News

The Ontario Association of Landscape Architects ‘David Erb Memorial Award’ was presented to Professor Sean Kelly on Friday, March 28, 2014 at the OALA Conference and AGM at the Sheraton Hamilton Hotel, Hamilton.  The award named after David Erb who was an outstanding volunteer in furthering the goals of OALA and his example set a truly high standard. This prestigious award is considered the best way to acknowledge the one outstanding OALA member each year whose volunteer contributions over a number of years have made a real difference.

Two groups of University of Guelph students in the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture program received awards in the Student Design Competition at the recent Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel (OSSGA) AGM in Ottawa.

International Comparative Rural Policy Summer Institute (ICRPS) 2014 - Toluca, Mexico

Sunday June 29th to Sunday July 13th, 2014.

The Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation (LACF) announced the recipients of its 2014 grants in support of research, communication and scholarship.   

Five of the eight grants awarded went to individuals and groups with Guelph affiliations.  SEDRD Professor Robert Corry, MLA students Mark Affum, Chad Neufeld and Kathleen Corey, MLA alumni Jon Woodside, Jeffrey Beaton, and BLA alumni Victoria Bell, Adrienne Hall and Robin Mosseri are all among this year's recipients.

Most of us who work in agricultural and rural development sectors have an interest about role of social media in communication for social change. Ataharul Chowdhury and Helen Hambly in their article published in the peer-reviewed proceedings of the Canadian Communication Association raise critiques on role of social media in collective change processes of agricultural and rural development. They argue that mere 'access to new media' does not suffice to enable social and collective change.

Rural Studies PhD graduate Ashlee Cunsolo Willox has taken up a Canada Research Chair position at Cape Breton University. Dr. Cunsolo Willox, Assistant Professor in Community Health, has been named a Tier 2 CRC in Determinants of Healthy Communities. Tier 2 Chairs are awarded for exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as demonstrating the potential to lead in their field.

More details about this position can be found from the Cape Breton University Research Chairs.  

Juri Peepre was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada on December 29, 2013 for his role in protecting the Canadian wilderness for future generations.

The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development's Post Doctoral Fellow, Dr. Ataharul Chowdhury is featured in the November 2013 edition of Top Crop Manager.  His article on pages 34 and 36 entitled "Spreading the 'Net - Using OnlineTools to Your Advantage", looks at the use of social media in agriculture.

This fall, the Ontario Agricultural College and School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) were proud to offer a new award. The new Thompson Graduate Studies Scholarship will be presented annually to a deserving student in the Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) program.

Leila Todd, a recent Master of Landscape Architecture graduate, has won a 2013 City of Hamilton Urban Design and Architecture Award for her Emerald Park Concept (based on her MLA Thesis) in the Excellence in Environmental Design category. The jury stated it was "a unique idea and very appropriate." The jury suggested that the City should trial Leila's idea for improving the temporary use of brownfield sites in the City of Hamilton to apply this idea across the City.