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Volume 106, Issue 25
Researchers to study future of Great Lakes Jesica Hurst News Editor In an effort to assess the future state of the Great Lakes Basin-St. Lawrence River Basin, the Transborder Research University Network has initiated the Great Lakes Futures Project.
When you’re conducting research on an ecosystem or environment where there’s a lot of interest drawn, it keeps you and your institution at the leading edge of research. —Ryan Sorichetti
PhD candidate in the department of biology at Western
“The Great Lakes Futures Project is a multi-disciplinary, bi-national initiative between Canada and the United States that has come to be as a result of concerned academics who are really worried about the sustainable governance of the Great Lakes Basin-St. Lawrence River Basin,” Katrina Iglic, a postdoctoral associate and project manager of the Great Lakes Futures Project, explained. “What
this project will do is assess what the state of the basin could be in 50 years using a technique called scenario analysis.” Iglic explained scenario analysis is a structured approach used to envision plausible futures that bring to surface hidden assumptions and risks. “It’s really effective because it provides a context for evaluating the consequences of current and future management in policy decisions.” Irena Creed, a researcher and professor for the department of geography and earth sciences at Western, and the leader of the project, originally proposed the initiative in September 2010. Since then, the project has received support from 21 academic institutions in both Canada and the United States, including Western University, Guelph University, McMaster University and Queen’s University. According to Iglic, eight different drivers or forces of change were identified at a workshop related to the project. In the coming months, students that have been selected to work on the project will be working with a mentor to develop these drivers. From there, they will develop driver synthesis papers and present them at a workshop in January. Ryan Sorichetti, a PhD candidate in the department of biol-
Andrei Calinescu GAZETTE
ogy, was one of the 20 students selected to work on the project from over 20 different universities and institutions in Canada and the United States. “I’ll be working with a master’s student from the Université de Montréal, and another PhD candidate from Cornell University. We’re going to be looking at biological and chemical contaminants to do with the Great
Lakes history, and then we’ll make predictions into the future,” Sorichetti explained. “It’s an extremely rewarding experience.” Sorichetti believes Western’s investment into this project will help put it on the map for research it hasn’t traditionally been acknowledged for. “The Great Lakes are an extremely valuable resource— they’re one of the single most im-
portant hydrological features in the world, so there is a lot vested in them,” he said. “When you’re conducting research on an ecosystem or environment where there’s a lot of interest drawn, it keeps you and your institution at the leading edge of research.” “Hopefully, this project will influence the direction of Western’s research projects moving forward.”
Sedentary sitting affects personal health Megan Devlin Gazette Staff
Andrei Calinescu GAZETTE
Everyone’s heard the alarming statistics about how long North Americans spend sitting at their desks, in front of the television or in their cars. To make matters worse, a new study says frequenting the gym may not help as much as we thought. Researchers at the University of Leicester, in collaboration with Loughborough University, analyzed time spent sitting independently of time spent exercising, and reported some sobering statistics. People who sit the most experience a 147 per cent increase in the risk of heart attack or stroke, a 112 per cent increase in risk of diabetes and an increased risk of 49 per cent for immature mortality. “Simply because you become active does not mean you aren’t also sedentary,” Earl Noble, a professor in the faculty of health sci-
ences at Western, said. “If you have 23 hours of sedentary activity, it’s not completely offset by the one hour of physical activity.” This is concerning because, according to Noble, Canadian children and youth spend 62 per cent of their waking hours sitting— adults are estimated to spend 50 to 70 per cent of their day sitting. In addition, only seven per cent of Canadian children and youth are active enough to meet current guidelines. Noble, primarily, blamed screen time. “Screen time is your iPhone, your computer and your television set. Kids from zero to two should have no screen time.” Noble went on to explain there were several risks associated with inactivity, such as decreased selfesteem, decreased academic performance and increased aggression. “It’s a cultural thing,” Stuart
Biddle, co-author of the study and a professor of physical activity and health at Loughborough University, said. “We need to look at the environment that we operate in. We often sit down and watch a lot of television.” Biddle suggested getting creative with your work routine to break up time spent sitting. He suggested using standing desks, having standing or walking meetings and placing a computer on a filing cabinet in order to stand while using it. People sit out of habit, and by finding opportunities to stand and move around throughout the day, we can reap huge health benefits. “It’s almost like saying ‘Well, I exercise so I can smoke,’ or ‘I exercise, therefore I can have a bad diet,’” Biddle said. “It doesn’t work like that. We need to try to tackle several health behaviors, and sitting time is really different from being physically active.”