Activities
On-Campus & Off-Campus
Creating awareness of the ICR and its potential within the VIU community and engaging with BC coastal communities served by Vancouver Island University.
Faculty, Research Associates, and Graduate Students in the ICR
Development of Relationships with First Nations
The Tofino Environmental Conversation Series (Biosphere Conversations I and II)
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Working Group
The ICR fosters dialogue between the academic community, the public, and industry. It has and will continue to support and sponsor seminar style gatherings to discuss crucial issues of coastal study. This includes hosting symposia at the ICR facilities, as well as some that the ICR has been involved with facilitating. The most recent symposium is one that addresses the issue of how best to engage communities in matters of resource development, entitled, “Community engagement and the governance of coastal social-ecological systems” (April 28, 2008)
(For more info see Events page)
There has been a steady presence of work study students in the ICR. Megan Foss developed a list of coastal research institutions last year and helped with various ICR activities, Annie Buelles has helped on a variety of projects including research on fellowship programs in other institutions, and Glenda Wills is working with Grant Murray as well as on other ICR projects.
Faculty, Research Associates, and Graduate Students in the ICR
Research is being carried out by Dr. Grant Murray, the resident Canada Research Chair in the ICR. Grant is involved with a number of projects with partners from VIU and from other institutions. He has been awarded several grants for work in BC, and there are now graduate students and post doctoral fellows working with Grant at the ICR. The ICR is also host to several graduate students pursuing studies with partner universities, with requests from others who want to join us as visiting scholars. There is a Fellowship Program and a fellowship endowment fund for which they are raising money.
A growing number of faculty members use the ICR for research meetings with students and with other faculty and research partners from other institutions. Some faculty maintain work stations in the ICR while they are on leave. Several Research Associates (e.g. in Chemistry) use the ICR as a work place. Graduate students from other institutions doing their research at VIU may also use the ICR as a base. The Centre for Coastal Health makes significant use of the open area and meeting rooms.
The SSHRC grant received by the ICR includes a provision for funding fellowships. The time has arrived to have fellows in residence at the ICR. The program will begin in the fall of 2008, and we have also created an endowment for future, ongoing fellowships for which we are seeking contributions.
In 2008 a series of on-campus discussions held at the ICR. The first two were meetings of the campus research centre directors. The purpose of these gatherings was to create mutual awareness of the centres ( now numbering over a dozen) and to articulate their needs and potential contributions to the institution. The possible role of the ICR as a catalyst in creating research and other activities among the centres was discussed. Further meetings will be held.
The Ralph Gustafson Distinguished Poets Lecture Series publishes the lecture of the Gustafson Chair of Poetry at Mal-U, in cooperation with the Ralph Gustafson Poetry Trust. Robert Bringhurst designed the first two titles in a workshop with Mal-U publishing students in January 2006.
(For more info see Chapbooks page)
This is a new series of small books with a unique design that address various aspects of coastal life. The first volume published the lectures given by Dr. Rod Dobell and Mr. Robert Bringhurst at the first ICR symposium in 2006.
(For more info see Symposium 2006 pages)
AquaPort has always been a visionary and challenging project where 20 students and five professors from five institutions across Canada participated in content development for a new web-based information system. Eight of the students were from VIU, and four additional VIU students are now doing the last of the work. Two national meetings were held at Vancouver Island University to develop the AquaPort concept, and an Advisory Committee was established to guide AquaPort through the stages of transition to a new governance model as an independent, non-profit society.
Development of Relationships with First Nations
One of our goals is to work with coastal First Nations communities wherever possible. On several occasions, research involves collaborative projects with NTC communities. Notably, Grant Murray’s research proposals on health and traditional diet, and other collaborative research projects, for example the Clam Bed Research Workshop and the Clayoquot Reserve. Also the ICR co-hosted a workshop with the Snuneymuxw First Nations Saturday, April 5, entitled 'Traditional seafoods of Vancouver Island First Nations: balancing health benefits with pollution risks.’ It was a day for honouring and conversing about traditional First Nations foods while bearing in mind the risk of contamination and pollution confronting them.
The Tofino Environmental Conversation Series (Biosphere Conversations I and II)
In October 2007, the second Conversation took place in Tofino, at the Tofino Botanical Garden Foundation (TBGF), in which the group of a dozen philosophically inclined people continued to explore man’s place in nature, environmentalism, living in a place, and the governance and politics related to these themes. John Black organized the meeting which was co-hosted by George Paterson at the Tofino Botanical Gardens, the Alexandro Malaspina Research Centre, and the ICR.
Several VIU people attended this second gathering including Leslie King, Stephanie Green, Grant Murray, John Black, Russell McNeil, Bill Pennell, and two VIU Students, Lorill Ireland and Dion Pepper-Smith. The first Conversation was recorded by Russell McNeil who later edited the hours of discussion into a series of radio sessions. The second session was not recorded, but an ongoing series of summaries will be made available via the web. The ICR plans to have an on-going relationship with the TBGF.
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Working Group
Learn More about the GIS Program at Vancouver Island University and the Advanced Diploma in GIS Applications.
Click here to enlarge diagram - Image is excerpted from a presentation by Sarah E. Randolph, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK, entitled Biotic Layers in GIS for Predicting the Risk of Emergent Disease (Slide 5)
Departments involved: Geography Department, Forestry, Science & Technology, Recreation and Tourism Management, and Research & Scholarly Activities, and the Institute for Coastal Research.
Faculty Involved:
Dave Cake,
Geography Department & Advanced Diploma in GIS Applications
Doug Corrin,
Geography, Forestry & Associate Dean of Science & Technology
Dr. Alan Gilchrist,
Geography Department
Vancouver Island Water Resource Vulnerability Mapping Project
Dr. Michael Govorov,
Geography Department & Advanced Diploma in GIS Applications
Liz Hammond Kaarremaa,
Director of Research & Scholarly Activities
Dr. Anne Leavitt,
Dean of Social Sciences
Brad Maguire,
Geography & Advanced Diploma in GIS Applications
Dr. Grant Murray,
Canada Research Chair in Coastal Resource Management, Institute for Coastal Research & Faculty of Recreation and Tourism Management
Timothy Naegele,
Geography Technician
Dr. Don Stone
Geography Department, Chair
Updated February 18, 2009