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In order to fully understand a particular ecosystem, we need to understand its history—both natural and anthropogenic. While the North American grasslands have a rich natural history, their development since the arrival of European settlers has been rocky, to say the least. Need for Research on Grasslands by Hanson and Vorhies was authored more thanContinue reading “Guest Lecture Paper Selection: Need for Research on Grasslands (Hanson and Vorhies 1938)”

Hi BIOL 4095, I selected the following readings for students to check out after my guest lecture on ecological footprint and biocapacity (EF&B) analysis. 1. WWF Living Planet Report from 2018 Found here: https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/all_publications/living_planet_report_2018/ 2. The State of Ontario’s Biodiversity Report from 2010 Found here: http://sobr.ca/report/ I chose these reports to understand and demonstrate howContinue reading “How Does Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity Analysis Connect to Ecology?”

When I saw that the Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon assignment was a part of the course syllabus for Applied Plant Ecology, I was confused. Throughout my academic career, I had been constantly taught that Wikipedia is an unreliable source. However, Dr. Bazely taught me otherwise. As she stated in her three-partedWikipedia Edit-a-Thon Chronicles blog post, she hadContinue reading “Becoming a Wikipedian ✍🏽”

The article by Bastin et al. was chosen in relation to afforestation in southern Ontario’s mixedwood plains. Trees are vital to our planet’s ecosystems and to human health and well-being. Temperate forests play a significant and vital role in sequestering anthropogenic carbon dioxide (Jarvis 1995). Atmospheric CO2 is now over 415 parts per million (ppm).Continue reading “What role does southern Ontario play in the global tree afforestation potential ?”

The Readings McCauley, D. J. (2006). Selling out on nature. Nature, 443(7107), 27-28.Reply to McCauleyReid, W., Mooney, H., Capistrano, D. et al. (2006) Nature: the many benefits of ecosystem services. Nature 443, 749.Reply by McCauleyMcCauley, D. J. (2006). Nature: McCauley replies. Nature, 443(7113), 750-750. Dear BIOL 4095 Class, I chose these readings based on twoContinue reading “Guest Lecture Readings- Valuing Nature”

For this blogpost I was asked to explain why I chose the course reading that I have selected for the students after giving my guest lecture and what the students should take from it. As an international graduate student from Suriname I met many Canadian and other international people here in Canada. Eight of theContinue reading “Agrodiversity in Sustainable Agriculture”

Araucaria araucana, also known as The Monkey Puzzle Tree, is an unusual looking evergreen conifer native to Chile (national tree) and Argentina. It has gained this strange name due to the fact that a monkey would be unable to climb it. This tree is characterized by its strange leaves and distinctive trunk with branches thatContinue reading “Saving Araucaria araucana, The Monkey Puzzle Tree”

A movie which I considered nominating for the Film Festival but didn’t was the 2012 depiction of Dr. Seuss’ book The Lorax. In this movie, a young boy named Ted is searching for something which his crush Audrey desires—a Truffula tree. Unfortunately, Ted and Audrey live in the polluted town known as Thneedville where noContinue reading “The Lorax: An Excellent Portrayal of a Mass Extinction”

The Podcast or Perish is a podcast about academic research and why it matters and is hosted by Cameron Graham, a professor of accounting at York University. In episode 005 of this podcast (November 4th 2019), Graham sits down with Dawn R. Bazely—a biologist, ecologist, and my University professor at York University. Dawn is veryContinue reading “Podcast or Perish: Wise Words from Dawn”

George Washington Carver, born Carver, was born into slavery in the year of 1864 in Diamond, Missouri during the Civil War. When the Civil War concluded in 1865, slavery has been abolished however racial injustice was still set in place and black students in Missouri were not allowed to attend local school. Because of this,Continue reading “George Washington Carver aka “The Peanut Man””