate and collaborate to improve the collections and services they offer their users. The opportunities …

Grain Sorting In The Morphological Active Layer Of A Braided River Physical Model., Pauline Leduc, Peter Ashmore, James T. Gardner

Geography & Environment Publications

A physical scale model of a gravel-bed braided river was used to measure vertical grain size sorting in the morphological active layer aggregated over the width of the river. This vertical sorting is important for analyzing braided river sedimentology, for numerical modeling of braided river morphodynamics, and for measuring and predicting bedload transport rate. We define the morphological active layer as the bed material between the maximum and minimum bed elevations at a point over extended time periods sufficient for braiding processes to rework the river bed. The vertical extent of the active layer was measured using 40 hourly high-resolution …

Transformative Geomorphic Research Using Laboratory Experimentation, Sean J. Bennett, Peter Ashmore, Cheryl Mckenna Neuman

Geography & Environment Publications

Laboratory experiments in geomorphology is the theme of the 46th annual Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium (BGS). While geomorphic research historically has been dominated by field-based endeavors, laboratory experimentation has emerged as an important methodological approach to study these phenomena, employed primarily to address issues related to scale and the analytical treatment of the geomorphic processes. It is contended here that geomorphic laboratory experiments have resulted in transformative research. Several examples drawn from the fluvial and aeolian research communities are offered as testament to this belief, and these select transformative endeavors often share very similar attributes. The 46th BGS will focus on …

Towards A Sociogeomorphology Of Rivers, Peter Ashmore

Geography & Environment Publications

While human impacts on rivers and other landforms have long been a component of geomorphic research, little of this work explicitly includes insights into human agency from social science or recognises that in many cases rivers can be considered to be hybrid coproductions or „socio-natures‟. A socio-geomorphic approach proposed here has parallels with some aspects of sociohydrology and can extend and enrich existing geomorphic explanations of the morphology of, for example, urban rivers by explicitly recognising and working with the coevolution of the human and natural systems. Examples from recent literature illustrate ways in which these relationships can be understood …

The Relationship Between Particle Travel Distance And Channel Morphology: Results Fromphysicalmodels Of Braided Rivers, Alan Kasprak, Joseph Wheaton, Peter Ashmore, James Hensleigh, Sarah Peirce

Geography & Environment Publications

Channel form and sediment transport are closely linked in alluvial rivers, and as such the development of a conceptual framework for the downstream controls on particle mobility and likely deposition sites has immense value in terms of the way we understand and predictively model rivers. Despite the development of conceptual models which frame flood-scale particle transport distance (termed path length) as a function of channel bar locations, an understanding of the controls on such path lengths in braided rivers remains especially elusive, in large part due to the difficulty in explicitly linking morphology and particle transport distances in the field. …

A Positive Latitude - Georeferencing And Archives, Tom Belton

Western Libraries Presentations

A presentation regarding a proposed research agenda to determine the advantages and feasibility of using georeferencing and maps to provide access to, or visualize, resources in archival institutions and databases.

Implications Of Global Peak Population For Canada's Future, Alain P. Bélanger, Barry Edmonston, Kevin Mcquillan, Benoît Laplante, Sharon M. Lee, Martin Cooke, Don Kerr

Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster Discussion Paper Series/ Un Réseau stratégique de connaissances Changements de population et parcours de vie Document de travail

In “Imagining Canada’s Future” the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) engaged various stakeholders to help establish six Future Challenge Areas. This report elaborates on the capacity of the Canadian research community with regard to the Future Challenge Area on “What might the implications of global peak population be for Canada?” It provides answers to sub-questions associated with this theme, namely: (1) What do we need to understand in order to effectively nurture the next generations? (2) What might Canadian families look like in five, 10, and 20 years, and how might they measure their well-being? (3) Life cycle …

Librarian Out Of Bounds, Rosa Orlandini

The Workshop for Instruction in Library Use

No abstract provided.

Blogging: An Exercise In Communicating Science To The Public, Beth J. Hundey

Technology in Education Symposium (TIES)

No abstract provided.

A Case Study In Collaborative Mind-Mapping With Lucidchart, Beth J. Hundey

Technology in Education Symposium (TIES)

This two-day event on March 27 & March 28 featured:

• research paper presentations,
• lightning rounds,
• hands-on workshops,
• posters and demonstrations, and
• a student panel on the uses of instructional technology.

TIES 2.0 is open to faculty, librarians, staff, postgrads, and graduate students from across all disciplines at Western and its affiliates.

Participants heard and saw how instructors and others employ technology to engage students and enrich learning, and to connect with others from across the campus who are exploring the potential of instructional technology and online education.

Perceptions And Experiences Of Environmental Health Risks Among New Mothers: A Qualitative Study In Ontario, Canada, Eric Crighton, C Brown, Jamie Baxter, L Lemyre, J R. Masuda, F Ursitti

Geography & Environment Publications

There is a growing awareness and concern in contemporary societies about potential health impacts of environmental contaminants on children. Mothers are traditionally more involved than other family members in managing family health and household decisions and thus targeted by public health campaigns to minimise risks. However little is known about how new mothers perceive and experience environmental health risks to their children. In 2010, we undertook a parallel case study using qualitative, in-depth interviews with new mothers and focus groups with public health key informants in two Public Health Units in Ontario Province, Canada. We found that the concern about …

Regulating The Farmers’ Market: Paysan Expertise, Quality Production And Local Food, Roza Tchoukaleyska

Geography & Environment Publications

This paper considers the meaning of local, quality food in the context of a farmer’s market in Montpellier, France. The focus is on understanding how farmers conceptualize ‘local’, how they perceive and cater to their clients’ demand for quality food, and what mechanisms are deployed to ensure a joint approach to these conventions. With a market association capable of carrying out site inspections to weed out ‘fake-farmers’ and an expectation that each vendor would participate in staged demonstrations of agrarian competency, the market emerges as an exclusive and tightly regulated commercial space that promotes both local protectionism and alternative consumption …

Obesogenic Neighborhoods: The Impact Of Neighborhood Restaurants And Convenience Stores On Adolescents' Food Consumption Behaviors, Meizi He, Patricia Tucker, Jennifer D. Irwin, Jason Gilliland, Kristian Larsen, Paul Hess

Geography & Environment Publications

To examine the relationship between the neighbourhood food environment and dietary intake among adolescents. Cross-sectional design using: (i) a geographic information system to assess characteristics of the neighbourhood food environment and neighbourhood socio-economic status; (ii) the modified Healthy Eating Index (HEI) to assess participants' overall diet quality; and (iii) generalized linear models to examine associations between HEI and home and school food environmental correlates. Mid-sized Canadian city in Ontario, Canada. Participants Grade 7 and 8 students (n 810) at twenty-one elementary schools. Students living in neighbourhoods with a lower diversity of land-use types, compared with their higher diversity counterparts, had …

The Influence Of Local Food Environments On Adolescents' Food Purchasing Behaviors, Meizi He, Patricia Tucker, Jason Gilliland, Jennifer D. Irwin, Kristian Larsen, Paul Hess

Geography & Environment Publications

This study examined the relationship between the neighborhood food environment and the food purchasing behaviors among adolescents. Grade 7 and 8 students (n = 810) at 21 elementary schools in London, Ontario, Canada completed a questionnaire assessing their food purchasing behaviors. Parents of participants also completed a brief questionnaire providing residential address and demographic information. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to assess students' home and school neighborhood food environment and land use characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the influence of the home neighborhood food environment on students' food purchasing behaviors, while two-level Hierarchical Non-Linear Regression …

Critical Research Agendas Within The Metropolis Project: Reflections On A Study Of Precarious Housing And Hidden Homelessness Among Refugees, Asylum Seekers And Immigrants In Montréal, Toronto And Vancouver, Damaris Rose

Migration and Ethnic Relations Colloquium Series

No abstract provided.

Natural And Unnatural Disasters: Responding With Respect For Indigenous Rights And Knowledges, Richard Howitt, Olga Havnen, Siri Veland

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

A key challenge for contemporary democratic societies is how to respond to disasters in ways that foster just and sustainable outcomes that build resilience, respect human rights, and foster economic, social, and cultural well-being in reasonable timeframes and at reasonable costs. In many places experiencing rapid environmental change, indigenous people continue to exercise some level of self-governance and autonomy, but they also face the burden of rapid social change and hostile or ambiguous policy settings. Drawing largely on experience in northern Australia, this paper argues that state policies can compound and contribute to vulnerability of indigenous groups to both natural …

Utilising Indigenous Seasonal Knowledge To Understand Aquatic Resource Use And Inform Water Resource Management In Northern Australia, Emma Woodward, Sue Jackson, Marcus Finn, Patricia Marrfurra Mctaggart

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Indigenous ecological knowledge can inform contemporary water manage- ment activities including water allocation planning. This paper draws on results obtained from a 3-year study to reveal the connection between Indigenous socio-economic values and river flows in the Daly River, Northern Territory. Qualitative phenological knowledge was analysed and compared to quantitative resource-use data, obtained through a large household survey of Indigenous harvesting and fishing effort. A more complete picture of Indigenous resource- use and management strategies was found to be provided by the adoption of mixed methods. The quantitative data revealed resource-use patterns including when and where species are harvested. The …

Area-Based Differentials In Childhood Cancer Incidence In Australia, 1996–2006, Danny R. Youlden, Peter D. Baade, Patricia C. Valery, Timothy E. Hassall, Leisa J. Ward, Adele C. Green, Joanne F. Aitken

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Background. International studies examining the association between the incidence of childhood cancer and characteristics of the area in which the patient lives have generally reported inconsistent patterns. Area-based differentials in childhood cancer throughout Australia have not been previously published at a national level. Procedure. Population-based information from the Australian Paediatric Cancer Registry was used to identify all children aged 0- to 14-years old diagnosed with invasive cancer or intracranial and intraspinal tumors of benign or uncertain behavior between 1996 and 2006. Age-standardized incidence rates per million children per year and the corresponding incidence rate ratios were calculated, categorized by remoteness …

Environmental Prediction In Canadian Cities, James Voogt

Geography & Environment Presentations

No abstract provided.

Immigrant Economic Experiences: A Canada-Us Comparison, Lucia Lo

Migration and Ethnic Relations Colloquium Series

No abstract provided.

Postcolonial Transformation Of The Australian Indigenous Population, John Taylor

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

The 1967 constitutional referendum paved the way for the application of a single national methodology for the construction of a self-identified Indigenous popu- lation via census, survey, and administrative data collection and these sources have provided for statistically meaningful official estimates of Indigenous popu- lation growth and spatial redistribution as well as for some understanding of the dynamics underpinning change. The primary purpose of this paper is to outline the course of this change and to reflect on matters arising that are of concern and interest to public debate on population growth and its implications. To do this meaningfully it …

An Application Of The Edge Effect In Measuring Accessibility To Multiple Food Retailer Types In Southwestern Ontario, Canada, Richard Casey Sadler, Jason Gilliland, Godwin Arku

Geography & Environment Publications

Trends in food retailing associated with the consolidation of smaller-format retailers into fewer, larger-format supercentres have left some rural areas with fewer sources of nutritious, affordable food. Access to nutritious, affordable food is essential for good dietary habits and combating health issues such as type-2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Many studies on food environments use inaccurate or incomplete methods for locating food retailers, which may be responsible for mischaracterising food deserts. This study uses databases of every residence in and every food retailer in and around Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada. Residences were geocoded to their precise address, and network …

The Challenge Of Successful Integration For Francophone Immigrants Within Minority Communities, Suzanne N. Huot, Belinda Dodson, Debbie Rudman

Western Migration Conference Series

A critical ethnography was undertaken to explore the integration experiences of French-speaking newcomers from visible minority groups residing with the London, Ontario Francophone minority community. Findings highlight a complex negotiation process involving learning the tacit social norms characterizing the host society.

Religion Mix Growth In Canadian Cities: A Look At 2006-2031 Projections Data, Fernando Mata

Western Migration Conference Series

Summary: Special tables from Statistics Canada microsimulation projections data 2006-2036 were used as data sources. The analysis found that the Non-Christian to Christian ratio will double between 2006 to 2031 (from 15 to 30 per 100) while the No religion to Religion ratio will remain stable at about 26 per100 by 2031. Non-Christian to Christian ratios will be equal or higher than 45 per 100 in cities such as Toronto, Abbotsford and Vancouver by 2031. No religion to Religion ratios will continue to be higher than average in most in British Columbia and other Western cities compared to others in …

Making The Inscrutable, Scrutable: Race And Space In Victoria's Chinatown, 1891, Patrick A. Dunae, John S. Lutz, Donald Lafreniere, Jason Gilliland

Geography & Environment Publications

• This article analyzes the racial and social structure of Victoria, British Columbia's capital city, in particular its Chinatown neighbourhood. The authors' methodology combines the use of geographical information systems (gis) with discourse analysis, and devise a theoretical framework derived from the ideas of Henri Lefebvre. The authors come to the view that the community "was extensively but not exclusively Chinese and a Chinese population that was not confined to Chinatown"; and further that "the boundaries of race were not as fixed as they have often been assumed to be.". [IBSSRU - Quotes from original] Reprinted by permission of BC Studies

Open Data In London: What Is It And How Is It Used?, Michael Buzzelli

Geography & Environment Presentations

No abstract provided.