It seems that every second or third article that comes my way on Facebook or Reddit is somehow related to the death of a bunch of bees, the lack of Monarch butterflies, and the implications of fewer pollinators in the environment. As a science student who took several ecology courses, I am very aware of the implications of having fewer pollinators. I mean if I could boil it down into a concise series of events it would go something like this.... Bees and wild pollinators start dying for some reason No more pollinators means no more pollination Fewer plants get pollinated and so less fruit is produced With less food comes sky-rocketing food prices Sometime shortly there after Armageddon ensues There are a lot of theories that have been going around about why there are so many bees and butterflies dying. I recall not even a year or two ago we though the answer might be cell towers or fungus. Today the prevailing wisdom says it is overuse of pesticides. In any event, it sucks ...

There was once a time when university campuses where funded almost exclusively by land endowments.Some noble person would bequeath a plot of land to a university in the hopes of providing a place for education to flourish. These parcels of land were typically enormous, and small sections of the land could be sold or leased for a profit. In this manner, the institution would be able to pay for the cost of operating their institution. Need to hire more profs, sale a patch of land over in the East corner. Need to build a new library, log some of the forest and make a profit from the timber. And thus an institution could thrive perpetually on the land endowed to them. But, the world changes and gone are the days of land endowments functioning as the sole money generator for universities. Today, most endowments are financial in nature and are vulnerable to the whims of the market and political popularity. If the market slumps, universities have less operating funds. If the government t...

There are two realities for students that call the University of Ottawa there campus. On one side there are tens of thousands of students that scurry in and out of the classrooms, lounges, sports facilities, etc. And on the other side there are thousands of students that call the university more than just there campus... it is there home. Here at the UofO there are 2885 residence beds spread out over seven residence buildings on campus. In addition, there are some residence houses in the Sandy Hill community and a few students that stay over at the St. Paul residence. So in the end, we are talking about 10% of the community that lives on campus. So imagine our reaction here at the Office of Campus Sustainability when the idea of a model room in residences started floating around.With such a huge number of the campus community living in residences, it would be a gigantic win for us if we could get students to practice sustainable living habits. So here is what we are proposin...

Eight months ago the Office of Campus Sustainability and the SFUO Bike Coop were approached by a student named Isabel. She had seen these cool things on the internet called Fixtations . I have to admit they are pretty nifty little inventions. Essentially a Fixtation is an outdoor bike stand with tools attached. The first thing that popped into my mind was AWESOME! Do you know exactly how many times I have had a little problem with my bike and all I needed was a place to look it over, maybe adjust a spoke, or even inflate a tire? Well me neither but I can tell you it is lots. It took all of about 2 minutes to convince Seamus and I that these Fixtations should be on the campus. We struck a deal, if the Bike Coop purchased the Fixations, the University would install them and put signs on them. I kind of get the impression that Isabel was a little taken aback by how quickly we agreed to the whole project. She asked if we needed some kind of report or justification. Seamus and I ...

For a couple of years now I have been trying to get the community behind the idea of creating an environmental charter of rights for the University of Ottawa community. And sure, what could be more boring then a legal framework premised completely on soft laws? But I urge you to take a moment to think about what this kind of thing could mean for a campus... and maybe even a city. So what is an environmental charter of rights? I am glad you asked. A charter is basically a testament to the rights that are granted to a group of individuals. It sometimes outlines rules and regulations that are meant to be followed and respected. When we talk about an environmental charter of rights we are basically talking about the rights individuals have to environmental services. Think clean air and drinking water. A few years ago I approached an environmental law course with the task of creating an environmental charter for the uOttawa campus. The result was two amazing reports that approached ...