Funding boosts climate change research 

by Janet Janes, Office of Research

Changes to our global climate mean that coastal areas and their ecosystems are facing immense challenges that will affect every person and living thing, as well as the lifestyles and economies of coastal communities and island nations around the world.

Although the full impact of climate change and sea level rising may be 50 years away for some communities, for others, including many Caribbean countries, those effects will come much sooner. How do coastal communities prepare for these challenges? Fortunately, researchers at Waterloo are looking for answers to this question decades in advance.

During the last three years, Daniel Scott, (far left, with Murray Simpson, chair of the CARIBSAVE partnership, where Scott is chief scientific officer) a professor in geography and environmental management, and Canada Research Chair in Global Change and Tourism, has studied the impact of sea level rise on the economies of 15 Caribbean countries in collaboration with researchers from the University of Oxford, the University of the West Indies, and the United Nations Development Program.

Their latest report, “Modelling the Transformational Impacts and Costs of Sea Level Rise in the Caribbean,” was presented at last year’s UN Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico and provided key information to help policy leaders make informed decisions about how to respond and adapt to rising sea levels.

Now, Scott and a team of researchers from Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Prince Edward Island, St. Mary’s University, and the University of the West Indies have received an award for $2.5 million to continue research on climate change adaptation in coastal communities. The Partnership for Canada-Caribbean Community Climate Change Adaptation (ParCA) is a five-year project that will investigate how small and medium-sized coastal communities in Jamaica, Tobago, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island will adapt to the impact of rising sea levels and other climatic changes.

“Although located in very different areas of the world, these shorelines share many of the same risks,” says Scott.  “Small and medium-sized communities that often lack the technical and economic capacities of large cities face specific challenges of understanding the risks of climate change and mobilizing the resources needed for effective adaptation.”

ParCA will lead to the development of best practices guidelines for conducting this kind of research as well as lessons learned that can be applied to other coastal communities around the world. Scott’s team is one of five research teams selected to address an important gap in climate change knowledge, namely how to anticipate, manage, and reduce climate change vulnerability through adaptation.

The award was announced in June under the International Research Initiative on Adaptation to Climate Change (IRIACC). Managed by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), IRIACC is the result of a unique funding collaboration between IDRC, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

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BBC-TV documentary to focus on Tutte

A BBC-TV crew are on campus this week, in and around the mathematics buildings, the Institute for Quantum computing, and the new Quantum-Nano Centre. They’re making a documentary titled “Code Breakers,” about the boffins of Bletchley Park, to be broadcast in the UK in October.

Why Waterloo? One focus of the documentary will be the life, work and impact of the late William Tutte (right), distinguished professor emeritus. Some of Tutte’s colleagues in the math faculty — professors Dan Younger, Bruce Richmond, and Bill Cunningham — will be interviewed.

Tutte was one of a group of brilliant young mathematicians at Bletchley Park who worked on breaking enemy encryption during the Second World War. With others, he helped to break the FISH code used by the German high command: work that led to the development of Colossus, sometimes described as the world's first electronic computer. The Bletchley codebreaking work was kept secret until 1993. Dan Younger’s biography of Tutte describes his contribution in detail.

At Waterloo, Tutte was a professor 1962-1985, an early member of the combinatorics and optimization department and, as a world-renowned graph theorist, a hiring coup for the university. “His presence was a magnet for combinatorialists from all over the world,” Younger writes. “Tutte was an important ingredient in the recipe that produced the Faculty of Mathematics in 1967.”

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Back to school for politicians and more

The Waterloo Federation of Students is taking local politicians “back to school” today, with the goal of building relationships between students and their local representatives, while helping politicians see education-related issues from a student perspective. The itinerary includes a campus tour, attending a class with students, a barbecue reception, and meetings with student leaders. Among the more than a dozen politicians attending, the Hon. John Milloy, minister of training, colleges and universities; Justin Trudeau, Liberal MP and postsecondary education critic; and Liz Witmer, Conservative MPP, will speak to students.

“The importance of diversity in engineering” is the topic of a Women + Engineering Forum happening today, 6-9 p.m., Coutts Hall Room 302. Hosted by the Engineering Society and Women in Engineering, with speakers (professors, counsellors, and industry professionals) as well as an undergrad student discussion period, this forum will focus on different perspectives and what’s important in engineering for everyone. Students, faculty, and staff are welcome. Dinner will be provided.

WatPD presents an information session on elective PD courses, Thursday, 1-1:30 p.m., Tatham Centre room 1208. Presenters are PD teaching assistants who are or were PD students themselves. The session will help students choose their next elective PD courses. A list of courses is here. There will be pizza.

A Grassroots Facilitation workshop takes place Thursday, 5-7 p.m., Student Life Centre room 2135. “Come learn and share strategies for fostering good communication, equity, active listening and effective decision-making for meetings of all shapes and sizes.” The event is part of the Seeds of Resistance series of  social justice “awareness-raising, skill-building and analysis-developing workshops” held by the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group (WPIRG). Workshops are free and open to all. Food and bus tickets will be provided, and child care is available on request. To register, or for more information, email tammy@wpirg.org.

The UW Management Consulting Club is hosting the CEO Factory, Thursday, 7-9:30 p.m., in CEIT room 1015. Consultants from Deloitte Consulting, McKinsey & Company, Oliver Wyman, and ZS Associates will take part in a panel discussion, followed by informal networking. Industry representatives will speak on the consulting business, how to get into the profession, and management consulting as a career. Cost is $5; refreshments provided. To register and for information, check Facebook at on.fb.me/uwaterloomcc.

CPA Staff

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