Profs on CBC Radio, Discovery Channel
April 23, 2013 - In the News
Geography professor Barry Smit was interviewed by CBC radio about climate change this morning. He appeared on the Thunder Bay show Superior Morning, talking about how and why weather is becoming more unpredictable and extreme events, more severe.
As Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Change, Smit studies social and economic implications of climate change and how to manage associated risks and opportunities. He served on a provincial expert panel on climate change adaptation and co-authored the report “Adapting to Climate Change in Ontario’” for the provincial environment ministry. He also served on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) beginning in 1998 and was lead author of the IPCC’s fourth assessment report, issued in 2007.
Prof. Stuart McCook, associate dean of research and graduate studies in the College of Arts, was interviewed by CBC Radio Thursday about coffee rust. The fungus is a growing economic problem for coffee growers in Central America.
The interview was picked up by 22 CBC affiliates, including Victoria, Edmonton, Whitehorse, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax.
McCook, a history professor, studies the environmental history of tropical crops and commodities, looking at the interplay between economy and environment by studying the origins of epidemic crop diseases. He is working on a global history of coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix). Read more
Physics professor Joanne O’Meara was featured this week on the Discovery Channel's popular science show Daily Planet, where she demonstrated how and why volcanoes erupt. (watch the video: :22 into the segment).
In regular appearances on the show as a resident science expert, O'Meara demonstrates and explains science, physics and engineering to viewers in an accessible and interesting way. In other outreach activities, she runs workshops and physics shows for elementary school teachers and students. She also researches effective ways to improve physics education in university classrooms.
O’Meara received the 2011 Medal for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the Canadian Association of Physicists. The award recognizes teachers with exceptional ability to communicate knowledge and understanding.
