Education

Envirothon is a team-based environmental science high school contest

The Toronto Envirothon Workshop at #YorkUniversity on April 13, 2017. Envirothons are team-based #HighSchool science competitions that have been around for decades in Canada & the USA. Students form clubs supervised by dedicated teachers, and learn about #Forestry, #Wildlife, #AquaticBiology & #soilscience. A one day, intensive workshop runs ahead of the local, regional competition. The […]

From university professor to University Professor

At last week's York University convocation for the Faculty of Science and Lassonde Engineering School, I was made University Professor. That's me with the Dean of Science, Dr. Ray Jawawardhana. But, I'm already a university professor, so what does this mean? University Professor is an honorific title that exists at many North American universities, including University of Toronto […]

Gardening for biodiversity & local food in Carolinian Canada

Two excellent Canadian documentaries, The End of Suburbia (2004) and Escape from Suburbia (2007), discuss the enormous implications of our unsustainable North American car culture, which has spawned sprawling suburbs and gridlock in southwestern Ontario, and the Greater Toronto Area. These films include fascinating conversations with "futurists" about how people will convert their (sub)urban lawns into vegetable patches to grow local […]

Science Fairs & Science on Ice at York University

The annual Science Fair is a right of passage for many aspiring, young scientists. I've been fortunate (if that's the right word), to experience them as both a judge, and a parent. Back in the 1990s, I was blown away by the creativity and enthusiasm of the young citizen scientists when I was a judge at the annual […]

Guest blogging about Advent Botany at the University of Reading

  The first piece of advice I give undergraduates is: "show up to all of your lectures and labs, even if you're barely conscious". Why? Because simply being present improves your learning. As Weingardt (1997) observed, "The world is run by those who show up". My second piece of advice is, "take handwritten notes with a pencil […]

Getting In The Zone with Carolinian Canada Coalition and World Wildlife Fund Canada

Help biodiversity & be a #CitizenScientist #InTheZone: @carolinianzone & @WWFCanada's exciting new joint initiative https://t.co/fTM2S1qfmJ pic.twitter.com/Qn6oZMlDOv — ((( Dawn Bazely ))) (@dawnbazely) October 27, 2016 My last post was about the national environmental charity, Nature Canada's Women for Nature Network. Today, I'm going local, in reflecting on why I'm a member of the board of directors of […]