Graham Daborn, Professor Emeritus, Acadia University

Dr. Daborn is a graduate of the University of Alberta and taught Biology at Acadia University from 1973 to 2004. During the last 35 years he has been involved in many kinds of research dealing primarily with aquatic ecosystems: lakes, ponds, and estuaries - particularly the macrotidal estuaries of the Bay of Fundy. He was the founding Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research (ACER), which was established in 1985 to focus attention on estuarine environments, particularly the Bay of Fundy. Its research studies have covered the full range of topics in estuarine research, from the ecology of plants, to the population dynamics, growth rates and feeding relationships of crustaceans, fish and birds, and have been carried out in the Canadian Arctic, Europe, South America and New Zealand. A lot of the work has dealt with the effects of human modifications of estuaries and coastal waters, such as the construction of causeways, the dredging of harbours, and the addition of nutrients or contaminants. From 2004 to 2007 he was Director of the Academy for the Environment at Acadia University. Daborn is currently the Co-Chair of the Program Management Committee for the Canadian Water Network, a Network of Centres of Excellence aimed at understanding the Environmental Implications of Clean Water. From 1996-2004 he chaired the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership, a virtual institute that is concerned with increasing cooperation between governments, communities, resource users and industries in development of sustainable futures for the communities and resources of the Bay of Fundy. His current activities relate mostly to the environmental implications of generating renewable energy from the marine environment, especially from tidal currents, waves and wind in the Bay of Fundy.

Av Singh, Organic and Rural Infrastructure Specialist, Agra Point
What does “innovation” look like?  Increasingly, the agricultural community looks for “innovative” solutions to address the many problems in our food system.  But are they working or are they just creating new problems?  Av Singh, explores how an “innovative” way of looking at problems just might be the answer for a sustainable food future.

Av Singh is one of Canada’s leading experts on organic agriculture.  Av serves as the Organic & Rural Infrastructure Specialist with AgraPoint in Nova Scotia, working predominantly with organic and small-scale farmers on issues of production, processing, and marketing of agricultural goods with special interest on the local economy and rural sustainability.

Av’s graduate and post-doctoral work focused on pasture-based livestock production, providing the foundation for his continued work on extending holistic, system-based solutions for farm management with emphasis on soil health.  Av has authored over 130 peer-reviewed papers, chapters, and extension articles (a frequent contributor to The Canadian Organic Grower).  Av has been an invited speaker to over 350 workshops, conferences, symposia and has guest-lectured at over 20 universities in Canada and the US.

Lisa Kretz, Ecology Action Centre
What are the environmental impacts of your decisions to buy one item over another?  What does buying imported goods mean for our environment in Nova Scotia?  This presentation will explore the benefits of local goods, and methods for moving toward sustainable practices.

Lisa Kretz joined the Ecology Action Centre in 2009 as the Goods Miles Project Coordinator.  She has a Ph.D in Environmental Ethics, an MA in Environmental Aesthetics, and a B.Ed.  As an avid researcher and a passionate teacher Lisa loves figuring out problems and their solutions, and then providing environmental outreach about what she has learned.  Environmental concerns are central to all elements of Lisa’s life: food choices, transportation choices, clothing choices, decisions about consumer goods, right down to the kind of work she finds rewarding.  In keeping with the insights of Aldo Leopold, she believes “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community.  It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”

Zak Miller, Ecology Action Centre
Zak will be addressing some of the ways human users of homes, energy systems, and technology are the biggest piece to 'greening Canada' and the human interface and practices we are not taking advantage of.

Zak Miller works with the Ecology Action Centre in the field of The Built Environment. Seeing the home as an integral point in the effort to shift towards a more sustainable future, he has developed and led workshops and projects on green renovations, alternative energy systems, and energy efficiency throughout Nova Scotia over the past several years. An experienced public speaker and performer, Zak believes a comfortable and engaged audience will lead any session in the direction most useful to that audience, if the presenter is flexible and willing to listen.

This workshop will begin with a lecture exploring concepts of consumer behaviour, social marketing, and behaviour change.  We will examine various models for social marketing and promoting positive behaviour change as well as viewing many examples of positive social behaviour change promotion campaigns.  We will also present two social change campaigns that are being explored at Acadia University, one focused on food, the other focused on energy use.

Working in groups, you will then be asked to design a behaviour change campaign.  Each group will come up with an idea for promoting social change, do some research that supports your idea, and develop a campaign for your social change idea.  Groups will have approximately 90 minutes to develop their idea. All groups will have laptops with online access to help facilitate their research.  Toward the end of the session we would like to hear from two or three of the groups who feel ready to present their idea to the entire group.

Dr. Callaghan is the Director of the Arthur Irving Academy for the Environment at Acadia University. Through the Academy, Dr. Callaghan focuses on four primary areas: “greening” the campus of Acadia, encouraging integration of sustainability in the curriculum, promoting interdisciplinary sustainability based research, and engaging in community outreach and support for sustainability. She has been teaching in the Acadia F.C. Manning School of Business since 2001 in the area of business strategy, corporate social responsibility, ethics, and sustainable community development. She is currently working on several research projects, including: an examination of values based food purchasing; and understanding various mechanisms for integrating the sustainability agenda into strategy, planning, and operations of Municipalities.

Dr. Callaghan is also active in her community: she is a board member of The Center for Rural Sustainability, a member of the Provincial Roundtable on Sustainability, and a member of the community group Friends of Agriculture in Nova Scotia (FANS). Dr. Callaghan has trained and registered by Natural Step Canada as a Natural Step Associate.

Dr. Callaghan holds a Doctor of Business Administration (Management policy and Strategy) from Boston University, a Masters of Arts (Urban and Environmental Policy) from Tufts University, and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics and Political Science) from Bennington College.

Rube Goldberg Activity: Build a Rube Goldberg machine. Skills required: ingenuity, creativity, team work and a love of fun!

Chemistry in Action! Acadia University's "green" scientist Dr. Vlad Zamlynny (yes, he’s "green" for chemistry) and his infamous chemistry show will astound you with the wonders of chemical reactions.

Departmental Displays: Our professors and students always have interesting projects on the go. Learn what new and exciting discoveries are happening at Acadia University today.