New speaker series on environmental science

NipissingUniversity is pleased to welcome John F. Michels from the University of
Illinois at Chicago to campus for a special lecture on Wednesday, September 19
at 7 p.m. in room H104.

The
lecture is part of a new speaker series on the North Bay campus, emerging out
of the new Master in Environmental Sciences/Studies program.  Stay tuned for more speakers throughout the
year, reflecting the diversity of environmental sciences/studies.

Michels is an
anthropologist who has been conducting field work on how the rural communities
of the Almaguin Highlands are adjusting to recent employment, economic and
demographic shifts.  His lecture is titled Where Do We Go
From Here? Rural Survival and Sustainability in the Almaguin Highlands in the
21st Century.  

The
lecture is free of charge and all are welcome.

An abstract
of Michels’ lecture is below:

The social transformations related to the loss of jobs in agriculture,
forestry, and mining throughout rural North America have often been devastating
to communities, particularly to the individuals working in these industries. In
many rural areas, these transformations have led provincial and federal
agencies, municipal governments, developers, and investors to engage new forms
of productivity, including real estate, recreational, and touristic
development. In this talk I will address these changes by examining recent
employment, economic and demographic shifts in the Almaguin Highlands in
Ontario, Canada, and the ways in which these changes have affected local
residents. In particular, I will discuss the ways in which these
transformations have led to disagreements regarding “proper” uses of rural
space in the 21st century.